Mama Making Podcast

What does it take to raise a confident, grounded child when home changes every few years? 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Anthi Patrikios — parent coach, former educator, and globally mobile mom of one who has lived in England, the Philippines, Kenya, and now Uzbekistan. Anthi shares how her 25 years in education across the world led her to one conclusion: what children need most isn't resources or stability of place, but a values-based identity that travels with them. She talks about emotional anchoring, why your child can't be your source of calm, the five-word exercise that clarifies your family's real values, and why the most confident kids she's ever seen grew up across cultures. This one will make you rethink what home actually means.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Growing up Greek with an English mother in Athens — the identity struggle that started early
• 25 years in education: from researching infectious diseases across Africa and Asia to policy writing to teaching in London, Manila, Nairobi, and now Tashkent
• Why children across all resource levels struggled with the same emotional challenges
• Depression after becoming a parent — and how parent coaching changed everything
• The globally mobile family experience: diplomats, expats, short-mid-long stay families, and how they're all different
• How Anthi and her husband choose where to move (including choosing Uzbekistan for the metro stations)
• What children gain from being raised across cultures — and the quiet confidence that most people don't anticipate
• Values-based identity: why it matters more for globally mobile kids and why it matters for all kids
• The five-word exercise: what do you want people to say about your child as an adult?
• The difference between aspirational values and lived values — and how children can smell the difference
• Dignity vs. respect — why Anthi's family uses one and not the other
• Why your child cannot carry your sense of safety — and what emotionally leading your child actually looks like
• Practical starting points for families wanting to become globally mobile
• Toxic positivity vs. quiet calm confidence — and why both matter

HOW TO CONNECT WITH Anthi Patrikios

• Website: https://www.anthipatrikios.com/
• Instagram: @anthipatrikios | https://www.instagram.com/anthipatrikios/

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

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Did you know you can bring your own gown to a hospital? Most women don't. 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Lauren Pfeifer — third-generation nurse, PhD-prepared researcher, mom of three, and founder of Untethered — a mission-driven company creating organic cotton recovery gowns for women navigating pregnancy, birth, postpartum, cancer, chronic illness, and medical care. Lauren shares the grief behind the idea, what two and a half years of design iteration taught her about clinical access and patient dignity, why the traditional hospital gown was made for men in the first place, and what it looks like to build a business rooted in love — for a mother-in-law she lost before she could show her the finished product. This one will make you rethink every medical appointment you've ever had.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Growing up in a family of nurses — third generation, grandmother, mother, and Lauren all registered nurses
• What happens emotionally when a woman is handed a hospital gown — and why it matters more than we think
• Why the traditional hospital gown was designed for men and has never been updated for women's needs
• Watching her mother-in-law navigate metastatic colon cancer in an impersonal hospital gown — and how that became the catalyst
• What she discovered when she bought 10 gowns from 10 different companies and brought them to her mother-in-law
• Two and a half years of design iteration: snaps, pockets, organic fabric, wire openings, and a red visual cue
• Why 94% organic cotton with 6% spandex was the right formula — and what she tested to get there
• The fact that you can bring your own gown to almost any medical appointment — and why more people don't know
• How wearing what you choose affects your confidence, advocacy, and ability to show up for your own care
• Partnering with female artists and a small family-run Pennsylvania printing company
• Grief as the engine of the business — and what it meant to build something when she couldn't save the person who inspired it
• The buy-one-give-one model: every 10 gowns sold, one is gifted to a woman navigating cancer
• What's coming: Comfort and Care gift packages and a pediatric line
• Discount code MAKING for 15% off all orders

HOW TO CONNECT WITH LAUREN PFEIFFER

• Website: http://shopuntethered.com
• Instagram: @untetheredgowns | https://www.instagram.com/untetheredgowns
• Discount code: MAKING for 15% off all orders (valid for one month from episode release)
• Buy-one-give-one: every 10 gowns sold, one is gifted to a woman navigating cancer

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

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Teen suicide rates have tripled in twenty years. And Lauren Sims — who spent two decades designing environments that shape human behavior for brands like Vanity Fair, Fox, and Grey Goose — believes she knows part of the answer. 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Lauren, founder of Baton Baton, a members club launching in Los Angeles for kids ages 11 to 14. It's a physical space with creative labs, mental health exploration, sound baths, podcast studios, music production, and a staff trained in emotional fitness — designed to give teens somewhere to go that isn't a screen, a scroll, or a performance. Lauren talks about the statistics that stopped her cold, what it means to design for identity formation, and why she believes this is a movement, not just a business.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Lauren's career in experiential design — spatial storytelling for brands at Oscars, South by Southwest, Fashion Week, and Coachella
• How environment shapes behavior — and how she realized that expertise belonged somewhere more meaningful than consumerism
• The teen suicide statistic that changed her direction: rates tripled over 20 years
• COVID as a clarifying moment — and how she used it to build a business plan deliberately
• Why she chose the 11-to-14 age window — identity formation, self-abandonment, and the skills we don't teach
• What Baton Baton actually is: a members club, keycard access, only 11-to-14s during business hours
• The physical space: creative labs, podcast studio, music production, classes, solo reset rooms, sound baths, red light therapy, coloring kiosks, a stage
• Foundational classes included in membership: yoga, dance, breakdancing, meditation, drum circles, creative writing, graffiti art, resin, still life
• Why they're not banning phones — and how they plan to make the room more compelling than the screen
• The calculated risk conversation — Gen Z as the most overprotected and under-resourced generation
• Building emotional fitness, inner alarm bells, and self-trust before the high-stakes decisions come
• Why LA was the right launch city — and where they're looking next
• The dream: a movement, not just a location

HOW TO CONNECT WITH LAUREN SIMS

• Website: http://batonbaton.us
• Instagram: @batonbaton | https://www.instagram.com/batonbaton.us/
• Location: Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles
• Launch: October-November 2026

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
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What if the way you're parenting right now has less to do with your choices — and more to do with patterns you inherited and never examined? 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Shree Rego — coach, single mom of two, and founder of a practice helping working moms break generational cycles and build the close, trusting relationships they've always wanted with their kids. Shree shares her journey from raising two kids in diapers alone to building a coaching practice, the four generational patterns she's identified in her work, and why raising good humans always starts with raising ourselves first. This one is for every mom who has ever caught herself reacting in a way she swore she never would — and wants to do something about it.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Raising two kids in diapers as a single mom while building a career and a business
• Why Shree believes women don't have to choose between ambition and motherhood — and what that actually looks like
• The difference between work-life balance (a myth) and seasons of capacity
• Why most of us are parenting on autopilot — repeating patterns we didn't choose
• The four generational patterns: the Overcompensating Protector, the Reactive Pattern Repeater, the High Functioning Disconnector, and the Conscious Cycle Breaker
• How to determine which pattern you lead with — and what to do about it
• The five steps Shree uses with clients to break patterns and rebuild relationships
• Modeling vs. telling: why children learn from what they see, not what they're told
• How to call a family meeting after conflict — and why it works
• The importance of naming emotions — for yourself and for your kids
• Apologizing and taking accountability as a parent: what it teaches kids about humility
• Why the teenage years don't have to be the worst — and how early pattern work changes everything
• Recognizing what triggers you — and whose pattern it actually belongs to
• The quiz, the guidebook, and the group coaching program

HOW TO CONNECT WITH SHREE REGO

• Website: https://www.shreerego.com/
• Instagram: @shreerego_raisinggoodhumans https://www.instagram.com/shreerego_raisinggoodhumans/

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link
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What if the life you've been dreaming about didn't require waiting until retirement?

 In this episode, Jessica sits down with Kate Kurdziej — business strategist, retreat host, and founder of Olivier Consultancy — who packed up her family and moved from the UK to France to Spain, built a multi-six-figure business along the way, and now helps established female founders do the strategic thinking they never have time for from a villa with an infinity pool in the Mediterranean. Kate talks about the decision to move abroad with a baby, the bureaucratic realities of building a business across three countries, the Instagram story that accidentally launched her retreat business, and why most people don't have a marketing problem — they have an alignment problem. This one is for every ambitious mom who has ever felt like her business is running her instead of the other way around.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Why Kate left a toxic corporate job while pregnant during COVID — and never looked back
• The decision to move from the UK to France with a five-month-old: YOLO, aligned values, and a resilience mindset
• Two years in France, then three in Spain — and what drove the pivot
• Raising a multilingual child in an international school in Valencia
• The behind-the-scenes reality of setting up a business across three countries: visas, accountants, bureaucracy, and driving licenses
• Going from nap-time freelancer to burning out at 12-hour days — and what changed
• The Instagram story that accidentally launched Sun, Sea and Strategy retreats
• Why retreats sold out in 30 minutes — and what makes them work
• The two-sided business: hosting business strategy retreats AND helping other founders launch profitable retreats
• The Clarity, Strategy, Action framework Kate uses on retreat
• Why it's almost never a marketing problem — it's an alignment problem
• The financial mechanics behind profitable retreats most people don't think about
• How to build a retreat business that's sustainable, repeatable, and actually makes money
• Who Kate works with and what established means
• What's coming: the 2027 retreat waitlist and free resources

HOW TO CONNECT WITH KATE KURDZIEJ

• Website: https://olivier-consultancy.co.uk/
• Instagram: @kate_kurdziej https://www.instagram.com/kate_kurdziej/
• Retreats: https://olivier-consultancy.co.uk/business-retreat/
• Retreat strategy: https://olivier-consultancy.co.uk/retreat-planning-consultancy/

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
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What do you do when life falls apart — and you feel completely alone in it? 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Elizabeth Rago, founder of MGW Media, The Modern Domestic Woman magazine, and executive director of MDW CARES — a nonprofit dedicated to helping women navigate life's transitions through trusted information, meaningful connection, and accessible support. Elizabeth shares the season of financial crisis, shame, and isolation that sparked everything, how a transparent post in a small Facebook group changed the trajectory of her life's work, and what she's built over 12 years into a full ecosystem of support for women in Kane County, Illinois and beyond. This one is about what real community looks like — and what it costs when we don't have it.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• The car accident, bankruptcy, repossessed car, and seven-year legal battle that cracked Elizabeth open
• Why she felt shame about struggling — and what happened when she finally said so out loud
• The Facebook post that changed everything — and the flood of private messages that followed
• How a spreadsheet of local resources became a website, a magazine, and eventually a nonprofit
• The difference between hosting events and actually building community
• Why the lifestyle and magazine elements are not separate from the mental health mission — they're the entry point
• The dignity of being a full human even in your hardest season
• How Elizabeth acts as a care navigator — connecting women to therapists, lawyers, and other providers before they hit crisis
• The 708 Mental Health Grant from the City of St. Charles — and MDW CARES' first funded program
• Support groups: Mom support, women's general, and perimenopause groups meeting weekly and bi-monthly
• The Essentials Exchange: grocery gift cards during SNAP disruptions and the new period poverty initiative
• The Wildflower Project: connecting teenage girls through agriculture, gardening, and multi-generational community
• Saturday morning coffee with show-and-tell themes — and why it works
• What it took to quit her corporate job in February and go all-in on MDW full time

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Tri-City Family Services — local mental health organization partnered with MDW CARES

HOW TO CONNECT WITH ELIZABETH RAGO

• MDW website: https://www.themoderndomesticwoman.com/
• Nonprofit website: https://www.mdwcares.com/
• Support Listing: https://www.mdwcares.com/support-us

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link
Watch on YouTube: Click here!

What do you give someone when you don't know what to say? 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Lauren Dewey — mom of two boys, former corporate sales leader, and founder of Brooksy Box — a curated care package company serving women at every stage of the motherhood journey: infertility, baby loss, pregnancy, the NICU, postpartum, and beyond. Lauren shares her nearly three-year infertility journey before IVF, the corporate layoff that forced a pivot, the rocking chair moment at 2 a.m. that made the decision clear, and why empathy — once labeled a weakness in corporate — became the foundation of everything she's built. This one is for the moms who needed someone to show up — and for everyone who wanted to but didn't know how.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Lauren's three-year infertility journey before conceiving her first son Brooks via IVF
• Why COVID was unexpectedly a gift — giving her the space to be home for treatments and appointments
• The identity of "climbing the corporate ladder" and what happened when motherhood shifted her entire perspective
• The corporate layoff that became the unlikely catalyst for Brooksy Box
• The rocking chair moment at 2 a.m. that made the decision clear: she didn't want to be in a hotel room
• How a sister-in-law's postpartum care basket changed everything she thought about gifting
• Why the path to motherhood is not linear — and why her boxes had to reflect that
• The full suite of Brooksy Boxes: infertility, baby loss, pregnancy, morning sickness, NICU, postpartum, and mama and baby mini
• What goes into every box: clean ingredients, no hormone disruptors, women-owned small businesses
• The practical and pretty philosophy — why the aesthetic matters as much as the contents
• Moving from direct to consumer into B2B with healthcare practices and corporate companies
• The emotional weight of the baby loss and infertility boxes — and why empathy keeps her going
• What's coming next: the deluxe mama and baby box designed for corporate gifting
• The full circle moments: following customers from loss to infertility to pregnancy to postpartum

HOW TO CONNECT WITH LAUREN DEWEY

• Website: https://brooksybox.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooksybox
• Also on TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn (Lauren Dewey — founder)

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
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What happens when the person closest to the problems decides to go fix them? 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Michele Clark — former early childhood learning center owner, director of development for the D300 Food Pantry, and candidate for Illinois State Senate in the 33rd district. Michele talks about 11 years of running a preschool while raising her own children, what she learned about childcare costs and deserts from behind the curtain, her work with Boys and Girls Clubs during COVID, and why she decided the next door to walk through was Springfield. This one is for every mom who has ever thought: somebody should do something about that — and maybe that somebody is me.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Growing up in a family business household — and how early entrepreneurship shaped her path
• Leaving corporate sales to start a preschool when her daughters were four and a half and one year old
• Why childcare is so expensive — and what running a center for 11 years taught her about the system from the inside
• Childcare deserts across Illinois and why families are being forced to choose between career and children
• What happened to families during the 2008 housing crash — and what she witnessed firsthand
• COVID and opening 13 emergency learning centers across four school districts with Boys and Girls Clubs
• Building relationships with legislators through nonprofit work — and how one of them tapped her to run
• Becoming campaign manager for a state house representative and what it taught her
• Why District 33 became an open seat and how Michele decided to run
• Her platform: childcare, youth development, equal opportunity for kids from every zip code
• What she's hearing at the door: affordability, SNAP benefits, Medicaid, and families hanging on by a thread
• Why Illinois has one of the highest percentages of mothers in the General Assembly — and why it matters
• How to get involved: volunteer, host a coffee, canvass, become an election judge
• Election Day November 3rd, early voting September 24th
• Her ask: if you're in District 33, she's coming to your door

HOW TO CONNECT WITH MICHELE CLARK

• Website: https://micheleforilsenate.com/
• District 33 covers: Crystal Lake (north) through St. Charles and Geneva (south), Kane County, McHenry County, and DuPage County
• To vote or get voting info: Kane County Clerk's office
• Election Day: November 3rd | Early voting: September 24th
• Ways to support: postcard writing, door knocking, hosting a neighborhood coffee, becoming an election judge

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
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What if getting dressed postpartum didn't feel like a battle with your own body?

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Catherine Walsh — mom of three under four, trained doula, and founder of Holly Rose Co. — a Canadian brand creating locally made, organic cotton breastfeeding clothing that is comfortable, beautiful, and functional all at once. Catherine shares the body image journey that sparked the idea, the winding road from overseas manufacturing samples to finding local seamstresses she could trust, and why she believes that dressing well postpartum is one of the first acts of self-care most new moms forget to give themselves. This one is for every mom who has ever stood at her closet and felt defeated.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Growing up knowing she just wanted to be a mom — and the three back-to-back pregnancies that changed her wardrobe and her business idea
• Gaining 50 pounds in her first pregnancy and navigating the closet dread so many postpartum moms know
• Why she wanted clothing that was comfortable, beautiful, AND functional — and how hard it was to find all three
• The long road from overseas manufacturing samples to finding local Canadian seamstresses she could trust
• Organic cotton, GOTS and OEKO-TEX certifications, and why fabric quality matters for postpartum bodies
• The iteration process: changing zipper placement, adding pockets, adjusting for bigger busts during breastfeeding
• What her customers say about feeling beautiful and comfortable at the same time
• Why she designed the breastfeeding opening to be simple — and how her own difficult breastfeeding journey with her first shaped that decision
• Doula training, a love of birth, and the dream of becoming a midwife someday
• Scrap fabric reuse: scrunchies and minimalist quilted diaper bags made from fabric remnants
• What's coming: new summer styles in GOTS-certified green gingham and OEKO-TEX certified yellow floral
• Where to find Holly Rose Co and how Catherine helps customers find their size

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) — certification for organic fiber content in textiles
• OEKO-TEX Standard 100 — certification testing for harmful chemicals in textiles

HOW TO CONNECT WITH CATHERINE WALSH

• Website: https://hollyroseco.ca/
• Instagram: @hollyrose_co https://www.instagram.com/hollyrose_co/

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link
Watch on YouTube: Click here!

What does it look like to build a practice from the ground up — not to fit the system, but to actually serve the people in front of you? 

In this episode, Jessica sits down with Katrina Ostmeyer, licensed psychologist, board certified behavior analyst, mom of two neurodivergent kids, and founder of Beyond the Individual. From a difficult pregnancy and a preterm birth that shifted her entire trajectory, to building a practice that serves children, families, and schools across complex behavioral and mental health presentations, Katrina brings the expertise of a researcher, the honesty of someone who has made every mistake, and the heart of a mom who knows firsthand what families navigating neurodivergence actually need. This is a conversation about doing things differently — and why it matters.

MAIN TOPICS COVERED

• Katrina's winding path from pre-med to research psychologist to nonprofit director to private practice founder
• How a difficult pregnancy and preterm birth shifted her priorities from academia to family and community
• Making her own PhD internship to get back to Kansas City — and what it taught her about forging your own path
• Leading a not-for-profit expanding autism services in Kansas — and why quality versus scale became a values conflict
• Starting Beyond the Individual with a van, no plan, and a willingness to figure it out
• Opening a brick and mortar clinic in July 2020 — and everything that happened next
• Expanding to multiple locations, then pulling back — what she learned from scaling too fast
• The decision to leave the insurance model behind and serve a niche, complex population
• Joining the University of Kansas as associate faculty — and the three most successful years of the business
• Leaving academia again to return to Beyond the Individual full time
• The transdiagnostic approach — what it means and why specialty diagnoses miss the full person
• How Beyond the Individual works across home, school, and community systems
• Supporting parents of neurodivergent kids: acceptance commitment therapy, emotion regulation, and advocacy
• The birth to five program (Beyond Beginnings) — why early intervention is paramount
• Services available across 44 states

HOW TO CONNECT WITH KATRINA OSTMEYER 

• Website: http://beyondtheindividual.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondtheindividual/
• Services available across 44 states

This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story.

Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram and Facebook!
Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link
Watch on YouTube: Click here!