Your Mom Has a Podcast Amanda Strong

1 in 4 women will miscarry a pregnancy. It’s so common you probably know someone who has lost a pregnancy to miscarriage or have experienced it yourself. And, if you’re thinking, “Hmm…actually, I don’t know anyone who has miscarried” it might be because we don’t really talk about it.

Today’s guest, Clarissa Peppers, opens up about her very easy leap into motherhood but how carrying a second child to term was fraught with loss, confusion and anxiety. In the years between welcoming her eldest son, Rivers into the world, Clarissa and her husband, Nick, suffered 3 miscarriages before finally completing their family with a second son, Remy.

We talk about the emotional toll miscarriage and recurrent miscarriage can take on one’s physical and emotional health, how it can affect your relationship with your partner or spouse and why it is important to bring these things to light. How we need to allow more women to feel held and supported during a time where they may feel very isolated, first, afraid to share the joy of being pregnant and then the quiet suffering that comes with an early loss.

I think that, once you become a parent, that new role bleeds into every other part of your life. It informs your choices, your actions and it is nearly impossible to separate your role as “mom” from every other hat that you wear in your life.

Since I started this podcast and have had the privilege of speaking with all of my amazing guests, I have found that the ties that unite us as mothers transcend race, culture, economic status, geography…there are very real threads that bind us in this exclusive club. And one of those, I am recognizing, is how each of us pulls from our learnings as mothers and feels called to funnel that into our work both the 9 to 5 variety as well as work of the capital W variety.

For today’s guest, Emily, becoming a mother and the first year of motherhood with her infant daughter, sent her on a personal growth journey and down a career path that was never on her radar.

Tune in to today’s episode to hear Emily’s story of how she went from educator to mom to postpartum doula to running her own local doula agency here in Cincinnati and how her experience with postpartum depression was the catalyst that brought her to where she is today.

This is your mom has a podcast, I’m Amanda Strong

Rachel Brown is on a mission. When I was connected to her through a mutual friend, I was immediately intrigued by her diverse work history and how her relentless hustle and desire for knowledge has shifted since becoming a mother.

It seems that Rachel has always looked to carve an alternative path and has found it even more important to her as she looks to balance her desire to be as present and available as possible for her young daughter, Frankie, but also in pursuing entrepreneurship as a practitioner of Thai Yoga Massage, Microblading and trying to build a female owned and operated wellness and beauty business.

And, while Rachel now feels like she has found her place in how she grows internally through work and educational endeavors, another big piece of defining herself in the face of motherhood is how she presents to the world on the outside. Despite how you dress or wear your hair before kids, often, when we become mothers, we feel the need to soften or tone down our appearance to look more like a mom. But is it necessary? Listen in to find our more….

Amanda reads comments she received on Instagram from fellow moms in the thick of sheltering in place and how to deal with the "HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HOMESCHOOL THESE KIDS?" 

In today's episode, I talk with Julietta Ladipo about mothering in the face of living without her own mother. We talk about that grief and how it lingers still today. Julietta also shares her experiences on the three main relationships she is focused on and how she balances each - where she has opportunities to grow and where she feels she's in her groove. 

Jonelle Zachary is a FORCE. 

She entered into motherhood at a young age while climbing the corporate ladder in fashion retail. She grew and exceeded expectations working alongside seasoned colleagues often twice her age. She.was.killing.it. 

And then? Unexpected transition. Her job was being eliminated and she had a big choice to make: leave Cincinnati and her network of friends and family to continue to pursue her career OR take a chance, stay where she is and find new opportunities so that her young son would have the opportunity to know his people and foster those relationships. 

Listen in to hear how Jonelle chose to bloom where she was planted, how she followed her passion for speaking and teaching and learn some of the mindful practices she employs when it comes to raising her pre-teen son.