The Work Like A Mother Podcast | Working From Home, Working Moms, Faith, Organization, Time Management

What if you didn't have to build a business from scratch? Alyssa Mouton, better known as Laundry Lyss, left a decade-long career as a chemist after her son was born. She wrote letters to local laundromat owners, and one of them wasn't even planning to sell. That couple offered her seller financing, and a few months later the keys were hers.

We get real about what owning a "boring business" actually looks like. She stacked multiple income streams under one roof, landed a federal government contract she never saw coming, and learned that nothing, and she means nothing, is truly passive. We also talk about learning to wait on God instead of jumping at every good-looking opportunity, and why the hard seasons are what make your roots run deep.

You'll discover:

• Why buying an existing business can beat starting from zero, and how seller financing works
• The truth about "passive" income and why nothing is truly hands-off
• How Alyssa hired from her own network and built systems so she could step back
• The income streams hiding in one laundromat, from vending to pickup and delivery to commercial accounts
• How small business owners can land federal government contracts, and why you need to be ready fast
• The messy, humbling reality of owning a laundromat (yes, there's a horror story)

If you've heard the "buy a boring business" talk for years and never taken a step, this episode is your push. Sometimes the opportunity isn't something you build. It's something you go find.

Meet Alyssa Mouton
Entrepreneur · Educator · Operator
Alyssa owns and operates a laundromat in Louisiana and teaches aspiring entrepreneurs how to buy and grow laundromats and win federal government contracts.

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laundry_lyss_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579355973768

Mentioned in this Episode:

• Laundromat University (from the Laundromat Resource Podcast), the course Alyssa took before buying her first laundromat

My book is coming. The Hidden Deception: Raising Kids Who Don't Drift From Jesus — because our kids are watching what makes Mom feel valuable. Get on the early reader list: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/thehiddendeceptionbook

🌺 CONNECT WITH MARINA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinattolentino_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marinattolentino
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marinatolentino/
Website: https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Email Newsletter: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/worklikeamother

🏡 Moving to Oʻahu or thinking about buying or selling a home?
Connect with Marina and explore her Oʻahu real estate resources here: https://bio.site/marinatolentino

🎙️ WORK LIKE A MOTHER
Work Like A Mother is a podcast for ambitious women navigating motherhood, faith, entrepreneurship, career, marriage, parenting, and purpose. Hosted by Marina Tolentino, the show explores what it looks like to pursue your calling, raise a family, build meaningful work, and follow Jesus in the middle of real life.

Subscribe or follow so you don't miss the next episode.

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I often find myself questioning my identity beyond my roles as a producer, a mom, and a wife. Who am I when I’m not wearing those hats? In Part 3 of the Identity series, this episode dives into the heart of that question, exploring how so many of us chase our callings as if they’re just jobs or titles. We think if we label ourselves correctly—like ‘I’m a real estate agent’ or ‘I’m a mom’—we’ll somehow find the clarity we seek. But what if we’re missing something crucial?

I’m here to share that before we can fully embrace what we’re called to do, we have to understand who we are. It’s easy to get lost in the hustle and forget that our identity as daughters of God is foundational. We can’t skip over the first questions of identity and purpose without turning our lives into a series of tests we’re trying to ace. In this episode, I’m laying out the framework for you to find that clarity. You’ll discover how to shift from struggling in a chair two mindset—where we feel like we’re always working to earn our place—to standing firm in the truth of who we are.

I’ll break down:

• The four rooms of influence you already have where you’re living out your calling, even if you don’t realize it
• The importance of understanding what you already possess and how that shapes your destiny
• How to navigate the uncomfortable waiting periods when we feel like God is withholding something from us
• A simple yet profound question to ask yourself when restlessness creeps in, helping you discern what you truly need

This conversation is for the busy, ambitious women who juggle motherhood, work, and faith while feeling the weight of expectations. If you’ve ever felt lost or like you’re just going through the motions, this episode is a wake-up call to realign with your true calling and identity.

Mentioned in this Episode:
Resource: Called to Reign: Living and Loving from a Place of Rest by Leif Hetland: https://amzn.to/3Sv6BHf
Companion Guide: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/alreadycalled

My book is coming. The Hidden Deception: Raising Kids Who Don't Drift From Jesus — because our kids are watching what makes Mom feel valuable. Get on the early reader list: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/thehiddendeceptionbook

🌺 CONNECT WITH MARINA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinattolentino_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marinattolentino
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marinatolentino/
Website: https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Email Newsletter: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/worklikeamother

🏡 Moving to Oʻahu or thinking about buying or selling a home?
Connect with Marina and explore her Oʻahu real estate resources here: https://bio.site/marinatolentino

🎙️ WORK LIKE A MOTHER
Work Like A Mother is a podcast for ambitious women navigating motherhood, faith, entrepreneurship, career, marriage, parenting, and purpose. Hosted by Marina Tolentino, the show explores what it looks like to pursue your calling, raise a family, build meaningful work, and follow Jesus in the middle of real life.

Subscribe or follow so you don't miss the next episode.

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I have a confession: sometimes, even with the keys to my own house in hand, I find myself sleeping in my car outside. It sounds absurd, but I know I’m not alone in this feeling. As a realtor and a woman of faith, I’ve spent so much time understanding who I am in Christ, yet I still slip back into the mindset of needing to earn my place at the table. Why is that? This episode dives deep into our spiritual identity and the inheritance that comes with being a child of God.

We’ve all worn the label of being in the family of God, but how often do we truly grasp the weight of that identity? I’ve been the one trying to balance my responsibilities in motherhood, entrepreneurship, and faith, questioning my purpose and how to wield the authority that comes with my inheritance. In this episode, I’m peeling back the layers of what it means to transition from striving for blessings to understanding our true inheritance in Christ. You’ll discover:

• The significance of being a child of inheritance versus a child of blessing
• How to recognize the chairs we sit in spiritually and what that means for our lives
• Practical applications and biblical analogies that will resonate with your journey
• The importance of understanding our identity in Christ to truly live out our purpose

Why sometimes it feels like we’re missing out on what God has promised and how to claim it
This isn’t just a conversation; it’s an invitation to reflect on your own relationship with God and how you’re accessing the blessings already available to you. It’s a call to step into your inheritance with confidence and responsibility instead of lingering in the shadows of doubt.

Mentioned in this Episode:
Called to Reign: Living and Loving from a Place of Rest by Leif Hetland: https://amzn.to/3Sv6BHf
Companion Guide: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/alreadyhaveit

My book is coming. The Hidden Deception: Raising Kids Who Don't Drift From Jesus — because our kids are watching what makes Mom feel valuable. Get on the early reader list: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/thehiddendeceptionbook

🌺 CONNECT WITH MARINA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinattolentino\_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marinattolentino
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marinatolentino/
Website: https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Email Newsletter: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/worklikeamother

🏡 Moving to Oʻahu or thinking about buying or selling a home?
Connect with Marina and explore her Oʻahu real estate resources here: https://bio.site/marinatolentino

🎙️ WORK LIKE A MOTHER
Work Like A Mother is a podcast for ambitious women navigating motherhood, faith, entrepreneurship, career, marriage, parenting, and purpose. Hosted by Marina Tolentino, the show explores what it looks like to pursue your calling, raise a family, build meaningful work, and follow Jesus in the middle of real life.

Subscribe or follow so you don't miss the next episode.

Music licensed through Soundstripe.
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Who am I when I'm not producing?

I have a confession: I've been wrestling with identity for most of my life. Not the deep-philosophy kind — the kind where you close a great month and immediately wonder if you can do it again. Where you finally sit down and your brain starts listing everything you should be doing. Where one slow season makes you question things a good one supposedly settled.

In this episode I'm getting honest about what it's like to run a 100%-commission business, raise kids, and love Jesus — while still quietly asking my income, my productivity, and other people's approval to tell me who I am. I share a real season I'm in right now (three cancellations, no paycheck since June) and the question I keep coming back to: am I waiting for a closing to tell me I'm capable?

Then we get into the "three chairs" picture from Leif Hetland's Called to Reign and the parable of the lost son — the story of a kid who came home to his father with a job application, and a father who wouldn't let him finish the sentence.

If you've ever come home to God but brought your laptop, this one's for you.

In this episode:

• Why success can feel heavy even when you love your work
• The three chairs: guest, employee, daughter — and why most of us live in Chair Two
• How performance pressure shows up in business, motherhood, and rest
• What the lost son's father actually did when his kid tried to get hired
• The robe and the ring: what it means to belong before you've earned anything

The refrain to carry into your week: The question isn't whether I work hard. The question is what I'm asking my work to give me.

Next week, Part 2: What does it look like to live and walk in inheritance as a business woman and mom?

Scripture in this episode: Galatians 4:4–7 · Romans 8:15–17 · Ephesians 2:8–10 · Luke 15:11–24 · John 1:12

Who Jesus says you are: child of God (John 1:12) · loved (Romans 8:38–39) · chosen (Ephesians 1:4) · adopted (Ephesians 1:5) · redeemed and forgiven (Ephesians 1:7) · a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) · free from condemnation (Romans 8:1) · God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) · an heir with Christ (Romans 8:16–17) · a member of Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12:27) · gifted to serve (1 Peter 4:10) · a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20) · His (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

Mentioned: Called to Reign: Living and Loving from a Place of Rest by Leif Hetland https://amzn.to/3Sv6BHf

Companion Guide to this Episode: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/nothingtoprove

My book is coming. The Hidden Deception: Raising Kids Who Don't Drift From Jesus is about exactly this — because our kids are watching what makes Mom feel valuable. Get on the early reader list: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/thehiddendeceptionbook

🌺 CONNECT WITH MARINA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinattolentino_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marinattolentino
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marinatolentino/
Website: https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Email Newsletter: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/worklikeamother

🏡 Moving to Oʻahu or thinking about buying or selling a home?
Connect with Marina and explore her Oʻahu real estate resources here: https://bio.site/marinatolentino

Work Like A Mother is a podcast for ambitious women navigating motherhood, faith, entrepreneurship, career, marriage, parenting, and purpose. Hosted by Marina Tolentino, the show explores what it looks like to pursue your calling, raise a family, build meaningful work, and follow Jesus in the middle of real life.

Subscribe or follow so you don't miss the next episode.

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Marina Tolentino is back on Work Like A Mother after an unexpected break—and she’s returning with a completely different perspective on motherhood, entrepreneurship, faith, career, and what it actually means to build a successful life.

In this comeback episode, Marina gets honest about stepping away from podcasting, balancing motherhood and a real estate career, homeschooling her kids, navigating major family transitions, and growing deeper in her Christian faith. What started as a break from the podcast became a much bigger reset around identity, ambition, purpose, and the pressure so many working moms and women entrepreneurs feel to do everything—and do it well.

She shares why Work Like A Mother went quiet, including the pressure to create a perfectly produced show, the financial cost of podcasting, comparison, and the feeling that every episode needed to perform. Now, she’s letting go of chasing charts and perfection to create something more honest, sustainable, and purpose-driven.

• Why Work Like A Mother disappeared—and what finally brought Marina back
• The reality of balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship, real estate, and family life
• What a year of homeschooling taught her about parenting, presence, patience, and priorities
• How changing her kids' schooling changed the rhythm of their entire family
• Why working moms don't have to pursue success the way the world tells them to
• Letting go of perfection, comparison, and the pressure to constantly grow
• How Marina's Christian faith and relationship with Jesus changed during the break
• Wrestling with identity, calling, ambition, and what God may be asking you to do next
• Why this new season will include more honest conversations about faith, motherhood, business, marriage, parenting, and purpose

Marina also opens up about one of the biggest changes happening behind the scenes: becoming more willing to talk publicly about her faith. As a Christian mom, entrepreneur, REALTOR®, wife, and woman still figuring out what obedience and calling look like in everyday life, she’s no longer interested in separating faith from the rest of the conversation.

Because motherhood, business, marriage, parenting, money, career, ambition, and faith don't exist in separate boxes.

If you're a working mom, Christian mom, woman entrepreneur, REALTOR®, business owner, or parent trying to balance family and career without losing yourself—or your faith—in the process, this episode is for you.

Maybe you're questioning what success looks like now. Maybe you're navigating a career change, homeschooling or school decisions, burnout, motherhood, a new business season, or a calling that feels bigger than your current capacity. Or maybe you simply know the way you've been doing life isn't the way you want to keep doing it.

This is the reset.

Welcome back to Work Like A Mother—real conversations about motherhood, Christian faith, entrepreneurship, real estate, parenting, marriage, identity, purpose, and building a meaningful life without pretending to have it all figured out.

Marina is currently writing The Hidden Deception: Raising Kids Who Don't Drift From Jesus, a book for Christian parents who want to intentionally disciple their children and build a faith that lasts beyond childhood.

Want to be the first to know when the book is available?

Join the First to Know email list for book updates, behind-the-scenes progress, launch news, and first access when it's time to order.

→ GET ON THE FIRST TO KNOW LIST: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/thehiddendeceptionbook

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marinattolentino_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marinattolentino
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@marinatolentino/
Website: https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Email Newsletter: https://marinatolentino.myflodesk.com/worklikeamother

🏡 Moving to Oʻahu or thinking about buying or selling a home?
Connect with Marina and explore her Oʻahu real estate resources here: https://bio.site/marinatolentino

Work Like A Mother is a podcast for ambitious women navigating motherhood, faith, entrepreneurship, career, marriage, parenting, and purpose. Hosted by Marina Tolentino, the show explores what it looks like to pursue your calling, raise a family, build meaningful work, and follow Jesus in the middle of real life.

Subscribe or follow so you don't miss the next episode.

Text me!

Dive into the world of personal branding and business success with Marina and guest Larissa Salazar on the Work Like A Mother Podcast! In this episode, discover the secrets to sustainable branding and effective marketing strategies. Learn about the powerful 'content diamond' approach to supercharge your social media presence and reach. Gain insights into building trust and connections through authentic personal branding, and uncover the strategic phases of brand development. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur or aiming to elevate your brand game, this episode provides crucial tips, mentorship, and actionable steps for long-lasting success!


Mentioned in this Episode

Worthy - Jamie Kern Lima
Practicing the Way - Jon Mark Comer
The Awe of God - John Bevere

Larissa Salazar
https://freebrandcall.com/ls/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/larissasalazar/
TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@larissasalazarr0

Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
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Get ready to kickstart the new year with an empowering and practical episode of Work Like a Mother! Marina Tolentino is joined by returning guests and financial powerhouses, Shannon and Vanessa, best friends and co-hosts of the globally ranked Financial Coaching for Women podcast. Together, they tackle the “B” word—Budgeting—and share game-changing strategies to help women master their finances in 2024.

Discover actionable tips to simplify your spending, automate your savings, and attack debt without sacrificing your Starbucks runs or Target hauls. With relatable anecdotes about mom life, expert budgeting hacks, and encouragement to be “bougie on a budget,” this episode is the ultimate guide for women who want to crush their financial goals while living life on their terms.

Don’t miss this fun, insightful conversation that’ll leave you inspired to take control of your money and plan for your best year yet. Save this one and share it with a friend.

Mentioned in this Episode
Budget Besties Bootcamp

Budget Besties
https://budgetbesties.com/
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Financial Coaching for Women Podcast
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Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
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Feeling stuck in a rut? Join me on this episode of the Work Like A Mother Podcast as I share practical steps to regain your momentum and get back on track. From deep cleaning and organizing your home to healthy eating, goal setting, and the power of mentorship, I'll walk you through tried-and-true methods that helped me navigate a recent slump. Discover how visualization, meditation, and fitness can rejuvenate your body and mind. Tune in for actionable tips to boost your productivity and energy. Don't forget to subscribe and share this episode with friends!

Mentioned in this episode:

‎Earn Your Happy: Brendon Burchard | The Missing Piece Of Networking That Will 10x Your Income (Live Q&A) on Apple Podcasts

How Tony Robbins Builds Energy

Marina Tolentino
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In this episode of Work Like a Mother, host Marina Tolentino drops a much-needed truth bomb for all the busy moms out there: it’s time to ditch the outdated idea of “work-life balance” and embrace a new mindset—work-life harmony! Instead of chasing an impossible 50/50 split between work and home life, Marina shares how we can flow with the natural seasons of life, finding ease and joy amidst the chaos of motherhood and entrepreneurship.

Marina dives into practical steps to create harmony, including setting boundaries, embracing the current season of life, and curating a schedule that aligns with your core values. Whether you’re running a business or running after little ones, this episode is packed with inspiration to help you feel more aligned, grounded, and in control of your time.

Tune in for a fresh perspective on juggling it all, and leave with actionable tips on how to stop hustling and start thriving.

Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
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Have you ever wondered if taking a break from your career could actually set you up for more success in the long run? In this episode of Work Like a Mother, host Marina Tolentino dives into The Power Pause, a game-changing book by Neha Ruch that reframes what it means to step away from work after having kids.

Marina explores why one in three women will take a career break this year, the financial and emotional factors behind the decision, and how to re-enter the workforce stronger than ever. Whether you're considering a pause, in the thick of it, or looking for a fresh perspective on modern motherhood and career growth, this episode is packed with relatable insights and real talk.

Plus, Marina shares an exciting update about the future of the podcast and her mission to help women thrive—wherever life takes them.

🎧 Tune in now for an inspiring conversation that challenges the stereotypes of stay-at-home motherhood and career breaks!

Mentioned in this Episode
The Power Pause: https://amzn.to/3WFfWuS

Marina Tolentino
https://www.marinatolentino.com/
Instagram
YouTube
Get Work Like A Mother delivered directly to your inbox! Click here.

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