The Motherhood Experience

Melissa Smith helps parents see how habits that look supportive (constant reminders, stepping in too early, removing struggle before it becomes a problem) can crowd out the internal work kids need to do for themselves. She takes what she learned studying why capable adults stop performing and brings it to one of the questions high-achieving families keep coming back to: why does everything feel so hard to get my kid to care about?Melissa holds degrees from Princeton and Harvard, has spoken on leadership and organizational performance through the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey Nonprofit Council Business Series, serves as Vice President of the Hopeworks board, sits on the board of Inspira Health, and and currently finishing a book is currently finishing her book, Capable and Checked Out.

Connect with Melissa:

Melissa's Site & Quiz

https://www.generationaldrive.com/quiz

Melissa's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/melissa.meadowssmith/

Melissa's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissaemsmith/

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

Mackenzie Shelton is a mom, stepmom, real estate team owner, entrepreneur, and speaker with over a decade of experience building and leading high-performing businesses.

She equips professionals with practical strategies to reduce overwhelm, build effective systems, and align their work with what matters most—creating success that supports their life, not competes with it. Her insights are shaped by real-world experience scaling a business and leading a team.

Connect with Mackenzie:

The Serenity Solution Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Serenity-Solution-Freedom-Perfectionism-Pressure-ebook/dp/B0GZ4TBKX4?tag=ustxtaddt-20

Mackenzie's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mackenzieleeshelton/

Mackenzie's LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenzie-shelton-274334182/

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

Michélle Konson is a speaker, writer, Story Work guide, and the creator of the Untangling Your Story journal. Originally from South Africa, she now lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and family. Before stepping away from a career as a corporate attorney to raise her four children, Michélle practiced corporate law.

Today, she helps people understand how their stories shape the way they live, love, lead, and parent. Drawing from trauma-informed principles, interpersonal neurobiology, attachment theory, and her Christian faith, she equips audiences with practical tools to move beyond survival by approaching their stories with curiosity, compassion, and hope.

Michélle believes behavior is downstream from story. Rather than asking, "What's wrong with me?" she invites people to ask, "What happened to me?" Her work helps people make sense of the survival strategies that once protected them so they can experience greater freedom, healthier relationships, and greater wholeness.

Michélle speaks nationally at conferences, retreats, and leadership events, including The MomCo, Hope Heals Camp, and the Center for Being Known community. Her writing has appeared in The MomCo Journal, Risen Motherhood, and TRULY Magazine. Whether she's speaking to parents, leaders, ministry teams, or anyone longing to better understand themselves and the people they love, Michélle's conversations are practical, compassionate, and filled with hope.

Connect with Michelle:

Michelle's website:

https://www.michellekonson.com/

Michelle's Journal:

https://www.michellekonson.com/journal

Michelle's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/michellekonson/

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

For the first time, TME has a guest host, and Val takes the other side of the mic as the featured guest. Jill Camacho takes the reigns as host and through the course of several laughter breaks, we talk about motherhood, faith, and the lessons we've learned in life that are speaking the loudest to us today.

Join the TME Online Community: themotherhoodexperience.com/learnmore

Connect with Jill:

Jill's Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-grief-of-unanswered-prayers-w-val-kleppen-ep-116/id1583685375?i=1000770949082

Follow Jill on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halfwaytosunday/

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

Gigi Baxter is an Amazon #1 bestselling author, wife, mother of three adult children, lifelong learner, and recovering fixer.

She writes for women who have spent years carrying everyone else and are finally ready to ask, “What about my life?”

Her work blends vulnerable storytelling, sharp humor, and practical frameworks that help women love their families without disappearing inside them.

She lives in Virginia with her husband, Miki, whose inconveniently wise questions inspired more than a few pages of her first book.

Connect with Gigi:

Gigi's website:

https://www.notyourreportcard.com/

Gigi's Book:

https://notyourreportcard.com/#book

Gigi's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/gigi.baxter/

Looking to save money on bulk food items? Shop Azure Standard: https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=LptBT7JlmQ

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

My guest today is Jessica Brassington, founder of Mama Bears Rising, a grassroots movement helping moms with the issues that matter most to their families.

Her motto is simple: informed, not influenced. What started as one mother's conviction has grown into a national advocacy effort, taking her all the way to Washington DC to push for real policy change.

Jessica talks about how she built a movement from the ground up, and why she believes moms deserve the facts, not the noise, on everything from child safety to the issues shaping their kids' futures.

Connect with Jessica:

Jessica's website:

https://www.mamabearsrising.com/

Jessica's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/mamabearsrising/

Looking to save money on bulk food items? Shop Azure Standard: https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=LptBT7JlmQ

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

Sue Homola is a legislative drug policy advocate who has been involved in the discussion on marijuana legalization for years.

As a former state representative, she has first-hand knowledge of the myths and facts surrounding legalization, and the impact that it has had on states across the nation and on families who lives have been forever altered by marijuana use.

Sue is also a mother of four, who is passionate about the health and wellbeing of our next generation.

Connect with Sue:

Sue's website:

https://www.suehomola.com/

Sue's Book:

https://www.amazon.com/Blunt-Truth-Things-Parent-Marijuana/dp/B0GX5MQYX1

Sue's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587919846367

Sue's LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-homola-takeback420/

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

Laura Wifler is a mother, author, and exceptional conversationalist (which shouldn't be surprising, considering she used to host the Risen Motherhood podcast with her sister in law).

Laura's debut poetry book, This Side of The Sky, explores the aches of living in a world that feels both heavy and holy. Candid without unraveling and hopeful without glossing over pain, these pages give words to what you struggle to name, while gently reorienting your heart toward hope.

“Being made in the image of God means that you have inherent dignity, worth, and a value no matter who you are.”  Laura Wifler

This episode was one of the most refreshing conversations I've had in a while regarding the gritty truth of motherhood, the importance of community, and how our stories can take shape in the lives of generations to come.

Connect with Laura:

Laura's website:

https://laurawifler.com/

Laura's Latest Book:

https://laurawifler.com/thisside

Laura's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/laurawifler/

Laura's Substack:

https://substack.com/@laurawifler

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

Holly Porter is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and a fighter. Not only did she nearly die from complications with COVID, but she has had an uphill battle in every accomplishment and achievement she has reached to date.She has four biological children, stepchildren, and a total of 19 grandchildren so far. While the numbers appear impressive, it has taken another battling drive for Holly to hold on to her dream and vision of what family should be. Holly shares her journey, her struggles, and ideas she is still wrestling with and processing today.Connect with Holly:https://linktr.ee/hollyporter____________________Looking to save money on bulk food items? Shop Azure Standard: https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=LptBT7JlmQ____________________Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40

When Jody Hudson’s daughter, Alex, first complained that her legs hurt, it was assumed it was simply growing pains. What followed was a 10-year battle with a mysterious illness, more than 40 doctors, multiple misdiagnoses, and a desperate cross-country search for answers that finally led to a diagnosis of Lyme disease.

Through unimaginable physical suffering, Alex clung to her faith and chose to trust God, while Jody fought alongside her and eventually took up Alex’s mission to advocate for others with Lyme disease after her daughter’s passing.

In her award-winning memoir My Promise to Alex, Jody weaves Alex’s story together with her own journey through abandonment, foster care, adoption, and divorce, offering a powerful testimony of a mother’s love, enduring faith, and hope that reaches beyond this life.

Connect with Jody:

Jody's website:

https://www.alexhudsonlymefoundation.org/

Jody's Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/researchforalex/

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Want to be a guest on The Motherhood Experience? Send Val Kleppen a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1758742098661627c9cc46f40