We’re in the summer winddown in the Pestikas household as this podcast launches. My husband, John, and I were just talking the other day, and we are so elated that the kids are almost back to school. Do you feel me?

While it is fun to have an unstructured summer, it can get tiring after a while as we become Uber drivers for our children, especially our teenager, Charlotte. “Dad, can I go here?” “Mom, can I have a sleepover at this friend’s house?” It’s fun and relentless at the same time. And we can’t wait for a bit more structure once again! Do you feel me?

Parenting, and most things in life, take grit. When I think of grit, I think of Angela Duckworth’s book of the same name. In preparation for this show, I looked up what the word even means because I could not define it for myself. According to Google, grit means, “courage and resolve; strength of character.”

I want more grit in my life. I want my children to have grit. So, when my guest, Emily Williams Knight, mentioned that she loves to talk about grit, I said, “Game on! Let’s do this!” 

During the podcast, Emily and I chatted about:

1. How did Emily’s formative years as a child of a military family shaped her to who she is today.
2. What GRIT means and how you can cultivate it within yourself.
3. How you can start your career in one area and end up in a different place.
4. How has managed her bouts with Imposter Syndrome.
5. How Emily led through the COVID-19 period to keep the restaurant industry, one of Texas’s largest industries, moving forward.
6. How Emily is working to help with the childcare crisis in the restaurant industry.
7. What systems Emily has in place to manage her big career and life.