Gemma Hartley is a freelancer writer, wife and mom of 3 who lives in Reno, Nevada. She writes about emotional labor, and wants to create a world in which invisible labor is valued and supported by both partners and public policy alike. 

What we talked about:

• Getting married at 20 and being together 16 years
• Having severe postpartum depression with her 1st child and thinking she couldn't do it again
  • Didn’t get postpartum depression with her 2nd and realized she wanted a 3rd
• Her article, “Women Aren’t Nags - We’re Just Fed Up” in Harper's Bazaar 
  • Talked about her personal experience with emotional labor and wider cultural implications of doing all of the invisible work
  • Never expecting it to go viral 
• What emotional labor is: the intersection of the mental load and the unseen work, as well as emotion management 
• Constantly having to ask, keep track, delegate and monitor to make sure things are getting done, and having to ask in the right way to keep people happy 
• Having huge blow ups about something that seems trivial, but it’s because of built up frustration 
• Couples using her book as a way to start conversations
• The entire process of signing a contract for the book happened within one month of the article coming out
  • Part of the contract was that the had 6 months to write the book
  • Her book deal coincided with her husband getting laid off
• She and her husband struggling with emotional labor while she was writing the book 
• Criticism about her book and pushback because it's a marker of structural inequity 
  • It impacts women of color and women who are poor at such a severe level
  • People who work in unappreciated jobs having no safety net
• Single moms being treated differently than single dads 
• Men aren’t expected to have to take care of their children 
• Needing to be intentional about our language 

Thank you to ChildLife Essentials for sponsoring this episode! ChildLife Essentials has been a trusted children supplements brand for over 20 years and they are offering 10% off with the code CHILDLIFE10 at iHerb.com.  ChildLife Essentials can also be found at Whole Foods & Amazon. 

*Talk to your healthcare provider about what supplements are right for your family. 

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

Brooke is the mom of a 2.5 year old boy, a wife and founder and creator of The Bloom Method. 

What we talked about:

• Planning a huge move, but not knowing where
• Meeting her husband when she was young and taking a two-year break to make sure it was right
• Got pregnant quickly, but had a miscarriage
• Was able to conceive again almost 3 months after their loss 
• Checking every time she went to the bathroom for blood because of that fear
• Knowing they only want 1 child 
• Having a home birth 
  • Need to create a space for women to feel supported and not judged about the way they bring a child into the world 
• Her work brings her such an incredible amount of joy 
  • Seeing family/friends having multiple pregnancies and not knowing what to do with their bodies during pregnancy/postpartum
• People were telling her that she should turn the program into group fitness so it would be more accessible and affordable. It took 1.5-2.5 years to develop
• Wanted pregnant and postpartum women to have tons of options available 
• Her goal is that women only use the app for a short period of time, but it teaches them to cue your core and your pelvic floor so you’re ready to go back to mainstream fitness
• Doctors and care providers are wonderful, but they don’t have time to work through the postpartum fitness piece 
• Working on partnerships to collaborate with medical care providers
• A mental component happens postpartum that makes you want to sweat and get back in shape
• Her husband, Pete, starting to work for the business
  • Deciding if they wanted to get funding and investors and they decided to do it themselves
• The problem with people following influencers and not learning the proper exercise techniques
• Women show up to workouts with an ego they didn’t even realize they had - push themselves and avoid modifications
• The importance of being true to yourself 

Thank you to ChildLife Essentials for sponsoring this episode! ChildLife Essentials has been a trusted children supplements brand for over 20 years and they are offering 10% off with the code CHILDLIFE10 at iHerb.com.  ChildLife Essentials can also be found at Whole Foods & Amazon. 

*Talk to your healthcare provider about what supplements are right for your family. 

Follow Brooke and The Bloom Method on Instagram or their website.

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

Sara is the CEO and co-founder of Winnie: a marketplace for childcare and early education that helps millions of parents find daycare and preschool for their kids. 

What we talked about:

• Starting Winnie when her first daughter was a baby 
• Was working in tech at the time she started Winnie
  • Had her first daughter and realized how hard it was to find childcare and do all the things that working moms have to do 
  • Connected with a co-worker who had 2 children and they saw a gap and wanted to solve the problem
• Her co-founder is incredibly optimistic and they built on each other’s enthusiasm 
• Got married in her 20s, which is considered very young on the West Coast
  • Had her first daughter when she was 30, which was so much more intense than she expected
  • Decided she would be one and done because having a child shifted everything in her universe
  • Realized she wanted her daughter to have a sibling 
• In between having her first and second child, her husband was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, which left him infertile 
  • They had done sperm banking prior to starting his treatment 
  • Did IVF for their second and third children 
• She was months into starting Winnie when her husband was diagnosed with cancer
  • Her co-founder stepped up, which was what led her to realize she could have more kids
• Wanting to build a culture at Winnie that wasn’t 24/7, and would allow people to step away as the demands of their family required 
• She and her co-founder both have 3 kids and need flexibility - it comes from the top down and their employees see that they are able to prioritize family and work 
• Flexibility is really helpful in attracting talent -  a competitive advantage 
• Big proponent of hiring returners who left the workforce to provide caregiving
• Her husband being a stay-at-home dad and being grateful that their kids are seeing that having a dad at home is possible, and women can be the breadwinners
• Winnie lists every licensed daycare in the US
  • A lot of places weren’t discoverable online so parents were left feeling like there were only 2 daycares in their area that had waitlists 
• Daycares during COVID have really needed Winnie’s help 
• Parents realizing that childcare was more than just a way for them to work, it was impacting their children and how they’re being educated
• The best part of Winnie is knowing the impact they have on parents
  • Potentially keeping someone in the workforce because they are able to find care
  • In many cases the families that they’re impacting are low-income families finding programs 

Thank you to ChildLife Essentials for sponsoring this episode! ChildLife Essentials has been a trusted children supplements brand for over 20 years and they are offering 10% off with the code CHILDLIFE10 at iHerb.com.  ChildLife Essentials can also be found at Whole Foods & Amazon. 

*Talk to your healthcare provider about what supplements are right for your family. 

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on 

Alex lives in Minnesota with her husband, two boys, two cats and two dogs.  She is a Registered Dietitian who help endurance athletes make the most of their training.

What we talked about:

• Meeting her husband when she was 14 years old
  • Both showed horses growing up and met that way
  • Telling her friends and family that she was going to marry him someday
• Always wanted to have kids
• Didn’t feel like they needed to wait long after getting married because they had been together so long
• Trying for kids didn’t go as planned
  • After 10 months they started seeing an infertility specialist who couldn't find anything wrong
  • Started doing IVF after about two years of trying 
  • Successful with the first round of IVF for their first child
  • Telling her mom that she wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to have kids 
  • Not going on birth control after her 1st because she didn’t think she could get pregnant
  • 14 months after her 1st she realized she hadn’t gotten her period and found out she was pregnant 
  • Having a miscarriage at 9 weeks 
  • Getting pregnant 6 months later with their second child 
• Having two frozen embryos and being unsure about what to do with them
  • Having to fill out paperwork saying who would be in charge of the embryos if she and her husband were to die 
  • Being open about her IVF and miscarriage experience to hopefully help others
• Her parents talking about medical field at dinner table & wanting to work in the medical field herself, but she is terrible with blood and needles so needed an alternative route
  • Her mom introduced to the dietetic field 
  • Such a diverse field and areas of expertise 
  • Started as a supermarket dietitian 
    • Needing a new challenge after 4 years
• Started her own business two years ago to help athletes with their nutrition 
  • Doing 20 triathlons since 2009 
  • Wanting to help other athletes fuel themselves correctly 
  • Knowing how much you have to rely on nutrition to achieve your goals especially with endurance events
  • Wants to be able to make people feel that their training and performance was aided by nutrition 
  • Loving the athletic community and the support 
  • Wanting to do another Olympic distance triathlon, but not being in the right phase of life 
• Currently offers 1-1 coaching, but wants to offer more group coaching 
  • Working with athletes on everyday eating and all throughout their training to adjust meals 
  • You have to train your gut and prepare your stomach to be able to take in all that hydration and nutrition while you’re exercising
• Watching the Great British Baking Show with her son
• Teaching her sons to cook and getting them involved in the kitchen
• Utilizing cooking tools that are hands off cooking
  • Instant Pot
  • Slow Cooker
  • Sous Vide
• The importance of keeping your fridge well stocked with a variety of healthy options 
  • Pairing a carb and a protein for a snack 
  • Lowering the expectations for meals and keeping it simple 

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Beth is an Army Veteran who lives in Rochester, MN with her 2 children and fiancé. She works full-time and also runs the company Busy Baby.

What we talked about:

• Running on mom adrenaline 
• Knowing she didn’t want to go to college and joining the Army for 10 years
  • It was amazing and hard
  • Got out of the army and completed a bachelors and masters degree
  • Got a cosmetology license before getting her bachelors for fun
  • Had family in the military
    • Her mom was upset about her joining
    • Her brother joined later and they were both deployed at the same time
    • Things were different when she was enlisted - it wasn’t ok for women to stand up for themselves 
    • Being stationed in Italy and a news anchor for the military network - American Forces Network
    • Being live on radio when 9/11 happened
    • Was deployed right away 
    • Had to wear sweatpants and sweatshirt so she didn’t show skin in 100 degree heat 
• Meeting her fiancé at 39
  • They’ve been engaged for 4 years - will eventually get married
  • A 1-night stand turned into a great relationship 
    • Decided to move in together quickly and got pregnant unexpectedly 
    • Had talked about marriage/kids but were planning to wait
  • Started trying for their second when their first was 3 months old
    • Got pregnant 8 months later and miscarried
    • Started doing fertility treatments 
      • Of note: you should talk to your medical provider about any medication use and dosing
    • She got pregnant and at the first ultrasound they found out it was twins - 2 weeks later they found out they had only one heartbeat 
• Starting Busy Baby
  • It’s a place mat that suctions and has a tether system you can attach toys to
  • Can also be used for playtime where it suctions to a wall - encourages child to stand and play with it
• Raising boys who know it’s ok to be emotional and be kind

Thank you to ChildLife Essentials for sponsoring this episode! ChildLife Essentials has been a trusted children supplements brand for over 20 years and they are offering 10% off with the code CHILDLIFE10 at iHerb.com.  ChildLife Essentials can also be found at Whole Foods & Amazon. 

*Talk to your healthcare provider about what supplements are right for your family. 

Follow Beth on Instagram or the Busy Baby website

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

Chen and Lei are Canadian moms and hosts of the While They Nap podcast. They both have 2-year old children and are also working moms. 

What we talked about 

• Struggling with the transition of going back to work after maternity leave, during COVID, and changing your entire routine
• Lei learning how to teach her students virtually
  • Her family being a nice break and a refreshing dose of reality during COVID, but also a source of stress
• Lei on not planning her pregnancy 
  • Her husband was working in another province soon after their wedding and his job situation got stressful so he moved home
  • They moved into her mom’s house 
  • 3 days after he got back she got pregnant 
  • It couldn’t have been a worse time, but they got ready
• Chen and her husband had multiple conversations about kids as neither of them originally wanted them
  • Feeling like she was missing something after she got engaged
  • On a trip to Hawaii she brought it up again and he was on board
  • She got pregnant as soon as they got home
  • Having a freak-out moment before their wedding and her husband being the one to talk her down 
• Having feelings of doubt and worry, but feeling grateful for them because they really thought through marriage/kids
• Chen and Lei getting introduced by a mutual friend who said they would get along really well
  • Chen wanted to start the podcast and kept doing trials with other people, but it wasn’t the right fit
  • After two “dates” with Lei she decided she wanted to ask her to do it and Lei said no
  • Lei feeling lonely on maternity leave and decided one day to try it - feeling like it would be cathartic for them and help with the feelings of isolation 
• Chen going through postpartum anxiety 
  • Feeling like she didn’t have an outlet with her friends who had older kids because they weren’t in it
  • Felt like the podcast might give her an opportunity to release her feelings and not feel scared or ashamed
  • Went through a dark time postpartum
  • The Caribbean community not sharing a lot about mental health so feeling like nobody understood her
• Feeling like there weren’t voices of black women podcasters in Canada, and wanting to fill that void
  • The importance of diversifying your world 
• Maternity leave in Canada compared to the US
• Not losing yourself in motherhood and making time for yourself to be a better mother, wife, friend, etc. 

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

Emily Ironi is the founder of Dairy Fairy - a bra that allows you to both pump AND nurse. She lives in California with her 8 year old daughter, her boyfriend and his 14 year old daughter. 

What we talked about:  

• Having one child entering womanhood and one still pretty young. Not forcing a relationship on the kids/forcing them to be something they aren't
• Always knowing that she wanted to become a mother 
• Getting divorced at 36
  • "Started over" and dating, etc., and realizing when she was was 38 that her window of opportunity to have children was closing
  • Freezing embryos and asking her ex-husband to be a sperm donor - he said yes, but asked to remain anonymous 
  • Froze embryos, but goal was still to find a partner and go the more traditional route
  • At 40, her father passed away and she realized that she was "wasting time", and had the embryos transferred
  • Her ex-husband realized anonymity wasn’t going to be possible and they came up with some guidelines when she got pregnant 
• Telling her daughter from a young age about her biological father and how every family can look different
• Meeting someone when she was 4 months pregnant. He was there for the first 2.5 years of her daughter's  life, and they still have an incredible bond
• Having a vision of how her family was going to look and not thinking about all of the challenges 
• Wanted to pursue something that she knew she would forever love 
  • Got an entry-level job at a fashion company 
  • Learned a ton about the fashion industry and decided to start a company with a colleague
  • Started a high end handbag company called Alexis Hudson 
    • Had the company for 7 years, but when the economy crashed in 2008 they struggled and closed in 2011
• The company closed down at the same time she had a newborn baby 
  • She hated her pumping bra and wanted something better
  • Working on the design and starting a Kickstarter 
• Incorporating femininity into their bras
  • Saw how much self-confidence women lost postpartum 
  • Pumping isn’t something you do for fun, it’s something selfless you do for your baby, so why not improve the experience 
• Being a single mom for many years 
• Managing a newborn and a new business 
  • There were some hard and scary years 
• Launching MILKFUL for the plus size community

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

What we talked about

• Always knowing that she wanted a big family 
• Working a ton when they had 3 kids and her husband feeling like they shouldn't have more
• Feeling like there was someone missing-telling him if they didn’t have a 4th she would be resentful for the rest of her life
• Her 4th was more challenging than her other children-more crying, colic, etc. 
• Getting laid off on maternity leave and planning to take some time and enjoy being with the kids
  • Her husband also got laid off the night before their 4th was born-it was a pit in their life and marriage 
• Her son wasn't sleeping and she was buying every sleep sack on the market 
• One night they were all laying together and she put their weighted blanket on him and he fell asleep
  • She searched immediately for a wearable weighted blanket and found nothing
  • She is strict on AAP sleep recommendations and knew it had to be wearable so she called her mother-in-law to sew a mock-up
  • The first night wearing it, her son slept 12 hours 
  • Her husband thought it was a fluke, but he kept sleeping through the night and finally started napping 
  • She told her friends and they all started asking for one
  • She felt like this product was a chance to help other parents like herself get their lives back 
• The first thing she did was look for a patent 
  • Was shocked that she was able to file because she assumed someone would have worked on that product
  • She started research into safety and did that for almost a year 
• Her husband wanted her to go back to work so they could have health insurance vs starting the company 
  • Using the money from her maternity leave to fund the first weighted sack without telling her husband
  • Her husband got on board once she was accepted onto Shark Tank 
  • Being profitable their second month
• Her experience on Shark Tank 
  • Getting a call with the executive producer with one days notice
  • Him being very interested in the product, but not thinking she was far enough along
  • Her continuing to send video messages with updates-hearing she was the most persistent contestant they've ever had on the show
  • Having Lori Greiner, her dream shark, invest in her product 
  • Her episode going live on a Friday night during the pandemic when everyone was home 
  • Launching the weighted blanket 
• Needing to move her body everyday for 30 minutes 

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

Lisa Druxman is the mom of 2 and the founding mom of FIT4MOM - a fitness program for moms at every stage of motherhood. 

What we talked about: 

• Being the manager of a large health club while she was pregnant - working 60-80 hour work weeks and being devastated at the thought of someone else watching her baby
• Her maternity leave being really precious to her so she came up with a workout that the baby could be a part of, and found other moms who wanted that too, which is how Stroller Strides came to be 
  • How her business evolved and developed over time
  • Being able to share her experience - a career that supports motherhood- with women all over the country 
  • Nobody has everything figured out before they jump in, and just having to do it
  • Failure was not an option
  • Looking for help at every step 
  • Investing a lot in coaching and peer groups
• Having a background in psychology 
  • Thought she would get into counseling for fitness/eating
  • Fell into a management job and never thought she would be a business owner
• Hearing from clients about how life changing the program has been and the confidence it has provided them 
• Having to completely pivot their classes due to COVID
  • Offering virtual classes
  • Offering FIT4MOM on demand 
  • Trying to find what works for people in this new world 
• Believing that healthy moms will raise healthy kids 
• 2020 was supposed to be her highest travel year yet 
• The biggest challenge of balancing work and motherhood
  • Starting the business in order to be home with her kids and suddenly running a nationwide business 
• Her book The Empowered Mama - which is meant to be a workbook that you take a month at a time to work on and check in on how you’re doing on your life 
  • A chance to check in on where you’re off balance and where you want to redesign your life to finally get you out of overwhelm 
  • Prioritizing what is most important to you first and ensuring you get that done, rather than prioritizing social media or tv, etc. 
  • Getting up early to get time for yourself
  • Small steps will make massive change
• Parenting advice for people with little kids: don’t give in because you’re training them that they will win. Just stick with it. Let them be who they’re going to be and have fun along the way. 

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!

Alaina Moulton is the founder & CEO of The Baby's Brew - the world's first battery powered, portable bottle warmer. She is the mother of a two-year old daughter and a military spouse - her husband is in the Navy. 

What we talk about:

• Switching to The Baby’s Brew full-time
• Her husband being in the military for 16 years and planning on retiring at 20 years
• Adjusting to her husband deploying 
  • Getting pregnant the day he got home from a deployment 
  • The struggles of having a spouse gone, but also enjoying the support that comes with the military lifestyle 
  • Enjoying the military because they get to move and live in new places 
• Always wanting to have kids and thinking she would have a big family
  • Rethinking having a big family after having one 
  • Having a miscarriage 
  • A rough pregnancy 
    • Placenta abruption, placenta previa, sensory migraines, bed rest, etc. 
  • Loving the idea of adoption 
• Always working for a start-up, but never wanting to start one
• Her previous company helping mold her into the leader she wanted to be
• How The Baby’s Brew started
  • The idea came to her while she was on bed rest 
  • She knew that they would be flying when the baby was young since they lived away from family and wanted to have a convenient way to heat a bottle
  • She miscarried and scrapped looking the plans until she was pregnant again
  • Started looking into how the product would be made 
    • Taking courses online on how to build products 
    • Finding a manufacturer who was willing to try making the product 
• Being broke between coming up with the idea for Baby's Brew and launching
  • Doing a kickstarter and it not doing as well as she thought
  • Getting enough to make their order for the first 500 and selling out within 3 weeks 
  • Setting the groundwork ahead of launch which helped them do so well 
  • Providing classes and opportunities for her employees which has allowed them all to thrive and succeed as a company
• Always wanting to teach people from her experiences and being able to help others 
• Hiring all military spouses or family members
  • The military spouse community doesn’t often get a chance because people know they’re going to move and not be there long-term
• Having a sterilizer coming out early next year

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Thanks so much for listening and for supporting our podcast! Please rate the show, leave a review if you liked what you heard and make sure to subscribe on Amazon Music, iHeartRADIO,  iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or TuneIn!