Who Sets This Clock?

Zach brings it all to the table. He shares how he never felt like he fit in in social circles and friendship groups starting in high school and how that led him to leave behind conventional timelines. He’s not one to conform because that’s what society says. We get into his thoughts on kids and marriage before and after he met me. We share how we figured out the joint decision not to have kids and how we got there. Luckily, we agreed on that early on in our relationship. At the end, I share one quality I love most about him and I promise it’s not too sappy!

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

Hannah shares how her career trajectory in her 20s prompted her to pause and embark on a journey to discover what she wanted out of life. That led her to type out a spreadsheet of what she desired in a partner. She discusses how in her thirties she found her husband and then grew her family into a family of four. From her life experiences, she says she doesn’t have life figured out but is comfortable with change. Since we met on a tennis court, of course, there are tennis analogies and we talk about how being on the court has impacted our mindset!

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

Mentions: 

Seal talks about tennis in this article in the N.Y. Times. 

In this episode, I talk with my cousin and friend, Monica. We’re only two weeks apart! Recently, there have been a lot of big changes she’s adapting to, but they were thoughtful ones that she feels ready for. We talk about her life changes and milestones. We discuss her thoughts on her childfree life, which includes her journey with a PCOS diagnosis in her 20s and discovering uterine fibroids in her 30s. Overall, in her late thirties, she has made the moves to find purpose in her life and feel content with it.

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

Mentions: 

The book, Women Without Kids, by Ruby Warrington 

Venus Williams shares her experience with uterine fibroids in Self Magazine. 

Gustavo hoped and dreamed that he would start a family right out of high school. But that ended up not being in the cards for him at that time. We go through his timelines and look into how he spent his 20s and 30s finding himself and building confidence.. All the while, he had fun and kept his heart and mind open to new opportunities. Then, in his 40s, he met his wife, and they had a son. He built a family he had always dreamed of, even though it wasn’t on the timeline he wanted it to happen. Now, as a father of one, he talks about how he’s navigating being a father, husband, and friend. At the end, Gustavo comes prepared with lyrics from his favorite songs, including from the band U2, to impart to his son and his generation.

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

In this episode, I interview my sister’s best friend, Belen. She talks about how her timelines changed as she grew up. Early on, she thought she would be destined to be on one pathway, to repeat her mother’s timeline. But her viewpoint and perspective have changed a lot as she’s grown up. I love that she shares how she finds moments with her bestie, even though they live states apart. We end with some comments on reality TV shows like The Valley. Belen is showing us all that we don’t have to hold on to old beliefs and that we can change our minds. 

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

Episode Sources:

• https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2025/20250423.htm?utm 

• https://blogs.cdc.gov/nchs/2025/06/13/7780/?utm 

• https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr74/nvsr74-3.pdf?utm 

In this episode, Leia and I talk about how she’s merging her career and creative project aspirations, like writing a book, with her desire to have a kid soon. She shares the societal and familial pressures she’s felt lately. Drawing from our own experiences, we get into how we can have better conversations with our friends who have kids.

New episodes drop every Thursday. 

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

My friend, Rocio, shares that she never pictured her wedding day and often resisted conventional timeline milestones. Now, at almost 40 years old, she talks with her husband about the possibility of adoption. She shares how her perspectives on life have changed over time, especially caring less about what other people think. Rocio shares many insightful, wise life lessons she’s learned along the way. 

New episodes drop every Thursday. 

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

I talk with my friend, Frankie. He shares how growing up with loving and emotionally intelligent parents gave him the freedom to figure out his own pathways in life. We talk about the pressure, or lack of it, to follow traditional, heteronormative timelines, aka the American Dream. We get into the hope we both have for generational shifts that make more room for openness and, honestly, more privacy. Frankie also shares how he finds purpose in volunteer and union work and how he navigates friendships as people around him start having and raising kids. He creates his own timeline with conviction and aligns it to his own values. 

New episodes drop every Thursday. 

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

I talk to one of my closest friends, Jenna, whom I met in our freshman year of college. We instantly hit it off. In college, we talked about having kids someday. I ended up changing my mind about it, and Jenna became a mother in her 30s. We work through these diverging pathways.

In this episode, we walk through Jenna’s timeline towards motherhood. We get into the many factors that affected her timeline to grow her family, including FOMO, and her career. We’re both millennials, so you just know we’re talking about the 2008 Great Recession. Then, we get into how our friendship has shifted now that she has kids. I reveal some guilt I’ve been holding onto. We both share tips on how to maintain a friendship through this phase of life. She surprises me with a review of how I’m doing as a friend and aunt. Overall, Jenna thinks life is weird and may have figured out one of the keys to life! 

New episodes drop every Thursday.

Let’s Stay Connected:

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

My first guest, here we go! I have a conversation with one of my sisters, Rachel, the second youngest in our family. We dive deep into how she feels about where she is in life, how our childhood shaped our thoughts around having kids, and a term she’s created herself: “mom hugs.” Rachel shares how she navigates dating in her 30s, especially through the lens of seeing more men in her age range who already have kids. 

Rachel turns the tables and asks me some questions about how I feel about my decision not to have kids. This leads to an unexpected and honest conversation about grief. We say the quiet parts out loud. Overall, Rachel may not have it all figured out, but she feels like a unicorn and thinks that’s pretty cool.

New episodes drop every Thursday. Subscribe or follow so you don’t miss one! 

Let’s Stay Connected:

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