RECENT ARTICLES + PODCASTS
Momfluencers: Inside The Billion-Dollar Industry of Instagram & Mommy Bloggers — Episode #211 with Sara Petersen
Sara Petersen is a writer whose essays about feminism, domesticity, and motherhood have appeared in the New York Times, Harper’s Bazaar, the Washington Post, and more. In this episode of the Startup Parent podcast, host Sarah K Peck interviews Sara to discuss her most recent book, Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture. They talked about how momfluencer culture impacts women psychologically, as consumers, as performers of their stories, and as mothers.
How Childhood Stress Affects Adult Health — Episode #206 with Michelle Stephens
Dr. Michelle Stephens, PhD, CPNP, RN is cofounder and chief nursing officer of Oath Care. Her experiences as a pediatric clinician, early childhood stress scientist, and mom deeply inform how she leads and builds in healthcare technology. In this episode we talk about Michelle’s career journey from pediatric nurse practitioner to healthcare startup founder — and what she’s learned along the way.
Love and Loss: A Journey Through Grief and Healing — Episode #204 with Marisa Renee Lee
Marisa Renee Lee is the author of Grief is Love: Living with Loss, a book that guides readers through the pain of loss and offers a unique perspective on what healing truly means. Together, Sarah and Marisa explore the complexities of grief, including the need to feel difficult emotions and the role of self care and supportive relationships in the healing process.
The Unsustainable Pressure of American Motherhood — Episode #201 with Jessica Grose
Jessica Grose is an opinion writer and journalist for The New York Times and a three-time author. Her first nonfiction book “Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood” is out December 6, 2022. In it, Jessica dives into the historical background of the unattainable pressures placed on mothers today.
The Wise Women’s Council Is Back for a Fall Cohort
Over the past five years, we’ve built a leadership incubator for women navigating both business and parenting. Apply to join us if you want to surround yourself with brilliant, powerful, curious parents.
Regret, Anxiety, Guilt, or Ambivalence: Are These Normal Feelings As A Parent?
The psychiatrist behind the matrescence TED talk explains the full range of feelings of pregnancy and parenting.
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Starting My Business Prepared Me For Parenting
Michelle Florendo learned early how much you can’t control.
Where Did My Brain Go?
Reflections on pandemic brain fog and the need to slow down without giving up entirely.
How to Think About Leadership During Times of Crisis
A leadership framework to guide how to show up for your team, community, and customers during times of crisis.
How The Patriarchy Takes Root In Your Mindset
The way we collectively talk about, think about, and treat women seeps into our own brains. As a result, many women internalize specific beliefs about their worth, value, and creativity. Here are three key ways the patriarchy takes root inside of your own mindset.
When Other Women Ask Me “So, Do You Work?”— Here’s What I Need To Say
Why do we ask women if they work? Domestic work is work—”do you work?” is such a weird question to be asking moms. Here’s why it’s a strange question, and what we aren’t admitting when we say it.
“There Is No Right or Wrong Way to Do This” — Alicia Jabbar on Becoming a Parent and Building a Business
Alicia Jabbar designs and delivers leadership programs for women working in male dominated industries. She joined us to share candidly what becoming a parent has been like, and how becoming a parent in the pandemic has affected her.
How Long Will Recovery Take?
How long will it take to recover from pandemic burnout, early parenting fatigue, or Covid? A massage therapist weighs in on what recovery looks like, and what you need to pay attention to.
Stop Juggling Too Much and ‘Drop the Ball,’ Says The Cru Founder Tiffany Dufu
How did we get to a place where women are expected to do it all? Leadership expert and author Tiffany Dufu shares out to drop the ball, let go of the guilt, and remove the pre-set expectations that hold women hostage.
This Mom Matched 3500 Parents to Give Them Childcare in the Pandemic
Helen Mayer, a mother of young twins, was in the midst of building her first company when the pandemic hit. The pandemic shut down her company and took away her childcare, leaving her the stay-at-home parent by default. She needed childcare to get a new job. So she started organizing parents together to create childcare swaps by matching parents who needed care with local stay-at-home parents able to provide extra childcare in the pandemic.
Context Switching Between “Parent” and “Professional” Modes Can Be Exhausting — Vanessa Van Edwards Can Help
One of the hardest things to do as a parent is switch back and forth into professional mode. It turns out that you can project confidence and charisma through specific skills, and I took a deep dive with best-selling author Vanessa Van Edwards on how to switch into professional mode to let your expertise and confidence shine through, even after a tiring day of parenting.
Doing It All Is Not The Right Goal
Trying to “do it all” will get in the way of you accomplishing what you really want to with your limited (and very precious) time. In WWC, we teach you skills around doing less, finding focus, and figuring out what to say no to.
WWC Is Back! Our Community to Support Women in Leadership — Episode #186
The Wise Women’s Council is back and accepting enrollments for our Class of 2022. We only open once per year for enrollment, so whether you’ve been a longtime listener or a brand-new listener, check out our leadership incubator and community for executive, entrepreneurial moms navigating both life and business at the same time.
Black History Month: 55 Books By Black Authors On Business, Entrepreneurship, Parenting, and Culture
Every few weeks I see new lists of the best business books, the top business books, and other essential readings lists for entrepreneurs. Quite often, the lists are heavily populated with the same authors, and are often made up of a majority of one specific demographic and background. If you only read books authored by rich, white, married men with ample support systems and buoyed by inter-generational wealth, you’ll get yourself into an echo chamber. Here are 44 amazing books by Black authors and Black entrepreneurs to add to your to-be-read pile.
The 2022 Wise Women’s Council Is Now Open for Applications
The Wise Women’s Council is our annual leadership incubator for high-impact women navigating the big (and little) moves that come with building a career, life, and family. We are now accepting applications for our 2022 class.