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Startup Parent

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Oct 19, 2022 • 1h 5min

Why Are Prenatal Nutrition Guidelines So Out of Date? (Lily Nichols, RDN)

#198 — Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietician and Nutritionist, a Certified Diabetes Educator, and the author of two best-selling books on pregnancy nutrition. Her first bestseller, Real Food for Gestational Diabetes, has helped tens of thousands of women manage the condition, and went on to influence nutrition policies internationally. Lily’s next book, Real Food for Pregnancy, became #1 in the Pregnancy and Childbirth category on Amazon.The problem with conventional policy and food guidelines for pregnant women can be summed up like this: the current recommendations for prenatal nutrition were estimates based on men’s bodies, not women’s. Early nutrition recommendations were adjusted mathematically for a smaller frame—and then modified again to account for fetal growth.This is… not great.In this interview (originally aired in 2018), Lily shares how she put these books together: she reviewed 934 studies on food and health, as well as her successful pilot programs that helped people cut gestational diabetes by half.Plus, we talk about the entrepreneurial path Lily took in her own life, how she figured out a “pieced together” childcare plan while writing her books, and why she decided to become an entrepreneur.This interview originally aired in April 2018.FULL SHOW NOTES: https://startupparent.com/043STARTUP PARENT NEWSLETTER: https://startupparent.com/newsletterTHE WISE WOMEN'S COUNCIL: https://startupparent.com/wwcDAD'S GROUP: https://startupparent.com/dads
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Oct 5, 2022 • 53min

What's The Deal With All These Pregnancy Rules? (Emily Oster)

#197 — Never drink coffee! Don’t have sushi! And cats are dangerous! Getting pregnant means entering into a world of advice and fear about all the things that could potentially go wrong. But what does the data say? Are these “pregnancy rules” based on truth or myth? When economist Emily Oster got pregnant, she also got curious about the advice she was getting. Some recommendations were based on her age alone, and sometimes she found it difficult to get any answers at all. So, she started digging into the data. Eventually, Emily’s research became Expecting Better: Why Conventional Pregnancy Wisdom is Wrong—and What You Really Need to Know, a book about how to make your own decisions, the things that matter most when it comes to pregnancy, and why it’s not so easy as just making blanket rules for everyone. Emily Oster is a highly-respected economist and professor at Brown University. Her research interests range from development and health economics to research design and experimental methodology. Emily’s work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the bestseller SuperFreakonomics, and FiveThirtyEight, and more. This interview originally aired in October 2019. FULL SHOW NOTES: https://startupparent.com/080 STARTUP PARENT NEWSLETTER: https://startupparent.com/newsletter THE WISE WOMEN'S COUNCIL: https://startupparent.com/wwc DAD'S GROUP: https://startupparent.com/dads
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Sep 21, 2022 • 1h 6min

Why Period Health Matters More Than You Think (Lisa Hendrickson-Jack)

#196 — What do you really know about your menstrual cycle—and where did that information come from? Young girls and women are often taught about menstrual cycles in relationship to two things: periods and pregnancy. That is, don't get pregnant! And also, periods are gross.  This is such limited and almost useless information that doesn't support overall health and wellbeing. Plus, pills are often prescribed as a blanket solution to fix irregular cycles, alter heavy periods, or manage symptoms.  Then, many women are flummoxed when they come off the pill after years or decades of use to find the old problems return immediately. The symptoms are only hidden by the regulating power of the pill, not resolved. In this episode, we look back at our conversation from Episode #108 with Lisa Hendrickson-Jack where we talk about fertility, menstruation, and the vital signs of our bodies. Lisa is the author of The Fifth Vital Sign: Master Your Cycles & Optimize Your Fertility. She is a certified fertility awareness educator and a holistic reproductive health practitioner. She teaches women how to chart their menstrual cycles for natural birth control, for conception and for monitoring your overall health. Her book, The Fifth Vital Sign is all about why your cycle is one of your vital signs in your body if you are a woman and how it can play a powerful tool in diagnosing and healing our bodies. In this episode we talk about:  Optimizing your fertility as the gateway to healing your body. Being a medical advocate for yourself: why it’s extremely difficult and also crucial to your long-term well-being.  The idea that in any examining room there are two experts: the doctor, who is the expert in a field of medicine, and the patient, who is the expert in their body and their experience.  How a family history of painful periods, fibroids, and hysterectomies led her to seek out cycle charting from an early age. Lisa debunks the myth that regular ovulation is only important when you want children, because we need to recognize that the menstrual cycle is part of our entire biology and physiology. She presents an evidence-based approach to fertility awareness and menstrual cycle optimization.  How the body is seen as low—base, even!—and unpredictable. That means that men and women have been culturally conditioned not to experience life through our bodies. This becomes a bigger problem for birthing and postpartum women, who can experience the trauma of birth itself and then can compound that damage by feeling like they can’t or shouldn’t listen to their bodies reaction to trauma in the wake of birth.  By only revisiting our cycles when we decide to try to conceive, we miss out on the opportunity to come into deep understanding with our bodies and to heal ourselves rather than mask symptoms. Today, we get to talk to Lisa Hendrickson-Jack about how in taking the time to chart, learn about and understand our cycles, we can not only optimize our fertility but gain crucial information about our bodies. Join us as we talk about the menstrual cycle, fertility, and the opportunities we all have to learn more about our bodies simply by paying closer attention to them. FULL SHOW NOTES: https://startupparent.com/108 STARTUP PARENT NEWSLETTER: https://startupparent.com/newsletter THE WISE WOMEN'S COUNCIL: https://startupparent.com/wwc
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Sep 14, 2022 • 10min

Surround Yourself With Brilliant, Powerful, Curious Parents

#195 — The Wise Women's Council is back this October 2022 and now accepting enrollments for our Fall Cohort. This is our first-ever winter cohort! Applications close October 12, 2022 this year. Apply at startupparent.com/wwc. Over the past five years, we’ve built a leadership incubator for women navigating both business and parenting. What started as a small group circle has blossomed into an incredible program for mid-career and executive women navigating the next moves in their lives. “This is a landing place of brilliance amongst the chaotic backdrop of parenting and working,” alumni Alicia Jabbar described it. “I loved everything about the program. SKP is brilliant at holding space, providing sparks for connections, and letting go of any attachment of a plan in service of meeting the group where they are and what they are needing.” “I was surprised at how deeply I got to know these women over the course of the year,” another alumni, Lee Price said. “ I found companionship, friendship, business support, cheerleaders, and new ideas. I tell so many people now that they should join WWC!” When I built Startup Parent, I began by interviewing hundreds of women for the podcast, and then later for our leadership programs. What I heard from hundreds of women was how unbelievably lonely it was to be at the intersection of leadership and entrepreneurship AND parenting. As a mom, it felt isolating to be juggling both work and career, and finding time to meet other parents in a similar space felt next to impossible. So we set out to help these tired moms make friends. IN THIS EPISODE: How the program is structured, and our rhythm of learning. What we do differently than other leadership incubators. Why people keep coming back year over year. A sneak peek at some of the guest teachers we invite. What our alumni are saying about the program. If you're looking to join a supportive, expansive, brilliant group of women founders, leaders & business creatives, then check out The Wise Women's Council. We only open a few weeks each year for new members to join.⁠
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Feb 18, 2022 • 17min

The Wise Women's Council, A Community to Support Women in Leadership

#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.  Applications close March 1, 2022 this year. Apply at startupparent.com/wwc Last year's Wise Women's Council was amazing. Full stop. Here's what some of our alumni have said: "It made me feel seen and less alone."⁠ "What I didn't expect was just how expansive WWC was for me. The people I met, what I learned both about myself and the world – it truly expanded what I thought was possible about working parenthood."⁠ "WWC brings these incredible women together, and you form relationships over 9 months that approximate the closeness of many-years-long friendships. You learn things about yourself that you didn't know before. You unlock ways of understanding the world outside of where you were before"⁠ "There is no way to describe what it feels like to be validated. So much of being a women and more so a mom makes one feel invisible. In this space I felt seen and heard by really smart, funny, and fearless parents."⁠ ⁠ 👆 THIS is what the alumni from WWC have said about what The Wise Women's Council is like. I didn't edit their words or tell them what to say. ⁠ If you're looking to join a supportive, expansive, brilliant group of women founders, leaders & business creatives, then check out The Wise Women's Council. We only open once a year for applications to join.⁠ APPLY HERE → www.startupparent.com/wwc⁠ 📌 Our application deadline is March 1, 2022.  The program runs March 28 - Nov 3, 2022.
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Sep 20, 2021 • 1h 22min

The First Year of Parenting: What I Wish I’d Known (Vanessa Van Edwards)

#185 — Vanessa Van Edwards learned right away that being an expert in behavioral science did not translate into innate parenting know-how. An author, speaker, and lead investigator with Science of People, Vanessa first appeared on Episode #96 of Startup Parent. She returned for Episode #104, in which she busted some myths about the first weeks of parenthood. Now, she’s opening up about the first year, explaining that while some phases do indeed “go by so fast,” others can feel like a slog, but telling parents that it goes by so fast is not, well, helpful. We dig into the nitty-gritty of the first year of parenting, what surprised us, what we wish we’d known, and the milestones most parenting books miss. We also talk about miscarriage, and Vanessa also speaks honestly about the experience of having a miscarriage at eight weeks, and the physicality of it—many people talk about the emotional experience, but she wasn’t prepared for how long it would take, and what her body would go through in the experience. Tune in to this episode to hear Vanessa’s take on what the first year of parenting was like for her, how it affected her perspective on work and friendships, and also how the pandemic (and parenting) might also be an opportunity for a fresh start. Episodes mentioned:  Episode #96, our first interview with Vanessa on Startup Parent.  Episode #104, in which she busted some myths about the first weeks of parenthood.
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Jun 24, 2021 • 1h 4min

Writing About Your Family on Twitter: Where’s the Line? (James Breakwell)

#184 — Growing up, James Breakwell never had to think about what jobs he wasn’t allowed to pursue. That changed when he had kids. As the father of four girls — one of whom recently said she wants to be a construction worker, and another who asked if she could be the Pope — he’s had to put himself in the shoes of the females surrounding him at home. As an author and internet personality behind the popular Twitter account @XplodingUnicorn, James is best known for his viral tweets depicting hilarious snippets of conversations with his daughters. In this interview with our first startup dad, he gets real about how he navigates building a public persona based on his family life — including how much to share and what to withhold. Full show notes at startupparent.com/184
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May 10, 2021 • 56min

How Brands Mess Up Marketing To Women (Amber Anderson)

#183 — Creative dynamo Amber Anderson is the founder of Tote & Pears, a branding and marketing agency with a female focus. For her, becoming an entrepreneur was about more than the business. It was about creating possibilities for her family, establishing a set of core values for her family, and aligning her business values and family needs holistically. We first interviewed Amber on Episode #029 all about the birth of her son and her business. We invite her back to talk about what marketing to women looks like, how brands and agencies can better understand their target audience, and how to build a business that works for you and your family. Tune in to this episode to hear returning guest Amber describe how she aligns family values with work values, the rebranding of her marketing to become female-focused, and why she is committed to keeping work and home life intertwined (while keeping her work weeks around 40-50 hours). Full show notes at startupparent.com/183
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Apr 26, 2021 • 1h 4min

Is The Pandemic Messing Up Our Kids? (Dr. Courtney Bolton, PhD)

#182 — How badly is this year, this pandemic, messing up our kids and us, as parents? Dr Courtney Bolton has a PhD in counseling clinical and school psychology, and she is a parenting coach focused on evidence-based strategies for the development of kids. She's a mom of four and she helps parents make contextual, intentional parenting decisions that work for them and their families. I asked her to join me to talk about parenting, stress, and the pandemic. In this episode, we talk about:  How to help little ones manage their emotional and mental understanding of all that's changed — and specific tools for how to talk to our kids across age groups. How to help parents deal with all of the stress and life changes that are happening. Stress strategies for dealing with the coming months and not calling it "new normal" but really naming what it is and what's happening. The grief and loss that's happening in so many different ways in our homes, including the loss of income, work, career, meaning, purpose, and time. How to talk to kids about loss and grief. The 6 P's framework she has for recentering and adjusting as a parent. Also, because we're in a pandemic, you'll hear our kids in the background, and we have to move offices to make this interview work. This was recorded at the end of last summer, but like the music, better late than never. Browse all episodes at startupparent.com/podcast or check out the complete show notes at startupparent.com/182
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Apr 12, 2021 • 1h 21min

Designing For Resilience (with co-host Cary Fortin)

#181 - Welcome back to co-host Cary Fortin! We're back for another friendship episode, where Sarah and Cary talk about business design, parenting stress, and dealing with the pandemic. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of The Wise Women's Council and the Class of 2021, and the ways that we think about community design and creating strong containers for personal growth. If you haven't heard the story of how the Wise Women's Council started, listen in as Sarah describes what it took to create a program while pregnant with her second kiddo (and with a toddler at home). Business as usual wouldn't work, so she thought differently about what a mastermind community might look like, and how to bring a network of teachers in so that she could run a program while also taking leave in the middle of her own program. In this episode: How too much ego can get you into trouble if you design a business where you (and your personality) has to be at the center of the business. How we are scaling the Wise Women's Council and what it looks like to grow a program and a community while maintaining intimacy. The container and the structure set-up, and the work it takes, to create truly intimate and honest conversational space. What many business owners miss when trying to create strong communities. Some of the lessons learned from running masterminds, retreats, and events for over a decade, and how to create a great program and experience. This episode is a casual conversation with lots of sideways chatter and banter between long-term friends Cary and Sarah. We also have episodes with guest experts and speakers, but this one includes everything that friends talk about (including adult language), so listen with headphones if you have kids around. Browse all episodes at startupparent.com/podcast or check out the complete show notes at startupparent.com/181

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