Full disclosure: This episode almost didn’t make it to you. After our conversation, I got one of those dreaded error messages—my guest’s audio was supposedly damaged beyond repair. Which meant I had to do the unthinkable: ask her to re-record the whole thing. And not only was that a professional bummer, it felt like a crime. Because the conversation you’re about to hear was full of spontaneous, goosebump-inducing moments—those rare, honest sparks when something deeper comes through.

So yes, we did a backup recording (thank you, Ana, for your grace). But right before I sent the files off to my editor… I discovered the original audio—the one you’re about to hear—was perfectly intact. Don’t ask. Just thank the podcast gods.

Now, about my guest: Ana Tajder is a Croatian-born journalist, author, and host of the award-winning podcast Thank You, Mama, where she’s interviewed over 170 women from 80 countries about the lessons they learned from their mothers. She’s also the daughter of renowned Yugoslav actress and artist Jagoda Kaloper, a university lecturer in Vienna, and a two-time author whose work explores storytelling, sociology, and the cultural legacies passed down through the motherline.

I invited Ana on because—whether she knows it or not—she’s been quietly building what I’d call a doctorate in mother-daughter wisdom. I wanted to know: after all these conversations, what has she learned not just about our mothers, but about us? What resurfaces in women’s lives at midlife? What gets inherited, and what gets rewritten?

Ana’s story is extraordinary. She grew up with a fiercely independent, creative mother—and carries the legacy of a Croatian island ruled by “white widows,” badass women who held down entire communities while the men were gone. That matriarchal strength runs through this entire episode.

We talk about:

• What actually gets passed down from mother to daughter—and what’s left unsaid
• Why so many women were never taught to understand or care for their bodies
• The shadow side of over-functioning and emotional self-sacrifice
• The creative awakening that often begins at midlife
• How women mother each other through storytelling, friendship, and witnessing
• And Ana’s powerful realization that women across cultures are living out a kind of universal, archetypal life story—one with distinct phases we’re only just beginning to name

Connect with Me:

•Book a discovery call at www.zevabellel.com

•Subscribe to my Substack: On Becoming

•Email me: [email protected]

•Leave me a voice message on Speakpipe

Credits: Artwork Jessie Kanelos Weiner; Editing Matthew Jordan; Music © Fabrice Fortin; Mai's photo bt Lyloutte Studio

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