If we’re lucky, most of us will live an abundant life that’s filled with a number of significant transitions. How we embrace those inevitable life changes and honor that growth can make a big difference in how we are prepared to meet future challenges.
Today, Jen and Amy have the pleasure of sitting down with Melinda French Gates to discuss how, at 60, she is stepping into this next beautiful season of life. By giving a rare glimpse into her interior life, and sharing previously untold stories included in her new memoir, The Next Day: Transitions, Change and Moving Forward, Melinda shares the heart-connecting lessons that we all can apply to the universal moments in our lives – including becoming a parent, the loss of a close friend, the loss of a marriage, knowing the right time to make a career move.
In this episode, we discuss:
- The art of letting go and beginning again and making the most of the time between an ending and a new beginning
- How growing up in a middle-class Catholic family influenced Melinda’s values and worldview
- What it looks like to loosen the bonds of perfectionism and embrace uncertainty in times of change
- The new projects, ideas and hopes Melinda has for the future
Maddie Corman is a seasoned American actress and playwright that you’ve seen in classic films including Some Kind of Wonderful, Maid in Manhattan, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, and our favorite television shows like Law and Order, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Most recently, she has put her creative hand to writing and performing in a very raw and vulnerable autobiographical one-woman play called Accidentally Brave, that delves into Maddie’s personal journey following the arrest of her husband on child pornography charges in 2015. Today, Maddie shares her story of navigating the aftermath, focusing on themes of resilience, healing, and redefining normalcy when life takes an unforeseen turn.
In this tender and transparent conversation, we discuss:
- How Maddie’s life turned upside down after a public personal crisis—and how she found her way back
- What led to her decision to write a raw, hilarious, deeply moving one-woman show called Accidentally Brave (now a movie on MAX!)
- What she imagined midlife would look like when she was younger versus what it looks like from where she sits today
- What it’s like to walk (or sometimes crawl) through shame and loss—and come out with more freedom, more truth, more YOU
- Also, how motherhood shifts our perspective in crisis
- What practices or people help us stay grounded in the hard moments – Maddie shares some really great resources!
- Why midlife is actually the best time to tell your story and start again
Today, we’re taking a trip into the archives to revisit a 2023 episode with renowned clinical psychologist and listener favorite, Dr. Shefali Tsabary, where we dove into the deeply-layered topic of conscious parenting. Those of us in the middle of life, still parenting kids at home, adjusting to parenting adult children who just launched out into the world. or in any season of the parenting journey, really, will find much to learn as we look back (and forward) at our parenting patterns.
Highlights from this convo include:
- Defining conscious parenting and the three stages of the parenting map
- Debunking the notion that as parents we are supposed to create happy, perfect superhumans by following traditional parenting rules
- Dismissing the notion that there are good kids and bad kids—and how to avoid using these labels
- Revealing the five ego patterns that parents might not even realize inform their quest to raise amazing children
- The three reasons why children act out or misbehave and how you can learn not to shame them for it
- The results of over-parenting and how it shows up in your adult children
- How it’s never too late to become a mindful parent
Chip Leighton is a guy whose kids describe him as an “unemployed, middle-aged TikTokker“. He has turned the chaos of parenting kids – teens, in particular, into comedy gold. By taking hilarious text from teens and turning them into reels, he keeps the internet in stitches. With his hilarious take on raising teenagers that is so relatable and mirrors so many parents’ exact experiences, Chip helps countless moms and dads know that they are not alone in their wild journey. Now he’s compiling the best conversations from texts and real-life moments into his new book, What Time Is Noon?
Chip and Jen talk about:
- The names we are given as parents of teens: Gangster, Bruh, or Jen’s favorite….Pimp
- Ridiculous questions our kids have asked, such as: Did grandma have kids? Am I a notary? Am I on Medicare? What’s a stamp?
- Savage burns Chip’s kids have made about his wardrobe: Our favorite – “that looks like the material they make tents from”.
- Endless instructions from the teens on how not to be embarrassing in front of their friends
- Also, Chip tells the story of deciding to leave his corporate job to try his hand at standup (at the urging of one Caroline Rhea).
In this funny, refreshing, and irreverent conversation about parenting, Jen welcomes Caitlin Murray to the show to talk about her Big Time Adulting community space, the blog (and now podcast) that Caitlin started when her 5-year-old son was in cancer treatment for Leukemia, as a place to connect with other moms and parents craving funny, provocative, no-nonsense entertainment to distract themselves from the hamster wheel of life
Like a big sister, Jen offers encouragement to guide Cailin through the years to come, with the two ultimately agreeing that early childhood is hard but middle school is the real shit show.
They commiserate over:
- Spirit Weeks, PTA obligations, and signing reading logs
- The idea of the ‘Hardship Olympics’ that creates unnecessary competition among women / moms
- Comparison parenting and why authenticity resonates more with their communities than curated perfection
- How community and humor that can be found in the everyday chaos of parenting
Buckle up, listeners. It was only a matter of time before our paths crossed with Mel Robbins, one of the most respected experts on change and motivation in the zeitgeist, and today is that day. Known for being the host of the #1 ranking education podcast in the world, bringing deeply relatable topics, tactical advice, tools, and compelling conversations to her audiences, Jen and Amy spend today’s hour diving into Mel’s “Let Them” theory, which is taking the world by storm, already delivering instant peace and freedom in the lives and relationships of people putting it into practice.
Together, they discuss:
- The difference between “Let Them” and “Let Me”
- Learning to release the white-knuckle grip we hold over other people’s behavior (and other things beyond our control)
- Reframing disappointment to view it as a gift (yes, it’s possible!)
- Repositioning self-worth inward, rather than leaving it dependent on others’ opinions.
