The Boss Mom Podcast

There’s nothing like walking into our homes and feeling like they’re truly ours, and that in every nook and cranny, our identities are apparent. We all have unique personalities, quirks, stories and styles, but so many of us don’t see those things reflected in our spaces, and that affects our wellbeing.   How do we bring our stories and lifestyles into how we arrange and decorate our homes? Can we take control of the clutter so that we feel calm in our spaces?   In this episode, certified Interior Designer and an entrepreneur, Jessica Velazquez talks about how to catapult your inner designer and decorate our homes with confidence.   For a home to be inspiring, it doesn’t have to be perfect, look like a furniture store or an Instagram influencer’s home. It’s a house where you walk in and you can see who lives there. -Jessica Velazquez    3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   Why it’s possible to have impostor syndrome when it comes to our homesHow do we build our confidence to decorate our homes the way we want? How to deal with clutterWhen we have young children, we often feel like there’s no point decorating because the house will get messy anyway. Can we change this? Why there’s no such thing as a one size fits all room designWhy do we have to stop trying to decorate to a specific style and use our lifestyles as the departure point of decorating our homes instead?    Guest Bio   Jessica Velazquez is a certified Interior Designer and an entrepreneur. After graduating in Toronto, she worked in Panama combining design and real estate. In Canada, she founded Interiors by Jessica and uses her innovative Threefold Design Map to help her clients and students strategize their dreams, beat decor fatigue, and avoid budget regrets. As a firm believer that our well-being is inseparable from our environment, Jessica created “The 9 Limiting Beliefs Sabotaging Our Home-Dreams” and leads the virtual movement Self-Care Begins At Home. She is on a mission to empower others to design spaces that take care of us and set us up for success.   For more information, head to https://www.pinstoreality.com and follow @interiors_by_jessica on Instagram.

Many people don’t consider themselves creative by any measure of the word, but the truth is, creativity is something we’re all born with. If we tap into and nurture that part of ourselves, it can actually help us and our businesses thrive.   Why is it so important to understand creativity within ourselves and how our brain works? How can we hone this asset and extract value from it? How can we equip our creativity, and what are some of the things that lock it up?   In this episode, creator of Business School for Artists, Fiona Valentine joins me to discuss the creative process, what it means to have a creative mindset and why creativity plays a valuable role in both our personal and professional lives.   There are so many things that are creative that we don’t actually recognize they are. -Fiona Valentine   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   The value of creativityCreativity is about understanding the way our brain works. How can this help us understand ourselves better as a whole? How to find your creativityThe creative process differs from person to person. How do we figure out what works for us? Developing and understanding our creativityWhat are some of the things that hinders our creativity? How can we develop creativity within ourselves?   Guest Bio Business coach and artist Fiona Valentine believes all of us are creative. Her signature coaching program Business School for Artists is designed to help artists make money from their art even if they've never sold any of their work before. She's also a certified Nurture to Convert Society Coach helping women move into creative freedom in their business so content creation flows more freely. Her signature program Business School for Artists is designed to help artists make money from their art, even if they've never sold any of their work before. Find out more at Business School for Artists For more information, visit https://www.fionavalentine.com/ Find Fiona on Instagram @fionavalentineartist

A lot of times, once we reach our goals, we want to do more. The list of things we want to achieve keeps growing, and new goals take the place of old ones.   That’s perfectly natural. Our goals don’t have to be set destinations - they can be rolling milestones toward creating what we want.   Why do we yearn for more, and why do we grapple with deciding what to do? Can trial and error help when it comes to doing more, and how do we deal with failure?   In this episode life coach, podcast host and practicing attorney Tracey Coates joins me to discuss what it means to do more, why it differs from person to person and how we can embrace failure and use it as a currency for success.   You’ve got to know what the sacrifices are and be willing to make them. -Tracey Coates   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   Why we have to be prepared to make sacrificesHow do we know what’s worth suffering for? How to reframe what it means to failEmbracing failure can be scary, but it is also the currency for success. How can we embrace failure and learn from it? Why goals evolveFulfillment comes from the process, not the result. Why do we yearn for more when we reach our goals?    Guest Bio   Tracey is a life & career coach, attorney, podcaster, wife, and busy mother of 2!   She helps high-achieving women, like you, reduce the stress, anxiety and overwhelm that comes from trying to balance a successful career, a family and whatever else life throws at you!   If you’ve ever wanted to run kicking & screaming in the opposite direction of your life - you’re not alone – we’ve all been there. Tracey can help you!   Visit https://coachingwithtraceycoates.com/  Visit https://traceycoates.com/ Find Tracy on Instagram @iamtracycoates  Find Tracy on LinkedIn Tracy Coates

As moms, business owners and human beings in general, our lives are messy. We have scars because of what we’ve been through, and sometimes it feels like those experiences make it harder to be successful in our businesses.   The truth is, everything we’ve been through (good or bad) influences the fullness of who we are today, and there’s so much beauty in that.   In this episode, I share the power of being thankful for the things that have gotten us here, even the hard ones.   We have this immense power within us to take everything that’s ever happened to us and move ourselves into what we want to be. -Dana Malstaff    3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   What I’ve learned from what I’ve been throughIt’s not easy to be thankful for our painful experiences, but is there a way to come to terms with them? How our stories influence the impact we makeHow do we use the things we couldn’t control that molded us into who we are to choose what we want for the future? The power of communityAccepting the messiness of life is easier when you have support. How can we build and find a community of people who understand and root for us?

As Boss Moms, we tend to bite off more than we can chew, and say yes to whatever comes our way even if it doesn’t align with where we want to be. Toxic hustle culture holds us to an unhealthy standard, leaving us with less time for the things that truly energize us.   It takes work to build a business and raise a family, so how can we track our time so that it’s spent doing the things that matter to us? Can we break away from hustle culture and reclaim our energy so that we are more energized to work on our passions?   In this episode, best-selling author and TEDx speaker Jadah Sellner returns to discuss some important aspects of her book She Builds: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life which shares a new entrepreneurial model for women, one that focuses on reclaiming your time and energy and doing business on your own terms. We also chat about toxic hustle culture and how to break away from it.   For decades we’ve been reading business books that don’t reflect our truth. -Jadah Sellner   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   How to embrace working at your own paceHow do we work in a way that doesn’t deplete us and build and grow the way we want? Detoxing from hustle cultureWe tend to hold ourselves to a metric of success that hustle culture pushes. Why should we not compare ourselves to the standards set by hustle culture? How to start reclaiming your timeHow can we track how we spend our time so that we can prioritize the things that energize us?   Guest Bio   Jadah Sellner is a bestselling author, business coach, international keynote speaker, TEDx presenter, poet, and host of the Lead with Love® podcast. She's the author of SHE BUILDS: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life. She’s also the co-author of the best-selling book Simple Green Smoothies where over one million people have embraced this simple and healthy habit.   As the founder of Jadah Sellner Media, Inc. and She Builds Collective, Jadah helps women build their businesses and their lives in a way that works for them—–with love. She has been featured in Forbes, O, The Oprah Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Learn more at jadahsellner.com or follow her on social media at @jadahsellner   When Jadah's not speaking on stage, you can catch her dancing to Beyoncé in her living room or sipping on a Chai tea latte by a cozy fireplace. She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband, daughter, and dog Beesly.   Visit https://shebuilds.com/  Find Jadah’s book on Amazon She Builds: The Anti-Hustle Guide to Grow Your Business and Nourish Your Life

Sales gives some people energy and they thrive on it, but for others, it can be taxing. A lot of people don’t want to sell because the idea of asking for things feels wrong.   If we nurture our audience in the correct way, we don’t actually have to sell at all! Connecting with our audience can help us make more without having to sell so much.   In this episode, I talk about the importance of nurturing your audience, ways to make sales easier to execute, and how to make selling not feel like selling. If you nurture people in the right way then you don’t have to sell. -Dana Malstaff   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   The power of nurturing our audienceOur audience plays a huge role in our businesses. How do we nurture our audience so that selling becomes easier? How to connect with people so they want to buy from usHow can we build trust and connect with our audience? How to get your audience excited for your businessWhen people are excited about our businesses, selling becomes easy. How do we ignite the excitement in our audience?

Boss Moms do a lot, but so many of us still feel inadequate when it comes to our careers, kids and relationships. These feelings are totally normal, and the more we talk about these struggles with each other, the less judged and alone we feel in them.   How does being vulnerable help us connect with other people? How can sharing stories help us work through difficulties?   In this episode, I am joined by the CEO and Founder of the Free Mama movement, Lauren Golden, who discusses the impact of sharing stories, what it takes to make courageous moves and making an impact on other women.    Women have such a road ahead of them when it comes to shifting who they are, what they’re about, what they care about and re-finding themselves. -Dana Malstaff   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode Why communication is so powerfulSharing stories is one of the oldest forms of communication, but people are still afraid to speak about what they are going through. How does sharing stories help us with what we are facing? How to move toward our goalsHow do we make courageous steps towards living the life we want to live? The importance of the people who surround usWhy is it important to have a community that keeps us in momentum?    Guest Bio Lauren Golden loves helping mamas free themselves from the 9-5 grind. She launched The Free Mama Movement to show working moms that they don’t have to choose between family and financial stability. She is also a Speaker, Author and YouTuber. She has published two books, The Free Mama: How to Work from Home, Control Your Schedule, and Make More Money and The Free Mama, the Daily Five: Productivity Planner, Get More Done in Less Time. Find Lauren on Instagram @laurengoldenfreemama Visit  https://thefreemamamovement.com/social

Desire is something really normal, but we don’t talk about it and the way intimacy can impact the way we feel about ourselves and the relationships we sustain.   A lot of the things we believe about intimacy and desire could actually work against creating a deeper connection, so how do we shift to something better?   How does desire actually work and how can the connection we have with our bodies influence desire?   In this episode, sex and couples therapist Annika Cook joins me to discuss what desire is, how it impacts our relationships, even the one we have with ourselves.    Obligation kills desire. -Annika Cook   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode How to prepare for intimacy, even when you have kidsIt can be difficult to be intimate even when it's just us and our partner, but how do we prepare for intimacy when there are kids in the picture? The impact of Hollywood’s portrayal of desireHollywood and the media has a huge impact on what desire should look like and how it should happen. How does desire actually work in reality? The intimacy frameworkWhat steps can we take to establish a deeper connection?    Guest Bio-   Annika Cook is a Couples Therapist, Sex Therapist, wife, mama of littles and person of deconstructed-reconstructed faith. Her passion is teaching couples how to cultivate intimate lives they feel great about, with the insight of a therapist and the perspective of a working mom, living in an ever changing body, ten years past the honeymoon phase.   For more information, head to ​​https://www.growintimacy.com/, follow Annika on Instagram and Facebook. 

Everyone’s got a story to tell and when we lean into those stories, and make them part of our messaging, we create a strong sense of belonging for the communities we build.   Our stories, unique experiences and the things we wish were different in the world are our superpowers. They make the people who resonate with us feel seen, and that’s key to getting people to buy from us.   How do we use these stories in our messaging? In this episode, I’m joined by The Pitch Whisperer John Livesay and actor Andrew Gray. They are the co-creators of The Superhero U, and in this episode they share how their program came to be, and who they want to help.   How can you feel confident in yourself if you don’t think you have any stories to tell? -Dana Malstaff    3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode The power of your own unique journey and experiencesWhy do our stories make it easier to grow our businesses? How to get off the self-esteem rollercoasterHow do we shift from wanting to be liked by everyone to compassion with boundaries? What we can learn from what we want to rant aboutDoing anything meaningful involves suffering, how do we know what we’re willing to suffer for?   Guest Bio   John Livesay and Andrew Gray are co-creators of The Superhero U which is a community to help people discover their superhero power and live a life full of confidence and creativity.   John Livesay, aka The Pitch Whisperer, is a sales keynote speaker who shows companies’ sales teams how to turn mundane case studies into compelling case stories so they win more new business. From John’s award-winning career at Conde Nast, he shares the lessons he learned that turn sales teams into revenue rockstars. His TEDx talk: "Be The Lifeguard of Your Own Life" has over 1,000,000 views. Clients love working with John because of his ongoing support after his talk which includes implementing the storytelling skills from his best-selling book Better Selling Through Storytelling and the online course "Revenue Rockstar Mastery." His new book, The Sale Is in the Tale, is a business fable set in Austin, TX, and is about a sales representative whose old ways of selling are not working anymore. The reader accompanies the rep on his journey and learns how to use storytelling and strengthen their soft skills to improve their professional and personal relationships. John is a guest lecturer on how to leverage the power of storytelling in sales at multiple universities including the University of Texas at Austin (UTLA), Pepperdine Graziadio Business school, and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and his book is now required reading for the UTLA course on Entertainment and Media studies.   Andrew Gray is an actor, humanitarian, producer, writer, model, public speaker, creative director, and an incredible athlete with an adventurous spirit. Sharing a unique background of being both Native American and Mexican, this has given him a purpose to advocate for representation and inclusion through his work in media and entertainment. Gray is known for acting in television & film on platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Nickelodeon, and Discovery ID. Andrew has had the distinct privilege to have worked with top leading brands such as Gucci, Dior, Adidas, Sony, and Tanqueray. Gray has worked with numerous charities in the past - Mental Health Foundation, Big Brother Big Sister Los Angeles, Sacramento Children's Home, Kids Can Cosplay, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Help Feed America, Run To Feed The Hungry, Make A Wish, and takes aim at The American Indian College Fund. Furthermore, Gray is currently associated with the non-profit It Starts with One Today.   For more information, visit http://superherou.com/ Follow @thepitchwhisperer and @andrewgray on Instagram.

It can be daunting trying to balance being an entrepreneur and a mom, especially when our kids are younger and need us around most of the time.   Our kids need to be able to relate to other children, recognize and understand their own emotions, but also empathize with others.   What tools can we use to raise emotionally intelligent humans? How do we make sure we show up for them?   In today's episode, CEO of Seed and Sew, Alyssa Blask Campbell shares insight on the 5 components of emotional intelligence, how to build it and how early it can be fostered in our kids.   As human beings, we are all striving towards connection.- Alyssa Blask Campbell   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode How to implement parenting strategiesHow do we effectively apply parenting strategies? Understanding different personality typesNo two children are the same so it’s only fair that we parent them accordingly. How do we parent different personality types, especially when our kids are our own polar opposites? The importance of collaborative decision makingWhy is it so crucial that we include our kids in decision making processes? How does this help them when it comes to contributing their own ideas?   Guest Bio   Alyssa Blask Campbell is the founder and CEO of Seed & Sew, an organization committed to giving parents, teachers and caregivers the tools to raise emotionally intelligent humans. An emotional development expert with a master’s degree in early education, Alyssa co-created the Collaborative Emotion Processing (CEP) method and researched it across the United States. For more information, visit https://www.seedandsew.org/  Follow Alyssa on Instagram @seed.and.sew