In 2015, Alexa von Tobel's financial planning company was acquired by Northwestern Mutual and within a few days, she gave birth to her first child, Toby. Here's how von Tobel says she managed the chaos and what it taught her about herself.
Sometimes there are those moments when the notion of work-life balance can seem like a cosmic joke.

For Alexa von Tobel, it occurred in March 2015, when the birth of her first child coincided with selling LearnVest, the online financial advisory firm she founded, to Northwestern Mutual in a deal reported to be more than $250 million.

“Nothing in life prepares you to have everything in your life happening at the exact same minute,” she said. There were mountains of documents to sign, press roll-out plans, legal knots to untie and a new daughter who had to spend her first days in the intensive care unit (she’s fine now).

“It taught me something about myself,” added von Tobel, who’s now the chief innovation officer at Northwestern Mutual and remains CEO of LearnVest. “When really wild things happen to me, I get very calm and focused. When the train is off the tracks, I think I actually become a version of my best self. When something's running perfectly is probably the time when I fall off the tracks.”
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LearnVest CEO Alexa von Tobel On Leadership And Motherhood | CNBC Make It.