Mutha Life

This week in the closet we have Senior Director of Community and Partnerships Tubby Todd. To most, however, she's likely better known as the grand master of all things hobby...or just having a good time. Erika's path to corporate girly has been paved with stardust, dreams, and...community. From singing for Disney in Japan to being the front woman of an all-Filipino hip hop group to cross-fit gym co-owner and Lululemon MAVEN, I don't think little Erika growing up in the Mormon church could've guessed much of the turns her life would take, but I imagine she'd find it immensely entertaining, along with the rest of us.

Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life @erikajaye

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

For an entire generation of girls wanting to be journalists, work in magazines and/or fashion, Atoosa Rubenstein was the pinnacle we looked to. She was living out loud and doing it YOUNG. Not waiting for any traditional hierarchies to retire. But what we didn't see is how much was weighing those designer shoulders down at the same time. The unanswered questions. The lack of connection. The missing warmth and safety of a loving childhood home. This expansive hang in the virtual closet has us starting in Iran, growing up in a challenging home dynamic, skyrocketing to notoriety at a young age, and then finding new purpose in motherhood - leaving the photoshoots, Met Balls, and bougie Hamptons parties behind to just be. With her kids. And ZERO LAUNDRY.

Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life @atoosarubenstein

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

It can feel like nothing is more precious and elusive to parents of young kids, as sleep. Today in the closet we've got Brittany Sheehan, certified kid's sleep guru and Internet funny girl, according to me. In this hang we cover everything from the impact of limited sex ed as kids, losing a parent too soon, finding new super powers with parenthood, division of labor at home...and we also answer some listener questions on sleep. We even cover why a quick trip to California grocery store staple, Gelson's, is a slippery slope and why pre-teens make the best babysitters.

Full show notes with alll the links INCLUDING A SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE FOR BRITTANY SHEEHAN SLEEP: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life @brittanysheehansleep

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

Come hang in the closet with the renegade girl scout, Puno. She's the founder of iLoveCreatives and the Executive Creative Director of iLoveCreatives Studio - the woman is bursting with...creativ(ity). This sprawling chat covers so much: from growing up in Texas in what sounds like a movie marriage of LadyBird and Dazed & Confused, to thriving and diving deep in the early days of the internet, to the challenges of running a business and a family with a partner, there's so much here. If that's not enough to entice - there's a cat with main character energy and you can even find out how Puno thinks she might die, assuming the robots don't save her first. And Puno's mom, if you're listening, she still has some questions for you and we all want the answers.

Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life @punodostres @ilovecreatives @muaddibthecat

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

May is National Foster Care Awareness Month and we are taking the opportunity to raise awareness by hanging with Tige Charity, CEO of Kids in the Spotlight (KITS). KITS is a non profit organization focused on providing children in foster care with the tools and skills to take control of their own narrative and tell their own story, primarily through filmmaking. Tige's story starts in a little town and Louisiana and brings her to today - her life in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. Tige's approach to life, career and parenting are deeply rooted in the values of her own youth in a religious household with a clear framework for how to live, while also putting her own stamp on how to do things - leaving behind the things that no longer serve her while celebrating the parts of her own childhood that have led her where she is today. This episode is all about gratitude and service. Knowing when you've got a good thing going and figuring out how to bring others along with you. Don't forget to like/leave a review if this speaks to you!

Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life @kidsinthespotlight @leadersinthespotlight

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

It's tradition when someone comes to the closet that I bake them something to bring home to their family...So you can imagine my surprise when today's guest brought ME something...a very special something in fact: Childish plates for my kiddos. Meg Duff is the CEO of Childish plates - a company she started because she just wasn't happy with the plastic alternatives out there for feeding kids. She was the goldilocks of plates: not dishwasher safe. Not microwave safe. Not cute. Not practical...the list goes on. So she took her high achieving self, a machine fine tuned by years of highly competitive sports, and applied all that gumption to a new game: business. If you're a sports family or you yourself were a sports kid - this episode gives a lot to chew on: What happens once a competitive chapter of sports ends for a person? What's it like for a kid to grow up in a household with a professional athlete at the dinner table? If you're not a sports person, maybe you're a parent who gets frustrated by the market missing out on something you want/need in your life. Listen to how one mutha is tackling it head on. If you're none of those things, surely you're a person who has had to withstand chapters of change and recalibration in your life - this chat is for you.

Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life @childishplates

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

Today we are hanging out with Betina Gozo Shimonek, Nike Global Trainer and women's strength training guru. We follow Betina from her first years in the Philippines to a small town in Indiana to wild child bassist in a band and then on to her chapter where she can't stop shining - elite trainer and mother of 3. We cover it all - from a starter marriage to birthing babies in bathtubs to looking ahead to homeschooling, no stone goes unturned.

Show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

Wow. This is the longest voice memo you'll ever hear on a podcast available to you on Apple, Spotify and wherever else you get your podcasts. In the first-ever solo pod, we cover a lot of listeners' questions and wax poetic on a wild Friday night following a week of kid Spring Break. Let's talk about juggling work and side gigs and family, the latest on my Crohn's diagnosis. When milestones are hard for your child to achieve. Feeling fried and how fucking cliche and TRUE it is. What self care looks like when you're chronically sick and trying not to be. ALL OF IT. LFGGGGGG.

Show notes with alll the links (and find out what I baked for our guest): muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

In this episode we are hanging in the closet with Aaron Abergel, the CEO of Steel Lighting Company. We follow Aaron through a childhood spent in the US, then Israel, then back again, sitting in on his parents’ business meetings, trying and failing at starting multiple businesses, then finally landing the bullseye, both in love and in business.

This conversation is a fascinating look inside the life of a parent who really, truly, deep in his bones is WORKING TO LIVE. And not just live, but live large. He’s laser focused on having a successful business that allows him maximum time OUT of the office to be with his family. And don’t get the wrong idea. You won’t find him scrubbing bottles or doing laundry - he’s also perfected the art of delegation so that he (and his wife) are able to lock in on these early years of parenting in a way that many would see as an unbelievable gift.

Show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com 

Instagram: @mutha.life @steellightingco

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa

Mike Caron is a TV Director with more than 500 episodes of television under his belt. He's a beloved Nickelodeon fixture and the man who brings to tiktok unfiltered behind-the-scenes content of some of our favorite kids shows. He's is known for his work on Henry Danger, Danger Force, iCarly, Zoey101, Drake and Josh and more.

Mike is also a dad of two grown women exploring what it means to be an empty nester. This conversation starts from a suburban idyllic childhood and we get to today, where he's in a unique spot: His kids are out of the house but he still works with kids for his day job, taking empathy from parenting his own kids and bringing it to set. If you've got a kid thinking about working in SHOWBIZ, or you're just curious what it's like to be a parent of kids navigating school and work living a Hollywood life, this episode is a must listen.

Show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com

Instagram: @mutha.life

Produced by: Mutha Life

Music by: Ronen Landa