Toni is a gifted healer, massage therapist and Reiki practitioner. I’ve been a client of Toni’s for years, so you can imagine my surprise when she mentioned she'd once been a professional welder. The sudden loss of Toni’s young mother left Toni in charge of raising her siblings and changed the trajectory of her life forever. We are honored that Toni came to our studio to share her story.

Since the COVID 19 pandemic began reshaping our lives, there’s been a new openness to discussing mental health. Celebrities, athletes, artists and others in the public eye have opened up like never before, sharing their personal experiences with anxiety and depression and other mental health struggles. Two of the biggest sports stories of 2021 ignited conversations about mental health inspired by the profound, public experiences of Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and tennis champion Naomi Osaka.

My guest today is Jennifer Sutton, an ultra-runner, single mother and a Sergeant with Douglas County Fire and EMS just outside of Atlanta. As a first responder, Jennifer’s job requires her to be strong, clear-headed and in-charge. Earlier this year she was named a first responder of the year during an incredibly challenging time for everyone in health care and emergency services. 

Jennifer has also quietly struggled with depression for most of her life and overcame a difficult childhood. She became a mother while she was in high school, but went on to have two successful careers and raise a daughter who is now a sergeant in the US Army.

Kate Ferguson is an Atlanta-based licensed professional counselor who specializes in working with women, in particular those experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Kate incorporates the idea of myths and archetypes in her work with women. In this episode, we talk about how media (especially social media and TV shows) shape our view of motherhood. While these "on-screen moms" can be entertaining, they often limit our perception of motherhood and create wildly unrealistic expectations for women. Kate also shares how her personal experience with mental health and motherhood helped her find her calling as a therapist.

I met our next guest, Sandra Mercer, at the end of 2019 when she applied for a Nana Grant to help with child care for her three little boys.

Sandra was a 4.0 computer science student at West Georgia Technical College and a single mother. She worked as a computer science tutor and supported her family on an internship at Southwire, a manufacturing company in metro-Atlanta.

Sandra graduated from the Nana Grants program earlier this year, but before she left us, I wanted to get her in the studio to share her story. Sandra has what her boss and professional mentor calls “want to.” When she wants something, she gets it. And her enthusiasm and drive are contagious. You can’t leave a conversation with Sandra without feeling a little of her “want to” has rubbed off on you.

Alexis grew up in foster care and became a single mother at a young age. Fresh out of Clark Atlanta University, she is using her degree in social work to make a direct and meaningful impact on young girls at a group home where she was once a resident. To learn more about nsoro Foundation, which provides access to a college education for youth aging out of foster care, visit https://nsoro.foundation. To learn more about Nana Grants, which provides child care funding for low-income single mothers in school, visit www.NanaGrants.org

Brant Rawls-McQuillan always dreamed of having a family that included children. But he was also a gay man who came of age in the early-90s, when happily-every-after stories featuring two guys, two kids and white picket fence simply weren't part of our cultural narrative. To get there, they had to forge a path that wasn’t laid out in sitcoms, movies, and storybooks. Today Brant is a stay-at-home dad and self-described happy homemaker who learned the gift of nurturing from his mother and grandmother.

Photo Collage: The Rawls-McQuillan Family, their "Dream Team" including gestational carriers, and Brant and Brian's First Babymoon

Tracey Palmer is the Atlanta-based managing director for Per Scholas, a nationwide nonprofit that provides tuition-free technology training to unemployed or underemployed adults. Raised in a tight-knit family in West Virginia, Tracey was a high-achieving student — good grades, an athlete, a cheerleader, and an active member of her church. But during her senior year in high school, Tracey fell in love and got pregnant. Her father told her simply, "Your life is over now, Tracey." In this podcast, she shares her journey from teenage single-motherhood to a lifetime of purpose work.

Afsaneh Abree was born the eighth child in a well-off, traditional family in Tehran during the last decade before the Islamic Revolution. One summer she recalls running around in shorts, reading novels and enjoying a typical childhood. The next summer, she was wearing a headscarf, books were being burned outside her school, and protesters were taking to the streets. A revolution was also taking place in Afsaneh’s family. After 40 years of marriage, her father left to start a new life with a new family.