OMG it happens overnight. One minute you have a cute little girl and next thing you know you are mother to a teenager … and life as we know it changes completely.

It can be so hard to know what’s going on in our teenagers heads. So difficult to know what to say and how to help them.

That’s why I chat with Maya Kiusalaas, author of Free The Girl and blogger at My Monday Love. She talks to us in this podcast as a kind of mediator between us and our teenagers.

You can listen to us discuss the mixed emotions of the teenage years; the (sometimes inexplicable) lack of self-worth that teenagers have; the biggest issues that teenagers face today and how you can help them; what you can do to connect with your teenagers on ‘their’ level; Leah’s take-aways tips that you can put into action straight-away to improve your relationship with your teenager.

It’s not what you know, but who you know. And in this case I have the perfect person to help us gain heaps of knowledge (and power) during a financial separation.

Enter: The only lady I can talk to about this stuff without my eyes glazing over … Belinda from Divide.

In this information-packed podcast we discuss why it’s so important to treat your financial separation as a learning process; the biggest knowledge gaps for single mums; what we can learn from a financial separation and how it will help now and in the future; why there is an element of fear around ‘starting over’ financially and how we can overcome it; the advantages of working through your financial separation WITH your ex-partner; and actionable tips to ensure a successful and peaceful financial separation.

No.1 most important people EVER: Our kids. So, when it comes to getting divorced our top priority is to make sure they are not negatively impacted.

I chat to the founders of Family Law Life, Danielle Zetzer and Jacque Philip, to get advice from not only their professional stand-point, but from their personal experiences too.

In this information-packed podcast we discuss the most common mistakes during separation that can negatively impact children; how these mistakes can be avoided; how much children need to know during a divorce; what children can actually learn from a divorce; and what resources are available to kids to help them deal with divorce.

Yummy yummy in my tummy to all the delicious Christmas food that hits the supermarket shelves at this time of year.

But it’s not all as wonderful as it may seem.

As mums, we know only too well how the food we feed our children affects their moods, and during the holidays when routines are disrupted, it is more important than ever to get it right.

For this reason, I had a wonderfully informative chat with certified nutrition and health coach, Krissy Ropiha, from Her Nourished.

Tune-in to listen to us talk about the importance of feeding our kids healthy, nutritious food; really cool make-ahead snack ideas that your kids will actually eat; the pros and cons of three-meals-a-day vs. grazing; dehydration and how to avoid it; and Krissy’s favourite go-to nutritious, delicious, super-fast recipes.

Present overload. It’s the same every Christmas. To the point where it’s too much for our kids to take in. The end result is that our children expect a lot, and don’t always understand how lucky they are.

For this reason, I chat with Jane McLeod from EcoToy Hire. She is all about wooden, non-toxic toys, and has some brilliant tips to help our kids want less and be more grateful this Christmas.

In this podcast we discuss how the modern-day Christmas revolves around money and mountains of gifts; ways to ‘reign it back in’ at Christmas (yes, it is possible); why and how to encourage your children to be more grateful; what lessons you can teach your children around Christmas time; and the best bit … the benefits of toy rotation and how it works.

This amazing woman has been all over social media with her brilliant (if slightly teary) video telling her three children that they WERE going to save and they WERE going to Disneyland. Even before they had the money to go!

And to Disneyland they went!

In this podcast Jo Harlow from Mentor Mumma tells us her story about how she made this dream come true and why it was so important to her. I tell you ladies, if you need some inspiration to help you work towards your next life goal, you will find it here.

Amongst other things, we chat about why it was so important for Jo to make this trip happen; how to turn dreams from ‘talk’ to ‘do’; the phases in our children’s lives, and how/why to capture them; practical saving tips and advice that really work; and what lessons our children can learn from working towards such a big goal.

Don’t let this special time of your life pass you by in a blur of exhaustion. Enjoy the journey!

In this podcast I chat with the beautifully calming, Amy Taylor-Kabbaz from Happy Mama, about why and how we can simplify and ultimately enjoy being mothers .. even in today’s crazy, fast-paced world. 

We discuss the importance of early motherhood and how it changes us; how to revalue motherhood and understand the cycles of our lives; Amy’s three core focuses to simplify and savour your life as a mother; the importance of empowerment between mothers and how you can embrace it; and finally, what makes a happy mama (there are a million answers and none of them wrong).

In PJ’s (bra on) I sat in Australia early on Saturday morning chatting to the vibrantly wonderful Emma Johnson from Wealthy Single Mommy in New York on her Friday evening, also in PJ’s (bra on). There is no doubt about it … wherever we live in the world, single mothers have an incredible ability to connect.

Emma is the master of making a success of single motherhood and she gives us her tips in this podcast. We chat about why Emma thinks we should say NO to child support (this is great); Emma’s belief that all co-parenting arrangements should be 50/50; how to get out of the ‘single mum poverty mindset; and the reason why we shouldn’t hide the fact that we date from our kids.

You can do this! I did it. Hell, everybody’s doing it. It’s the perfect work/life balance for single mums .. but it’s often easier said than done.

Cue the industry expert … Michele Elmas, founder of Dynamic Business Women.

I enjoyed picking her brains (and adding my own experiences to the mix) on the why’s and how’s of doing what many single mums dream of .. running a business from a laptop.

We discuss the first steps to get started in business; what tools you need to start a business (this may surprise you); the highs and lows of working from home; how to make working from home, well .. work; the most common ways to waste money starting a business and how to avoid them; why mistakes are OK as longs as we learn from them; oh, and Coco, Michele’s dog, has a guest slot too!