The Boss Mom Podcast

Every time we tell someone to be grateful for something they find burdensome, frustrating and hard, all we do is create a bunch of guilt and resentment. There’s something a lot better than gratitude - perspective.   What if instead of forcing gratitude, we admit that yes, this thing sucks, but we’re doing it in service of a greater good or bigger goal? By allowing ourselves to shift perspective and not express gratitude for things we’re not happy about, we’re being honest with ourselves, and we move through it a lot easier.   In this episode, I talk about the danger of gratitude, and why perspective is way more effective.   You’ve got to decide the stuff you care about. That way, you can shift your perspective to why the hard things you’re doing matter, then you can be grateful for the journey, even though the moments piss you off. -Dana Malstaff    3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -Your brain hates it when you’re sneaky  Forcing yourself to be grateful for things you’re not happy about backfires. What happens to our brains when we’re not honest about something that sucks?    -Balancing things out  No one is grateful for allergies and other challenges. How can we use humor and perspective to deal with it?    -Don’t deny what pisses you off How do we find out what we care about so we know the hard things we have to do to get them?  

As business owners, our brains are our most valuable asset. When we’re experiencing low energy, brain fog, feeling run-down and decisions feel hard, that’s a sign that something’s off. Very often, that thing is sleep.   In the realm of health, we tend to put our focus on food and exercise, but sleep is the foundation of it all. Sleep is free and we’re already doing it, so why not make it better?   Moms and entrepreneurs often feel like we don’t have enough time in our day for all the things. By getting good sleep, we can actually hack time. When we get our sleep dialed in, our brains move a lot faster, and we get more done in less time.   How do we improve our sleep quality? What are the benefits of good sleep? In this episode, health coach and consultant, Tanessa Shears shares why sleep is the key to feeling good in our bodies and our businesses.   Start with sleep - it’s free and you’re doing it already, so why not start by making the sleep you are getting better? -Tanessa Shears     Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -Denormalize your painMost of us wait for a catalyst to change our health. What are the signs we need to do things differently?    -REM sleep is entrepreneur’s goldWhy is REM sleep so important to our creativity and problem-solving ability?   -Get more from your down-time, me-time, zone-out timeInstead of aimless (and often draining) scrolling, how do we recharge during our down-time?   -Small changes pay offTracking our health and taking steps to change is a lot to ask for busy moms and business owners. What are some simple set-it-and-forget-it actions we can take?   Guest Bio   Tanessa Shears helps entrepreneurs double their energy and focus so they can make more money in their business. She works closely with business owners to eliminate brain fog and wake up well rested so they can get more done in less time, maintain consistent, stable energy throughout the day and feel better than they have in years. For more information, head to https://tanessashears.com/, listen to the podcast over at https://tanessashears.com/podcast and follow @tanessashears on Instagram.  Get Tanessa’s FREE entrepreneur's playbook, 12 Ways to Biohack Your Energy here.

When people talk about menopause, it’s all about hot flashes, night sweats, discomfort and misery. It is what it is, those are the cards we’re dealt. Well, I refuse to live in an “it is what it is” world.   As women, we suffer unnecessarily because we try to power through menopause. When we get the help and solutions we need, menopause can be a powerful time of rebirth. Instead of normalizing discomfort, we can take action and experience that.   What are the key steps we can take to own menopause?   In this episode, menopause wellness coach, former body builder, fitness instructor, and software developer, Diesta Goldsmith shares how to navigate menopause without diminishing your quality of life.   You don’t have to be a hot mess going through menopause. If you get the help you need, you can own it. -Diesta Goldsmith   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -The lies we’re told about aging  A lot of what we hear about menopause is nothing but gloom and doom. Why do we have to stop believing it has to be that way, and that there’s nothing we can do about it?   -The building blocks of health and wellness in menopause  How do we get our sleep, nutrition, exercise and stress dialed in so we maintain our quality of life through this change?   -Don’t go through it alone Our lives are complex and sometimes overwhelming. How do we find the connection, community and accountability to support us through all the changes we’re going through?   Guest Bio   Diesta is a certified menopause wellness coach, former body builder, fitness instructor, and software developer. She helps women master their menopause so they will not suffer (like she did) going through this beautiful transition in life. It's go-time. Vision Up Queen.   Learn about Diesta’s 5 secrets to mastering your menopause symptoms and losing your unwanted weight gain here. For more information, head to www.visionupwellness.com, follow Diesta on Instagram or find her on Facebook.

Even though we’ve made massive progress, women still struggle with self-advocacy skills, especially true in the workplace. Communicating the right way, setting boundaries, and speaking up for ourselves benefits us but doing so with confidence and finesse often requires a little outside help.   How do we get the support we need so that we can have families, and still grow in our careers? How do we speak up when we find out we’re not earning what we’re worth?   In this episode, certified Career and Mindset coach, Natalie Serebrennik shares how we can advocate for ourselves at work, and we discuss why what she does is so important.   The moment you announce to your boss and team that you’re pregnant, an invisible label gets put on you. -Natalie Serebrennik   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -Balancing motherhood and climbing the ladder When you’re kicking butt at work, you worry about growth taking a pause when you start a family. Can you get your manager and team to help protect your job and avoid stalling?   -Save yourself years of slugging it out Can we make navigating our careers easier by talking to someone who has been there, done that and learned the lessons already?   -How to tailor your dialogue to your goal When we want to rectify not being paid our worth, storming in and pounding the table won’t help. How can we advocate for ourselves in the right way?   Guest Bio   Natalie Serebrennik is a certified Career & Mindset coach. She helps success-driven women advance in their high-pressured careers with confidence and clarity. She draws on her 16+ years of Capital Markets experience to guide her clients to achieve career success and fulfillment. For more information, head to LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.   

As parents, our goal is to raise kids we actually want to hang out with, but often traditional schooling doesn't encourage inquisitiveness, wit, play and creativity.   We can introduce these elements at home, and allow our kids to develop 360-degree, surround sound thinking. This will benefit them their whole lives, and it can all begin with a good board game. How do we raise intellectual children? How does play help in academic areas and vice versa?   In this episode, I’m joined by CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, and author of “A+ PARENTING: THE SURPRISINGLY FUN GUIDE TO RAISING SURPRISINGLY SMART KIDS”, Eva Moskowitz. She shares simple ways parents can impact how their kids think, and make it an enjoyable experience. If you’re raising intellectual children, parenting is so much more pleasurable. -Eva Moskowitz    3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -Finding the right things for our kids to watch Many parents are worried about the impact movies and shows can have on their kids, but can certain content actually be good for them?   -Create an intellectual moment and bonding opportunity What’s the difference between occupying our kids and engaging with them?   -How to model curiosity and inquisitiveness Kids are actually interested in details and specialized knowledge. How do we share what we know with them?     Guest Bio   Eva Moskowitz is the founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools, and author of “A+ PARENTING: THE SURPRISINGLY FUN GUIDE TO RAISING SURPRISINGLY SMART KIDS”. She helps relieve the pressure and offer parents a guide that will make learning engaging, inspiring and fun for all involved. A+ PARENTING shares Eva’s experiences raising three children and educating 20,000 plus students.   For more information follow on;  Twitter: @moskowitzevaLinkedIn: @evamoskowitzFacebook: @moskowitz .EvaEva Instagram: @evamoskowitz

Sometimes our dream job doesn't turn out to be what we expected. That’s why Kate Stoermer made the courageous shift from healthcare to real estate. She needed a change, something that would truly ignite her passion and give her the energy she craved. Kate found that spark the world of vacation rentals.   The idea of investing in vacation real estate can be intimidating for many. It's natural to worry about the potential risks and uncertainties that come with such a significant financial commitment.   How do we dispel these worries? Where do we even begin when it comes to diving into the vacation rental market?   In this episode, founder and president of The CEO Host, Kate Stoermer talks about how the trajectory of her life changed with a career shift, and the benefits of vacation rentals and all they have to offer.   It didn’t take too long for me to realize the dream job wasn’t so dreamy. -Kate Stoermer   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -The next generation of entrepreneurs What can our kids learn from being in our businesses?   -How the trajectory of our lives can change How do we go out and seek what we’re truly passionate about when what we thought we wanted doesn’t work out?   -Starting from a place of goals How do we gain a head start in getting to what we want?    Guest Bio   After achieving success with her own vacation rental portfolio - and serving hundreds of others in the industry on their own journey, Kate Stoermer left her full time career as a healthcare exec to help others enjoy the profits and perks of vacation rental investing.   Kate started in vacation rentals because she wanted to move the needle on retirement. Eventually, she leaned into her passion and left her career and started The CEO Host.   Her goal is personalized support to get people to their goal as soon as possible.   Kate is a super host (Airbnb) and premier host (VRBO), who owns and manages her own portfolio - and manages for others. She is experienced with partnerships, private money lending, and has analyzed hundreds of deals.   Having spent 27 years building a career and achieving much as a healthcare executive - and US Navy veteran,  Kate brings that perspective to all she does.  The CEO Host was born from a desire to help others approach their vacation rental investing as the business it is, and to be the expert team member helping people achieve success. Visit https://www.theceohost.com/  Find Kate on LinkedIn @Kate Stoermer Read Kate’s blog post Integrating Kids as Employees in Your Short-term Rental Business: A Parent's Guide

We all have moments where we feel stuck. We’re frozen, frantic, and we just can’t seem to pop into productivity, no matter what we do. It happens to all of us, sometimes multiple times a day. I have good news, ladies. There’s a way to move through our stuckness faster so that we don’t lose too much time.   But first we have to figure what kind of stuck we are.   What are the 4 reasons we get stuck and how do we move through each of them?   In this episode, we talk about how to get unstuck and how to move through our stuckness with greater ease.   Verbalizing is like giving your emotions a shower. It’s out of your system and it’s no longer festering inside. -Dana Malstaff   Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -How to know you’re stuck  What are the telltale signs that something is keeping us from moving forward?   -Straight up overwhelm  When everything feels like it’s….a lot, why do we need to do emotionless tasks?   -When you just feel a little dead inside What’s the best way we can move through stuckness due to hormones?   -How to move through decision paralysis  If you’ve done all the research on something, you’ve definitely got enough information. How do you get out of feeling stuck and make a decision?  

Infertility is a struggle so many women deal with privately, and even though medical protocols can help, they aren’t the solution for everyone. Modern medicine has made us forget that our bodies are made to heal themselves. We’re taught to normalize dis-regulation in our bodies and then use Band-Aid solutions instead of getting to the root cause.   How do we tune into our bodies and advocate for ourselves? How did our guest heal her body and go from a 1% chance of getting pregnant to a mom of 4 kids?   In this episode, Infertility Coach, Author and Publisher, Erica Hoke shares her journey to motherhood, and why the medical route isn’t always the best way to solve infertility.   You have to tune into not just pushing through what you’re feeling. -Erica Hoke   3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -Your body is made to mend itself  Modern medicine’s approach to infertility is manipulating your body to get you pregnant. Why is it critical to get to the root cause of infertility?   -Advocate for yourself  How do we confidently take charge of what’s in our control and what we’re responsible for when it comes to our health?    -Learning to listen to your pain, discomfort and dis-regulation How has Erica built a movement of doing what works for our own health according to what our bodies are telling us?   Guest Bio Erica Hoke is an Author, Publisher, Infertility Mentor & Empowerment Coach who's on a mission to empower infertility patients and disrupt the reproductive medical system. At 35, Erica was told she had less than a 1% chance of ever conceiving naturally after struggling for years with endometriosis, uterine fibroids, PCOS, thyroid disease, factor 5 Leiden and MTHFR - so she refused to participate in traditional IVF or IUI methods and instead committed to getting to the bottom of her infertility issues via diet, lifestyle changes and traditional Chinese medicine. Today this fierce mom of four shares her inspiring story as a means to give hope to those still seeking a family through alternate paths. Through her free support group, group coaching opportunities and one-on-one sessions Erica mentors’ others through their own journeys while teaching them how to collaborate with their doctors in order to systematically address their obstacles before pursuing invasive and expensive treatments. For those who have battled and overcome infertility, Erica offers an opportunity to heal through book collaborations and the sharing of their stories - all in the hopes of helping others on their journeys. For more information, head to https://ericahoke.com/ and also check out her free resources.

Being surrounded by people who genuinely care about us is so important for human beings, but sadly, it’s rare. Far too many people walk around feeling unsupported, unseen and broken.   Creating connection and building communities where they feel cared for, rooted for and seen makes such a huge impact on how they show up in the world.   How do we build communities where people feel at home right off the bat? Why do we have to shift from being the teachers to being the facilitators?   In this episode, Certified Life Coach, and the Connections Director at Nurture to Convert®, Nicole Terrell joins me to talk about the importance of community, and how to go about building it.   We are so busy all the time that we also don’t recognize the power of someone just seeing you. -Dana Malstaff     3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -An individual isn’t scalable, but a community is  When we step away from being the teacher and the center of our community, how does that multiply our reach?    -Being stuck is a rite of passage How do we see being stuck as a set up for something awesome, not a setback?   -You get to be the person that heals people How do we help people feel less judged, broken, unseen and lonely?    Guest Bio Nicole Terrell is a Certified Life Coach, and the Connections Director at Nurture to Convert®.  She helps single women find themselves while they're in between relationships, so they don't lose themselves in their future relationships. For more information, head to https://www.wildlyworthywomen.com/.

A few years ago, the answer to growing a business was adding a bunch of value and doing all the teaching and training yourself. Today, if we want our audience to hang around, fall in love with us, share us, have loyalty and buy from us, we have to build communities.   How do we make people validated, valued and also create connection with shared beliefs and a vision for the future?   In this episode, I talk about the easiest way to grow our businesses and build a loyal audience.   If you want to grow your business nowadays, the name of the game isn’t to create a bunch of value, it’s to facilitate people feeling valued. -Dana Malstaff     3 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode   -The power of a shared vision  How do we make people feel good about being a part of what we’re building?   -You can’t have a business without a community  How do we grow without constantly teaching, training and adding value?   -You’re not alone, you’re not crazy How do we build communities that foster a sense of belonging?