My best advice to working women is just try what you think right now will be best for you and your family - and if it doesn't work, then change it. And look for ways to cut corners to add to your sanity.

I now look at the things I could have done better and instead of beating myself up about it, since I can't turn back time, I try to remember to ask myself, "what was this experience sent to me to teach me?" I think specifically about what I will do better next time, then I actively look for moments to practice for the next time.

I'm an Ivy League-educated lawyer, so you'd think the world wouldn't mess with me, right? But I've been paid $10,000 less than a less qualified man in the same role. I've had men I've worked with grab my leg or rub my back in ways that have made me feel uncomfortable. I've been taken off projects because I was pregnant, even though my pregnancies have been both been healthy and didn't impact my work at all.

Whether I'm traveling or at home in Seattle, my days rarely play out as it looks on my Outlook calendar - there's almost always something unexpected that comes up. But when I'm in town, my day usually starts at about 6 a.m., which is brutal for me because I'm really a night owl at heart.

The thing that I've learned about taking risks is that the key question to ask is, "If this goes terribly, what will happen?" Usually, the answer is that the world won't come to a screeching halt. Usually you can go back. Maybe not to the exact same job, but usually to the same type of job.

In my safe corporate job, I might have made one decision of real significance a year. As an entrepreneur, it feels like I'm making a decision every minute - I have lots of balls in the air, and so yes, sometimes I drop one or two. And for the most part, the balls are made of rubber and they bounce. So instead of carrying one ball very carefully, being worried that I might not be holding it at exactly the right angle, I am juggling hundreds, and I have to remind myself to appreciate all the balls I keep up in the air for every one that gets dropped.

Most of my mentors and investors have been incredibly smart, thoughtful men. I've had the privilege of being mentored by some extraordinary men who saw something in me and took me more seriously than I knew how to take myself.