Mother's Quest Podcast

I'm honored to share this throwback episode with best-selling, award-winning, children's recording artist Laurie Berkner. Laurie's music bridges a divide between parents and their children and invites connection, joy and meaning. In our conversation, I was compelled by the stories Laurie shared about families whose children have cancer and listen to her music for comfort in the hospital or whose c...

Sharing this Throwback Thursday episode with Dr. Samantha Brody, author of Overcoming Overwhelm: Dismantle Your Stress from the Inside Out. She is a licensed naturopathic physician and acupuncturist, and the founder of Evergreen Natural Health Center in Portland, OR.   I invite you to press pause, to release something from your to do list today, so that you have a little more space to listen in to...

This Throwback Thursday, in honor of Transgender Remembrance Day that just passed and the memory of the five people who were killed this week at the LGBTQ+ Club Q, we reshare this episode with transgender model and activist Corey Rae and her mother Judy Blank. May the love and courage explored in this episode inspire us all to be a champion for the transgender community. If you're interested in su...

In 2015, when Mother's Quest was still a dream in my heart, I heard an interview with an inspiring mother, Jadah Sellner, on the Good Life Project Podcast. She and her partner had co-created what became in a short time a viral phenomenon and seven figure flourishing business, called Simple Green Smoothies, built on a premise: add greens to a smoothie each day and see how it could spark change with...

This Throwback Thursday episode arrives as final votes are being counted in the 2022 elections in the United States. It's a full circle moment to revisit this powerful conversation from 2017 with community activist, TedX speaker, author of the book ​​"Black Brown and Political: Get Informed, Get Empowered and Change the Game," and founder of the Powerhouse Academy, Chandra Brooks. In this conversa...

As the election in the United States approaches, I'm honored to bring back these words of wisdom from a diverse group of mothers working toward a brighter future in this special episode "Mom the Vote." Original Show Notes At the time of this episode's release, we are at a crossroads in the United States. This election of 2020 is one of the most important in our history. As activist Michael Skolnik...

In honor of Mother's Quest turning 5, all season we've been sharing Throwback Thursday episodes from the archives. I've been excitedly anticipating resharing this episode with you with actress, author of the memoir From Scratch, and now co-creator and executive producer of the Netflix series by the same name, Tembi Locke. Since the limited series release just a few days ago, From Scratch has alrea...

For this weeks' Throwback Thursday, I'm excited to do a podcast exchange with Mother's Quest member and fellow podcaster Casey O'Rourty. Casey is a positive discipline trainer and parent coach and host of the Joyful Courage Podcast. When Casey and I talked about sharing favorite episodes on one another's feeds, I knew just which one I wanted to bring to you. It's a powerful, vulnerable conversatio...

This fall, I was honored to participate as a community host for a reboot of a Zibby Owens podcast, now called Moms Don't Have Time to Move and Shake. The reflection and recording of the episode was transformative for me, shifting the way I think about my body, especially in this stage of my life, at the age of 50. I asked Zibby and team if I could share the solocast on the Mother's Quest feed as w...

This October, taking a cue from the leaves on the trees this fall season, I'll share episodes that invite us to release the societal and internal pressures that disempower and confine us in the "role" of motherhood. Let's examine them through powerful conversations with Mother's Quest Podcast guests, and then take small steps to let them go! For this week's Throwback Thursday, I want to bring back...

This Throwback Thursday, I wanted to bring back a powerful episode I released a year ago, with two mothers, Layla and Robi from the Parents Circle, who are working toward peace and reconciliation in Israel and Palestine. Alongside the release of the episode, I set an intention to raise $10,000 and to invite listeners to open their virtual doors to the Parents Circle. During these "Days of Awe" bet...

I'm honored to bring you this special part two with dyslexic writer, award winning author, entrepreneur and activist Jonathan Mooney, this time interviewed by my neurodivergent college freshman son, Ryan Neale. If you haven't yet listened to part one for a full exploration of Jonathan's E.P.I.C. life journey, I encourage you to go to that episode next. This episode, inspired by part one, was Ryan'...

"Each of us has that innate ability to attain and maintain our own optimal health – the real healer lies within." — Avanti Kumar Singh Touching on each E.P.I.C guidepost on this Throwback Thursday episode, Avanti shares how Ayurveda can become a powerful lens for living a healthy, reflective life, one where we open our minds, and tap into our own ability to provide counter-balance to the things th...

This month in the Mother's Quest Facebook Group, we're focused on the big transitions under way for our children and ourselves during this back to school season. To join the group and the conversation, visit  www.mothersquest.com/community . This topic feels especially important for me this year, because in just one week, we pack up our car to drive our son Ryan to LA to start his college freshman...

This Throwback Thursday's minisode is inspired by the photos, posts and stories from so many of you about your children's new beginnings at the start of this school year. Recorded a few years ago, it outlines my secret to a powerful start that we can share with our children…an experience called a "Milestone Hike" that I've done in person and now virtually for many years. In this Minisode I Talk Ab...

Today's show with keynote speaker, business and leadership coach and Step into Your Moxie® facilitator Sara Dean, was five years in the making and worth the wait! Sara is the creator and host of the Shameless Mom Academy Podcast, a top rated podcast with over 600 episodes and 5 million downloads.  As you'll hear her share in this conversation, Sara's biggest passion is helping women own their spac...

As I record this opening today, I'm filled with emotion because I just dropped off my son Ryan at UCLA for his freshmen orientation. Check the show notes for more reflections about this epic snapshot moment. Last night, Ryan and I stayed up late talking about what he wants to study in college and more importantly, how we hope his college and career journey will be one that lights him up.  It had m...

I hope you've been listening over the past few months to our Throwback Thursday series…episodes I'm curating from the archives for you to listen to again, or for the first time, if they are new to you. This Throwback Thursday, there were so many reasons I decided to select this episode titled "Weaving our Ancestral Threads with Genealogist Nicka Smith." First, Nicka has had some incredible recent...

I'm excited to revisit this episode with Kalika Yap, a serial entrepreneur, inventor, intentional mother, and business leader. Kalika is from more humble beginnings. She came from a big family born in the Philippines in the time of Martial Law that then moved to a low income community in Hawaii. Growing up, she had strong influences from her mother who is a teacher and her father who is an entrepr...

Last week on the podcast I shared a solocast about the power of manifestos and the many ways that we can express them. I was reminded that my first episode of the podcast, called "Planting Seeds for Mother's Quest" was a manifesto itself, an expression of where I had been, where I was headed, and a commitment for how I wanted to live my life. I decided this was a great time to reshare the episode....

Ever wanted to create a manifesto, a personal declaration of how you want to live your life? In this new solocast on the podcast, I share my story of creating manifestos, more about what they are, the many different ways that we can express them, and an invitation for you to create your own! In this Episode: The full circle moment with my two children this summer that reminded me of the power of h...

This month, in the Mother's Quest Community, we've been celebrating the power of books. It made me think about this past episode with my mother Fran and her dear friend Sandy Klasky about their then 50 year old book club. This year, the book club will be turning 55 and is still going strong, even through the pandemic.  Listen to this conversation, and you'll be inspired by the importance of friend...

This Throwback Thursday episode comes to you while I'm away on vacation at my happy place, UCLA's Bruin Woods in Lake Arrowhead. While here for the week, I've made it an annual tradition to take off all my social media apps from my phone, truly unplug, and be present. The inspiration for this came from this week's guest, Rachel Macy Stafford, whose personal commitment to putting down her phone and...

In the wake of the reversal of Roe v Wade, 49 years since women finally received the constitutional right to abortion, women across the country are rising up to have our voices heard. I knew this moment called for bringing back this powerful 2017 conversation with mother, filmmaker, author, and activist Paola Mendoza.   This interview occurred just over five years ago, months after the first Women...

For this Throwback Thursday, just after Father's Day, I knew I wanted to bring you this episode with my friend, an incredible father and podcaster at the While Black Podcast, Darius Hicks.    This past week in the United States, in addition to Father's Day, we also acknowledged Juneteenth (short for "June Nineteenth") an annual commemoration of the effective end of slavery in the United States aft...