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Hey Mamas, welcome to another episode of the Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! Today, we’re here to talk about business. Statistically speaking, the pandemic saw the highest number of entrepreneurs starting new businesses on record. Many of us mompreneurs are working with a limited budget, which may or may not include hiring an attorney. But how can you start your new business legally? Without the help of a professional, navigating this can feel like a minefield, but today’s guest, Paige Hulse, is here to answer your questions. She is an attorney and business owner who focuses on bridging the gap between creative business owners and the legal world. She runs both the Creative Law Shop, a one-stop legal template shop, and her own law firm, Paige Hulse Law. She is here to answer all your questions on how to start your LLC, or get that side hustle off the ground, legally!

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to Paige Hulse, attorney, and owner of the Creative Law Shop. 
• Paige’s path to law, starting out as a litigator in the oil and gas industry.
• What she loved most about her job: advocating for her amazing risk-taking clients.
• Her disclaimer that she is sharing general advice, and you should speak to an attorney for anything specific.
• Why the first step is always the mindset piece: is it a hobby or a business?
• The clear process outlined in Paige’s step-by-step guide.
• Getting an EIEN number and registering as a legal entity.
• A step-by-step guide to preparing your business for the GDPR on the Creative Law Shop.
• Reasons why you have to have an operating agreement.
• How the LLC works to protect you and your business.
• Why an LLC can elect to be taxed as an S Corporation.
• When to ask your accountant if you can file as an S Corporation.
• Why it is very rare that she recommends filing as a Limited Partnership.
• Why templates are a good starting point.
• Her recommendation that you form a relationship with an attorney in your state.
• What you need to know about starting a business with friends.
• How Paige slows down by building rest time into her schedule through time blocking.
• The benefit she gets from allocating a trustworthy team member to gate-keep her time.

Tweetables:

“You don’t just want to Google search an attorney. You want someone who is going to have integrity, who’s going to be an advocate, who’s going to take care of you. It’s really wise to form a relationship with an attorney from the get-go and then ask them what their processes are to become a retainer client.” — Paige Hulse [0:30:04]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Paige Hulse
Paige Hulse on Instagram
Paige Hulse Law on Pinterest
Paige Hulse Law on Facebook
The Creative Law Shop
The Creative Law Shop on Instagram

Preparing Your Business for the GDPR

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Welcome back to another short and digestible episode filled with mindfulness and meditative tips that you can take into your life and on your stress-management journey. In this episode, Jessica shares with listeners about Mantra Meditation, a helpful technique for calling the kind of energy you want in the universe. This will be a meditative experience, so try finding a gaze-less gaze in a comfortable position, and listen as Jessica walks you through this meditation technique. Enjoy. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Jessica walks listeners through a Mantra Meditation technique experience.
• She shares helpful tips on gaining the maximum from this technique.
• How to call to the repetitive mantras with feeling and awareness.

Tweetables:

“As you go into your repetitive mantras, repeat them mentally to yourself, with feeling and awareness. Call these words into your body with full feeling and emotion, as if they were already true.” — Jessica Nicole [0:02:04]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Zen Mommy

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Zen Mommy Youtube

Zen Mommy Facebook

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Divorce, unfortunately, brings out the worst in people, even good people, and the kids are always stuck in the middle. Joryn Jenkins is an attorney that has been trying cases for forty years. She has seen how divorce courts can ruin people both financially and emotionally. When she learned about collaborative law, she knew instinctively that this was something she wanted to get involved with. What was once Joryn Jenkins and Associates, today is called Open Palm Law. She is here today to tell us that there is a better way! During this episode, she shares her career background with us, and how she discovered collaborative law. Death and divorce are the top two stressors that people experience in life, but Joryn believes that this can be reduced by using a ‘kitchen table divorce’ where you discuss the five most important factors of the dissolution of your marriage without a facilitator present. However, she has also seen the value of providing a support system for people to help them listen and communicate better. Joryn tells us why she believes in the collaborative process, how it works, and what her role is, and shares with us the goal of her work: to help clients walk away better parents, people, and friends. Join us to hear more! 

Key Points From This Episode:

• How she would describe the personality traits that make her perfect for family law.
• The nature of a courtroom divorce: you find yourself dragging up whatever you can against the other side. 
• Why death and divorce are the top two stressors. 
• How keeping a journal of everything your spouse does can be so destructive.
• What collaborative law is and how there are different ways to approach a divorce.
• What is meant by a ‘kitchen table divorce’.
• The five things you have to consider during a divorce: parental decision-making and time share, equitable distribution of assets, alimony, child support, and everything else.
• The definition of a good mediation: everyone leaves unhappy.
• How she works to find out a client’s true interests through eliminating stress.
• The result of collaborative divorce: people end up being better parents.
• The story of a client who Joryn helped to communicate what she needed to say. 
• Your role as the white knight in court, and a team player in the collaborative process. 
• The collaborative team and the different professionals she includes in this process.
• The life plan she is helping a couple to develop instead of entering a marital agreement.
• The hearing process versus the collaborative process. 
• The goal of collaborative divorce: to walk away a better person, friend, and parent.
• What she envisions for separation parties.
• How she chooses not to push collaboration on her clients but her mindset falls outside of court.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

 Joryn Jenkins
Joryn Jenkins on Instagram

Joryn Jenkins on Twitter

Joryn Jenkins on LinkedIn
Open Palm

War or Peace

I Never Saw my Father Again

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Today Jessica shares another actionable tool you can add to your own stress-relieving toolbox. The tool is a breath technique called Brahmari Breathing, or Bee breath. It’s a humming technique you can use to down-regulate your nervous system and is a great tool to even teach your kiddos to help them create their own stress-relieving toolbox as well! Join us as we continue on the ongoing journey of stress management. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Jessica introduces another actionable tool called Brahmari Breathing.
• How to practice B-breath.
• When you can incorporate this technique.
• Jessica takes us through a few rounds of B-breath.
• What to take notice of after using this technique.

Tweetables:

“You can use [Brahmari breathing] anytime you notice your body is getting stressed and you want to relieve the stress, down-regulate your nervous system, and become more present.” — Jessica Nicole [0:01:20]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Zen Mommy

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Zen Mommy Youtube

Zen Mommy Facebook

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Welcome back to the Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! Now that the world has opened back up, maybe you have been bitten by the travel bug once again. As moms, the task of travel planning often falls to us. There are so many benefits to outsourcing your travel plans to experts, or, perhaps even becoming the expert yourself! Today’s guest, Henley Vazquez, has created an entire company around the idea that moms are the travel planners in the household, and she wants you to turn that passion into a money-making hustle! Fora is a company enabling anyone to turn their interest in travel planning into revenue through flexible and fun work. Henley’s hope is to make family travel more accessible, and more enjoyable! Join us today to hear from Henley, and how you can also begin to make money from your travel-planning expertise.

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to today’s guest, Henley Vazquez, with Fora.
• The pent-up demand for travel following the restrictions during the pandemic.
• Henley’s background and childhood, which surprisingly involved very little travel.
• Her career history leading up to starting Fora, including starting a boutique travel agency.
• Where Booking.com falls short as a tool for us to use.
• How the pandemic has changed the landscape of travel.
• An example of how a travel agent will help you to get better value for your money while the hotel pays the agent.
• Why approaching an agent trumps renting a vacation property from the owner.
• The ‘vibe’ element that you can only get from a person who has been to a location.
• Horror stories from Henley’s travel stories with kids and the amazing support service providers have given her.
• Leading with compassion for other parents while you are traveling.
• Why it is so important to have diverse voices in the family travel space.
• How people can work part-time in the travel agency space.
• Why working as a travel agent comes down to working in sales.
• The benefit of working in travel in comparison to real estate.
• Her favorite part of the job: seeing people who have always wanted to have an experience finally getting to have it.
• Why the memories are so much more valuable than other experiences you could have.
• How Fora goes about connecting you to the person with the right expertise for your needs.
• Why so many of her team members are her own former clients.
• What she loves the most about her business: her team!
• Henley’s tip for women who want to slow down: create boundaries for yourself.

Tweetables:

“Booking.com is not going to help you when borders close, or when that hotel doesn’t want to give you a refund. There’s no religion in Booking.com and that’s what makes it a company that investors love, but it’s what makes us as humans not like it, because they’re not there to help you.” — Henley Vazquez [0:06:02]

“You have to be opinionated because that is what’s going to turn you into a salesperson. It really is a sales role.” — Henley Vazquez [0:25:47]

“It doesn’t always have to be a 17 person safari for it to be an epic trip. Just watching those moments of seeing people finally being able to do what they’ve been waiting to do, it’s really wonderful.” —Henley Vazquez [0:30:36]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Fora Travel

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Getting Clear on your Values this Holiday Season with Shonda Moralis

For the second time, we are joined by author and psychotherapist Shonda Moralis, who is here to help us survive the holidays! Today’s conversation is about getting clear on your values during the holiday season and staying true to them. Join us to hear how getting in touch with your inner compass can help you get clear on what you need to say yes and no to, and receive some practical tips to help you to do just that. Thanks for joining us!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Today’s topic: getting clear on your values this holiday season.
• How ‘drowning in chocolate’ can cause us to miss out on the magic.
• Thinking ahead to schedule in open space in our calendars.
• Why it will be hard, but you will be grateful.
• How getting clear on your values can help you to get back on course.
• How finding time for stillness can help you tune into what’s important to you.
• Assessing why each priority is important to you.
• Identifying where you are living out your values and where you could put in more focus.
• How Jessica’s daughter with anxiety lights up when she has downtime to do nothing.
• The importance of knowing who your family members are and paying attention to what they need.
• Identifying your top three or four values for the holiday season.
• How mindfulness tips can help you to tune into playfulness and joy this holiday season.

Tweetables:

“Literally put it into your calendar a morning or afternoon where there is nothing, it’s white space, and you protect that. It will be really hard to leave that open, but you will be grateful when you get there and have that time.” — @shonda_moralis [0:02:15]

“Getting clear on our values, our inner compass, can get us back on course, it can help us make decisions, and choose what we want to say yes to and what we want to say no to.” — @shonda_moralis [0:02:40]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Shonda Moralis

Shonda Moralis on Instagram 

Shonda Moralis on Facebook

Shonda Moralis on Twitter

Shonda Moralis on LinkedIn

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Welcome back to the Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! During today’s mini episode, we have a guest sharing an actionable mindfulness tip with us. Corie Wightlin is a life coach, educator, and mindfulness facilitator with over 20 years of experience working with youth, families, and community organizations. With a focus on folks with executive function, Corie believes that when someone is able to combine living in the present moment with a strong understanding of what motivates them, what is keeping them stuck, and what works specifically for them, they can experience magic in their lives! Today, she shares a body scan with us to help release tension and reduce stress in the hope that we will integrate this mindfulness practice into our lives and the day-to-day lives of our children. Tune in today to learn a simple practice you can keep coming back to. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Welcoming Corie Wightlin, life coach, educator and mindfulness facilitator.
• Background on Corie’s work focusing on how mindfulness helps neurodivergent folks to thrive.
• What she has noticed about how mindfulness can support neurodivergent people. 
• How mindfulness empowers you to respond differently during moments of reactivity.
• Why it is so important to listen to our bodies. 
• Finding a comfortable seat.
• Starting to notice the breath.
• Bringing our attention to our stomach area as if with a flashlight.
• Placing the hand over the heart and drawing your attention to your heart.
• Scanning the arms and neck, followed by the shoulders and the back.
• Breathing into tension.
• A minute to check in with the rest of the body and sensing into what needs attention.
• Understanding that if nothing is showing up, that’s a sense of awareness too.
• Opening the eyes and bringing your attention back to your surroundings.
• A reminder to return to this practice whenever you need it.

Tweetables:

“The research shows that when we can support neurodivergent folks in these mindfulness practices, it supports them in attending longer, focusing longer, emotional regulation, staying on task, and connection with other people.” — @coriewightlin  [0:03:17]

“Mindfulness is supportive for all people, but especially people who have challenges with executive functioning, getting along in the world, and doing what they need to do.” — @coriewightlin [0:03:43]

“If you practice mindfulness outside of that time of reactivity, then your brain automatically goes back to what is going to get you from an activated state to a neutral state.” — @coriewightlin [0:04:13]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Wightlin Coaching Services

Corie Wightlin on LinkedIn
Corie Wightlin on Instagram

Corie Wightlin on Twitter

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Hey, Mamas! In recent episodes, we have talked about a series of different healing modalities. We’ve come to understand that everything we know is energy and everything we experience is a manifestation of energy, including our thoughts! Just like a car, occasionally, we need a little tune up to make sure we are operating optimally. If you haven’t heard of the ancient Chinese art of Qi Gong, today’s episode is for you. The goal of Qi Gong is to improve health and wellbeing by optimizing energy in the body, mind, and spirit. Patients experience physical and psychological treatment that involves regulating the breath, the mind, and the body’s movement and posture. Today’s guest, Siu Ping Negrin, found true health by learning to live in balance through Qi Gong and works to empower others through her coaching program, Heal From Within. Tune in today to hear her story of healing and how you can find healing too by going within. Thanks for joining us!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Siu’s experience with a two-year bout of insomnia.
• How she came to study with a Native American healer who began healing her from afar.
• What she felt was missing: her own mind and emotions.
• Meeting Robert Peng, who filled in the gap of how energy relates to her will as a healer.
• Belief in a higher, energy-supplying power that forms the basis of Reiki, Qi Gong, and Tai Chi.
• How Reiki practitioners work as a conduit of energy to bring balance to the chakras.
• Tai Chi as a practice that falls under the umbrella of Qi Gong.
• The role of understanding the existence of energy in order to benefit from the treatment.
• Chinese medicine’s three basic substances: blood, fluid, and Qi.
• The educational aspect of what Siu does; guiding people as they move their own energy.
• Ailments she has treated, including headaches, autoimmunity, stress, and anxiety.
• Siu's first treatment, which works to unstick blockages and restore flow.
• What she uses next, including cupping, gua sha, herbs, and acupuncture.
• How her program, Heal From Within, took her work to a new level.
• Events in Siu's life that sparked her need to find healing through Qi Gong.
• What clearing the energy enabled her to see as she began to look inward.
• How Robert Peng’s masterclass healed her insomnia.
• What it feels like when you don’t listen to yourself. 
• The story of how Siu said yes to writing a book and everything fell into place.
• How Siu teaches you to listen to your own energy and move it to hear your intuition.
• The biggest benefit of Qi Gong: clearing the clouds to see the sun again.
• Why she never uses the mind alone to move energy during Qi Gong.
• The power of the breath to heal.
• Why she sees her role as helping you to return to your innate beauty and strength.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Siu Ping Healing
Siu Ping Negrin on LinkedIn
Siu Ping Healing on Facebook

Robert Peng

Qi Gong Master Key with Robert Peng

Heal From Within

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Latinx people make up more than 18% of the American population. If you’ve ever wondered what the Latinx experience is like, and how cultural values differ and coincide with your own, today’s episode is for you. Dulce Orozco is an immigrant therapist, helping women of color from immigrant families to put themselves first. Tuning in, you’ll hear why this can be more of a challenge for Latinx women, along with some of the other unique struggles that immigrant women often experience entering motherhood. You’ll hear how the movie Encanto succeeds at representing Latinx family values, and why it is so important to maintain a sense of cultural humility when you’re trying to understand the struggles of those who are different from you. Dulce shares her hopes for the world her daughters are growing up in and gives us a word of encouragement for the journey of looking for a therapist. Hear all this, along with how Dulce works to offer meaningful support to immigrant mothers raising first-generation Americans. Thanks for joining us. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• An introduction to today’s guest, immigrant therapist Dulce Orozco.
• Dulce’s history leading up to living and working as a therapist in America.
• Her work with women of color from immigrant families to help them put themselves first.
• How she became involved in working with corporations to better support employees of color.
• What it was like to experience the United States for the first time.
• The path to becoming a therapist, starting with studying communications.
• Perceptions around mental health within the Latinx community.
• What is different about the Latinx experience of becoming a mother.
• The element of guilt Latinx moms experience for doing better than their own parents.
• How the qualities of an immigrant make them unique.
• The code-switching that happens without you even noticing.
• Dulce’s feelings about the cultural representation in the movie Encanto.
• How Latinx family values differ from Western ones, which comes with good and bad.
• Why we can learn so much from cultural humility.
• Some of what she hopes to see her children experience, including self-compassion.
• A word of encouragement not to get discouraged when you’re looking for a therapist.
• The workshops and support groups she offers to women of color.

Tweetables:

“I work with women of color, from immigrant families, not only Latinx women, but women of color in general, helping them to put themselves first, which I think is hard for women in general, but it has a different flavor when it comes to Latinx women.” — Dulce Orozco [0:03:26]

“If you’re thinking about therapy, it might not be easy, you might have to send that email a couple of times again, but please don’t give up. The right therapist is out there for you. It might be a process to get it, but again, try not to get distracted on the way.” — Dulce Orozco [0:42:11]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dulce Orozco

Dulce Orozco on Instagram

Dulce Orozco on LinkedIn
Dulce Orozco on Email

Encanto

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Breathe In and Breathe Out

Welcome to another mindfulness moment on the Zen(ish) Mommy Podcast! Today’s tip is an extremely intuitive technique that will help you to get into your body and get centered. Join us as Jessica guides us through a simple but powerful breathing technique that will help you to observe your thoughts, learn about yourself, and find stillness in the rush of your everyday life this holiday season. Thanks for tuning in. Namaste. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Where Jessica first encountered today’s mindfulness practice: Breathe In and Breathe Out.
• Why the breath allows us to be in the present moment.
• The simple breath technique that helps you drop into the body. 
• Why it is not about stopping the thoughts but recognizing where they go. 
• Jessica guides listeners through a breathing moment. 
• Getting comfortable and finding stillness.
• Drawing your attention to the breath as it naturally slows and elongates.
• A reminder to return to this practice when moments get hectic.

Tweetables:

“We cannot breathe for ourselves in the past and we cannot breathe for ourselves in the future, so it is the breath that really allows us to be in the present moment.” — the Zen Mommy [0:01:07]

“It is not about stopping the thoughts. There are about 80 000 thoughts that come into our minds everyday. It’s impossible to stop them. It’s about recognizing where the mind goes when it wonders, and what our mind’s tendencies are.” — the Zen Mommy [0:01:49]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

The Zen Mommy

Zen Mommy Instagram

Zen Mommy Youtube

Zen Mommy Facebook

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