Unclassified Woman

Welcome! My guest today is Catriona Pollard, founder and director of CP Communications, one of Australia’s most respected and innovative PR agencies. She is an international speaker and popular media commentator who made the transformation to the public eye; she shares these experiences in her writing and speaking. She is the author of From Unknown to Expert: How to Use Clever PR and Social Media to Become a Recognised Expert, which is a step by step program. Catriona has helped thousands of people use her program to success. She is passionate about social media, public relations, business and bringing it all together, in real financial success for entrepreneurs and organisations. She shares insights on her blog: www.catrionapollard.com. She is also a successful artist and sculptor and you can find her work at www.theartofweaving.com.au In this episode, Catriona shares the following: Catriona wanted to be a mother, but never had the right relationship at the right time. She went through a 6-7 year grieving p

Welcome! Today’s guest is Adrea Peters, who is a writer about all her obsessions, such as love, physics, food, wellness, logic, grace, cleverness, word play, and imagining the best in herself and others. Adrea retired at age 42 to write full-time. She graduated with a journalism degree as valedictorian of her class at the University of Colorado-Boulder, and then earned her master’s degree in Popular Fiction Writing from Seton Hall University. Adrea has co-authored several books and apps. In 2015, she and her business partner created Storyteller Ink. It’s a company dedicated to serving writers and helping them find success in completing a book in nine months’ time. If you are an aspiring writer, then Adrea has the plan to help you achieve success! Join us! In this episode, you will learn: How BOTH choice and circumstance have played into Adrea’s life choice to NOT be a parent; How Adrea knew IF she ever had a child, she would want to have a life partner with whom to share the experience; “The rules that peopl

Welcome! My guest today is Ashleigh Mills, who originally trained as a social worker in Australia. She worked in clinical mental health and policy for over 10 years, but then followed her heart to begin writing creatively at age 32. Ashleigh began her blog on life, love, travel, and her crazy cat lady stories.  She later started a freelancing writing business focusing on adventure and travel articles. In 2015, she traveled to Bali and the Philippines to write stories with her husband, who is a fashion and travel photographer. Ashleigh is always busy planning her next adventure.  In this episode, you’ll learn: How this podcast has been encouraging and refreshing for Ashleigh, hearing other women’s perspectives, and knowing she isn’t alone in her journey How Ashleigh’s childfree life is a choice that resulted from ambivalence toward motherhood, even though she always assumed she would have “the urge” someday. Ashleigh has seen the “bad” side of family from her social work experience; she believes that unless y

My guest today, Meghan Daum, has been an Op Ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times since 2005. Meghan is also the author of four books, including The Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion, which won the 2015 Penn Center USA Award for Creative Nonfiction. She edited the NY Times best–selling anthology Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed, which is a compilation of 16 writers’ essays on the choice to not have kids. This book has sparked wide ranging conversation around the topic of choosing to have or to not have kids. Meghan’s message is that opting out of parenthood is NOT a sign of laziness or immaturity, but a complicated and intensely personal decision. Join us to hear Meghan discuss the following: It was Meghan’s personal choice to not become a parent, and it was something she always knew deep-down, but didn’t realize that option existed. Having/not having a child is an interesting subject to write about and lends itself to a deeper look and deliberate thought about that life choice. Meghan became

Welcome! Today’s guest is Nicole Graham, an Aussie who currently lives in Hong Kong. She is a multi-passionate entrepreneur who has reinvented her career over the last 25 years. She has studied a range of healing modalities and co-authored two guided writing journals and numerous blogs. Nicole is a certified online business manager who leads her team of dedicated and experienced specialists in supporting small business with administration and marketing. She and her husband travel extensively and Nicole is happy to share her life experiences in choosing to be child-free. In this episode, you’ll learn the following: Nicole and her husband have made the mutual choice to not have children. They have the understanding that the topic is open for discussion if either of them feels differently. Nicole was moved by the vast numbers of abandoned, neglected, and unwanted children in China and India, and decided NOT to bring a child into the world. IF she and her husband ever felt differently about parenthood, then adop

Welcome! Today’s Unclassified Woman is Stacey Copas, who is the author of How to be Resilient. She is Australian’s #1 keynote speaker and facilitator on turning adversity into an asset, and she has been featured in national media. Now taking on a new endeavour, Stacey is training for the 2016 Rio Para-Olympics after many years of inactivity. In this episode, you’ll hear: How Stacey has not had a child due to personal choice and never desired to be a parent; Stacey has a spinal cord injury and is in a wheelchair. People ask about her parenting/non-parenting intentions - often assuming incorrectly this is the reason for not having a child; How Stacey has experienced separation from some friends over the years as they began having children and led very different lives; Stacey discusses the “mythbusting” that goes along with daring to make a conscious decision to NOT have children; Stacey has become comfortable when she has to answer questions about her choices; Her advice for others is to have clarity about you

My guest today is Lisa Murray, who is the founder of Creativity Lab. She is an unconventional business coach and prolific writer. She invites you to collectively create a future to be inspired by via her live events and online programs. Join her for one of her free mini e-courses on Embracing Courage, Writing Wild, or Creating Money. Lisa also offers the Nurture Project and holds an MBA in entrepreneurship and leadership. Lisa is launching three books this year, including Stop Waiting, Start Creating. In this episode, Lisa covers the following topics: Lisa didn’t desire to become a mother, so she was actually relieved when she reached that realisation and was able to put the associated stress aside. Society “assumes” that every woman wants to become a mother. Many people feel obligated to give unsolicited advice to others about the choice they have made being the right thing for everyone! Having a child is only ONE kind of creative expression, but not the only one. Lisa asks, “What would I like the world to

Welcome! My guest today is a fear-blasting, storytelling maven for entrepreneurs and people with a mission. Johanna Walker helps people put their stories out front to help change the world. Since 1997, she has helped hundreds break through their fears, step into leadership, and claim their place. She has worked with teenage girls, incarcerated women, fledgling entrepreneurs, and corporate executives, over and over witnessing the transformative power of telling our stories and speaking our truth. Johanna is the co-producer and co-host of Boulder’s bi-monthly storytelling series, Truth Be Told and Fearless Solos. She has performed almost everywhere---and yes, we DO mean, EVERYWHERE—and she is a certified public speaking coach. Join us for Johanna’s story! In this episode, you’ll hear: How a combination of circumstances and choice lead Johanna not to have a child. How she always assumed a child “would happen,” because that was the normal script to follow in life. How she began to question her beliefs, assumptio

Welcome! Today’s guest is Lesley Pyne, who is a leading coach for childless women in the UK, helping them to heal and create fulfilling lives. After unsuccessful IVF treatments, she spent ten years hiding from the truth of her life. She trained in techniques that helped her learn to let go of the grief and sadness. Lesley now uses her story, firsthand experience and professional skills to help other women heal. She facilitates them in being able to have a deep understanding of their experience, so they can embrace an adventurous, fulfilling life. Lesley's warmth and empathy shines through. In this episode, you’ll hear: Lesley pursued pregnancy through six rounds of IVF and then determined that “that was enough.” She is childless through circumstance. It took ten years of healing before she found herself in the place to be comfortable talking about her experience. “Childlessness is the biggest gift in my life because without it I wouldn’t have the fulfilling life I have now.” Lesley shares the lengths that sh

My guest today is Riikka Rajamaki, whose life passion is to help women unlock their creative and intuitive abilities after an experience of abortion or miscarriage. She teaches women how to move from fear to love by living out one of her life mottos: “It’s better to nourish the seed than to cry over the lost fruit.” Riikka is the creator of Womb Quest, a certified spirit coach, wellness coach, gifted body worker, trained intuitive, and holds a masters degree in sociology.  Now based in San Francisco, she is originally from Finland, and says it took her years to realise that “the greatest journey we take is inside ourselves.” Her happiness is dependent on personal growth and her ability to remain centered and connected to her spirit. Join us for Riikka’s inspiring story. In this episode, you can expect to hear: Riikka’s powerful and personal story of finding herself unexpectedly pregnant at age 36, married to a man who said that his life path did NOT include children; How Riikka was able, through meditation,

Welcome! My guest today is Anaiya Sophia, who is a mystic, author, and an initiator of Sacred Marriage and the Mystical Teachings of The Feminine Christ. A native of the UK, she is based at her guest house Amma Rosa in the South of France but teaches her transformational work worldwide. She is a wellspring of both wisdom and experience and is known for her role in birthing New Paradigm Relationships and Divinized Sexuality. Her desire is to help people transition from codependent relationships to a thriving union based on Love and Freedom, held within a holy sanctified container. Anaiya Sophia, is no spiritual lightweight. She is intensely committed to go through whatever humbling and fierce truth-telling is required to open to the full divinity that can, and will birth us. Her work is streaming forth through the Feminine aspect of Christ Consciousness, which includes the Tantric, Virgin and Mystical expressions represented by Mary Magdalene, Mother Mary and the Black Madonna. In this episode, you’ll learn:

My guest today is Christine Rose Elle, who is a business and life coach.  She is a certified Beautiful You life coach and the founder of The Heart-Centered Coach Community.  Her passions include styling, beauty, portrait photography, branding, marketing, and all things high-tech.  Her loves furnish her with the perfect set of skills to help other coaches discover their own skills and do meaningful work with their clients.  Christine offers free monthly online training for life coaches and soulful entrepreneurs who want to create and grow their dream business.  She lives and works in a tiny Victorian bungalow in Los Angeles with her husband and two amazingly spoiled dogs.   Christine shares the following about her life without motherhood: Christine is childless through a combination of choice and circumstances. She realised early in life that she didn’t want to have children in the same way as many of her friends. She married early and then divorced at age 30.  It was at age 35 that she had her “epiphany” mom

Welcome! My guest today is Karen Wilmot, The Virtual Midwife.  She has assisted over 500 women in giving birth, but has never been pregnant or given birth herself.  Twice, she stepped away from her work when the desire to have her own baby overshadowed the joy she could feel at others’ birth experiences.  At age 47 now, Karen has found peace and a deep sense of purpose in her work.  She now says that NOT having children has been her greatest teacher and the driving force behind her work. In this episode, you’ll learn the following about Karen’s journey: How Karen always thought she would have children; How the death of Karen’s mother while she was young made her lose her sense of family and live a rebellious life; After years of traveling and several relationships, Karen reached the point in her early 40’s when she said, “That was it.”  Her window of opportunity had closed; How she went through a relevant and acute grieving process; How one patient helped her recognize her “mothering of mothers” as an outpou

Beata Alfoldi is a teacher, workshop facilitator, Shamanic practitioner, healer, speaker, and see-er.  She has an intuitive gift for assisting individuals to move through deep transformation.  She holds private classes, sessions, workshops, and international retreats in Australia, Bali, Thailand and Mexico.  She created the Integral Woman program for the Awareness Institute in Sydney and co-facilitated a transformational group journey to Peru where she lived and studied with various healers and shamans of the Amazon and the Andes.  Beata is passionate about inspiring others to find ways to live authentically with freedom and empowerment in life.  She is a dear friend of mine, and I’m thrilled to have her on the show today.  Join us! I'm sure you will find this conversation very moving and valuable.  In this episode, you’ll learn: How Beata, at age 45, is childless, not by choice, but through the unexpected tragedy and shock of her son’s stillbirth four years ago. How stillbirth, and death/loss in general, ar

Randi Buckley writes and coaches emotionally aware, deeply contemplative women toward finding their truth, with depth and beauty, with life’s big questions and sticky situations.  She is the creator of “Maybe Baby" - When you hear this whisper of “maybe” in your heart”, “Healthy Boundaries for Kind People”, and “The Viking Woman Workshop”. Today we discuss the nature of ambivalence and our experiences with it. You can reach Randi at www.randibuckley.com.  As Randi covers the following areas of ambivalence about having children, you can expect to hear: Randi knew as a 6-7-year-old girl that she didn’t want to have children because she equated having a child with NOT being a feminist. She never saw herself as a mother and was horrified when she heard the whisper of “maybe” in her late 30's. Randi found that many of her beliefs about motherhood and childbearing were not her own, but were society-driven. Randi had initially believed that motherhood would make her into all the things she didn’t want to be. It’s o

A very interesting interview today from a mother's perspective on the topic of being childfree. Melanie Holmes is a mother of two sons and a teenage daughter.  She's also a writer and researcher, who has interviewed over 200 women and examined the cultural assumptions of motherhood within today’s society.  She received her BA degree in 2011, a degree that took 20 years to complete because she took time out from her education to raise three children.  At age 51, she achieved her lifelong dream of becoming a writer with the publication of The Female Assumption: A Mother’s Story: Freeing Women from the View that Motherhood is a Mandate.  For this book, she won a Global Media Award.  You can find the book at http://www.melanieholmesauthor.com Melanie has witnessed firsthand the pain of women who are viewed as dysfunctional or selfish for deciding to pursue something other than motherhood.  Her own daughter was the inspiration for her research and writing.  She wanted her daughter to know that there are many optio

Andrea Louisa Glazier is a native of the UK, has lived in New Zealand and currently lives on the northern beaches in Sydney, Australia. Andrea thinks she has the best life ever! She wakes up excited, packs her bag for an adventure, heads down to the beach, walks with her feet in the water, camera in hand, takes photos, meditates, exercises, does whatever she likes, eats breakfast in local cafes and the returns home and begins client work around midday.  Around 5.30pm she picks up her camera and returns to the beach to take photos of the sunset. It wasn’t always this way. She used to live in London and kill herself on the daily commute rushing to appointments and working late. For twenty years she worked in the media as a TV presenter, producer, director and journalist and switched to starting her own business after suffering from adrenal-fatigue and burnout after working 90-hour weeks. Andrea lives a childfree life by conscious choice and is always ready to boldly affirm her decision. Join us for Andrea’s sto

Justine Brooks Froelker is a Licensed Professional Counselor, who has a private practice in St. Louis, Missouri.  She is the author of the book and blog, Ever Upward.  She is an advocate for breaking the shamed silence surrounding infertility, loss, and recovery.  Justine writes for St. Louis Health and Wellness and Huffington Post and makes regular TV appearances on the midday show, Great Day St. Louis.  She went through costly infertility treatments and now lives “child-free,” but not by choice.  In this episode, you will learn the following: How Justine reacts to the ever-present question, “Well, why don’t you just adopt?” How to apply the grieving process to loss that isn’t commonly acknowledged or understood. How Justine recommends navigating through a journey like hers. How relationships can become “casualties” of the journey and what true empathy is. Why people don’t know how to respond to infertility that doesn’t end with a happy, bouncing baby. Two “Motherhood Myths” that are prevalent in today’s so

Karen Malone Wright is the creator of TheNotMom.com  She's an experienced writer and communications strategist who launched her website in 2012 as a resource for and about women without children in a mom-centered world.  This October, Karen will host The Not Mom Summit, which is a groundbreaking international conference for childless and child-free women.  Previously, she worked independently at her own business, The Odyssey Creative Communications Consultancy.  Karen has worked for clients as diverse as Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice in the Netherlands and Goodwill Industries of Ohio.  Karen is an example of someone who created the resource she was trying to find.  She is dedicated to helping and guiding women around the world who would otherwise feel unsupported. What You Will Learn in This Episode: Like many women without children, Karen assumed she would have children during her first marriage.  Ambivalence to the idea of children began during her second marriage when she was in her late 30’s. Sh

I'm happy to share this lovely interview today with Nicola Newman, based on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Nicola is an award-winning artist. She’s an organic gardening teacher, author and entrepreneur. Her mission is to help women explore their creativity and inspire them to live an authentic life that supports their heart's deepest desires to be self-expressive and enjoy even greater well-being. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and she’s produced and directed three documentaries on contemporary Australian artists.  Her paintings are featured in a multitude of public and private collections all around the world. She is the author of Grow Abundant Herbs and Greens in Pots and the creator of two acclaimed online training courses, The Abundant Veggie Patch System and Grow Organic Food in Pots. Nicola has taught hundreds of beginner gardeners worldwide to grow their own organic food and nurture their health. She’s currently working on a new project, Flourish with Painting and Creativity, which is an online men