About Your Mother

About Your Mother

By Jennifer GriffithSociety & CultureEducationSelf-ImprovementRelationships
Download on the App Store

About Your Mother episodes

  • My Mother Inspired Me To Build Platforms To Empower Women And Girls | Lauri Levenfeld

    Our next guest for About Your Mother is Lauri Levenfeld. She is a playful spirit and has a never-ending commitment to the female voice. Jennifer and Lauri collaborated together in the past on projects, but most recently, Lauri debuted an award-winning film called Mad World.

    Using her distinctive eye and straightforward and real words, she has built platforms to share and extend the work of other women. Her inspiration came from none other than her mother. We hope you enjoy this conversation as Jennifer and Lauri talk about female empowerment/voices, the power of community and representation of female voices in Lauri’s film.

    Links:
    Instagram: @laurilevenfeld
    @madworldfilm
    @project.mentor
    @theprojectforwomen
    Website: The Project for Women
    Project Mentor
    Best Experimental Film at LAFA
    Mad World Trailer

    Learn more about the podcast at byjennifergriffith.com/category/podcast

    36 min
  • 003 A Breakthrough Inspired Me to Help Others | Sandra Possing

    In the third episode of About Your Mother, our guest, speaker, and mindset coach, Sandra Possing talks about how building an Unshakeable Foundation and unleashing their inner badass empowers a woman.



    They also discussed in this episode, Sandra's openness about her past and how it shaped her career path. Pay special attention to the part where she discusses the mind-altering Ayahuasca Experience.



    How to be Unshakeable



    Inner strength and resilience are needed to withstand all the hurdles in life. Sandra believes to build strength, you have to let go of "dead weight", learn from your past, and have self-awareness of your beliefs. With this in mind, she helps people develop their character and their strength with grace and dignity.




    "So if you picture this big oak tree during the middle of a chaotic storm ⁠— which is a beautiful metaphor for any kind of the chaos that's happening in the world ⁠— when you have these deeply rooted foundations that are holding you firm and strong in who you are, I would say connected to the earth figuratively and literally, then you can weather any storm. People can climb on you. Animals can climb on you. The weather, the wind, the lightning ⁠— you can weather all of those storms because the inner strength and the foundation are there." - Sandra Possing




    Unleashing your Inner Badass



    Sandra always wanted to help other people. Her selflessness and fear of becoming a disappointment became a hindrance to pursuing what she wanted out of her life.



    During her late 30s, she had multiple breakdowns that led her to a breakthrough. She refocused her life ⁠— starting from research, meeting up with other coaches, attending workshops, and, ultimately, progressing her personal development.




    "It was basically switching the whole paradigm that I'd been living my life in. Instead of looking outside of myself to tell me whom I'm supposed to be, what I'm supposed to do, what a normal person at my age is, and what their life is supposed to look like, I started actually asking myself, 'Well, what do you actually want?'" - Sandra Possing




    Coaching and Therapy



    Licensed psychiatrists help people with their mental health as they deal with the past and present issues to give people understanding and self-awareness of the things that weigh them down. Coaching, on the other hand, is more in the future, helping people achieve their goals, and figuring out what's next.




    "That's reminding me of the Toni Morrison quote, 'If you want to fly, you got to let go of the SHIT that weighs you down.' Therapy is one of many modalities for releasing the weight, releasing the things that we've been holding on to that's keeping us contracted, and by releasing that we become more light and we can fly away until our goals and our dreams." - Sandra Possing




    Bio:



    Sandra Possing is a speaker and mindset coach. She empowers high achieving, sensitive women to unleash their inner badass, develop unshakeable self-belief, and manifest their dream lives.



    Links:



    Sandra Possing



    Instagram: @sandrapossing



    Facebook: Sandra Possing Life Coach
    I hope you enjoyed this episode of About Your Mother! I love hearing from my listeners – feel free to
    49 min
  • 002 My Mother Inspired Me To Build Platforms To Empower Women And Girls | Lauri Levenfeld
    Our next guest for About Your Mother is Lauri Levenfeld. She is a playful spirit and has a never-ending commitment to the female voice. Jennifer and Lauri collaborated together in the past on projects, but most recently, Lauri debuted an award-winning film called Mad World.

    Using her distinctive eye and straightforward and real words, she has built platforms to share and extend the work of other women. Her inspiration came from none other than her mother. We hope you enjoy this conversation as Jennifer and Lauri talk about female empowerment/voices, the power of community and representation of female voices in Lauri’s film.

    In a world of perfect fairytales, Lauri Levenfeld embraces life’s fair share of mess and empowers women through art and storytelling.Click To Tweet
    Tribute to Lauri’s Mother
    Lauri describes her mom as one of the most giving, empathetic people she knows. Lauri shares how her mother always goes out of her way to make others feel good and lift them up. As a child, Lauri constantly experienced the incredible acts of love from her mom. 
    “My mom has no ego. She never took credit for anything she accomplished. Her intention and giving was just to give and her inspiration in life to care for others and make their lives as easy as possible.” - Lauri LevenfeldClick To Tweet
    Filming Mad World
    Jennifer describes how poignant and beautiful Lauri's ability was, to be able to create a film during the pandemic. With all of these restrictions around filmmaking, she applauded Lauri on crafting the film. She also went along her framework and intention based on her mother and crafted a film that gives a voice to women.
    “No matter where we are in life, we really have to hone in on our inner selves to propel us forward.” – Lauri LevenfeldClick To Tweet
    Looking Through Quarantine Differently
    Lauri also mentions in this episode how another friend, Nicole Sassaman, curator and celebrity designer in LA., has helped her greatly to facilitate her ideas for Mad World. In fact, Nicole was a big proponent for looking at quarantine as a incubator, as an actual asset and a positive place to hone ideas and concepts.
    “We both got together and said, let's just go for this.’ We want no fear approach. Whatever we're channeling, and whatever we come up with as a collaboration, we're going to go no holds barred. She really has that incredible way of looking at things...there's just nothing holding you back.”- Lauri Levenfeld
    To learn more about Lauri Levenfeld,
    36 min
  • 001 My Single Mom Shaped My Destiny | Ronda Moulton

    In the first episode of About Your Mother, our host Jennifer Griffith speaks with guest and dear friend, Ronda Moulton. She is an award-winning Interior Designer who has her fair share of challenges for both personal and career life. Today, she talks about her childhood experiences and how it molded her path of acceptance and love. Ronda also shares how she learned to accept the responsibility of being a step-parent.



    Building a Future



    At the age of three, Ronda's parents separated, leaving her single mother to raise her. It wasn't easy for both of them. Through this, she envisioned her future to be different from her childhood.




    "It instilled in me that I'm going to take really good care of myself, whether it's my body, spirit. I'm going to make sure I marry one time, and I'm married forever. I'm going to have a career...she put dad through college and so again, a selfless act but then devastating to her own." - Ronda Moulton




    Career Choice



    Since 6th grade, Ronda knew she wanted to become an Interior Designer. On Career Day at school, she envisioned having famous clients and making a good living. She started working for well-known Interior Designer Barbara Leland. This ultimately confirmed that she was on the road to the right career path.




    "There's not just one perfect person for everybody, but I think my heart for it is big and that my perseverance in wanting to do better...and then the spiritual connection I feel I have with my clients." - Ronda Moulton




    Acceptance of Love



    Throughout her life, Ronda believed that she would never have kids but things didn't go as planned when she met her husband, who had a child from a previous relationship. Ronda's husband made her re-evaluate her "wants" in life and showed her how great of a parent he is. Although it was challenging being in a blended family, they made it work. Ronda said she would never trade it for anything.




    "After meeting him, something shifted where I looked at him and I thought, 'he's a really good dad.' He stuck around when he didn't have to and that's really why I fell in love with him because I could look at him and see the hole that my dad had left me and that he hadn't left for his son." - Ronda Moulton




    To learn more about award-winning Interior Designer, Ronda Moulton, her childhood and her journey towards acceptance and love, download and listen to this episode.



    Bio:



    Ronda went onto Washington State University where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design and from there worked and mentored under top designers in the field.



    In 2000, Studio RED was born, and it's been a fantastic journey ever since. Project sizes ranging from 4,000 - 14,000 SF homes to commercial office buildings and spaces, including the Bellevue Lexus store in Washington state.



    Ronda is a native to the Seattle area and currently resides in Las Vegas with her husband, two dogs, and a horse.



    Ronda has an incredible eye for design, style + styling, and intuitively knows what a space needs once spending some time in its context and extracting critical criteria from her clients.



    Links:



    Ronda Elaine Design



    Facebook: Ronda Elaine Design Studios



    31 min
  • 001 My Single Mom Shaped My Destiny | Ronda Moulton

    In the first episode of About Your Mother, our host Jennifer Griffith speaks with guest and dear friend, Ronda Moulton. She is an award-winning Interior Designer who has her fair share of challenges for both personal and career life. Today, she talks about her childhood experiences and how it molded her path of acceptance and love. Ronda also shares how she learned to accept the responsibility of being a step-parent.



    Building a Future



    At the age of three, Ronda's parents separated, leaving her single mother to raise her. It wasn't easy for both of them. Through this, she envisioned her future to be different from her childhood.




    "It instilled in me that I'm going to take really good care of myself, whether it's my body, spirit. I'm going to make sure I marry one time, and I'm married forever. I'm going to have a career...she put dad through college and so again, a selfless act but then devastating to her own." - Ronda Moulton




    Career Choice



    Since 6th grade, Ronda knew she wanted to become an Interior Designer. On Career Day at school, she envisioned having famous clients and making a good living. She started working for well-known Interior Designer Barbara Leland. This ultimately confirmed that she was on the road to the right career path.




    "There's not just one perfect person for everybody, but I think my heart for it is big and that my perseverance in wanting to do better...and then the spiritual connection I feel I have with my clients." - Ronda Moulton




    Acceptance of Love



    Throughout her life, Ronda believed that she would never have kids but things didn't go as planned when she met her husband, who had a child from a previous relationship. Ronda's husband made her re-evaluate her "wants" in life and showed her how great of a parent he is. Although it was challenging being in a blended family, they made it work. Ronda said she would never trade it for anything.




    "After meeting him, something shifted where I looked at him and I thought, 'he's a really good dad.' He stuck around when he didn't have to and that's really why I fell in love with him because I could look at him and see the hole that my dad had left me and that he hadn't left for his son." - Ronda Moulton




    To learn more about award-winning Interior Designer, Ronda Moulton, her childhood and her journey towards acceptance and love, download and listen to this episode.



    Bio:



    Ronda went onto Washington State University where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Interior Design and from there worked and mentored under top designers in the field.



    In 2000, Studio RED was born, and it's been a fantastic journey ever since. Project sizes ranging from 4,000 - 14,000 SF homes to commercial office buildings and spaces, including the Bellevue Lexus store in Washington state.



    Ronda is a native to the Seattle area and currently resides in Las Vegas with her husband, two dogs, and a horse.



    Ronda has an incredible eye for design, style + styling, and intuitively knows what a space needs once spending some time in its context and extracting critical criteria from her clients.



    Links:



    Ronda Elaine Design



    Facebook: Ronda Elaine Design Studios



    31 min
  • Welcome to the Podcast | About Your Mother

    Welcome to our new podcast - About Your Mother, Where Your Story Begins. Host Jennifer Griffith is on a mission to celebrate and examine one of the most powerful and influential relationships in our lives: our relationship with our mother.

    Each month, join Jennifer as she converses with compelling guests. She will unravel stories from their childhood and how their past shaped who they became.

    I love hearing from my listeners - feel free to email me, connect on Instagram, Facebook, and subscribe on Apple Podcast!

    2 min
  • 000 Welcome to the Podcast | About Your Mother

    Welcome to our new podcast - About Your Mother, Where Your Story Begins. Host Jennifer Griffith is on a mission to celebrate and examine one of the most powerful and influential relationships in our lives: our relationship with our mother.



    The Power of Storytelling



    Each month, join Jennifer as she converses with compelling guests. She will unravel stories from their childhood and how their past shaped who they became.



    “It is a journey we all take, but each road we travel is different and that, to me, is the power of this kind of storytelling.” - Jennifer GriffithClick To Tweet



    Homage to Jennifer’s Mother



    The podcast was born as Jennifer was writing her first book. It was an homage to her mother’s young life. She tragically lost her parents so she grew up in an orphanage with her four siblings.




    “After completing my mother’s story, my book grew. It transformed into a mother-daughter memoir exploring a family based on secrets and abandonment. In writing about the trauma my mother faced in her young life I realized the impact her childhood had on the way she raised me. The challenges I faced in my life were suddenly linked to hers.” - Jennifer Griffith




    Our Connection To Our Mothers



    We are connected to our mothers in profound ways. We live through their experiences - directly and indirectly. Through this podcast, Jennifer will navigate through the lives of the guests through the significant experiences they have with their mothers.




    “Do you know who your mother was before she was your mom? Do you know how her childhood shaped the way she raised you? Or her choice not to? In sharing our narratives with another - our celebrations, our failures, our shame, our dreams - we create a connection. We weave the fabric of our ancestral survival. We all have a story to tell and all of our stories matter. And all of our stories begin with hers.” - Jennifer Griffith




    To know more about the podcast, download and listen to this episode.
    I hope you enjoyed this episode of About Your Mother! I love hearing from my listeners - feel free to email me, connect on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and subscribe on Apple Podcast!
    2 min

About About Your Mother

From the publisher's feed

About Your Mother is a monthly podcast hosted by writer Jennifer Griffith. Each podcast features a conversation with a dynamic guest exploring the influence their mothers had on the trajectory of…

More shows like About Your Mother

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,529 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,708 Listeners

On with Kara Swisher by Vox Media

On with Kara Swisher

3,609 Listeners