MotherLoad Podcast

What do you want out of life? How do you want to live, feel, and be each day?

This episode is about core values, which I think is such a fundamental part of inner work. Defining our core values helps us know ourselves better, and consequently, approach and manage our mental load.

Until 2020, my “core values” had been more surface level and performative, matching my business purpose or what I wanted to portray externally. They aren’t THAT different from the ones I have today, but they were more outwardly focused.

Ultimately, the purpose of creating this list is to give you an anchoring into what’s most important to you. Then, when you’re looking at the big decisions in your life, you have a rubric that will help you make the decisions that keep you in alignment.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• How I came up with my core values – for example, my top three are “warmth, authenticity, and devotion” - and what they mean to me
• The process of defining these core values (you can find a worksheet on Google or DM me for one) by narrowing them down, then prioritizing them
• Being very intentional about what words you use and what they mean to you
• Defining how you want to BE in those core values; for example, in my “devotion,” I want to be present with my children
• Reviewing your values and going through this process regularly to see whether the words still fit or the priorities need to shift
• How to use these values when you’re faced with a decision, feeling overwhelmed, or feeling out of alignment

Resources & Links

Do you need a template to assess your core values? Reach out to me via DM on my Instagram page.

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about sex.

I’m with my friend, Stephanie Rae Johnson, an embodiment coach and somatic experiencing practitioner who’s also the single mother of two pre-teen boys. We met at the retreat center lobby in Peru, right after I’d done Ayahuasca for the first time, and I’ve been following her ever since.

I feel like I’m pretty in touch with my sexuality, but even I know sometimes these ideas can feel confronting, and I have to let go of my cognitive brain to let them in. One thing we talk about in today’s episode that feels extremely manageable: How can you add one percent more pleasure throughout your day?

Our conversation covers all things embodiment, from sensuality and sexuality, to their hindrances, like shame and trauma. I think there’s a narration that sex isn’t as good after motherhood, which is a lie.

The truth? It’s just different. Our bodies are different, but WE are different, too.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• Stephanie’s background growing up in a conservative Mormon household, and how disassociated she felt from her body until her first yoga class
• Negative effects trauma, purity culture, shaming, bad experiences, and body image culture have on women enjoying sex and receiving pleasure
• Adding pleasure into your life starting with the one percent, whether that be enjoying your first sip of coffee or wearing comfortable clothes
• Making ourselves feel safe in our bodies, our nervous systems, and our environments, so we can be vulnerable enough to feel pleasure
• Continuing to do the things that light us up, which is the real way to show up best in motherhood
• Asking ourselves, what makes us feel whole?

Resources & Links

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Be sure to check out Stephanie’s website and follow her on Instagram!

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services, including the newly launched MotherLoad Collective at https://www.lindsayroselle.com. Follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

This January, I took time to think about the podcast – to record solo episodes, quality interviews, and to pour my energy into the programming component of MotherLoad.

My main love is the podcast. I love the interviews we get to do here. I love the conversations we’ve been having. My goal, every episode, is to put words to a feeling other moms might have had, and to be real about the things I never heard people talk about when I first became a mom.

But I’ve been thinking: what kinds of programs might compliment it? I’m not a parenting expert – by nature, I’m a growth and performance coach. I like helping people feel better and improve their lives. I’ve been this way ever since I was a teenager, browsing the self-help books at Barnes & Noble.

Today, I’m breaking down the new facets of the MotherLoad Company, but I also want to thank you for being a listener and being part of this amazing community.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The core MotherLoad programs – MotherLoad Collective (for any ambitious woman) and MotherLoad Mastermind (for moms growing their businesses), which you can learn more about on my website
• The make-up of these programs, which will be deeply rooted in inner work, performance, growth, self-actualization, mindfulness, alignment, etc.
• Trainings and what’s included with each program (monthly phone calls, group coaching calls, one-on-ones, time management/organizational resources, etc.)
• Two retreats I’m hosting in my mountain house here in Colorado, “Replenish,” which will take place Summer Solstice weekend and Fall Equinox weekend
• The special guests who will be part of these programs and speak on ambition, identity, inner work, business, entrepreneurship, and motherhood
• What we have planned for the podcast in the year ahead, which will start rolling out Mondays and Thursdays

Resources & Links

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Learn more about the MotherLoad Collective and the MotherLoad Mastermind on my website!

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

Today's mini episode is about a huge topic: scarcity. RT and I have talked a lot about our philosophy regarding gift-giving during the holidays. Gifts on Christmas morning, writing a long letter to Santa – how do we want to intentionally bring those things into our family? Or not?

Last year, we went on a trip, and this year, we’re doing it again. We told our kids this is our family Christmas present. When we return home on Christmas day, each will have one thing from Santa under the tree.

But recently I’ve been second-guessing myself because of some core memories that popped up from my childhood. Am I going to create scarcity in my children if they don’t wake up on Christmas morning to a bunch of presents under the tree?

My gut says no. But all this is to say, gift-giving during the holidays is a big part of the mental load. How much is too much? Will an experience mean more than getting something tangible? Is there any way to know which of these decisions is best?

Resources & Links

Do you need a template to assess your core values? Reach out to me via DM on my Instagram page.

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

Has becoming a mother ever made your role at work feel irrelevant? Have you ever sat at your desk, and asked yourself, WHY? What is the point of this?

In the millennial generation, I think there’s this huge existential question about motherhood. As kids, ambition was baked into us – with nothing about how our ambitions are aligned with our identities and values.

This episode features Part 2 of my conversation with Amber Lilyestrom – a business mentor, branding expert, author, speaker, and mom to two miracle babies. She is also my personal mentor and full of wisdom and honesty about her big and bittersweet moments in motherhood and business. (Check out Part 1 of our conversation, too!)

The buzzword in today’s episode: HONESTY. As Amber points out, it takes so much courage to be honest about what you desire and what you want to create for your life.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

• The ups, downs and bittersweet moments Amber had in the process of adopting her son Alex
• How to stop associating our self-worth with the output of our work – and where we still have to go regarding this issue
• The bigger existential questions and evolutions about motherhood in our culture – and how to stand up for ourselves in the ambition culture
• The reasons that martyrdom exists in motherhood and in work – and how we can do things differently for ourselves and our kids
• Why “straight-line strategizing” doesn’t work for moms (it’s a curvy-lined world for us!), and why it’s so hard (we never saw it exceptionally modeled!)
• How there is no “correct” ratio of work and time at home that will promise fulfillment; what’s important is to navigate what feels right NOW

Resources & Links

Follow Amber on Instagram and check out her website and her podcast for more of her wisdom. Make sure you also check out Part 1 of my conversation with Amber if you haven’t already!

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

Can we really do it all?

I’ve thought a lot about this motherload question. It’s a big, existential question – but it can also feel like a loaded question. Sometimes it seems to imply that, to do it all, you have to do it ALL, with no help from anyone else.

And if that’s the question – can you do it all with no help – I think the answer is no.

But what if we took a step back and looked at that question as a broader life design question. Is it possible to love your life fully? Is it possible for you to have everything you want: the career; the partnership; the relationship with your children?

If that’s what that means, then I think the answer is yes. I do think it’s possible.

Resources & Links

If you want to go more in-depth in organizational leadership, be sure to check out Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters.

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

Some of the greatest things we are meant to do in life will happen through some kicking, screaming, and resisting. 

But at the end of the day, when we surrender to it, it feels like a  homecoming.

This nugget of wisdom is courtesy of Amber Lilyestrom – my personal mentor who has seen me through some of my major motherhood transitions. As such, I’ve been looking forward to this episode for a really long time.

Amber is a business mentor, branding expert, author, speaker, and mom to two miracle babies. I found her through a podcast interview she did about motherhood, entrepreneurship, and ambition that really spoke to me.

We had such an amazing conversation that we had to split it into two episodes! In this segment (Part 1), Amber and I delve into the importance of trusting the wisdom of our bodies; if we listen, they’ll tell us when to pause, when to move forward, and more importantly, how to move forward in our career and motherhood journeys.

Resources & Links

Follow Amber on Instagram and check out her website for more of her wisdom, and be sure to check out the second part of this interview coming soon!

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected].

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

We had a rough go with the flu in my household over the Thanksgiving holiday.

I tend to pride myself on being well and putting myself first in terms of my own well-being, so not only was I surprised to go down so hard with this bug, it also made me mad at myself.

As I say a lot in this show, when I hit rock bottom in my life, it was because I’d been putting myself at the end of my priority list. I was not listening to what I mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually needed. 

If I am not well, then nothing else in my life works, and my foundation was so bad that everything else fell apart.

So today I want to talk about prioritization – specifically, prioritizing your physical well-being – so that when the flu or COVID, or whatever it is, comes around to your home, you can be resilient.

Resources & Links

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected]. 

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

Today, we dig deep into mom guilt.

Mom guilt is a huge part of this work, and anytime more women talk about it, the more there is to uncover. 

In this episode, I talk with Emily Gorrie, the host of the Project: Mom Podcast, which explores a lot of similar topics to the MotherLoad Podcast – one of the reasons I’ve been really excited for this conversation.

Before recording, both of us had sick kids – a massive part of the mental load, not only because it often means we have to reschedule our days, but it often means WE end up getting sick. All at once, we have to help our kids heal, get everything done, while also taking care of OURSELVES.

Which, inevitably, can make us feel guilty. Should we rest? Or just power through? 

In our conversation, we tackle the impact of ALLOWING ourselves to question these feelings of guilt instead of avoiding them; the importance of talking about the hard parts of motherhood; and the power of validating each others’ experiences.

Resources & Links

Check out the Project: Mom Podcast and follow Emily on Instagram.

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected]. 

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.

Some helpful advice if you want to offload household or parenting responsibilities to your partner: Don’t put a bow on it.

As today’s guest Elizabeth Pearson points out, if we start putting bows on things BEFORE we offload them, we’ll never truly be free of them. Yes, it might be Lord of the Flies every once and awhile, but the kids’ teeth will be cleaned. The groceries will be purchased. The tasks will get done by somebody other than you. 

Elizabeth is an executive coach, bestselling author of Career Confinement: How to Free Yourself, Find Your Guides, and Seize the Fire of Inspired Work, and most importantly, the mother of two little girls. 

In this episode, Elizabeth and I discuss what the “final frontier” looks like for women in the workplace; how to TRULY offload your parenting and household tasks; and the importance of just letting the chips fall as they may sometimes.

Resources & Links

Be sure to check out Elizabeth’s website and Instagram page; I read everything she posts, and I think there’s so much wisdom in them.

The books mentioned in this episode you should check out: Career Confinement: How to Free Yourself, Find Your Guides, and Seize the Fire of Inspired Work by Elizabeth Pearson; Find Your Unicorn Space by Eve Rodsky; and Fair Play by Eve Rodsky. 

Did this episode resonate with you? Share your takeaways with Lindsay directly at [email protected]. 

Learn more about Lindsay’s coaching and consulting services at https://www.lindsayroselle.com or follow along on Instagram at @lindsayroselle and @motherload.pod.