MotherLoad Podcast

Childhood trauma can really impact how we show up as mothers. Even if you’ve done a lot of work on it, the memory and wound is there. Part of the motherload includes combating these unconscious behaviors, patterns, and beliefs that play out in our lives — some of which we’re aware of, some not. Today I’m with my friend Jaymie Gerena, a transformational strategist, master NLP practitioner, and moth...

I feel distracted. Everything feels rushed. There’s never enough time to get everything done. I hear this from moms all the time. And of course, these points are valid. But are there ways we can better manage our time so it’s more structured? So we’re not moving between every section of our day feeling like the thing we transitioned out of didn’t get done well? In today’s episode, I want to focus...

Does your partner know your big vision? Do your kids? Do your mentors? Today I’m with my friend Jenna Klopfenstein, who for years checked ALL the boxes of adult achievement: wonderful family, a great job, a beautiful home, but something was missing. In 2022, she left her job, and today, she’s going all-in on her entrepreneurial endeavors, starting with organizing a major event this spring, Next Le...

Would you feel like your motherload was lighter if you had more money? I asked this question recently on social media and got more engagement on it than anything I’ve shared in quite awhile. I think it’s an important question because, as high-achieving mothers, we’re often measuring the impact work has on mothering, and for a lot of us, money is at the core of that relationship. Our own family is...

One of my personal goals is to help women alchemize what’s inside of them and turn it into magic and creativity. It’s the idea behind a new business I’m co-building – Inner Alchemy – with my friend Rachel Pastor. The intent of the company is to demystify microdosing and plant medicine and educate people on how to use it, with a combination of inner work to live the lives they’ve always dreamt of....

What do you want out of life? How do you want to live, feel, and be each day? This episode is about core values, which I think is such a fundamental part of inner work. Defining our core values helps us know ourselves better, and consequently, approach and manage our mental load. Until 2020, my “core values” had been more surface level and performative, matching my business purpose or what I wante...

In today’s episode, we’re talking about sex. I’m with my friend, Stephanie Rae Johnson, an embodiment coach and somatic experiencing practitioner who’s also the single mother of two pre-teen boys. We met at the retreat center lobby in Peru, right after I’d done Ayahuasca for the first time, and I’ve been following her ever since. I feel like I’m pretty in touch with my sexuality, but even I know s...

This January, I took time to think about the podcast – to record solo episodes, quality interviews, and to pour my energy into the programming component of MotherLoad. My main love is the podcast. I love the interviews we get to do here. I love the conversations we’ve been having. My goal, every episode, is to put words to a feeling other moms might have had, and to be real about the things I neve...

Today's mini episode is about a huge topic: scarcity. RT and I have talked a lot about our philosophy regarding gift-giving during the holidays. Gifts on Christmas morning, writing a long letter to Santa – how do we want to intentionally bring those things into our family? Or not? Last year, we went on a trip, and this year, we’re doing it again. We told our kids this is our family Christmas...

Has becoming a mother ever made your role at work feel irrelevant? Have you ever sat at your desk, and asked yourself, WHY ? What is the point of this? In the millennial generation, I think there’s this huge existential question about motherhood. As kids, ambition was baked into us – with nothing about how our ambitions are aligned with our identities and values. This episode features Part 2 of my...

Can we really do it all? I’ve thought a lot about this motherload question. It’s a big, existential question – but it can also feel like a loaded question. Sometimes it seems to imply that, to do it all, you have to do it ALL, with no help from anyone else. And if that’s the question – can you do it all with no help – I think the answer is no. But what if we took a step back and looked at that que...

Some of the greatest things we are meant to do in life will happen through some kicking, screaming, and resisting.  But at the end of the day, when we surrender to it, it feels like a  homecoming. This nugget of wisdom is courtesy of Amber Lilyestrom – my personal mentor who has seen me through some of my major motherhood transitions. As such, I’ve been looking forward to this episode for a really...

We had a rough go with the flu in my household over the Thanksgiving holiday. I tend to pride myself on being well and putting myself first in terms of my own well-being, so not only was I surprised to go down so hard with this bug, it also made me mad at myself. As I say a lot in this show, when I hit rock bottom in my life, it was because I’d been putting myself at the end of my priority list. I...

Today, we dig deep into mom guilt. Mom guilt is a huge part of this work, and anytime more women talk about it, the more there is to uncover.  In this episode, I talk with Emily Gorrie, the host of the Project: Mom Podcast , which explores a lot of similar topics to the MotherLoad Podcast – one of the reasons I’ve been really excited for this conversation. Before recording, both of us had sick kid...

Some helpful advice if you want to offload household or parenting responsibilities to your partner: Don’t put a bow on it. As today’s guest Elizabeth Pearson points out, if we start putting bows on things BEFORE we offload them, we’ll never truly be free of them. Yes, it might be Lord of the Flies every once and awhile, but the kids’ teeth will be cleaned. The groceries will be purchased. The task...

When I hit rock bottom in 2020, it felt like the basement of my soul was full. What do I mean by that? If our souls take the form of homes, and these homes have basements, then mine was filled with junk.  I never opened my basement door, but occasionally, I’d peek through the door crack. Then I’d close it quickly, not wanting to deal with that right now. My basement was a dark, scary place to be....

I talk a lot about capacity, and why we feel so overloaded. But as my friend Anna Cosic points out in this episode, one of our greatest obstacles isn’t necessarily carrying the load itself – it’s managing OURSELVES. Oftentimes, it’s not a capacity issue – it’s an accountability issue. I believe we CAN be wildly successful in our careers AND be devoted mothers. It’s why this podcast exists – to cre...

Today I’m going to tell you about the power of a brain dump. A few episodes ago, I talked about feeling overwhelmed. Yes, I have two young kids, and yes, I have a lot to do, but usually I’m pretty on top of it. Even when I’m not, I’m not usually this overwhelmed. My feeling of overwhelm coincided with the rollout of the MotherLoad company this November, and I felt this urge to get it all out of my...

Even with all my inner work, I still often feel disconnected from my body and what I want the rhythm of my life to look like.  Today’s guest, Margaret James, is a friend and someone I’ve been working with to help me become more in tune with that: what is my body trying to tell me on a deeper level? And how can I nourish it so that I feel more connected to it? Margaret is an Ayurvedic health counse...

Every morning starts with my Dark Hour. I coined the name a couple years ago with a mentor and frequently document my Dark Hour on social media. During that time, I often meditate, read, journal, and incorporate some kind of movement component. Today I’m going to walk you through each part of this practice and offer some tips on how you might start your own. It’s important to note that this is not...

To my fellow moms: get on your rocketship. Today’s guest is Chris Harder, one of my mentors. He’s a mastermind leader, podcast host, investor, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and he’s well-known for this phrase I love:  " When good people make good money, they can do great things." I was excited to have Chris on the show to offer some insight on mindset, money, and meaning. He’s been a hug...

My first son was born via c-section, and afterward, I could barely walk or sit up. People had to hand me my 10-pound baby because I couldn’t lift anything 10 pounds or heavier. And yet, when people began texting to send me food, I felt weird about it – like if I accepted this food, I’d owe them something in return. I think a lot of women in this millennial generation were raised to believe women c...

Today I want to talk about microdosing – specifically, psilocybin mushroom microdosing – which I’ve hinted about here and there on social media and other episodes. I never did mushrooms or LSD before stepping into this plant medicine mastermind, and I understand it’s considered illegal in most states; here in Colorado, they’re in the process of decriminalizing it as of this election season. My opi...

In today’s episode, I’m with my unapologetic friend Dom Farnan: a mom, conscious leader, and founder and CEO of DotConnect, a talent recruiting company that was recently named to the Inc. 5000.  Like me, Dom’s been on an inner work journey. We met in 2020 at a mastermind retreat and Dom was near me in Peru during my experience with the Ayahuasca ceremonies.  (If you haven’t listened yet, I recomme...

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.  A few weeks ago, I was at a plant medicine retreat. I was off the map that entire week, which means I didn’t get to email and didn’t get to DMs. I was out of contact with everything. RT had a trip spanning the two weeks after my return, so since then, it’s been a lot of solo parenting. While he was gone, both of my kids got sick, and one of my boys stuck a LEGO u...