That's Total Mom Sense

As a child of immigrants, do you feel conflicted about your cultural values and your modern day beliefs? Are you navigating what you want to pass on to your kids and what you want to end with you? Today I’m joined by Sahaj Kaur Kohli, my family friend and a celebrated author, therapist, #WashingtonPost columnist, and founder of @browngirltherapy, the first and largest mental health and wellness community organization for children of immigrants. We dive into the principles and strategies discussed in her book, “But What Will People Say?” with Penguin Life to uncover how to take the best from our immigrant experience and let go of the rest.

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As a longtime news anchor, former host of “Access Hollywood” and co-host of “Access Hollywood Live,” current West Coast Anchor of the TODAY Show and correspondent of Dateline NBC and NBC Nightly News, Natalie Morales is a beloved household name. So it's only natural that she released a bestselling cookbook called At Home With Natalie: Simple Recipes for Healthy Living from My Kitchen to Yours.

Natalie was born in Taiwan, to a Brazilian mother, Penelope, and a Puerto Rican father, Lieutenant Colonel Mario Morales, Jr. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese and spent the first eighteen years of her life living in America and overseas in Panama, Brazil, and Spain as a "U.S. Air Force brat."

Her multicultural experience led her to pursuing a career in broadcast journalism where she and the TODAY Show team won three Daytime Emmy Awards as best morning news program. Natalie has contributed to major breaking news stories including coverage of the royal wedding in 2011, presidential inaugurations, Hurricane Katrina, the death of Pope John Paul II, and the network’s coverage of the Winter and Summer Olympics since 2004. She landed many exclusive celebrity interviews including Angelina Jolie, Caitlyn Jenner on her life after transition, and Jennifer Lopez on her career and family. Hispanic Magazine named her one of the “Top Hispanics to Watch” in 2005 and one of the “Top Trendsetters” of 2003.

Her childhood as a global citizen and traveling the world with her work fed her appreciation for good food, but it's her experience as a working mom that taught her how to cook on the run and keep her recipes nutritious too. Her book features 125 recipes Natalie makes at home for her family including chicken croquettes, pesto shrimp with lemon-pepper fettuccine, and a 3-minute peanut butter and banana protein shake.

Natalie lives in Los Angeles, California with her husband Joe Rhodes and their two sons, Luke Hudson and Josh.

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In this episode, Kanika interviews Samreen Arshad, the visionary behind Samreen's Vanity, an all-inclusive makeup line. We delved into her inspiring entrepreneurial journey, discussed the importance of creating makeup shades for women of color, and explored her personal experiences with motherhood and postpartum depression. Samreen shared valuable insights and candidly spoke about carving time for her business and her family life, offering inspiration and practical advice to listeners. Use my promo code MOMSENSE20 to receive 20% off at samreensvanity.com. 

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Join us for an eye-opening talk. As Summer approaches and screen time increases, it's crucial for parents to stay informed about best practices for keeping children safe online. Featuring Roo Powell, founder of SOSA (Safe from Online Sex Abuse), and Kanika Chadda-Gupta, founder of That's Total Momsense, this session will provide practical advice and tools to help you create a secure online environment for your kids. #aurapartner​

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This episode is brought to you by Name Bubbles. Founder Michelle Brandriss was a mom who set out to solve an age old problem - making the best name labels when her son started daycare. She wanted them to be creative, fun, durable, and remain intact when thrown in the dishwasher or washing machine. She did exactly that - Name Bubbles’ is dedicated to creating top-quality, personalized, and waterproof labels for daycare, camp, and school made in the USA. She shares various ways to use them and how to encourage kids to take pride in being responsible for their belongings and following a routine. Use promo code MOMSENSE25 to receive 25% off at www.namebubbles.com.

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As the adage goes, “Nine months on; nine months off.” It takes about 9 months to put on the baby weight during pregnancy, and roughly that amount of time to lose it. My guest Mara Schiavocampo, three-time Emmy Award winning correspondent, chart-topping podcast host, and best-selling author of her memoir “Thinspired,” which documents how she lost 90 pounds after her first child, shares her trade secrets on how to stay motivated and truly take care of yourself.

• AMAZON: Two-Faced Royal Oil

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A true Renaissance woman, Falguni Lakhani Adams was a prosecutor who pivoted to become a television producer. She shares her journey as an Emmy award-winning producer and executive with Vice TV, a director, writer, mindfulness coach, wife to her lifelong sweetheart Richard who’s also in the TV biz and devoted mom to their two kids. She’s produced shows including United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell for CNN, series for Yahoo, Amazon Originals, and Comedy Central, and the popular 9 Lives Of and Sex Before the Internet on Vice. She also shares how women need to be more vocal about menopause/ She co-created Getting Hotter, a social impact project that aims to empower women and girls through storytelling and education.

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On Kanika's special birthday episode (July 4th - independence day!) brought to you by Bright Horizons, the tables are turned. Kanika is interviewed by the co-hosts of the Work-Life Equation podcast, Priya Krishnan (Chief Digital and Transformation Officer, Bright Horizons) and Paul Sullivan (The Company of Dads). She shares how she pivoted in her media career from television news to the digital world, gave birth to Irish triplets (twins + 1) and how motherhood didn't end her career, it catalyzed a new one in which she found her calling - her podcast and community, That's Total Mom Sense.

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Mental health within Asian communities remains highly stigmatized, but younger generations realize it's essential to a life well lived. In this conversation brought to you by The Asia Society, Kanika interviews Dr. Jenny Wang, PhD, nationally recognized psychologist, author of Permission to Come Home: Reclaiming Mental Health as Asian Americans, and founder of @asiansformentalhealth. Together they cover myths around the "model minority," boundary setting while staying true to one's core cultural values, and how parents can help kids self-regulate and be intrinsically motivated (without having a Tiger mom or dad to push them!).

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In this episode, Kanika interviews former Miss America Nina Davuluri on her documentary film, COMPLEXion, where she takes on colorism in South Asia and more broadly all communities of color. The fairness industry is worth $4 billion and continues to make the youth (typically girls as young as four) feel self-conscious about their looks and color of their skin. Kanika shares her own story as a pageant winner (Miss India East Coast) and all that is flawed in the beauty industry. She goes on to share how her kindergarten children became aware of their skin tone and how they dealt with it with their peers. Listen in!

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