Mutha Life

Kari Selander
  • 4.8 (45)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

The Mutha Life podcast is your place for exploring the near impossible balancing act of career and parenting. Each week, we talk to a badass parent who is pursuing their passions and career dreams, while also showing up for their kids. We talk through their childhoods, their jobs, relationships, support systems, philosophies on parenting and all of the messy stuff that comes up along the way.

  1. 5d ago

    EPISODE 93: Vanessa Dew: L'eggo my EGO

    When we first hung out with Vanessa Dew, co-founder of Health-Ade Kombucha, about a year and a half ago, she was figuring out what life looked like after selling her business baby. She was navigating purpose and parenthood in a new chapter, finding ways to support her community after the LA fires, and quietly letting go of any need to feel relevant just for the sake of it (ahem, the inspiration for this week's episode title). Since we last spoke, she has been keeping very busy. Traveling loads with her family. Being in her feelings about a recently graduated kindergartner. Building her community on Substack. Launching the Aline Foundation to support women through wellness grants. And, oh, did I mention we are breaking news right now?! (Tune in to hear it) Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com Instagram: @mutha.life @vanessadew_ Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa

    1h 4m

  2. May 27

    Episode 92: Liza Lieberman: The Tastemaker

    _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Celebrity and Personal Stylist Liza Lieberman grew up as the only child of a fashion industry powerhouse, a mom who traveled the world designing clothes and built everything herself from scratch. She was also the kid climbing trees and winning track meets with her dad, until she lost him at 14. Her parents were both larger than life figures in her childhood that would go on to shape so much about how she's chosen to live, love, parent and work. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> She went into finance like her mom wanted, lived in London, fell in love, found her way to Salesforce, and quietly started a fashion Instagram on the side just because it made her happy. That side project became a business. Now she's one of the most sought-after personal and celebrity stylists around, dressing clients for state dinners and red carpets and also for just, you know, feeling like yourself again on a Tuesday. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> This conversation covers a lot of ground. Ambitious parents and what that legacy looks like up close. Navigating a difficult workplace experience as a young woman with no roadmap for it. ADHD as an unexpected superpower. The pivot your partner supports but doesn't quite understand yet. Early motherhood during COVID. And what it means to build something that's entirely yours. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com Instagram: @mutha.life @liza.lieberman Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa

    1h 14m

  3. May 20

    Episode 91: Sara Tan: Not to be glossed over

    'Oh what are you listening to?' 'Who me? Oh it's ARCHIVAL SARA TAN.' Glossangeles' Sara Tan's ep is back and it's taking on a whole new listen this time around. When this episode first aired, my daughter was 1.5. She's now 2.5 going on 13, and already laying out her outfits, begging for nail polish, and asking about every product I put on my face. Turns out this conversation was more relevant than ever. We talk about building a career with intention, navigating beauty culture as a parent, what it means to interview Rihanna and Hailey Bieber differently now that you're both moms, cultural differences in parenting, the work wife relationship, and how to think about raising kids in a world that has very loud opinions about how they should look. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com Instagram: @mutha.life @saratan Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa

    1h 4m

  4. May 13

    Episode 90: Amanda Chantal Bacon: Moon shot

    Amanda Chantal Bacon founded Moon Juice in 2011. Now, fifteen years and a Target launch later, she's in what might be her most interesting chapter: handing over the operational reins so she can get back to dreaming and spending more time with her kids. In this conversation, we talk about growing up in downtown NYC with a famously cool and unconventional mom, finding her footing in fine dining kitchens, opening Moon Juice and literally birthing a human at the same time, doing early motherhood and early entrepreneurship simultaneously as a single mom, her two very different birth experiences, the BioCharger, the placenta smoothie, and the realization that the peaceful "we made it" feeling she's been chasing isn't coming, so we better enjoy the chaos. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life Produced by: Mutha Life, Music by: Ronen Landa

    1h 26m

  5. May 6

    Episode 89: Solo pod: Re-entry

    This MUTHA's Day episode explores the complexity and contradictions of motherhood across different life stages. Kari returned from a week in London with a major realization about the finite window of motherhood and the gap between what mothers 'should' want and what they actually want. Through listener voices and personal reflection, this episode examines the tension between needing space and knowing that time with your kids is fleeting. The centerpiece is a meditation on a Banksy statue about how convictions can block your vision. It's a metaphor for the principles of motherhood that keep mothers marching forward, even when they can't see where they're going. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life Produced by: Mutha Life, Music by: Ronen Landa

    15 min

  6. Apr 29

    Episode 88: Chris Gayomali: Dadmaxxing

    We're going back into the archive for this one: and the timing feels right. When I sat down with Chris Gayomali - when the pod was a baby, EPISODE 4 - in the fall of 2024, he was freelancing, deep in his Muay Thai era, and raising a toddler in New York City who was already turning his nose up at cruise ship pizza. He was also building serious momentum with Heavies, his much loved Substack about the practical and occasionally bizarre sides of health and wellness. Since then: he's become Head of Editorial at SSENSE (elite cool kid status), a Strategist at Office of Applied Strategy (the in-the-know cool kids tap these cool kids), and has a limited series podcast dropping with Kaleidoscope in May.  In this conversation we get into his completely accidental journalism career - from editing insurance reports in Irvine to nine years at GQ via a bowl of rice posted on Instagram - what it actually looks like to be a present, involved millennial dad when there's no real template for it, the myth of 50/50 in parenting labor, a near-miss health scare that rewired his entire relationship to his body, and the particular absurdity of raising a kid in New York City. Smart, funny, and genuinely one of my favorites. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life Produced by: Mutha Life, Music by: Ronen Landa

    53 min

  7. Apr 22

    Episode 87: Lee Shaner: Father's Intuition

    Lee Shaner, aka Intuition, is a rapper and podcaster who has been making music for over two decades. His album Leave a Mark went viral earlier this year when a song he made for his son hit over a million views - a song he almost didn't post because he thought he looked fat in the video. This one goes deep. We talk about growing up in North Pole, Alaska, watching his dad develop early onset Alzheimer's at 55, 10 years of sobriety, SSRIs, male friendship after 40, and what it means to be the more paternal parent in your house. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life Produced by: Mutha Life, Music by: Ronen Landa

    1h 4m

  8. Apr 15

    Episode 86: Solo Pod: Moon joy

    _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> A solo catch-up that covers a lot of ground - and somehow ties it all together. Kari comes back to the mic after a few weeks of life coming at her fast: grief, strep throat, solo-parenting, a teacher strike scare, and a spring break in the wilds of North Tampa. This one's for the OGs. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Along the way: traveling with kids when one of them wakes up covered in vomit the morning of your flight, why letting your partner skip a trip might be the best thing for your marriage, the unexpected physical toll of a full-on kids' vacation, and what happens when you give a five-year-old just enough independence to surprise you. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Then things get cosmic. Artemis 2 launches and Kari goes full NASA fangirl - and makes a genuinely moving case for why the mission inspired adults as much as it did kids. Plus: the great kindergarten homework debate (spoiler: aftercare might be the answer), why Mahjong has become her secret weapon for connection, and a summer camp update for everyone who was worried. _*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Moon joy found. Earth joy incoming. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life Produced by: Mutha Life, Music by: Ronen Landa

    38 min
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Trailer

4.8
out of 5
45 Ratings

About

The Mutha Life podcast is your place for exploring the near impossible balancing act of career and parenting. Each week, we talk to a badass parent who is pursuing their passions and career dreams, while also showing up for their kids. We talk through their childhoods, their jobs, relationships, support systems, philosophies on parenting and all of the messy stuff that comes up along the way.

Information

  • Creator
    Kari Selander
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    94
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    Mutha Life

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