Between Meetings and Motherhood

Between Meetings & Motherhood
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

Between Meetings & Motherhood is a podcast about modern working motherhood: how it changes us, challenges us, and forces us to question the systems we’ve been told are normal. Hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, the show blends powerful conversations with working mothers, founders, and leaders alongside honest solo episodes about matrescence, ambition, feminism, burnout, identity, work culture, and the invisible load women carry every day. This is a podcast for women rethinking work, power, leadership, and motherhood in real time. likeamotherf.substack.com

  1. 2d ago

    The Raw, Honest Motherhood Conversations We're Not Having

    Samantha Hays was drowning in early motherhood. Her daughter cried constantly, nobody was sleeping, the internet kept serving her five-dollar sleep hacks that didn’t work, and every time she scrolled Instagram she saw perfect moms with perfect babies and wondered what was wrong with her. Then one honest conversation with another mom changed everything. So she built a place where every mom could have that conversation. In this episode of Between Meetings & Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Samantha Hays, founder of Explicitly Motherhood (explicitlymotherhood.com) — an online community built around raw, honest, judgment-free storytelling from real mothers, designed to be a complete antidote to the highlight reel culture of modern motherhood. In this episode: * Why the internet fails new moms when they need help most — and what actually works instead * What postpartum really looked like for Samantha: hormone crashes, no sleep, constant crying, and feeling like she was failing her baby * How one honest conversation with another mom did more than any parenting hack ever could * The mental load of motherhood and why it leaves so many moms feeling completely alone * What Explicitly Motherhood actually is: a weekly question, a library of 50+ real mom stories, searchable by how you’re feeling * Why written story creates more honesty than photos and videos ever will * The social media reality check: why the prettiest posts go viral and the realest ones don’t * Sleep deprivation, postpartum anxiety, and the things nobody warns you about labor and delivery * Her big goal: to spark an online revolution where spaces are built for real connection, not division * First 50 moms get a complimentary lifetime membership — link below 📲 Find Explicitly Motherhood: explicitlymotherhood.com | Substack: Explicitly Motherhood | @explicitlymotherhood on Instagram 🎙️ Between Meetings & Motherhood is hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and editor-in-chief of Mothered Magazine — a podcast for ambitious moms building businesses and raising families at the same time. #PostpartumAnxiety #NewMomLife #MomCommunity #MomPodcast #BetweenMeetingsAndMotherhood #MotheredMagazine #MotheredMedia #PostpartumDepression #RealMotherhood #MomMentalHealth #MentalLoad #NewMom #MomFounder #MomLife #HonestMotherhood Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    The Raw, Honest Motherhood Conversations We're Not Having

  2. Sep 24

    Adoption as a Path to Motherhood: Myths, Costs & the Real Process

    Christine Tangel, LCSW, Senior Director of Post-Adoption Services at Spence-Chapin, breaks down the three paths to adoption, what it really costs, how long it takes, and how matrescence shows up for adoptive moms too. Part of National Working Motherhood Week's expert interview series.Learn more about Spence-Chapin: https://spence-chapin.org/ Learn more about Mothered Media: https://www.motheredmedia.com/ For more resources about adoption planning from Spence-Chapin, visit https://www.motheredmedia.com/childcare-systems-planning Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    Adoption as a Path to Motherhood: Myths, Costs & the Real Process

  3. Sep 24

    How to Ask Your Employer for What You Need: A 5-Step HR Pitch Framework

    Michelle Yu, co-founder and CEO of Josie, walks through a 5-step framework for pitching parental leave, flexibility, and other workplace support as a strategic business case, not a personal favor. Part of National Working Motherhood Week's expert interview series.Learn more about Josie: https://myjosie.com/ Learn more about Mothered Media: https://www.motheredmedia.com/ To download the HR Pitch Kit, visit https://www.motheredmedia.com/workplace-advocacy-negotiation Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    How to Ask Your Employer for What You Need: A 5-Step HR Pitch Framework

  4. Sep 17

    Making the Mental Load Visible: How One Mom Built a Family Operating System

    Teasing a special interview with Briana Succop, founder of Cookie, who is hosting a hands-on workshop at National Working Motherhood Week all about mapping the mental load! Register for it here: https://luma.com/national-working-motherhood-week Briana Succop was executive-functioning all day at her job, then coming home to become her kids’ EA — a travel-team schedule landing in her inbox at 8pm on a Sunday night, a mental to-do list only she could see, a household running on whack-a-mole instead of a system. So she built Cookie: a family operating app that turns the invisible mental load into something the whole household can actually see, claim, and check off — husband included. In this conversation, Briana breaks down how Cookie works in practice: cookies as a currency her kids earn and spend (and now ask real questions about, like “what’s inflation?”), an audit workflow so nobody has to just take a kid’s word for it, and an AI shortcut that lets her capture a task — “dentist appointment tomorrow at noon” — at a stoplight before she forgets it again. She talks about why she built in NFL schedules on purpose, just to get the dads to open the app. And she gets honest about what it took to bootstrap a company while raising three daughters — including letting them see the stress and the tears, not just the wins, because “this expectation of perfection is what’s crushing all of us.” It’s Briana’s origin story — and a preview of what she’s bringing to next week’s live Mapping the Mental Load Village Session, where she’ll lead National Working Motherhood Week attendees through the same exercise that changed her own household: writing the mental load down, naming it, and finally making it visible. “If we write it down, if we have a parking lot for it, if we make it visible in a way that our entire family can see it... mapping this mental load is such a critical piece for you to be able to show up fully at work and at home — without the resentment, without the anger.” — Briana Succop Live: Village Session — Mapping the Mental LoadThursday, September 24 · 7:00 PM ET · Led by Briana Succop, founder of CookieRegister: https://luma.com/3uqsy2bv And register for the entire National Working Motherhood Week: https://luma.com/national-working-motherhood-week Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    Making the Mental Load Visible: How One Mom Built a Family Operating System

  5. Sep 14

    Rebuilding Your Identity After Leaving Corporate as a Working Mom

    She left her corporate job, looked around, and realized she had no one to talk to. No community of women who got it. No space for the messy middle of leaving a career, redefining ambition, and figuring out who you are on the other side of it all. So she built one — in three days. In this episode of Between Meetings & Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Cat Canada — award-winning brand marketer, mom of two, September cover of Mothered Magazine, host of the podcast It’s Called a Rebrand, and founder of Re:Brand — a Slack community of 2,000+ women navigating their own pivotal rebrand moments, wherever that takes them. In this episode: * What a “rebrand moment” actually is — and why it’s bigger and deeper than a pivot * How Re:Brand went from a LinkedIn idea to 200 members in 24 hours, entirely organically * Why the motherhood transition is the ultimate rebrand — and why no one warns you it’s coming * The highlight reel trap: why only seeing success stories keeps women stuck and afraid to start * Hyper availability, always-on culture, and the cortisol rash she got after leaving corporate — her body’s delayed burnout signal * The Women Who Run With the Wolves and her current rewilding era: what it actually looks like to stop performing and come back to yourself * Why traditional networking is broken — and how Re:Brand brings community closer to friendship * Building a fractional consulting business while running a growing community and raising two kids * Why she’s entering an era of charging what she’s worth and saying yes to the uncomfortable big asks * The podcast: telling the messy real stories behind the pivot, not just the highlight Cat is also the September cover of Mothered Magazine — read the full exclusive interview at motheredmagazine.com. 📲 Find Cat: Re:Brand community on Slack | @cat.canada on Instagram | Cat Canada on LinkedIn | @catfromrebrand on TikTok | It’s Called a Rebrand podcast on all platforms 🎙️ Between Meetings & Motherhood is hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and editor-in-chief of Mothered Magazine, the only global magazine for ambitious working mothers. #MomEntrepreneur #WomenInBusiness #LeavingCorporate #MomFounder #MomPodcast #BetweenMeetingsAndMotherhood #MotheredMagazine #MotheredMedia #CorporateBurnout #MomCommunity #Rebrand #FemaleFounder #WorkingMoms #MomIdentity #AmbitionAndMotherhood Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    Rebuilding Your Identity After Leaving Corporate as a Working Mom

  6. Sep 14

    The Ultimate Pregnancy & Postpartum Support Center — What Every New Mom Needs

    She came to America as an au pair, never intending to stay. She had no business background, had never written a check, never used a computer. She didn’t even know what a leadership style was. But she saw a gap so enormous — new mothers with no village, no support, no community — that she filled it herself. Twenty-six years later, the Motherhood Center in Houston has served over 100,000 clients and is still going. In this episode of Between Meetings & Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Gabriela Gerhart — pediatric nurse, physical therapist, immigrant founder, author, and the woman who quietly built one of the most comprehensive pregnancy and postpartum support centers in the United States. In this episode: * What the Motherhood Center actually offers: prenatal yoga, childbirth classes, postpartum doulas, nanny placement, breastfeeding support, massage, newborn care specialists, support groups — all under one roof * Why Gabriela calls it the “Mami Country Club” — and why that’s actually the point * Growing up in communist Czechoslovakia with zero exposure to entrepreneurship — and how she built a business from scratch anyway * The moment that inspired everything: watching new moms cry as their postpartum doula assignment ended with nowhere to go * How coming to Houston as an immigrant helped her understand exactly what isolated new moms feel — and why she was determined to fix it * 100,000 clients served and still going after 26 years — what that longevity actually takes * The world map on the wall: why the Motherhood Center’s international client base is one of her proudest achievements * The prenatal yoga class that becomes a lifelong village — clients who met 20 years ago still vacation together * Her big goal: a Motherhood Center in every city globally — and the conversations already starting about how to make that happen * What she had to unlearn, build from scratch, and grow into over 26 years of leadership Gabriela is also featured in the September issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full interview at motheredmagazine.com. 📲 Find Gabriela: motherhoodcenter.com | gabriela@motherhoodcenter.com | Gabriela Gerhart on LinkedIn | @motherhoodcenter on Instagram & TikTok 🎙️ Between Meetings & Motherhood is hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and editor-in-chief of Mothered Magazine, the only global magazine showcasing ambitious working mothers. #MotherhoodCenter #PostpartumSupport #PregnancySupport #MomPodcast #BetweenMeetingsAndMotherhood #MotheredMagazine #MotheredMedia #NewMomSupport #MomCommunity #ImmigrantFounder #MomFounder #PostpartumCare #PregnancyWellness #HoustonMoms #MaternalHealth Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    The Ultimate Pregnancy & Postpartum Support Center — What Every New Mom Needs

  7. Sep 14

    How to Build an HR Strategy That Actually Supports Working Moms

    Most companies don’t have HR built for working mothers. The policies aren’t there, the flexibility isn’t there, and when women return from maternity leave, the support isn’t there either. Sarah Alaimo has spent two decades inside organizations changing that — and now she’s doing it on her own terms as the founder of Elevate Consulting Collective, a fractional HR consultancy helping small and mid-size organizations build people-first cultures from the ground up. In this episode of Between Meetings & Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Sarah — a mom of one, person in recovery with 11 years sober, triathlete, and HR leader — for a candid conversation about ambition, identity, recovery, and what it really looks like to build a business around a four-year-old. In this episode: * Why so many women are leaving corporate America — and why return-to-office mandates are accelerating it * What fractional HR actually is and why small organizations desperately need it * How motherhood shifted her ambition — and why ambition doesn’t disappear, it just changes shape * Why you can’t separate your work self from your mom self — and why trying to is hurting your culture * What good HR actually looks like for working parents: flexibility, realistic maternity leave conversations, and zero butts-in-seat micromanagement * 11 years in recovery: how hitting rock bottom shaped her leadership philosophy and her approach to building cultures with grace * Raising her son in an open, honest home — and why breaking generational silence around addiction, bodies, and emotions starts now * Doing a triathlon with a group of school moms — and why that kind of village changes everything * What she wants her son to see when he watches her build her business Sarah is also featured in the September issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full interview at motheredmagazine.com. 📲 Find Sarah: elevateconsultingcollective.com | @sarahdalaimo on Instagram | Sarah Alaimo on LinkedIn 🎙️ Between Meetings & Motherhood is hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and editor-in-chief of Mothered Magazine, the only global magazine for ambitious working mothers. #WorkingMoms #HRStrategy #MomEntrepreneur #MomFounder #MomPodcast #BetweenMeetingsAndMotherhood #MotheredMagazine #MotheredMedia #FractionalHR #MaternityLeave #WorkplaceFlexibility #SobrietyAndMotherhood #AmbitionAndMotherhood #MomLife #ReturnToOffice Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    How to Build an HR Strategy That Actually Supports Working Moms

  8. Sep 14

    Postpartum Anxiety in High Achieving Moms

    You’re not depressed. You’re not crying all day. You’re actually doing everything — and that’s the problem. For high-achieving, ambitious moms, postpartum anxiety doesn’t look like falling apart. It looks like over-functioning, controlling every nap schedule down to the minute, unable to sit still, and wondering why you can’t just be present with your baby when you’re doing everything right. In this episode of Between Meetings & Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Ali Nataloni — licensed mental health therapist, mom of two toddlers, and specialist in maternal mental health for high-achieving women — for one of the most honest, relatable conversations this podcast has ever had about postpartum anxiety, identity, and what it really means to ask for help. In this episode: * What postpartum anxiety actually looks like in high achievers — and why it’s so often missed at the six-week appointment * Why the harder you try to control everything postpartum, the worse the anxiety gets * The connection between high achievement, perfectionism, and postpartum anxiety — and why your baseline matters * Why asking for help feels impossible for ambitious moms — and what’s actually at the root of it * The Lindsay Clancy case: what it revealed about how society fails mothers who ask for help * Two things can be true: you can love your child deeply and not enjoy every part of motherhood * The question she asks every new mom twice — and why asking twice changes everything * Mom brain, identity shifts, and learning to let go of who you were before kids * Building a therapy practice while raising two toddlers in the thick of it — what that actually looks like * Her big goal: a course on matrescence and maternal identity that reaches moms beyond Massachusetts * Why when mom is good, the whole family is good Ali is also featured in the September issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full interview at motheredmagazine.com. 📲 Find Ali: apnatlmhc.com | @apnatlmhc on Instagram 🎙️ Between Meetings & Motherhood is hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and editor-in-chief of Mothered Magazine, the only global magazine for ambitious working mothers. #PostpartumAnxiety #MaternalMentalHealth #HighAchievingMoms #MomPodcast #BetweenMeetingsAndMotherhood #MotheredMagazine #MotheredMedia #PostpartumDepression #MomTherapist #MomMentalHealth #Matrescence #WorkingMoms #MomIdentity #PostpartumSupport #AmbitionAndMotherhood Get full access to Like a Motherf*cker at likeamotherf.substack.com/subscribe

    Postpartum Anxiety in High Achieving Moms
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Between Meetings & Motherhood is a podcast about modern working motherhood: how it changes us, challenges us, and forces us to question the systems we’ve been told are normal. Hosted by Alexa Starks, founder of Mothered Media and Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, the show blends powerful conversations with working mothers, founders, and leaders alongside honest solo episodes about matrescence, ambition, feminism, burnout, identity, work culture, and the invisible load women carry every day. This is a podcast for women rethinking work, power, leadership, and motherhood in real time. likeamotherf.substack.com

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