Drew Barrymore: Women Can't Have It All

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It seems like Drew Barrymore can do it all: act, direct, produce, run businesses and be a mom â€" but she confesses that is far from the truth.

“I can’t and I don’t,” Barrymore said at Lucky‘s Fashion and Beauty Blog Conference Thursday in Los Angeles.

“It sucks when you’ve worked really hard for certain things and you have to give them up because you know that you’re going to miss out on your child’s upbringing, or you realize that your relationship has suffered.”

For the new mom to 6-month-old Olive â€" her first child with husband Will Kopelman â€" this has meant giving up one of her biggest passions: directing.


“I can’t direct right now because I would miss out on my daughter. It was heartbreaking to let it go, but it was a clear choice,” Barrymore explains.

“I was raised in that generation of women can have it all, and I don’t think you can. I think some things fall off the table. The good news is, what does stay on the table becomes much more in focus and much more important.”

While she no longer directs, the first-time mom currently has two flourishing new businesses under her belt, Barrymore Wines and Flower cosmetics, and manages to run them without missing out on diaper duty too often.

“The work-at-home component is brilliant,” says Barrymore, 38. “I was doing all my business meetings between 12 and 2 because that’s when my daughter was napping, and it helped tremendously!”

Those times when she can’t work from home, the actress admits she does feel some remorse.

“I feel guilty all the time â€" but you combat it by being a superhero,” says Barrymore. “When you go out there in the world you have to remember, ‘I’m doing the best I can, I’m doing it for them, and I’m going to be there for them too. I’m just going to figure out the balance.’”

â€" Gabrielle Olya