Shameless Leadership

Months of unpredictability, instability, and chaos can leave a mama feeling disoriented, exhausted, and chronically overwhelmed. I know I’ve been feeling this as the last year has started to catch up with me. One of the things that really helped me to start feeling grounded again was to identify a few “anchors” that can consistently connect me back to who I am becoming, how I want to show up, and how I have promised to take exquisite care of myself this year.The anchors I identified for myself are: Self Trust Nourishment Nimbleness Deep Work  In this episode, I explain what each of these anchors look like for me and how I’m consistently returning to them to stay grounded this year.If these anchors appeal to you - STEAL THEM! They are all yours! And if they aren’t quite the ones for you, this episode will help you discern some other ones that might be a good fit for you.2021 is your year to take back the reins and double down on YOU. Links mentioned: Join Abbi Perets and me on FB live Feb 8th at 10am PST/1pm EST: Facebook SMA Ep 501 with Mia Hemstad: Nourishing Oneself While Living With PTSD and Depression   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dayna Parish Dennis is a wife, Shameless Mom, and doctor. Originally from Oklahoma, she relocated to the Bay Area to complete her residency in pediatrics. She has served patients in low income, urgent care, private practice, and Hospitalist settings, and just recently made partner at a multi-specialty group practice in the Bay Area. She speaks a couple of languages, loves reading books with happy endings, and raising 2 free Black children.Listen in to hear Dayna share: What it’s like to be a doctor in this pandemic How she’s managing her mental health as a physician, wife, mom, and woman during this time What it was like to be the only Black person in her medical school class The pressure of being the sole Black representative in conversations around race The relief she found in moving from Oklahoma to Oakland for residency and to work with other Black doctors How her employer (Kaiser Permanente) responded to George Floyd’s death and supported the Black Lives Matter movement The benefits she’s seeing in living through this pandemic and why we need not desire going “back to normal” The power in making partner in her medical practice this year The legacy she is building to show her daughters that Black girls can do anything Links Mentioned: Connect with Dayna IG: @wittyacronym IG: @bookish.black.nerd FB: Dayna Parish Dennis   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rae McDaniel, MEd, LCPC, CST (They/Them) is a Gender and Certified Sex Therapist and Coach who works with folks feeling anxious and lost about a transition they’re experiencing in sex, gender, sexual identity, or relationships. Rae also provides consultation & training for professionals and organizations wishing to uplevel their knowledge and expertise in these areas.Rae is the founder of Practical Audacity, a Gender & Sex Therapy group practice in Chicago, and GenderFck: The Club, an online group coaching community designed to help transgender/non-binary/questioning folks transition with less suffering and more ease.Listen in to hear Rae share: Their experience growing up adopted into a family of evangelical christian missionary puppeteers The evolution of their identity from bisexual to queer to non binary The relief of coming out as non binary Why not everyone in your life needs to know all the ins and outs of your identity and how you can prioritize safety when coming out How gender exists on a spectrum, not just two categories of male and female Why they are having top surgery and how they came to this decision Why they use they/them pronouns and why pronouns matter Why it’s inaccurate to refer to someone’s pronouns as their “preferred pronouns” How they are working to take the suffering out of transitioning for trans people Linke mentioned:Connect with Rae: Practical AudacityJoin Rae’s Genderfck programRae on IG/FB: @practicalaudacity  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Megan Hadley, MS, RDN, and LDN is a nutrition therapist and owner of Simple Nutrition, a nutrition counseling practice in Greensboro, NC, and founder of Fork the Food Rules, a membership for people who have decided not to diet. She believes that all bodies are good bodies and that from cake to kale, all foods are good foods. After helping hundreds of clients recover from diet culture, Megan knows that when women think less about food and body and more about what really matters to them, they begin to thrive in all areas of their life.When she’s not working, Megan enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters. She loves cooking, traveling, long naps, good wine, and french fries. Megan finds her strength, both personally and professionally, rooted in her deep faith in Christ, as she knows she was created to live a life of abundance and to help other women believe and discover that, as well.Listen in to hear Megan share: Why she walked away from the pharmaceutical industry to become a registered dietician in order to have a bigger impact in people’s lives What originally drew her into her work with intuitive eating and health at any size The difference between an eating disorder, disordered eating, and non-disordered eating All the (tricky and subconscious) ways that negative relationships with food show up What intuitive eating is and how it differs from food plans and programs How the media breaks our ability to trust our own bodies How restrictive eating is the number one predictor of overeating/emotional eating/binge eating behaviors Why comfort foods can be beautiful and affirming and should absolutely be a part of your life What steps to take to start being more intuitive with your eating The truth about BMI and life span/longevity What kind of freedom comes with choosing not to diet or changing your body Links Mentioned: Enrollment is open for Momentum Mamas Connect with Megan: Simple Nutrition counseling Fork The Food Rules IG: @nutritionissimple & individual professional: @tasteandseerd FB: Simple Nutrition Counseling   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let’s just stop.Stop faking fine. When you’re hurting, let it be known. When you’re tired, let it be known.When you’re depleted, let it be known.When you’re worried, let it be known.When you’re lonely, let it be known.When you’re uncertain, let it be known.When you’re DONE, let it be known.Stop faking fine. Everytime you fake being fine, you perpetuate this ideal that women should button up and stuff it down and dishonor themselves by disowning their pain. This is not only detrimental, it’s downright dangerous.Model being less-than-fine to others. You go first. Let them know:I’m struggling.I’m hurting.I’m tired.I need help.It is in owning and honoring where you’re really at that you will find the soft places and most sacred spaces to land - where others will be waiting to hold you, arms open wide.Links mentioned:Enrollment is open for Momentum Mamas   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we have an extra special episode with two guests, who are not only powerhouse Shameless Moms and entrepreneurs making deep impact in the world, but also sisters.Caren Lettiere is the Founder and President of Democracy Clothing, the casual lifestyle brand designed for the modern, multitasking woman who grew up with fashion, then got busy with life.Best known for its “Ab”solution jeans with fit technology, Democracy Clothing embraces women of all shapes and sizes, providing them with confidence-building clothing that helps them look good and feel good, while doing good.Alongside Democracy, Caren’s proudest accomplishment is the fulfilling family life she’s built with her husband of 29 years, David, and their amazing kids Nicole and Josh.Julie Neale is a life and leadership coach, community builder, writer, and mom to two high energy boys who challenge her to grow into her best self. Alongside a 20 year career in youth development, it was Motherhood that transformed her and set her on a course to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.Now, as the founder of Mother’s Quest and the Mother's Quest Podcast, Julie provides inspiration, coaching, and community-building so that mothers, and those who care for young people, can connect to support and resources, fulfill their unique purpose, and live their E.P.I.C. lives.I’ve been so excited for this conversation for months now and I just know you’re going to love so much about it.Listen in to hear Julie and Caren share: How you can have the audacity to forge your own path without having to prequalify yourself The birth of Mother’s Quest podcast and Democracy Jeans How their separate businesses and goals converged into a collaborative working relationship How Julie and Caren were able to participate at Sybrina Fulton’s (Trayvon Martin’s mom) Circle of Mothers event to bring joy to mothers who lost children and family members to gun violence Shawna Free Jeans Freakout article https://shawnamorrow.com/free-jeans-freakout/ Caren’s philosophy around “My body is the carriage I arrive in” Julie’s philosophy of leading and living an E.P.I.C. life The power of opening the door for yourself instead of waiting for someone else to open the door for you How ignorance can actually help you be a problem solver Links mentioned: Make sure to sign up for my Momentum Mamas announcement Mother’s Quest Podcast: Mother's Quest Julie on IG: Mother's Quest Julie on FB: Mother's Quest Julie and Caren’s interview on Mother’s Quest Podcast: Save 20% off your order of Democracy Jeans (my FAVE jeans): (1 use per customer for total purchase, ends 02/28/21) Julie’s article on committing to anti racism    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we continue to see white supremacy reign here in the US, it’s critically important to pause and reflect on where we have come from, how we can do better, and how we can talk to our kids about it all. I am not a race educator, but I will point you to some excellent people and resources in this episode from whom you can learn on an ongoing basis.I am showing up for this conversation because, while I want you to be learning about race from people other than middle class white ladies (me!), I want to share some things that we have been doing in our family to educate our 8-year-old while also taking big responsibility for our commitment to our own anti racism journeys. My intentions in this episode are 3 pronged: To share resources To invite you into longer term commitments in your anti racism journey To push pause to reflect on the importance of carrying out Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy Please note all the resources below as you continue to listen and learn and take action.Links mentioned: Get my email announcement about Momentum Mamas enrollment Podcast: First Name Basis: The Untold Story of Martin Luther King Jr. Video: I Have A Dream speech with subtitles Article: 19 of the Most Influential Civil Rights Leaders of the 21st Century Stacey Abram’s Documentary: All In: The Fight For Democracy Book: Becoming Ms. Burton Book: Dear Martin Book: Something Happened In Our Town Thank you to our sponsor: Talkspace: To match with your perfect therapist for a fraction of the price of traditional therapy, go to talkspace.com, Make sure to use the code SHAMELESS to get $100 off your first month and show your support for the show.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mirna Valerio is a native of Brooklyn, NY, a former educator, cross-country coach, ultramarathoner, and author of the bestselling memoir, A Beautiful Work in Progress. Although she began running in high school, she recommitted to the sport after a health scare in 2008 and started her blog Fatgirlrunning—about her experiences as a larger woman in a world of thinner endurance athletes— while training for her first marathon. Mirna's athletic story has been featured in the WSJ, Runner’s World, on NBC Nightly News, CNN, and in the viral REI-produced documentary short, The Mirnavator. Her writing has been featured in Women’s Running Magazine, Self Magazine Online, Outside Online, and Runner's World Magazine. In 2018 she was chosen as one of the National Geographic Adventurers of the Year, and most recently appeared on the Kelly Clarkson Show, Access Hollywood, and the short Running Through Barriers, produced by LLBean.Listen in to hear Mirna share: How she is discerning about who gets her time and energy Why she is participating in NANOWRIMO and how it’s been transformational to her What your identity truly is and how it dictates how you interact with the world How she’s leaning into different parts of her identity and learning new things in this year How she manages haters How she steps into fear as she steps into new partnerships, especially her new position with Lululemon How anxiety shows up for her and how she has learned to manage it How she helped Will Smith train for a half marathon The best lesson she learned from Will Smith Links Mentioned:Get updates and announcements about Momentum MamasThank you to our sponsor: EveryPlate: Get started with EveryPlate for just $1.99 per meal plus an additional 20% off another 2 weeks by going to EveryPlate.com and entering code SHAMELESS199.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As you are thinking about what you want out of 2021, I'm inviting you to keep things super simple. We tend to make things too hard and way overcomplicated as we enter a new year. I think this is only because we want to make things super FAB, but still - no need to make things tricky, as this minimizes your chances of actually building any momentum and getting things done. So, how can you build momentum in order to have a few quick wins and feel like you are off to the races in 2021? Here are 4 tips: Know Your No’s Know What Works Make It Up As You Go Stay Connected In today’s episode, I’m going to help you dig into each one of these tips so you can feel lighter and more inspired to GET STARTED in a year that has already proven to be cumbersome and tumultuous in so many ways.You absolutely have what it takes to make great things happen in 2021. Let’s get to work.Links mentioned: Sign up for my 2021 Plan & Prep Pajama Party Get updates and announcements about Momentum Mamas   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jennifer Litner has over a decade of experience working, studying and teaching in the field of sexual health, with a specialization in sex therapy, sexuality education, and helping people thrive in their intimate relationships.Ms. Litner is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and sexuality educator whose passion is helping couples, individuals and families navigate sexual concerns. Ms. Litner is a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), a Certified Member of the American Association for Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT), and a member of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research (SSTAR).In addition to her clinical practice, Ms. Litner earned a Master’s of education and is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in human sexuality studies at Widener University with emphasis in human sexuality education. Ms. Litner is also an adjunct professor at Adler University in the Departments of Counseling and Couple and Family Therapy where she teaches masters and doctoral students. Ms. Litner empowers individuals to make healthy choices about sexuality by providing them with accurate sexual health information.Listen in to hear Jennifer share: Where caregivers can begin when they want to talk to their children about sexuality How to talk to your kids about touch and hugs at an early age Research based myths and truths about having “the talk” with your kids How to talk to your kids about sex in a developmentally appropriate way (in grades 1-3 vs grades 3-5) What it means to be sex positive and how you can be a sex positive caregiver How to talk to your kids about gender identity and gender expression Examples of shaming, sex negative messaging and the harm perpetuated in shameful messaging The intersection of conversations around pleasure and privacy How to be warm and neutral in conversations around sexuality with your kids How to create a sex positive home for your kids - even if you had a sex negative upbringing Links mentioned: Join my 2021 Plan & Prep Pajama Party Connect with Jennifer Get Jennifer’s course and use promo code SHAMELESSMOM to save 20% - GOOD THRU 1/31 Jennifer on Facebook and Instagram: @embracesexualwellness Jennifer on Twitter: @ESW_LLC   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices