#148 — During times of stress, everyone responds differently. Some of us laugh, some of us go into denial, some of us get agitated, some of us panic, some of us get to work. If you’re feeling a bit all over the place, I want to talk about how stress affects each of us differently and why these reactions are coming up. As you start to see how we each respond to stress, you can also start to see how the weird ways your coworkers and partners are reacting might actually be a perfectly normal response… it’s just different than how you respond to stress. This is another brief(ish) episode recorded from our studio in New York City during the March 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of this recording, my family and I are in self-isolation in New York City and we have not left the apartment in 14 days. It’s been interesting, to say the least! You will hear noises of my children in the background, and yes, there are times when I completely lose my train of thought. This is the new normal right now, and I’m right there alongside all of you. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, fatigued, panicked, irritated, inspired, or like you need to crack inappropriate jokes, you’re not alone. Feelings are big right now and get magnified during times of stress. A few tips on dealing with feelings are: Listen to them and acknowledge them. Know that they don’t want to stay forever, they just want to be heard right now. Describe your feelings as physical symptoms—describe where they are in your body and what your body does with those feelings. Start a journaling practice—it can be so incredibly soothing and helpful for the mind. Try a body scan meditation. Most of all, know that your feelings are a normal reaction to stress and that you don’t have to DO anything right now to get rid of them. You can simply feel them and seek to understand them. RESOURCES: Show notes for this episode can be found at startuppregnant.com/148  Beautiful and important article on grief and discomfort from Harvard Business Review: That Discomfort You're Feeling Is Grief.

#147 — Don't forget to exhale through all of this. If you're tired, scared, stressed, overworked, or feeling all the feelings, this episode is for every one of us. It's a short method to help catch your breath, tap into your body, and exhale away some of the tension. This episode was recorded on Saturday, March 21st 2020 in New York City in the midst of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic happening around the world. But that's not the focus of the episode—the point of. this short moment is to breathe, together. I'll walk you through one of my favorite practices that I use when I'm tired, anxious, or stressed. It's a pattern of breath called 4-7-8. Please note: if you're currently pregnant or think you might be, be mindful to do the breath work without the retention (holding), and tune into your body as you do it to see how it feels for you. Sending you all a big, virtual hug.  SHOW NOTES and other resources can be found at startuppregnant.com/147

#146 — The next few days, weeks, and months are going to challenge us—a lot. Actually, the next twelve to eighteen months are going to be quite the ride, but let's just start here with where we are, today. Having everything suddenly shift and having our lives disrupted this much is a huge deal. How can we process and deal with it? In this episode I go over seven things to keep your mental sanity amidst all of this. This is just a starting point; feel free to write your own list, and stay kind, stay compassionate, and stay sane—as much as possible. Thinking about all of you amidst this. 1. Take it one day at a time. Things are changing a lot, but they will happen one day at a time. Take today and breathe, and make sure you’re doing things for yourself today, right now, too. Take a minute to rest, take a hot bath, let your eyes close at the end of the day. Pay attention to what’s going right. 2. Limit your time on the news. Staying glued to the television screens or digital devices won’t help. Pick a time to check in—maybe even a few times per day—and then pick times to put your phone down, put your computer away, and to let yourself do something other than pay attention to the news. Staying informed is important, getting stressed and worked up is not helpful. Things will change every 24 hours, but within those 24 hours, you can set time aside to work, to sleep, to exercise, and to care for yourself. Being on social media or new every moment will add more stress. 3. Keep working. The world needs you, your work, and your creative energy. Yes, we need to adapt and shift and be flexible. You can do this. Remind yourself that you are brilliant, wise, creative, and strong. Don’t stop working because we’re in crisis; know that each day you’re able to show up means you can help that many more people. 4. Take action. Taking action helps. Take action for yourself, for your loved ones, and for the people you aren’t yet connected to. The ripple effects are real, and they are important. 5. Focus on what you can do. Spend time on the areas that you can control, and the part of your world where you can make a difference. Tiny actions, done collectively, make a huge difference for everyone. If all you can do today is drink eight glasses of water and go to sleep, you are helping everyone else by taking care of yourself. Keep going. Drink water! 6. Know that you are resilient and adaptive. You will find ways through this, and you will tap into a strength you might not have experienced yet. When you fall down or feel frustrated, reach out to a friend. Our power is in our interconnectedness and our strength of spirit. You can do this. Remind yourself that you are brilliant, wise, creative, and strong. 7. There will still be moments of beauty in crisis. We will witness some of the most beautiful acts of kindness and humanity amidst this. Here for you. We can get through this together. RESOURCES Share this episode and get show notes at startuppregnant.com/146 Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pregnancy, Parenting, Birth — find all of our resources on our online resource hub: startuppregnant.com/coronavirus Free webinar for pregnant and birthing moms: navigating the uncertainty. startuppregnant.com/webinar

#145 — Hey everyone, my family is staying home now for a while, and that means we are working from home with two kids and two parents no longer in school or at work. We're preparing for the coming weeks and the disruptions that are already happening in light of the spread of Coronavirus. In this episode, I'll share what we're doing to prepare for Coronavirus, what social distancing is and why it's important, and a few steps you can take to help not just yourselves, but your community. If you have any questions, email us at hello (at) startup pregnant (dot) com. RESOURCES MENTIONED: Coronavirus: an overview of what we are dealing with. Complete episode show notes can be found at www.startuppregnant.com/145 

#144 — Should You Take That Online Course? How To Get Your Money’s Worth When Doing Virtual Courses You see a shiny new course offering on the Internet and then you visit the checkout page and you’re like, “Oh! This looks so good. I think I need this. I don’t know. Do I need this? Oh, my goodness! How do I decide whether or not to buy this? I just don't know. What should I learn next? I want to learn all the things.” But HOW DO YOU DECIDE? If this sounds familiar to you, you’re just like me. Online courses and new projects and learning make me so excited and I LOVE finding new things to learn. I have so many books stored up on the wait list on my Libby app, I have a pile of things in my checkout carts, and I have a wait list of courses I want to take next after I finish my current ones. So, let’s dig in. How should you decide what to take and what to skip? Do you have a method for evaluating when a course is a good fit and when to pass? There are so many awesome things out there to learn, to do, to grow. I often have shiny object syndrome when it comes to seeing all these beautiful online courses out there and digital opportunities for growth. I go through this process all the time. What I wanted to do today on this mini episode is talk to you about my decision-making process for how I decide what to learn next, how decide whether or not a course is valuable, and the tools you can use to know when you should take action on it. I love education and I love learning. I am a loud out and proud geek and nerd, and that's where I stand on this issue. With that as my perspective, how do you decide which courses to take and how do you not get into the trap of trying to take them all and do them all and then end up with a library of 600 unread books and 60 unfinished courses? That's the subject of today's episode, so let's get into it. FULL SHOW NOTES Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/144.

#143 — Overwhelmed, Scared, Exhausted—A Note For You When we do things we’ve never done before, it can be crazy hard. Parenting made me feel overwhelmed, scared, and exhausted—all at the same time. Today I want to offer a short note of perspective, alongside some encouragement. I know you’re probably in the thick of it, and what you’re doing isn’t easy. Keep going. For me, whenever I get overwhelmed and bogged down by the magnitude of what I’m trying to do, I try to look back and remember how much I’ve grown already, and how much I’m actually expanding my capacity over time. Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/143.

#142 — Do you ever struggle with setting boundaries or saying no? Let’s talk about what to do when people ask you for things that you don’t want to do or you don’t have time to do. How do you handle the influx of requests in your inbox, or the deluge of “pick your brain” requests from family and friends?  Boundaries are something I could talk about for so long, but the first thing I want to do is share my favorite phrase that works everywhere. I’ve got a script that you can use to say no to requests for your time, energy, or attention. Whether it’s family members, business owners, friends, colleagues, or any other unsolicited requests for your time, these magic words will help get you out of almost every situation.  Today’s episode is just about ten minutes long, and it’s all about the two key phrases that you can use to say no. Because it’s important to learn how to say no.  Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/142

#140 — How to design and facilitate group programs. In today’s episode, we talk all about the ways I think about building mastermind programs, facilitating community, and bringing people together. Yes, I’ve overthought all of it—to the tiniest degree. In this episode, we have a really fun question I am excited to geek out about. We are going to dig into the Wise Women's Council and the year-long membership that I created, how I designed it, why I designed it the way that I did, and how I thought about the membership model. This specific question that I got is: “How did you decide on the model for your membership and have you been in other programs like this structured in the same way?” I’m excited to talk about this because I like to overthink things like this. I get really geeky about community design and creating really good containers for people and then testing them. I have been hosting mastermind programs for last five or six years, and one of the things that I like to do is to figure out and really test and tweak each year to make it better and better. Today, we’ll talk about the pieces that make it work, the components that make a mastermind or community program great, and how to setup the right infrastructure. I have been in things that have worked amazingly well and I have been in things that have fallen flat on their face. Each time, I observe and I take notes and I think about it and I say, “Okay. What worked really well there and what didn't work really well and how can we combine these elements to create the next container?” I hope you enjoy my iterative approach and hearing about all of the lessons I’ve learned so far in building mastermind programs. Take this, build your own, join one, or find a community space (or three!) to call home. This is a full-length preview of our new podcast: Ask Sarah. Many of you know that we just launched a second podcast last Fall — Ask Sarah: The Podcast — a show where I go deep into your life, my life, and everything in between. This podcast isn’t just about my life, although you are welcome to ask me anything you’d like. This show is a place where you can ask me for my feedback, my opinion, and my strategy on whatever challenge or puzzle you’re currently facing. We’re sharing one of our latest Ask Sarah Episodes here as a preview on The Startup Pregnant Podcast so you can listen in.  FULL SHOW NOTES Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/140.

#139 — Lately I’ve been fielding a lot of questions from people about what to expect in the shift from non-parenting to the parenting world. Personally, I find it really challenging when people smile at you and say things like, “Wait and see,” or “You’ll get it when you become a parent.” No, thanks—please tell me now! So for this episode, I decided to dive straight into the daily tangle that is the parenting logistics required of managing small humans. It is in these daily nuances—and the morning pitter patter of tiny feet—that our work lives and our careers begin to explode. But I don’t think it’s parenting that’s the problem. I think that we’re suffering from an urban design problem, from a lack of steady and consistent child care options, from a radical change in the makeup of what families look like, and from a work world that has slowly encroached to take up nearly all of our available hours yet pay us less over time. No wonder it’s not working. If you feel like parenting is driving you insane, or the commute to schools are making you cross-eyed, or if you hear another snide remark from a colleague about how you’re not devoted enough to your job, this episode is for you. IN THIS EPISODE WE COVER: The nitty-gritty of the morning routines, the logistics of childcare, commutes, and the after-school routines. Why school schedules are such a logistical nightmare. What’s changed about the American family and why having two working parents changes the game. What the work world is asking for, and why it’s designed based on the “Ideal Worker”—A.K.A. a child-free, single, unobstructed male. Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/139.

#138 — Why does my kid keep getting sick? In the first few years of having kids, it can seem like the snotty, runny noses are never ending. In a way, that’s true. Young children are building their immune systems, and in doing so, they are dealing with all the colds and viruses going around. They get sick a lot. Whether it’s in the younger years because they are at daycare, or the older years when they hit kindergarten, almost every parent I know says there is just a long season—about a year and a half—where their kids get cold after cold and seem to be a giant germ factory. Toddlers are a giant germ factory On this episode, I dive into my best strategies for keeping colds at bay, and the tools we use to manage the bugs when they do inevitably hit our household. My favorite tip? If you have older kids, have them change their clothes (or at least just their shirt) and wash their hands thoroughly when they get home from daycare. That toddler shirt is filled with grime, snot, and boogers and other kids’ sneezes. We adopted this trick when we had our second child, and it helped cut the spread of toddler germs down a ton. Listen in for my time-tested ways to keep the germs away, why we’re “super boring” in the winter and sleep a ton, and what we do when the colds do catch hold (because they do)—our portable steam inhaler and neti-pot are two of our favorite winter friends. Good luck, parents. It’s germ season, and winter can be rough. If you have extra sick days at your work with young kids, or you can slow down your work pace through winter, do it. No need to be a superhero with a tiny one at home. You already are a superhero as a working parent, and it’s okay to just do a “good enough” job right now. STREAMLINE YOUR BUSINESS — MINIBOOK Want to simplify your business—or your life? After the birth of my first kid, I was exhausted and overwhelmed, and my current systems weren’t working. So I got out my pen and paper, wrote down everything I was doing, and cut half of it off my list. How’d I do this? By identifying the things that are the most important for business revenue, and deferring the non-essential items until later. Now I’ve got a short book walking you through the process, with key questions that help you get clarity and find a way to breathe again. Download the book at startuppregnant.com/minibooks. Here’s to small moments of sanity. We all need it! THE WISE WOMEN’S COUNCIL 2020 IS NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS Want to be part of the magic that is gathering together with smart, talented, wise business women? The 2020 Wise Women’s Council is now open for enrollment. Early bird applications are open through January 20th, and the program kicks off in March. Yes, we want you—all of you in your messy, imperfect, parenting-business-what-am-I-doing-madness. Apply here. FULL SHOW NOTES Get the complete show notes with episode quotes, photos, and time stamps at http://www.startuppregnant.com/138.