This is a wrap on Season 2! Thanks so much for listening. For this episode, I brought on a very special guest, my very own mother. We focus on the story of how she found out she was pregnant with me. It has some twists and turns! We also get into:

- How her upbringing shaped her early adulthood

- What she wanted to be when she grew up

- The emotions and her mentality around this time

- Generational cycles, repeated patterns, and double standards

- The support systems in place to help her (which included close friends and Planned Parenthood)

Mentions:

The History of Family Leave Policies in the United States

Teen Births in the United States: Overview and Recent Trends

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Cynthia. She is a close family friend of mine. Through her teens and 20s, she had a pretty normal life and always added a touch of realism to her perspective on things. In her 20s, she met her now husband and they were building a life together. In her 30s, while they were planning their dream destination wedding, Cynthia received a diagnosis that changed everything, including her timeline for marriage and motherhood. In this episode, we talk about:

• How her upbringing and realist point of view shaped her thoughts on marriage and motherhood

• She tells the story of how she met her now husband post-college, and we both share our engagement stories 

• The shocking diagnosis in her 30s that forced her to cancel her dream destination wedding

• Learning how to lean on others for help while going through treatment

• After the diagnosis, making the very quick decision to opt for IVF treatments 

• Figuring out how to live life as a person in remission and her new perspectives on life

• Looking toward her future and pursuing it with intensity and intention 

Let’s Stay Connected:
Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Allen. He is a friend through my husband, Zach. They are both part of a tight-knit group of friends that has kept in touch for over a decade. In this episode, we talk about quite a few different topics, including: 

• How he found his friend circles that he considers family (he has at least two!)
• Sharing the importance of hanging out regularly and staying in touch with friends
• Never really wanting to have kids, but loves his role as the fun uncle
• Sharing his thoughts on whether home ownership is still part of the American Dream through the lens of a real estate agent (He shares some real estate tips for those wanting to buy a home, too.)
• Reaching stability in his 40s is something he places a high value on

Mentions: 

Allen’s real estate IG page for anyone looking for a home in the LA area! Find him here. 

NPR article on the research showing we replace our friends every 7 years. 

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Caroline. She is my first out-of-college work bestie. We were so young with bright eyes bushy tails, and driven to get started on our professional career path. During our time together, we became quick friends and have stayed in touch ever since. In this episode, we get into: 

• Navigating her timeline with the focus on her career and not really thinking about marriage and having children

• Getting a second chance through grad school to move away from home and have a college experience

• Pivoting and figuring out her new timeline after a health diagnosis

• Learning how to accept not being in the workforce through therapy 

• Sharing how she keeps her identity after becoming a mom 

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Marissa. In this conversation, we get into a dialogue about making the choice to have kids or not. Her story brings in new topics to the pod, including her upbringing in Mexico and being a dual citizen.

In this episode, she shares:

• Growing up in Mexico and being a dual citizen in America and how she navigated life across borders
• How her parents' working long hours across the border shaped her childhood
• Grieving the idea of recreating her own childhood for a future child she would not have
• Not wanting to live in the in-between of her choice to have a kid and to be secure in her decision

• Sharing a story about friendship tensions between a friend who is a parent and how she worked through them

Mentions:

The Baby Decision: How to Make The Most Important Choice of Your Life by Merle a Bombardieri

Motherhood – Is It For Me?: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Clarity Denise L. Carlini and Ann Davidman

Pew Research Study Here

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Lili. She felt called to the caregiver role and remembers wanting to be a mom as early as 6. In this episode, we talk about her thoughts on motherhood, career aspirations, and her relationship journey with her husband, Gustavo.

Topics include:

• ​Holding the duality of feeling the joy of being engaged and having concerns voiced by her family from the age gap between her and Gustavo 
• ​How Gustavo proposed to her...twice! 
• ​Her decision to work on her career to become a marriage and family therapist before having her first child
• ​Observing her parents interacting with her son as grandparents and how it differs from her childhood 
• ​Listening to parents' difficulties of raising young children through her occupation, and facing her own struggles after giving birth 

Listen to her husband's, Gustavo, episode here: Episode 7

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Jordan. He grew up in a long lineage of people in faith and was the pastor’s kid. That heavily influenced him to want a wife and marriage. In his mid-20s, things shifted and he started to focus on a partner. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

• ​Experiences in the church that shifted his values in life
• ​Learning how to be ok with being single and being on his own in his 20s
• ​The meet-cute story on how he met his wife
• ​Recalls his tough moments during the pandemic raising his young son in NYC
• ​His philosophies on how he wants to raise his kids with his wife

Jordan had to cut the convo short to help his wife with the kids, so I share his life advice at the end. 

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Meet Viviana. She had her daughter at the age of 19 and people told her she would ruin her life. At that time, she felt like she had let people down. By moving forward with her pregnancy, she challenged the assumption that there’s only one right timeline for becoming a mom. Her story shows how you can still have a great life even when you follow the milestones of career, marriage, and having kids in reverse. 

In this episode, we talk about: 

• Her experience as a young mom trying to navigate motherhood earlier than she expected to. 
• She talks about what life looked like as a mother in her 20s and how that changed her timeline to develop her career. 
• Why marriage happened for her later in life 
• She shares conversations she has with her daughter and what she hopes for her future.

I’m so thankful to reconnect with a friend from middle school and so glad she wanted to be on the podcast! 

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod

Season 2, let’s go! Meet Ashley Hall. Her various museum and zoo jobs over the past 17 years have been to talk to people about the natural world. Ashley wears many hats: author, paleontologist, naturalist, science communicator, cat parent, and more! I know Ashley because, at one point, we worked as museum educators together, and I learned a lot from her. 

On her socials, you learn about science and the natural world. In this episode, we get into:

• Her choice not to have kids and the conversations she had with her husband, Lee, to get to that decision. Lee is also a paleontologist! They proudly identify as DINKS, dual income no kids.
• How their life in the non-profit career track has impacted their decision.
• We bond over the grief we both felt when we realized we would not have children.
• She surprises me with a milestone she hasn’t reached yet.
• We talk about our mental health challenges and the ways we cope with them.

All in all, Ashley stays true to herself and sees her role in society as helping others know more about the wonders of our world. Stay tuned to find out our favorite prehistoric animal at the end! 

Mentions: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Ashley’s Books: Fossils for Kids, Gems for Kids , Prehistoric Worlds in English and Spanish version

Follow Ashley on Instagram @ladynaturalist and Bluesky @ladynaturalist.bsky.social

NYT Piece “A Paleontologist’s Guide to Playing with Your Dinosaur-Obsessed Kid”

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpo

This week, it’s just me talking to you! I reflect on my podcast experience with you. I do love a challenge and I share what I’ve learned from putting this together all by myself. I touch on how I’m fighting feelings of burn out, moments that I wanted to cry, my favorite parts, and much more. There have been multiple times I wanted to stop creating episodes but I’m glad I’ve kept going. I also recap each guest’s responses to the question I ask everyone at the end of each episode. Lots of great wisdom and life advice from people in their 30s and 40s. 

Thank you so much for listening and for your support. I’ll see you back here on Thursday, August 21st. Click the follow button to get reminded when I’m back from my break! 

Let’s Stay Connected:

Email: [email protected]  / Behind-the-scenes + reflections: thisclockpod.substack.com /  Instagram: @thisclockpod