Meet Me Downstairs

Today's episode is a loving conversation on co-parenting and how couple's can enter this new space with love, and understanding of each other and the process. I'm joined by the impeccable Dr. Alexandra Solomon, who is a clinical psychologist that specialises in relationships. We start our conversation with a peek into relationships in general, and how our childhood and upbringing affects the way we love, and then we enter into such a powerful conversation on co-parenting, how we can still create unity as a family living in two different homes, how we can shift this awful narrative that ending relationships is a failure, and how to prepare the new family for external love to come in. 

This was a particularly special conversation for me, because I’ve recently entered a loving co-parenting relationship and to help myself and my ex navigate through it in the best way we can, I was outsourcing for any insight possible and the field was slim. I saw it as a beautiful opportunity to not only share with you all, something going on in my life, but also create a resource for anyone going through co-parenting, divorce, or perhaps approaching it in in some way.

More about Dr. Solomon? She is a clinical assistant professor at Northwestern University where she teaches the internationally renowned course, Building Loving and Lasting Relationships: Marriage 101, and she’s a licensed clinical psychologist at The Family Institute at Northwestern University.

She is the author of Taking Sexy Back: How to Own Your Sexuality and Create the Relationships You Want (New Harbinger, 2020) and Loving Bravely: Twenty Lessons of Self-Discovery to Help You Get the Love You Want (New Harbinger, 2017).  She also writes a column for Psychology Today and is frequently asked to talk about love, sex, and marriage with media outlets including The Today Show, O Magazine, The Atlantic, Vogue, and Scientific American.

She’s got an online course that you can have access to right now called Intimate Relationships 101, as well as other incredible resources that you can find on her webpage DrAlexandraSolomon.com and her IG account @dr.alexandra.solomon. Also check out her free quiz on relationship self awareness: Quizzzzz

Dr. Solomon, we love you, grateful you, and thank you for your insight, wisdom, and energy. 

Love always, Brit xoxo

Today's birth story is a twin birth! We are joined by the charismatic and magnificently cute momma Steph Knaggs, from Barbados. She shares her experience of birthing her two baby girls into this world. She guides us from her pregnancy, and her wishes of having a vaginal birth, to entering labor, attempting her vaginal delivery and ultimately ending up with a successful cesarian delivery that brought her daughters to this realm. She gives some incredible insight into relinquishing control within birth, finding peace in the chaos, and truly viewing birth (no matter what kind), as a beautiful and magical experience. Thank you Steph for sharing your touching story with us.

We are welcoming the Rebel Mama’s to the podcast today! They are the queens of real motherhood, and being cool as fuck while doin’ it. They are also my new favourite gurus when it comes to feeling financially empowered as a woman and as a mother. Today we break down a topic that is quite feared, and not very welcoming for women, but one that is sooooo damn needed, and I thnk women are ready to take control of it, and that's moneyyyy honeyyy. These gals help to just put things in simple terms, and guide you through it, not making you feel like you’re sitting in front of some white man in a suit mansplaining money to you! 

The Rebel Mama is a multimedia platform and community - founded by Nikita Stanley and Aleks Jassem - that is rebranding motherhood for a new generation. It has evolved over the last 6 years into two best-selling books, a blog, a podcast, a 10,000-member private forum and popular social channels. Aleks and Nikita are moms They’re entrepreneurs. They’re thought leaders. They’re community builders. And they’re here for a good time. They have a new book out now called: GET YOUR $HIT TOGETHER: The Rebel Mama’s Handbook for Financially Empowered Moms, which was a follow up to the 2020 re-release of their originally self-published “Handbook for (Cool) Moms”

The ladies also just launched a new podcast called THE REBEL MAMA HOTLINE where they discuss hot parenting topics, dismantle taboos, chat with their audience, and laugh their way through the chaos. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify or wherever you stream yours.

Get your notebooks, and enjoy this amazing episode!

Website: https://therebelmama.com/

Meet Me Downstairs, a podcast born out of deep love for the feminine and as a way to honor the woman within the mother and the woman within herself (mother or not). This episode is a reconnect. A reminder of why we exist, what we hope to achieve, and how we as women can liberate ourselves in sex, in feminine existence, and in motherhood. We are pushing past stereotypes, beyond societal bounds, and into an opening that radiates freedom and love for the skin we are in. Understanding how this body of ours works, taking the things that may have made us to feel dirty or shameful and turning them into pillars of confidence, that we stand on, proud. I want all of us to be able to look at the world around us that sometimes holds us down and makes us feel small, and say, ‘this is my time’. I hope this episode inspires you to embrace your womanhood fully. Love always, Brit

website: www.brandingwithbrit.com/meet-me-downstairs

Today we are talking about reclaiming our power to birth. This topic is one I hold very close to my heart, as a doula I just see the immense potential of instinctual birthing and the incredible need to shift the narrative of birth from being this painful, scary experience, to one that is liberating and primal. I couldn’t think of a better person to join me in this conversation then Olivyah Bowen of Her Holistic Path, a resource I used a lot during my pregnancy. She is so passionate about instinctual birth and she is also an incredible advocate for the black maternal community in the United States and worldwide. We get into a little bit of everything, the way society has depicted our birth narrative, the most common fears surrounding birth and how we can re-frame them, the tragic and increasing rates of black maternal deaths and the resources black mamas can use to feel more confident in birth, we get into hospital births vs home births and lots of other things in between. It’s an amazing conversation and it just so happens to come out during #blackmaternalhealth week, I love when things synchronistically align like that. Olivyah hosts an amazing workshop called The Melanated Birth Workshop so if you are a pregnant mama, someone who works in the birth community (especially in the US), or just interested in what she has to say please check that out! 

Her Website: https://www.herholisticpath.com/

If you are interested in our doula services and birth class then check us out here: https://brandingwithbrit.com/meet-me-downstairs

Ladies and gals, today we are talking about sexual liberation in motherhood and quite frankly, womanhood! Let it be known this podcast is for anyone that wants to connect to their sexual fire in an honest and raw way. We are joined by Lacey Haynes and she has me so fired up and inspired. There are so many stereotypes that can put a roadblock between motherhood and sexuality and this topic in particular is a huge piece that pushed me to start this podcast in the first place. Since becoming a mom, I have been so disconnected to my sexual spark, to that intimate connection with myself, let alone with another person, and then pair that with all these stereotypes and societal views that really do us a disservice to listen to and take in. You know the... "once you become a mom you aren’t sexy in the same way anymore", or because our bodies change that makes us less appealing, "once you get married the sex just ends", "sex after baby is a nightmare, but just keep goin", "you're only sexy if you look like this". I'm calling bullshit on society and instead reclaiming my sexual fire in my own way ~ and I truly hope this episode inspires that for you too! Listening to this is a start in your awakening, talking about it with women who approach sex from a place of sincerity and understanding, and reclaiming your sexual prowess the way it looks like for you, not the way the media tell us it's "supposed" to look like.

Lacey this magnificent queen, she is a British-Canadian educator and visionary in the field of sexual empowerment and relationships and she teaches women to connect to their bodies by understanding, healing and accessing their sexual energy for creative liberation and full power living. She is the founder of School of Whole and co-founder of Lacey + Flynn, which she runs alongside her husband Flynn Talbot. Lacey’s School of Whole Program which you will hear her talk about opens up for new applicants on April 19th, and you can actual pre-register for it right now: click here https://www.laceyhaynes.com/school-of-whole ~ This episode is truly one of my favourites, and my gratitude runs wild for this woman and her passion.

To listen to more episodes like this, view our full episode list where you vibe to podcasts.

Love always, XOXO Brit

Our second birth story is under way, with an epic story from Tess Visona. Tess is a mama who really wanted to take a holistic approach to her birth. She had a plan, and like many women, that plan didn't quite come to fruition. She was taken on a rollercoaster ride that led to her baby girls arrival to the world. From a risk free pregnancy, to placenta previa, preeclampsia and an unplanned c-section, she guides us through her experience in such a raw and vulnerable way. She also shares with us the beautiful ways in which she is healing her story and finding space to release the guilt that comes up. There is an incredible relinquishing of control that comes with child birth, one that can be such a powerful teacher for us all. Tess, we love you. For those looking to get in touch with her, head over to her IG @tessvisona ~ love always xo, Brit

The human body ~ a literal marvel, and so often we forget to marvel in it! Today we are talking about moving with intention and building a deeper connection to our physical body. We are joined by the magnetic Celest Pereira who is a yoga teacher, anatomy teacher, and a physiotherapist who has spent her life dedicated to the human body and helping people to understand that part of themselves better. We talk about beauty standards, how to love ourselves better, and how to implement intentional movement into our lives no matter what fitness background we have. It's a good one ya'll, enjoy it and go out today and move your body!

Interested in finding out more about Celest - her website is here: https://www.celestpereira.com/ and her yoga business workshop https://dannipomplunyoga.lpages.co/yoga-business-mastermind-webinar/ and follow her on IG @celestpereirayoga

Love always family, XOXO Brit

More about us:

As part of Season 3 we are peppering in a few birth stories! Birth is one of biggest things a woman can go through and bringing light to different versions of birth is a privilege. We are kicking of this mini segment with my own personal birth story ~ for those of you who don't know me, I'm Brit, creator of this pod. I take you through my pregnancy, making a big decision and switching doctors halfway through. Starting my labor with all intentions of keeping this as natural as possible (sound familiar lol) and ending up having an epidural. Going from a state of panic, to bliss, and welcoming my father by side who became my doula and truly transformed my birth experience. I vaginally delivered my son to my chest at 3:07pm. It was freakin' epic and I'm sooooo grateful to have had this experience and now be able to share it. 

For those who are interested in sharing their own birth experience on the podcast, please get in touch with me! We are looking for 2 more gals to share their experience <3 

Love always Brit XO 

The world is full of stereotypes, most of which do society a disservice. Finding places and boxes for everyone to go in for the sake of 'comfort'. Mothers + women are two massive categories of humans that get thrown into a lot of very tightly wound boxes and frankly...we are done with it. Today I'm joined the magnetic and epic Candace Borland who is one week away from becoming a parent. She is in an incredibly successful woman in the world of business, being the president and partner of a renowned creative agency, Anomaly and most importantly she is a wonderfully kind human being. Being that she is the leader of a huge organisation and still in the phase of 'awaiting her baby's arrival', I thought it would be interesting to speak to her now. Whilst the reality of parenthood hasn't fully set it and discuss woman and mothers in business. The pressures she feels, the observations she's encountered on her way to the top and how she is going to re-write the rules for herself. It's a wonderful conversation, one that has inspired me to continue to forge my path with grace and strength and I hope that she does the same for you.

A bit more about Candace ~ outside of Anomaly, Candace is active in her family business, an internationally renowned livestock, genetics and export company. Her newest venture is a Fullblood Japanese Wagyu business that focuses on and advocates for premium, ethically raised beef. When she's not working Candace and her husband love to travel the world and try their hand at things like half marathons and hiking challenges.