The Alissa Alter Show

Have you ever read something and felt so seen that your brain exploded? LIke you needed to send that person a DM immediately after reading a whole bunch of their work because you know you are destined to be friends? And then it turns out you have been living parallel lives for YEARS and it feels weird you haven't met yet? Yea, me too. That's why I messaged Abigail Rasminsky. She is a writer, teacher, editor, former professional dancer, and my new bff. She talks about everything too! She works as a Lecturer in the Program in Narrative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. She also teaches creative writing to medical students in the HEAL (Humanities, Ethics/Economics, Arts and Law) Program at Keck, and writing workshops from her home. You can find her writing in the New York Times, The Cut, the Washington Post, Food52, Cup of Jo, Epicurious, Longreads, Dance Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, and more. She also writes a weekly newsletter called People + Bodies which you can subscribe to in the show notes. I highly recommend it. A native of Montreal, she lived in Brooklyn for 12 years before moving to Vienna, Austria. After four years as an expat, she now lives in Los Angeles with my husband and daughter.

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

I feel the best way to honor Mother's Day is by supporting mothers.

And myself.

Because I'm a mom too.

I recently supposed the crap out of myself by taking a retreat BY MYSELF. I needed to create space and check in with myself, unravel the past year, and tune into myself. It was beyond fruitful and I am so excited to share with you the insights I gained on my hikes, in my writing, and with my village.

I've spent a large part of this past year teasing you with the exciting projects I'm working on. And new offerings. And exciting things that are happening. In today's episode I make the final reveal!

A new business! What is it? You'll have to listen to find out.

Can't wait to hear what you think!

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

What did you fail at today? Did you know Sarah Blakely's dad asked her this every single night growing up? She founded Spanx btw. Failure isn't bad. It builds character. Jk, but it does build resilience. And when it comes to Motherhood, no one has failed bigger than my friend and client Crista Crista and I have been working together for 8 years. We think? It's unclear. We have been through job changes, a divorce, very many fertility cycles, six pregnancies and 3 births together. Crista is beyond accomplished and truly one of the strongest, hardest working women I know. Which is why it was so disorienting to rack up a long list of "failures" on the road to motherhood.

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on Instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

At age 12 the two most important things in my life were my upcoming Bat Mitzvah and getting boobs. I could barely contain my excitement for both. Like many things in life, neither went exactly according to plan. Still, both happened in what I know now is the perfect way. What blows my mind, and what I talk about in this episode, are how the lessons I learned at ages 12 and 13 while becoming a woman beautifully mirror the same lessons I'm learning at 37 while becoming a mother. Please note, I mention it recently being the 14th anniversary of my Bat Mitzvah, but it was actually the 24th. I deleted an entire DECADE! I blame the baby. I can't wait to hear what you think.

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

This week's episode is extra special. I'm talking to Broadway's Becca Lee about motherhood during covid, your greatest spiritual journey, when your anxiety gets the best of you and you just...poop your pants. Becca and I had recorded our episode, but had major audio issues so we re recorded! Like Tenacious D sings in their hit song Tribute: "This is not the greatest (show) in the world, no. This is just a tribute! Couldn't remember the greatest (show) in the world, yeah - no! This is a tribute!" Becca is a Broadway performer turned full-time mama, for now. She's performed all over the country in regional theater productions, toured with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, danced for the NY Knicks and has appeared on several TV shows. She graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in Psychology and is currently brainstorming about what to do next! She is passionate about being creative and authentic and spreading joy whenever possible.

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

I want our first time together, just us, to be special. So in my first solo episode I lay it all out there for you. Because I'm here to talk about all of the things people aren't talking about. No more suffering in silence. I share how my journey to motherhood began when I filed for divorce ending my first marriage. How I felt I had earned and deserved a different childbirth experience. The pain I felt from my fourth degree tear, my body "failing" me, and how I found my way back to myself postpartum. I've said it once and I'll say it again; there is no ONE right way to be (or become) a mother, there is only YOUR right way.

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

Talking to actual rocket scientist Heather Bottom, a Space Systems Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, who recently finished working on the operations team for the launch and landing team of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. Heather and I met doing the Broadway national tour of A Chorus Line long before we became moms. And yes, we both still do the opening number on our time. We talk everything from the pressure of perfection in motherhood, show biz, and work to WANTING to go back to work after kids, finding parallels between various parts of yourself, and how it all comes together in a sort of 3D printed venn diagram. Heather also shares the best advice she received before having Maria…(hint: it came from me). This show is the perfect kickoff of Myth of Motherhood and how it doesn't take rocket science to be the best mama for your baby. Enjoy!

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com

Get to know more about Alissa, why she started Myth Of Motherhood, and what you can expect to hear each week.

This is basically her dating profile.

Download your free guide to the 20 Things No One Tells You About Pregnancy & Postpartum here. Want to connect with me further? Follow me on instagram and join our private Facebook community Mom's Club. Want to learn more about what I do and why I do it? Are you looking to elevate your pregnancy and postpartum experience? Visit me www.alissa-alter.com