Atomic Moms

Teresa Palmer and host Ellie Knaus speak with Helen Tunea about her intense journey from pregnant cancer patient to thriving mother of two. In this candid and inspiring conversation, Helen and Teresa share the life-changing power of friendship, including fun advice for how the rest of us can “pick up” lifelong mom friends.

For the first time publicly, Helen opens up about her moment-to-moment decision making when she was diagnosed with stage 3, triple negative breast cancer while pregnant with her second child. She shares her fears at the time of not being present for first child, her countless surgeries and chemotherapy while pregnant, and how they got through it all! You'll definitely want to hear Helen's advice for what NOT to do or say when supporting a friend with illness and HOW to best show up for her in times of need!

Helen's #MOMBOMB: "Pain is temporary, warriors are forever”

Follow Teresa's parenting journey on our favorite mom blog: YourZenMama.com

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Meet Our Guests:

Born and raised in Chicago to Romanian refugees, and the middle child of five, Helen Tunea was the first American born of her family. She found her bi-cultural upbringing made it easy to connect with people which lead her to a career in HR, and in the global tech industry. She’s traveled the world for work and play, met her soul mate (also a first gen/Mexican) and chef. They moved to LA when said soul mate-now husband received an offer to open a restaurant in Hollywood. They had their daughter Luna, and soon after, she was diagnosed with breast cancer soon after finding out she was pregnant with her son. She underwent a year of chemo/radiation treatment and gave birth. Now in remission, Helen is the head of talent acquisition for a global tech company in Silicon Beach, and lives in Palms with her family.

Teresa Palmer splits her time between the Hollywood Hills and Adelaide, South Australia with her husband Mark and their kids, 3 yr old son Bodhi and 4 month old son Forest. She also has an almost 9 year old step son, Isaac. Teresa is an actor, director, writer, philanthropist and owner of Your Zen Life and co-founder of our favorite blog: YourZenMama. She is passionate about raising conscious minded children and using her platform to “Be The Change.”

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Emmy award-winning journalist turned actress/comedian/host Heather Brooker chats with fellow parenting podcast host Ellie Knaus about everything under the L.A. sun. Join us as we laugh about the recent moment Heather's family video went Youtube viral, and go international with us as we discuss how Heather’s recent family trip to London took a shocking turn when she found her family in the midst of the Parliament attack (she gave live news coverage to US stations while her daughter played in a nearby park). Ellie shares the recent loss of their family pet, how she shared the news with Sabrina, and the sweetest (and perhaps most bizarre) FaceTime exchange in iPhone history. Because we're talking "Motherhood in Hollywood", we also have a playful social media tug-of-war over the fine line between not wanting to project a falsely perfect family image while also not sharing our dirty laundry or our children’s meltdowns. And of course, we have to ask Heather: what’s the biggest misconception about motherhood in Hollywood? x Ellie Knaus, Atomic Moms mom-in-chief

Guest Bio:

Heather is an actress, comedian, Emmy Award-winning Journalist, and host of the Motherhood in Hollywood podcast (available on iTunes!). She’s appeared on TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, The Office, Fresh Off The Boat, and The Mindy Project. On her podcast, Heather discusses her two passions — parenting and entertainment — and has a hilariously addicting, tell-it-like-it-is personality. She has appeared as a guest on CBS2/9 Los Angeles, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, mom.me, Wonderwall and the Today Show Parenting Team as well as her own blog. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and 3-year-old daughter. MotherhoodinHollywood.com

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Relationship tips + hilarious parenting stories. Podcast #122: New York Times best-selling author Jancee Dunn and host Ellie Knaus share the ins and outs of their relationships and compare funny notes on the home front. Dunn's new book, "How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids," (Little, Brown and Company) is described as "part memoir of discovery, part parenting and marriage how-to, and part intriguing exploration of science that explains why we behave the way we do." We laugh about what frustrates us most about our partners in Newbornland. For example, I remember in my sleep-deprived haze telling Adam he was not allowed to sit in the driveway with his phone after work and that if he wanted to go to the bathroom right when he got home then he should use the one at the office!... (Sorry, Adam. Can't wait to be back in the thick of it with baby #2 this July!) Jancee shares communication skills she learned from an FBI hostage negotiator (for her husband, but I swear it applies to toddlers as well), and we discuss the traps of "maternal gatekeeping". If you find yourself losing your cool with your partner in front of your child, Jancee offers a powerful suggestion for calming your temper. And if you're struggling to make Quality Family Time (Q.F.T.) in this crazy age of kids sports and non-stop birthday parties, Jancee offers the guilt-free, sure-fire way to get off the hook! Yes, buckle up. We cover a lot of ground! xx Ellie

Guest Bio:

New York Times bestselling author Jancee Dunn is the author of five books, including "But Enough About Me", a memoir of her rock and roll years, (HarperCollins, 2008) and an essay collection, "Why Is My Mother Getting A Tattoo? And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had To Answer", a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor (Ballantine, 2009). In 2012, with Cyndi Lauper, she cowrote "Cyndi Lauper: A Memoir". Her first book for children, "I’m Afraid Your Teddy Has Been Naughty Today", will be published in 2017 by Candlewick Press. She was a staff writer at Rolling Stone for over a decade, and a veejay at MTV for five years. She writes for many publications, among them the New York Times, Vogue, Food & Wine, and Parents, and was a columnist for GQ and O, The Oprah Magazine. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, the author Tom Vanderbilt, and their daughter. JanceeDunn.net

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#121 Mom friends Ellie Knaus and Bridget Moloney-Sinclair crash Becca McHugh’s babymoon! We find out if Hawaii is as “relaxing” as it sounds with a three year-old and a thrill-seeking husband. We also address the Do’s and Don’ts of meeting the newborn. Sleep-deprived and always candid, brand new second time mom Bridget enlightens Becca and Ellie as to their future of juggling young children and infants (like, who do you address first when they both want something at the same time?…how about when the older one takes the new transition out on the dog?…does motherhood foster or destroy creativity?...and last but not least, do peepee teepees actually work?). Most notably, Ellie interviews her youngest Atomic Moms guest ever: Bridget's six week old baby George.

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Jill Simonian, entertainment reporter turned parenting lifestyle expert (CBS Los Angeles, NBC's Today Show Parenting Team, Mom.me), gives us the scoop on new mom life hacks and sensitive parenting topics offered in her book, "The Fab Mom's Guide: How to Get Over the Bump & Bounce Back Fast." Host Ellie Knaus asks Jill to reflect back on the blurry days of SAHM-ing "two under two" while juggling the occasional freelance, high intensity on-camera work. After 5+ years of running TheFabMom.com, we get her advice for mom bloggers starting out and ask where she draws the privacy line in sharing stories of her children on social media. We also dish about our birth experiences, our nursing/formula decision making, and dismantle the frequent Mama "F Bomb" (Failure). Boom!

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We're celebrating the midpoint of my second pregnancy! 20 weeks down. 20 weeks to go. I sit down with Adam Sztykiel (comedy screenwriter/ sitcom show runner/ husband of almost 10 years) to catch up on all the ridiculousness happening at Chez Sztykiel. I find out what it's like living with a pregnant zombie (me) who has suddenly revived herself with an intense second trimester "nesting” frenzy. Our toddler correspondent, Sabrina, makes her Atomic Moms debut to reveal the gender of our baby! And throughout the episode, she pops in to share her thoughts on having a sibling, what’s hot in entertainment news (on Nick Jr), and to belt out "Moana". She’s pushing hard for her own spin-off podcast (N-O) or a spot on Ellen (not gonna happen). We also answer listener questions about the ways in which our first child is like us and totally different from us, how Adam measures up to his own manly-man father, and the most exciting purchase Ellie has made this year (yes, folks, it’s a label maker).

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This episode could save your child's life. I can’t wait for you to meet guest SELENA WILLOWS, a mom of two, a nutrition and wellness coach as well as the child swim instructor who taught my toddler to swim safely across a pool in less than two weeks! We’ll talk with Selena about water safety (like the chilling fact that it takes less than 20 seconds for a child to stop fighting for breath), the spiritual experience of witnessing a child push past their fears and perceived limitations, as well as how she coaches. “Swimming is one of those things that children can learn very quickly if people get out of their way,” Selena says. “I often say I don’t so much teach as I facilitate. I provide a safe environment where kids are empowered and they get to learn how to swim -- they get to teach themselves how to swim. I guide them, but I do very little instruction.”

We also go WAY BEYOND swim lessons into Selena’s mantra to “live life on purpose” and her own transformative experience of LOSING 100 pounds. And Selena will offer a “breakthrough homework assignment” for us moms to achieve greater clarity about getting to the root of shame and how it affects us physically inside and out. P.S. Here's hoping I kick this preschool cold by the time Sabrina is in college. Jeez Louise.

Selena’s blog:

http://www.selenawillows.com/

Swim to Selena:

http://www.swimtoselena.com/

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You know KaDee Strickland from the ABC dramas "Private Practice" and "Secrets & Lies", and her new Hulu series "Shut Eye". In this special Valentine’s episode, KaDee confesses how she tried to play cupid between her girlfriend and actor Jason Behr before realizing she had been struck by the arrow herself. She shares her secrets to 10+ years of marriage with "Mr. Delicious" in La La Land, which let's face it, in Hollywood years, is a record. We chat about how motherhood underscores the awesomeness of female friendship, KaDee’s upbringing in rural Georgia (she had a pet alligator, for real...learned that tidbit watching her on "The View"), and we examine the mother-daughter dynamics in her family history. A huge Atomic Moms shoutout to the One Billion Rising campaign, the biggest global action ever to end violence against women and girls.

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Journalist HEATHER SHUMAKER shares insights from her parenting books loved by so many free-thinking moms: “It’s Ok to Go Up the Slide: Renegade Rules for Raising Confident and Creative Kids” and "It’s OK Not to Share and Other Renegade Rules for Raising Competent and Compassionate Kids” (Penguin Random House). With a warm voice and a no-nonsense attitude, Heather helps us advocate for our children's unalienable right to be kids! We discuss the importance of childhood physical risk-taking and the benefits of scraped knees. She reminds us that CONFLICT is a great opportunity for our little ones to learn conflict resolution and gives us the tools to help them do it successfully! She tells us how to sidestep the "time to turn it off" screen-time wars, and what to do if our kids are being assigned too much homework in school. We're starting a renegade parenting revolution! Are you with us?

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Jessica Coulter kidnaps host Ellie Knaus for a Mom’s Night Out. Our award-winning advertising creative director mom-friend shares a glimpse into her life as an undercover working mom who gets everything done in time for preschool pick up, and Ellie shares her experience as a living, breathing, hormonal roller coaster gearing up for second trimester. We make a toast to the perks of socializing sober and stress the importance of leaning on mom friends when we feel depleted or stressed. We also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the musical RENT before hopping in the cab to see it at the Pantages Theater.

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