Thank You, Mama

Elodie Ferchaud is a co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Boundless Life, where she helps families slow-travel the world while ensuring their children receive a high-quality education.

A mother of four raising her children across borders, Elodie is building a global company while juggling school runs, bedtime negotiations, and night feeds. She speaks about her mother, Françoise, a music teacher who successfully balanced her passions and career with being a deeply present parent, and who showed extraordinary resilience through her battle with cancer, followed by the devastating loss of her son. Françoise taught Elodie to love life, maintain a positive outlook, accept change, trust in her own resilience, remain open to new experiences and cultures, and believe that a healthy balance between motherhood and a professional career is possible. Elodie also talks about how motherhood can be a superpower that can fuel your ambitions, and shares how she is managing life as a mother of four - including a 7-month-old baby - while growing an international business that takes her around the world.

To learn more about Elodie and Bountless Life, visit here.

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For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

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It's Christmas, and we're celebrating the birth of Jesus, so it's the perfect time to think about his mother, Mary. While she is omnipresent in Christianity - especially in Christian art - we know very little about her. This is why I was very excited to learn more about, and from, her through my guest, Dr. Christine Valters Paintner.

Christine is the author of Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal. She has a PhD in Christian spirituality, is an abbess, and is the author of more than twenty books on spirituality. Christine tells us about her American mother, Susan, a United Nations employee who struggled with rheumatoid arthritis but transformed her suffering into a gift for others when she earned an MA in social studies to become an advocate for people with disabilities. Susan teaches us to empower others - to not see ourselves as victims, but to use our challenges to help those around us - and to embrace the power that comes with older age.

In the second part of the episode, we talk about Mary and her lessons: to show up in the world, to accept the calling to create the holy, to embrace the power of the sacred feminine (intuition, creativity, dreams, and gestation), and to be a loving and present witness in both birth and death, in the positive and the negative. Christine also shares an important lesson for many women: that we are not responsible for everything, and that sometimes we, too, need to be taken care of. Finally, she speaks about healing our ancestors by healing ourselves.

I invite you to reflect on Mary, her presence, and what she represents to you during these holidays. And I wish you, dear listeners, blessed holidays and a happy 2026.

To learn more about Christine and her work, please vist her website here.

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To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

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Former software engineer Ana Hebra Flaster has written extensively about Cuba and the Cuban-American experience for major U.S. publications including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe, as well as on her acclaimed Substack, @CubaCurious. Her memoir, "Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town," traces her family's remarkable journey from post-revolutionary Havana to a snowy mill town in New England.

In our conversation, Ana reflects on the realities of immigration, the legacy of the Cuban Revolution, and the generations of women who held her family together through upheaval and reinvention. From mama Consuelo come enduring lessons: making yourself brave in the face of danger; standing up for the truth, your rights, and for others; happiness being a choice (just like bitterness is); and letting go of grudges to move forward.

To learn more about Ana and her work, visit her website.

Subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…" newsletter here.

To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

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Sports journalist and author of Dear Dana: That Time I Went Crazy and Wrote All 580 of My Facebook Friends a Handwritten Letter and You Cannot Mess This Up: A True Story That Never Happened, Amy Weinland Daughters, shares the life lessons she learned from her American mom, Sue: the danger of hiding behind a "perfect" façade, the trap of letting others define who you are, and the inspiring fact that your current chapter isn't your whole story — because the best may still lie ahead. She also speaks about being guided by love, embracing a "why not?" mindset, and being open-minded.

Amy also reflects on the cathartic experience of writing her memoir, in which she gets to witness three days of her childhood as a grown-up bystander, the surprising pliability of memory, the practice of re-parenting ourselves, and the wisdom that comes from learning through other people's lives.

For more about Amy and her books, please visit her website here.

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To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

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Dacia Moore, licensed counselor and founder of Second Wind Counseling & Consulting, has dedicated her career to helping African Americans understand the benefits of therapy, take a proactive approach to mental wellness, and become their best selves. She's the author of Why Are So Many Students So Angry? and the forthcoming From Stuck to Unstoppable.

In this episode, Dacia traces her mission back to her Jamaican mother, Dorothy, whose struggle with depression became a living picture of what it means to be "stuck." Watching Dorothy's pain - and her resilience - taught Dacia that staying stuck has a cost, and that faith, work ethic, and getting help are how we move again. We talk about recognizing when to ask for support and take a break, knowing when to let go and move on, navigating depression with compassion, and guiding our children with the hard-earned wisdom of our own experiences.

To learn more about Second Wind, visit their website here.

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To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

To connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

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Engineer and Midlife Business Strategist Sairan Aqrawi shares her inspiring journey from Iraq to a new life in the United States—and the extraordinary story of her mother, Sidika, who was married at 14, became a mother at 15, and went on to raise seven children.

From Sidika, we learn the power of patience and trust in divine timing; the wisdom of letting go of small grievances; the importance of choosing grace over noise, and of not seeking validation from others. She reminds us that not everything will unfold as we wish—and that sometimes, peace means letting go.

Sairan also reflects on the lessons she's learned as an immigrant, a mother, and a business coach: to own your voice, to take action ("because action is confidence"), to see midlife as a triumph and a new fruitful phase, and to remember that sometimes you need to pause—and recalibrate.

Subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…" newsletter here.

To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

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Julie Cobalt is an attorney with over 25 years of experience as a Conflict Resolution Expert with 1,200 successful mediations accomplished. After many years of working with large companies, Julie is now supporting families in resolving their conflicts, and offering workshops on navigating challenging times such as divorce. Julie shared a story of her mom who was always seeking validation through helping people outside of her family. This led to a fascinating conversation about the balance of taking care of others with taking care of yourself, but also questioning whom you seek validation from and why; how to shift perspective to see where the other person is coming from; and the importance of understanding before you react. Julie shared her inner journey of working on her relationship with her mother, and also the biggest lesson she learned as a Conflict Resolution Expert - she kindly shared her theory of "3 Buckets" which can help soften any relationship. A big thank you to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for sending such an amazing guest my way!

To learn more about Julie, her coaching and workshops, please visit her website here.

Subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…" newsletter here.

To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

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Sometimes, on occasions that are getting rarer and rarer, Instagram can be a place of great discoveries, and Becky Barnicoat was one of those for me. A cartoonist published by The New Yorker, Grazia, The New Statesman, The Guardian, BuzzFeed, New York Magazine, Private Eye and Netflix, she had recently published her deeply funny and touching graphic memoir "Cry When the Baby Cries". For years, her observations of daily life and motherhood made me burst out laughing (often when I needed it the most). So join me as I finally get to laugh together with Becky! Hear her inspiring story about becoming a succesful cartoonist after years of hearing she wasn't good enough, and was dreaming of a job that didn't exist. And learn wise lessons from her and her mom Catherina about motherhood being a source the fulfilment, about creating a warm home through routine and light, about teaching our duaghters through our stories, and breaking generational cycles.

To learn more about Becky, her work, and her new book, visit her website here, or her Instagram profile here.

Subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…" newsletter here.

To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

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Wanjiku Kiarie, an accountant and podcaster from Kenya, talks about her mama Frasia, a teacher who raised and supported her four daughters during her husband's battle with drinking. The episode is bursting with lessons on finding God; forgiving and giving; working hard, saving and investing; raising amazing women; and honesty.

Subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…" newsletter here.

To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

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This episode is a bit different, because in this episode you host Ana Tajder will tell you her guest's mother's story. To Ana's big shock, because of technical difficulties with recording between US and China, the recording of this beautiful interview turned out blank. But Ana believed mama Chen's inspiring story had to be shared, so she shared it herself, using notes she took during the interview. Ana's guest is a Beijing based artist and industrial design professor Xue Hongyan. Xue talks about her mom Chen who, after a life of hard work in a factory, started her own business at 50. Listen for a glimpse into a life of a working-class woman in China, and for important lessons on hard work, resilience, and courage to start a new professional phase in your 50s.

Subscribe to Ana's new "Mama Loves…" newsletter here.

To contact Ana, to be a guest, or suggest a guest, please send your mail to: [email protected]

For more about "Thank You, Mama", please visit: http://www.thankyoumama.net

Connect with Ana on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/anatajder/

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