In this inspiring episode of Let's Be Real Mama Journeys, Nikki sits down with Beth Leeds, an 84-year-young author, activist, and mama whose life is a testament to the power of positivity, purpose, and taking action.

From advocating for change as a child to building businesses as a single mom and influencing real policy, Beth shares how "inspired action" has shaped every chapter of her life. Her journey is filled with creativity, resilience, and a deep belief that ordinary people, including our children, can do extraordinary things.

Beth brings a refreshing perspective to motherhood, reminding us that our kids can be our greatest supporters, that intuition is one of our most powerful tools, and that living with joy and intention can truly change the world.

This episode will leave you feeling energized, empowered, and maybe even ready to take your own inspired action. Because sometimes the biggest impact starts with the smallest step.

In this powerful episode of Let's Be Real Mama Journeys, host Nikki Brooker sits down with Rachell Walk to unpack a motherhood journey tht is as raw as it is resilient. From the emotional toll of infertility and societal pressure to a traumatic birth that led to years of painful complications. Rachell shares what so many women experiences but few talk about. Her story dives into medical dismissal, postpartum trauma, and the physical and emotional challenges that followed, including multle surgeries and a long road to hearling. Through it all, Rachell opens up about the strength it took to advocate for herself, lean on her support system, and redefine what being a "good mom" looks like. This episode is a reminder that motherhood isn't always picture perfect, but it is deeply human. Honest, unfiltered, and incredibly moving. Rachell's story will leave you feeling seen, supported and less alone.

In this episode of Let's Be Real Mama Journeys, Nikki Brooker chats with longtime teacher and mom-of-two Chandra Thomas. They dive into the highs and lows of motherhood — raising kids without nearby family, teaching through isolation, navigating a child's ADD diagnosis, and breaking generational patterns of addiction and mental illness. Chandra shares candid reflections on pressure to be a "perfect" mom, the importance of asking for help, giving yourself grace, and the joy of seeing grown kids find their passion. Honest, warm, and relatable — a must-listen for anyone muddling through parenthood.

David Hampson is a multi company business owner and author of a book called Rainbow Gold. He advises people on how to run a business. He believes that enjoying the journey is the most important part of owning a business but that doesn't always happen. This happens because of the grind and the need to financially be considered successful. He says that anyone can build a business and that doesn't always mean going to business school. You need to be open to mentorship, having a passion and empowering people. Developing leaders is about listening and mentoring them to find their inner strength. Women are outstanding leaders and often they make better decisions and are open to discussions and mentorship. Men often have an ego issue that gets in the way to actually hear other inputs and take them in. Women don't sleep as well and are always "on." For a leadership position, the balance and the taking in many different inputs is really important. The disproportionate amount of things going on in a female's world is really unfair but somehow they overcome it. For male business leaders, flexibility is such an important part of managing your employees. If you can get the job done, let people enjoy their lives. He wishes he would have done differently is "is the business I am buying something I am passionate about?" Passion can make or break you in what you do with your life. You can find him at www.myrainbowgold.com and his book is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can email him at [email protected]

Dr. Marina is an OBGYN in Ottawa Canada in practice for over 35 years and about 3 years ago her daughter graduated from medical school. She was asked by her daughter to pay to freeze her eggs. What a request! In this episode of Let's Be Real Mama Journeys, Nikki Brooker sits down with Dr. Marina, an Ottawa-based OBGYN of 35+ years and author of Optimize Your Fertility Naturally. They discuss real-world fertility solutions beyond IVF—how lifestyle (nutrition, movement, sleep, stress) and reducing exposure to toxic chemicals can improve egg and sperm health, the surprising impact of environmental contaminants, and practical tools like the EWG Healthy Living app, air/water filters, and the Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 lists. Dr. Marina also shares personal stories about egg-freezing timing, transgenerational effects, genetics, and why a root-cause (functional medicine) approach matters. Learn more and grab her e-book (prelaunch on Amazon; full release June 20) or sign up for her free report at DrMarinaOBGYN.com. You can vote for her here: https://entrepreneurofimpact.org/2026/dr-marina-straszak-suri

Tara Turnure is a mama of twins as well as a singleton who created a beauty wellness brand called Beauty Drip. She was a model and FOX sportscaster on the sidelines! She is an influencer and has created her own brand so that all women can feel her best. As a FOX News sportscaster, she has worked with men who didn't want her there. She learned a lot and feels like the experience she had there prepared her for just about any other job on the planet. When you are second guessed as much as a woman in a man's world, you are constantly in "prove myself" mode. Her first born is her wild child and when she got pregnant with twins, she cried because she couldn't imagine taking care of 2! She ended up with a girl and boy and she says sometimes you have to dig deep because not every day is a picnic. Finding what brings your joy is the biggest benefit from motherhood because you get to make those decisions. Her best mama moment is when all three of her kids are getting along and playing well together because of the age difference, sometimes that's a challenge. Her worst mama moment is being sick kids who you can't help and make it better. Sleep training with her twins was also one of her biggest challenges and she is so glad that part is over. The real raw truth of motherhood is that all the beautiful and amazing moments AND all the really hard and super challenging moments, none of it lasts forever…so just hold on mama! She wishes she would have known that when she became a mom. Her round 2 (times 2) was a bit simpler because she knew a lot of it was coming but also knew it was a phase that would end and not last forever. You can find Tara on her personal instagram @taraturnure. Beauty drip is found at beautydrip.co and the website is themodelmama.com They want people to look and feel the best they can from the inside out!

Laurie Jacobson is in a small town in Virginia and is a step mom who is semi-retired and a certified health coach. She has done a lot about nutrition, chef work, yoga and has written a book called Unexpected Awakening about her time at a Buddhist Monastery. Laurie did not have kids of her own but is a step mom to 2 kiddos. When she came into the picture they were a little older so she didn't experience being a step mom of little kiddos but building a relationship with older "children" is also a challenge. She worried about stepping on toes and overstepping her boundaries but now that she's a grandma, she feels good about her relationships with her step kiddos. Her book, about the 22 days she spent at a Buddhist Monastery, came from her personal experience. She was in a dark place in a very abusive marriage and when she talks to other women, she has found that 9/10 of the women she talks to have experienced an abusive relationship. She had an opportunity to go to a silent retreat in West Virginia and she thought she had nothing to lose. She had tried everything else! The emotional bubble up that happens when you are in silence for a long time can truly change your whole life. It gave her the clarity and courage to find herself again and walk away from the abusive relationship. She came to the realization that everyone has struggles and most everyone just wants happiness and contentment. It also taught her to SLOW DOWN. You pay attention more and ground yourself in the present moment. Her website is www.lauriesjacobson.com where you can find links to her Amazon page and her book. She also offers a free 24 page digital guidebook called Building Your House of Health if you prescribe to the newsletter on her website.

Carol Moss is an empty nester and loves it. She is the co-owner of One Flesh Ministries working with her husband to help couples in marriage coaching and relationship building. She was 21 when she had her first baby and he passed away at the age of 34. He was a child of special needs but with her blended family of 4 adult kids spread all around the country. Her first born, with special needs as a single parent and she didn't realize he had needs until he was around 2 because he couldn't hit the milestones that most children did at that age. She had no support when she had her first kiddo and her biggest challenge was going through a divorce and becoming a single mom of three. She worked for the government after going to college and her co-workers were her support system. She fought for people to get the benefits they deserved. She worked for the Social Security administration for 32 years and retired. Her lived experience helped so many other families who were experiencing the same challenges. Her best mama moment was when she realized that she didn't have to walk around with sadness of having a disabled child. When she realized he was a blessing and focused on the things he COULD do, not what he COULDN'T do. When we focus on perfection, we will always fail. Her worst mama moment was when she had to go through the divorce and overcoming humility and forgiveness. Trying to co-parent without hatred is hard after a divorce. She wishes she would have known the difference between males and females (in parenting!). There are so many differences that we need to address this in parenting AND our relationships. Pride often gets in the way of relationship building. Be open to learning and changing. You can find her at onefleshministries.org or google Terry & Carol Moss and find all of their offerings.

Jean Doolittle is the owner of Southglenn Montessori Preschool in Littleton, Colorado. Her preschool is a mixed grade preschool of ages 3-6 year olds. She is also starting a new program for adults called Womens Roots (stay tuned)! She started young and had her first at the age of 19. She didn't have a community with her first but worked really hard to get connected as she had more kiddos. She has children she has parented and one she "ushered into the world" but then gave the opportunity for another family to parent. This was an unexpected blessing that she was able to pass onto another family. Her biggest challenge (especially with her first) was extreme isolation. She saw our YANA nonprofit flyer at the OBGYN and said "I thought of that nonprofit 22 years ago!!!" She has connected with some amazing women during her mamahood journey who are now her lifelong friends and she was open to the "yes." Her best mama moment was being present with her kiddos. She didn't have a cell phone for most of the parenting time with her little ones. That was a blessing! Her first relationship ended in divorce and telling her 8 year old daughter and her emotional processing of all of that was her worst mama moment. Watching your baby sad is the hardest part of being a mom. Being a first time mom at the age of 19, she wishes she would have known that accepting help (and even asking for it) is your POWER. YOU are powerful. There are no limits to your journey. Growing into yourself and finding your authentic self is part of being a mom. You can find more about her school at www.southglennmontessoripreschool.com or https://www.womensroots.com/

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Dr. Gertrude Lyons is a life coach focusing on families couples and the transformational journey of mothering. She leads retreats, is a speaker and an author. Her book, Rewrite the Mother Code. Her book was born out of lived experience as a lifelong learner and student along with her personal journey of being a mom to two daughters. She has two daughters out in the world and is grateful for that they have taught each other. As someone who believes in the preparation and the education side of knowing how to do something, she thought she had done the work to know how to parent. But she found that losing herself a little when having kids allowed her to grow more than she thought would happen. Being challenged and shutting down sometimes is when things set in that growth can happen. The pain and struggle of parenthood is necessary but also beautiful. Having that metamorphosis is essential to the growth and a portal to the cosmos if you let it be. Her best mama moments came when her first daughter was born and she felt like a goddess. Creating life is truly a gift that every mom should be proud of that accomplishment. Her worst mama moment came when she lost a child in the streets of downtown Chicago and she didn't have the immediate response to scream her name in order not to "look crazy." You can find Dr. Lyons on her website Drgertrudelyons.com. Her TedX talk is found HERE.