Feed the Matriarchy

In this episode, we're getting into the trenches on anxiety: what it looks like when the day goes sideways, and what we actually do about it. We talk about perfectionism and control, laughing as a coping mechanism, and the generational trauma that may be part of why anxiety runs in our family. We get honest about the cost of white-knuckling your feelings, and we share how we handle panic as adults: naming the feeling, getting down on our knees (metaphorically) to comfort ourselves the way we would a child, and sitting through the surge instead of walking out. We talk about the people who make up your matriarchy, why it helps to externally process with more than one person, and why grounding looks different for everyone (yes, even touching actual grass). We close with the humbling experience of watching our own anxiety reflected back at us through our kids, and how giving ourselves grace makes room for more grace with everyone else. If you’ve ever laid in bed thinking “wow, I feel really fucked up right now,” this one’s for you.

This week on Feed the Matriarchy, we sit down with Sarah Martyn, a licensed massage therapist, E-RYT 500 yoga teacher, body image coach, and owner of Exhale Massage and Yoga in Narberth, PA. Sarah’s work is about helping people move away from treating their bodies like problems to solve and toward listening, connection, and feeling more at home in themselves. Together we talk about what trauma-informed bodywork looks like and what to look for in a safe space, how to start small when getting quiet feels scary, and why so many women apologize for their bodies before anyone says a word. We get into diet culture, the impossible standards it sells us, and how somatic work and nervous system co-regulation help us slow down and stop living in fight or flight. Plus, embodiment through movement, and a spicy tangent you’ll have to hear for yourself. The episode closes with our favorite question: what did you have to unlearn to stop shrinking and start expanding? Sarah’s answer is one you’ll want to sit with. 

To contact Sarah Martyn & Exhale Massage and Yoga: https://www.exhalemainline.com/

To learn more about retreat offerings: https://www.exhalemainline.com/poconos-retreat

This episode we're sitting down with Dr. Dana Harron, a Washington, DC-area psychologist, founder of Monarch Wellness and Psychotherapy, and author of Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder. Her second book, Parenting Beyond Trauma, comes out in April 2027. Dr Harron shares how a feminist, relational approach to eating disorder treatment shaped her work, and why she believes in supporting the people around someone who is struggling, whether that's a partner, a sibling, or a parent. The conversation then turns to parenting with a trauma history: how the nervous system puts safety first, why a small moment can suddenly feel like a hill to die on, and how our own childhoods can show up when our kids reach the age that was hard for us (cue Johanna's birthday party anxiety). Along the way we talk about the pressure of Instagram-perfect motherhood, why taking care of yourself is taking care of your kids, and how repair after a mistake can be a gift to a child. Dr Harron closes with what she's unlearning as she enters the second half of life. If you're trying to keep what was good from your childhood and leave the rest behind, this one is for you.

To connect with Dr Dana Harron: https://www.monarchwellness.com/dana-harron-psyd

Loving Someone with An Eating Disorder: To Purchase

Parenting Beyond Trauma : To Purchase

In this episode, we go solo to unpack a theme that's quietly come up with almost every guest this season: the fear of failure, and how differently it shows up for women. We dig into the research — girls report significantly higher fear of failure than boys, and that gap only widens among high achievers — and trace it back to our own lives, from fifth-grade math tests to job losses to raising kids in a world that still tells girls perfect is the baseline. We talk about the conditioned instinct to ask "what did I do wrong?",  the reflexive apology, the exhaustion of trying to be everything for everyone, and what it actually looks like to unlearn all of it — not by becoming fearless, but by learning to rest, to fail without spiraling, and to trust that an imperfect result is data, not a verdict. It's a conversation about conditioning, intuition, and giving yourself — and the next generation — permission to try the long shot.

This week we sit down with Jessi Sheridan, founder of Habituelle and author of The Executive Shift, for a conversation that hits every corner of the matriarchy. After nearly two decades climbing the corporate and nonprofit ladder — including time as a COO — Jessi walked away to build a coaching and community company dedicated to helping ambitious women create careers and lives that feel as good as they look on paper. They get into why imposter syndrome shows up at every level of success (yes, even for the women who look like they have it all figured out), the real difference between burnout and just being tired, and why mentorship should never cost you anything but the ask. Jessi also opens up about being labeled "put together" and "intimidating," and what it took to stop shrinking herself into other people's boxes. This one will have you rethinking what "success" actually means to you .

To connect with Jessi, you can find more info here:

https://habituelleleadership.com/

Or on Instagram:

@_habituelle_

@jessi.sheridan

Kerry Miller is a Registered Dietitian and mom of three daughters who spent years working with women whose complicated relationships with food traced all the way back to childhood. Instead of handing her own girls more rules, she wrote them stories — and that's how her book series, Violet Learns, was born. In this episode, Kerry joins us to talk about interoception, the "praise cycle," why silence was actually a protective gift in her own childhood, and the one phrase she wants every parent to keep in their back pocket at the dinner table. We get into what it really looks like to raise a kid who trusts her body, the language she's swapping in for old lines like "finish your plate," and why she believes awareness — not perfection — is what actually breaks the cycle.

The first book in the series, Violet Learns to Pause, launches September 15.

For more information: https://violetlearns.com/

This week we sit down with Rachel Creighton, founder and executive director of the Wildflower Collective, a nonprofit built from her own postpartum depression story. Rachel takes us into the darkest season of her life — the rage that scared her, the intrusive thoughts she was terrified to say out loud, and the moment medication finally quieted her brain enough to know it wasn't her fault. She's honest about the shame that still creeps in years later, and how she channeled that shame into a physical space where women can be honest too — free support groups, community programming, and a trusted network of practitioners for women who need care and can't afford to wait for it. What makes Rachel's story so powerful isn't just that she got through it. It's that she talks about it — and in doing so, gives every woman listening permission to stop believing she's the only one.

TW: This episode discusses suicidal ideation.

To contribute to the Wildflower Collective non-profit: https://wildflowercollective.org/

In this episode, we sit down with Deirdre Murphy — musician, gig theater innovator, and creator of Capitalism: The Musical — for a conversation about how art and life intertwine to foster love, resilience, and social awareness. Deirdre shares the inspiration behind her musical works, including her album Matriotism, and unpacks how gig theater diverges from traditional performance as a living, breathing form of artistic and social expression. Together, we explore feminine power, the balance of boundaries and compassion, and why centering yourself is what actually allows you to lead. Deirdre reflects on parenting, failure, and unlearning the societal constraints that shape our relationship to our bodies — and speaks to how music and movement become tools for embodying power. This a conversation about grounding in difficult moments, transforming anger into compassion, and why love, expressed through community and creative care, might be the best answer we have.

To find more of Deirdre Murphy's music : https://deirdremurphymusic.bandcamp.com/album/matriotism

This week on Feed the Matriarchy, we dig into what it really means to create space for yourself while showing up for others. We trace how religious and cultural teachings have conditioned women toward self-sacrifice, and unpack the scarcity mindset that convinces us there's never enough time, energy, or permission to rest — versus an abundance mindset that says we get to choose. The conversation moves through practical territory too: how to recognize the signs of burnout before you hit the cliff, why preemptive boundaries matter more than reactive ones, and what "self-arrest" looks like when you catch yourself before you're depleted. We share our own self-care practices, from cold plunges to yoga to simply doing nothing, and make the case that sustainable activism and community work isn't about doing less for others — it's about learning to say no early enough that you can keep showing up at all.

In this episode of Feed the Matriarchy, Sarah Boardman — interior designer, builder, and founder of Wisconsin Built to Last — joins us to unpack how the systems shaping our government, healthcare, and communities were designed, and why she believes they can be redesigned to actually work for everyone. 

We also get into her 14th Amendment embroidery project and what it means to sit with the words that hold our democracy together.

Explore Sarah's design work: sarahboardman.design

Follow Wisconsin Built to Last: https://www.thepeoplesproject.info/wisconsin-built-to-last