The Sparkle Project

You can love your life and family and feel grateful for what you have - and still want more. In this episode, Emily sits down with life and mindset coach Zahra Premji to talk about what happens when the life you’ve built no longer feels as fulfilling as you thought it would. After experiencing burnout and realizing she had spent years ignoring the voice telling her she wanted something different,...

If you’re a mom with ADHD, keeping up with work, kids, schedules, household tasks, and your own needs can sometimes feel like pure chaos. In this episode, Emily shares five things that have genuinely made her life easier as a mom with ADHD. After being diagnosed with ADHD in her late 20s, Emily has spent years learning how to work with her brain instead of constantly fighting against it. That has...

Does your child’s success ever feel like a reflection of whether you’re doing a “good enough” job as a mom? Motherhood can bring our own childhood experiences, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and need for external validation to the surface, sometimes without us even realizing it. In this episode, Emily talks with Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional Anuja Khad...

Motherhood can be beautiful, meaningful, exhausting, messy, overwhelming, and funny, sometimes all at once. So why does social media make it look like everyone else has it figured out? Emily Feret, mom, influencer, and author of Normalizing Normal: Motherhood Without the Filter , joins Emily to talk about taking the shame out of the parts of motherhood we’re often afraid to admit out loud. Emily s...

In the aftermath of divorce, there is a lot of newness to navigate. What does life look like as a single parent? How do I parent through grief and rebuilding? And who even am I in this new season of life and parenthood? In this solo episode, Emily shares how learning to read tarot and establishing a consistent tarot practice has helped her reconnect with herself post-divorce. From becoming a tool...

Divorce is often framed as a failure or loss. But for many, it can be a profound opportunity to intentionally reset and purposefully decide what's next. In this episode of The Sparkle Project , Emily sits down with divorce recovery coach Leah Marie Mazur to explore how divorce and other major life transitions can become opportunities to reconnect with yourself, rebuild self-trust, and create...

Becoming a mom changes more than your daily routine. For many, it changes how you see your relationships, your priorities, your career, and even yourself. In this episode, Emily talks with Yasmin Kaderali, author of Mom Your Way: Judgment-Free Wisdom to Empower New Moms and former CEO of Mommy’s Bliss, about identity changes, career shifts, and the expectations women face both at home and in the w...

Mean girl culture doesn’t necessarily end when we grow up. For many women, it just follows us into motherhood. As the kids head back to school, Emily sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Noëlle Santorelli to unpack mean girl mom culture and the relational aggression that can show up in adult female friendships, mom groups, school communities, youth sports, and even group chats. The episode exp...

With the Lindsay Clancy taking center stage in the current cultural conversation, this week's conversation is adding to the discussion about how a systemic lack of postpartum supports impacts moms, families, and society at large. In this episode, Emily explores what happens when one of the most vulnerable seasons of motherhood teaches you that you’re supposed to handle everything yourself. Em...

You spent your whole life being the woman who worked hard, achieved your goals, and built an identity around being capable. Then motherhood arrived - and suddenly the strategies that always worked stopped working.  Many ambitious women enter motherhood believing they'll simply add "mom" to everything they've already built. Instead, they find themselves questioning their identit...

Have you ever wished life felt a little lighter? In this episode, Emily is joined by Morgan Jackson, founder of Light 56, to explore how small, intentional habits can help you experience more joy, gratitude, playfulness, and peace in your everyday life. Morgan shares the mindset shifts that transformed her own life after a difficult season and explains why feeling lighter isn't about doing mo...

Summer is supposed to feel fun and relaxing... so why does it often leave moms feeling completely exhausted? In this episode, Emily is uncovering the invisible labor of summer as a mom. From planning vacations and coordinating childcare to carrying the mental load of keeping everyone fed, entertained, and happy, summer often creates more work and stress instead of less. If you've ever felt gu...

Many moms move through life feeling disconnected from themselves, stuck in survival mode, or wondering where their sense of self went after motherhood. In this episode, Emily is joined by Sara Putney, trauma-informed somatic breathwork facilitator, host of The Modern Matriarch Podcast , and founder of Remothering Mamas, for a powerful conversation about reconnecting with your body, your nervous sy...

Mothers today have more access to resources and information than ever before, but the result isn't necessarily greater confidence in our parenting journey. Instead, many moms feel overwhelmed by the constant input. If you find yourself questioning every parenting decision, carrying constant mom guilt, and feeling like you've lost trust in yourself, this conversation is for you.  Kaitlyn...

If you've ever felt like you need to become a better version of yourself before you deserve self-love, this episode is for you. In this solo episode, Emily shares the perspective that transformed how she thinks about self-love and why it has nothing to do with being perfect. Instead, it's about the small decisions we make every day that either reinforce self-sacrifice or build genuine se...

Motherhood changes everything, including the way we see ourselves. But what happens when the support you expected never arrives? And how do you reconnect with yourself when you're carrying the mental load of caring for everyone else? In this episode, Emily sits down with Julia Lotin, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, maternal mental health advocate, and founder of Melanin Mass Moms, to explore...

Motherhood has a way of exposing wounds that may otherwise have stayed locked away under the surface. In this powerful conversation, Emily sits down with EMDR therapist, coach, and Healing Mothers Club host Danik Bernier to explore the connection between motherhood, intergenerational trauma, and the complex process of breaking family patterns. Together, they unpack why becoming a mother can bring...

This episode is unlike any other! To celebrate 200 episodes of The Sparkle Project (formerly Worthy Mother Podcast), the microphone is turned around as Emily steps into the guest seat and opens up about the personal journey that has shaped both her life and this podcast. Joined by her friend and Mom Friends Collective co-founder Breanne Smith, Emily reflects on becoming a mother at 23, navigating...

Have you ever looked in the mirror and wondered where you went after becoming a mom? In this episode, Emily sits down with licensed mental health counselor, mom of two, and Road to Mama founder Ali Colpack for a powerful conversation about identity loss in motherhood and the hidden pressure of performative motherhood. Together, they explore why so many mothers feel disconnected from themselves, ho...

Motherhood was supposed to feel natural. So why do so many moms secretly feel overwhelmed, exhausted, resentful, anxious, or like they’re failing? In this episode, Emily sits down with therapist-trained life coach and Good Girl, Bad Mom author Dr. Danielle Dowling to unpack her groundbreaking framework: The Motherhood Setup. Danielle explains how modern mothers are caught in the collision of three...

Toxic positivity is rampant in modern society - but the flavor that comes along with motherhood is particularly harmful. In this episode, Emily unpacks the real impact of toxic positivity in motherhood and why messages like “enjoy every moment” or “at least you have healthy kids” can actually leave moms feeling more isolated, guilty, and emotionally burned out. The episode explores how toxic posit...

Why are so many moms feeling completely depleted in modern motherhood? In this episode, therapist and matrescence practitioner Vanessa Leveille joins The Sparkle Project for a powerful conversation about maternal depletion, identity shifts in motherhood, nervous system overwhelm, and the transition into motherhood known as matrescence. This discussion goes beyond postpartum depression to explore t...

Motherhood has a way of bringing anxiety, overwhelm, and unresolved trauma to the surface. In this episode, EMDR therapist Abbie Ames joins Emily to explore how motherhood can trigger old wounds, why so many moms feel overstimulated and emotionally exhausted, and how healing is possible through approaches that go beyond traditional talk therapy. Abbie shares her own journey through pregnancy loss,...

May is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, and to kick it off, Emily is sharing what she's learned from her personal experience navigating mental health in motherhood and what every mom needs to know for their own wellbeing.  In this episode, you'll hear: Why mental health struggles don’t always look the way we expect The difference between coping and actually healing Why “white knuc...

Motherhood doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and for many moms, that means navigating broken systems while also managing your own internal battles. In this episode, Emily sits down with Ciara Lyons, a nurse, mom, and founder of Her Black Wellness, to talk about the realities of maternal health, identity, and what it actually takes to keep showing up as a mother in today's world. The episode dives i...