Mothering Wildlife

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! My guest this week, Alecia Benware, transitioned into the zoo field from the banking industry when her son was just 10 months old.  We talk about how that transition brought her better work/life balance and a much more supportive environment, especially during Covid when, as a regi...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Join me this week as I talk to Molly Waller, a former zoological veterinary technician as she shares her journey as a working mom.  We talk about the impact our jobs have on our kids.  She would often take her daughter to work and believes her daughter being able to observe those t...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Join me this week as I talk to Julie Taylor, a naturalist who spends most of her days on a large boat interpreting wildlife off the coast of Maine.  We talk about the challenges of trying to find the balance between work and home and how having a great support system at work, espec...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Sometimes we are so heavily involved in our workplace role that we worry if they will be able to carry on without us when we need to take time away. Join me this week as I talk to Katie Gries of Ochsner Park Zoo.  A small facility, Katie is involved with almost every aspect as a Zo...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! The science of behavior change has many applications; whether it is in your professional career with animal care and welfare or at home with your children!  Join my guest this week, Arianna Bailey, and I as we discuss how her career in animal training and behavior change has influe...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! It doesn't matter if you're an orangutan or human mom, all moms need a little bit of help sometimes. When an orangutan at the Denver Zoo started showing signs of discomfort associated with early pregnancy, a fellow (human) mom stepped in to help.  Join my guest this week,...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Have you ever had to just tell yourself, “We’ll make it through”. Motherhood can throw all sorts of wild cards our way - from changing home routines to limitations at work to unexpected situations. It can feel like we’re just along for the wild ride and maybe sometimes all we can d...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! If you’re a breastfeeding mama who has had to pump at work you know the weird and challenging places we often try to accomplish this task. My guest this week, Ashlee O’Connor, knows all too well what it’s like to pump “in the wild”. As a wildlife biologist she pumped on swamp buggi...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Motherhood looks different for everyone. From the journey to become a mom, to the support network you have (or don’t), all the way to how you manage the balance between work and home. Join me this week as I talk to Barbara Suhn of the Oregon Zoo. We talk about all this and more! Mo...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! If you have had a long journey into the zoo field you will relate with this week's guest, Laura, as she spends the first bit of the episode telling her zoo story!  Her tenacity paid off, but her journey was anything but easy!  The zoo field can be competitive and Laura shares...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Finding support and asking for help when you're in the trenches of motherhood is easier said than done.  However, during birth and beyond, one option is to have a doula!  Have you considered having a doula present for your delivery or did you have one to assist you during birt...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! So often we find that the skills we've gained as animal care professionals are applicable to raising children!  This week I talk to Bethany Jeffrey, a former animal care professional who has put her skills to good use as her and her husband raise their triplets.  Bethany has b...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Sometimes our professional lives influence the decisions we make in our personal lives.  This week I talk to Christina Eastwood of the Dallas Zoo.  We talk about her choice to use cloth diapers for environmental and financial reasons.  Cloth diapers can be a great economical choice...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Join me as I talk to Jessi Gorman of the Fort Worth Zoo.  We talk about her upfront honesty about wanting to start a family when she interviewed for her job,  the things that she underestimated about having a child, how she troubleshoots her child's behavior by using her anima...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Ever been worried about leaving your career to focus on motherhood?  Join me as I talk to Mandy Fischer of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) about how motherhood influenced her career path.  She has held roles in and out of the zoo field that ultimately culminated in an o...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! When you're in the thick of it, that particular parenting stage seems to last forever.  Whether it's lack of sleep or an infant's complete dependency on you, giving so much of yourself at work and then having to come home and give so much of yourself again can seem d...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! In this episode I talk to Heather Ammann of the Dallas Zoo.  We talk about being pregnant at work (especially in that hot Texas heat), how she dealt with sleep deprivation in those first few months and the anxiety of not wanting to forget to do some critical part of your job.  We a...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Getting back into the zoo field once you've left can feel impossible but my guest this week shares her story of how she re-entered the field once her children were older.  I talk to Jessica Price of Tanganyika Wildlife Park about finding your place and balancing kid schedules...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Postpartum life is full of changes - to your body, to your routine, to your family and relationships, and to your priorities.  This week I talk to Dani Poirier Larson of Southwick's Zoo about the ups and downs of postpartum life that for some moms includes anxiety and depressi...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Putting your family first can be challenging in a passion field with atypical working hours, high physical labor needs, and other living beings that rely on you for their health and wellbeing.  In this episode, Libby and I talk about how as a young mom she found it hard to advocate...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Sometimes you might need to transition away from full-time animal care to another role within the zoo field.  Registrars are animal-adjacent and serve an amazingly important role in zoos!  During this episode, I talk with Jenifer about how her focus has changed since having kids, h...

Click here to send me a text! Have a story to share or just want to chat? Let's connect - because moms need moms! Welcome to the first episode of the Mothering Wildlife podcast!  In this episode, I'll explain how this podcast came to be and I'll talk to my very first guest, Whitlee Turner of the Metro Richmond Zoo.  Whitlee shares a cool story of how she came to breastfeed her son to...