My vibrant friend Vera Marcinko is this episode’s guest of honor. As a doula, Vera is a birth and postpartum mentor who shares her own postpartum journey, and its effect on her health, her marriage, and her identity. There’s something in this episode for everyone., as we go wide and deep, covering:

+Why community is crucial for humans, especially in pivotal life moments

+What you can do if you feel unsupported as a partner, a parent, a friend - or just a human in general

+How to connect with yourself and others

+How to navigate intimacy as new parents

+What constitutes true intimacy

+What to do when you feel stuck/powerless/alone

+How approaching partnership, parenthood, and life from a place of understanding changes everything

+How to fill your own cup, especially as a caregive

Why you should prioritize patterns over perfection

A very meaningful and helpful episode.

Find Vera on Instagram @thespanglishdoula or @dlnvera

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @the_nativist

Visit https://clearstem.com/?ref=eubxjtws and use code WHITNEYRICHARDS for 15% off!

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

+We Can Do Hard Things Podcast: Find Healing In Your Partnership and Balance Inequality in Your Home with Kate Mangino

+The Breathing Cure: Develop New Habits for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life

+@theteachermomma on Instagram

In this hard-hitting yet cozy episode, I sit down with the SheEO herself: Sheena Daniels. Sheena is a podcast host, businesswoman, yoga instructor, and female empowerer. She shares tough lessons she’s learned upon getting a divorce and leaving the LDS church. We also get into:

• how to connect with yourself and your kids

• how to empower yourself and your kids

• how to reduce shame and guilt

• how to learn to trust yourself

• how to use your body as a healing tool

• the power of the pause and the necessity of stillness

• how your mistakes are your entry points for connection

• how to make your mess your message

It’s good. Oh, so good.

Find Sheena on Instagram @shelyfe, and listen to her on Pivot and Pursue, the podcast she hosts with Britney Neibaur

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @the_nativist

Visit https://clearstem.com/?ref=eubxjtws and use code WHITNEYRICHARDS for 15% off!

This is a special episode because it features a special person: my close friend Melissa Curtis, who shares her experience having a medically-complex child. She tells us the progression from first receiving the unexpected news, to adapting and navigating her new reality. She discusses how she maintains perspective, and suggests things for us all to remember, no matter our situation. Melissa has a way of navigating life with such poise, grace, awareness, and resolve. Get ready to be inspired.

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @the_nativist

Visit https://clearstem.com/?ref=eubxjtws and use code WHITNEYRICHARDS for 15% off!

xx,

w

As we’ve hopefully come to recognize now, there are multiple ways to be and to live, and motherhood is no exception. To me, motherhood symbolizes nurturing, loving, and life-giving.

In this short solo episode, I explore the various manifestations of motherhood, beyond the traditional sense. I outline ways one can be a mother, ie a life force, without children of one’s own (so to speak). I reveal my own experiences with pregnancy and motherhood (something I haven’t previously publicly shared), and my current thoughts on potentially being a parent myself.

Thank you for listening.

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @the_nativist

Visit https://clearstem.com/?ref=eubxjtws and use code WHITNEYRICHARDS for 15% off!

x,

w

Love. Communication. Discipline. Respect. Resilience. Adaptability. Empathy. Humility. Tenacity. Curiosity. Patience. Consideration. All key words for parenting and for life, and how you apply them matters.

In this episode Byron + Ashley Hunt share how they fostered healthy cohesion while nurturing individual empowerment  - for themselves + their kids. They reveal how they became a close family team that shows up for each other in every way.

They tell us what made the difference for them in cultivating a family that genuinely respects + supports each other.

Their approach contains heavy-hitting life lessons for ALL of us. Worth listening to even if you’re not a parent. Worth listening to if you’re a human who values connection.

Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram @the_nativist

The books we reference in the show:

• The Boy Crisis: Why Our Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It by Warren Farrell and John Gray

• The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

• Way of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way by Jocko Willink

Suddenly being told to rush your “healthy” baby to the ER because those seemingly minor symptoms actually reveal a serious, lifelong condition would unnerve virtually any parent, especially if you’re a first timer.

Roman Ternus is one special girl in her own special way (you’ll see what I mean in the intro). She sparkles, she dazzles, she charms, and she inspires. She is full of life and light, undeterred by life’s curvies thrown her way. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) at only one year old, Romey learned early on how to roll with the punches. Romey and her equally lovable and inspirational mother, Jeminee, share their climb.

By listening to this episode, you’ll get even more than just a cute, motivating story from a cute, motivating girl. There are many important messages in here: accepting and re-framing life’s challenges; recognizing and leveraging your inner strength; embracing and cultivating your partnerships; accessing and channeling bravery; and respecting and heeding your intuition. You’ll also hear important signs to look for to detect T1D.

Jeminee tells us her initial thoughts and reactions, and how she sustains her strength and gratitude through the demands of caring for a child with T1D.

This episode is a story of resilience, of hope, of hope, and of gratitude, and it serves as a powerful reminder YOU are a match for YOUR mountain.

Below is the full video to the audio snippet you’ll hear in the episode’s intro (so you can really see little Romey shine!). Find this and more on Jeminee’s Instagram page: @jemified_

Thank you for listening. Thank you for caring.

-w-

The series on addiction continues. In this episode, my long-time amiga Nicholia speaks on addiction in general and alcoholism in particular. Not only has Nicholia specifically taught on the subject to her high school students, but she also personally experienced it in her home growing up (and into adulthood).

Nicholia shares her experience of having an alcoholic parent, and how that affected her own parenting. She describes how her mother’s approach to it was especially impactful to Nicholia, as a person and as a mother herself.

She tells us about the scary close call that finally led to her father’s sobriety, after doubting it would ever happen.

We discuss generational trauma and how our current habits (and addictions) impact not only us, but our posterity. We emphasize the importance of digging into the discomfort and facing your demons, to heal and prevent generational and current trauma.

Nicholia gifts us with wisdom and a gorgeous message of hope.

This episode is for ALL OF US: male, female, young, old - and everyone in between. Trauma does not discriminate. It affects far more than you might know, whether directly or indirectly, and often carries significant shame and stigma. We aim to help dissolve that.

The brave and beautiful Elise Blaser shares her personal story experiencing and healing from sexual assault, and alchemizing it into empathy and insight as a crisis counselor and parent. She is a remarkable human being

Elise and I discuss trauma’s immediate and long-term effects, and how to address them. We cover coping methods - healthy and unhealthy - and trauma’s various manifestations. We note various reasons why victims can doubt - and even unconsciously suppress - their victimhood, and how to recognize it in yourself. We tackle the damaging myths surrounding trauma.

We highlight risk factors and how to mitigate them (key for everyone to know, especially parents and caregivers), and offer resources for preventing and healing from trauma. Knowledge is power.

This is important.

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To access the Crisis Text Line Elise mentions in the episode, text HOME to 741741. The Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support via text message, and are there for everything: anxiety, depression, suicide, school.

You can find Elise on Instagram: @eliselilaa where she continually shares insight and resources on various mental health issues: trauma, body image, etc.

Image by Trey Staff (@treyshotz)

Edited by me

Back at it again with my radiant amiga Rachel Laird.

There’s something for everyone in this episode. We delve into: 1. addressing body shaming + parent shaming 2. maintaining •genuine• good vibes by honoring + learning from our emotions to cultivate self awareness 3. communicating effectively 4. maintaining your own identity while being a parent, including ALL parts of your being 5. seeking fulfillment in relationships 6. LIVING AND LETTING LIVE!