Mastermind Parenting Podcast

If you’re a human with a phone in 2026, you know how addicting social media can be. Most of us struggle to keep from scrolling too much. I mean…all those doggy reels are just hilarious! Now imagine how hard it is for vulnerable young brains to keep from getting hooked? New lawsuits against the social media giants are confirming what so many of us parents have been saying for years. Big Tech compan...

Pack leadership definitely involves reading the room and using your spidey senses when it comes to giving feedback. When your kid or frankly, anyone, acts out of line - how do you talk to them and let ‘em know what’s what? Timing, tone and intention are key! If you try to “teach lessons in the moment, it’s a lecture and the other person absorbs nothing. Plus, when things are heated, it’s really ha...

Parents have questions about phones, tablets, video games…essentially all the screen time things. You might ask yourself: What age is too young to give them their own device? How do I get them to turn it off without fighting? How much time is too much? Am I a bad mom if I not only allow, but sometimes even encourage, rotting on a screen when I just need some time to get shit done or be “on break”?...

Finding out your child is heading down the path of drugs or alcohol are some of the darkest days imaginable. What do you do when the person you love the most is self-destructing? My guest this time is Lisa Katona Smith. She’s a teacher, author, and mom who knows all about the fear of seeing a child in the grip of addiction. Fortunately for all of us, when she found the usual advice failing her, Li...

We’ve come a long way in understanding how neurodivergence expresses itself in kids, compared to when I became a new mom. But even now, an Autism diagnosis can feel like some of the most dreaded words imaginable to a parent. Can you fathom what it was like for parents in the 1980s? Leland Vittert can. And even though his parents chose not to share his diagnosis with him until his early 20’s, he no...

In this episode I discuss what gratitude really means to me as a mom and a person. I believe the ultimate gratitude practice is believing your strong willed child happened “for” rather than “to” you and I walk you through an exercise about how to do that. Topics:   Hedonic Adaptation   Gratitude is a practice that can be cultivated and directly links to happiness   Gr...

Let’s be real. Lots of dads aren’t ready (or willing) to take on their share of responsibility in their families. And for the dads who do want to step up, where are the role models of dads doing their part and showing up as strong and loving pack leaders? Enter Jeff Hittner, leadership and fatherhood coach, and host of the Ambitious Dads podcast. Jeff spent years teaching executives how to lead an...

It’s no secret that kids can put a real damper on your sex life. Kids just have so many needs - the feeding, bathing, playdate coordinating…and let’s not forget all the freaking paperwork.  Those school forms nearly about killed me with three kids.  It seems like a small miracle if there is still desire for your partner after a long thankless day involving all that.  My guest, Dr. R...

Don’t you just love how little kids play so completely? They experience fun and joy without any self-consciousness or worrying about what others might think. But for many of us, this concept can feel elusive and far away as adults.  If you grew up in a house where you walked on eggshells, you may not be conditioned for joy and play. I know this has been perplexing for me to think about in my...

Disappointment. Rejection. Failing to meet their goals. It’s so tough to watch our kids struggle when they’re feeling the discomfort of disappointment.  I often call myself “ a fixer in recovery that QUITE often relapses ”. I have a joy agenda for the people I love.   Sometimes my own discomfort over their discomfort leads to a relapse. I jump into full on fixer mode and forget that...

Every time I learn more about Attachment Theory, it feels so eye-opening. It explains so much about me and my Mastermind moms. I hear it when we talk about how we were raised, how we relate to our parents, and how we’ve tried to fill the spaces we feel in our hearts.  Building a secure attachment style is so important for who our kids will become in the future. But many of us are out here try...

I’ve got a bite-sized treat of an episode for you this week. I was recently coaching a Mastermind mama who’s struggling with the changing relationship with her own mother.  As she changes, her relationship with her mom is changing too.  And change is hard and can even feel scary. Especially when it feels like the people closest aren’t necessarily thrilled about the changes we are making...

You think you’re parenting with one mind. You’re not. There’s the mind that reads the books and makes the plans. And there’s the other mind—the one running the show when your kid does that thing that makes your jaw clench and chest tighten. Kirby Fling sees this clearly. His Two-Mind Method helps you understand the two versions of yourself that show up every day. The one that wants to be patient....

I’ve been saying for a long, long time that raising kids in the digital age is like the Wild Wild West! We are all just trying to make the best decisions for our kids with the info we currently have at any given time.  And it’s really hard to know what the right decision is when you’re a pioneer parent ( as all of us are here - raising kids at a time in human history where tech is causing us...

Gentle Parenting has become a sort of parenting movement over the last decade or so.  I’ve been here for more than a hot minute and it’s interesting what I’ve noticed. You see, before Gentle there was Conscious Parenting and before that there was Love and Logic and and and.  I think the original founders of these methods were probably drinking the same koolaid I like…we secretly want to...

We want to raise “good kids.” Kids who are kind. Kids who share. Kids who can handle themselves in a respectable manner when they go over to a friend’s house for dinner.  We don’t want our kids to be high maintenance or frankly, bratty. We want to raise kids who can get along in the world, but we also want to raise kids whose behavior shows the world that we did a good job as parents. You kno...

A common anxiety I often uncover with my moms is: Now that I know what I know about the dangers of tech… it just feels too late to change things with my kids.   Maybe you read the NYT best seller, Anxious Generation,  and… let’s just say, you’re feeling VERY. FLIPPIN’. ANXIOUS.  You’re beginning to understand why your kids act like raccoons on meth when it comes to screens - (i...

Spoiler alert! Ya’ll probably know that I LOVE a good TV show. A comfy blanket and a cozy watch is a reliable happy place for me. So when my family recommended the Netflix thriller, “Adolescence,” I have to say I was a little resistant. But eventually they convinced me, and I am SO GLAD they did! “Adolescence” is a short 4-episode drama series about a teenage boy accused of murdering a girl in his...

Raising a strong-willed kid is harder. Even draining sometimes.   Sitting on the floor and playing with toys felt like the worst to me. I now realize that I found other playful ways to be with my kids… but I still sometimes feel a little guilty about not being a Barbie or Legos kind of mom. So when Dr. Shawn Hondorp invited me on her podcast, The Innovative Therapist, to talk about play...

You want to help your kids succeed in school - that’s a given.  School success is a big area of anxiety and worry I often see with parents I coach. Many well-intentioned parents get more and more involved in their kids’ homework - but more involvement often leads to more long term struggles. Becoming the homework helpline might help get your kids’ grades up temporarily. But it also teaches th...

You’ve probably heard me talk about pack leadership, and how I believe it’s the holy grail in creating a more peaceful family.  Humans learn through stories, and I have SO MANY stories about empowered parents, stronger family connections, and sensitive kiddos who finally feel understood. But sometimes you have to go back to basics, like I did this week with therapist, podcaster, and long-time...

Apologizing can feel hard. Maybe even harder than we care to admit to ourselves.  It’s vulnerable to look at a situation where you may have hurt someone you love…especially when that someone is your own kid.   Owning your mistake in a heartfelt way can potentially repair a fractured relationship. Which is why Avery and I had to talk about a very public apology we listened in on, fro...

It might feel like terrible news that building our pack leadership involves going back into our own childhoods. It can feel scary to go back to the “belly of the beast”… after all, you survived your childhood.  Who on this God’s green earth would actually choose to look back when you’re so focused on changing cycles and moving forward?  When the patterns we’re trying to break involve the...

Did you know that the parenting tools you learn on this podcast also work with other strong-willed creatures? I’m chatting with Avery “favorite daughter” Rubenstein this time about pack leadership and what she has learned from “Ben, the strong-willed horse”.   I think it’s incredibly helpful to practice the tools you are learning here by applying them to other areas of your life…your wor...

Y’all probably know I’m not the biggest fan of the way learning happens in most classrooms…and oh, there are so many reasons.  I have believed for a long time that traditional education is outdated and needs a ginormous revamp. However, I wasn’t willing to homeschool my own kids. I liked the break and having my days as my own. So year after year, I made a “self-ish” decision when it came to m...