The Global Mom Show: The Podcast for Moms with Global Worldviews

Today we’re talking Fair Trade and Fashion, and how to make more ethical choices a part of our everyday lives. I’m talking with Stacey Edgar, founder of Global Girlfriend.

Stacey’s Bio: A passionate advocate for women and children, Stacey Edgar started Global Girlfriend in 2003 as a way to provide economic security for women in need by creating a sustainable market for their products. She used her 10 years in social work practice with women and children as a springboard to her role as a social entrepreneur. Stacey has traveled the world providing market and business training to women’s cooperatives and organizations. She oversees all aspects of Global Girlfriend’s success, from building valued lasting relationships with the women artisan cooperatives, to marketing this progressive fair trade brand, to designing and hand-selecting fashion forward products in order to grow the Global Girlfriend brand on-line, through a direct mail catalog, and in premier boutiques and retail locations nationwide including Whole Foods Market and Target.com.

Stacey has been honored by the Microsoft Corporation as a recipient of the company’s Start Something Amazing Awards, by the Denver Business Journal as a “40 Under 40” Business Leader, featured in several magazines including O, The Oprah Magazine, in Multichannel Merchant magazine as a “Maven of Merchandise,” and by Organic Style as one of their 2005 Women with Organic Style.

Stacey holds a Master of Social Work Degree from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Social Work from Western Illinois University. She is the mother of three: Dakota, Cali Ann, and Ellie and is married to her best friend Brad. They make their home in the beautiful Colorado foothills.

Stacey Edgar started the company Global Girlfriend in 2013.

http://www.globalgirlfriend.com/store/ggf/site

http://staceyedgar.com/

Links from the show: 

Organic Tees from Global Girlfriend 

Stacy’s book, Global Girlfriend

Ten Thousand Villages

SERVV

Fast Fashion

Patagonia

Jorova Craft in Kenya

Whole Foods

GreaterGood

Craft-Link Kenya

Freeset Tees from India

Uganda Texda

Brass Disc Earrings

Sonagachi Red Light District 

Earth Fare

Here’s a recent story about GAP’s factories. 

Where to find Stacey:

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Where to find Global Girlfriend:

Website | Facebook |Instagram

Join my Facebook Group for livestreams and more conversations about what it means to be a Global Mom. Leave a comment here or there! And if you haven’t signed up for my weekly newsletter, do that here!

The post TGMS #015 Fair Trade, Fashion, and Global Girlfriends with Stacey Edgar appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou found her way through music, and now she takes that music around the world to help others build bridges of peace. Her music is fun, engaging, and energetic. She plays folk music from around the world and in several different languages. In this episode, Daria shares how she became intrigued by other cultures, how she connected with the Quechua people in Peru, and how she developed as an ethnomusicologist. She also gives us a mini-workshop in world music, sharing some favorite instruments and melodies from around the world.

Links from the show:

Buck’s County Folk Song Society

Janice Ian

Ethnomusicology

Friends World College

Miriam Makeba

Victor Jara

This Little Light of Mine

Jawbone of donkey instrument

Toenails of goat instrument

Hapi drum

Java Gamelan

Lakota Drum

Gong

Sikh

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Here Come the Mothers

Bate, Bate Chocolate

Cajon

Asalaam Aleykum

Find Daria here:

Website / Facebook / Store  / YouTube / Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Daria gives workshops and concerts all over the world! If you would like to have her come to your community, contact her via her website. 

Thanks for listening! Please join us on the The Global Moms Network Facebook Page where we will gather and talk about this episode! And, if you are not getting our weekly emails, sign up today for the inside scoop on episodes, guests, and other great links. Sign up. 

The post TGMS #014 Making Music that Connects Us with Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

Today, I chat about why we need a global perspective now more than ever. I share some audio blogs taken from this website.

The post TGMS #013 Back to the Basics and Blog Posts appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

Today we are focusing in on the United States, because, hey, it’s a melting pot, and well, it is our Independence Day. We are still talking about multiculturalism and raising kids who are at home with their heritage as well as in their home countries. This week, I chat with Dania Santana of Embracing Diversity. She writes and speaks about multiculturalism and shares her unique Latina perspective with us.

Find her here: 

Twitter | Pinterest

Great quotes from this episode: 

“If you are here, if you were born here, that’s your identity before anything else.”

“Multiculturalism is not about giving away who you are.”

“By me being here and being very proud of my culture, I’m not saying that your culture is any less, or that I’m better in any way.”

“The key to multiculturalism is being respectful.”

“I’m not superior or inferior.”

Mentioned: 

This study shows how blacks are tipped less than whites.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get more of the inside scoop on the show!

The post TGMS #012 Embracing Diversity with Dania Santana appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

June 20th was World Refugee Day or Refugee Awareness Day, and the month of June is Refugee Awareness Month. In the past few years, the refugee crisis has become an overwhelming humanitarian crisis affecting men, women, and children all over the world. In this episode, Mary Grace Otis talks with the founder of Carry the Future, Cristal Logothetis, who started the organization that collects and delivers baby carriers to refugee families. She started with a modest goal of 100 carriers, and has since collected thousands and made 10 trips to Greece to deliver the carriers. She shares some of her amazing stories of what moms have done to help other moms worldwide.

Cristal shares how she started the organization and how it has grown over the past ten months. She’s been amazed to see how families all over the world have joined forces to bring tangible aid to refugee families. The story is inspiring, because it gives us a glimpse into how a small step can set off a course of action that multiplies into a huge grassroots movement.

Find the organization here: Carry the Future : Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Some facts about refugees: (taken from the Global Giving Website article “7 Facts You Need to Know for World Refugee Day”)

Here is the story and the photo of Aylan Kurdi (Warning: graphic content) that Cristal refers to that caused her to start collecting carriers. (The boy drowned when his boat capsized and his father could no longer hold onto him in the water.)

This video is a few months old, but it gives a good overview of the refugee crisis.

Other groups helping refugees (there are many more, and we will add to this list): 

Save the Children

UNHCR

World Relief

Operation Refugee Child

Nurture Project International 

Each week, I send out a lengthier email (more like a traditional blog post) with some more info about the episode as well as some personal stories and links to things I’m enjoying around the internet. If you’d like to get a weekly personal email from me, sign up here.

And, I’d love to hear your thoughts below about this episode. What struck a cord with you? What concerns or worries you? How would you like to get involved?

The post TGMS #011 Carry the Future with Cristal Logothetis appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

What does Slurping Soup have to do with being an expat? Well, it’s one of those confusing cultural differences that expats face everyday, wherever they live. Expat life can be wonderful, but it can also be challenging–especially for children. But having the right outlook and attitude can certainly help one adjust to a new place and new people. And, having some real tools at your fingertips can be helpful as well. My guest today, Maryam Afnan Ahmad discovered the need for such tools when she was living in Beijing with her family several years ago. Her children both dealt with challenges differently, and she knew that being able to pinpoint their true feelings would help them understand the problems they might be experiencing. She attended a Parent Effectiveness Training course with other expat moms, and together, the six of them decided to write a book. Slurping Soup and Other Confusions is their story and activity book for kids in transition, and it helps children identify what they are experiencing and find ways to handle their confusion.

In our conversation, Maryam and I talk about her family’s experience as expats from Pakistan living in both Beijing and the U.S.  Her family loves to travel, loves airports, and she loves seeing how her kids have transformed into open-minded people, willing to try new things (including different foods) and meet new people. Maryam and her family have really enjoyed their travels and life abroad, and she offers insight into why. She believes certain strengths help families adjust more easily: curiosity, with holding judgement, not having expectations from people, and flexibility to deal with whatever comes their way are a few of the strengths she talks about.

In addition to being a writer, Maryam is on the board of the Families in Global Transition (FIGT) Organization, which she explains more about in our talk. The annual conference they hold took place in Amsterdam this year, and Maryam shares about some of the great talks she heard while there.

Links from the show: 

Parent Effectiveness Training– Dr. Thomas Gordon

Gordon Training International is the headquarters for information on Parent Effectiveness Training

Slurping Soup and Other Confusions

FIGT – Families in Global Transition

TCKs – Third Culture Kids

Third Culture Kids:Growing Up Among Worlds by David C. Pollack and Ruth Van Reeken

Melissa Dalton Bradford – Global Mom: A Memoir

Allama Iqbal

What can we learn from Maryam’s story? 

Well, if you are an expat, then you may want to check out some of the books she suggests (including her own!). You may also identify with many of the things she talks about. I’m curious what you feel some of the strengths are that are needed for living a global life abroad?

If you are not an expat, maybe you can more easily understand some of the simple joys and challenges they face. Maybe you know a family from another part of the world that needs a little hospitality. Take some of Maryam’s advice, and invite them over for a meal, or a family activity.

Do you identify with being a global nomad or a TCK? I’d love to hear about it below.

Sign up for my weekly newsletter to get more behind the scene details of what’s going on at The Global Mom Show, what Mary Grace is up to, and what new places you should check out on the web. You can sign up here. 

The post TGMS #010 Slurping Soup and Other Confusions with expat Maryam Afnan Ahmad appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

Today, Homa Sabet Tavangar and I finish up our conversation about Growing Up Global. We talk about what holidays she and her family celebrate, how to be a friend to the whole human race, how to make cross-cultural friendships, and more. She shares about an episode of Nina’s World, the TV show for which she serves as a consultant. Homa also shares with us her favorite travel tip and her favorite word in Persian.

If you don’t have a copy of Homa’s books, grab them here: Growing Up Global and The Global Education Toolkit for Elementary Learners .

You can find Homa at www.growingupglobal.net and on Twitter and Facebook.

The post TGMS #009 Growing Up Global with Homa Sabet Tavangar (Pt. 2) appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

When I was searching for books to help me raise global kids, Homa Sabet Tavangar’s Growing Up Global quickly came to the top of the list. It is a great resource guide for parents who want to expose their children to the world but can’t spend a lot of money on travel or living abroad. The chapters offer tons of ideas for simple ways to bring the world into your home through movies, games, friendships, dinner parties, celebrations, service projects, and so much more.

Today, we chat about her background growing up as an Iranian in the U.S., working for international companies, and raising three children of her own to be global citizens.

You can find Homa at www.growingupglobal.net and on Twitter and Facebook.

 Homa Sabet Tavangar, Author, Speaker, and Consultant.

*This post and others may contain affiliate links, which means when you buy something through the link, The Global Mom Show gets a small percentage to help support us, while your cost remains exactly the same.

The post TGMS#008 Growing Up Global with Homa Sabet Tavangar (Pt. 1) appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

Today I am talking with an old friend of mine, Renee Burgos, who I actually met at graduate school many years ago. Her husband Francisco and I were classmates, and they are both wonderful people. Now they have two girls and they live in Costa Rica, where Renee is the dual-language coordinator for the Cloud Forest School in Monte Verde. Renee has taught English as a Second Language at the community college level, and she currently teaches intercultural communication. In this chat we talk about how she and Francisco have to be intentional about raising their bilingual daughters. We talk about how they navigate the cultural differences in their marriage, and how Renee’s parents set her up to live a global life.

Here’s some links mentioned in the show:

Quotes from Renee:

About being in a cross-cultural marriage:

“He opens me up to a new perspective, and there is richness in my life gained because of that.”

“The more that we can recognize those differences and appreciate them, the better it is for us.” (25:35)

About intercultural communication:

“We really need to understand our own culture before we can even attempt to understand others.” (29:16)

“It’s said that culture is like the air you breathe. You have no concept that its there, until its not.” (29:31)

“When you are experiencing a behavior, and you are interpreting that behavior as a negative…the root of that behavior is a cultural value, and that cultural value is postive.”

I love how Renee emphasized that cultivating relationships between cultures takes intention and love. And, how she’s teaching teachers to be aware of their own cultural beliefs so that they don’t judge their students. We can all learn from that–to withhold judgement when we see behaviors that don’t seem appropriate to us, because behaviors have different values depending on where you are from.

I’d love to hear some examples from you all about your own experiences understanding the values behind certain behaviors.  Leave a comment if you have something you’d like to share. 

Are you a subscriber to the weekly newsletter? If you’re not, sign up here. Each week I’ll send you a note about what’s new on the blog and the podcast, and I’ll also include some special links and info just for subscribers about what I’m enjoying in my own journey of becoming a more globally-minded mom.

The post TGMS #007: Renee Burgos, Living across cultures with intention and love appeared first on The Global Mom Show.

Finding like-minded moms can sometimes be a challenge. That’s why my guest today started the Multicultural Kid Blogs website. The site is a place for multicultural bloggers to join their efforts to share resources and gain inspiration about the day to day activities that help them raise world citizens. The group has grown to about 150 bloggers, and they are very active on social media and their own blogs. They recently hosted an online summit with live sessions on topics including food, travel, crafts, and more. Those sessions are still available online–for free–for anyone to view in their Resources Library.

Leanna also blogs at All Done Monkey, where she shares articles on multicultural parenting, natural parenting and incorporating the Baha’i faith into parenting.

Leanna is a stay at home mother to two sweet, funny, rambunctious boys and a baby girl. She draws inspiration from the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith and tries to raise her Monkeys in a fun, spiritual, loving environment. She and her husband, who is from Costa Rica, are raising their boys to be bilingual and bicultural but more importantly to be “world citizens.”

Leanna is the co-founder of Bahá’í Mom Blogs and founder of Multicultural Kid Blogs.

Here’s what we chat about: 

-Leanna’s realization that raising bilingual kids takes a lot more effort than she first thought

-The multicultural kids playgroup that a friend started that has regular meetings full of fun activities for kids (and easy for you to do in your community)

-How and why she started the Multicultural Kid Blogs website and what it is today

-The difference between a “decoration” philosophy of multicultural parenting and a “world citizen” philosophy

-Where to connect with multicultural bloggers online

-Her favorite sessions in the online summit for Raising Global Citizens (Sasha Martin at Global Table Adventure and Wendy Dakroub at Pint Size Gourmets.  Also check out Lisa Sadlier’s session on Cooking with Languages.)

-Some fun recipes they’ve tried from around the world: soy eggs, magic bread

Links: 

Be sure to follow Multicultural Kid Blogs on Instagram and search for the hashtags #mkbkids #meettheMKBblogger 

You can also find them on Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest

Find Leanna at All Done Monkey / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

What ways have you found to connect with other moms who have similar globally-minded goals? How do you incorporate multicultural food, crafts, and books into your own parenting? Share your ideas!

The post TGMS #006 Connecting with Multicultural Moms and Bloggers with Leanna appeared first on The Global Mom Show.