Should Have Listened to My Mother Podcast

As the middle child of five, Ping experienced a lot of family pressure and political pressure as she was raised in China during The Cultural Revolution from 1966 through 1976. Enduring tremendous upheaval, it took a toll on Ping and her family. Perhaps because of Ping's past, she found it in her heart to stand up against society and family. Ping was there for her daughter at a number of crucial li...

My guest, Kristina, was fortunate to have at least two significant female role models in her life. One being her mother and the other, her maternal grandmother, Lucia, who was the more compassionate one. As the oldest of three children, Kristina felt that her mom was hardest on her.  She shares wonderful stories of cooking delicious Italian food with her mom, everything from scratch  and loves hav...

It was a pleasure to speak with Jessica and listen as she shared  all that she experienced as a high school drop out and single mother with a husband behind bars.   This major turning point in her life,  motivated her to complete her GED as well as complete college and law school, with honors, in order to help those similarly unfamiliar with the way the criminal justice system works.  When you hea...

As host of SHLTMM, I wanted you to know that this episode of my podcast contains some graphic or sensitive content that some may find disturbing. Gregg's podcast, "The Compulsive Storyteller" which can be found where ever you listen to podcast, is Gregg continuing the art of telling stories handed down from past generations. Worth a listen for sure. (Link is below.) When Gregg was a little boy the...

Kathryn was born in the Himalayas. However, both her parents were English and had the same desire of "going out to India, spreading the Gospel message and serving the poor," explains my guest. Living in Vienna as a young girl, Kathryn remembers her parents taking in refugees who were seeking political asylum and it was normal to have refugees sleeping on their floor regularly. These memories had a...

Christen Horne refers to herself as a nerd, geek and gamer. She's a big fan of reading and loves Star Wars. As an accomplished singer, she received her Masters in Opera Performance. In addition to the entire family being singers and musicians, archery became a big part of their lives as well.  When Karla, Christen's mother, was in high school she became the California State Champion Archer and the...

 Erik has always loved music, performing, dance and laughter. He didn't like school. Erik's mother, Gerri, was very clear from the beginning  on how exactly he was to get through high school. As an english teacher, she knew the benefits of a great education and wasn't about to let him slip through her fingers. Nor was she going to take any part in his decision to not get out of bed, which meant, s...

Pat, my guest's mom, grew up in Washington state. Because her parents had divorced wen Pat was a little girl, Pat spent the school year with her mother on the coast of Washington and summers with her father in the eastern part of the state. Pat learned independence starting at the early age of five years old as her parents  put her on a train by herself, back and forth across the state.  This part...

Clare was born in New York City yet her parents were originally from Ukraine. Rich is a very warm and caring son. Looking back, Rich would like to have asked his mom "what she was so worried about all the time." Looking back, my guest also has regrets for his mom's lack of happiness and wellbeing. As a teen he was more concerned with himself than the welfare of his mom. In hindsight,  he wishes sh...

Montes De Oca translated from Spanish means "mountains of Oca or bird similar to a goose" -from an area in the Basque region of Spain in the north central mountains, and that is where Carlyn's family originally emigrated from. Carlyn is a first generation Mexican American who was raised in California. It wasn't until she took a DNA test in her 50's, just to see what her more specific lineage was,...

Sondra was a elementary school teacher and loved by her students but, at home she and her second husband loved to argue.   When asked how, at such a young age, did Jonathan have this wisdom and where-with-all about alternative therapies for healing his depression and suicidal tendencies,  he mentioned "seeing my very shy sister being hypnotized by my uncle, who was a hypnotist,  into thinking she...

Samara  was born in in Baltimore, MD and lived in Jacksonville, Fla. till she was  25. At that point, Samara moved to Northwest North Carolina. At a young age, Samara envisioned her life quite differently, especially in the kitchen. This is where the story begins.... "Marilyn didn't talk about her childhood very much because she doesn't have much that's positive to share, continues Samara. "When s...

Lynda Huffman left the corporate world after decades of working in medical sales. At this point in her life she wanted to concentrate on what made her happy -interior design. For over 30 years, she'd been designing and decorating on the side and now she's created the "Let's Decorate App" to help anyone and everyone have an easier time at what can be an overwhelming task-fixing up their own home.  ...

Therapy Twins Joan and Jane were raised in Connecticut. Both of the sisters are former nurses and their background and life experiences are varied and complex. Just to set up the relationships-Jane is two minutes older than he twin Joan. For most of their lives, they've always  been referred to as  as 'Jane and Joan', so now they like to refer to themselves as Joan and Jane.  Lori, their older sis...

Amy is a former non fiction writer, journalist, speechwriter who's now concentrating on fiction, including mystery, romance and young adult works. Her most recent books are "The Potrero Complex" and "The NIghthawkers." (Please check on Amazon and/or Bookshop.org to  find her books). Gloria Felice, Amy's mom,  was a perfectionist layered with chronic anxiety and perhaps a lack of self confidence. S...

My guest was born in Spain, in the Canary Islands. His father was from Austria and his mom from Chicago. The two met in art school in Vienna. Wenzly speaks English, German and Portuguese. As Wenzl explains , his earliest childhood memories are of him being wrapped/strapped to his mom's back while she  painted for hours on end. "She a very dedicated artist," shares McGowan. "Her work ethic, her lov...

Tammy Haddad  most recently finished teaching 5th and 6th grade and she likes to think that she knows what kids are into these days.  My guest is also the host of the "Cozy Rainbow" podcast which is geared for kids 10 years and up. As the  oldest of four siblings, Tammy says "I definitely get my drive from my mother. My father says "all my good qualities are from my mom." Though Tammy grew up in L...

Chris's mom, Yun Cha, and dad met at the grocery shop that she and her sister owned nearby to the US military base. After years of  moving base to base in the US and Europe, Yun Cha still in her twenties, moved  back to the United States with her family where she was trying to immerse herself into the American culture. After time,  trying to hold onto both cultures simultaneously, speaking Korean...

I truly enjoyed my conversation with Naveen. Even with  all of his accomplishments, he's very humble and unassuming. When speaking about his mother, he fondly recalls stories of how his mother ran their household. Don't forget, at this time in India, women did not work. Their role was to make sure the home was well kept  with generations of family members all living under one roof.  Naveen's fathe...

Dropping out of college at 21 to marry her high school sweetheart, getting divorced with 4 children, having to get a job in the 70's, -that's a lot for anyone, let alone a single woman. Marilyn, Suzy's mom, was an only child born in Jefferson City, MO in 1929. She was raised by her doting parents making sure their beautiful daughter had everything she needed or wanted. My guest recalls  "my mom wa...

After working in the financial services industry  for decades, Lisa Taitt-Stevenson left the corporate world to help the world.  Lisa strongly believes that "life should not be lived within the box, or outside of the box, life should be lived as if there is no box." She has pursued her calling as a Life Coach,  podcast host, author and motivational conversationalist, "planting seeds of self-love o...

My guest, Greg Shaffer, the 2nd oldest of the four boys, is the founder and president of The Shaffer Security Group based in Texas. He is a retired FBI tactical instructor, active shooter expert,  counter terrorism team trainer  and more.  Greg is the author of the best-selling book, “Stay Safe – Security Secrets for Today‘s Dangerous World”. Considering his background and busy schedule, Greg coul...

Musicians and songwriters are storytellers. And Jackson has been writing songs since he was about 12 years old. His debut single, "I Love you Mom" is a belated birthday gift to his mom. He wasn't going to record it in his next studio session but his coworkers insisted, and here we are. Over the years and decades of working in the radio industry, I've interviewed hundreds of musicians. Jackson is u...

All we need is one special person in our life to change our destiny. When Irina mentioned that her grandmother had taught her to sew, I knew there was something very telling about her maternal role models in her life.  Irina introduces us to her mother, Etya and Grandmother Beyla, who was a seamstress. Unfortunately, Etya's father died when she was a young teen in Russia. Etya was born and lived i...

'The Freedom Flights' from Cuba to the United States took place between 1965 and 1973. The Cuban Government agreed to allow America to transport fleeing Cuban families, with relatives in the US,  to Miami. In 1967, Maria, her brother  and her parents were among  the hundreds of thousands that fled to start a new life in America. Because the family was sponsored by a New Jersey business man, they s...