Momtalk Maryland

Vacation shouldn’t leave you whispering, “I need a vacation from that vacation.” Claire Duarte, founder of The Columbia Mom, sits down with Tara from Travel Family Explores, a Frederick County, Maryland mom of three who helps families plan trips that feel calmer, more memorable, and actually doable with kids in tow. We talk about Tara’s path from DC life and the stress of childcare logistics to a...

“It must be nice to get free food and fun trips.” We hear that all the time, and it misses the point. Content creation is real work, and when it’s done well it’s also real marketing. We sit down with Lisa Summers, the creator behind It's Summers Somewhere and It’s Somewhere Local, to pull back the curtain on how a Maryland mom builds a multi-platform media brand that actually drives action fo...

Your trash bin isn’t just “a little gross” it can be the dirtiest thing you touch all week. I’m sitting down with Josh Levy from MD Clean to talk about what really happens inside trash and recycling bins during a Maryland summer, why the smell spikes, and how germs can travel from a lid handle to your car door to your kitchen faster than you think. If you’ve ever dragged a sticky can into the gara...

A mile-long line for groceries can change how you see your own town. After COVID shut down schools, Erika watched fear ripple through students and families in Howard County, Maryland and she decided to act. What begins as a quick Facebook call for donations turns into Columbia Community Care, a volunteer-powered network built on trust, logistics, and neighbors who refuse to let families go hungry....

A brutal winter, nonstop school pivots, and the kind of stress that sneaks into your shoulders and never leaves, that’s where this conversation starts. Then it opens into something bigger: what it really takes to build a wellness business that lasts in Columbia, Maryland, and why massage therapy is shifting from “nice-to-have” to part of a real health routine. I’m joined by Stephen Conti, owner of...

An art degree. The Peace Corps. Tech sales. Google AI. Then a luxury refillable hand sanitizer brand designed for moms who want a tiny daily escape. Livia’s story is the kind of career pivot that makes you rethink what “qualified” even means and it’s rooted right here in Maryland. We talk about what creativity really is (hint: it’s not just painting or crafts) and how it becomes a serious advantag...

Perfection is expensive and most moms are already paying too much. I’m Claire Duarte, founder of The Columbia Mom, and I’m pulling back the curtain on a personality mix I call “type B plus”: I’m go-with-the-flow at heart, I love a little spontaneity, and I still need structure to keep family life from turning into total chaos. We talk about how growing up with a tidy, hardworking, type A influence...

Ever feel like your home is working against you? We bring in Katherine of Tidy Milso to show how smart, simple systems can turn chaos into calm without chasing a Pinterest-perfect aesthetic. Her story begins during her husband’s basic training, when a self-help book, a major declutter, and one honest Facebook post revealed a gift for organizing that friends and family already saw. That spark becam...

What does it take to build a community-rooted juice bar without losing yourself along the way? We sit down with Petra, the force behind Fruitful, to trace a story that begins in a great-grandmother’s garden and grows into a Columbia spot known for organic juices, focused offerings, and real talk on small business survival. From juicing single ingredients in childhood to navigating grad school in I...

What if your morning coffee did more than wake you up—what if it helped you feel grounded, steady, and clear? We sit with Toni, founder of Me Time Coffee and 20-year military veteran, to explore how a daily cup can become a true self-care ritual. Her story moves from slow Southern breakfasts to a stress-induced alopecia scare that forced a rethink: stop chasing rare spa days and reclaim ten quiet...

Ever feel like your best-laid plans got buried under snow days and two-hour delays? Claire opens the door on a week where parenting, weather, and work collided, and uses that chaos as a real-world lens on creativity, marketing, and small business stamina. We explore why calling yourself a “creative” or “business owner” can feel awkward at first—and why owning those words matters when your output d...

Some loads don’t show up on a calendar, but they still weigh on our minds and our mornings. Claire gets real about the invisible load of motherhood and why the strongest way to carry it is together, not alone. From early days in Facebook mom groups to building a hyperlocal network in Howard County, she connects the dots between modern expectations, Maryland grit, and the small, repeatable acts tha...

A tiny cap, a hallway of cheers, and a mom who couldn’t stop crying—this is the story behind 60 sessions that changed the way our son learns, focuses, and feels about himself. We walk you through the hard parts most parents don’t post about: the midyear school transfer that crushed routines, the two-school shuffle that wrecked work schedules, and the choice to pile on speech, OT, and more when wai...

New year energy doesn’t have to feel like a sprint. Claire opens the studio for a candid reset: a quick reintroduction, the origin story of Columbia Mom, and a practical path to growth that skips brittle resolutions in favor of steady, quartered goals. It’s a warm, real start to 2026 that blends creative work, parenting, and personal mental health practices without pretending any of it is neat. We...

What if the smartest move isn’t to push harder, but to taste and adjust? We sit down with Chef Ashish Alfred—known for Duck Duck Goose, his wellness advocacy, and recent turns on Bar Rescue—for a candid conversation about timing, reinvention, and the messy middle of growth. He didn’t fall into cooking for the romance; he found it because he needed structure. Culinary school introduced mise en plac...

What if hustle wasn’t a badge of burnout but a promise to show up with heart, speed, and boundaries? We sit down with our friend Monica Blakely of Passion for Ezra to trace an all‑too‑relatable path: from rolling ribbon on the floor to dressing America’s favorite football mom on Super Bowl Sunday. It’s a Maryland-made story with national edges—proof that a single DM, a smart read on style, and a w...

A rainy parking lot, a few resistance bands, and a coach who chose education over ego—that’s where this story of sustainable strength begins. Claire sits down with Niko, owner of Odyssey Strength and Conditioning in Howard County, to unpack how women and families can trade gym intimidation for measurable progress and everyday confidence. From immigrant grit to launching a thousand-square-foot stud...

A quiet shift can change everything. When a child moves from scanning the room for cues to confidently telling his own story, you feel it at home, at school, and in your gut as a parent. We sit down with Beth Snow, director of Brain Balance in Greater Baltimore, to unpack the steps behind Grant’s big leap—how integrating primitive reflexes, strengthening core and sensory systems, and supporting th...

Ready to feel strong in the gym and steadier in life? Claire sits down with Lisa, a physical therapist and women’s health coach, to unpack how lifting changes everything—from your confidence and bone density to the way you recover from stress and handle the “heavy” stuff off the platform. We get real about early alarms, community energy, and why a good coach makes feedback feel like fuel instead o...

What does it take to run a construction company with heart, clarity, and serious build quality—while raising a daughter and changing the face of a male-dominated industry? We invited Nina Orlando to pull back the curtain on her journey from her dad’s handyman shop to leading a woman-owned firm now rebranding as Grit and Grace in Howard County. We dig into the projects that sharpened her edge: buil...

The hardest part of parenting a neurodiverse kid isn’t always the diagnosis; it’s the in-between—when your child “gets by,” but daily life still feels uphill. We invited Beth Snow, a lifelong educator and director at Brain Balance, to unpack a non-medical, multi-sensory approach that strengthens the foundations most systems skip: primitive reflex integration, sensory processing, visual function, r...

What if the same playbook that steadies a press room could calm your kitchen at 6 p.m.? Claire sits down with Beth Levine—veteran Capitol Hill communicator turned Maryland mom—to unpack how crisis communications, audience research, and storycraft can make work smarter and parenting saner. Beth shares a candid path from rural Iowa to the Senate to K|O Public Affairs, revealing the on-the-ground hab...

A silent room filled with veterans in wheelchairs, a first note from an old wartime song, and suddenly everything changes—eyes brighten, stories spill out, and the past feels close enough to touch. We sit down with Kassie from Voices of Vets to unpack how live, era-specific music reshapes memory, mood, and dignity for those who served, from World War II to Vietnam and beyond. Kassie takes us from...

What if the missing piece in your child’s sports performance isn’t another drill, but a mindset shift? We sit down with Andrew Simpson, founder of Player's Fitness & Performance, to explore how small group coaching, intentional mentorship, and practical mental skills help young athletes—and their parents—turn pressure into progress. From an 1,800 square foot warehouse to four Maryland loc...

What if pregnancy wasn’t a moment to “bounce back” from, but a nine-month tissue trauma that deserves smart, athletic rehab? That single shift changes everything. We invited Katie from Rehab 2 Perform to unpack pelvic health with clarity and zero shame—so you can move, lift, and live with confidence at every stage. Katie’s story—surviving a traumatic brain injury, coaching CrossFit, then earning h...