I’m honored to share this special episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast. Thank you for showing up to this important conversation about two mothers and their quest for peace and reconciliation in Palestine and Israel. Thank you for choosing to press play. 

If ever there was a year demanding us to "show up" this has been one. From COVID to floods and fires and refugee crises...our consciousness has had a lot to hold. It can be all too easy to shut down. To throw up our hands. And to say "what can I do?"

That question "what can I do?" is one I asked myself during the crisis that unfolded in Palestine and Israel In May of 2021. For days, watching the horrifying headlines, I felt powerless. Then several truths came to me and an intention to find a path to action which I shared in a FB post, like sending a wish to the universe.

The very next day, the “guides” I was looking for appeared.  In a conversation with my mother, I learned about the Parents Circle, an incredible organization of Palestinians and Israelis who have lost children or family members in the conflict, and instead of turning to revenge, come together to work toward peace and reconciliation.

Soon after, I found myself recording a conversation with Layla Alsheikh, a Palestinian mother originally born in Jordan, who lost her son Qussay at the age of 6 months old. And Robi Damelin,  an Israeli mother, originally from South Africa, who lost her adult son David while he was serving in the army.

Although today’s topic is especially heavy - one of loss and tremendous grief, Layla and Robi share their narratives with us for a specific purpose - to help us understand their experience and to support their efforts in bringing Palestinian and Israeli mothers in particular together to work toward change.

Inspired by all they shared with me, the week after we recorded, I began to raise money toward a fund to help them bring together bereaved Palestinian and Israeli mothers of the Parents Circle.

Along the way, I’ve been moved by so many mothers who have already contributed. Mothers like Jena Schwartz, who dedicates this episode with a beautiful poem she shares at the end of this conversation. Jena was the first to donate and her powerful words are an invitation to you to say “yes” to this cause. 

To date we have raised $5,000, half of the $10,000 goal I set. And we have more to go. Though the height of the crisis in May has receded from the headlines, violence continues in many forms, and the path for peace and reconciliation is needed more than ever. 

I ask you to listen with an open heart, to follow the links in the show notes to learn more, to contribute in any amount meaningful to you, and to amplify the voices of Layla, Robi and others like them, mothers closest to this conflict. They are a key to any path forward.

In this episode we talk about:

• The experiences of two mothers Robi and Layla - one Israeli and one Palestianian -  who lost children in the conflict and turned their grief into a quest for peace and reconciliation.
• The tremendous power of listening to bereaved mothers’ stories. 
• How Robi and Layla each got involved with The Parent’s Circle, an organization of Palestinian and Israelis that brings bereaved parents and family members together in solidarity. 
• How you can help support the Parent Circle and promote peace and reconciliation among Israeli and Palestinian families.
• The importance of not importing the conflict into our own countriesWhy we shouldn’t position ourselves as Pro-Palestinian or Pro-Israeli but Pro- Peace.
• How Robi and Layla sustain themselves and find continued hope, even in their loss. 
• Opportunities to get involved and how we can specifically support the mothers of the Parents Circle to come together. 
• Poet Jena Schwartz’ powerful poem “The Undefended Heart” and an invitation to contribute. 

This episode’s challenge: 

Both Layla and Robi challenge us to join them in fighting for peace instead of violence in the following ways: 

1. Contribute to the fund to help them bring together Palestinian and Israeli mothers
2. Invite representatives of the Parents Circles to your groups, synagogues, churches, mosques and organizations to share their story. 
3. Follow the work of the Parents Circle and participate in their educational and awareness-building opportunities
   
   

About Layla:

Layla Alsheikh was born and raised in Jordan. She had a peaceful and normal upbringing and graduated with a degree in accounting and business management. She eventually met her husband in Jordan 1999 and moved to Bethlehem, where her husband lived for the wedding. However, a few years later tragedy struck her life.  

In 2002, her 6 months old son, Qussay, became ill and Israeli soldiers prevented Layla from taking him to the hospital for more than five hours. Qussay soon died from the lack of timely treatment.

Layla joined the Parents Circle in 2016. Following her son’s death, she never thought of revenge, but rather has devoted her time and energy to ensuring a better, more peaceful future for her children.

About Robi:

Robi Damelin was originally from South Africa and came to Israel in 1967. She originally came to Israel as a volunteer after the “Six Day War”. Her real plan was to live in the states but after spending time in Israel she developed a love-hate relationship with the place. She eventually got married and had two kids here.

Unfortunately, Robi’s son, David, was killed by a Palestinian sniper in 2002 while guarding a checkpoint near a settlement during his army reserve service. She speaks to Israelis, Palestinians, and audiences all over the world to demand that reconciliation be a part of any peace agreement. Robi was named a 2015 Woman of Impact by Women in the World.

Follow Robi: 

• Website
• Twitter

About the Parents Circle

The Parents Circle – Families Forum is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization made up of more than 600 bereaved families. Their common bond is that they have lost a close family member to the conflict. But instead of choosing revenge, they have chosen a path of reconciliation.

American Friends of the Parents Circle – Families Forum shares the human side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the American public in order to foster a peace and reconciliation process.

The Parents Circle Policies:

• We work towards an end to violence and towards achieving an accepted political agreement.
• The members of the Parents Circle oppose the Occupation and believe that it is possible to end the conflict.  They wish  to influence the public and in turn, decision makers, to choose reconciliation and the path of peace over violence and war.  
• Our goal is to create a framework of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians to support any political peace agreement.  
• To prevent further bereavement and to avoid the use of bereavement for further violence and retribution.  
  

Connect with the Parents Circle 

• Website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Youtube  

This Episode is Dedicated by: Jena Schwartz 

Jena Schwartz is a writing coach, poet, and activist in Western Massachusetts whose work is deeply rooted in Jewish values. As a mother herself, "The Undefended Heart" emerged as a prayer of sorts out of her own yearning for peace in the face of so much injustice and suffering in Israel/Palestine.

Connect with Jena:

• Website
• Facebook 
• Twitter 
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Additional Reading/Listening:

• Mother’s Quest Blog Post which introduces the Mother’s Quest Fundraising Campaign 
• Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine - Book recommended by the Parents Circle to better understand the conflict
• Ep 55: From Grief to Advocacy and a Circle of Mothers with Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton - Episode referenced which also explores turning grief into action and healing.

Special thanks to Shehla Sa Ni, Kris Zarnoch, Jen Fornal, and Bear Beat Productions for their help and care in editing this episode

“Swirling in a sea of uncertainty

My voice, tenuously found over the last few years, silent again

I don't know enough, I tell myself

But deep down, feel this to be untrue

In the quiet of my late-night scrolling, searching for answers I never find, instead I reveal some truths within.

We are all deeply connected

The harm to one mother and her child is harm to every mother and every child, regardless of our differences

A history of oppression and casting out can never justify more of the same

Extremism in any form becomes a cancer

Silence and doing nothing is a choice. A choice I cannot make.

So I will remember I am not alone

There are guides all around me

And ways to make an impact that will reveal themselves

If I just take the first step.”

Julie Neale

FB Post
May 17, 2021 

I’m honored to share this special episode with a woman who has been an incredible source of wisdom, support, and guidance in my life, a mentor and teacher who has helped me claim the “mystic” in me, Lindsay Pera.

Lindsay and I connected in a magical way at a group dinner in San Francisco about four years ago. Though she was seated at the other end of a long table, she came up to me before the evening ended to say “I have this feeling I’m supposed to talk with you!” We had a delightful conversation and parted ways. But several months later, when my youngest son Jacob received a Lyme disease diagnosis, I searched in one of my Facebook groups for someone who had experience with the disease, and Lindsay’s name popped up again and again.

I reached out to her for guidance and after an almost two-hour phone conversation, I learned about how she discovered she had chronic Lyme disease and had passed it along in utero to two of her children. I hung up with tremendous admiration for her motherhood journey, a plan of action to navigate Jacob’s care, and also knowing that Lindsay would become a trusted resource in my life.

Blending strategy honed from her career as an analyst at Accenture with her intuition as the founder of a new paradigm business called the Modern Mystics Institute, Lindsay is a source of inspiration and guidance for so many others like me. We all benefit from transformational courses she has created like the Journey to Right Livelihood which you’ll hear more about, her books the Mystics Path and the Mystics Almanac, the Mystics Oracle Deck she created with her partner Sarah Love and her membership community, the Mystics Society. 

The idea that we can care for ourselves and the children in our lives, even through significant health and developmental challenges, and do work we love, blending all the parts of who we are, stepping into our leadership and legacy, and finding magic and gratitude along the way, is something Lindsay demonstrates herself. And she illuminates it all for us in this conversation.

From her decision to move her family to a multigenerational homestead and creating the Modern Mystics Institute, to how she’s navigated having chronic Lyme and now long-haul COVID, this discussion is a beautiful weaving of all the ways Lindsay slows down in her life to manifest and notice what she’s grateful for, even when things are difficult. Her gratitude practice, which she started in a “spark moment” when she found beauty in the sunset during one of her darkest days, begins its 11th year of 365 days just as this episode is being shared.

I was so grateful for this time with Lindsay. I hope you’ll find time to slow down and listen to this beautiful conversation, so you can find strands of what Lindsay shares that are meant for you, and that help you weave some new magic and meaning in your E.P.I.C. life.

Connect with Lindsay

• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook

Lindsay’s Bio

Lindsay's corporate career encompasses management consulting, financial services, and technology. She began her career as an analyst in Accenture’s technology strategy practice and then transitioned to a $2 billion insurance company to help drive pivotal IT transformation.  In 2004 she left Silicon Valley and moved with her family to a beautiful multi-generational homestead on the Central Coast of California. 

Lindsay wants to live in a world where appreciation flows freely, kids play outdoors and lemons are in season year round. As a Mystic mama, tech entrepreneur and intuitive strategist she's a sought after contributor and motivator on all topics health, wealth and transformation.

When she is not extolling the virtues of “Sacred Commerce” or “Resonance” based business, you can find her knocking almonds and generally getting her gratitude on.

Lindsay's new paradigm business community, The Mystic’s Society, is a safe haven for entrepreneurs weaving magic into their *work* in the world. It is her passion to direct resources into the hands of entrepreneurs, creatives, and world changers.

Find out more about Lindsay's private consulting at Lindsaypera.com or join in the magic at MysticSociety.com.

This episode is dedicated by: Selina Davis

Selina Davis is the founder of Trillium Consultancy and Spectrum Mother, both of which are emerging communities dedicated to connecting caregivers virtually in respite and retreat offerings, as well as training and supporting parents to become advocates. 

Selina is a cis-gendered woman, a woman of color, mother, social justice advocate, and former social services clerical administrator. She parents a teenage son with profound neurodiversity and who also has an additional diagnosis of intellectual and developmental delay, as well as mental health challenges. Selina has also earned certifications and education-based degrees specific to advocacy.  

 Selina is truly passionate about children, women, and caregivers and believes it’s time to start supporting one another by hosting virtual and in-person retreats. She continues sharing her message through her podcasts, “The Parental Advocate Strategist” and “Strong as a Mother”. She is also running a series called 52 Weeks, 52 Caregivers which aims on showcasing the stories of a caregiver each week. 

You can connect with Selina on Facebook and Twitter. Don’t forget to join her community on Patreon and to sign up for her upcoming virtual retreat by clicking this link, as well as her SPECial EDition Training and Strategies Hub!

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• The sacred trinity of mothers who raised Lindsay: her biological mother, her stepmother, and the woman who cared for her daily while her mother worked as a trailblazing leader at Hewlett Packard
• The internal voice that said "this is killing you" every time Lindsay walked out the door to her fast-paced management consulting firm 
• The chronic Lyme diagnosis that Lindsay discovered after her third child was born with serious neurological issues.
• A moment of total defeat that transformed into a moment of gratitude and a daily gratitude practice that Lindsay has maintained for over a decade.
• Lindsay's family's journey of healing from COVID and what was different for her this time on the "spiral" or "nautilus" of coping with chronic illness.
• Lindsay's perspective about how to apply ancient learning traditions for modern times without appropriating, capitalizing, and extracting.
• The annual program Journey to Right Livelihood, rooted in the Buddhist tradition, that helps us identify our soul purpose and path, sacred commerce, and our leadership and legacy.
• As we grapple with current crises, like climate change, Lindsay's belief that we all came in for these times.
• The importance of tending to our "taproot" placing ourselves at the "center of our rings” and her "YOU" acronym for building connections.
  
  

Resources and Topics Mentioned:

• The Mystics Path
  
• Journey to Right Livelihood a powerful program that includes live masterclasses, an instructional portal with videos and resources and a private FB community during the 8-week course. This is my affiliate link and if you participate in the program, you will also get a special Mother’s Quest bonus. 

This Episode’s Challenge:

Next time you are feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or despondent about what you are facing in our world, slow down to allow yourself to see, feel and experience what you’re grateful for and take the next aligned step from that place.

The Mother’s Quest Marketplace

I’m excited to share about a new resource on the website, where I’ve curated a collection of my favorite courses, products, books, and more, all created by Mother’s Quest members or podcast guests. From Lindsay Pera’s Journey to Right Livelihood, which you’ll hear more about in this episode, to my own recently published book the “Mother’s Quest Inspiration Guide,” I hope you’ll find something on the Marketplace page that will light the way on your epic life journey. Visit www.mothersquest.com/marketplace to take a peek!


Journey to Right Livelihood (JTRL)

Led by Lindsay Pera...JTRL is a powerful program that includes live masterclasses, an instructional portal with videos and resources and a private FB community during the 8-week course. As a Mother’s Quest affiliate partner, I’ll be offering a special bonus if you participate in the program. And I’ll be there right alongside you, learning and stepping more fully into my Right Livelihood. Join us if this calls to you!

More about Journey to Right Livelihood

Right Livelihood IS for you

Do you ever tell yourself that you simply can't make money doing what you love?

Do you sometimes feel as though you can have financial success OR you can be happy, but you can't have both?

Do you believe that you must sacrifice one for the other because they are mutually exclusive?

We see it all around us, don't we?

• People staying in careers they hate
• Stuck in chronic patterns of lack and scarcity
• Overworking and overwhelmed as they watch their health and happiness deteriorate
• An overarching outlook in our Western Culture toward the "bottom line" at the expense of people, our planet, relationships and our values

It's time to shift these myths

It is your time to claim...

Purpose, Path, and... Right Livelihood

Calling together a circle of women (and men)

• On the next step of their life evolution (expansion) journey
• Who feel, deeply, that there is more for them in this life
• Who are looking to create a stronger alignment between their work and their inner calling
• Willing to make meaningful changes with meaningful actions
• Seeking a community full of support and powerful guidance

Sign up through the Mother’s Quest Affiliate link here.

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

I’m honored to share this special episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast, an interview of  me, led by Mother’s Quest member Sneha Jhanb for her YouTube Channel Shift2Prosperity. In our conversation, Sneha helped me reflect on my Mother’s Quest journey, how that led me to writing my first book and lessons learned along the way.

"The Mother's Quest Inspiration Guide Vol 1. Engage" officially launched on Sunday, with a book-signing at my favorite local book store Reach and Teach and a reception at our home afterward. The experience itself was what I call an "epic snapshot moment." 

My son Ryan introduced me with humor and heart, my husband Chris took video (and remembered to bring pens for signing!) Jacob sat next to me and tapped my shoulder throughout the reading to tell me things! And I got to look out at a lovely gathering of friends and Mother's Quest members who asked thoughtful questions that helped me make meaning of my experience.

Special thanks to my friend  Remee who helped me with the book throughout the process and came to take photos.

An especially sweet element was the chance to showcase the books of other Mother's Quest members who created Tiny Books and to share the event with two of those authors, Jenjii Hysten, Heather Anderson. Lena Velasquez, Leslie Tagorda and Cameron Miranda were there in spirit.

I'm so grateful to Alexandra Franzen and  Lindsey Smith of the Tiny Book Course for guiding me to becoming an author with ease and joy. I'm grateful for every podcast guest, guide, and community member who has enriched my life on this E.P.I.C. journey the last five years and whose wisdom is infused in the pages. And I'm grateful to my family for inspiring me every day to become the fullest version of myself.

Hope this moment of gratitude, and the interview that follows, might be a nudge for you to say "yes" to a dream of your own or invest in yourself in some new way.

If a dream inside you is to become an author...The Tiny Book Course begins again in September and registration closes this Friday, August 20th. I'll be working on Vol. 2 (and maybe a children's book with my kids!) and would love to create and celebrate alongside you. Feel free to reach out for more information or visit this link. There are also packages available that provide more one-on-one support for your book creation. 

I am filled with gratitude. Especially as so much in our world is challenging, it’s powerful to celebrate the goodness in front of us and the responsibility and possibility to make an impact. I hope this tiny book has big ripples.

About Sneha Jhanb

Sneha Jhanb is an Engineer turned Spirit Junkie.

She is passionate about making small changes to see bigger impacts in her life as well as every life that she touches. She likes to empower her tribe with her experiences, knowledge, and tools in mindfulness, financial services, energy healing and stress management to help them find stress-free prosperity. She regularly posts self-help videos, meditations, tarot and oracle readings, and more. With her, you will find all things practical and all things spiritual, all created to help you lead a conscious and prosperous life.

Get a FREE chapter of her book "Stress-Free Prosperity: A Mindful path To Joy, Abundance and Wealth" here: https://shift2prosperity.com

Follow Sneha Jhanb 

• Website 
• YouTube
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

Tiny Book Course

• Tiny Book Course - Begins 9/1
• 2021 Enrollment Closes August 20th!

Have you dreamed about writing a book? But you don’t want a “DIY” experience. You want to hire the best in the business, work with seasoned pros, and receive the highest level of support. This is for you. Learn more here.

Book Production Services

If more support is what you are looking for, you may want to explore their Book Production Package which includes copyediting and proofreading on your book manuscript, interior layout, and cover design to create a stunning book that you’ll be proud to share—and sell!

Learn more here. 

This Father’s Day 2021, many of us are re-emerging and with so much change, I find myself wanting to return to words of wisdom that can ground me during this time of transition. Rather than recording a new episode with a father this year, I’m putting together an episode to highlight my favorite insights from fathers I’ve interviewed since the podcast began. So stay tuned for that episode coming out soon. In the meantime, I wanted to re-release this full interview with my very own father, David Lieberman, with a dedication by my son Ryan, whose voice no longer sounds anything like this. Though so much has changed, the words from the dedication and the interview itself feel as true and powerful as ever. Sending love to my own Dad this Father’s Day and wishes for all of you to discover or rediscover connection and inspiration from the fathers and father figures in your life.

Much appreciation,

P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

Original Show Notes

Love of Family and Pursuing our Fate ~A Father’s Day Special~ with David Lieberman

What an honor it is to bring you this episode with my own father as one of two I’m having with men on the podcast this month in honor of Father’s Day.

Two things sparked my interest in having my father on the show now…first, a desire to feel more connected to my grandmother Molla, my father’s mother, who passed away years before I was born from pancreatic cancer. I wanted to hear from my Dad about his experience of his mother, how she shaped him, and the ways he notices her spirit living on in us today.

Related to this, I recently went to a workshop to learn about uncovering our family ancestry and at that workshop they discussed the power of oral histories. My Dad is a storyteller and I wanted to use this amazing platform to capture his stories and life lessons, for me, for my children and the Mother’s Quest Community.

The episode is an exploration of my father’s E.P.I.C. life, how his mother’s passion as a voice and elocution teacher shaped him into the powerful speaker and human being he is today, the moment he first saw my mom when she was just 11 years old, how he built a career and a family, and a love of golf to help him cope with the effects of Type 1 Diabetes. And, how he views love of family and the pursuit of fate as a theme that runs through it all.

This episode’s dedication was shared by Vanessa Couto, an astrologist who considers fate and what’s written “in the stars” for us as part of her exploration and practice. Vanessa honored her father Guido with this dedication and reflected on the ways that fate, legacy, and character help us live a life of purpose.

I loved reflecting on these same elements of my father’s life in this conversation. I wasn’t surprised that there were moments that made my Dad and I laugh and cry during along the way. But, I was surprised by the insights that emerged…about the ways in which my grandmother and my father’s qualities live in me. I’ve known I’m much like my mother, but it wasn’t until the end of this conversation that I realized that the “seeker” in me, the one who is always on a quest, comes from my father.

My Dad believes that fate play a role in all of our lives, but that we must actively pursue it to fully realize it. Our challenge this month is to reflect on the moments in our lives when we chose to pursue our fate and what happened as a result. Also, to notice and seize the new opportunities and possibilities that call us to take action today in our E.P.I.C. lives.

In honor of Father’s Day, I’d like to add one more challenge that we didn’t discuss in the interview but came to me as I wrote this introduction. Seek out the father or father figures in your life to ask them about and record the stories, lessons and insights they have to pass along to this and future generations.

I promise you’ll learn something powerful about yourself and how to more fully live your E.P.I.C. life.

**Stick around till the end for some light and funny bloopers from the interview.

This episode dedicated by:

Vanessa Couto – Artist, Astrologer, and Teacher. Visit her website at www.vanessacouto.com and connect on Facebook 

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• My father’s view on fate and how it has been a thread weaving through his whole E.P.I.C. life

• The ways my grandmother shaped my father and the thing she said to him that sealed his fate for a life he loved in California

• How fate brought my father and mother together, from his first site of her receiving a drama lesson from his mother, to summers as children and teens in a bungalow colony, to 50 plus years of marriage.

• Where the seeds for his playful nature and love for his children and grandchildren were planted early in his life

• How he pursued a career in a business he built, the people he met and helped along the way, and the importance of being a person of integrity

• The impact of Type 1 Diabetes and stress on his life and how his love of golf became his remedy

• Some funny stories of crazy things that happened to him, several involving the Wall Street Journal, and one that you may want to turn the volume down on if your children are listening with you.

• The favorite toasts passed down to him by his mother

This Week’s Challenge:

There are three challenges this week:

• One from me, to look back on our lives, notice the moments when we chose to seek our fate, the impact that has had on us, and to share it with our family members
• One from my father to continue to seek out our fate, taking action on opportunities even when we’re not certain what might come from it
• And one that emerged from my son Ryan, to share this episode with the fathers or father figures in your life, let them know how you appreciate them, and explore and record their stories and lessons learned.

Other Special Episodes with the People in My Life:

• Ep 40: Live the Movie Version of Your Life with Oscar®-Nominated Producer Rachel Winter, my childhood best friend
• Ep 34: Season Two Finale: The Power of Friendship and a 50 Year-Old Book Club with Fran Lieberman, my mother, and her friend Sandy Klasky
• Ep 18: YOLO (You Only Live Once) and other Milestone Reflectionswith my son Ryan Neale
• Ep 17: A Mindful Writer’s Practice with family friend Danielle Dutton

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

Welcome to Season Six of the Mother’s Quest Podcast and this special Mother’s Day episode, which shines a light on the untold stories and far-reaching impact of mothers and in particular Black mothers. For this episode, I had the honor of talking with Anna Malaika Tubbs, the brilliant biographer of the groundbreaking book The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation.

In addition to being a mother to a 1 year old boy with another child on the way, Anna is an author, advocate, educator, scholar and Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Growing up abroad and influenced by her exposure to all kinds of cultures and beliefs, and by her own mother’s work advocating internationally for women’s and children’s rights, Anna uses an intersectional lens to advocate for women of color and to educate others.

During her time as an undergraduate student at Stanford University, Anna took from what she’d seen in her parents’ work and began honing her own identity as an activist. As the First Partner of Stockton, CA, she co-authored the first-ever “Report on the Status of Women in Stockton” to guide future policy decisions with the experiences of diverse women in mind. She’s published articles featured in the Huffington Post, For Harriet, Darling Magazine and Blavity, on issues ranging from mass incarceration to the forced sterilization of Black women, as well as the importance of feminism, intersectionality, and inclusivity. Throughout all her work and writing, she draws on her personal experience and extensive research to examine and make relevant gender and race issues in the US, especially the pervasive erasure of Black women.

In this incredible debut book, The Three Mothers, Anna celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America’s most pivotal civil rights heroes: Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin. Alberta King, Louise Little and Berdis Baldwin were all born at the beginning of the 20th century, all were forced to contend with the prejudices of Jim Crow as Black women, all forged their own unique paths, using their beliefs and talents to shape not only their children but those around them, and all three had to bury their children, two of them after losing their sons to gun violence.

In these mothers and their stories, amidst the pain and grief, there also existed vibrancy, love and conviction. One of my biggest takeaways from my conversation with Anna is the importance of acknowledging the continued injustices that Black women endure today and that although Black women continue to experience tremendous grief, they also experience joy and they are not “a conquered victim," but are living through life as whole human beings.

My Mother’s Day wish is that you will find time and space to slow down and truly listen to Anna’s insights about the mothers whose stories she so beautifully tells, that you will get and read her book The Three Mothers, and that you’ll join me in saying “yes” to Anna’s challenge. She asks that all of us advance our understanding of different forms of motherhood. Picking up books she says, especially those that focus on Black mothers and Black motherhood, can bring healing for everybody.

Much appreciation,

P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Anna's commitment to fighting the erasure of Black women's stories.
• What inspired Anna to focus her first book on the mothers of sons of the Civil Rights Movement.
• How painful moments like George Floyd's murder, and joyful moments like Stacy Abram's organizing in Georgia, had Anna editing and adding more relevance right up until the book was published.
• Anna’s decision to focus on MLK Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin as the three famous sons, and their mothers, Alberta King, Louise Little, and Berdis Baldwin whose stories she would tell.
• The lessons revealed in Anna's book that all mothers can learn from across the E.P.I.C. guideposts.
• The importance of acknowledging that Black women are "not a conquered victim" but living through life as a whole human being.
• Anna's challenge for all mothers listening to expand our awareness through reading and her hope that this book will be seen as a celebration of Black womanhood.

This Episode's Challenge:

Anna invites us to think about what we can all read to advance our understanding of different forms of motherhood. Picking up books that focus on Black mothers and Black motherhood can bring healing for everybody. The more we are informed, the more conscious we become. 

Anna’s next recommendation after finishing her book: The Power of Purpose by Alicia Garza which begins with a powerful description of the impact of Alicia’s mother on her. 

Learn More More About Anna:

Anna Malaika Tubbs is an Author, advocate, educator, and a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. Anna grew up abroad in Dubai, Mexico, Sweden, Estonia, and Azerbaijan. Influenced by her exposure to all kinds of cultures and beliefs, Anna is inspired to bring people together through the celebration of difference. Motivated by her mother’s work advocating for women’s and children’s rights around the world, Anna uses an intersectional lens to advocate for women of color and educate others.

During her time as an undergraduate student at Stanford University, Anna took from what she’d seen in her parents’ work and began honing her own identity as an activist. She served as the president of Stanford’s Black Student Union when she was only a sophomore and she was also the Executive Director of Stanford’s Alternative Spring Break. In these roles, she organized rallies and events focused on the concerns of the Black community, she fundraised money for women’s clinics in the Bay Area and grew her passion for advocacy and social justice.

As the First Partner of Stockton, CA, she co-authored the first-ever “Report on the Status of Women in Stockton” to help guide future policy decisions with the experiences of diverse women in mind.

Anna is also a diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant who has worked with companies and individuals interested in progressing their DEI goals.

Anna has published articles on issues ranging from mass incarceration to the forced sterilization of Black women, as well as the importance of feminism, intersectionality, and inclusivity. Her work has been featured in the Huffington Post, For Harriet, Darling Magazine, and Blavity. Her first book, titled The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation, is being published by Flatiron Books in February 2021.

Grab a copy of Anna’s The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation HERE!

Follow Anna:

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Anna Malaika Tubbs’ Website

Additional Resources:

• The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza
• Documentary: I Am Not Your Negro. Based on the unfinished manuscript by James Baldwin 
• Mother’s Quest Ep 55: From Grief to Advocacy and a Circle of Mothers with Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton

Announcements: It’s Mother’s Quest May!

Happy Mother’s Day! I hope you’ll seize this holiday as an opportunity to say “yes” to yourself. We’ve declared it Mother’s Quest May in our community and have so many wonderful things to share with you as the month progresses: 

• The podcast season launch with this episode
• My first publication the Mother’s Quest Inspiration Guide
• A self-guided version of the annual Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge 
• And a live virtual “Yes Day for Moms” that I’m co-facilitating with the amazing Graeme Seabrook. 

Join the free Facebook Group and sign up for email updates at www.mothersquest.com to learn all the details and come along with us during this special month.  

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Amanda Kruger Hill
Graeme Seabrook
Anne Armstrong
Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto
Sage B. Hobbs
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs
Erin Kendall
Niko Osoteo
Erik Newton
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault
Attica Locke

Support the Podcast

In loving memory of Edd Conboy, who through the gift of reflection helped me see myself so that I may also see others.

I’m honored to bring you this special bite-sized reflection from my own E.P.I.C. Life as a bonus to Season Five. 

The show has been on a pause between seasons and will begin again in May, in time for Mother’s Day. Until then, I invite you to catch up on episodes that you’ve missed, including the Season Five finale with my mentor and former colleague, Leslie Medine. The finale was dedicated to Edd Conboy, a special person who was a coach to both of us and led us for years through a process called Adult Reflection.

Edd suffered from a stroke and passed away on March 20, 2020. In my conversation with Leslie, I committed to writing and recording a love letter to Edd and sharing it on the podcast. It was therapeutic to write the letter, share it with others from my Reflection Circle grieving Edd’s loss, and to record it for you.

Thank you for listening and witnessing. I hope learning about Edd’s impact will touch you and inspire you to think about someone in your life who you’d like to honor.

Dear Edd,

As I write this, I hope that you know how loved you are. How much you are missed. And how much you have made an everlasting impact on me and so many of us.

It’s hard to believe it has been a year since you died. You slipped into a coma, just as the world was slipping into what has felt like an alternate reality. In December, I interviewed Leslie for the podcast and held space for the ways that you impacted her.

In perfect synchronicity, before I released that episode, I found an email that you wrote at the same time of year, the winter solstice 15 years ago, on the darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Your words reminded me that the light we so often seek, especially in our darkest days, resides within ourselves. Which was so fitting, because one of your greatest gifts was to create reflective space, get curious and ask a powerful, illuminating question that would help me, Leslie and so many others find our answers within.

As we reach this anniversary of your death, we are reemerging in many ways. We are also approaching another seasonal milestone, the spring equinox, which miraculously occurs this year today, on March 20th, the anniversary of your passing. Therefore, this moment that we remember and honor you, as I record this to bright sunshine and spring flowers blooming, is the moment that represents the balance of light, of new beginnings, a festival of awakening, and rebirth.

I’ve been wondering what messages you have for us Edd. What are you trying to tell us about darkness and light? About seasons? About the power of pause and reflection? About moving from darkness to light. And seeing again in new ways. 

These were the words you shared in that email at the winter solstice:

“For the last few months I have had the great good fortune to be surrounded by some extraordinary young people (some of them are on this list!).  

Gradually, they are infusing me with hope, and even a little faith.   Being with them has brought me to realize just how much I am dependent on them to make meaning of my life long after I am gone.  I am aware more keenly than ever that this moment I call a lifetime is all I have right now.  And that awareness is unimaginably liberating – a healing gift that lightens the load when I can stay in that awareness.   I hope within this expansive moment, we all have many more little moments to share, moments like glass beads for all of us to string together.”

I thought about these glass beads that you speak of...and realized they are a metaphor for what you created in our lifetime with you. You brought us clarity, you brought us connection, you instilled in us the realization that we can be and bring our fullest selves to one another, that we can love and be loved for who we are and who we are becoming. 

In your presence, I learned to hold tension, to examine thoughts and feelings, even when they're uncomfortable, so that I could see and understand myself in new ways. With your coaching, I learned that when things feel the most overwhelming, it’s because I’m holding too much or trying to hold too much by myself, and that so much more is possible when I welcome others in. You helped us realize that alone we are but single glass beads, but that we can create something of beauty and value when we come together.

Edd, I wonder if your spirit is aware somehow of the legacy you have left us. If you know that you brought us together again, some of us who had not been in regular communication with one another for over a decade. After your passing, we met on zoom every first Sunday for the entire last year, a challenging year filled with wildfires, sheltering in place, racial reckonings, and one of the most historic elections of our lifetime. We acknowledged that we could not have made it through the year without one another and without your lessons.

The last time we gathered, we honored the anniversary of your passing. We imagined a virtual unveiling of your headstone and what words we each would inscribe on it. These are the words I shared and offer to you.

In loving memory of Edd Conboy, who through the gift of reflection helped me see myself so that I may also see others.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have known you Edd, to have been coached by you, apprenticed by you, and known by you. Your legacy truly lives on in all of us.  

I’m honored to share this special finale interview of Season Five of the Mother’s Quest Podcast. Each season, I invite one person from my inner circle to interview for the finale. And this time, I knew exactly who I wanted to be in conversation with...a mentor and coach who has had a tremendous impact on the person and parent I am today, Leslie Medine. 

I’m releasing this episode on December 21st, 2020, on the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, in honor of a great coach Leslie and I had in common, Edd Conboy, who passed away in March of this year.

In perfect synchronicity, before I recorded the interview, I found an email from Edd written at the solstice 15 years ago, that reminded me that the light we so often seek, especially in our darkest days, resides within ourselves. It’s fitting, because one of Edd’s greatest gifts was to create reflective space, get curious and ask a powerful, illuminating question that would help me, Leslie and so many others find our answers within.

Leslie and I met and worked alongside one another for a decade at a youth organization she founded in Alameda, CA called Alternatives in Action, referred to at the time as the Home Project. It was there that I also came to know and love Edd, as he led us through a practice the staff would do weekly on Fridays that we called Reflection.

Known locally and nationally as an expert in youth development, leadership and empowerment, Leslie created the Home Project and countless other organizations from the ground up in her 50 years of work in the world. She ventured into the education field at the age of 16 as a founding member of the first experimental public high school in New York State. Since 1975, Leslie founded eight schools in the San Francisco Bay Area serving infants through high school students within both the private and public sectors in addition to a Teacher’s College.

In February of 2019, she retired as Executive Director of On The Move, an organization focused on the next generation of emerging leaders throughout California, culminating that chapter of her career through writing and performing an incredibly powerful one-woman show for her community called “To be Continued.”

I hadn’t connected very much with Leslie since seeing her at her show, until I received an email, just as we were preparing to shelter in place last March, informing me that Edd had suffered a massive stroke and was in a coma. A week later, he passed away. But the group of us who had come together via Zoom in honor of Edd, in the midst of the pandemic, began to meet virtually the first Sunday of each month, continuing to share stories about Edd and his impact, and keeping his legacy alive through our reflective practice. We have been meeting ever since.

One of those in our group is Dr. Amanda Kruger Hill, a youth alum of the Home Project, and now the Executive Director of the Cowen Institute and a Professor at Tulane University, who brings us this episode’s dedication.

In the dedication, Amanda shares beautifully the impact that Leslie has had in her life and frames the themes of the conversation to come. As Leslie and I discuss, “to do great work in the world, you must be known and know others.” I’m so grateful to know Amanda, to know Leslie and the principles, practices and stories that she weaves together in this episode, and to know Edd, who continues to light the way for us, and remind us how to strive for greatness, even now.

A final note about this episode. You’ll notice it’s longer than my usual ones and I also hope you’ll find tremendous value in listening. I decided there was no part I wanted to cut and also that I wanted to give you the opportunity to listen to it in its entirety, rather than releasing in two parts. So, if you have more time, find a cozy spot and a cup of tea and settle in. Or if you are more limited in your time, listen for some while, and then press pause and come back when you’re ready. Make sure not to listen with your little ones present as there is some colorful language. Seize the time and space for yourself. And let the light in.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by:
Dr. Amanda Kruger Hill

Dr. Amanda Kruger Hill is an award-winning educational leader with a deep commitment to young people’s growth and development. She is the Executive Director of the Cowen Institute and a Professor at Tulane University. 

Dr. Amanda was a design team member for BASE, the first youth-initiated high school in the United States, the Reach Institute for School Leadership, and New Harmony High, an award-winning XQ Super School. She is a former high school teacher and principal. Prior to leading the Cowen Institute, she was Director of School Reviews with New Schools for New Orleans (NSNO). 

Dr. Amanda holds her Master’s in Educational Leadership, Principal Licensure, and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Amanda received her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Johns Hopkins University. She has served as an adjunct faculty member with Columbia University, Tulane University, and Relay Graduate School of Education. She also serves on various task forces for the Department of Education. Amanda enjoys living in New Orleans with her husband, Graham, and sons, Benjamin and Louis.

Follow Amanda on Social Media:

• Twitter

• Facebook

• Instagram

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Leslie's quest was to transcend the difficulties in her childhood and be emotionally well as an adult.

• How a $200K fundraising challenge prompted Leslie to hire Edd as her coach and the running track that became a metaphor for this challenge and so much more. 

• What Leslie learned on that track: about insight following action, moving forward even if it's through tears, and that the race ends 6 feet past the finish line.

• What a great coach can do for you and why we can’t hold our own bar and jump over it.

• The difference between perfection and excellence.  

• Seeing children as our younger equals and the two things Leslie believes children most need.

• The powerful question Edd would ask Leslie when she was in the "spin cycle" that helped her connect to her own inner wisdom. 

• The difference between personal and private and personal authority vs. positional authority.

• Choosing In and Choosing Out and the bell from 1895 that became an ever-present part of Home Project culture. 

• The Practice of Reflection and the premise that emotional clarity plus critical thinking leads to effective action. 

• The Tarot Card I picked the morning of our interview, the "Unseen Card," and Leslie’s belief that all creative people start in the place of not knowing. 

• The importance of asking for help.

• The story about "The Iceberg" that Home Project youth brought to the Board of the Levi Strauss Corporation and the epic quote spoken by Casey Fenton at age 15 that emerged from it.

This Episode’s Challenge:

Inspired by the stories we told about Edd after his stroke and passing, and also by the new book of love letters by Mother’s Quest member Jenjii Hysten, to the Black men in her life, this episode’s challenge is about writing or speaking love letters of our own.

Leslie encourages us to think of a person who has had a tremendous impact in our life. If they’re not aware, let them know; if you haven’t told them, think about what’s stopping you. Reflect, then take action! She also encourages us to write to our children, telling them what we see and appreciate in them.

Learn More About Leslie Medine:

Leslie has served as school principal, fund development director, board member, parent educator, community organizer, coach, facilities developer/manager and public relations director in all of the organizations she has run. Most of these roles were happening simultaneously!

She is known locally and nationally as an expert in youth development, leadership and empowerment by funders, field experts and program directors. Her work has been documented in articles in field and research publications, in print, radio and TV outlets and in a film documentary called “We Are Here Together”. 

Leslie is known for her boundless energy, contagious enthusiasm and an uncanny ability to bring together the right people at the right time to make things happen in what appears to be at the speed of light. She has never had more than four months to open a program and get it up and running. She has always held this rigorous standard of highly effective work for other organizational leaders who have been coached by her and in over 40 organizations.

In February 2019 as Leslie was closing her chapter as an organizational leader, she wrote and performed a one woman show for her community of friends and colleagues called “To be Continued”. Its purpose was to share the personal and professional experiences that shaped her life. Currently Leslie is in the process of figuring out “re-wirement” through coaching individual leaders and volunteering time in the areas of youth-led programming, voter education for new citizens, arts-based storytelling projects as well as two short documentary films. 

If you’d like to reach out to Leslie to work with her or to learn about how you can view her one-woman show, email her at lmedine@comcast.net.

Follow On the Move on Social Media:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• Instagram

• Leslie Medine Email: lmedine@comcast.net

Organizations That Leslie Founded Mentioned:

• On the Move
• Alternatives in Action (formerly known as The Home Project)

Email Mentioned in the Episode From Edd Conboy

Dear Friends,

The year is winding up or down now – I never know which one it is – and I wanted to take a moment to let you know that you are in my thoughts, and (such as they are) in my prayers. As I went through my address book, it was a wonderful task to conjure up an image of each one of you as I added your name to this small group list.

These times, dark though they may seem, are the times we have.  For the last few months I have had the great good fortune to be surrounded by some extraordinary young people (some of them are on this list!).  Gradually, they are infusing me with hope, and even a little faith.   Being with them has brought me to realize just how much I am dependent on them to make meaning of my life long after I am gone.  I am aware more keenly than ever that this moment I call a lifetime is all I have right now.  And that awareness is unimaginably liberating – a healing gift that lightens the load when I can stay in that awareness.   I hope within this expansive moment, we all have many more little moments to share, moments like glass beads for all of us to string  together.

Here is a link to a short meditation I wrote on the shortest day of the year entitled, The Price of Redemption.  It is one of those small glass beads that I wanted to add to the string.

Be kind to yourself, take care of a stranger, and, as always, be very careful out there.

Much love,

Edd

Announcements:

Mother's Quest Caregiver Circle

Join me and podcast guest, wellness expert and mom to two daughters with rare and chronic illnesses, Nancy Netherland in our first ever Mother’s Quest Caregiver Circle!!

I am beyond honored and excited to open registration for the first Mother's Quest Circle to embark in 2021, especially for Caregivers of children who are differently-wired, have disabilities and/or unique health needs.

Doubly honored to co-facilitate with MQ Circle alum, podcast guest, and self-proclaimed "momologist" Nancy Netherland. Nancy will be bringing her first-hand experience caring for her children with wellness practices to the Circle.

Ready to invest in yourself? And find community as you start your new year? Join us!

Not for you, but know someone who might be interested? Please help us spread the word. We start next week!

I’m honored to invite you along for this conversation with my speaker coach and friend Alexia Vernon, about the responsibility we have to clarify what matters most to us and to speak our truth.

Recorded the afternoon before election day 2020, this episode arrives at just the right moment. Because no matter what comes next, we understand more than ever now the importance of using our perspectives, our stories, and our feelings, the full range of them, to deliver our message and create change.

I first met Lex during a workshop she led at Camp GLP (Good Life Project) and became instantly drawn in by her experience and presence. Branded a “Moxie Maven” by Obama’s White House Office of Public Engagement, Lex is a renowned speaking coach to entrepreneurs, coaches, and influencers who want to spread their bold ideas, grow their businesses, and advance their thought leadership. She supports thousands of speakers through her training, events, and mastermind, speaks at Fortune 500 companies, TEDx, and at the United Nations and her advice has been featured by CNN, NBC, and CBS, to name a few. She’s also the author of the award-winning book, Step into Your Moxie, the host of the Moxielicious podcast, and the creator of the popular LinkedIn Learning course, Communicating to Move People to Take Action.

Last year, I had the honor of hosting an Improv for Speakers event Lex led and then serving as an Ambassador and Affiliate for her signature speaking program, The Spotlight Speaker Accelerator. Half-way through the program, we found ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic, wondering whether our messages and voices still mattered, but showing up anyway with Lex as our guide.

Another member of the Mother’s Quest Community who kept showing up, someone I deeply admire, and one of my favorite podcast guests, is the Mom Center’s Graeme Seabrook who in this episode’s dedication shares about the impact that Lex had on helping her your voice and impact grow.
 

What’s happening for Graeme is what Lex calls Stepping into Your Moxie. She says when you step into your moxie, it means that you have the ability to walk into any room or onto any stage and speak up for yourself and the ideas and issues that matter most to you and you know that when you use your voice, you move people to take action with what you have said.

In this episode, Lex gives us so much Stepping Into Our Moxie wisdom by generously sharing stories from her E.P.I.C. life... from speaking the truth about her sexual abuse as a young child, to the ways she helps her young daughter find her voice, from the spark moment that helped her realize her calling as a speaker coach to the ways she has given herself permission to feel her feelings again and again, especially as she faces a current health challenge with thyroid cancer. 

In addition to the gift of this conversation, Lex is serving as the Mother’s Quest Ambassador in the private Facebook Group this November and leading a free upcoming virtual workshop called “Discover Your Secret Sauce as a Speaker.”

I will be tuning into all of this as I follow my commitment to Lex’s challenge for us to think about

1) What one idea more than anything we really want to be known for and
2) How we can start moving into conversations more clearly speaking up for that idea and doing it unapologetically.

I hope you’ll join me in Stepping into Our Moxie and Speaking Our Truth.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Graeme Seabrook

Graeme Seabrook is a maternal mental health expert, advocate, and community leader who helps moms remove their capes and reconnect with their whole selves. As a certified life coach and founder of The Mom Center, an online community exclusively for moms, she has coached over 2,000 mothers on how to place their names at the top of their priority list, without guilt or shame.

Described as radical, honest, and uplifting, her approach to this work includes a methodology that sits at the intersection of capitalism, patriarchy, and self-care. Her message moves beyond the traditional themes of finding balance and improving productivity for moms, and takes a 360 degree look into strategies that encourage their complete mental and emotional wellness.

Her goal is to put moms in the spotlight and celebrate them for their courage to stand boldly in the truth of who they are - as whole human mamas.

www.graemeseabrook.com

www.themomcenter.mn.co

www.graemeseabrook.com

Graeme's Episode on the Mother's Quest Podcast: 
Ep 61: Reclaiming Ourselves in Motherhood: Revisited with Graeme Seabrook

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Full transparency: what happened the first time Lex and I sat down for an interview and why I asked if we could re-record 

• Teaching our children to find their voices from a young age and how Lex’s mother helped Lex find the words to share about her sexual abuse at the age of four. 

• Lex’s moments of “speaking bliss” throughout her life and what distinguished them

• How Lex spoke her truth at an Entrepreneurial Competition where not a single women speaker was awarded and how that became a spark for her career as a women’s speaker coach

• The ways that Lex uses inquiry and growth vs. fixed mindset and the innovator’s mindset to help her daughter connect to her voice and impact

• Lex’s signature Speaker Spotlight Accelerator program, and how it helped me reconnect to my voice during the beginning of the pandemic

• How Lex sees using our voices not as an opportunity but a responsibility

• Lex’s health challenge with thyroid cancer and how it is causing her to make new meaning in her life 

• Some people nurture their own dreams in their children and the importance of doing this for ourselves 

• Giving permission to feel our feelings and how we can reframe and use our “sensations” to become more powerful speakers

• Where Lex finds community among the cohorts of women she coaches and the gift of showing up to serve other people

•  

This Episode's Challenge:

• Think about what one idea more than anything we really want to be known for and...

• How we can start moving into conversations more clearly speaking up for that idea and doing it unapologetically.

Learn More About Alexia Vernon:

Branded a “Moxie Maven” by President Obama’s White House Office of Public Engagement for her unique and effective approach to empowering women’s professional success, Alexia is the author of Step into Your Moxie: Amplify Your Voice Visibility, and Influence in the World. A sought-after speaker, coach, consultant and media contributor, Alexia is the creator and leader of multiple speaker training programs and has delivered transformational keynotes and corporate trainings for Fortune 500 companies and professional associations, spoken at the United Nations, delivered a TEDx talk on the future of feminism, and been featured by media including CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Inc., and Women’s Health.

Follow Lex:

• Website: www.alexiavernon.com
• Instagram: @alexiavernon
• @alexiavernonTwitter:
• Spotlight Speakers Salon

Resources Mentioned:

• Discover Your 'Secret Sauce' as a Speaker

• Innovators Mindset for Kids

• *The Spotlight Speaker Accelerator 

• Moxielicious Podcast

• The Episode where I reconnected to my voice with Lex's support:

A Special Mother’s Day Episode: Choose Yourself and Reclaim Your E.P.I.C. Life

*The links with asterisks above are affiliate links, which means if you end up signing up for a paid program with Lex, Mother's Quest may receive a commission or referral fee. I only ever recommend programs or services I believe in!

Announcements:

Discover Your 'Secret Sauce' as a Speaker 

Are you new-ish to your business and struggling to connect with ideal clients? Or, are you an experienced coach, consultant, or expert who is ready for more visibility?
After this virtual workshop, develop the mindset, confidence, and tools to create virtual and live presentations that get you plum speaking bookings (and clients!).

In this LIVE (and free) virtual workshop you will:

• Slay speaking self-doubt that keeps you playing small as a coach, consultant, expert, or leader
• Illuminate the idea(s) you want to be known for so you can develop soul-stirring presentations that move live and virtual audiences to take action and work with you
• Clarify the best groups to pitch based on your top business goals
• Learn how to articulate your “secret sauce” so that event organizers, meeting planners, and corporate leaders are eager to book you to speak

Join the live & FREE virtual workshop 👉 HERE!

Mother's Quest Caregiver Circle

Join me and podcast guest, wellness expert and mom to two daughters with rare and chronic illnesses, Nancy Netherland in our first ever Mother’s Quest Caregiver Circle!!

I am beyond honored and excited to open registration for the last Mother's Quest Circle to embark in 2020, especially for Caregivers of children who are differently-wired, have disabilities and/or unique health needs.

Doubly honored to co-facilitate with MQ Circle alum, podcast guest, and self-proclaimed "momologist" Nancy Netherland. Nancy will be bringing her first-hand experience caring for her children with wellness practices to the Circle.

Ready to invest in yourself? And find community as you transition from 2020 to 2021 on your quest? Join us!

Not for you, but know someone who might be interested? Please help us spread the word. We start next week!

Apply 👉 HERE!

Join us in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group   

At the time I’m releasing this episode, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, so many of us are seeking ways to connect with one another, even while needing to stay physically apart. If you identify with being a mother on a quest and you’re not yet a member of the free private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, I invite you to join us for opportunities to learn together, to share what we have to offer one another and where we need support, and to find ways to make meaning of all we’re going through right now. Visit www.motherquest.com/community to join and I’d be honored to welcome you in. 

Season Five of the Mother’s Podcast is Under Way! – Help us Spread the Word

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple’s Podcast app.
Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. …
Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault
Attica Locke
Graeme Seabrook

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

At the time of this episode’s release, we are at a crossroads in the United States. This election of 2020 is one of the most important in our history. As activist Michael Skolnik says, the election is not 7 days away. The election is now. 

What can we do in our last few days before the conclusion of the election of 2020?

Like so many of you, I am asking myself what matters most and what I can do that can have an impact in these 7 days. When I feel myself swirling, I remember I don’t have to figure this out alone. So, I reached out to you, fellow mothers and grandmothers, many of you activists, and asked for your words of wisdom. 

Ahead, I have 7 pieces of advice, reflections or calls to action, that we can all connect to for guidance and inspiration each day ahead. This is an election minisode...because I wanted these to be bite-sized and easy to digest. Please join me in taking these words in, taking action, and paying the messages forward to other mothers in your network. 

I hope this minisode has you, as it does me, ready to dig in, to connect to community, to engage in multiple ways, to vote for our children, to remember why this matters, to get the vote out with women of color and make sure their votes count, and to mother like an organizer. Together, we can do this!
#momthevote #votelikeamother #momsrising

Thank you to Jen Jenkins Dohner for the beautiful “VOTE” podcast art. Find her work, Postcards for Progress here.

Episode Highlights:

• The election is not 7 days away...the election is now and we can look to one another for how to use these days to the fullest. 
• Why it matters to dig into propositions and ballot measures you might not understand.
• Our election is not just about us as individuals, it's about us as a society.
• How we can use discernment and tap into our community to get us through. Register today for Nicole Lee’s Way Station, happening Friday to support you in that.
• 5 ways that you can get engaged through MomsRising.
• All the reasons why we should vote for our children.
• How elections can be a joyful time for families.
• The critical role that women of color voters play in this election and how we can make their vote count. Sign up here to text bank with She the People Wednesday.
• Wise advice from a life-long organizer, mother and grandmother working to galvanize voting from and for domestic workers through Hand in Hand and her Caring Majority Facebook Group.
  

Resources Recommended by Our Mother Contributors:

• The event Nicole Lee is co-facilitating:Way Station 
• 5 Ways to Help Get Out the Vote from MomsRising
• She the People
• Black-Led Organizing Fund
• California Voter Guide
• Vote411
• Lose the Cape Vol 4: The Mom's Guide to Becoming Socially & Politically Engaged (& How to Raise Tiny Activists), 2nd Edition

7 Pieces of Advice From Our Contributors:

Advice #1 - Nancy Cavillones - Dig into Ballot Measures Because They Matter to Someone

Nancy Cavillones is an indie author’s best friend and is on a mission to keep authors sane by handling the minutiae of their online presence and communications. She’s been online in some form or other since 1993, and still has the AOL dial-up tone stuck in her head. (Interested in the full history? Check out her LinkedIn.)

She enjoys taking the scenic route, forcing her kids to appreciate nature, and spending time in New York City by herself in a desperate attempt to recapture her college days. Originally from Upstate NY by way of Long Island, Nancy recently relocated to Northern California with her family from Redding, Connecticut.  Nancy is the co-editor of Lose the Cape Mom’s Guide to Becoming Socially and Politically Engaged (And Rising Tiny Activists, Too!).

Where to reach Nancy:

• The Real Nani
• Twitter @va4indieauthors
• LinkedIn @ncavillones
• Lose the Cape Mom’s Guide to Becoming Socially and Politically Engaged (And Rising Tiny Activists, Too!).

Advice #2 - Nicole Lee - Reach Out Personally to Voters, Use Discernment and Connect to Community

Nicole Lee is a diversity, equity and inclusion expert, leadership coach, nationally recognized speaker and strategist who regularly consults with nonprofits, schools, businesses and political and social movements to improve their climate for themselves and all those that they serve. She is the founder of Inclusive Life™ and co-founder of the Lee Bayard Group LLC and Black Movement-Law Project (BMLP). For almost a decade she served as President of TransAfrica, working with leaders across the globe to advocate for a just U.S. foreign policy.

Nicole is a prolific speaker who has given testimony to the U.S. Congress, the United Nations and other international bodies. She has been a commentator on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and BBC. She has been recognized for her outstanding contributions in the private and public sectors through numerous awards, including Congressional Black Caucus, Running Starts “Women to Watch”, Black Women’s Roundtable TrailBlazer, Global Leadership and the National Newspapers Publishers Association’s Press Champion Award. She is both an attorney and an intuitive coach. Through this unique blend, she has contributed to movements in the U.S. and abroad through human rights documentation, coaching and holding space in difficult situations. 

One of her proudest moments was working alongside civil rights icon Bill Lucy, the architect of the historic Memphis sanitation strike  for a national commemoration of the life of his good friend Nelson Mandela. Nicole lives in Washington, DC with her husband, political scientist Marc Bayard, children and three pets. 

Where to reach Nicole:

• Nicole Lee website
• Register for WayStation
• Facebook
• Twitter @nicoleclee
• Instagram @nicoleleeil

Advice #3 - Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner - Find Five Ways to Engage Through MomsRising

Kristin is the Executive Director/CEO and Co-Founder of MomsRising and Board President of the MomsRising Education Fund. She has been involved in public policy and grassroots engagement for more than two decades and has received numerous accolades for her work.

She is also an award-winning author of books and articles, frequent public speaker, media contributor, and host of the radio program “Breaking Through with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner (Powered by MomsRising).” Kristin is also a former political director, policy analyst, and political strategy consultant for non-profit organizations and foundations.

Where to reach Kristin:

• Moms Rising
• Facebook
• Twitter @MomsRising 
• Instagram @momsrising

Advice #4 - Kalima Salahuddin - Vote for Our Children and Have Them Join You in the Process

Kalimah Salahuddin currently serves as President for the Jefferson Union High School District Board of Education She is the immediate Past President of the San Mateo County School Boards Association (SMCSBA) were she served for two years and continues to serve as the Coordinator for the SMCSBA Equity Network.  At the County level she serves on the COVID-19 Recovery Council and the Advisory Council for the Equity initiative. She was one of the founding members of the REACH Coalition to increase equity and community health for all. She also was recently appointed to the Board of the Housing Leadership Council and previously served as a Board Member for Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco where she has been a regular site volunteer.  She is currently employed at Exelixis as a Coordinator on the Investor Relations / Public Affairs team and is mother to three wonderful adults.

Advice #5 - Jena Schwartz - Connect to All the Reasons That Voting Matters

Jena is an extroverted introvert, a lover of trees and fresh water swimming and babies and bulldogs, and a rabbi at heart. All of her works, from writing groups to retreats to individual coaching, editing, and mentoring, is devoted to creating safe and brave spaces where we get to write, share, and connect. She has been blogging as a practice since 2007. She works with people who struggle to value their writing if/when it's not "productive" or clearly "going somewhere."

Where to Reach Jena:

• Read Jena’s Full Facebook Post
• Jena Schwartz website
• Facebook
• Instagram @jenaschwartz

Advice #6 - Aimee Allison - Get Out the Vote and Make Sure Every Vote Counts From Critical Women of Color Voters

Aimee Allison is founder and president of She the People, a national network elevating the voice and power of women of color. She brings together voters, organizers, and elected leaders in a movement grounded in values of love, justice, belonging, and democracy. In 2018, Ms. Allison was one of the primary architects of the “year of women of color in politics.”

In April 2019, she convened the first presidential forum for women of color, reaching a quarter of the American population. A democratic innovator and visionary, Ms. Allison leads national efforts to build inclusive, multiracial coalitions led by women of color. She leverages media, research and analysis to increase voter engagement and advocate for racial, economic and gender justice.

Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Hill, Essence, Teen Vogue and Newsweek. In the early 1990’s, Ms. Allison earned a rare honorable discharge from the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector and works today to support courageous, moral leadership.

Aimee Allison holds a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University. Author of Army of None, she has appeared in hundreds of outlets including MSNBC, CNN, the Washington Post, Associated Press and NPR. She is building a political home for a million women of color, nationally and in battleground states. She was featured in Politico’s 2019 Powerlist. 

Where to Reach Aimee:

• Aimee Allison website
• She The People
• LinkedIn
• Instagram @aimee_allison
• Sign up for Wednesday Text Banking with She the People 
• Tune into the full conversation with @Aimee Allison on political impact and fundraising released earlier on the podcast ℅ How Women Lead

Advice #7 - Lian Hurst Mann - Remember Elections Are About Legacy...And Mother Like an Organizer

Bio coming soon: see show notes at www.mothersquest.com/podcast to view

Where To Reach Lian:

• Instagram @herwisdomgrows 
• Hand in Hand - The Domestic Employers Network
• Caring Majority Rising Facebook Group

Hello and welcome to a very different episode on the Mother’s Quest Podcast. 

Michael Skolnik, who is a political activist and friend of mine, has been sharing a series of posts on Instagram that call me to action every time I see them. The last one I saw a few days ago said this: “The election is not 30 days away. The election is over in 30 days. The election is now. Vote early.” 

Like so many of you, I’ve been asking myself if I understand that the election is now...what can I be doing to impact the election now? One thing I know I have is this platform and the Mother’s Quest Community. So, I’m committed to sharing a series of episodes to shine light on the importance of this election and what we can do about it. Last week I released a conversation I hope you’ll tune into with Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher about their powerful new book, Sanctuary, and the impact of this election on undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. 

In this episode, with the permission of How Women Lead’s Julie Abrams, I’m honored to share a powerful conversation I heard live this week featuring Emerge, Women’s Donor Network and UCSF’s Dr. Gretchen Sisson and She the People’s Aimee Allison. They both share their strategic advice for where our political giving can have the most impact right now. Unfortunately the recording didn’t begin until a few minutes in...so you’ll have to jump right in mid-stream. Be sure to connect to the link with the slides in the show notes which will help you make sense of Gretchen’s fast, furious and in-depth presentation. 

After listening, I hope you’ll consider joining me in making a political contribution, informed by Gretchen and Aimee’s analysis. And consider paying this episode forward to another woman in your network. 

In How Women Lead’s words, “This year marks the centennial of women’s right to vote. We must take action to elect leadership we can proudly call our own, who understand the issues we face daily and design policies that ensure our rights.” 

I hope this conversation helps us all to do this together.  

Much appreciation,

Julie Neale

P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

--------------------------

Political Fundraising - Demystifying the Process & Making an Impact in 2020

Originally Aired on October 6, 2020, Presented by How Women Lead

The impact of women on the 2020 election:

• Where will my political giving have the greatest impact?
• What women candidates should I back? 
• Where is my volunteer time best spent?
• What organizations are impacting the political systems where I can donate?

“Our collective impact is our greatest strength: learning from each other and banding together to act!”

This year has tested our limits and fortitude in every way. It has highlighted the flaws in the social and economic culture in our country. While we seem more divided than ever before, I have seen our sisters come together to lift one another up, hold each other’s hands, and stand strong against challenges. YOU give me hope.

Amidst a racial reckoning, gender divide, climate crisis and a global pandemic, we’re arguable facing the most consequential election of our time and women stand to lose the most. The loss of RBG has put an added responsibility on each of us to put up a good fight for everything that we hold dear. 

This year marks the centennial of women’s right to vote. Yet, shocking even this right has been put up for debate. We must take action to elect leadership we can proudly call our own, who understand the issues we face daily and design policies that ensure our rights. 

“Women’s active participation in politics is not only a human right but also a key to sustainable development and a thriving democracy.” 

We held a Virtual Vigil for RBG last week and were touched by the fire in each of you. We need to keep that fire going and show up stronger than before. 

44% of large dollar donors for federal campaigns in 2020 are women, up from 24% in 1990

Resources from this Episode:

• “No Regrets” Guide to Taking Effective Action in the 2020 Election
• Slide Presentation for Political Fundraising - Demystifying the Process & Making an Impact in 2020 by Gretchen Sisson
• Please sign up here to join She the People's virtual text bank this Sunday (Oct 11) to get out the vote in battleground states: http://act.democracyforamerica.com/survey/Text2PAV201011/
• • Anyone can join regardless of age or citizenship
  • She the People will provide all the information and script you need 
• Here are a few resources that were shared by participants:

• Latino Voter Guide
• Forecasting the US election
• ActBlue
• MoveOn
• Daniel's Guide to Taking Action in 2020

Announcements:

Ep 78: An Urgent Warning with Sanctuary’s Co-Authors Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher

I first interviewed Paola after the Women’s March of 2016, personally still shell-shocked by the election of Trump and searching to find my own voice of resistance and path to activism. Since then, she has continued to be at the forefront of social change, especially when it comes to the issue of immigration, as she has organized, demonstrated, documented stories while travelling with the Caravan and now co-written a young adult novel that is both a cautionary tale and story of hope, Sanctuary.

Hope and faith run through this conversation I have with Paola and Abby just as it runs through the poignant book they co-created, a story that paints a harrowing picture of a dystopian future, an America in 2032 that microchips its citizens to easily identify and capture undocumented immigrants. It’s also a book that illuminates resilience, strength, and the power of love.

I hope you’ll listen with an open heart as Paola and Abby share about the teenage protagonist Vali who becomes a freedom fighter, the mother who sets Vali on her quest, how storytelling builds compassion and calls us to action, and how you and I can spread this story far and wide and organize for the upcoming election. In doing so, we can shape a hopeful future and help make possible freedom and sanctuary for undocumented immigrants like Vali, like the families whose stories Paola has documented, like the mothers in Matamoros, and like our own neighbors, who help our communities in essential ways.

Listen to the Episode HERE

Let’s Renew Our Commitment to Racial Justice This High Holiday Season

I published my first piece on a topic so important. Would love for you to share with anyone you think would be open to listening and learning from these lessons/conversations highlighted.

Read the Article Here

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple’s Podcast app.
Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. …
Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

At the time I’m releasing this episode, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, so many of us are seeking ways to connect with one another, even while needing to stay physically apart. If you identify with being a mother on a quest and you’re not yet a member of the free private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, I invite you to join us for opportunities to learn together, to share what we have to offer one another and where we need support, and to find ways to make meaning of all we’re going through right now. Visit www.motherquest.com/community to join and I’d be honored to welcome you in. 

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Lilli Rey
Anne Armstrong
Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault
Attica Locke

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

In this episode, I’m honored to welcome back Paola Mendoza, along with the co-author of her new book Sanctuary, Abby Sher with an urgent conversation for this moment, just a month away from our next election.

Paola is an acclaimed film director, activist, author and artist working at the leading-edge of human rights all alongside being a devoted mother to her 7-year old son. A co-founder of The Women’s March, she served as its Artistic Director and co-authored the New York Times best seller Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard around the World.

Abby is an award-winning writer and performer and author of Miss You Love You Hate You Bye, All the Ways the World Can End, Breaking Free, Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn’t Stop Praying, and Kissing Snowflakes. Abby has written and/or performed for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Second City, Upright Citizen’s Brigade, HBO and NPR and one of her essays was included in the first season of Amazon TV’s, Modern Love. Most importantly, she says, she is the mom to three very cool kiddos.

I first interviewed Paola after the Women’s March of 2016, personally still shell-shocked by the election of Trump and searching to find my own voice of resistance and path to activism. Since then, she has continued to be at the forefront of social change, especially when it comes to the issue of immigration, as she has organized, demonstrated, documented stories while travelling with the Caravan and now co-written a young adult novel that is both a cautionary tale and story of hope, Sanctuary.

Hope and faith run through this conversation I have with Paola and Abby just as it runs through the poignant book they co-created, a story that paints a harrowing picture of a dystopian future, an America in 2032 that microchips its citizens to easily identify and capture undocumented immigrants. It’s also a book that illuminates resilience, strength, and the power of love.

I hope you’ll listen with an open heart as Paola and Abby share about the teenage protagonist Vali who becomes a freedom fighter, the mother who sets Vali on her quest, how storytelling builds compassion and calls us to action, and how you and I can spread this story far and wide and organize for the upcoming election. In doing so, we can shape a hopeful future and help make possible freedom and sanctuary for undocumented immigrants like Vali, like the families whose stories Paola has documented, like the mothers in Matamoros, and like our own neighbors, who help our communities in essential ways.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Lilli Rey of Bay Area Border Relief

Lilli Rey is a community volunteer and human rights activist. She is a founder of Bay Area Border Relief, a San Francisco Bay Area grass roots humanitarian organization whose mission is to serve and advocate for children and families seeking their human right to asylum. She is also on the board of Protect Our Defenders and is a fundraiser for Congresswoman Jackie Speier. Lilli is the mother of 4 adult children and enjoys hiking, skiing, exercising, and traveling to new places.

Follow Lilli on Social Media:

• www.bayareaborderrelief.org
• For donations:  bit.ly/BABRatPVF
• Twitter  @BorderRelief
• Instagram  @BorderProject
• Facebook Bay Area Border Relief

In This Episode We Talk About:

• The premise of Sanctuary that sets the protagonist, 16 year old Vali, on a journey for freedom to the sanctuary of California.
• The impact that Vali’s mother had in setting her on her quest and shaping who she is 
• Thoughts for how we can inspire people to be informed and care about undocumented immigrants and those seeking asylum
• Why Abby and Paola made Sanctuary under the Young Adult novel genre and how it is a story for all of us
• The ways young people like Vali can lead the way 
• Having conscious conversations with our kids about social justice issues in an age appropriate manner
• The importance of story to build compassion and understanding
• Paola and Abby’s hopes for Sanctuary’s impact
• MPP (Migrant Protection Protocol) and the devastating impact it has had on asylum seekers
• Why Paola and Abby insisted the book be released before the election and what they want us to do to get involved
• Paola and Abby’s experience collaborating on Sanctuary
• Approaching issues and activism with humility and Dr. Barbara’s Love’s Liberatory Consciousness Framework
• Lessons we can all learn from Sanctuary
• What’s next for Sanctuary…hopes for a sequel and a television series

This Episode’s Challenge:

For this episode’s challenge, Abby and Paola encourage us to:

• Get the book and read it
• Open our hearts as we do that
• Talk to our children about it and pass the book to them when appropriate
• Take that experience of how we are moved by it
• Share its impact 
• Buy the book for others
• Donate the book to our libraries or request it be purchased
• Use this as a spark to reach out to people in our own networks and communities to better understand the immigration stories of those around us

Learn More About Abby Sher:

Abby Sher is an award-winning writer and performer. She is the author of Miss You Love You Hate You Bye, All the Ways the World Can End, Breaking Free, Amen, Amen, Amen: Memoir of a Girl Who Couldn’t Stop Praying, and Kissing Snowflakes. One of her essays was included in the first season of Amazon TV’s, Modern Love. Abby has written and/or performed for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Second City, Upright Citizen’s Brigade, HBO and NPR. Most importantly she’s the mom to three very cool kiddos.

Follow Abby on Social Media:

• Twitter @abbysher
• Instagram @abbysher
• Facebook
• Abby Sher website

Learn More About Paola Mendoza:

Paola Mendoza is a film director, activist, author and artist working at the leading-edge of human rights. A co-founder of The Women’s March, she served as its Artistic Director and co-authored the New York Times best seller Together We Rise: Behind the Scenes at the Protest Heard around the World. Paola’s most recent book Sanctuary was released by Penguin in 2020. 

Paola is also a critically acclaimed film director whose films have premiered at the most prestigious film festivals around the world. Her films have thoughtfully tackled the complex issues of poverty and immigration on women and children in the United States. She was named Glamour’s Woman of the Year in 2017 and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. She is a co-founder of The Soze Agency and is a co-founder of The Resistance Revival Chorus, the critically acclaimed women’s chorus that believes, “Joy is an act of resistance.

Follow Paola on Social Media:

• Instagram @paolamendoza
• Twitter @paolamendoza

Resources Mentioned:

• Order your copy of Abbey & Paola’s book  here!
• Ep 16: Rising Up with Paola Mendoza
• Ep 07: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten
• Ep 72: Seeking Asylum is a Human Right with Bay Area Border Relief’s Belinda Arriaga
• Let’s Renew Our Commitment to Racial Justice This High Holiday Season (Kveller article by Julie Neale)
• Dr. Barbara Love’s Liberatory Framework
• The interview led by America Ferrera when the book launched

Announcements:

Let’s Renew Our Commitment to Racial Justice This High Holiday Season

I published my first piece on a topic so important. Would love for you to share with anyone you think would be open to listening and learning from these lessons/conversations highlighted.

Read the Article Here

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple’s Podcast app.
Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. …
Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

At the time I’m releasing this episode, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, so many of us are seeking ways to connect with one another, even while needing to stay physically apart. If you identify with being a mother on a quest and you’re not yet a member of the free private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, I invite you to join us for opportunities to learn together, to share what we have to offer one another and where we need support, and to find ways to make meaning of all we’re going through right now. Visit www.motherquest.com/community to join and I’d be honored to welcome you in. 

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Lilli Rey
Anne Armstrong
Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault
Attica Locke

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

It was many months ago, as the whole world was first shutting down and sheltering in place, that I sat down to a conversation with leadership coach and strategic parenting expert Heather Chauvin. As Back to School unfolds now with unique challenges for so many of us, I wanted to bring this episode to you, filled with wisdom that can help light our way...based on a question Heather asks herself…”How Good Can This Get?”

Heather Chauvin is the creator of the Mom Is In Control Podcast, a mostly solo show where she tells it like it is. She reveals her most vulnerable truths about womanhood, parenting her 3 boys, living through stage 4 cancer, navigating marriage and creating business success without burning out.

Featured on The Huffington Post, The OWN Network, CTV, Real Simple Magazine, and more, Heather draws on her experience as a former Social Worker, health advocate and inspirational speaker, giving women permission to live more, drop the guilt and ask for what they need.

It was actually a question posed to me by a friend and amazing soul Megan Baker, who was at the time battling cancer, about how we can still strive to live our E.P.I.C. life in the face of health challenges, that prompted me to interview Heather.

Sadly, Megan passed away in May. And though the episode didn’t come out in time to support her, I’m certain her courageous question and the thoughtful insights from Heather that came as a result, will help so many of us to be more present with what is and learn to receive support, as well as give, when things start to spin out of control.

As we move into Back to School in a way we never have before, I hope you’ll join me taking Heather’s challenge to ask for what we need, even if it’s uncomfortable, as we face the unknown and explore the question in our own lives “How Good Can It Get?”

Much appreciation,

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Anne Armstrong of My Gnome on the Roam

Anne is a mother, middle school teacher and out-of-the-box thinker from Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a Master’s and Ed. Specialist degree in gifted education. 

She takes an energetic, innovative approach to teaching and has an insatiable curiosity about other people and places. That’s why her middle school students call her the Field Trip Queen. 

Now a published children’s author, Anne tries to live by a phrase coined by some of her brilliant students and borrowed with their permission: “Make your life a book worth reading.”

She also is the creator of My Gnome on the Roam, a brand of toys and tools designed to help busy families build adventures into their busy days.

Anne invites you to a free 5-day homeschool challenge and get your kids (and yourself) excited about the year! Click here 👉 Gn-Home School Challenge to know more!

We’ll be sharing things like:

✅ daily adventures (from our app)

✅ our award winning My Gnome on the Roam Adventure and Creativity Kit

✅ ideas for turning adventures into teachable moments

✅ virtual field trips

✅ workshops with teachers, tutors, mind masters, artists.....

✅ a community of like minded parents and kids who have decided to make the most out of this unprecedented time. 

✅ a certified teacher at your fingertips for the entire school year

The program has been recommended by Dr Shefali Tsabery, Oprah’s parenting expert as well as Dan Heath, NY Times best selling author of “The Power of Moments”. 

Also make sure to check and join their exclusive Facebook group, My Gnome On The Roam Adventurers Club, designed for families who want to create some educational magic this school year!

Follow Anne on Social Media:

Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter
YouTube

In This Episode We Talk About:

• The lessons that Heather learned from her own battle, six years ago, with stage four cancer
• Heather’s question for 2020 “How Good Can This Get?” and the ways that has become a useful inquiry during the pandemic
• Heather’s quest to not become a statistic when she became a mother at the age of 18 and instead how motherhood inspired her to become the best version of herself 
• Engaging mindfully and being present for what is
• How your children’s behavior is speaking to you
• What it means to be driven by impact and not money
• How learning how to receive, along with how to give, is where the magic unfolds
• Having a commitment and conviction to follow through with what you want and who you say you want to be
• How Heather is committed to structure, inquiry, and practices in her life but also lets go of a sense of failure when it doesn't go exactly right

This Episode's Challenge:

For this episode’s challenge, Heather encourages us to ask ourselves, “what it is you know to be true that you need to implement into your life that maybe makes you feel guilty or afraid or uncomfortable?”

And within the next 24 to 48 hours to take that action, whether through using your voice and saying “I need to go for a walk” or “I'm going to take a bath” or just creating space for yourself in the world. Heather invites us to sign up for that email, that course, or just something that makes you uncomfortable. 

“Begin to take a stand for how you want to feel in your life because that's the first step in creating that epic life!”

Learn More About Heather Chauvin

Heather Chauvin has been named the next generation’s thought leader in parenting and women’s leadership. Her mission is to crack women open to their deepest potential and lead the life their soul craves. She reaches thousands of readers worldwide and leads innovative retreats and coaching programs that teach women to succeed in their most sacred work in parenting and business. Heather’s the creator of the New & Noteworthy Podcast, Mom Is In Control and has been featured on the OWN network, Huffington Post, TV outlets and others. 

Through her Courageous Rewrite Initiative, Heather has given voice to many humans who have courageously taken inspired action towards creating a life they’re proud of. With wit and wisdom, Heather inspires a global community of women to take back control of how they want to lead, work, play and parent.

Follow Heather on Social Media

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Heather Chauvin's Website

Resources Mentioned:

• Dying To Be A Good Mother | Heather Chauvin TEDx talk

Announcements:

Do you dream of writing a book? 💫📚What if it could be easy?

From the time that I was young, I had this whisper about becoming an author. I have always “written” my whole life, but have not yet taken the leap to be a published author.

As my 49th birthday approaches (this December 1!) and I think about all I’m still on a quest for, the whispers and the call to become an author are going from a still small voice to a loud roar.

I’ve so admired Alexandra Franzen and recently discovered @lindseysmithhhc who has co-created the Tiny Book course. 

In 45 days, in community with other aspiring writers, with supportive coaches alongside including live calls, you go from idea to done!

I’m giving myself an early birthday present...much like I did before my 45th birthday when I launched the podcast. And saying “yes” to this dream.

Have you had a voice calling you to write and publish? Ready to listen to that voice? Join me in the Tiny Book course!

As an affiliate for the course...for every mother from the Mother’s Quest Community who says “yes” to this call...MQ will get a small bonus, $ that will support more inspiration, more coaching and more community connection to help us live our E.P.I.C. lives.

I’ll also facilitate a special Reflection Circle for all who participate when we launch and when we end to help us make meaning of our journey.

Who’s in? Link here 👉 https://www.tinybookcourse.com to learn more and sign up. 

Make sure to let Alex and Lindsey know I sent you!

WHAT IS A TINY BOOK YOU MAY ASK?

Registration in the Tiny Book Course incluses:

☑ Checklists and Templates - to simplify the process

☑ Step-By-Step Tutorial Videos - showing you every step you need to take

☑ Incredible Customer Service - your very own book coach to answer any questions you have by email

☑ Expert Guidance - from professionals who know the ins and outs of the self-publishing world

☑ 4 Live Group Calls - Interactive check-ins to make sure you're feeling good, getting things done, and moving toward the finish line

☑ Online Community Forum - to connect with your instructors and fellow authors

☑ Success - pretty much guaranteed. Alexandra and Lindsey have a very strong track record of success. They help people become finishers.

Special Coaching Invitation for Mindful Mothers  

Before the summer ends...are you on a quest for personal clarity and connection so you can start the academic year well?

The secret to starting well is to end well

One of the biggest lessons I've learned on my parenting and life journey is that if we want to set our children up for successful new beginnings, we need to do the reflective work ourselves to close the last chapter and begin anew.COVID-19 and distance learning upended all of our lives and made it very challenging to end the school year well. But, in the midst of the difficulties, we also found new ways of being and deep resilience.There is wisdom and lessons learned to mine for that can help shine a light on what to do next. And when we create space for reflection and invest in ourselves, we open up possibilities and a blueprint to help our children do the same.Interested in getting support to close COVID, life and distance learning 1.0 before beginning again?
With me as your guide?

In August, I'm launching a special Back to School Coaching Special that combines my signature "Virtual Milestone Hike" experience in a one-on-one 90-minute coaching session along with the opportunity to be in "Circle" with other reflective mothers to share what we uncover together on these Virtual Hikes.

Details Here:

Here's what it will include:

 1 90 minute one-on-one coaching session with me via Zoom using my signature Milestone Hike Reflection process. We won't be on a real hike, but it's the next best thing...slides/photos and all!

 A 1.5 hr. Reflection Circle with the other mothers who have been through the same Virtual Hike experience where we can share together the insights that came up & make commitment statements for how we want to move forward into the fall.

Cost: $270 (please reach out if a scholarship is needed)

Spots Avail: Only Six to keep our Circle Intimate

Timeframe: One-on-One Sessions early August.

Circle date TBA working with the schedule of the six who sign up.If this calls to you, I encourage you to sign up quickly. I have space to take on six participants! Sign up here & link in bio: www.mothersquest.com/backtoschool

Season Five of the Mother’s Podcast is Under Way! - Help us Spread the Word  

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple's Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. ...
4. Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault
Attica Locke

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

In this “Bite-Sized Reflection from Living my E.P.I.C. Life” Minisode I Talk About:

• How/when I learned about the importance of ending well to begin well at the youth development organization Alternatives in Action 
• The transformative Milestone Hike Experience I had on my 40th birthday
• How I've used the same components of that hike to acknowledge milestones with my son Ryan (we even recorded a podcast episode about one on his 13th birthday!) including Back to School Milestone Hikes
• The ways I have taken that experience to create signature Mother's Quest opportunities for reflection
• The Back to School Milestone Hike and Reflection Circle  I’m offering if you’d like support packing up your lessons from the last chapter before starting a new school year 

Hope this supports you or a mother preparing for Back to School in your life! 

Also, I’d love to hear from YOU: What are your Back to School Rituals that help you start the year well? Please join us in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group to share or email me at julie@mothersquest.com

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Forward this along to a mother in your life. 

---

Listen to my episode with Ryan that we recorded after our Milestone Hike on his 13th birthday. He has grown and changed so much since then. I'm so glad we have this almost like a time capsule of that period in his life. 

http://mothersquest.com/ep-18-yolo-you-only-live-once-and-other-milestone-reflections-with-ryan-neale/

If you’d like to go on a reflective milestone hike (virtually!) with me by your side, I have three spaces left for this Back to School Circle and one-on-one coaching experience. You can sign up here: www.mothersquest.com/backtoschool 

You can sign up for the replay of the Spark Your E.P.I.C if you'd like to follow along on a Virtual Milestone Hike yourself. Workshop replay and Worksheet here: https://mailchi.mp/mothersquest.com/sparkyourepicyear

I’m excited to share this beautiful conversation with Tembi Locke, that centers around the wisdom of our matriarchs and the seeds they plant within us to pursue our journeys, to create space for resilience, love, and creativity, and to invest in ourselves so we can serve the collective good.

Tembi is a distinguished keynote speaker, writer, advocate, and American actor with more than sixty TV and film credits including the global hit Netflix series, Never Have I Ever. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling book, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home … A Reese’s Book Club pick and soon to be Netflix series, starring Zoe Saldana.

This episode’s dedication comes from Tembi’s sister, acclaimed author and writer and producer of many powerful series for television, including Little Fires Everywhere and When They See Us, Attica Locke. Attica dedicates the episode to her mother, to her matrilineal ancestors, and to her sister Tembi...all who have been as she says, “visionaries of love in her life.”

The legacy of love and vision is a thread that weaves throughout my conversation with Tembi, as she names and shares about the four generations of women in her family, who she can trace back to the time of reconstruction after chattel slavery, and whose lessons help her navigate today’s world. We explore how her family’s ecosystem enabled her to invest in her dreams, nurture creativity and play, and pursue her creative endeavors and also how she carries that forward in how she mothers her daughter Zoela.

Though we covered a lot of territory together, we realized there was so much more we wanted to discuss, including what it is like to star in her latest hit show Never Have I Ever, so Tembi has agreed to a special Mother’s Quest Q & A via zoom that we will schedule in September. Make sure to join the Mother’s Quest email list at www.mothersquest.com or the Facebook Group for details if you want to join us!

I felt like this whole conversation was inspiration to light the way during these pandemic times, with profound moments that filled me with clarity and faith in the future. I hope this conversation helps remind you, as it did me and Tembi, of the power of our matriarchs, of sharing our experiences, of learning from and guiding each other, and seeking that sanctuary within so that we can serve a higher good.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Attica Locke

Attica Locke’s latest novel Heaven, My Home, sequel to the Edgar Award-winning Bluebird, Bluebird was published in September 2019. Her novel Pleasantville was the winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was also long-listed for the Bailey’s Prize for Women’s Fiction. The Cutting Season was the winner of the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. 

Her first novel Black Water Rising was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, as well as a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was short-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. A former fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Feature Filmmaker’s Lab, Locke works as a screenwriter as well. 

She was a writer and producer on the Fox series, Empire, and most recently, she was a writer and producer on Emmy-winning Netflix series When They See Us and the Hulu adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere. She is currently writing and producing a limited series adaptation of her sister Tembi Locke’s memoir From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home for Netflix. A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter

Connect with Attica:

Attica Locke Website
Twitter @atticalocke
Instagram @atticalocke
Facebook

In This Episode We Talk About:

• How Tembi and I met, finding unexpected common connections, and how those kind of experiences are one of the gifts of writing FROM SCRATCH
• Lessons from four generations seeded within Tembi that are helping her navigate the present
• What’s required now in the midst of the pandemic: turning away from individualism to serve the greater good
• Tembi’s epic life pursuits, what that has to do with the Lord of the Rings, and what we’ve both learned about the path of the hero’s journey
• How Tembi’s parents and grandmother created space for her and her siblings to play and develop their creativity and how we can do the same for our children. 
• In “Quarantinelandia” Tembi’s way of tuning into herself now
• Listening actively and speaking less in motherhood
• How Tembi has created circles of sisterhood and how her own sister is helping her turn her memoir into a Netflix series
• The importance of slowing down, becoming present with ourselves, and creating a “Sanctuary Within”
• Tembi’s reflections on the Sicilian proverb “Hunger is the Best Sauce” and how hunger and desire can be its own reward
• How we can be each other’s guides

This Episode's Challenge:

For those of us who are in a place where we are well, have food, shelter, and are healthy, Tembi encourages us to slow down, tune into ourselves, and find that sanctuary within so that we can be a guide to others and serve the greater good.

Learn More About Tembi Locke

A distinguished keynote speaker, Tembi is an American actor with more than sixty TV and film credits including the global hit Netflix series, Never Have I Ever. She is also the author of New York Times bestselling memoir, From Scratch… A Reese’s Book Club that will become a Netflix series starring Zoe Saldana.

Tembi started her onscreen career with the iconic comedy, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Currently, she can be found in roles on The Magicians, Proven Innocent, NCIS: LA, and EUReKA to name a few. She discovered her love of the written word at a very young age, writing short stories, journaling, and taking writing classes to grow her skills.

After the loss of her husband, Saro, Tembi’s writing took on a completely new meaning. She began putting together the outline of what would eventually become her memoir, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home. Today, Tembi works as an advocate and speaks on topics such as loss, resilience, and connection. Together with her daughter Zoela, Tembi enjoys cooking, connecting, and traveling to Sicily to take in the gorgeous Mediterranean landscape and eat ridiculous amounts of gelato.

Follow Tembi on Social Media

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Tembi Locke|Website

Resources Mentioned:

• From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home
• Happy Women Dinners

Additional Resource for this episode:

• The New York Times - What Do Reese Witherspoon, Florence Welch and Andrew Luck Have in Common?
• What Forty Steps Taught Me About Love and Grief|Tembi Locke|TEDxPasadenaWomen

Announcements:

Special Coaching Invitation for Mindful Mothers  

Before the summer ends...are you on a quest for personal clarity and connection so you can start the academic year well?

The secret to starting well is to end well

One of the biggest lessons I've learned on my parenting and life journey is that if we want to set our children up for successful new beginnings, we need to do the reflective work ourselves to close the last chapter and begin anew.COVID-19 and distance learning upended all of our lives and made it very challenging to end the school year well. But, in the midst of the difficulties, we also found new ways of being and deep resilience.There is wisdom and lessons learned to mine for that can help shine a light on what to do next. And when we create space for reflection and invest in ourselves, we open up possibilities and a blueprint to help our children do the same.Interested in getting support to close COVID, life and distance learning 1.0 before beginning again?
With me as your guide?

In August, I'm launching a special Back to School Coaching Special that combines my signature "Virtual Milestone Hike" experience in a one-on-one 90-minute coaching session along with the opportunity to be in "Circle" with other reflective mothers to share what we uncover together on these Virtual Hikes.

Details Here:

Here's what it will include:

 1 90 minute one-on-one coaching session with me via Zoom using my signature Milestone Hike Reflection process. We won't be on a real hike, but it's the next best thing...slides/photos and all!

 A 1.5 hr. Reflection Circle with the other mothers who have been through the same Virtual Hike experience where we can share together the insights that came up & make commitment statements for how we want to move forward into the fall.

Cost: $270 (please reach out if a scholarship is needed)

Spots Avail: Only Six to keep our Circle Intimate

Timeframe: One-on-One Sessions early August.

Circle date TBA working with the schedule of the six who sign up.If this calls to you, I encourage you to sign up quickly. I have space to take on six participants! Sign up here & link in bio: www.mothersquest.com/backtoschool

Season Five of the Mother’s Podcast is Under Way! - Help us Spread the Word  

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple's Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. ...
4. Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault
Attica Locke

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of recording a powerful episode with the co-host of the While Black Podcast, Darius Hicks. In addition to releasing that conversation here, Darius shared it on the While Black Podcast feed and since then, over 10,000 people have tuned in. If you haven’t heard it yet, I encourage you to add it to the top of your playlist.

As an exchange, I asked Darius if I could share an episode from the While Black Podcast with the Mother’s Quest community. When he said yes, I knew which episode I wanted to share...in fact it was the one that inspired me to invite Darius on. Recorded after the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery, it features the reflections of four successful and driven Black men speaking honestly about how they were doing in the aftermath. They get candid about their mortality, their ability to trust this country, and what they would tell white america given complete access.

In the last 7 minutes of my conversation with Darius, 7 minutes I truly think every American citizen should listen to, he tells us about the thoughts and emotions he has experienced as a Black man before and after the death of George Floyd. He reveals his fear that the solidarity and push for change may subside. By listening to this episode, I hope your understanding will expand a little more and that you will stay committed to listening and to advocating, to help ensure that Darius’ worst fear does not come true, that the last few weeks are not merely a moment in time but truly a movement for Black Lives. So here it is, While Black on the Mother’s Quest Podcast titled “Ahmaud Arbery Is All of Us - Can I Live?”

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

Show Notes from While Black Podcast

The lynching of Ahmaud Arbery is taking its mental toll on black america and specifically black men. On this episode you hear from 4 successful and driven black men speaking honestly about how they are doing today. They get candid about their mortality, their ability to trust this country, and what they would tell white america given complete access.

We are in mental distress and while we are strong, capable, and intelligent we also need help so that TOGETHER we can correct the wrongs in this system....or perhaps replace the system itself.

Please share this important episode and make sure to check on the black men in your life....We are not ok!

Don't forget to get social with While Black

IG: WHILE_BLACK; TWITTER @whileblackpc; FB @whileblackpodcast or email: whileblackpodcast@gmail.com

Follow While Black on Social Media

• Facebook: @whileblackpodcast

• Instagram: @while_black

• Twitter: @Whileblackpc

Podcasters for Justice Recommended Efforts for Contribution:

• Black Visions Collective
• Campaign Zero
• Black Lives Matter
• Minneapolis NAACP Branch
• Sign-up at Color of Change to be notified of more opportunities to take action

Mother's Quest also encourages you to consider:

• Mothers Against Police Brutality 
• Trayvon Martin Foundation's Circle of Mothers

Announcements:

Join us in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group  

At the time I’m releasing this episode, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, so many of us are seeking ways to connect with one another, even while needing to stay physically apart. If you identify with being a mother on a quest and you’re not yet a member of the free private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, I invite you to join us for opportunities to learn together, to share what we have to offer one another and where we need support, and to find ways to make meaning of all we’re going through right now. Visit www.motherquest.com/community to join and I’d be honored to welcome you in. 

Season Five of the Mother’s Podcast is Under Way! - Help us Spread the Word  

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple's Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. ...
4. Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

I’m honored to share this special Father’s Day Episode with a devoted father, successful entrepreneur and fellow podcaster who has become a friend, Darius Hicks.

Known as “Vince” on the acclaimed While Black Podcast, Darius channels his rage at the injustices Black people experience in our country by focusing it on empowering, educating, and inspiring African Americans to go and grow. While Black tells stories by, from, and for African Americans and pairs those stories with expert and credible guests who can communicate wisdom and success strategies to help the Black listeners achieve, accomplish, and overcome.

In this conversation, Darius had me riveted, inspired and often in tears as we explored his epic life quest, his transformative moments as a father, how his work through While Black is meeting this moment and movement in our country, and the unique role that mothers, fathers and our younger generation all have to play in making change.

To honor this episode, I want to share a statement of shared commitment from an effort called Podcasters for Justice that aligns with so much of the messages Darius and I explore here together:

“We are podcasters united to condemn the tragic murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and many many others at the hands of police. This is a continuation of the systemic racism pervasive in our country since its inception and we are committed to standing against racism in all its forms.

We believe that to be silent is to be complicit.
We believe that Black lives matter.
We believe that Black lives are more important than property.

We believe that we have a responsibility to use our platforms to speak out against this injustice whenever and wherever we are witness to it.

In creating digital media we have built audiences that return week after week to hear our voices and we will use our voices to speak against anti-blackness and police brutality.”

I invite you to join me in donating to one of the efforts that Podcasters for Justice identified which you can find below in the show notes, to listen to and amplify this episode with Darius, and to follow each of Darius' powerful calls to action, stepping into kinetic partnership that will move us forward and help us all get free, together.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Herve Clermont 

Herve Clermont is an actor, voice over artist, Host, and was a National brand ambassador for Remy Martin for over 8 years. He discovered his passion for acting at Georgetown University, where he was in school as a pre-med major, and needed to fulfill electives. 

He is the son of a proud Haitian Doctor and nurse, he always joked he “could play one.” He began his professional acting career in 2000 with a contract Role on One Life To Live, and has co-starred and guest starred on various prime time shows: Law & Order, CSI Miami, Cane, 24, Criminal Minds, Scandal, Guys with Kids, New Girl, The Mick, NCIS, NCIS LA, Dice, Veronica Mars, Mr Iglesias, and many others. 

Herve has been recurring on John Singleton’s Snowfall the last 3 seasons, before landing a series cast member on Tyler Perry’s Ruthless. His voice-over career includes announcing at celebrity fund-raisers, branding and promotional videos, industrials and promotional TV and radio commercials, including ones for Beyonce, an international Jazz festival, and currently is the voice behind Cintas and on camera. 

Herve’s hosting experience includes live events with BMW, VH-l, Harmon/ Kardon and Remy Martin. He has also worked on a pilot in front of the camera as a Studio host in the entertainment industry, interviewing celebrities and keeping the audience up-to-date with the latest entertainment news.

Visit The J.E. Clermont Foundation Hope for the Children of Haiti for more about the Foundation that furthers Herve’s father’s legacy

Instagram @Plantinghopela - to learn about Herve’s wife’s venture that creates beautiful plants with contributions supporting the Foundation in Haiti and charitable efforts in LA.  

Connect with Herve:

Instagram @hervec19

In This Episode We Talk About:

• The universal language and common connection among mothers of all races and how Darius and I both believe mothers will be critical to making change 
• Darius' quest to be authentically who he is as a 6'4, 300-pound dark-skinned Black man. How he has struggled to stand tall and shine while also consciously shrinking because people's first reaction to him is fear  
• The question about fatherhood Darius asks himself all the time..."How do I raise fearless children when I am a fearful parent?” 
• A heartbreaking but powerful "epic snapshot moment" with his son that made Darius realize his words were getting through to him and that his son would be part of making change
• How those committed to anti-racism and new to this can begin and the reason why Darius seeks “partnership” over saviorism or "help"
• The three-fold challenge Darius gave us, including the specific movies that Darius thinks we should all watch to shift our understanding and perspective
• How we all need each other to get free 

This Week's Challenge:

Darius gave us a threefold challenge:

1) There is bias inside all of us. We all have it. Try our very best to recognize when our unconscious bias fires. Try to pay attention every time we see or meet a Black person...if our initial intent is to walk in the other direction, stop for a moment and ask yourself why? 

2) Meet someone new and be the first one to say hello and to really see the humanity in them.

3) Be more intentional in our actions and in whatever media we digest so that we are aware of what’s really happening and what others are really going through. Specifically, watch the movies American Son, 13th, and When They See Us (all linked below.) 

Learn More About Darius Hicks

Darius has always displayed an entrepreneurial and activist spirit. Since his youth he has dedicated his time to those around him in hopes of bettering them while he better himself. It began by volunteering as a camp counselor from middle school through high school, and grew via mentorship and tutoring in college all the way to his membership role in the 100 Black Men and as an advocate for African Americans through his work on the While Black Podcast. Vince believes wholeheartedly the James Baldwin quote “To be Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be a rage almost all the time”. However, he chooses to channel that rage into a place that allows him to change the narrative on black folks while he helps to empower those same black folks.

Earning his undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Southern University A&M in Baton Rouge LA (1999) and his MBA from Queens University in Charlotte NC (2005), Vince has gained valuable experience in multiple industries.

He has excelled in multiple industries and enjoyed a career spanning 20+ years with opportunities in Engineering, Consumer packaged goods, Corporate retail giants, and now the Social/tech industry.

In addition, he is a successful entrepreneur and founder of Aveo Big and Tall Golf Apparel which rose to become the #1 big and tall golf apparel offering in Golfsmith stores and was distributed nationally and internationally via various outlets including but not limited to Dicks Sporting Good, GolfSmith, and Golf Galaxy. He has since sold the rights to the Aveo name and divested from the company.

However, he has altered his focus by aligning his passions with his promise and ensuring his time is invested accordingly as he focuses on improving the black world and the global community through and with black people. His latest endeavor is laser focused on impacting and improving the people around him. Specifically, he is the creator and co-host of the While Black Podcast a podcast focused on empowering, educating, and inspiring African Americans to go and grow. While Black tells stories by, from, and for African Americans and pairs those stories with expert and credible guests who can communicate wisdom and success strategies helping us to achieve, accomplish, and overcome.

Follow While Black on Social Media

• Facebook: @whileblackpodcast

• Instagram: @while_black

• Twitter: @Whileblackpc

Resources Mentioned:

• While Black Podcast
• Ahmaud Arbery Is All of Us - Can I Live? 
• American Son|Netflix
• When They See Us|Netflix
• 13TH|Netflix
• Ep 07: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten
• Revisited: Beyond the Trauma: Legacy, Compassion and Change with Mothers Against Police Brutality Co-Founder Sara Mokuria
• Ep 55: From Grief to Advocacy and a Circle of Mothers with Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton
• Desiree Adaway and Diversity is an Asset 
• Podcast Movement

Podcasters for Justice Recommended Efforts for Contribution:

• Black Visions Collective
• Campaign Zero
• Black Lives Matter
• Minneapolis NAACP Branch
• Sign-up at Color of Change to be notified of more opportunities to take action

Mother's Quest also encourages you to consider:

• Mothers Against Police Brutality 
• Trayvon Martin Foundation's Circle of Mothers

Announcements:

Join us in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group  

At the time I’m releasing this episode, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, so many of us are seeking ways to connect with one another, even while needing to stay physically apart. If you identify with being a mother on a quest and you’re not yet a member of the free private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, I invite you to join us for opportunities to learn together, to share what we have to offer one another and where we need support, and to find ways to make meaning of all we’re going through right now. Visit www.motherquest.com/community to join and I’d be honored to welcome you in. 

Season Five of the Mother’s Podcast is Under Way! - Help us Spread the Word  

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple's Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. ...
4. Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Herve Clermont
Samantha Arsenault
Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

I’m honored to bring this special episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast to you with mother, activist, writer, co-founder of the Trayvon Martin Foundation and an inspiration to so many, Sybrina Fulton. 

The episode is the last in a series I’ve recorded for the Women Podcasters in Solidarity Initiative on the subject of gun safety and the intersectional impact of gun violence on our communities. 

Unfortunately, Sybrina deeply knows the grief that comes in the wake of gun violence. But, after the deadly 2012 shooting of her beloved son, Trayvon Benjamin Martin, she felt compelled to rise up, literally pushing herself to get out of her bed, becoming the voice for her son and embarking on a journey to bring awareness to senseless gun violence and racial profiling.  

In 2016, Sybrina rallied to the forefront at the Democratic National Convention with a group of African American trailblazing women, connected by tragedy, who became known as “Mothers of the Movement” for the “Black Lives Matter” Movement the death of their children sparked. 

She didn’t stop there. In 2017, Sybrina co-authored her first book, Rest in Power, The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, a memoir recounting the death of her son, which became the subject of a docu-series that debuted this year, Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, produced by hip-hop mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter.

This intimate conversation, over a year in the making, was a unique opportunity to delve into Sybrina’s own journey, how the E.P.I.C. guideposts show up in her life and in her activism, and to hear her powerful call to action to invest in mothers, by reaching out to mothers grieving in our own communities and by contributing to her “Circle of Mothers,” a labor of love that came to her in her dreams. 

I’m grateful to activist Michael Skolnik, who dedicated this episode, for connecting me to Sybrina and for inviting us to spread this conversation far and wide and direct resources to help mothers turn their grief into healing and advocacy, following Sybrina’s powerful example. 

It costs $1500 to sponsor a grieving mother to attend Circle of Mothers. Michael and I have each pledged the first $3,000 to a GoFundMe campaign, each of us contributing $1500 to help a mother who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend. 

Much appreciation, 

Julie Neale

P.S. Know someone who you think would appreciate this special episode? Share this conversation!

This Episode is Dedicated by:
Michael Skolnik

Michael Skolnik was recently profiled in the NY Times and identified as “the man you go to if you want to leverage the power of celebrity and the reach of digital media to soften the ground for social change.” But, besides all of that, he is most proud to be the father of Mateo Ali, a rambunctious five year old. 

He is the co-founder and partner of The Soze Agency, a social impact agency that partners with companies, non-profits, foundations and movements to create campaigns that uplift compassion, authenticity and equity.

He is a respected leader in the new social justice movement, and has helped ignite conversations around America’s relationship with race, the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and Eric Garner, and the Obama and Trump presidencies.

He is a prolific voice on social media with more than 350,000 followers, and a regular commentator on outlets such as CNN, MSNBC and Fox News.

Michael serves on the Board of Directors for Rock The Vote, The Trayvon Martin Foundation, Policy Link, The Gathering For Justice and The Young Partners Board of The Public Theater.

Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn
Twitter
The Soze Agency
Learn more about Michael Skolnik: https://about.me/michaelskolnik

In This Episode We Talk About:

• What Sybrina wishes everyone would know about approaching a conversation with a mother who has lost a child.
• My 14 year old son’s question to Sybrina about what it feels like when your calling and the powerful work you’re doing is sparked by a tremendous loss.
• Why we need systemic and cultural change, and more awareness-raising conversations, to keep young people of color safe from racial profiling.
• The tragic death of Chinedu Okobi, an unarmed young black man who was tasered to death by San Mateo County deputies, just 20 minutes from my own home.
• The importance for grieving mothers to remember the things that they used to love and what Sybrina’s joyful outlet is
• The Circle of Mothers and how the idea to create it came to Sybrina in a dream.
• Sybrina’s challenge for all of us to open our hearts and to reach out to mothers, across differences, who have lost their child to let them know we care.
• Why investing in mothers is the most powerful lever to impact gun control.

Resources and Topics Mentioned:

• Trayvon Martin Foundation
• Circle of Mothers
• Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story
• Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin
• Remembrance Weekend: Peace Walk on February 9th followed by the Remembrance Gala on February 10th
• Article from CNN about Chinedu Okobi – Facebook executive says unreleased video calls into question police account of brother’s death
• GoFundMe for Circle of Mothers
• Women Podcasters in Solidarity website

Other Mother’s Quest Episodes in This Series on Gun Safety: 

• Ep 37: Generations Rising for Gun Safety with Gloria Pan
• Ep 54: Superheroes, Fighting Patriarchy, and Courageously Defeating Gun Violence with Ladd Everitt

And in Last Year’s Series on Anti-Racism and Police Accountability:

• Ep 27: Courageous Conversations about Race with Nicole Lee
• EP31: Brave Spaces and Solidarity with “Rad Women” Author Kate Schatz
• EP33: Beyond the Trauma: Legacy, Compassion and Change with Mothers Against Police Brutality Co-Founder Sara Mokuria

This Week’s Challenge:

For this week’s challenge, Sybrina asks us to reach out to a mother who has lost a child and be a support to them. Take them out, let them know you are here, organize something for a group. Let them know that they are not alone. 

Learn More About Sybrina Fulton:

After the death of her beloved son, Trayvon Benjamin Martin, in February 2012, Sybrina Fulton was charged with a new mission. A desire to transform family tragedy into social change allowed her to establish the Trayvon Martin Foundation in March 2012.

As Fulton traverses the globe, she passionately embarks on a journey designed to bring awareness to senseless gun violence and serves as an advocate to families, the catalyst for her dream project, the “Circle of Mothers.” Winning the national support of president-elect Hillary Clinton, Fulton rallied to the forefront in 2016 at the Democratic National Convention with a cadre of African American trailblazing women known as “Mothers of the Movement.” The women, connected by tragedy, are the inspiration behind the “Black Lives Matter.”

In 2017, Fulton co-authored her first book, Rest in Power, The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, a memoir recounting the death of her son, and the subject of a six-part docuseries, Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, produced by hip-hop mogul Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter for Paramount Network and BET (July 2018).

Bestowed with many distinguished awards, Sybrina Fulton has represented the United States at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss racial discrimination; the National Urban League, Black Lives Matter, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, The Triumph Awards (2016), Essence Festival & Conference (2017, 2018), and was selected as the White House’s guest of honor for the unveiling of former President Barak Obama’s initiative, “My Brother’s Keeper.” Fulton is also one of the 2018 recipients of VH1’s Trailblazer Honor Award.

A Miami native and graduate of Florida Memorial University, Sybrina Fulton, along with her son, Jahvaris, are on a mission to build better, safer communities. She is a proud member of the Miami Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Metropolitan Dade County Section of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.

She created the Circle of Mothers as a way to empower women. The purpose of the Circle of Mothers is to bring together mothers who have lost children or family members to senseless gun violence for the purpose of healing, empowerment, and fellowship towards the larger aim of community building. 

Connect with Sybrina at: Facebook Twitter Instagram
www.circleofmothers.org
www.trayvonmartinfoundation.org

I wanted to bring this encore conversation with Mothers Against Police Brutality’s Sara Mokuria in a week where so many of us have been grappling with the issue of police violence and what we can do about it.

I know many of us have been searching for some action we can take about this issue and I want to encourage you to listen to this conversation with Sara Mokuria, one of the co-founders of Mothers Against Police Brutality. She will give you insight and advocacy steps from her own experience losing her father. And then, make a donation to Mothers Against Police Brutality, an organization that is seeking change by addressing policy and building police accountability, beginning in Texas but with nationwide impact.

As you listen, I hope you’ll consider making a donation as well and I also challenge you to identify just one person who you can share this episode and this call to action with; together we can start to take steps in the direction of police accountability. Now here is my conversation with Sara Mokuria.

ORIGINAL SHOW NOTES

It’s an honor and responsibility to share this Episode #33 of the Mother’s Quest Podcast with Sara Mokuria, co-founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality. It’s the third and final in a series I recorded as part of the Women Podcasters in Solidarity Initiative and it comes to you with a call to action to get involved with this issue today.

This episode was dedicated by Collette Flanagan, the founder of Mothers Against Police Brutality, who turned her grief from the loss of her son, Clinton Allen, into fuel for change.

In her dedication, Collette reminded us of our common humanity as mothers and that an insult to one mother is an insult to all mothers. It is this knowing that caused me to record this series after I saw the heart-breaking video of Diamond Reynolds and her then four year old daughter after they witnessed the killing of Philando Castile. Philando was like a father to this little girl, was unarmed and was complying with the police officer’s requests when he was shot.

Seeing the trauma and heartbreak endured by this four year old girl, who was the same age as my son when I saw this video, became a catalyst to face the epidemic of police brutality in our country, and to begin taking action, however imperfect.

Much like Diamond Reynold’s daughter, Sara also endured trauma and heartbreak when she watched her father get shot and killed by police at her home in Dallas when she was 10 years old.

Fueled by her own experience, Sara joined Collette along with another co-founder, John Fullinwider, in creating Mother’s Against Police Brutality, as a multi-racial, multi-ethnic coalition uniting mothers nationwide to fight for civil rights, police accountability and policy reform.

Sara is a mom herself to a seven year old boy.  And, in addition to her work with Mothers Against Police Brutality, she’s a sought after educator, community organizer, project manager, and facilitator, currently working as Associate Director for Leadership Initiatives with The Institute for Urban Policy Research at the University of Texas at Dallas. She has two masters degrees, has taught both high school and college at the University of Texas at Dallas and currently serves on the International Mechanism Coordinating Committee for the US Human Rights Network.

She came to the conversation with an open heart she told me, and I felt her generosity and honesty throughout as she shared how police violence changed her life forever, discussed the trauma of being black in America, how the institution of policing and the prison industrial complex contributes to that trauma, and the ways in which an investment in Mothers Against Police Brutality can change policies and systems to reduce violence and create more accountability.

As compelling was Sara’s exploration of the vision she has for our future… of vibrant communities where we invest in our young people, lean into and value our differences, and where each of us taps into our own unique magic to get us there.

We ended our conversation with a co-created prayer, a wish for ourselves as much as for all of you listening, to move into greater responsibility for this work from wherever we are, to have the courage to go to those difficult and painful places so we can create a freer future, and to take this moment right now to support this cause.

I’m doing that today by making a financial contribution to Mothers Against Police Brutality and putting my resources with the mothers, like Sara and Collette, who are closest to the problem and who can see the solution. I hope you’ll join me.

Visit http://mothersagainstpolicebrutality.org/donate/ to make a donation and reference Mother’s Quest or, if contributing on November 28th, Giving Tuesday, visit the Mother’s Quest Facebook Fundraising Page  to contribute to the Giving Tuesday Campaign.

This episode dedicated by

Mothers Against Police Brutality founder Collette Flanagan, whose son, Clinton Allen, was shot and killed by the Dallas Police in March of 2013.

Topics discussed in this episode

• Sara’s joyous childhood which changed forever when her father was killed by Dallas police officers when she was just 10 years old

• How Sara’s mother was her fiercest advocate, even as her mother grappled with the deeply traumatic effects of her husband’s killing and the lack of support as a crime victim.

• Disturbing facts about our current law enforcement policies, lack of accountability, the militarization of police, and budget allocations that favor the prison industrial complex over investments that would build a vibrant community

• The New Jim Crowe and the War on Drugs and how it has played out as a war on people of color

• White privilege and how to move from shame and guilt to responsibility and action

• How Sara teaches her son to understand injustice, the history we don’t learn in our schools, and how tenderness, love and joy can be an act of resistance

• What happened when Sara met with the officer who killed her father years later and how that shifted her perspective about what the problem really is

• How women make up half of the world’s population and how we birthed the other half, therefore we are the world. And, the power of mothers to chart the direction of our families and communities.

• The importance of finding your own unique magic to make a difference and why Sara keeps her heart open to welcome people to this cause when they come to it

• Our prayer and invitation to you the listener

Resources mentioned in this episode

• Women Podcasters in Solidarity

• Mothers Against Police Brutality

• The Movie 13th, directed by Ava Duvernay

• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

• Drug Policy Alliance

• EP31: Brave Spaces and Solidarity with “Rad Women” Author Kate Schatz

• Ep 27: Courageous Conversations about Race with Nicole Lee

• Ep 07: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten

• How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev

• Dallas Woman Turns Tragedy Into Conversation About Race, an article where Sara talks about the system and not police officers being the problem

• Stride Toward Justice: 9 Steps to Change Policing in America – policy recommendations from Mothers Against Police Brutality

• The Movement for Black Lives

• Campaign Zero

This Week’s Three-fold Challenge

1. Have courageous conversation about these issues with your families during the holidays.

2. Get involved and informed about these issues locally. Become an advocate in your city.

3. Make a monetary contribution to support the mothers who are closest to the solution at Mothers Against Police Brutality. Make a donation by visiting http://mothersagainstpolicebrutality.org/donate/. 

Announcement

Time Sensitive Opportunity To Join Me and Nicole Lee

One of those guides, Nicole Lee and I, decided we'd like to collaborate on a four-week offering to hold space for learning, growth and solidarity through weekly zoom conversations. If you’re interested in joining, email me ASAP at julie@mothersquest.com or comment on our live conversation today in the Mother’s Quest group and I can give you more details. 

Click [here] to watch the Zoom conversation in the Mother's Quest Group.

SPECIAL NOTE: As part of my commitment to amplify the voices and wisdom of black women this week, I’m re-releasing key episodes on the podcast feed, including this one, that I think can light our way in our commitment toward anti-racism and racial justice. You can also find these episodes, and others that shine a light on social justice issues from myself and other podcasters, at www.womenpodcastersinsolidarity.com.

Hello and welcome to Episode #27 of the Mother’s Quest Podcast and the first of several I’ll be sharing for an initiative I’ve launched called Women Podcasters in Solidarity.

The Initiative is a commitment I’ve made, alongside some other amazing women podcasters, to raise awareness and dollars to uncover and dismantle the ways racism, both conscious and unconscious, are impacting our society. I planned the Initiative after viewing the haunting video of Philando Castile’s death and of his girlfriend Diamond Reynolds and her young daughter in the back of the cop car in its aftermath. But, the events of Charlottesville since then have brought another level of urgency to this effort.

I’m so grateful that I found Nicole Lee, an incredible African American woman and mother, as our first guest on this topic, to light the way for how we as mothers, and especially those of us who are white women like myself, can take steps to make a difference, beginning with our own children and our own communities.

Nicole is a strategist, executive coach and public policy advocate through her diversity and inclusion consulting firm, Lee Bayard Group, LLC. And she’s a practicing human rights attorney through the Black Movement Law Project she co-founded, which provides legal and strategy assistance to Black Lives Matter protestors and organizations. Social justice and human rights have been part of her character since she was a child where she got her pioneering spirit especially from her own mother, one of the first black women to be ordained in her Christian denomination.

Nicole brings her experience as a mother and advocate to training parents in how to have courageous conversations with our children about diversity, inclusion and equity. I had the opportunity to learn from Nicole on a recent webinar on the subject, an overview for a more detailed class launching in September, that was also attended by Mallory Schlabach who offers this week’s dedication.

Nicole and I start the episode with shared agreements and intentions for courageous conversation, committing to one another to come to the podcast recording with an open heart, a commitment to move through discomfort and risk imperfection. I vowed not to edit anything out and we both named a shared desire to plant seeds in mothers to raise awareness for themselves and their children.

We explored how we can open channels of communication with our children, holding a “growth mindset” for them in relation to diversity, allowing them to make mistakes as they share what’s on their minds and not “shushing” them when they do. Nicole also shared the importance of expressing our values to our children in ways that they understand.

When I asked her where we could invest in change, she challenged us to focus on our own communities and to identify some hard conversations we’ve been putting off. She emphasized the importance of introspective work to realize what’s in our way, determine what we need to be “ready” and then go get ready and have them.

As it has been for me, I hope this podcast episode, and the links and resources in the show notes, will be part of what you need to get ready to have the brave conversations with your own children and your own communities. As Nicole says at the end of our conversation, “we’ve got this.” We are not being asked to do anything that is not within our grasp. It’s not easy but we can get it done.

This Week’s Challenge:

Our challenge this week is to go back and process our own patterns and thinking about race, diversity and inclusion, to identify what courageous conversations we’ve been putting off, to get what we need to be ready, and then go have them.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• How having an open heart and articulating intentions create meaningful opportunity for brave conversations about our differences

• Nicole’s reflection on why many black women may not want to talk with white women about racism and how to seek out spaces, and resources, to explore these issues if you’re white and have genuine intention to learn

• Nicole’s childhood and how she was driven at an early age to fight for social good

• An exploration of the E.P.I.C Guideposts in relation to the topic of diversity and inclusion

• The role mothers have in planting awareness and knowledge in their children that will help transform our society

• The importance of cultivating real friendships across differences and how color blindness and an unwillingness to have tough conversations can block authentic connection

• The importance of having a growth mindset in the context of race and not to “shush” our children when they share what’s really on their minds

• Expressing our values in a way our children will understand

• Ideas for investing and supporting the Movement for Black Lives and Nicole’s opinion that getting involved locally in advocacy on police relations, and having the hard conversations, in our own communities, are the most important steps we can take.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Women Podcasters in Solidarity

• Mother on a Quest: Nicole Lee

• Growth Mindset in Diversity

• Mother’s Quest Ep 07: Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten

• Explaining Charlottesville to my 7-year-old by Nicole Lee

• How to Deal with the Police/Parents Explain

• Lee Bayard Group, LLC – Nicole’s diversity and inclusion consulting firm

• Black Movement Law Project – Legal and strategy assistance to Black Lives Matter protestors and organizations where Nicole is a co-founder

• Nicole’s Upcoming Class on Courageous Conversations With Children

• The Movement for Black Lives

Announcements

Women Podcasters in Solidarity
I’m even more committed to a quest I’ve been on to understand the roots of racism and bigotry, how it still shows up today, and how I can become a better ally and advocate to fight against it.

I’m raising awareness for myself, and inviting you to do the same, through this special podcast episode. I’m also pledging to donate to an organization supporting the Movement for Black Lives and to invite you to donate too leading up to Giving Tuesday in November. More on this to come soon.

If you are a women podcaster yourself, I’d love for you to make a similar pledge to use the power of your platform for this cause. You can learn more and join the initiative by signing up at mothersquest.com/solidarity.

Acknowledgements

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

• Mallory Schlabach – Marketing Magic for Entrepreneurs
• Katharine Earhart of Alesco Advisors
• Jessica Kupferman of She Podcasts
• Resistance Artist Jen Jenkins Dohner
• Genese Harris
• Tonya Rineer, founder of The Profit Party
• Liane Louie-Badua
• Cristin Downs of the Notable Woman Podcast
• Erin Kendall of Fit Mom Go
• Niko Osoteo of Bear Beat Productions
• Erik Newton of The Together Show
• Claire Fry
• Divya Silbermann
• Rachel Winter
• Caren and Debbie Lieberman
• Cameron Miranda
• Fran and David Lieberman
• Debbie and Alan Goore
• Jenise and Marianne of the Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Two of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution http://mothersquest.com/be-a-supporter/

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

—

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

I’m honored to share today's episode, a conversation three years in the making with Rachel Macy Stafford, that arrives during remarkably challenging times, just as we need Rachel’s wisdom most.

Rachel is a writer with one goal: to help people choose love as much as humanly possible. A New York Times bestselling author, her latest book is Live Love Now: Relieve the Pressure and Find Real Connection with Our Kids. She’s also the New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama, Hands Free Life, and Only Love Today; a certified special education teacher with a Master’s Degree in education; an in-demand speaker featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Global News, TIME.com, FoxNews.com, as well as in hundreds of other online and print publications and a beloved blogger who inspires millions in her weekly blog posts at HandsFreeMama.com and through her supportive Facebook community, The Hands Free Revolution.

Like so many of her followers, I stumbled upon Rachel’s work years ago, and her writing immediately became a light on my path to more fully live my purpose.

I'm so grateful that I had this time to talk with Rachel, to explore the threads of presence and authenticity that weave through so much of her journey, to understand that facing our truths is just the beginning of unexpected invitations, and to remember what’s possible for our children to live a present-filled, purpose-filled life when we step forward to do that first. 

This conversation with Rachel and her beautiful new book, which I hope you will get and savor as I have been doing, will make you want to show up for yourself and your children in profound new ways and to embody her underlying message, to Live Love Now.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by Samantha Arsenault

Samantha Arsenault Livingstone is an Olympic gold medalist, high-performance consultant, mental health educator, speaker, and entrepreneur – and she’s a mother of four and recovering perfectionist. Samantha holds a master's degree in education and spent six years teaching high school science and coaching swimming. After a near-death experience with her then 12- month old daughter, Samantha knew it was time to pay forward all she's learned about achievement, emotional resilience, rising from failure, and finding happiness.

In 2016, Samantha founded Livingstone High Performance in response to the mental health crisis impacting adolescents across the globe, specifically those in the athletic arena. LHP provides pillars of support to organizations, teams, and individuals to elevate mental health and improve performance, and build a more empowered village. In addition to private and group coaching, Samantha offers online courses and consults with teams and organizations on athlete wellness initiatives, leadership, strategic planning, rising skills, and developing high-performance cultures. She is a certified instructor of Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement and Mental Health First Aid.

Samantha is an engaging public speaker who has more than 19 years of experience, which includes her TEDx Talk: The Weight of Gold: An Olympian’s Path to Recovery. She’s been featured as a keynote speaker, expert panelist, workshop facilitator, and seminar leader. She’s worked with high-school, collegiate, and professional athletes in a group and 1:1 setting; school districts; athletic departments; coaching organizations; women in business groups; wellness entrepreneurs; and national governing bodies, most notably, USA Swimming.

Samantha and her husband, Rob, live in the Berkshires with their four girls. To learn more about her offerings, go over to www.samanthalivingstone.com.

To learn more about her offerings, go over to www.samantha livingstone.com. You can join Samantha’s FREE 5-Day I AM CHALLENGE at www.samanthalivingstone.com/i-am-challenge  

Facebook @slivingstonewellness

Instagram @slivingstn

Linkedin @sarsenaultlivingstone

In This Episode We Talk About:

• The way Rachel's mother gave her the gift of “presence” even when she couldn't be physically present.  

• Rachel's quest for purpose and the legacy she wants to leave

• How reflecting on the question "How do I do it all?" on a run one day became the "spark moment" that pushed Rachel to choose herself

• What Rachel means by her connection to her "dreamer girl"

• Why facing the truth is really just the beginning

• What it means when Rachel says to her children "I want to love you by your book." 

• Hands-Free Mama as a way of being

• The pressure and insecurity of online life and how screentime distraction becomes the biggest obstacle to living purpose-filled

• The 3 roles that will allow us to walk beside our kids

• Finding your place of refuge and helping your kids find theirs

• How we can "find our people" by doing the things our heart calls us to do

• The tear-filled pledge I made to Rachel, reading from a promise in her book on p.57 

This Week's Challenge:

For this week’s challenge, Rachel encourages us to think about any hurtful comments, criticism, consciously and unconsciously, that we’ve been carrying around that’s holding us back from truly fulfilling our purpose. Reflect on it and slowly turn that pain into purpose.

Learn More About

Rachel Macy Stafford

Rachel Macy Stafford is the New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama, Hands Free Life, and Only Love Today. Her fourth book, Live Love Now, releases in April 2020. Rachel is a certified special education teacher who helps people overcome distraction and perfection to live better and love more. Rachel's work has been featured on CNN, Good Morning America, Global News, TIME.com, FoxNews.com, as well as in hundreds of other online and print publications. Her blog (www.handsfreemama.com) currently averages one million visitors a month. Rachel loves taking long walks, baking, and volunteering with homeless cats and nursing home residents. Rachel lives in the South with her husband and two daughters who inspire her daily.

Follow Rachel on Social Media

• HandsFreeMama.com

• Facebook: @TheHandsFreeRevolution        

• Instagram: @HandsFreeRevolution

• Twitter: @HandsFreeMama

Resources Mentioned:

• Live Love Now: Relieve the Pressure and Find Real Connection with Our Kids by Rachel Macy Stafford

• Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters! By Rachel Macy Stafford

• What’s Wonderful About a Phone-Conquering, Heart-Led Teen? Find Out For Yourself

• Being a Mess Becomes a Comfort, Not a Curse, In Just One Ask

• iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids are Growing Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood by Dr. Jean M. Twenge

Announcements:

Honoring George Floyd By Stepping Into Empathy And Action

I want to acknowledge the pain and horror so many of us are feeling at the killing of another black man by a police officer, in the death of George Floyd. Rachel’s gift is to invite us to be present and purposeful in our lives and that same presence and purpose calls us now to take that pain and turn it into deeper understanding and action.

To support that, in the show notes, I’m including a link to an episode I recorded a few years ago with the co-founder of Mother’s Against Police Brutality Sara Mokuria, and to a set of Anti-Racism resources that Rachel shared in a post, she wrote today. Also in that post, Rachel offered these words from her new book Live Love Now, that I invite us to sit with, along with a few moments of silence, to honor George Floyd, and so many other men like him.

"What if we responded to the injustices inflicted on human lives with empathy and action rather than defensiveness or apathy? What if we lived as if we truly believed it’s not 'your back' or 'my back,' but 'our back'?"

Resources Mentioned in the Opening Call to Action in Honor of
George Floyd: 

• Ep33: Beyond the Trauma: Legacy, Compassion and Change with Mother’s Against Police Brutality Co-Founder Sara Mokuria
• Anti-Racism Resources

The Mother's Quest Manifesto Challenge is technically over, but the Reflection Journal, live videos, and reflective prompts are all still waiting for you in the Mother's Quest Facebook Group. Follow along at your own pace by registering here: www.mothersquest.com/manifestochallenge and coming on over to the private group here. 

 

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple's Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. ...
4. Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Vickie Giambra
Casey O'Roarty of Joyful Courage
Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast
Samantha Arsenault

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

If you’re anything like the vast majority of the mothers I’ve been talking with, you’ve been feeling disoriented and like you’ve lost yourself during these last few months. You may be wondering how am I ever going to come back home to myself?

I had been feeling this way too...overwhelmed with fear, moving through all the stages of grief, and juggling demands at home that now included supporting my children’s distance learning... on top of all the other things!

In this special Mother’s Day episode, I share how the E.P.I.C. Life framework itself, words of wisdom from past guests on the podcast, and a question my teenage son Ryan asked me, started to help me reclaim myself.

Listen in for special clips lighting my way from episodes I’ll be re-releasing this week as part of a special series to light the way in the midst of challenge: 

• Planting Seeds for Mother’s Quest – My Introductory Episode
• “E” engaging mindfully with our children - “Flawed” with Truth Bomb Mom Kristina Kuzmic
• “P” passionate and purposeful impact beyond our family - From Grief to Advocacy and a Circle of Mothers with Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton
• “I” invested in ourselves - Choosing Gratitude and Glitter with Nancy Netherland
• “C” connected to a strong support network - Reclaiming Ourselves in Motherhood with Graeme Seabrook

I also share about some epic plans for our third annual Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge, the one Graeme Seabrooke and I had created together in our conversation on the podcast two years ago. Taking place starting May 11th, in the free Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, it’s a 7-day journey to reclaiming ourselves, a chance to reflect together, along a new process I’m naming “CHOOSE,” and to create or refine our own manifestos for living our lives, yes even in the midst of a pandemic. Sign up here to join us. 

As for me, I’ve learned on Mother’s Day, that in addition to spending time with my children, I need some time to myself. So, today I’ll be going on my favorite milestone hike, and when I reach the summit, I’ll sit down and listen to my favorite meditation, one called “Teshuvah” or “Return” in Hebrew, that brings new meaning to the idea of setting out on a journey and returning home. Of losing our center and finding it again. 

So, this Mother’s Day, I invite you to find your center again as you listen to this episode, and ask yourself some of the same questions I’ve been exploring. In what ways have you been feeling trapped? When was the last time you felt connected to your purpose? And what might it take for you to open a door for yourself…to choose yourself...and to take even just one tentative step closer to your version of an E.P.I.C. life?

One Possible Next Step: Join Us for the Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge

The Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge is a 7-day experience that will move you through a series of reflective prompts to support you in creating or refining a "manifesto" of your own to become an anchor in your life in these years that you are raising your children.

In addition to reflective prompts that I'll share live in the group each morning, I've invited a different mother to also go live, to share their journey and manifestos and also to offer a tool or practice that would support the prompt we're reflecting on. 

This year, I'll be exploring a new acronym mnemonic and framework "CHOOSE" that captures the process I went through when I claimed my manifesto...a process I realized has been with me in all the other times of my life when I shifted a perspective and moved myself forward in a powerful way. 

Here is what’s in store for you in the next 7 days.

5/10 Mother's Day with Graeme Seabrook - Both Graeme and I will be live in the group at some point to wish everyone a Happy Mother's Day, welcome new members, share about why we co-created the challenge two years ago, and set the frame for the week. 

5/11 Day 1: C with Lindsay Pera  - "Claim" the experience or opportunity in front of you that calls you to something different; sometimes these are even painful moments you would not choose for yourself. Sometimes these feel like a "sign" that calls to you in mysterious ways. What is the "spark" for you?

5/12 Day 2: H with Jadah Sellner - "Hold space for reflection" give yourself an opportunity to pause and make meaning of what is happening so you can learn from it and consciously move forward in a different way

5/13 Day 3: O with Nic Strack - "Own the perspective" that is NOT serving you. What story are you telling yourself that feels outdated? Or what way of looking at something is feeling out of alignment or holding you back? Before you can move forward, it's important to really look at where you are now. 

5/14 Day 4: O with Jamie Greenwood -  "Own a more empowering perspective" explore a new way of looking at something that resonates for you and that returns a sense of power to you

5/15 Day 5: S with Amy Walsh and Elsie Escober - "Stake in the ground" put your stake in the ground and claim this new perspective by expressing it clearly (and sharing when/if you feel comfortable). This is the day when the manifesto itself comes into form. I've invited several key guests this day who will each offer a different creation method that you can utilize to help express yourself. 

5/16 Day 6: E with Jessica Stong - "Explore one next step" begin to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be by taking setting intention for one action. 

5/17 Day 7: Reflection and Celebration Circle An opportunity to come together via zoom after the challenge is over to reflect on the process, lessons learned and to share our manifestos with one another. 

Sign up here to get daily reminders and to download the FREE Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge Reflection Journal.

After a podcast pause, I’m back with a bite-sized reflection from living my own E.P.I.C. life. If in the midst of this global pandemic, you’re someone like me, with the privilege of sheltering in place, and find yourself swinging from gratitude and inspiration to exasperation, this reflection is for you!

In this minisode, I share some of the things I’ve been reading and listening to that have supported me, and how they all weaved together one night when I sat down to write some aspirations for myself, something I’m referring to now as my “Pandemic Promise.”

I hope you’ll give yourself some pause so you can listen in, hear about some of the practices and ideas that are grounding me right now, and consider writing a promise to yourself. 

In this minisode you’ll hear me talk about:

• A powerful essay from Indian author, Arundhati Roy, suggesting ‘The pandemic is a portal’ 
• How my conversation in Ep 59: The Healer Lies Within through Ayurveda with Avanti Kumar Singh reminds me to create daily rituals 
• Ep 63: A Maker’s Journey to a Good Life with Jonathan Fields, my “sparktype” and the morning practice Jonathan recommended that has me starting my day with clarity.
• A reminder to reconnect with the wisdom of our ancestors from Ep 50: Weaving our Ancestral Threads with Genealogist Nicka Smith
• The metaphor of the virus as a storm and how the three breath practice we explored in  Ep 51: Equanimity & The Calm In the Storm with Mindful Parent Michelle Gale are helping me
• My “Pandemic Promise” to myself

If you’d rather read than listen, you can also go straight to the blog post here.

And please mark your calendar for the 3rd Annual Mother’s Quest Manifesto Challenge, starting on May 11th in the Facebook Group. Join here. 

Follow all the conversations at www.mothersquest.com/podcast

Much appreciation,
Julie Neale

P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

I’m honored to share this episode, the first I’m releasing after our lives have changed in immense ways due to this global pandemic. At a time when we realize how interconnected we all are, I’m honored to bring you a conversation with Dr. Belinda Arriaga, a leader at Bay Area Border Relief, about the incredibly important work she does championing families seeking asylum at the United States Mexican border.

In addition to her advocacy through Bay Area Border Relief, Belinda is Founder and Executive Director of Ayudando Latinos a Soñar, a non-profit which stands for Believing in Latinos to Dream, dedicated to working with Latino rural youth, families, farmworkers, asylum seekers, and seniors living on coastside in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bringing her training as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of San Francisco in the School of Education, as Co-Founder of the Half Moon Bay Latino Advisory, and founder of the Latino Trauma Institute. She’s beloved by those who know her as being a fierce advocate with a heart of gold.

In this episode, Belinda shares about her own childhood immigration experiences journeying to America from Panama, how despite her mother’s instruction to keep her head down she learned to speak out and fight injustice, about our country’s history of honoring asylum as a human right, and now the ways in which our current immigration policies increase trauma for families fleeing violence instead of providing our protection, shelter and support. Belinda tells her firsthand accounts of the devastating conditions that families experience living in encampments on the Mexican side of the border now and also about miracles and community rising up to literally open doors. 

With faith in our collective generosity and hope for more miracles, Belinda and I spoke this week about what the families at the border need now. We want to invite you to say “yes” to the challenge of writing love letters in Spanish especially to the children there and also to send along children’s masks that can provide some protection from the spread of the coronavirus if it reaches their encampment. As we are sheltering in place, Belinda, the Bay Area Border Relief team and I invite you to follow the information in the show notes to take action within your homes, to send care packages that let these families know that they are not forgotten.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Vickie Giambra of ABA’s Children’s Immigration Law Academy

Vickie Giambra is a Senior Staff Attorney with the ABA’s Children’s Immigration Law Academy. She lives in Houston, TX with her husband and twice-exceptional daughter. She has been practicing immigration law since 2009. She began her nonprofit immigration law career when she joined Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in January 2017. 

As a Managing Attorney, she led the General Immigration Program at Catholic Charities, which encompassed family immigration matters and provided a full range of immigration services for refugees and asylees. With a B.A., cum laude, in Latin American Studies from Barnard College, Columbia University, and an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, Vickie began her career working in HR and recruitment for a large international law firm in New York and London. 

This sparked an interest in employment and immigration law, which led Vickie to enroll in the University of Houston Law Center, graduating in May 2009. She’s also a member of the Texas Bar and is also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach.

ABA Children’s Immigration Law Academy

Connect with Vickie:

LinkedIn

Twitter

Vickie’s Suggested Resources: 

• DHS Measures on the Border to Limit the Further Spread of Coronavirus
• Trump administration has expelled 10,000 migrants at the border during coronavirus outbreak, leaving less than 100 in CBP custody
• U.S. deports 400 migrant children under new coronavirus rules
• Under coronavirus immigration measure, U.S. is expelling border-crossers to Mexico in an average of 96 minutes
• There is No Public Health Rationale for a Categorical Ban on Asylum Seekers

In This Episode We Talk About:

• How Belinda’s painful experience leaving her native Panama for the United States connects to the work she does now supporting immigrants. 
• An explanation of the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), a policy that stopped asylum seekers from entering the United States since November
• A discussion of asylum-seeking as a basic human right
• Belinda's firsthand experience and observations about children's suffering under our current immigration policy and the ways we can support them
• How Belinda finds the personal strength and faith to persevere in the challenging work she does
• Belinda’s belief in miracles and a powerful story about community rising up to support a family seeking asylum 

This Week's Challenge:

For this episode’s challenge, Belinda encourages us to write love letters to the children who are seeking asylum (especially after the government’s latest announcement to shut down all asylum efforts right now) and to support an effort to bring 1,000 children’s masks to the families at the border. With this simple act of love and care, we can empower them to have strength especially when they are scared or lonely.

You can send your letters and masks to 4 Windsor Drive, Hillsborough, CA 94010
If you're interested in contributing to the larger project, you can go to https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/bayareaborderrelief to make a fully tax-deductible donation. 

And/or order masks for your family & friends with proceeds supporting the campaign visit 👉 bit.ly/BABRmasks

Learn More About Belinda Arriaga

Belinda Hernandez Arriaga is a Faculty Coordinator for the Masters In Counseling MFT program at USF's South Bay location. She co-founded and is part of the Latino Advisory Council in Half Moon Bay. Belinda has done extensive work on the coast working with farmworker families and their children, in her community practice her focus is on immigration trauma, u-visas, asylum and has worked with refugee children of San Mateo County.

She is Founder and Chief Executive Director of Ayudando Latinos A Soñar (www.alashmb.org), a Latino cultural arts, education, and social justice program dedicated to working with rural youth and families living on the coast side. Her current research is focused on understanding the emotional, psychological, and traumatic experiences that impact undocumented and mixed-status Latino youth.

Belinda’s work also focuses on understanding the cultural arts as a healing space for this community of children. Belinda is committed to social justice advocacy and multicultural practices in counseling that gives voice to underground communities and expand indigenous cultural practices in the field of counseling. She and her husband have three young daughters and live in the coastal community of Half Moon Bay.

To know more about Belinda and the work that she does, you can read her full bio 👉here

Follow Belinda on Social Media

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• ALAS Facebook
• Emails:
• • belinda@alasdreams.com
  • bmhernandezarriaga@usfca.edu

Resources Mentioned:

• Bay Area Border Relief
• Bay Area Border Relief Facebook Group
• Ayudando Latinos A  Soñar
• Latino Trauma Institute

Additional Resources featuring Belinda:

• TIME Magazine - ‘They’re Screaming for Help.’ See Drawings From Children Stuck in Mexico as They Seek U.S. Asylum

Announcements:

There are 3000 people hoping for a chance at a better life for themselves and their families. They are also at risk of being exposed to the virus. A joint project between ALAS and Bay Area Border Relief has been launched which is a mask making effort and it'll include the families at South Texas border, all across the Rio Grande from Brownsville.

Join me in my efforts to support them. If you're interested in contributing to this project, you can go to https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/bayareaborderrelief to make a fully tax-deductible donation. 

And/or order masks for your family & friends. Proceeds support the campaign 👉 bit.ly/BABRmasks

Join us in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group 

At the time I’m releasing this episode, during the COVID-19 global pandemic, so many of us are seeking ways to connect with one another, even while needing to stay physically apart. If you identify with being a mother on a quest and you’re not yet a member of the free private Mother’s Quest Facebook Group, I invite you to join us for opportunities to learn together, to share what we have to offer one another and where we need support, and to find ways to make meaning of all we’re going through right now. Visit www.motherquest.com/community to join and I’d be honored to welcome you in.

Season Five of the Mother’s Podcast is Under Way! - Help us Spread the Word

If you enjoy the Mother’s Quest Podcast, we’d love your support in sharing this or another favorite episode with a mother you think would appreciate it too! 

Another way to help spread the word is to leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Instructions for leaving a review are here:

How to leave a rating or review for a podcast from your iPhone or iPad

1. On your iOS mobile device, launch Apple's Podcast app.
2. Tap the Search tab in the lower right corner of the screen.
3. Enter the name of the podcast you want to rate or review. ...
4. Tap the Reviews tab, then tap “Write a Review” at the bottom of the screen.

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Vickie Giambra

Casey O'Rourty of Joyful Courage                                               Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

Have you ever had a “pinch me” moment when you can’t believe how things come together?

With two boys in my home, and one a teen already, I’ve wanted to interview New York Times bestselling author Peggy Orenstein for the Mother's Quest Podcast since the moment I first heard about her new book, Boys & Sex.

So, when Jill Daniel of Happy Women Dinners asked me if I’d like to co-produce a dinner and conversation with Peggy in the SF Bay Area, I said “yes” practically before she finished her sentence.

That I would have the opportunity to interview Peggy for the debut episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast Season Five ahead of our in-person dinner was just the most incredible bonus.

Because Peggy’s work is truly transformational.

Peggy is the New York Times bestselling author of Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Waiting for Daisy, Flux, and Schoolgirls, an award-winning journalist, and internationally recognized speaker on gender issues, especially those related to teens, sex and relationships. She’s a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and has also been published in The Washington Post, Slate, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker. She’s been featured on Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Morning Joe, NPR’s Fresh Air and The PBS News Hour. Her TED Talk, “What Young Women Believe About Their Own Sexual Pleasure,” has been viewed over 4.6 million times. 

The need to engage in conversations with our children about sex, even when they make us feel uncomfortable, was one of the biggest take-aways I had from my interview with Peggy. In this episode, we explore the insights she uncovered through her interviews with 100 teen boys and young men about their conceptions of masculinity and sexuality, including the early and pervasive experiences they have with porn, their understanding of consent, and the ways in which they feel unable to fully express themselves as emotional human beings. 

Where Peggy’s prior research revealed that girls are systematically disconnected from their bodies, boys she found are disconnected from their hearts.

As you listen, I invite you to think about how you could use something you learn in this episode to connect with your child. Be aware that while we don’t have explicit conversations about sex, we do mention topics such as porn. Please use your discretion in whether you want to play this episode around children. With older boys, you may purposefully choose, as Peggy jokingly suggests, to play this episode in their vicinity as a conversation starter.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to share this interview with you. I appreciated Peggy’s openness to sharing about her own E.P.I.C. life, to her bravery in her work, her inclusion of the perspectives of transgender and gay boys and to the impact of race in our conceptions of sexuality, and her challenge to us to have conversations with our children about sex. It’s not just “one talk,” she says, but a series of ongoing ones that our times call for today. And we have to start somewhere.

Much appreciation,


P.S. Know someone who would love this conversation? Pay this forward to a friend who may be interested.

This Episode is Dedicated by: Casey O'Rourty of Joyful Courage to Amy Lang of Birds & Bees & Kids

Casey O’Roarty, Med, is a facilitator of personal growth and development.  Her work encourages parents to discover the purpose of their journey, while also providing them with tools and a shift of mindset that allows them to deepen their relationships with themselves and their families. 

As a Positive Discipline Trainer since 2007 and certified coach, Casey has led countless groups through workshops and classes that have left them feeling empowered and excited about parenting. She also offers an engaging podcast, live and online classes, and individual coaching at www.joyfulcourage.com.  Her first book, Joyful Courage: Calming the Drama and Taking Control of YOUR Parenting Journey launched May 20th, 2019. Casey lives in the Pacific Northwest with greatest teachers – her husband, and two teenage kids.

👉 Registration for Joyful Courage: Parenting Teens Academy

Joyful Courage Podcast

Join the Joyful Courage Parents of Teens Facebook Group

Live and Love with Joyful Courage

Casey’s Social Media:

Twitter

Joyful Courage - Facebook

Instagram

About Amy Lang:

Amy Lang is a sexual health educator for over 20 years, she helps parents of all beliefs talk with kids of any age about the birds and the bees. She’s the author of the award-winning book Birds + Bees + YOUR Kids - A Guide to Sharing Your Beliefs About Sexuality, Love, and Relationships.

She started Birds & Bees & Kids with the mission to help every kid grow up to become healthy adults by helping their parents learn how they can engage and talk to their kids about their sex and sexuality.

You can learn more about Amy and her work here 👉 Amy Lang’s Birds & Bees & Kids

**Special thanks to  Jill Daniel of happy-women-dinners for co-producing and hosting the event with Peggy Orenstein**

Happy Women Dinners is the brainchild of food writer, gourmet cook, and publicist Jill Daniel.  As a food writer, Jill wrote about food from one coast of the country to the other. She is the owner of Dinner-Licious, she serves up delicious organic dinners to families around the San Francisco Bay Area. 

With Happy Women Dinners, Jill has brought together fantastic food and speakers with a focus on women.  Happy Women Dinners events are held in intimate settings and limited to small groups of women.

Jill Daniel - LinkedIn

Happy Women Dinners

Instagram @jillconnection

Happy Women Dinners Facebook Page

In This Episode We Talk About:

• How our conversation coincided with the four year anniversary of Peggy’s mother's death, the impact her mother had on her, and how we carry our ancestor with us
• The high school journalism assignment that set Peggy on her life purpose path of telling stories. 
• The importance of being in conversation with our kids about sex
• What Peggy believes sex is really about and her ultimate end-game in all of her work
• What one transgender boy illuminated for Peggy about the topic of masculinity
• Ways that sex and gender are mediated by race and ethnicity
• What has changed today about pornography and the ways that shape our boys' experience of sex 
• How to know when to talk to our kids about sex and porn
• The ways in which boys feel disconnected from their emotions
• Talking to our boys about consent
• What supports Peggy in staying grounded while doing this work
• The importance of finding community among other parents as we navigate conversations about sex with our kids

This Week's Challenge:

For this episode’s challenge, Peggy encourages us to start having conversations with our children about sex. With your older boys, consider listening to this episode together. You can also visit her website for a list of resources that can support you in having conversations with children at any developmental stage. 

Learn More About Peggy Orenstein:

Peggy Orenstein is the author of the New York Times best-sellers Boys & Sex, Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Waiting for Daisy as well as Don’t Call Me Princess, Flux, and the classic SchoolGirls:.

A contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and AFAR, Peggy has also written for such publications as The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, New York , The Atlantic and The New Yorker, and has contributed commentaries to NPR’s All Things Considered . She has been featured on, among other programs, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Morning Joe, NPR’s Fresh Air and The PBS News Hour. Her TED Talk, “What Young Women Believe About Their Own Sexual Pleasure,” has been viewed over 4.6 million times.

The Columbia Journalism Review named Peggy one of its “40 women who changed the media business in the past 40 years.” She has been recognized for her “Outstanding Coverage of Family Diversity,” by the Council on Contemporary Families and received Books For A Better Life Awards for both Girls & Sex and Waiting for Daisy. Her work has also been honored by the Commonwealth Club of California, the National Women’s Political Caucus of California and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Additionally, she has been awarded fellowships from the United States-Japan Foundation and the Asian Cultural Council and been a grateful resident at Mesa Refuge and the UCross Foundation.

Peggy's Books:

• Boys & Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity 
• Girl & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
• Sex, Teens, and Everything in Between: The New and Necessary Conversations Today’s Teenagers Need to Have about Consent, Sexual Harassment, Healthy Relationships, Love, and More

Connect with Peggy

• Peggy Orenstein
• Twitter: @peggyorenstein
• Facebook - @peggyorenstein

Resources from Peggy:

• FRIES Consent by Planned Parenthood
• AMAZE - More Info. Less Weird

Resources Mentioned:

• Ep 54: Superheroes, Fighting Patriarchy, and Courageously Defeating Gun Violence with Ladd Everitt
• Grown and Flown: How to Support Your Teen, Stay Close as a Family, and Raise Independent Adults by Lisa Heffernan
• Grown and Flown Parents Facebook Community

Announcements:

Spark Your E.P.I.C. Year Workshop

Join me on one of my favorite things to facilitate, the Spark Your E.P.I.C. Year Workshop, where I will take you via zoom on a “virtual milestone hike” an opportunity for reflection and intention-setting as we officially close one chapter and begin another. At Mother’s Quest, we’ve decided that February is the new January, and truthfully it is always a good time to begin again with intention. Click the link in the show notes to join this experience live tomorrow or to request the replay and come along when the time is right for you. Hope to see you there!

Join the Spark Your Epic Year Workshop by signing up here.

Want More Reflection in Your Life?
Book A Discovery Call

Some key themes that emerge from all my conversations, is the power of reflection and the power of being seen. These are elements that I bring, not only to every podcast interview, but to my one-one-one coaching and Mother’s Quest Circle facilitation. If you’re seeking more space for pause and reflection in your life, I encourage you to reach out to me for a discovery call to learn how we might work together.  Visit mothersquest.as.me/discoverysession to schedule a time to talk.

Click here to book a discovery call

Acknowledgments:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

Casey O'Rourty of Joyful Courage                                Kathie Moehlig or TransFamily Support Services
Anne Ferguson of MamaFuel
On the Move and etsuko Kubo
Kate Amoo-Gottfried
Nicole Lee
Olivia Parr-Rud
"Vince" of the While Black Podcast
Sara Brannin-Mooser
Lindsay Pera
Julie Castro Abrams
Alexia Vernon
Brooke Markevicius
Democracy Clothing
Michael Skolnik
Helgi Maki
Kari Azuma
Tamara Sobomehin
Katie Krimitsos
Carrie Caulfield Arick
Rachel Rosen
Chandra Brooks
Jen Simon
Monisha Vasa
Celia Ward-Wallace
Vanessa Couto
Desiree Adaway
Rachel Steinman
Katie Hanus
Denise Barreto 
Sage B. Hobbs 
Samantha Nolan-Smith
Jody Smith
Emily Cretella
Collette Flanagan
Titilayo Tinubu Ali 
Carly Magnus Hurt
Lizzy Russinko 
Suzanne Brown
Mara Berns Langer
Mallory Schlabach 
Katharine Earhart
Jessica Kupferman
Jen Jenkins Dohner
Genese Harris
Tonya Rineer
Liane Louie-Badua
Cristin Downs 
Erin Kendall 
Niko Osoteo 
Erik Newton 
Claire Fry
Divya Silbermann
Rachel Winter
Caren and Debbie Lieberman
Cameron Miranda
Fran and David Lieberman
Debbie and Alan Goore
The Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Four of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

---

Mother's Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

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).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/

In this pre-season MINISODE, a bite-sized reflection from my E.P.I.C. Life, I shared how my start to 2020 has been filled with both struggle and success, what it's like to share the full range of our experiences online in today's Instagramable world, and three things that have supported me on the threshold of a reset.

Also, a little about what to expect in my Spark Your E.P.I.C. Year Workshop, a chance for us to begin 2020 again, because February is the new January.

Three Things That Helped Me:

• Integrating my Emotions
• Finding my guides
• Doubling down on self-care
• This “A Tale of Two Narratives” by Lex Vernon put it all in perspective

Join the Spark Your Epic Year Workshop by signing up here.

Season 5 of the Mother's Quest Podcast will begin tomorrow. Join the conversation at www.mothersquest.com/podcast