By: Moira Forbes

Drew Barrymore is at peace with the fact that women can’t “have it all—at least not in the same moment.” That’s a statement with the potential to ruffle some feathers. “I get in trouble for saying you have to make choices and therefore you may not get to do everything you want,” she says. Barrymore’s not suggesting that women can’t achieve both their career and personal ambitions—in fact, that’s exactly what she’s done since she was a teenager—she’s just a realist about the fact that life can get chaotic and complicated.

“I never hit the pillow thinking, ‘Yup, did it all today,’” says Barrymore. “I’m like, ‘Oh, phew! I think people at work don’t hate me today and my kids are feeling like Mom was there and this is good’…. It’s a hot mess and I need to make the best of it that’s possible!”

Barrymore does seem to be doing it all though with her impressive list of job titles. Mother. (She has two daughters, Olive and Frankie.) Entertainment mogul. (She was cast in her first film at 5-years-old, and has been a household name to Americans for decades thanks to her work as an actress, director, and producer.) Entrepreneur. (She founded the company Flower Beauty, an affordable line of cosmetics, as well as a production company called Flower Films, and she’s a partner in Barrymore Wines.) Barrymore recently addedauthor to that list with the release of Wildflower, a collection of humorous and thoughtful first-person essays that recount a life in the public eye that’s been anything but ordinary.