Working Parent Resource

Episode Summary:  So last week we talked all about how to prepare to return to work after having a baby with Janine Esbrand.  This week we’re going to dive into how to handle all of the physical and emotional challenges that come up right after you have a baby.  As all of you ladies out there with kids know – there’s a huge shift that you go through after you welcome a baby home, whether it’s your first or your fifth.  Every baby brings with it new changes to our bodies, a shift in identity, and new skills to learn.  Our guest today helps us focus on creating a “new normal” as we integrate a new little baby into our lives. Catherine Middlebrooks is the founder of brb Yoga, and the creator of the Heal Your Core With Yoga program. She helps busy moms restore their core strength and find calm in the beautiful chaos of motherhood. She has more than 10 years of yoga teaching experience and a master’s degree in experimental psychology.  Catherine is currently traveling the country in an RV with her husband and two

Episode Summary:  This is one of the questions I get from you guys all the time: how can I transition back into work after maternity leave?  So today’s episode is all about how to make a smooth transition out of maternity leave and back to work.  Our guest today is coming out with a course in just a few weeks from the time this episode airs that goes into everything you need to know as you prepare to return to work after having a baby.  She has some great insights that I can’t wait to share with you. Janine is the founder of LightBOX Coaching, which helps female lawyers (and other professionals) who want to build careers they are passionate about while raising a family. She is also the host of the More Than A Lawyer Podcast and runs the Being More Than a Lawyer Facebook Group. Janine is a qualified life & career coach and corporate/commercial lawyer. She has worked with a range of coaching clients and has practiced law within leading UK law firms and international companies for the past decade. When she

Episode Summary:  Finding the time to make healthy meals for your family when you have a full-time job has to be one of the biggest challenges we face as working parents.  I don’t know about you, but I hate spending a ton of time both on the weekends and at night after a long workday shopping, prepping and cooking.  And then trying to find nutritious recipes that everyone will eat seems to add a whole other level of complexity to the process for me.  I would much rather use that time to enjoy my family.  But our guest today has a wonderful resource for working parents who want to feed their families healthy meals without wasting all of their free time doing it. Today we’re talking with Samantha Rodgers.  Sam is the Mom Behind the Plans at Eating Clean, Cooking Dirty. With a long-standing passion to feed people delicious Paleo foods, Sam has taken her love of food to the online marketplace with subscription-based Weekly Meal Plans and Prep Guides for busy families who want to reduce their overall time in the

Episode Summary:  Balance is one of those tricky topics for working parents.  Most working parents find it difficult to have a balanced life.  Other working parents do feel balance from time to time, but then they have periods of time when all hell breaks loose and they have to fight to get back into balance.  And then there’s a whole other group of people who just don’t believe it exists at all.  So I wanted to talk to an expert about this topic of balance in general, and whether it’s something that working parents should strive for, or if it’s an impossible ideal. Apryl Schlueter is the the Chief Energy Officer of The Cheerful Mind, Inc. After working in various industries, Apryl realized her true passion as a happiness and productivity expert who helps over-committed people with big dreams have more fun while getting stuff done. She earned her Certified Professional Coach credentials from the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching, and is the author of "Finding Success in Balance: My Journey to T

Episode Summary: The world has been a little crazy lately, hasn’t it?  I don’t typically talk about politics on this show because that’s not the main focus of what we do here.  I don’t want it to distract from the purpose on the podcast, which is to help career-oriented moms and dads integrate all aspects of their lives without having to sacrifice one area over another.  So we’re not going to discuss politics here today.  But as someone who does pay attention to what’s happening in the world, I thought it was important to acknowledge the discourse and divisiveness that’s we’ve seen on the news and on social media recently.  Things have gotten SO heated on a global level, and I think it’s time we starting thinking a little more about how we address people who disagree with us on fundamental issues. I see a lot of parallels between what’s been happening around the world, and what we deal with as parents on a daily basis.  There are a lot of polarizing topics coming to a head on the world stage, but I see the sa

Episode Summary:  Today we’re talking about building your confidence as a parent.  If you’ve read my blog post entitled “The Hardest Thing About Being a Parent,” you’ll know that I had a very hard time adjusting to all of the new things you have to learn when you become a parent.  As an overachiever in my life before kids, I was used to learning new skills and mastering them.  To put it bluntly, I was used to being GOOD at things in my life.   And one of the hardest things I had to do as a parent was realize that I was never going to be perfect at it.  Our kids change all the time and it was really disorienting to have to adapt and adjust to every new developmental stage that my child went through, especially in those early days when he was changing so FAST.  Our guest today offers some wonderful insights and 5 practical tips to build confidence, even when these little ones change the rules of the game on us.  Dr. Marie Renaud is a doctor in Clinical Psychology with 30 years of experience working in the publi

Episode Summary:  Today’s episode is close to my heart, because I went through my own experience with Adrenal Fatigue and it was ruining my life.  I just thought I was tired and burned out, so I kept trying to come up with more ways to be productive, to get more done in less time.  But it turns out that was just perpetuating my symptoms.  I was exhausted.  I was cranky.  I kept landing in urgent care with what I thought was strep throat, and was about to have surgery even though my doctors didn’t have a real diagnosis for what I was experiencing.  I also had trouble getting pregnant for nearly a year, which I also think was related to my own Adrenal Fatigue.  I had no idea that’s what I was dealing with, and once I identified Adrenal Fatigue as the cause of my health issues, I was able to treat it and finally start feeling like myself again within a month. Jennifer Blossom is the millennial expert of holistic living for mothers and children. She is a Doctor of Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapist, Cer

Episode Summary: There are a lot of things I’ve changed in my life to become happier and healthier over the years.  Today I’m not going to cover surface stuff, like exercising and eating healthier or getting a better job or moving.  All of those things have at times definitely improved my life at times, but today I want to talk more about the FUNDAMENTAL shifts I’ve made in the way I operate my life that have had a profound impact on my happiness.  These are things that, once I made these changes, I became a different person.  A more WHOLE person.  A more CONTENT and peaceful person.  I became a better version of myself through doing these things.  When I’m having a rough day or even a stressful period of my life, it’s usually because I’ve stopped doing at least one of these 4 things.  I wanted to share these things because it took me decades and a LOT of heartache to finally learn to do these things.  It took a lot of work to change habits that were causing me pain, and I wish someone had told me about these

Episode Summary:  Valerie is a Certified Professional Coach and Empowerment Mentor, Loving Mom and Wife, and Founder of TheUnlimitedMom.com. Not long ago Valerie was one of the many Moms struggling with feeling overwhelmed, out of balance, and guilty for wanting more. Through making a decision to do something different, the support of her own coach, and learning the skills of coaching and energy leadership, she tapped into her purpose, increased her energy, and is actively creating a life she loves. Valerie is dedicated to helping other Moms achieve the serenity, joy, and fulfillment they seek. She enjoys working with passionate women who are ready to ditch the limits of “this is as good as it gets” and step into creating their own unique, authentic, and amazing Mom-life. Valerie believes you deserve to live a vibrant life and that by doing so, you are setting the foundation for the happy and healthy life that you want for your child. Her mission is to help you do just that.  Guilt is a topic that tends to c

Episode Summary: Yael Schonbrun is a clinical psychologist in private practice and assistant professor at Brown University. In her spare time, she is a stay-at-home mother to her three boys. Her book exploring the psychology of straddling an ambitious professional and engaged family life is coming out soon. A big theme on this podcast is balancing our lives as parents along with our lives as professionals. This is one of those topics that really will never have a “right” answer.  Striking the right balance between an engaged family life and a fulfilling professional life is something that we all have to figure out for ourselves based on our own unique situations, and it’s also something we’ll also need to re-evaluate and tweak as time goes on.  Our guest today is an expert in striking a healthy and fulfilling balance between these two roles in our lives, so hopefully this episode will provide some guidance and inspiration for you as you answer some of these questions in your own life.  Show Notes:  http://Wo

Episode Summary: We’re back!  I am so excited to be here chatting with you again after our little hiatus.  I hope you’ve been enjoying your Summer so far!  I’ve had a pretty busy couple of months, and I can’t wait to catch up with you a bit in this episode.  Today I have a couple of announcements for you, one big one related to my personal life, and a couple of others related to the Working Parent Resource.  Show Notes:  http://workingparentresource.com/23 Resources & Links Mentioned in this Episode: WPR022:  Welcoming Baby #2 and a Couple of Announcements Free Burnout Assessment Working Parent Resource Mastermind Waitlist Working Parent Resource Corporate Packages Working Parent Resource Website Working Parent Resource Facebook Community About the Working Parent Resource: The Working Parent Resource is dedicated to helping ambitious working parents acquire the information, insights, and tools they need to create a more intentional and fulfilling life that reflects their deepest values and priorities.  Sa

Episode Summary: So today’s show is going to be a little different than my others.  I think a lot of you already know that my husband Joey and I are expecting our second little boy here any day now.  I basically started working on this podcast right after I found out I was pregnant, so our little guy has been a huge part of this show… he’s literally been with me every second of it all.  And now that his due date is approaching, I have a couple of announcements about the podcast and about the Working Parent Resource in general that I wanted to share with you. First of all, I wanted to let you guys know that I’m going to be taking a little Summer hiatus from the podcast so I can slow down a little and get into “momma mode," which means I won't be releasing any new episodes in June or July.  I’ll definitely be back in August again with our normal weekly schedule, but I wanted to let you know there would be a gap in new episodes for a couple of months there.  I actually have several interviews already recorded wh

Episode Summary:  Esther Littlefield is a feisty pastor’s wife to her husband, Scott, and mom to her spirited daughter, KJ. They live in Maine where they enjoy as many outdoor adventures as possible in the midst of homeschooling, business, and church life. In her free time, you’d probably find her with a cup of coffee, a good friend, and a sink full of dishes. Esther writes at wellnessmomlife.com, helping moms balance marriage, motherhood, and ministry by caring for their personal, physical, spiritual, and relational wellness.  We all know how hard it can be to make our marriage a priority when a new baby joins the family.  A baby puts so much pressure on a relationship, and it's not uncommon for our marriage to take a backseat when we're dealing with the everyday demands of juggling parenthood and work and everything else you have going on in your life.  And children also have a funny way of magnifying whatever weaknesses we already had in our relationship too, which can just add to the stress and conflict.

Episode Summary:  Carrie Clark is a speech-language pathologist who works full-time at home on her website for parents and others who work with children with speech and language delays. She provides resources and step-by-step guides for how to treat various communication problems. Today's show is all about helping our kids with their speech and language development.  We talk a lot about what's normal, but we also chat about what to do if your child is or seems to be delayed in their speech.  Carrie is so helpful in breaking down what we should know as parents when it comes to helping our kids with both their pre-verbal and verbal communication. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:  The general guidelines and timeframes for “normal” speech and language development. Red flags and warning signs of delayed speech to keep an eye out for. What to do if you suspect your child has speech delays. Tips for helping your child with their natural language development, or ways to improve their speech at home if there’s a de

Episode Summary: One of the things I hear most from working parents is that they feel a tremendous amount of guilt because they aren’t around their kids all week.  They feel like “bad parents” because they’ve been led to believe that simply being physically present with their kids is what makes someone a good parent.  I think logically we know this isn’t true, but it can absolutely FEEL true when you have very limited time with your kids. So today’s episode is all about building a strong, healthy and loving connection with your kids, even when you work all week.  We’re going to talk about simple and practical strategies you can implement to increase your connection with your kids, even when you can’t always be physically present.  I want you to leave this episode knowing how to make the most of the time you do have with your kids, not only so you can let go of those useless feelings of guilt, but also so you can enjoy a special and strong bond with your kids that will last over time. What You’ll Learn in This

Episode Summary:  Today we have Aubrey Mathis with us, who is the owner and creator of Today May Suck, a comfort kit gift company providing unique gifts to loved ones who are going through the suckiest of times.  Aubrey is changing the way we acknowledge grief with the perfect blend of compassion and comedic relief.  I wanted to preface this conversation today by saying that I know grief and loss isn’t always a topic that we want to talk about.  It seems like sort of a taboo subject in modern society, at least in my experience.  But it truly is a part of life, and I have personally faced situations where dear loved ones and friends were going through a terrible loss or some sort of difficult situation, and it was hard for me to know how to support them or show them I was really feeling for them in an appropriate way.  I’ve also been the one who was struggling with something difficult, and the support I received wasn’t always that helpful.  So I wanted to have our guest on today to help give us a better idea o

Episode Summary:  Today we are chatting with Rebecca Gregerson, who runs Pieces, an art and décor business.  She also has a brand new organizational app out called My Proxy Fox.  She is always bursting with new ideas and loves finding creative ways to bring them to life.  Outside of chasing her career dreams, her heart belongs to her super supportive and all around awesome husband, two spunky and fabulous littles (and two of the sweetest fur babies in town).  Rebecca has designed an app that I think can really be a game-changer for a lot of working parents.  We talk a lot about it on the podcast so I won’t go into too much detail here, but I’ve been trying this app out recently, and it has seriously cut down on so much preparation time and has allowed me to stop re-inventing the wheel for everything I do to manage my home.  Right now the app is a free resource on iTunes, but that may change in the future so I encourage you to check it out. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:  We talk about a new tool created

Episode Summary:  Robin Kegerise is a Career and Life Coach with nine years of Human Resources consulting experience. She has a Master's degree in Human Resources, and is a Change Management Specialist.  In this episode, we dive into a topic that I think just about every working parent can appreciate: recovering from work burnout.  I don’t know about you guys, but I spent most of my adult life going through a pretty unhealthy cycle of working super-hard, burning out, and then recovering before I started the whole cycle all over again.  Today Robin and I talk about how we both went through some pretty intense experiences as new working moms, and how we were able to climb out of that black hole of burnout.  Robin is so thoughtful and honest, and I think the advice and insights she shares in this episode will really hit home for a lot of you. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:  We chat about how Robin created a new work environment for herself to manage the levels of stress and burnout she was experiencing. Le

Episode Summary: Today I’m talking to all of you over-achievers out there.  You know who you are.  You’re not just ambitious, you take ambition to a whole new level.  You’re the one who can handle everything.  You’re the person everyone comes to when they have a problem or need something or aren’t sure what to do.  You’re the problem solver. You GET THINGS DONE and you get a lot of confidence from that. But as most of you know, there can be a downside to being an overachiever that many of us don’t really talk about.  It can be stressful.  It can be draining.  We can very easily push ourselves beyond our limits and we’re highly susceptible to burnout as a result. And after we have kids, being an overachiever can get tricky really fast.  So today I’m going to be talking about how to manage your inner-overachiever so you can find some peace in your life.  I don’t necessarily think you need to abandon that inner-drive you have.  But I do think there’s a way to manage it so it doesn’t drive you to unhealthy levels

Episode Summary:  Christin Morgan is a Registered Dietitian with a Master’s of Science in Nutrition from University of Memphis. Having lost 80 pounds through healthy diet changes and taking control of emotional eating, she strives to help other women do the same. It takes a lot to stay healthy, and trying to fit in healthy meals, fitness, sleep, and all of those other things that keep our bodies moving seems to take up precious time, right?  We all know it’s important, and even more than that, we all know our health is critical to keeping up the pace in our busy lives.  But for some reason, these seem to be the areas where it’s easiest to cut corners.  We tell ourselves we’ll exercise tomorrow, or we’re exhausted from a long day at work and grab take-out on our way home.  Well today we’re going to be going over some of the things you can do to integrate healthier habits into your busy workweek.  These insights and tips are specifically designed for the busy working parent, keeping in mind all of the other de