I’m excited to have Hunter Clarke Fields (AKA Mindful Mama) back with us today, to tell us about her new book, Raising Good Humans Every Day. Hunter shares some very practical tips to help us busy and often stressed moms to come back to calm. Make sure you stay to the end of the episode where she shares a wonderful meditation that you will want to listen to over and over again.

Hunter Clarke-Fields MSAE, E-RYT (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a Mindfulness Mentor, Mindful Mama Podcast Host, Mom, Global Speaker, and Number 1 Bestselling Author of “Raising Good Humans” with a New Book: “Raising Good Humans Every Day” (Aug 1, 2023). Hunter has over 20 years of experience in meditation and yoga practices, and helps moms bring more calm and family cooperation into their daily lives. She is a Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, the creator of the Mindful Parenting Course and Teacher Training, and has taught mindfulness to thousands worldwide, including a recent trip to Egypt. Hunter presents talks on parenting, is a certified teacher of Parent Effectiveness Training. In addition, Hunter coaches smart, accomplished, over-stressed individuals on how to cultivate mindfulness. Hunter is the mother of two active daughters, who challenge her every day to hone her craft! Her work has appeared in CNBC Make It, Parade, Paleontology, Motherhood Moment, The Hollywood Digest, along with on ABC Portland, NBC Milwaukee, and CBS South Bend,Kansas Public Radio, and many podcasts. And as part of her self-care, Hunter likes to do Scottish country dancing.

Learn more about Hunter at ⁠https://MindfulMamaMentor.com⁠

Follow Hunter on Instagram at ⁠https://www.instagram.com/mindfulmamamentor/?hl=en

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is such an important conversation on how to raise our teens with agency so that they have the skills to set boundaries, and know what they want and know what they don't want. This conversation about consent explores all the nuances of a true consent. We address what moms can do to reduce the shame factor so our teens will be honest with us.

Dr. Laura McGuire is an internationally recognized consultant, survivor, researcher, seminarian, and author of the book Creating Cultures of Consent (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021) and The Sexual Misconduct Prevention Guidebook: Consent and Conduct for Higher Education Campuses (Fielding University Press, 2022). They were named as one of the 2022 Champions of Pride by the Advocate Magazine and are regularly featured in media outlets for their expertise and approachability.

Dr McGuire is a certified member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), and The Society of Professional Consultants. Dr. McGuire lives in the United States, where she works as an adjunct professor at Widener & Dominican University and CEO at The National Center for Equity and Agency.

To learn more and contact Laura:

⁠https://equityandagency.com/⁠

⁠https://drlauramcguire.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever felt your heart break watching your daughter come home devastated by friendship drama—and wondered if helping might actually make things worse?

In this episode of Power Your Parenting Moms with Teens, Colleen O’Grady sits down with friendship expert and author Shari Gazitt to unpack the emotional world of girl drama, exclusion, group chats, and friendship struggles. Together, they explore why moms often feel pulled into the pain of their daughters’ social struggles and how our own teenage experiences can get triggered in the process. Shari shares practical wisdom for supporting girls without rescuing, fixing, or escalating the drama.

Shari Gazitt is an international friendship expert, speaker, founder of Teen Wise, and author of Girl Drama Decoded: Empower Your Daughter Through the Ups and Downs of Girl Drama and Friendships. With a background in counseling psychology and over 30 years of experience, she has helped thousands of girls navigate friendship struggles, social anxiety, exclusion, and the emotional ups and downs of growing up. Through coaching, workshops, and her Mom Wise Collective, Shari equips both moms and daughters with tools to build resilience, confidence, and healthier relationships.

In this conversation, Colleen and Shari discuss the biggest mistakes moms make when their daughters are hurting—such as becoming overly dramatic, dismissive, or intrusive. They talk about why moms must “stay above the drama” instead of jumping into the trenches with their daughters, how group chats intensify social pain, and why trying to control other girls, parents, or schools often backfires. The episode also dives into emotional resilience, cognitive distortions, boundary setting, role modeling healthy friendships, and the importance of helping girls believe they are strong enough to navigate difficult social situations. One of the most powerful themes throughout the episode is that moms don’t need to fix every problem—they need to help strengthen their daughters.

Three Takeaways

1. Your daughter needs calm support more than rescue. Validation and listening often help more than immediately fixing the problem.

2. Moms can accidentally intensify girl drama when their own emotions, fears, or past wounds get activated.

3. The goal is not to protect daughters from every hard friendship experience, but to help them build confidence, resilience, boundaries, and healthy relationship skills.

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beteenwise/

Learn More at: https://www.teen-wise.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever looked at your adult child and wondered, “How did we get here—and how do I love them without losing myself in fear, grief, or control?”

In this powerful episode of Power Your Parenting Moms with Teens, Colleen O’Grady sits down with bestselling author and parenting expert Jim Burns to talk about one of the most painful and confusing seasons of parenting: when an adult child begins to drift—whether from family values, faith, responsibility, or even the relationship itself. Jim shares practical wisdom and deep compassion for parents navigating estrangement, emotional distance, poor choices, or the heartbreak of watching a child struggle in their 20s and 30s. Together, Colleen and Jim discuss how to shift from controlling to connecting, how to set healthy boundaries without pushing your child away, and why staying in the “messy middle” matters more than perfection.

Jim Burns is the founder of HomeWord, a ministry dedicated to helping families thrive, and the author of multiple bestselling books including Doing Life with Your Adult Children and When Your Adult Child Strays: Trading Heartache for Hope. He speaks around the world on parenting, marriage, faith, and leadership, and has more than three million resources in print in over 20 languages. Jim and his wife Kathy have three adult daughters and several grandchildren, giving him both professional expertise and lived experience in navigating the emerging adult years.

In this conversation, Jim explains why parenting adult children requires an entirely different skill set than parenting teens. He discusses the importance of “giving your child the passport to adulthood,” why unsolicited advice often feels like criticism, and how fear can quietly drive unhealthy parenting patterns. Colleen and Jim also tackle difficult topics like estrangement, deconstruction of faith, enabling versus helping, codependency, and the grief many parents experience when their dreams for their child don’t unfold the way they imagined. Throughout the episode, Jim emphasizes that the goal is not controlling your adult child—it’s preserving connection, becoming a safe person, and building bridges instead of walls.

3 Takeaways from This Episode:

Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/homewordfamily/

Learn More at: https://homeword.com/about/jim-burns/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you ever feel like you’re carrying the entire mental load of your family while trying to hold together your work, your home, your relationships, and yourself?

In this episode of Power Your Parenting Moms with Teens, Colleen O’Grady talks with Sarah Armstrong about the reality of modern motherhood, the invisible pressure moms carry, and how to move from merely surviving to actually thriving. Sarah shares practical and deeply relatable wisdom for working moms trying to balance careers, parenting, emotional labor, and self-care without losing themselves in the process. Together, Colleen and Sarah discuss the importance of boundaries, routines, mindset, support systems, and why moms must stop treating themselves like they come last on their own to-do list.

Sarah Armstrong is the author of The Art of the Juggling Act: Bite Size Guide for Working Parents and The Mom’s Guide to a Good Divorce. She is also Vice President of Global Marketing Operations at Google and the proud mom of Grace, now a young adult successfully launched into the world. Sarah has spent decades mentoring working parents and helping families navigate the realities of parenting, career pressures, and life transitions with intentionality and grace.

In this conversation, Sarah shares practical strategies that helped her manage both motherhood and a demanding global career. She talks about the importance of creating an “operating model” for your family, protecting personal time without guilt, and building what she calls a “compartmentalization muscle” so moms can be more present wherever they are. Sarah also discusses powerful routines like her “Sunday List,” creating decompression zones, teaching teens life skills and financial responsibility, and why support networks are essential for moms’ emotional wellbeing. Throughout the episode, Sarah reminds moms that doing the best you can is enough—and that intentionally caring for yourself is not selfish, but necessary.

3 Takeaways from This Episode:

Learn more at: https://thejugglingact.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to another episode of Power Your Parenting Moms with Teens. Have you ever wondered if some of the same mental toughness strategies used to train Navy SEALs could actually help us raise more resilient, confident teens? In today’s episode, we explore how allowing our kids to struggle, problem-solve, and experience manageable stress can actually strengthen them for life.

Our guest today is Brandon Webb, a New York Times bestselling author, former Navy SEAL sniper instructor, entrepreneur, and father of three. Brandon spent over a decade training elite operators in performance psychology, mental conditioning, and resilience. In his new book, Puddle Jumpers, he applies those same principles to parenting, sharing practical tools for raising capable, joyful, and emotionally strong kids in today’s challenging world.

In this conversation, Brandon shares why protecting kids from every discomfort can actually backfire and how “ordinary stressors” help build confidence and emotional resilience. We discussed the power of visualization and mental rehearsal, how a parent’s voice becomes a child’s inner voice, why leading by example matters more than lectures, and how asking thoughtful open-ended questions can create deeper conversations with teens. Brandon also opens up about mistakes he made as a father, what he learned from them, and how parents can balance boundaries with independence while still preserving connection with their kids.

Three Takeaways for Moms

Learn More at: https://brandontylerwebb.com/

Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/brandontwebb/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever felt like your teen is more disconnected than ever—and you’re not quite sure how to reach them?

In this episode we're talking about something so many moms are feeling but may not fully understand—this sense of disconnection with our teens. It can feel like you’re trying, but something just isn’t landing. In today’s world—post-pandemic, with screens, stress, and shifting social norms—connection isn’t as natural as it once was. But here’s the good news: it can be rebuilt, and often in simpler ways than you might think.

In this episode, we talk about how the pandemic disrupted teens’ social development and why many are struggling more with in-person connection. Amber shares why it’s too simplistic to blame technology alone and instead encourages us to look at the bigger picture of how connection has changed in our homes and communities. We explore how teens often don’t express their appreciation—but deeply feel it—and why small, everyday moments matter more than big experiences. Amber offers practical ways to connect with your teen, including understanding their unique communication style, knowing when to pause instead of push, and leading with empathy before jumping to discipline. We also talk about the importance of modeling humility through apology and how creating simple opportunities for real-life interaction can help teens rebuild confidence and connection.

3 Takeaways:

Follow at https://www.instagram.com/amberrainchandler/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this eye-opening episode, Colleen O’Grady sits down with Dr. Maree Davies, cognitive psychology expert and author of Teaching Critical Thinking to Teenagers: How Kids Can Be Street Smart About AI, Algorithms, Fake News, and Social Media. Together they explore why critical thinking is one of the most essential life skills for today’s teens—and how parents can help develop it at home.

Dr. Davies explains how social media platforms and AI algorithms are designed to capture attention, influence thinking, and keep teens engaged. She shares practical ways parents can help teens become more aware, more curious, and less vulnerable to manipulation, misinformation, and online rabbit holes.

This conversation is packed with wisdom for raising thoughtful, self-aware, and resilient teens in a digital world.

Key Takeaways:

1. Critical thinking starts with curiosity, not lectures.

2. Parents should model critical thinking out loud.

3. Teens need connection, not isolation, to navigate digital life well.

Memorable Quote:

"Critical thinking is not something we do alone—it grows through talking, listening, and thinking together." – Dr. Maree Davies

Learn More at: https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/mj-davies

Follow at: https://nz.linkedin.com/in/maree-davies-22a39411

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this thought-provoking episode, Colleen O’Grady sits down with educator and author Dr. Deborah Kenny to explore what it really means to raise a well-educated teen in today’s world. While many parents feel pressure around grades, test scores, college resumes, and performance, Dr. Kenny offers a much deeper and more meaningful vision of education.

She explains that a truly good education is not just about getting A’s or doing well on standardized tests—it’s about helping kids become thoughtful, curious, morally grounded, independent thinkers. Together, Colleen and Dr. Kenny talk about how parents can look beyond GPA and begin asking bigger questions: Is my teen learning how to think? Can they write well? Can they have respectful disagreement? Are they developing purpose, leadership, and character?

Dr. Kenny also discusses the limitations of today’s education system, the importance of cultivating agency and ethical purpose, and how moms can fill in the gaps at home when schools focus too heavily on performance over deeper learning. The conversation also touches on technology, AI, and how to help teens develop critical thinking in a world full of noise, distraction, and shallow messages.

This episode is a powerful reminder that what matters most is not just whether our teens are successful on paper—but whether they are becoming wise, capable, grounded young adults.

3 Takeaways from the Episode

1. A good education is about much more than grades.

A truly well-educated teen is not just high-achieving—they are curious, thoughtful, compassionate, and able to think independently. Parents can help shift the focus from “How did you do?” to “What are you learning?”

2. Writing, discussion, and deep thinking matter.

Dr. Kenny emphasizes that writing is “thinking on paper.” If teens aren’t being taught to write carefully, revise thoughtfully, and engage with ideas deeply, they may be missing one of the most important parts of a strong education.

3. Moms can shape a deeper kind of learning at home.

Even if schools are focused on test scores and performance, moms can still cultivate meaningful education by encouraging curiosity, purpose, ethical reflection, reading, and thoughtful conversations about the world around them—including AI and technology.

Memorable Quote

“Focus on the learning, the grades will come.”

Guest Bio

Dr. Deborah Kenny is the founder of Harlem Village Academies and the Deeper Learning Institute, and one of the most influential educators in the country. She has been honored with the Columbia University Teachers College Distinguished Alumni Award and was named on Oprah’s Power List and Esquire’s Best and Brightest. She holds a PhD in Comparative International Education from Columbia University and is the author of The Well-Educated Child. She is also the mother of three grown children and lives in New York City.

Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/deborahkennyhva/?hl=en

Learn More at: https://www.thewelleducatedchild.org/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

368 Handling Big Mom Emotions

In this powerful and deeply validating episode, Colleen O’Grady talks with returning guest Eli Harwood, licensed therapist, attachment expert, bestselling author, and founder of Attachment Nerd. Eli shares insights from her new book, How to Deal with Your ______ So Your Kids Don’t Have To, and helps moms understand why their own emotions matter so much in parenting.

Together, Colleen and Eli explore how feelings like anger, anxiety, loneliness, judgment, and control can quietly shape the way we show up with our tweens, teens, and young adults. Eli explains that parenting doesn’t just shape our kids—it also sharpens and develops us. She offers a compassionate framework for understanding our emotional habits, attachment patterns, and the ways our own childhood experiences can affect our parenting today.

This conversation is full of hope, practical wisdom, and powerful reminders that you do not have to be a perfect mom to create a secure, connected relationship with your child. What matters most is your willingness to reflect, repair, and keep growing.

3 Takeaways from the Episode

About Eli Harwood

Eli Harwood, MA, LPC is a licensed therapist, bestselling author, educator, and widely respected attachment expert who has spent nearly two decades helping people build secure, healthy relationships. She is the author of Securely Attached, Raising Securely Attached Kids, Uniquely Us, and How to Deal with Your Blank So Your Kids Don’t Have To. Eli is passionate about helping parents become more emotionally aware and connected so they can create the kind of relationships their kids can truly feel safe in. She is also the creator of the popular platform Attachment Nerd. Eli is a mom of three and brings both professional expertise and real-life parenting experience to this conversation.

Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attachmentnerd/?hl=en

Learn More at: https://www.attachmentnerd.com/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices