Unboxing It with Lara and Rowan

Let’s start with this: We love our kids. We really do. But does that mean we think everyone should want to raise children? Parenting is the biggest commitment a human being can make. After all, nothing changes your life more than adding another one to it—and one you’re responsible for, no less. It’s not a decision that should be taken lightly, but the messages in society strongly lean towards grow...

This episode is a milestone one - our twentieth! This little podcast we dreamed up last Spring has been a joy to create, and we so appreciate everyone who has subscribed and supported us along with all of you who’ve called it fancy things like “thought-provoking.” We want to keep this up, so if you haven’t already, please subscribe here on Substack, via your podcast apps, leave a review in one of...

Much of society thinks of retirement as the end of something important. And maybe that’s true. But what if it’s just the beginning of something… better? In this episode, Lara and Rowan chat with their longtime friend Dani Donders, who retired at age 55 (yes, we’re also envious) after a long career in the Canadian federal government and is now pursuing new creative ventures. Not only is she writing...

“If I was a good person, I would—” “If you cared about me, you would—” “As adults, we should—” “In the workplace, we need to—” Um, says who? Like it or not, enumerable expectations are built into the fabric of society. What we expect of ourselves and others plays a profound role in shaping our relationship to the world and those around us. But who came up with these social rules, anyway? And why d...

Growing up, we were largely taught there was a “normal” way of thinking, and that anything outside of that was weird and rare. In this week’s episode, we’re pushing back on that outdated narrative. From the way we see colour to the way we feel when music plays, everyone’s brain has unique qualities - so why does society push us to think and see the world the same way as everyone else? Lara discuss...

Ever feel like a failure? It’s not your fault. As so often happens, society has taken something empowering and turned it into something toxic. Life often feels really heavy and like we have to do too much or risk not being enough. Over the years, the positive belief that “you can do anything you set your mind to” has morphed into the burden of “you HAVE to do everything or risk personal failure.”...

I (Lara here today) was recently talking to a friend about how it often feels like everyone has life more together than we do. That everyone is happier, less stressed, and hitting goal after goal. The truth of the matter is that we are never seeing the full picture, that a lot more people are out there struggling than you think. That’s why I think conversations like the one Rowan and I had in toda...

Pals, we’re stoked to bring you this interview with the incredible activist and stellar human Stevie Bees! If you don’t know who they are, you’re going to enjoy getting to know them (we have links to their various sites in the show notes). Stevie joins us to talk about pushing back against the gender binary and being true to oneself. We also discuss allyship and what it means to show up for people...

Lara just turned 49 and has been thinking a lot about how 50 is right around the corner. In this conversation, we dig into people’s perceptions of aging and the fact that Lara doesn’t dye her hair (which is weird because have you seen her hair? Not a grey in sight!) We also talked about Pamela Anderson and Justine Bateman, and how they are bucking beauty standards for older women. Do you remember...

What’s the difference between arrogance and confidence? As it turns out, they couldn’t be more different. We have feelings on this topic - BIG feelings. And we’re not holding back. In this episode, we dive into what society teaches many of us about being proud of ourselves (but not too proud), how self-esteem (or a lack thereof) sets the stage, and on the importance of practicing saying “thank you...

As Rowan and Lara know all too well, life isn’t always fair. We wish it was, but since it isn’t, we tackled ways we can make the best of situations that don’t feel just. We mostly did this with butter tart and cupboard door examples, though we didn’t always see eye to eye on some key points in said examples (don’t get Rowan started on the importance of the butter tart unless you want a debate on y...

Lara here. Rowan and I have had interesting educational journeys - both for ourselves and for our children. That made interviewing Stephanie Sewell to talk about education and how it doesn’t need to look one specific way to have value something we had to unbox. During this interview (our second interview ever!) we talk about why school can feel hard for students (and why it might have felt hard fo...

Sometimes life gives us opportunities to challenge our fears, and sometimes we (well, Lara), seek out those opportunities on purpose. Did you know she performed standup comedy and joined an improv group just so she could challenge her fear of embarrassment? As we find out in this week’s episode of Unboxing It, the woman is full of surprises—and lessons. Here’s the thing: If we always play it safe,...

Layoffs. Breakups. Illness. No matter how diligently we plan out our lives, unexpected change comes for us all in some form or another. It can feel like a giant kick in the teeth, too. But these unexpected twists can often come with some unexpected gifts. This week’s episode of Unboxing It covers all kinds of advice and insight on how to navigate change. And it couldn’t come at a better time, beca...

Lara is speaking at a conference this week on a topic we immediately knew would be a good one for us to Unbox - Saying No. Non. Nej. Tidak. Hapana. It’s a word in just about every language because it’s a crucial one. (Rowan wanted to list about 40 more of them because he’s a language nerd. He would like to point out his self-restraint here.) Yet, despite its importance, the word “no” can come with...

In a world where we revere how impressive people are for doing things “all on their own” no wonder we struggle with asking for help. This week we talk about why it’s hard to ask for help, how we can start to get more comfortable asking for help, and a little bit about how we just like each other. Things we referenced Jenny Mitchell’s book - Embracing Ambition Our episode on people pleasing Transcr...

Will you look at that? Someone likes us enough to be on our podcast! Unboxing It had the pleasure of welcoming its first guest to the show: Misty Pratt, health communicator and author of the book All In Her Head: How Gender Bias Harms Women’s Mental Health . Because if there’s one thing we know about society, it’s that women are often told to take a seat. This is also true in healthcare. Misty tal...

In this episode of Unboxing It, we take a swing at the capitalist idea that rest is bad . Evil. The worst. And we’re terrible for giving in to it. How did we go from scheduled nap times in kindergarten (yeah, we miss those too) to believing we’ll never be successful—whatever that means—without two jobs, a side hustle, and a strict morning routine? Society teaches us all that productivity is king,...

My, my, my… How are we already on our THIRD episode? If you’ve been listening in so far, thank you! And if you’re just checking us out for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here. Most of us have expected nothing short of perfect from ourselves at one point or another. And why wouldn’t we? Society has done a banger of a job at making us believe it’s the most important element of success an...

SURPRISE! Episode 2 is dropping early! And it’s a doozy. If this episode on people pleasing isn’t relatable, we might be a little jelly. Like a lot of you, both of us grew up trying to make everyone around us happy at any cost. From not wanting to make others upset to trying a million different ways to make sure they kept liking us (ever try taping your allowance into a card so your best friend wo...

Welcome to the very first episode of Unboxing It with Lara and Rowan! We’re thrilled you’re here. We started out with a topic that has impacted both of us most of our lives - fatness. We think is a conversation that more people need to have. Please comment below and let us know what you thought of the episode and if you have anything to add to the conversation! Scroll down to the bottom if you’d l...