#170 — We're back from "sabbatical" and heading into September after a big move. All of the things happening right now—a pandemic, job stress, health worries, lack of childcare, natural disasters, uncertainty about the future, an election year—can conspire to take a toll on our mental health.  Here's what's happening in my brain and mind, and how I'm seeing the effects of all of these stressors play out in my own life. (Hint: it took me an extra six takes to record this episode.)  If you're feeling this way, you're not alone. This is a struggle, and I've got a few tips for you to stay compassionate to yourself and help make all this stress just a little bit lighter.

#169 — In some mythical fantasy, we tell women that they can have it all and be it all if only they just work hard enough. Yes, you too can be a perfect mother, a lovely wife, and have a full-time career if only you just have the right productivity strategies, tools, and mindsets. Don't forget about self-care! Tiffany Dufu is here to burst the bubble of stressed-out mothers everywhere to talk about the reality of being a working parent. The author of "Drop The Ball," Tiffany's life and work is focused on leadership for women and girls. She's been named to Fast Company's League of Extraordinary Women, serves on the board for Girls Who Code, and is now the founder of TheCru, a networking and peer-to-peer group creator for people who need a cru. This interview was first recorded in 2017, but her message to ladies everywhere is more relevant than ever. It's time to drop the ball and really, really lower our expectations. Don't do the things that don't matter. I'll share a personal story: We didn't dress our kiddos in real clothes this whole summer. We just went with pajamas straight from day to night. For full show notes, sponsor information, and listener perks, go to startupparent.com/169.

#168 — 40% of American households believe that it is bad for society if mothers work. That mothers should not work. This is wild. Sexism is a global phenomenon, but in America, we have a unique maternal bias against women in the workforce, and as we watch the pandemic unfold, women are losing jobs at extraordinary rates. In 2017, we had Sarah Lacy, founder of Chairman Mom, previously the founder of Pando Daily and a journalist in tech, talk about her journey from thinking sexism was not really a thing to fierce feminist. Today, we're revisiting that conversation and taking a listen to how the world of work is extremely biased against women, especially mothers, and how many ways we've made the world of work (and parenting) harder on women. We're going to dig into why the patriarchy—aka men, especially white men at the mantle of an unequal power structure—is so bad, and why it's not okay to set up a system where some people live at the expense of other people's lives and rights. That's not okay. Join me as I go back and take a listen to this powerful episode. This episode is brought to you by Nanit, the only baby monitor you need. For full show notes, sponsor information, and listener perks, go to startupparent.com/168.

#167 — The advice around pregnancy and food is intense. Suddenly there are so many things to do and so much you need to pay attention to. Luckily we have Lily Nichols, prenatal nutritionist, registered dietician, and bestselling author of Real Food For Pregnancy to talk to us about what matters, and how to eat as healthy as possible for you and your kiddo. In this episode, she goes over how backward most prenatal nutrition advice really is (did you know that most dietary recommendations for females are just guesses based on male bodies?). She dug through 934 research studies to find what really matters to your metabolism and your health. Dig in, eat real food, and enjoy this episode with Lily Nichols. This episode was originally published in 2018, but we're re-broadcasting it because it's been one of our best-ever episodes, downloaded more than almost any other. Enjoy! This episode is brought to you by Splendid Spoon, a meal delivery service that creates whole, healthy, plant-based soups and smoothies. For full show notes, go to startupparent.com/167.

#166 — If you can be a parent, you can be an entrepreneur. We're back with our 2020 podcast tour looking at some of our all-time favorite episodes. If you missed it, this interview with Nicole Walters digs into all things money, growth, celebration, and entrepreneurship. She shares her overnight parenting journey (she adopted three kids all at once), her entrepreneurship path, and her secrets for getting rich and making your coin. This episode is brought to you by Nanit, the only baby monitor you need. For full show notes, go to startupparent.com/166.

#164 — It is hot, humid, and sticky here in New York City, and we're still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.  Every year I take a short sabbatical in August, and this year we're going to try to do a version of this, except we don't have childcare and there is so much uncertainty.  This year, the sabbatical looks like a brief break from the podcast, a short hiatus from the newsletters, and a few more slow-downs while we try to regroup as a family. Also, I'll update you on our move (we're moving!) and I've got an exciting announcement about the direction of Startup Pregnant and where we're going next.

#165 — Parenting is a 24/7 job, but we've found most employers treat it more like an extracurricular activity.  For the first episode of our best-of series, we're revisiting our podcast's very first interview (#002). This conversation about flexibility in the workplace, though, takes on new meaning right now. As we continue to blend work and motherhood amid this pandemic, the reality that today's workplace fails women and families on a regular basis grows ever more glaring.  In this episode, we hear from Annie Dean, then-co-CEO of Werk, a people-analytics platform on a mission to update company policies to reflect modern realities. She walks us through her realization that the 16-hour workdays and overnight travel she'd been so used to putting in pre-pregnancy were simply incompatible with her new role as a mother. In short, she faced a forced choice between career and care.  She saw how ambitious, high-performing women like herself were opting out of leadership pipelines — and out of the workforce, altogether — and it didn't make sense. By introducing low-cost, high-impact options for flexibility in the workplace, employers could hold onto this talent, all while increasing productivity, retention, and engagement across the entire team.  For too long, the idea of flexibility has been poorly defined and deemed a burden. The objectives of the employer and the needs of the employee don't have to be at odds, though. Annie predicts that companies eager to treat flexibility as a key strategic component will win the war on talent because they're dealing in a new currency their competitors are too afraid to embrace. This episode is brought to you by Nanit, the only baby monitor you need. For full show notes, go to startupparent.com/165.

#163 — What do you wish someone had told you about motherhood and being a CEO? Shama Hyder is a digital strategist, speaker, and bestselling author. She is the CEO of Zen Media, a global marketing and digital PR firm. She also has a 1-year old at home. She gives us an honest accounting of how much work motherhood takes, and how many people it takes to run her business and her team while at the helm of a 30-person award-winning digital strategy organization while also having a one-year old at home. She has been named the “Zen Master of Marketing” by Entrepreneur Magazine and the “Millennial Master of the Universe” by Fast Company. Shama has also been honored at both the White House and The United Nations as one of the top 100 young entrepreneurs in the country. As the CEO of Zen Media, she and her team help both B2B and B2C brands to make meaningful connections with the modern-day customer via influencer marketing, experiential and digital storytelling — and then turning those into bottom line results. In this conversation, we talk about how she got her start in business at the rise of social media. At that time major companies weren't paying attention—so she started her own company focused on the power of moments in galvanizing media attention. She also tells us honestly about her experience of motherhood and parenting, including: How it took a while for her to really fall in love with her kiddo and get to know them—it wasn't an instantaneous jolt, like she thought it would be. She's always been a night owl, working late and sleeping in late. Children? They get up early. After a few months with her newborn, she and her husband decided to figure out a way to make it so that they could still do do the night work they prefer. Today, they have a nanny who comes in at 7am and they (the parents) sleep in until 11am most days and work late, keeping their night owl schedules. Her plans for maternity leave, what she expected to do, what actually happened, and why there were differences. How she thinks about social media and content creation, and how she batches and repurposes things to get the most leverage for her online work. Get the show notes and episode sponsor at startuppregnant.com/164

#162 — When coronavirus first happened, many of us were adjusting to figuring out the shut down. How long would it last? Would this just be a week or two? What were the next steps? Then a month passed, then another month, and we realized we might be settling in for the long haul here. For some people, that meant adjusting to work-from home; for others, they were essential workers very much in the day-to-day work of fighting the virus. For many of you reading this blog and listening to the podcast, you have also been trying to figure out your birth plans. How do you give birth in a pandemic? What do you plan for, when everything keeps changing? Giving birth in a pandemic It seems that every week, the guidelines are changing. The stress on birthing mothers and parents is unparalleled. So many of you are figuring all of this out in real time, and I know it's nothing like what you'd hoped for or planned for. Many of you are also wondering if now is still a good time to get pregnant and whether your family plans still make sense. All of us are still asking: what will this year bring? All of this reminded me of a friend of mine, whose story I heard about last year. She went through a challenging birth situation that in some ways, parallels what people are going through now. No, she didn't give birth in a pandemic—but she did have her family get the flu the week before her due  and she had to be quarantined from her mother, her husband, and her little son and figure out how to give birth without the two people she wanted to be in the room with her. Today we get to meet Megan Hale and hear her story. For full show notes, episode sponsors, and quotes:  www.startuppregnant.com/162

#161 — A few weeks ago, Tara McMullin invited me onto her podcast to talk at length about mastermind programs—how we run them, how the pricing breaks down for each tier, how they're organized, how many people are in them, and more. This episode is a very detailed, behind-the-scenes look at both of our online programs and how we've designed our mastermind communities. Tara McMullin runs What Works, a podcast, community, and network for small business owners. She has three different levels of her community program, and in this episode, we both walk you through the pricing, offering, and design of the programs and how we've set them up. In this episode, we talk about: What masterminds are for, and who joins them. The invisible role of the facilitator, and the specific tools and structures we both use to design for better connection and depth. Why it's less about having "the right answer" delivered to you by an expert or a leader, and more about having people ask you the right questions, and follow-up with you to see why you're not doing the work you say you want to be doing. Why it's so hard as a small business owner to find people like you, to challenge you, to inspire you, and to truly support you in your vision of what you're trying to build. How we structure our sessions and our weeks for the best support and outcomes. Other resources:  What Works Episode 134 What Works Episode 279 Startup Pregnant Episode 37 Full show notes: visit startuppregnant.com/161 for all the quotes, excerpts, and sponsors for this episode