Ep 49: A Conversation About Courage with Sage Hobbs and Julie Neale

Honored to share this special episode of the Mother’s Quest Podcast featuring a conversation I had with author and coach Sage Hobbs as a guest on her show, Naked Conversations. I loved all the themes that we discussed and wanted to introduce more of you to Sage’s work, so I’m excited and appreciative that she gave me permission to share in this way.

This is the last of a series of previously released conversations that I’m bringing to you this summer as I’ve focused on time with my children and transitioning them to school. In two weeks, I’ll be back with a brand new conversation, so make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast so that new episode comes straight to you.

Sage and I cover so many topics in this episode, from personal challenges, to losing ourselves in motherhood, to the power of storytelling to feel our common humanity, to activism.  Underneath them all is this idea of defining courage for ourselves, exploring how we’ve been expanding our leadership in more courageous ways, and how this helps us pursue a fuller expression of who we are.

The theme around courage is particularly resonant for me right now, as I’ve been stepping into new territory advocating for two police accountability bills being deliberated on in Sacramento, and after I helped to bring a powerful play called The (M)others, of mothers who have lost loved ones to police brutality, to Sacramento just last week.

It’s also resonant because in their own ways, my children have been stepping into more courage. Starting a brand new school, especially when you’re differenty-wired, has required each of them to move out of their comfort zone and hold a positive picture of what’s possible for them.

My oldest son Ryan and I went on another milestone hike together, where he re-committed to not letting fear stop him from living his YOLO life.  My youngest Jacob and I have been doing some affirmations together as part of our Miracle Morning Challenge happening in the facebook group right now, and he chose this affirmation from my list as his own, “Like an alchemist, I transform fear into curiosity and excitement.”

I hope this episode gives you an opportunity to reflect on courage in your life, and to find some inspiration to transform any fear you or your children have at this time of year, into curiosity and excitement for yourselves.

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Definitions of courage (one from my 14 year old!)
• What it means to live an E.P.I.C. life
• The moments that moved me to activism for police accountability
• Using growth mindset to explore challenging topics
• Leadership and permission
• My incredible story of two birds trapped in my house, and their timely lesson
• The Women Podcasters in Solidarity Initiative

Resources Mentioned:

• Making the World a Better Place, One Leader at a Time with Rachel Rosen
• The Power of Healing in Community with Sera Snyder
• This is Not the Life I ordered
• Planting Seeds for Mother’s Quest
• Courageous Conversations about Race with Nicole Lee
• Intersectionality and the Age of the New Heroine with Elizabeth Cronise McLaughlin
• Living Out Loud with Jenjii Hysten
• The blog post about the two birds
• Women Podcasters in Solidarity

This Episode is Dedicated by:

Rachel Rosen, a seasoned facilitator, leadership coach, inclusion strategist, and speaker, and the Founder of SPARK For Humanity, the interactive, community-building card game where everyone belongs.

She dedicates this episode to Jillian Roth of Mama J Consulting and Anjela Ford of Anjelabundance.

Learn more about Rachel:

• www.rachelvrosen.com
• www.spark4leadership.com
• www.spark4community.com
• On Facebook SPARK For Community and SPARK Leadership​
• On Instagram @spark4community, @spark4leadership &@sparkapcommUNITY
• Rachel’s Crowdfunding Campaign​

Learn More About Sage:

www.sagebhobbs.com Naked Conversations Podcast Sage’s Book Naked Communication Facebook @sagebhobbs and Instagram @sagebhobbs

This Week’s Challenge:

Reflect on your own definition of courage and share it in the Mother’s Quest Facebook Group. Explore using the affirmation “Like an Alchemist, I transform fear into curiosity and excitement” for yourself and your children as you start the new school year.

Announcements:

Fall Clarity Session Special

In our family right now, we’re getting adjusted to two big milestones. Jacob has started kindergarten and Ryan is in high school. To start the school year well, I made sure to invest in myself to reflect on what matters and get grounded, and I know that helped them to start well. In honor of this critical time of year, I’m offering a special rate for a 90 minute clarity coaching session and would love to support you, and your children, to begin the year mindfully. Go to https://mothersquest.as.me/FallClaritySessionSpecial to book your session by the end of August for this special rate. Wishing you and yours an ease-filled and intentional start of this school year.

Support The (M)others and Two Key Police Accountability Bills

In CA, lawmakers are deliberating right now on two key police accountability bills, SB-1421 and AB-931. In advance of that deliberation, I worked with Nikki Yeboah, the producer of a powerful play called (M)others, to bring forward the stories of those who’ve lost loved ones to police brutality to the Sacramento community. The showings were powerful and we’ve decided to bring the play to other cities in CA, those with the highest rates of police-involved shootings. Visit gofundme.com/slash take-this-play-to-senate to learn more about this effort and how you can support. We also need your support to call CA lawmakers and tell them to vote “yes” on these two bills. Find additional background on the bills and a call script for here https://www.indivisible.org/resource/police-reform-california/.

Acknowledgements:

A big THANK YOU to our “patrons” for helping to bring these conversations to myself and other mothers through financial and/or in-kind support:

• Rachel Rosen
• Chandra Brooks
• Jen Simon
• Monisha Vasa
• Celia Ward-Wallace
• Vanessa Couto
• Desiree Adaway
• Rachel Steinman
• Katie Hanus
• Denise Barreto
• Sage B. Hobbs
• Samantha Nolan-Smith
• Jody Smith
• Emily Cretella
• Collette Flanagan
• Titilayo Tinubu Ali
• Carly Magnus Hurt
• Lizzy Russinko
• Suzanne Brown
• Mara Berns Langer
• Mallory Schlabach
• Katharine Earhart
• Jessica Kupferman
• Jen Jenkins Dohner
• Genese Harris
• Tonya Rineer
• Liane Louie-Badua
• Cristin Downs
• Erin Kendall
• Niko Osoteo
• Erik Newton
• Claire Fry
• Divya Silbermann
• Rachel Winter
• Caren and Debbie Lieberman
• Cameron Miranda
• Fran and David Lieberman
• Debbie and Alan Goore
• The Sustainable Living Podcast

Support the Podcast

If you’d like to make a contribution to Mother’s Quest to support Season Three of the Podcast and/or help provide coaching scholarships for mothers, follow this link to make a contribution.

If you would like to “dedicate” an upcoming episode to a special mother in your life, email me at julie@mothersquest.com

 

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Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).

Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at https://www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest/