Instigating Women

We are always talking about our roles and our priorities. Sometimes we take great pride in how we are able to take care of everyone else. We wear our good deeds to others like badges of honor. We create titles: mom, wife, partner, chief, director, VP, President . . . We even create holidays - Mother’s Day! Bosses Day! And then we are lost when the kids are gone, or we aren’t at work, or when there...

Either a MUST SEE or an I CAN’T BEAR TO SEE episode about our #cultureofpretty and our #cultureofconformity - or is it? Do we feel the need to be pretty as women due to culture and the expectations put upon us by others? Or do we focus on our exterior because it is part of our armour? Or have we just learned that our exterior self impacts how we feel about ourselves and vice versa? Or is an “exter...

We are starting to try some new video styles with our IWF community. First, we will work to shorten the videos into bite-sized chunks. Everyone likes a little snack occasionally, right? Plus we are going to select a topic by telling a true story - sometimes funny/sometimes not. Our goal is to be authentic and let you know we’ve been there/done lots of things before too. . . we just love the dot. ....

Today we reflect on the past to get creative about intentionally building connections and creating “normalcy” when it’s not so easy these days . . . Ideas we came up with to mind-hack “Normalcy’: -Just show up! You are enough - no pressure or expectation . . . take it in and enjoy -What replicates your former life (personal or professional) physically? Likely it has something to do with movement....

We have fun updating on Gwen’s experiment with intermittent fasting and Liz’s experiment with being a “mindful groundhog”. Interesting how these things actually go together . . . each is really about finding more time by ridding ourselves of mindless distractions so that we have more time to be our individual CEO’s of ourselves. Have you ever thought about that? You are your CEO - no one else is....

Today it feels right to talk about ACCOUNTABILITY. We are now through the first month of the new year, and we have found that it is best to have an ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY (AB). To be most effective the buddy needs to know what we need, in what way, and how often. One of us has learned over the last week what not to do . . . DO NOT to ask a spouse/partner to be an AB for you . . . it just doesn’t wor...

Wow - a lot has changed in a week. Our country went from discussing the shock of mayhem in our capital to witnessing a peaceful transition of power on those same steps. We were a part of history by witness the swearing in of the first Woman AND first African American AND first Asian Vice-President of our country. Just like most women, Kamala wasn’t satisfied with being just one first! We love Kama...

Our first Episode of 2021! We talk about being in the “sandwich”. We are sandwiched in between caring for kids and parents . . . stress anyone! We dig into Mom things - what is it to be a Mom, Mommy, Momma. And boy do we have our own mama issues . . . join us to see if you share anything in common with us . . . or are we the only ones with mama issues? Gwen’s word for 2020 was CALM. Her word for 2...

Our last Episode of 2020! We are transforming - are you? We reflect on “It’s Normal to Shake as you Soar” The essential guide to living at the intersection of Joy and Purpose - by Shannon Cohen. #Undergirding and #Invisiblestuff are our fav quips for the week. As we bring this year of challenge and transformation to a close we remember that no one said transformation was smooth, easy, comfortable...

Does your level of cheer today put you at a Ho? A Ho-Ho? Or a Ho-Ho-Ho???? Give it some thought - your level of cheer is impacted by your ability (or lack of) being able to really talk through the issues of the day, or the Holidays, or whatever is on your mind. . . Please reach out to someone who you can let your hair down with and find your inner Ho!

Today’s key words are #christmastiedye and # alanismorissette. Liz doesn’t learn during our time together, but learns here with all of you that she is most like celebrity mother Maggie Gyllenhaal! For them, life is an adventure, but they always seem to keep calm and cool. Their low-key approach to life allows their children to enjoy themselves, while still learning the tools necessary to be succes...

Today we goat yoga to relieve stress and have fun. . . drop the mic. Want to join?

We are reflecting today in #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 12 as the holidays ahead seem to be taking a stressful toll on everyone. How can we work on mental resilience? How can we work through the holidays if we cannot gather as friends and family in 2020? What positive coping mechanisms can we come up with to share for all? How to we transition from the togetherness of the holidays to enjoyi...

Well . . . we made it to the week of the aftermath of the election. In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 11 we focus on healing, listening to understand, and “becoming wizened” as Liz would say - only Liz! We hope you find a few tips in this episode to begin the healing process. As we head toward Thanksgiving, and the holidays in general, it has never been more important to lean on love and unde...

Boo! It’s time for #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 10! In our tenth episode we are coming up on Halloween and the 2020 election - whoo! We’ve got a lot going on! We talk about #vote2020 , #innermentor , and #magicalmoments . We have fun “coaching” each other by dialoguing and spending time being each others’ miracles. We are each working on being unique diamonds that sparkle and spark others t...

In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 9 we get really real. From Liz’s story about her #fullmetalbreakdown yesterday to naming our issues with #bodyimage and #selflove . Major takeaways include: the way our brain is taught as children can lead to implicit bias - it is up to us as adults to reflect on past learnings and choose whether or not to continue to apply them - or refine them - or forget t...

In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 8 we admit our personal vulnerabilities and feelings related to the impact of COVID-19 on women in the workforce. The detrimental impact to our national workforce and to our children’s education is real. In this episode we highlight a NYT article entitled #mothersaretheshockabsorbersofoursociety as well as the latest McKinsey and Company report on their study...

In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 7 we start by acknowledging it may be time for us to pick up the #voiceofwomen mantle, post the fresh loss of RBG and now the loss of Helen Reddy # HelenReddy #IamWoman - ugh! Two huge blows . . . if we allow them to be. Instead today we choose to discover how we can carry on by digging into our own #blindspots . We ask ourselves the tough questions about how...

In #Instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 6 we reflect on, pay tribute to, learn from, and resolve to March on after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. We must all connect and support each other because we have big shoes to fill - collectively. Enough said. Plus you get to meet Liz’s alter-ego Stevie Flowers. And then don’t miss the “throwing our stuff in the trash” to close it out. In this episode we fo...

In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 5 we try a concept of #walkandtalk to be creative and simply work through the emotions of fear, loss and chaos - to take action in a positive way. We also learn from #naomiosaka about how gracious winners (and leaders) share the platform of competition/life from a perspective by sharing the plenty versus from a mindset of scarcity. In this episode we focus on...

In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 4 we focus on the distribution of work at home among partners and attempt to push the boundaries toward consideration of modern creative concepts such as virtual villages, job shares and proactively asking for help. Then we dig into the book EverythingisF*cked A Book About Hope by #MarkManson . We decided to learn from the kids, play and avoid the temptation...

In #instigatingwomenandfriends Episode 3 you can see we are ourselves trying to reconcile women’s Equality aspirations (or at least formal statements used by systems and policy) with current state. We are also working to understand our own loud minds. As always we let you in on our own personal struggles and quests for improvement in a safe conversation. Topics covered in Episode 3 include: #natio...

In Instigating Women Episode 2 we focus on the hard transition and struggles we are all working through by going from “work at work“ to “work at home”. We recognize that one source of our feeling out of control now (and in the workplace) is not understanding the unwritten rules of career or leadership or life.

Welcome to our very first podcast! We hope you laugh, engage, and feel a little inspired. In Instigating Women Episode 1 we initiate our style - humorous and vulnerable storytelling mixed with a bit of coaching. You can see that we are novices at everything . . . technology, style, coaching, and social media. Yet our caring, compassion, and respect is powerful - especially given that we live acros...