Not A Mama Yet

Today on the podcast I am sharing part 1 of my conversation with Anne Hodder-Shipp, a sex and relationship coach who also specializes in dreamwork, sex education and dating. In part 1 of 2 we focus on Anne’s background and sex education. You’ll hear us talk about ways our personal experiences with sex and relationships might come through in our conversations with kids about these topics. We go over how sex education is delivered in the U.S. and how parents can support their children in ways their school might not be.  In Part 2 we get more into her work with adults, breath work, and dream work. Stay tuned for that! Below are links to connect with Anne, as well as the resources she talks about in this episode! Personal site: https://annehoddershipp.com/ EDSE site: https://everyonedeservessexed.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theannehodder/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/theannehodder Some good online resources for sexuality info: •sexuality.org •ashasexualhealth.org – American Social Health Associ

Today on the Not A Mama Yet Podcast, I am recapping my time in Mexico for the past three weeks with my cousin Dyani. I was there as a source of familial support while also gaining invaluable experience for my postpartum doula training. A big part of the episode is going over sleep training and how Dyani did it with her first child and is doing it now with her newborn. We get into the nitty gritty of being a parent and caregiver to two small children, I will warn you now that we do talk about baby poop and vomit, it just comes with the territory so if you get queasy or uncomfortable, this is your heads up! I basically got to go through a three-week bootcamp on parenting and today we are sharing what that was like for both me and for Dyani. I say it in the episode, and I’ll say it again now, if you plan on having kids one day and have a family or close friend having babies, if you can offer any level of support to them I highly recommend it. Learning daily routines, tips and tricks, and even learning what you m

Today on the Not A Mama Yet Podcast, I am speaking with Lea D’Auriol, the Founder and Executive Director of Oceanic Global. Oceanic Global honors humanity’s essential relationship to our ocean by empowering behavior that protects our ocean’s health and, in turn, our own. They raise awareness for the devastating effects of human consumption on our aquatic ecosystems, and work with leading scientists, conservationists, artists, and industry experts to drive positive change.  They believe that our choices matter, and that with each choice we make, we have the power to create change because every being on this planet is oceanic and we are all connected to our ocean, and our ocean connects us all.  Some of main takeaways were:  Every minute, a trash truck full of trash is dumped into the ocean. It's important to hold companies accountable for their actions and encourage better environmentally-conscious behavior. Buy proper sunscreen: Stream to Sea and Rare Earth are two great ones recommended by

This week on the podcast, I am speaking with Angela Setters Bessard, Founder and CEO of Conquer Credit Management, Inc, who is known as a pioneer in the credit industry. With a passion to help people understand how to leverage their credit as a tool to create wealth and attain financial stability, Angela has continued to educate consumers and change lives daily for more than 25 years.  Angela and I discuss her story emancipating herself at 16 years old and how she established a successful life and career since then.  We get into the nitty gritty about credit, building wealth, how to manage debt, and credit cards! I found it SO interesting to talk with her about how to pick credit cards and work the system in a way banks and your credit score will thank you! For someone who hopes to one day be in a position to buy a home, this was so insightful and educational. I hope you enjoy this episode of the Not A Mama Yet podcast!  Angela's website --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/notamamaye

This week on the Not A Mama Yet podcast, I had the pleasure to speak with Toronto-based Naturopathic Doctor & Midwife Melissa Chan. With a specialized focus in fertility, obstetrics and female health, Melissa aims to address and treat the root cause of illness and disease and create healthy lifestyles all through research-driven integrative medicine. Today you’ll hear about her very interesting path to becoming a midwife and how she is bringing all of her past experience into her practice. Melissa has dedicated her career to finding the best of the best in health.  Hopefully you find this episode as interesting as I did! Her career path alone was so cool to hear about. Enjoy! Melissa's Website --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/notamamayet/support

Today on the Not A Mama Yet podcast, I am speaking with Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Seed, Are Katz. Ara is on a mission to revolutionize the probiotics industry and overhaul the public conversation around microbiome health. Along with her team at Seed, Ara is pioneering the inquiry, application, and communication of microbiome science to improve human and planetary health.  We discuss some of the ways bacteria can help improve our daily lives in our bodies and on our planet. Don't forget to use the code NOTAMAMAYET at seed.com for 20% off the first month of your Daily Synbiotic! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/notamamayet/support

Today on the podcast, I’m sharing my conversation with Lead Human Behavior Investigator from Science of People, Vanessa Van Edwards.  Vanessa is a national best-selling author and on her website and YouTube channel she shares tangible skills to improve interpersonal communication and leadership, including her insights on how people work. She’s developed a science-based framework for understanding different personalities to improve our EQ and help us communicate with colleagues, clients and customers. We discuss finding a career path, how to work on a partnership before kids, and her invaluable tips and tricks to make being a new mother a little easier! Vanessa’s website | YouTube channel | Instagram: @vvanedwards | Personality Test | Lily Nichols’ Blog --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/notamamayet/support

Today on the podcast, I have the pleasure to be speaking with Nicole Jardim, aka The Period Girl! Nicole’s mission is to help women in their 20s and 30s reclaim their hormonal health and feminine vitality naturally. Nicole is a certified Women’s Health Coach and the creator of Fix Your Period, a series of programs that empower women to reclaim their hormone health using a method that combines simplicity and sass. She is also the host of the Period Party podcast! We discuss sex education in the United States, how parents can support their kids when it comes to periods and birth control, and how anyone with a uterus can adjust their lifestyle to support their cycle.  You can find Nicole below!  https://www.nicolejardim.com The Period Party Podcast  Instagram: @nicolemjardim I hope you enjoy this week's episode of the Not A Mama Yet podcast with Nicole Jardim! Please share it with a friend and write a review!  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/notamamayet/support

Today on the podcast, I am speaking with Karalynne Call of Just Ingredients. You'll hear her amazing story going from a suicidal depression diagnosis to being on no medication today. She explains why and how she eliminated health-disrupting ingredients out of her life and her family's life and how you can get started too.  She also breaks down the labels we are all bombarded with everyday, Organic, Non-GMO, USDA Organic, and what they really mean. I highly recommend following her on Instagram, checking out her blog and her new line of products you know only have the best ingredients! I hope you enjoy this week's episode! Karalynne’s Website: www.justingredients.us Instagram: @just.ingredients --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/notamamayet/support

On September 5th, I hosted my first Not A Mama Yet Q&A Event in Los Angeles at Open Eye Crystals.  Dr. Carolyn Alexander and Dr. Layne Kumetz graciously donated their time to be there and answer all of the audience's questions.    Dr. Layne Kumetz is a Board-Certified Obstetrician Gynecologist and an Attending Physician at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Her clinical expertise includes preventative medicine from adolescence through menopause, up-to-date birth control options, abnormal PAP tests, abnormal bleeding, infertility evaluations, cancer screening, pediatric gynecology and optimal obstetric care for both low-risk and high-risk pregnancies. She proudly delivers 98% of her patients’ babies. She is home-grown here in Los Angeles, and even volunteered at Cedars Sinai in the Maternity Ward in high-school. Dr. Carolyn Alexander has conducted extensive research on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and specializes in the treatment of patients facing the diagnosis of PCOS and infertility.

This episode of the Not A Mama Yet podcast features Green America’s Climate & Recycling Director Beth Porter.  Beth is the author of Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine: Sorting Out the Recycling System and through her work she has helped thousands of individuals and businesses live and operate more sustainably. Beth has spearheaded many campaigns that identify the waste of resources and energy in varying sectors and has authored comprehensive reports of proposed solutions. She loves to help people find answers to their recycling questions and try new ways to reduce waste, which is why I wanted her on the podcast!  I spoke with Beth about the current state of our planet and what we can be hopeful for, initiatives she has worked on, and what we can be thinking about in our own lives to lower our environmental impact.  This episode is very educational and is so helpful in understanding recycling better.  Enjoy!!  My main takeaways:  Learn how to recycle properly!  Reduce, reuse, r

Episode 12 feels like a particularly special episode.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Pamela Hunt.  If you have heard of the book Spiritual Midwifery or The Farm in Summertown, Tennessee, you may have heard of her.   In the 1970s, Pamela was part of a caravan of eighty school buses that went across the United States led by Stephen Gaskin.   Stephen was a teacher in San Francisco when his writing class evolved into a discussion group that grew to have 1500 students in attendance each week.  A lot of the hippies in attendance made up the caravan and their mission was to save the world!  As women became pregnant and started to give birth during their trip, Pamela and a group of a few other women including Ina May Gaskin, Stephen’s wife, fell into the role of the midwives assisting in the deliveries.  Over time and with the help of doctors across the U.S. who donated their time and resources to train them, Pamela, Ina May and the others became well-adept in handlin

I don’t remember how I stumbled upon Embrace Race, but I am so happy I did.  If you are not familiar with it, it is a multiracial community of parents, teachers, experts, and other caring adults who support each other to meet the challenges that race poses to our children, families, and communities. We welcome your participation.  I reached out to the Co-Founders Melissa and Andrew because I believe that while the work they are doing is invaluable for people who already have kids, people who don’t can still benefit greatly from their platform.  On one of the worksheets they have on their site, they say that talking about race, finding the right words and coming at it from a point of real understanding is like flexing a muscle.  It doesn’t happen overnight.  We can just expect to watch a video and be prepared to teach our children about equity and discrimination.  We need to be working on that now and always.   As we are seeing that US racial divisions and inequities grow, Em

This week on the podcast, I am speaking with Carolyn Witte, one of the Founders of the Tia Clinic in NYC. At the Tia Clinic, you can get integrated gynecology, wellness and primary care under one roof and one health record.  They hold community events, offer same week appointments, which can be super hard to come by in the city, and they provide you with a care team.  Imagine a team of physicians and wellness practitioners talking to each other and understanding your health records together so they can understand the whole you.  Everything about this clinic is game changing and I can’t wait to see it grow to become a household name across the country.  I loved speaking with Carolyn because you can tell how well she understands the healthcare industry and what the experience is like for anyone with a uterus to find proper care, book appointments, and actually get results that make an impact.  I learned so much in our conversation and I hope you enjoy it! 

For this episode of the Not A Mama Yet podcast, I spoke with my cousin Andrew Wasser who is a Mindfully based Marriage Family Therapist.   Andrew’s approach to Psychotherapy is helping his clients discover and process their unhealthy patterns and finding new ways to change or alter them. Andrew has several years of diversified experience and specializes in families, couples and individuals with addiction, divorce, parenting and family crisis issues.   I wanted Andrew on the podcast because I think a lot about how couples maintain a strong relationship after they have kids and Andrew and his wife are a couple I have seen go on so many fun date nights and solo trips without their kids, basically always making sure they carve out time for each other.  Also, I knew Andrew could offer some valuable insight considering his profession is helping families handle whatever issues they are going through.    Today we are talking about parenthood, finding time for himself, and what tips he sh

Yesterday was Mother’s Day, so I thought today would be a perfect day to share Episode 9 of the podcast featuring Kira Cook.  My cousin is a close friend of Kira’s so when she let me know that Kira and her husband were fostering to adopt, I was interested to speak with her and learn more about that process.  Adopting has always been something I have thought about doing one day.  Our global population is growing at such a rate that we aren’t totally sure how we are going to feed the number of people projected to live on this planet in the coming decades.  So I always think about the children who are already alive whose parents are unable to raise them and are in need of finding a loving home they can grow up in and have a brighter future as a result.  Adoption is a very expensive process though, so a lot of people are unable to even explore that as an option for their family unless they can afford to.  Fostering to adopt might not come with a financial cost, but the emotional toll

This week’s episode of the Not A Mama Yet podcast is with Dr. Karen Joubert.  She is considered one of the most accomplished and experienced physical therapists today with more than 25 years of experience in health care and runs one of Southern California’s most respected physical therapy practices. Karen is passionate about learning and educating patients about healthy living and understanding the true source of their pain. She co-developed “My Therapy Exercise,” the world’s very first PT app, endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association and she has contributed to several other pain related devices/products used today in the field of health care, along with books and publications.  Joubert Physical Therapy provides the current state-of-the art treatment methods and equipment available on the market to benefit all of their patients.   Karen is considered one of the most successful all-round gymnasts in New York Section VII history and trained as a figure skater and toured professionall

Today’s podcast guest is Kerry Buzzell, the Director of Alliance of Moms, a membership-based program that supports pregnant and parenting teens in foster care in Los Angeles County.  Kerry was born and raised in San Pedro, CA, by two parents who were civil servants in Los Angeles. From a young age, she has been exposed to the inequalities in our community and was always encouraged to help underserved Angelinos. After earning a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Education, Kerry began her career as a LAUSD teacher and taught throughout Los Angeles, until transitioning to marketing, brand association, and business development work with numerous women's athleisure brands.  It was after the birth of her daughter, Elle, Kerry knew that she wanted to utilize her professional talents to help mothers and children in Los Angeles who might not have the resources to find success.  Today we are talking about her work with Alliance of Moms, motherhood, and how having mentors at every stage of your life if im

This week’s episode of the Not A Mama Yet “Podcast” is with Danielle Cuccio!  Danielle is the CEO of her brand Cuccio Somatology, she is a private yoga Instructor, and runs her website, The Beauty Blender, where she brings you beauty, wellness and happiness all in one place.  I had the pleasure of first meeting Danielle through work last year and we have become fast friends.  I was so excited when she agreed to be on the podcast as she had recently shared the news of her pregnancy with the world and I wanted to sit down to talk about her experience getting pregnant and her pregnancy so far!  In our conversation, she shares her experience with different doctors, fertility, procedures she had to go through, and more.   I’m so thankful Danielle was willing to share everything she went through to get pregnant because so many women go through a similar experience or may have to one day if they decide to have a baby, so it’s important we share our stories while educating and supporting

For this episode of the Not A Mama Yet podcast, I’m speaking with Pelvic Floor Physical Therapist Rachel Gelman.  Rachel is a Bay Area native.  She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Washington in Seattle and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Samuel Merritt University.   I reached out to Rachel during a trip to San Francisco a few months ago to talk about the pelvic floor.  It is a part of the body I’ve become increasingly interested in because of its role in our everyday lives and also pregnancy and labor.  For anyone who isn’t familiar with the pelvic floor, pelvic floor muscles function to support pelvic floor organs, assist in urinary and fecal continence, aid in sexual performance (orgasm), stabilize connecting joints and act as a venous and lymphatic pump for the pelvis.    This is a great episode for both men and women to listen to because the pelvic floor muscles play an important role in our everyday lives.  It’s really as sim