Hello and welcome to this episode #20 and the first in Season Two of the Mother’s Quest Podcast!
This week’s guest, Kathleen Shannon, embodies the qualities of an independent, hard-working feminist. She also has this incredible generosity and openness and has impacted so many women, including myself, by sharing her experiences as a mother and an entrepreneur.
Kathleen is the co-founder of Braid Creative & Consulting and the co-host of one of my favorites, the Being Boss podcast for creative entrepreneurs. Through her work at Braid Creative and Being Boss she has helped thousands of creative entrepreneurs from all over the world authentically brand and position themselves as creative experts, cultivate confidence in their business, and blend more of who they are into the work they do.
When she's not podcasting, writing a book, or shaping her next newsletter she's hanging with her husband Jeremy and their toddler Fox.
In this episode, Kathleen reflects on the impact her mother’s total adoration and acceptance had on her, giving her the freedom to be herself along with the secure foundation to be creative and explore.
We talk about the challenges of motherhood, the profound experience of her home birth, the sleep deprivation she experienced in her first year, and the tough decisions she’s had to make to build her businesses and be fully present for her son
She also shares how she’s learned to ask for help. Her fiercely independent attitude made it difficult for her to get support from her network. But learning to lean on her support network allows her to make a passionate & purposeful impact beyond her son and in turn allowed her son to learn to love other people and experience opportunities that she alone can’t provide him.
Kathleen also shares how she invests in herself by prioritizing her health, creating white space, and owning her schedule. And, she gives us two challenges, the first to reach out to someone to care for our child and the second to spend some time with our calendars, designing our ideal week and noticing the gap between the ideal and the real.
I loved connecting personally with Kathleen and left the conversation enriched by the spectrum between surrender and control, security and freedom and a sense of excitement for re-designing my time to allow for the full range of both.
Topics discussed in this episode:
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Announcements
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Acknowledgements
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Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).
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