Latest / Pretty In Pink Again / Episode 36: The Highlight Reel: When Comparison Helps You Shine (and When It Steals Your Joy)
Transcript
- 0:00I'm Christina and I'm T, and this is the Pretty and Pink Again podcast where motherhood meets rediscovery.
- 0:17Hey.
- 0:18Hi.
- 0:19Sorry for my voice guys.
- 0:22I'm apologizing in advance because I have a little bit of a cold, I'm at the tail end of it and my voice, I just have like a laryngitis.
- 0:31You sound my normal voice.
- 0:32You sound like my 12-year-old son.
- 0:36Puberty.
- 0:36Sorry.
- 0:38I think it sounds good.
- 0:39Thanks.
- 0:39I know you're like, it doesn't sound that bad.
- 0:41I'm like, it's so much effort to talk right now, but we'll get through this podcast.
- 0:45This is the best job to have.
- 0:46I know.
- 0:46When you're not feeling well, I know I should be sipping on some like warm lemon water and instead I'm downing my third matcha of the day.
- 0:54So me how thats going.
- 0:55That looks so good.
- 0:55And I love the glass containers too, like the whole vibe.
- 0:57I know.
- 0:58Vibe is like very, matcha is a vibe like matcha has is my personality now.
- 1:04So, I don't know.
- 1:05I'm not convinced.
- 1:06I still picture you with a, uh, with an iced coffee.
- 1:10No, I'm so much, I'm so much calmer now.
- 1:12I'm in my matcha much more calm era.
- 1:14'cause when I'm drinking coffee, I'm off the wall.
- 1:17Like, as you know, I can't get it in my body fast enough.
- 1:20The morning it's like curly haired Christina Yep.
- 1:22Is coffee.
- 1:23Yep.
- 1:23And like straight hair chill vibes.
- 1:26Yep.
- 1:27Chill vibes.
- 1:28Is matcha.
- 1:28Is matcha.
- 1:28And that's where I'm at right now.
- 1:29We have multiple personas.
- 1:31I do.
- 1:31I do.
- 1:32Yep.
- 1:33Oh, I love it.
- 1:34So what's going on?
- 1:35Is everybody sick at home?
- 1:37Yeah.
- 1:37You know, everybody warned us about Leo entering preschool and they're like, get ready, get ready.
- 1:43She's the best one.
- 1:43Buckle up.
- 1:44Right?
- 1:44And we're just, we're going through it.
- 1:46We're going through what everybody told us we would, where we're just, every week there's like a different illness mm-hmm.
- 1:52That comes across the house and it's.
- 1:55Interesting.
- 1:56'cause it's not hitting all of us.
- 1:58Mm-hmm.
- 1:58It'll hit some of us.
- 1:59Right, right.
- 1:59And it's just enough to like, take the house down, so it'll be like she only takes one, one.
- 2:03Yeah.
- 2:04It'll be like one week it's Leo and Raj.
- 2:06The next week it's me and Layla, which is right now.
- 2:09So that's what's happening.
- 2:10But to be expected.
- 2:12And I feel like we're just buckling up for a crazy cold and flu season.
- 2:18So I'm, I'm a little scared, but, um, good times.
- 2:22I only have one.
- 2:23We'll get one today, just Joseph's home.
- 2:25Oh, he has vertigo.
- 2:26He's so congested.
- 2:28Honestly, that makes a lot of sense.
- 2:29He gets so dizzy and I don't know what to give him because everything is like connected.
- 2:34When I feel like your head is congested and then your ears are like, everything just feels weird.
- 2:39Yeah.
- 2:39So, yeah.
- 2:40I totally get it.
- 2:41So he's having a home day today'cause he's.
- 2:44Toast and I just feel like, I don't know, these kids are so busy, like, and yeah, their weekends are full with like their own events, their own sporting events, plus they have to attend their siblings events.
- 2:53Mm-hmm.
- 2:53And then mm-hmm.
- 2:54They're tired.
- 2:55Yep.
- 2:55And then they go to school and then they have afterschool activities, and then we have like piano and tennis and hockey and squash and this and that and blah, blah.
- 3:01I'm like, just stay home today.
- 3:02Do yourself a favor and stay home.
- 3:04I know.
- 3:04Little mental health day.
- 3:05Just chill.
- 3:06So we all keep ourselves so slammed and so busy and it's only a matter of time before you get run down well, I was noticing that the kids, he and Vincent in particular, their colds were lingering so much longer than usual.
- 3:19Like usually kids bounce back in like a day or two.
- 3:21Yeah.
- 3:22And I've been noticing recently that they don't bounce right back.
- 3:25No.
- 3:25They like linger like us, and I'm like, oh my God, you're.
- 3:27Tired.
- 3:28Yeah.
- 3:28You're like, I, it's hard to get over it.
- 3:31And that's to the club's, that's what's been happening where I'm starting to be like, Layla's been sick and she's obviously getting the brunt of it because she's the youngest and doesn't have the best immunity.
- 3:41And so Leo, I think could sometimes fight off whatever he's kind of getting and he brings it home and she just gets it.
- 3:47So I keep saying, wait, is this a lingering or are we onto something new?
- 3:51And who's to say?
- 3:52Right.
- 3:52It's a game at this point.
- 3:53So it's like, what, what illness are we battling this week?
- 3:57Yeah.
- 3:58And this week it's a chest cold, so I apologize for the voice.
- 4:02I'll try to Good times.
- 4:03I'll try to use my soft voice.
- 4:06Oh my gosh.
- 4:07Well, I guess in that vein today we're gonna be going over this highlight reel.
- 4:13Yes.
- 4:13When comparison helps you shine and when it steals your joy.
- 4:17Mm-hmm.
- 4:18That's what we're calling this episode.
- 4:19Yep.
- 4:19And I think it's important for us to share.
- 4:24Not everything is a high, we share that for our jobs on social media.
- 4:29Mm-hmm.
- 4:29Like some of it's funny, some of it like is just more enjoyable content, but it's not always what's happening.
- 4:36Right.
- 4:37And it sort of could be like a little bit of a rabbit hole when you're comparing yourself to everybody else's highs.
- 4:43And I think it's important sometimes to just sort of take a step back and remind yourself, it sometimes comparison can be good.
- 4:50It can help you propel you in the right direction.
- 4:52Mm-hmm.
- 4:52And when does it not?
- 4:55Right.
- 4:55I think it can do both.
- 4:57Sure.
- 4:57And I don't think, like you said, all of it's bad, but I wanted to kick this off because we both watched the Victoria Beckham documentary.
- 5:05Yes.
- 5:05Yeah.
- 5:06And honestly, that kind of took me back and surprised me how much I liked it and how much.
- 5:15I related to her on some level, and I, let me start by saying, I've always been a Spice Girls fan.
- 5:21Mm-hmm.
- 5:22Like I'm sure we all have been.
- 5:23And she was, posh was always my girl.
- 5:26Like I feel like you always kind of like gravitate towards one.
- 5:29You a kid to one.
- 5:29Well, when she was popular, that was in the mid, late nineties.
- 5:32Yes.
- 5:32And that was in your performing days?
- 5:33Yes.
- 5:34And so I just always loved her.
- 5:36I always kind of thought that she was kind of the quiet one, you know?
- 5:39And so I just always gravitated more towards her and her personality and obviously her love of fashion and, and dancing and singing and all that.
- 5:47So I related to her a lot on that.
- 5:49But she's a little bit more like reserved and so you don't really like get into her like the inner workings of her a lot and she doesn't like let everybody in.
- 5:59Mm-hmm.
- 5:59And I thought that this documentary did such a good job of, obviously she produced it, but I feel like it just let us in and really shed light on so many struggles that she was going through mm-hmm.
- 6:11During that entire time.
- 6:13Right.
- 6:14And so much of it went back to becoming a mom.
- 6:18Yeah.
- 6:18And so I just was kind of like that was started off mouth open, like mic drop, Victoria Beckham experienced a lot of what we talked about here, right?
- 6:27Yeah.
- 6:28She talked about how she got pregnant, spice Girls ended, they moved to Manchester.
- 6:32She was all on her own.
- 6:34She had nobody and she went through this whole rediscovery and then she moved to the United States.
- 6:39She became a wag where like everybody on the highlight reel saw her as this like.
- 6:44Beautiful.
- 6:45Like bombshell, like gorgeous living it up, having the best time.
- 6:48Like so her highlight reel looked amazing, right?
- 6:51And then she became this like very prominent fashion designer with a very successful brand.
- 6:55But everything the documentary shows, which is nothing that her highlight reel shows, is like the struggle of the business, the struggle of her becoming a mom.
- 7:03And what I'm so much more interested is in, in is everybody's documentary and not everybody's personal highlight reel.
- 7:11Yes.
- 7:12'cause I think the documentary actually is so much more interesting.
- 7:15Yes.
- 7:15Because there was so much more going on behind the scenes than I think anybody really understood at the time.
- 7:22Right.
- 7:22There was issues going on with her own identity.
- 7:25Who is she now?
- 7:27She was more successful than him and left were they like one of the biggest girl groups of all time, if not the biggest girl group of all time.
- 7:34Leaves that behind, has starts a family with him and then her identity was kind of stripped away when he started becoming bigger than her.
- 7:43Mm-hmm.
- 7:43From the outside.
- 7:44And she was just a wag.
- 7:46And she used that term like I became a wife or girlfriend mm-hmm.
- 7:50Of a professional athlete.
- 7:52And felt like between that and her becoming a mom and the move she felt that she didn't know who she was anymore.
- 8:00Right.
- 8:00So she had to go back to the drawing board, what am I gonna do now?
- 8:04I don't wanna go on tour anymore.
- 8:06I don't think that this lifestyle works for me.
- 8:08I wanna be in fashion.
- 8:10Right.
- 8:10I wanna start a line.
- 8:11And how that wasn't just very easy for her to do.
- 8:15So she took us through the struggles of, even after she had the line, there was still issues.
- 8:22It wasn't.
- 8:23Making money.
- 8:24Mm-hmm.
- 8:24There was just so much going on behind the scenes and I loved that and I feel like that's a good intro to this episode, right.
- 8:31Because, well, we were both very drawn to this documentary.
- 8:35Mm-hmm.
- 8:35Because I think that, I don't know if it's with age or with time, you get so much more invested into like the behind the scenes versus what's being shown.
- 8:43Yes.
- 8:44It's like, no, I wanna see what's in the back.
- 8:45Yes.
- 8:45Like when you go into a Chanel story, you're like, no, no, I wanna see what's in the back.
- 8:49Yes.
- 8:49I wanna see what's out.
- 8:50I wanna see what's in the back.
- 8:51Yeah.
- 8:51We like the inner workings now, and this documentary is like what's going on.
- 8:55Mm-hmm.
- 8:55In the back.
- 8:56Mm-hmm.
- 8:57And it also, the documentary also kind of showed her like side as a mom.
- 9:01Yes.
- 9:01She was like, oh, forget about parenting.
- 9:04At this point in my life, it was just crowd control.
- 9:07And I love that she said that because she was a mom, had little boys at the time.
- 9:11I don't think she had her daughter until after the Wags was over, but.
- 9:15I'm like, Victoria Beckham is talking about crowd control.
- 9:18Mm-hmm.
- 9:19And I'm not so terrible.
- 9:20I know.
- 9:21Yes.
- 9:21It just was a lot more relatable and it wasn't as, I don't wanna say that I thought it was gonna be eye roll worthy, but sometimes you're just like, what would these people be complaining about?
- 9:30You know what I mean?
- 9:31Like, they have everything.
- 9:32But really everyone is just a human being at the end of the day.
- 9:35And everybody has struggles and it, it doesn't matter what you have access to.
- 9:39Yeah.
- 9:39It just goes to show you Yeah.
- 9:40You can have access to everything and not feel accepted.
- 9:42She didn't feel accepted into the fashion world.
- 9:44Right.
- 9:45She didn't feel accepted into the music world.
- 9:47She said she had bad skin.
- 9:48She struggled with her weight.
- 9:50Like she has access to everything and she has the same struggles that we have struggles with.
- 9:54Yep.
- 9:55And I, so I just, I loved that.
- 9:57So if you haven't watched it, we gave you a lot of the juice of it, but it's a real, it's definitely worth it for I thought it was great.
- 10:02For sure.
- 10:02I don't think you necessarily need to be like a 90 Spice Girl fan to want to watch this season.
- 10:08No, no.
- 10:09Raja and I watched it and we both thought it was great.
- 10:11So definitely recommend that.
- 10:12And then I ended up buying her jeans.
- 10:14Did you the, what is it called?
- 10:16The Alina Jeans.
- 10:17She talks about them in the documentary that's like her signature Jean.
- 10:21They like are very elongating.
- 10:22'cause she's short.
- 10:23She's, I didn't realize that.
- 10:24Yeah, she was short.
- 10:25I always thought she was so tall.
- 10:26But she said she wears these Alina jeans and they give you an illusion of heights.
- 10:31She looked so good in the documentary.
- 10:33I just like, loved everything she was wearing.
- 10:35She just, I feel like she's just so classy and amazing, love her so much.
- 10:39I guess I'll kick it off with a question.
- 10:40When did you last compare yourself to someone online?
- 10:44Is that something that you do frequently?
- 10:46I don't think I just do it online.
- 10:47I think I do it in general.
- 10:49In general.
- 10:49Mm-hmm.
- 10:50I think I do it all day long.
- 10:51I think you have like thousands of thoughts all day long.
- 10:55Some you don't even realize that you're having.
- 10:57Mm-hmm.
- 10:57And I think I compare all day to everything.
- 11:00Mm-hmm.
- 11:01But I can't remember the last time I got stuck in a thought.
- 11:04I think there's a difference between comparing, getting stuck in that comparison thought.
- 11:08Mm-hmm.
- 11:09Versus just comparing and then letting it go.
- 11:12You know?
- 11:13So I listened to the audio version of the Mel Robbins book, the Let Them Book.
- 11:17Mm-hmm Book.
- 11:17And I know people have mixed feelings of that book.
- 11:20Mm-hmm.
- 11:21But in that book, she makes a really good point that.
- 11:24When you compare.
- 11:26Mm-hmm.
- 11:27You can there.
- 11:27It's not all bad.
- 11:29You can compare your kids to other kids, but like you can't compare your kid to this athlete that's just like a natural athlete that like picks up a ball for the first time and is like a natural athlete.
- 11:38your kid can practice all day long.
- 11:41He's not gonna keep up.
- 11:42You know, you can't compare yourself to another kid that has a photographic memory.
- 11:45Doesn't matter how long they're gonna study or whatever, but there are things you can do to better yourself via comparison.
- 11:53Right.
- 11:54I think I'm trying to live in that world.
- 11:56Yes.
- 11:56If there's certain things that I want to be better at.
- 11:59Mm-hmm.
- 11:59Or do better at or make more money or certain things like why can't I do that?
- 12:04Right.
- 12:05So in that case it's like inspiration, like you can use it to aspire to.
- 12:09Yeah.
- 12:09Yeah.
- 12:10So to answer your question though, I think I probably compared myself to somebody an hour ago, right when I was on my phone right before you got here.
- 12:17I don't think I got stuck in it.
- 12:18Yeah, they're like sneaky little thoughts.
- 12:20And I do think we talk about this all the time too, but just that we're consumed by content all day long.
- 12:26So you're not, it's not just about who you see out and about or other parents that you're kind of comparing yourself to or your kids to at school because you're consumed in this world where you can see anybody anytime from any place in the world.
- 12:41And so I think it's easier to get caught up in the comparison, but I think it's a healthier mindset, right, to do what you're doing or to what you're trying to do.
- 12:52Right.
- 12:52And keep it to be a good thing to compare, to be more.
- 12:57Inspiring.
- 12:58Right.
- 12:59What about you?
- 13:00Can you think of one specifically?
- 13:01I mean, I think I'm with you.
- 13:03I would probably say the same thing.
- 13:04It's anytime I'm on my phone.
- 13:06I'm gonna kind of piggyback just on what you said because that is the frame of mind I try to be in, is to use it to be like, well, if I want that, why can't I have that?
- 13:16You know, what could I do to get myself to that level when you're in a very bad place though, and I set that, that, that kind of sneaks up on me sometimes.
- 13:27It depends on what time of the month it is, what yeah, how I'm feeling.
- 13:31But I feel like there are points where if I'm feeling low.
- 13:35I'll end up on my phone and it's like a doom scroll where it's just like everything bothers me and I'll start feeling bad about myself.
- 13:43So I really have to kind of keep a boundary with that and like know when I'm in a healthy mindset to kind of scroll and compare and feel like inspiration because it could get dark very quickly for me, really.
- 13:55So I have to keep that balance for sure.
- 13:58Yeah.
- 13:58Is there one like trigger point for you that if you see something, it can start you down in a dark direction?
- 14:04Yeah, for obviously because I'm a content creator and influencer, I think anything like quote unquote work related, like I'll see.
- 14:13I don't know.
- 14:14It's a very broad topic.
- 14:14Yeah.
- 14:15If I knew I was up for a campaign, for example, if I knew that I was pitched for something and then I see the campaign went off and I'm not now included in it, sometimes I'll be like, oh, like why didn't I get that?
- 14:27Why did they choose her?
- 14:28You know?
- 14:28I think that's natural.
- 14:29That's almost like being passed over for a project for work or something like that.
- 14:34That's just me being a human being.
- 14:37But even so with the kids, I, we're not of like school age where I'm constantly comparing the kids, you know?
- 14:44It's not like they're in like, an athletic world or in an academic world yet where we can be comparing things.
- 14:51But what I will say that I compare as far as like parenting and being a mom is I will see people.
- 14:58Online or just out and about like with their kids.
- 15:01And I'll be like, how are they doing it right?
- 15:05Like, how are they here without a meltdown?
- 15:08How are they traveling?
- 15:10And if I tried to do that with my kids, we would have two simultaneous tantrums and I would be having a tantrum.
- 15:16'cause they're having a tantrum.
- 15:18And, but don't you, but could it be though, that the same people that are sharing that their kids are also having that same experience?
- 15:26They probably are.
- 15:27That's not shared.
- 15:27But it's that they're not, not showing it.
- 15:28That takes a level of, that's another layer.
- 15:31Awareness of awareness.
- 15:32Right.
- 15:32Like you have to be like, okay, they're not showing it, but I'm sure they have it right.
- 15:39You have to be in, again, you have to be in a healthy place to kind of realize that.
- 15:43Right.
- 15:43And like admit that to yourself.
- 15:45But again, when you're comparing and when you're in that like doom scrolling feeling Yeah.
- 15:51It's easy for me to just look and be like, well that looks like that's so much easier than how I have it right now.
- 15:57Right.
- 15:57That's where my mind goes with stuff like that.
- 15:59Yeah.
- 16:00I think for me, my biggest, I guess trigger point is when I see other people's homes mm-hmm.
- 16:05And they look tidy and well decorated.
- 16:08And that's a good one.
- 16:10I feel that too.
- 16:11And clean.
- 16:12And even when I go to my friend's houses, this is probably less online, but even more like in real life when I go to other people's homes that have like beautiful window treatments and they, they have like nice baseboard molding that's not, and everything's like cohesive and Yeah.
- 16:26And everything just looks.
- 16:28Nice.
- 16:28Yeah.
- 16:29And neat.
- 16:30I'm like, what the actual f my house looks like a bomb went off in it.
- 16:36And I get so comparison in that, in that sense.
- 16:39I get very hard on myself when I see everything, like look nice and neat in other people's homes.
- 16:44Yeah.
- 16:44When everything looks too perfect, I just think my home not even perfect, just like looks nice.
- 16:47Looks, yeah.
- 16:48Like they don't have holes in their walls like I do.
- 16:50Or they don't have hockey puck marks like right on their baseboard molding.
- 16:54Or like you open up a cabinet and you're not gonna get like hit in the face with a glass.
- 16:59Like at my house.
- 17:00I feel like that's how we roll.
- 17:02Yeah.
- 17:03And I hate that that's how we roll, but I know I can't seem to get ahead of that.
- 17:07I think with me it's like the content is such a fine line between, you have all of these like organizational, reels where it's like people open up underneath a cabinet and everything has a place and everything is labeled and looks so amazing and organized and I aspire to be like that, but because my house doesn't look like that, then I immediately go into kind of a, ugh.
- 17:31Like it's frustrating to see something like that.
- 17:33So it, it's, well I wanna know sometimes like how do you get it to stay like that?
- 17:37I don't know.
- 17:37What do you tell your kids?
- 17:39How do you make your kids feel?
- 17:40Like, are you, do you have anxious kids?
- 17:42Right.
- 17:42'cause they think they have to be perfect.
- 17:43I know.
- 17:43Am I taking this too far?
- 17:44I don't know.
- 17:45Or are you just very clean and tidy and organized?
- 17:48Right.
- 17:48Or do you have a full-time helper?
- 17:50Like what is the secret?
- 17:52What's behind the scenes?
- 17:53What I wanna know.
- 17:55I know what's happening.
- 17:55We want the documentary version.
- 17:57Tell me.
- 17:57Yep, for sure.
- 17:59That I totally get it.
- 18:00That sometimes can be to my detriment.
- 18:03Yeah.
- 18:03Because then I start yelling at my kids and my husband and I'm like, you all suck.
- 18:06Nobody helps me around this house.
- 18:08You're all a bunch of slobs.
- 18:10Me being the leader of that pack.
- 18:12What's a time more recently when your life looked more pulled together than it actually was, I think all the time.
- 18:21Um, which I think that I have just gotten more comfortable with showing and sharing.
- 18:28Yeah.
- 18:28It's so much more fun to watch too, by the way.
- 18:29Yeah, I, I mean, I still don't even do it because sometimes I feel like it's just so chaotic that I can't even pull out my phone to capture what is going on, but I think it's.
- 18:40It's always been a little bit of a mess, obviously, since having kids.
- 18:44And I just have gotten more comfortable with sharing the non perfection and I'm not waiting for things to be perfect to share mm-hmm.
- 18:51Things now.
- 18:52So it's just, it's there all the time.
- 18:55Mm-hmm.
- 18:56Yeah.
- 18:56What about you?
- 18:57I don't know, because now you're kind of sharing a lot more like, yeah, I guess I am, and I don't really know what I'm doing.
- 19:04I just feel like that's just how I feel about myself in general lately.
- 19:08Like I don't think I have a plan.
- 19:10Mm-hmm.
- 19:10I don't think I have a strategy.
- 19:12I don't think I have like a goal in mind.
- 19:15I feel like every day is a disaster.
- 19:17Every day I wake up.
- 19:19I get the four kids off to school.
- 19:21It's like somebody's screaming about.
- 19:23Mm-hmm.
- 19:24Something I like try to laugh through it.
- 19:27Some days I yell back at them like every day is Is just something, yeah.
- 19:32Every day is something.
- 19:33Every day is a fight.
- 19:34Every day.
- 19:34Like I'm getting a call from a school about my kids' behavior, or, oh, we forgot this, or, oh, you didn't do this.
- 19:41Like every day I get like, I don't know, shit on, yeah.
- 19:46All day.
- 19:47Yeah.
- 19:47And then I share funny things that are happening to us.
- 19:51Right, right.
- 19:52Because we say sometimes you have to laugh through it because otherwise you're gonna cry through it.
- 19:56Right.
- 19:57Those are the options.
- 19:57I do that.
- 19:58I do that sometimes too, but I just feel like I'm living in this like puzzled version of myself lately.
- 20:03Like so can you tell me a moment that maybe would look perfect from the outside world, but maybe wasn't?
- 20:11Well, I think this recent trip that I went on to Italy, I shared all these like beautiful pictures of all these amazing things that we were doing.
- 20:18But my dog had just died.
- 20:19I know a few days know before we went and I was hysterical the whole trip.
- 20:23I know.
- 20:23I was so sad.
- 20:25I was so, so sad.
- 20:26But I was like trying to be like present in the moment.
- 20:28'cause I didn't want it to like go by without it looking right and being good for me.
- 20:33I know.
- 20:33And my mom, I know.
- 20:34And I feel like really behind the scenes I was a mess.
- 20:38Such a mess.
- 20:38Mess.
- 20:38And I was so sad the whole time were there.
- 20:39I know you're trying to put on a brave face and enjoy this trip that you had plans.
- 20:44Well, and I was also trying to like share like the fun stuff because it was a fun trip.
- 20:49I didn't wanna share on there.
- 20:50Like, oh, I'm so sad.
- 20:52My D died two at the same time.
- 20:54Two things could be going on at the same time.
- 20:56But you had so much pressure for this trip because you had planned it for so long.
- 21:02Right?
- 21:03There was an unfortunate accident that had happened right before your trip.
- 21:07Right.
- 21:07And this.
- 21:08An unexpected passing and you had to go on, you were gonna go on this trip and you had to put on a brief feast, which is so hard, so, right.
- 21:17I just think like, I don't know what, I like how you always bring up about like two things can be true at the same time.
- 21:23I feel like that was probably the best thing you could have gotten out of therapy for us.
- 21:27Mm-hmm.
- 21:27Because I love that mantra, but I don't use it in my digital life.
- 21:34Right.
- 21:34Two things can be true at the same time.
- 21:36I still am living and showing by the fun stuff, the good stuff.
- 21:41The cute kids.
- 21:41The silly kids.
- 21:42I don't show.
- 21:44Other side.
- 21:45Right.
- 21:45Because I think the other side, deep down, I'm like kind of embarrassed by.
- 21:48Yeah.
- 21:49And that side, and it's not, and I don't know if embarrassed is the right word.
- 21:53It's the part that I'm just still not sure about as a person.
- 21:56Like, I don't know about this part of my life.
- 21:58Like I don't know if this is what's supposed to be happening every day.
- 22:02I don't know how I feel about it.
- 22:04I don't know if I like the version of me that just remains quiet.
- 22:08I don't like the version of me that eels back.
- 22:09Like I really don't know how I feel about it.
- 22:12I know, I know.
- 22:12It's because I think you're trying to process, as a parent, as a mom, there's just so much to process all day.
- 22:19So it's like you don't even know how you're feeling.
- 22:21I don't know how I feel about it.
- 22:22Yeah.
- 22:22I, I, I agree with that.
- 22:24Probably I don't feel great about it.
- 22:26'cause I think if I did feel great about it, I would have no problem.
- 22:29Like.
- 22:30Sharing.
- 22:31Yeah.
- 22:31When you're a little more secure with how you're feeling, then it feels natural to share.
- 22:36Yes.
- 22:36And when you feel like you're in the weeds with something you don't wanna share.
- 22:40Right.
- 22:40I think that, that, that's how I am too.
- 22:41Yes.
- 22:42Yeah.
- 22:42I think that's probably the best way I can describe it.
- 22:44Do you feel like since now you're stepping into a content creator type of role, right?
- 22:51Whether it is, I mean, you're creating content right now by sitting in this chair, but even on social media, do you feel like any pressure to, to show things now?
- 23:01So it's funny, I.
- 23:04When I think of like a content creator, I think of you, somebody that is very good at sharing, like things she likes, like you've always had a good handle on like fashion and beauty and travel and like things that I've always really enjoyed consuming as a woman, but I enjoy now less of consuming that type of stuff.
- 23:28Right.
- 23:28Right.
- 23:29'cause I feel like I like to, I don't know, I like have a good handle on like what beauty stuff I like now For sure.
- 23:35I have a good handle on what kind of like fashion stuff I like now.
- 23:37Yeah.
- 23:37I don't necessarily need to be like influenced in those areas, but what I'm craving more of is really more relatability.
- 23:46Yep.
- 23:46And so when I see somebody sharing stuff that's relatable, I wanna consume it.
- 23:51And I think this podcast was our starting point.
- 23:54Yeah.
- 23:55For relatability.
- 23:56Yep.
- 23:56So I don't, I'd never pictured myself as somebody that was a content creator.
- 24:01And then when you just, only through this podcast.
- 24:04Mm-hmm.
- 24:04And I think that Instagram has been a natural extension of the podcast.
- 24:08'cause it's a great way for people to like, see our clips Yep.
- 24:11And connect with us.
- 24:12Yep.
- 24:12Behind the scenes and connect.
- 24:14But I don't know where I fall in the sharing of stuff yet.
- 24:19And I also don't know where I fall into the sharing of my life yet.
- 24:25Yeah.
- 24:25It could get, it's a, first of all, it's a slippery slope.
- 24:28And I will say to that point, I, I've been a content creator for 15 years.
- 24:32I don't have like a territorial issue around that phrase and what that means.
- 24:37I think that anybody can create content.
- 24:40I think anybody can be a content creator and influencer, so that's, I feel like that's kind of why I'm asking you because.
- 24:46You weren't somebody that shared a ton right?
- 24:49On your Instagram page, and now since you've opened up your life and you started to share on this podcast, and then Instagram became an extension of that, people become naturally curious to know a little bit more.
- 25:03So you have started to share just because when it's like, once you open up a door, like more doors open up, right?
- 25:09Mm-hmm.
- 25:09You're like, oh, okay, so people wanna know about this, or they'll ask you questions, and so then you feel like more inclined to share and it just kind of snowballs.
- 25:16Like as time is going on and you've had a lot more people start following you, you know, and we've had like viral videos on this page where people are like interested in what we're talking about.
- 25:27I, I think I'm just curious as somebody who has recently gotten into this and not,'cause I think from my point of view, I've grown into this for so long and I've seen everything shift, but you're kind of starting out, like floodgates are open, right?
- 25:42You're like, okay, like what am I gonna share?
- 25:45You know?
- 25:45Whereas I had time to like ease into what, what I wanna share and like what boundaries I have around things because I've been doing this for so long and I'm secure and kind of like what I wanna share and what I don't.
- 25:58Right?
- 25:58But if you're thrust into this from a viral video, or you're creating content and starting now, right?
- 26:06Mm-hmm.
- 26:06You're kind of like the world's your oyster.
- 26:08Like you're like, what am I gonna share?
- 26:11Yeah, you're The answer is you don't know.
- 26:13The answer is, I don't really know.
- 26:15Yeah.
- 26:15And it's not even that I don't.
- 26:17Feel comfortable sharing something because I pretty much feel comfortable have filter free sharing everything.
- 26:22I'm pretty filter free if I share everything on this podcast.
- 26:25But I guess when I put it onto a video and I like have to intentionally put something together that somebody's gonna view, then it makes me think like, what's the message?
- 26:35Is the message that you click and you buy.
- 26:38Because if the message is only click here to buy, I don't like that message is the click here.
- 26:43Like, okay, this is hopeful and funny and silly, or this is a knockoff and I love a good knockoff or a good look for less.
- 26:51Mm-hmm.
- 26:52Like, I like those messages, you know?
- 26:53Like I don't really know what my message is.
- 26:55Yeah.
- 26:56My message is that I'm messy and you know, my life is a little messy now you're figuring it out too.
- 27:00Yeah.
- 27:01Saturday night Nick and I went out on a date and it was like so fun'cause he was away for the week.
- 27:05Mm-hmm.
- 27:05I was away the week before.
- 27:07Mm-hmm.
- 27:07And we just went on like a date and I was like, oh my God, this would be so cute to post and this and that.
- 27:11But I like wanted to leave my phone at home.
- 27:13Mm-hmm.
- 27:14Because we're supposed to be having like one-on-one time.
- 27:16Yeah.
- 27:16And everything was perfect.
- 27:18We had like the best night ever.
- 27:20Nothing was documented.
- 27:21Right.
- 27:22Sometimes when I'm documenting things it's because I have my phone out because everything happening around me is a fucking shit show.
- 27:29Right.
- 27:29And the phone is the escape and I document like stupid shit.
- 27:34Does that make sense?
- 27:34It does.
- 27:35I feel like the concept of like living versus documenting could be its own podcast episode.
- 27:42And I feel I'm always so interested in how people do this in a healthy way.
- 27:48'cause I think that healthy way you can do it, obviously the answer is you could do it in an unhealthy way.
- 27:52You could just be documenting and out of them every moment and picking up your phone and, and not being present.
- 27:59I struggle and have always struggled with documenting versus living.
- 28:05For me, it's even after all this time, it has not come naturally.
- 28:10So I feel like I quote unquote miss a lot of like Instagram worthy moments or content worthy moments because if I am present, I don't have my phone with me.
- 28:26Mm-hmm.
- 28:27And if.
- 28:28You know what I mean?
- 28:29Yes, yes.
- 28:29I agree.
- 28:30I echo that and it's hard.
- 28:32There's so many times I'm like, oh, that would've been such a good opportunity.
- 28:35This is a missed opportunity to document things.
- 28:39And especially now with this kind of shift in who I am, I feel like I'm kind of coming into like a new version of myself.
- 28:47Mm-hmm.
- 28:48And.
- 28:49I think that that's being reflected in some of my content.
- 28:52Mm-hmm.
- 28:52But it's also making it harder because there were points of my job where the boundary was very, very clear.
- 29:00Right.
- 29:00It was like, I would go out, Marissa m and I talked about this when she was on here, where we would go out and batch shoot a bunch of content and outfits and like, that was my content, right?
- 29:11I would have content for the week.
- 29:12But now that my content is kind of my life and I'm kind of going more in the lifestyle, content creator direction, I feel like the opportunities for creating content are huge because it's everything everywhere.
- 29:28And sometimes you wanna be present and sometimes when you change up the scenery, you're like.
- 29:34There's been so many times where Raj and I have gone on a date and same exact thing that you're just saying.
- 29:38So I relate to that so much.
- 29:39You're like, well, I have a cute outfit on and we're going to a new place, and like, the place is beautiful and so I should be able to get a picture or like, we could do something funny here and play off of this and like do a reel or do it.
- 29:51Couples look together and we, I we just don't, and it's because I don't want to, and I wanna be present and I wanna almost preserve, well, you're choosing your preserve it, but you're choosing your actual life over your shareable moments, right.
- 30:05For other people to consume.
- 30:06Right.
- 30:06Which is the right choice.
- 30:07But when it's a blurred line with your job.
- 30:11You know, I can see how you're, but because a lot of the times I find inspiration when I'm out of my everyday life.
- 30:20Right.
- 30:20And that's usually when I'm like, Ooh, we're somewhere new.
- 30:23Or like, this is different.
- 30:24And I feel creatively charged and inspired.
- 30:28But at the same time, when I'm getting those moments now, because they're so much more infrequent than they used to be, I almost want to just go into that moment without any distractions and be present in that moment.
- 30:42And so it gets hard.
- 30:43Right.
- 30:43Right.
- 30:44Those lines can get very, very blurred.
- 30:46Yeah.
- 30:46I guess that's another reason why I like doing this podcast, because it's a creative outlet.
- 30:53Mm-hmm.
- 30:53And it's also very boundaried because we record once a week.
- 30:57Right.
- 30:57We prep for it ahead of time.
- 30:58Yep.
- 30:58We discuss and dissect the topics, and then it gets spliced up and shared over the course of the week, it's not consuming.
- 31:05It's not all consuming.
- 31:06Yes.
- 31:06I can still share my life'cause I'm very comfortable sharing my life.
- 31:09It's that I don't feel comfortable sharing my life while I'm living it.
- 31:12Yes.
- 31:13I think that's sort of my issue.
- 31:15Yes.
- 31:15Is that it's not that I feel uncomfortable sharing the stupid shit my kids are saying and doing.
- 31:21It's that I don't feel comfortable sharing and doing in real time.
- 31:26In real time.
- 31:27That's the pro that you said that.
- 31:29So eloquently.
- 31:30'cause that is exactly the issue that I think I've always had with this type of content creation.
- 31:36Right.
- 31:36And then to that point, I understand why you don't see that type of content online.
- 31:43That is so relatable because it's hard to document, hard to do it and share at the same time.
- 31:49It is.
- 31:50It really is.
- 31:51And sometimes things happen and you luckily like catch them and you can share them.
- 31:57Right.
- 31:57But, you know, sometimes like a video is better than like retelling a story.
- 32:01Mm-hmm.
- 32:02Which on here it's like storytelling.
- 32:03I don't really know what I'm doing on Instagram and social media.
- 32:08I like share the things that I like.
- 32:10I share the fines that I like.
- 32:11I share like some of the stupid things that happen or, you know, like relatability things, but you know, the kids stuff.
- 32:20It's tricky'cause I have one kid that's like, do not talk about me.
- 32:24And then the other one's like, my daughter's like, how many views do we have?
- 32:28Oh.
- 32:28And she wants to come on this podcast.
- 32:30She wrote out questions for you to ask her when she comes on here.
- 32:34I love her.
- 32:34One of the questions she wants you to ask her, lemme take a wild guess who that is.
- 32:38'cause she's already been in our most popular video of all time that we'll never be able to top.
- 32:42So hey meals.
- 32:44She's like, I want Christina to ask me.
- 32:46I love it.
- 32:46How did you learn how to swim?
- 32:48How do you fall asleep at night?
- 32:50And I forget one other, like one like, what's your favorite food?
- 32:53It's just personality.
- 32:54Comfortable.
- 32:54She just wants to come, come here and be interviewed.
- 32:56Comfortable.
- 32:57Yeah.
- 32:57She's comfortable.
- 32:58And it's that that just goes to show, it's like people are kind of born with it or not born with it when you're just kind of comfortable with Yeah.
- 33:06Sharing.
- 33:07Yeah.
- 33:09So let's talk about the comparison spiral.
- 33:13Mm.
- 33:14So when you're not in a good place, we're go, we're going back to that.
- 33:18This will happen very easily.
- 33:19Yeah.
- 33:20Right.
- 33:20For sure.
- 33:20Whether you want it to or not.
- 33:22Yeah.
- 33:22The sting, when somebody else hits a milestone, do you feel like that's happening right now in our lives?
- 33:30I, or do you think because of where we are?
- 33:33I think it's less of, there's less and less.
- 33:35I was gonna say, I think that, I don't know if it's age or the stage of life that I'm in right now, but that doesn't bother me as much as it used to.
- 33:44Mm-hmm.
- 33:45I think that when we were all of like getting engaged age like that, that there was points where things would sort of, you know, feel a little bit more comparison.
- 33:57Yeah.
- 33:57And when people started to have kids, you know, like that, that was kind of a tricky point for me.
- 34:04So I've definitely felt all of that for sure.
- 34:08Now I don't feel it as much because I'm also not doing it with my kids because we're not so immersed in it quite yet, you know?
- 34:17Mm-hmm.
- 34:17But I'm hoping that I won't be like that with my kids, although I'm sure it's natural to have that sneak in, you know?
- 34:24Yeah.
- 34:24The comparison, yes, it definitely is.
- 34:27If you don't have a good foundation of what you expect in your household.
- 34:31Mm-hmm.
- 34:32You know?
- 34:32Mm-hmm.
- 34:33Like, I think it's very easy to live in a town and like, oh, my kid has to plan the travel teams, but the best elite travel teams.
- 34:40'cause other kids do it.
- 34:41Like, that's a stupid reason.
- 34:43But do people do that?
- 34:44Sure.
- 34:44Of course.
- 34:45Yeah.
- 34:45Of course.
- 34:45Course.
- 34:45Or Oh no, my kid has to go to this private school because that's the next natural progression.
- 34:50Mm-hmm.
- 34:50Like, well, but why?
- 34:51Mm-hmm.
- 34:51You know?
- 34:52And I think that that comparison trap can be really easy.
- 34:55Yep.
- 34:55Or wait, that kid can go there.
- 34:57How did they get in?
- 34:58Mm-hmm.
- 34:58You know, like that's a bad, I think a bad comparison trap.
- 35:01Right.
- 35:02And I think it's a bad thing for your kids to hear you say.
- 35:06I think we're entering in now.
- 35:09Yeah.
- 35:09As my kids get.
- 35:11Older.
- 35:12It's interesting how some problems go from you and then it kind of like bleeds into the kids, right?
- 35:19It's, yeah, but it's always rooted in the parents.
- 35:21It always is.
- 35:22It's very little about my own kids.
- 35:24And more about you.
- 35:26The right, you right.
- 35:28So Joseph, this last year, he plays travel hockey.
- 35:30He didn't make the A team, he made the B team.
- 35:33And when he made the B team, I, at first I was like kind of fine with it.
- 35:37He was really upset about it.
- 35:38I feel like it was like a good thing to happen to him because at this point in his life, he had never really been like let down and I think it was normal for him to compare himself to the other kids on the team.
- 35:51April, may, June, July, go by, we start up again in August, we all go to the first practice and we see the kids on the A team.
- 36:00Mm-hmm.
- 36:00And.
- 36:01I started to just get, I was boiling for him because I was like, this is so ridiculous.
- 36:08I, and I can't even believe that I went there.
- 36:10Wow.
- 36:10Because this isn't my personality.
- 36:12Yeah, yeah.
- 36:12But I went there hard.
- 36:13I was like, he should be on that team.
- 36:15This is bullshit.
- 36:17He got cut.
- 36:18He should have been with these kids.
- 36:19He just said, good, da da, da da.
- 36:20Nick told me, he's like, you better get out of this rink.
- 36:22Get outta here.
- 36:23You're making this worse.
- 36:25So I left.
- 36:26I went home with the girls.
- 36:28Joseph gets home.
- 36:30I go, Hey, what's going on?
- 36:32Tell me, how was it?
- 36:33He was like, it was amazing.
- 36:35I love my team.
- 36:36I love my coach.
- 36:37I'm so happy.
- 36:38If I had led you had like, let this is bs, I would've skewed his opinion of this whole thing.
- 36:44Right.
- 36:44Oh, that's a really good point.
- 36:45Very quickly.
- 36:46Yep.
- 36:46But I let him lead and now I'm like, this is perfect.
- 36:50This is the perfect team for you.
- 36:51Everything is great because I led with him.
- 36:54I think a lot of times as a parent you can like lead with your own Yeah.
- 36:57Your own emotions.
- 36:58Your own emotions.
- 36:59Yeah.
- 36:59And then your kids pick up on it and they follow you.
- 37:01Yep.
- 37:01I could totally see that.
- 37:03So I'm not proud of this moment that I was comparing my kid to these other kids, you know?
- 37:09And said, and I can't even believe I almost pulled one of the, this isn't fair.
- 37:13Yeah, yeah.
- 37:13You cut my kid.
- 37:14Like, I cannot believe that was me.
- 37:16Because I feel like I try my hardest to never be that parent.
- 37:20But I was mm-hmm.
- 37:22And I almost screwed up Joseph for it.
- 37:25Do you feel like it's because were you taking it on?
- 37:27Like, were you mad thinking like that's how you would react if you were him?
- 37:32Yes.
- 37:33Yeah, of course.
- 37:33It like took me back to like, when I was in seventh grade and I got cut from a soccer team.
- 37:37Right.
- 37:37It's hard not to project onto your kids.
- 37:39Yeah.
- 37:39It's projection.
- 37:40That is exactly what it is.
- 37:41So, but that for sure, so I guess that for me is like a trigger of comparison right now.
- 37:47Mm-hmm.
- 37:48Through the lens of my kids when it's not even necessary.
- 37:51Right.
- 37:51They don't even have that same lens that I do.
- 37:53Right.
- 37:53But they will if I project it onto them.
- 37:56That's very true..
- 37:57I do compare myself to other people's careers because I don't think I have one.
- 38:01You do.
- 38:02But I don't think I have one.
- 38:04I don't have a clear career, you know?
- 38:06Like, I think my, because again, that's like an insecurity of mine.
- 38:11I think that that's something that can be very easily made into a comparison.
- 38:15Mm-hmm.
- 38:15And I think that's a probably a good point, that when you feel insecure about something, it's very easy to compare yourself in a negative way and not in a good way.
- 38:23Right.
- 38:24Right.
- 38:25Yeah.
- 38:25That, I think that was like a very very honest admission.
- 38:28I don't even think I've ever heard you say that before.
- 38:30Yeah.
- 38:30I mean, it, it's true.
- 38:31Like, I think I'm very clear in my roles in this house of being like a mom of four kids.
- 38:36Mm-hmm.
- 38:36Mm-hmm.
- 38:36Right?
- 38:36Mm-hmm.
- 38:37But I don't have very clear roles about my career.
- 38:41Right.
- 38:41You know, like Right.
- 38:42I don't really know if there ever, if I ever intended there to be a career.
- 38:46I think my career was in the hospital.
- 38:50Mm-hmm.
- 38:50And then I was mom.
- 38:52Yeah.
- 38:52And that was my role.
- 38:53Mm-hmm.
- 38:53And then I have other, like lots of hobbies and passions, but I don't necessarily know if hobbies and passions equal career.
- 39:02Yeah.
- 39:03Right.
- 39:03But I think that it, I think that what you said is very common because we've had people sit on this podcast who have admitted the same thing, who have been in either that are older or that are in an older stage where their kids are grown.
- 39:16And I think that when you leave your career to become a stay at home mom, that seems to be an extremely common.
- 39:26Thing that ends up happening is that as your kids grow and as you get quote unquote more time back, you're like, where does that leave me?
- 39:33What do I wanna do?
- 39:34I still have all this life to live.
- 39:36I still have so many things that I wanna do.
- 39:38So many passions.
- 39:39And it seems like that's when a lot of people find this like next chapter of their life, where they start a business, they start something, right?
- 39:47Because you're like, not done yet.
- 39:49You want a little bit more of like a creative fuel or a creative like fulfillment.
- 39:55The topic at hand here is comparison.
- 39:58Mm-hmm.
- 39:58And I guess I compare myself to other women now who have careers and are mothering.
- 40:05Mm-hmm.
- 40:05At the same time.
- 40:06Mm-hmm.
- 40:07I'm, I feel like that's like a big one for me right now.
- 40:10But I'm sure people might, I'm sure people compare.
- 40:14Themselves to you who you're fortunate enough to be able to stay home with your kids.
- 40:19Mm-hmm.
- 40:20And I'm sure some people feel like they have to work.
- 40:22Mm-hmm.
- 40:23You know, and they're unable to do that.
- 40:24Mm-hmm.
- 40:25So I think comparison is just the Feet Co.
- 40:27Of Joy Co goes both ways.
- 40:28Yep.
- 40:28It goes both ways.
- 40:30I always think that the grass is greener.
- 40:33Right.
- 40:33I always think that it's, you kind of always not, not necessarily want what you don't have, but you're like intrigued by what you don't have.
- 40:42And the grass always seems greener.
- 40:45You're like, well, what if I kept my career and was a mom?
- 40:49And some people might be like, what if I left my career and stayed home with my kids?
- 40:54I mean, that's such an honest, I think a lot of people have those same thoughts.
- 41:00Right.
- 41:00I really do.
- 41:01Yeah.
- 41:01And I guess the answer is you will never know.
- 41:03Yep.
- 41:03But if you're trying to incorporate some of that into your life.
- 41:09It might be because you're comparing yourself to somebody who has done it ahead of you.
- 41:14Right.
- 41:15And you wanna know, okay, well how did you do it?
- 41:18How did you make it work?
- 41:18Mm-hmm.
- 41:19I think if you lead with curiosity mm-hmm.
- 41:20You know, sometimes that can be a useful tool.
- 41:24Sometimes, I don't know if I lead with curiosity or if I lead with envy when I'm comparing that's such myself to other people.
- 41:30When I think of like women that are like able to work and able to mother, I just, oh my God, I so envy that.
- 41:38I think that again, back to this documentary piece.
- 41:41Yeah.
- 41:42There's so much behind the scenes, like, right.
- 41:45Sure.
- 41:45I think everybody has the same struggles.
- 41:47I really do.
- 41:48Yeah.
- 41:48And I will also say that I kind of dabbled in both Right.
- 41:53Where I work for myself, so I know I'm not like the corporate career woman who, has toggled, motherhood and a, CEO type of role, but I work for myself and so those boundaries get slippery sometimes.
- 42:06And I will say that when I was home with both of my kids, it was the hardest job I've ever done in my entire life.
- 42:13And so I give anybody who is home with their kids full time, I commend you because whether that's intentional, it was a intentional decision or whether that just is what makes sense for your family, an unintentional decision.
- 42:30It, it was the hardest thing that I have ever done.
- 42:33And so I just wanna put that out there.
- 42:35Yeah, because I, I think that you're looking at it as.
- 42:40Like you're feeling less than, right?
- 42:43Because you don't have another high power career alongside of you.
- 42:49But what you do day to day is take so much strength and patience and management.
- 42:56I was drowning in it.
- 42:57And I've admitted that here.
- 42:59And you told me that the word was drenched.
- 43:01I was drenched in it.
- 43:02I said, yes, that's a nice way of putting it.
- 43:04But I was literally drowning.
- 43:06You were like, actually, Christina.
- 43:06Yes.
- 43:07I was drowning, actually.
- 43:08I was drowning.
- 43:09And I, I really do think it was the hardest thing that I ever did.
- 43:13And it wasn't what was best for me.
- 43:17And that is why I spent the last year, like digging myself back out and having to put so much effort to kind of revive my career and my business.
- 43:27Mm-hmm.
- 43:27Because it just wasn't something that I was able to do.
- 43:31Right.
- 43:32Full time.
- 43:32Full time, full time.
- 43:33It really was so hard.
- 43:35Yeah.
- 43:35I think that you don't know until you're really in something.
- 43:38Right.
- 43:38And so, to your point, I think that every single part of motherhood is hard.
- 43:44And I think that whether you're home with your kids, whether you're a career woman, toggling work life balance with your kids, I, I think all of it is just hard.
- 43:55Whether you're somewhere in the middle, I feel like I'm kind of somewhere in the middle.
- 43:58I think it's all really hard to juggle.
- 44:00Right.
- 44:01I don't know why I get so hung up on like rules and titles.
- 44:05I think everybody does.
- 44:06I think that that's very common.
- 44:07You and I don't know why I compare mm-hmm.
- 44:09The rules and the titles, and I also don't know why it's not good enough for me to just be like, I'm a mom and I'm home with my four kids and I take care of them.
- 44:18Mm-hmm.
- 44:19Like, I don't know why that can't just be enough for me to say it.
- 44:22Well, it should be because it's so much work.
- 44:26I le I've seen reels where it.
- 44:29A mom holding her baby or like with her kids and it's like you feel like you've done nothing, but you've done everything today.
- 44:36You know what I mean?
- 44:37And every time I see that,'cause I'll see it in different variations and I always think it's so powerful because it's so true.
- 44:44It doesn't matter what your role is, like your role of mom is so much and it's so important.
- 44:51And so you've done everything just by being a mom.
- 44:53It is so much and it's so important.
- 44:55And then that also leads me to, I am a good mom and I'm a hands-on mom and I am confident in that I, everything is for the kids.
- 45:04Mm-hmm.
- 45:04And then I try to be a good wife.
- 45:07I try to be a good friend.
- 45:08Like I feel like the farther you go down the, the tiered system, like I get less and less.
- 45:14So I don't understand how to then incorporate, like working about my life in that.
- 45:23Which is sort of what I'm trying to do here.
- 45:25And then continue to still be like a good present mom, which is what's most important to me.
- 45:31I get very confused about what I'm consuming now because I got a little taste of the other side of like a little bit of creation.
- 45:38Mm-hmm.
- 45:38And I'm like, when you're trying to create, you take so much time away from like the presence of being mom, so I don't understand how do you still be all in and good and everything and then document and share at the same time?
- 45:52I think that's why everyone feels so pulled.
- 45:55Yes.
- 45:55And now feel, feel like, and so scattered.
- 45:57Mm-hmm.
- 45:57I have this like different lens when I watch.
- 46:00Mm-hmm.
- 46:01Right?
- 46:01Yep.
- 46:01It's almost like it took the joy out of it for me.
- 46:03Yeah.
- 46:03Because I got a little taste of it all and I'm like, oh yeah, man.
- 46:07Wow.
- 46:08I know.
- 46:08That's really honest.
- 46:09I don't know.
- 46:10I, I think because I'm so in the middle mm-hmm.
- 46:13I compare myself to stay at home moms.
- 46:16Mm-hmm.
- 46:17Because I am home with my kids quite a bit.
- 46:19And then I also compare myself to.
- 46:23People who have been in this space for as long as they have been, who have taken like their job of content creation and gone on to like, create huge businesses, right?
- 46:34Empires and, yes, empires.
- 46:36And I'm somewhat in the middle and I feel like I'm somewhat in the middle with like, you know, I'm, I'm working for myself, I'm home with my kids.
- 46:43It's kind of like in the middle.
- 46:45I could push myself and a brand deal.
- 46:47But the further you closer you get to that.
- 46:49Yep.
- 46:49Further, the further I am get from my kids, from the other thing, from the kids and everything.
- 46:52And then if you wanna pull yourself closer to them, then you're away from the other thing.
- 46:56Yep.
- 46:56That's how I, it's really hard.
- 46:57So I'm just living in the middle.
- 46:58It's like the scale.
- 46:59Yep.
- 46:59It is.
- 47:00So it's, that's, and that's how I have felt since entering motherhood.
- 47:04Yes.
- 47:04And that's why I've struggled so much.
- 47:06Like, yes.
- 47:06I don't mean struggled with motherhood, I meant struggling.
- 47:09I struggled with having both.
- 47:11I struggled with doing both.
- 47:13Right.
- 47:14I have like this visual on my head of like a, yes.
- 47:16It's like one of those like double sided scales with like, you know, you're trying to balance it.
- 47:21Yep, yep.
- 47:21You really can't, it's really hard.
- 47:23You have to take something off of one side and put it on the other.
- 47:26You can't be everything to everyone all the time.
- 47:29And so I think that that's just motherhood in a nutshell.
- 47:32It's hard to balance everything and I think comparing yourself makes it so much harder because you're consumed by things that you can compare yourself to, and I hope, I guess my hope is that you use the comparison to like kind of propel yourself.
- 47:51I agree.
- 47:52When, when I think about it and I'm like, what's really more important to you?
- 47:57And for me what comes more natural and what's more important is honestly being home with my kids.
- 48:02Yeah.
- 48:03I like, I didn't struggle as much with it, I think as you, because I didn't have a career that I was being pulled away from.
- 48:11I feel like I have this career that I'm like, that's pulling at me a little bit.
- 48:14Pulling you in.
- 48:15Right.
- 48:15That I'm like interested and intrigued about that I wanna pursue.
- 48:19Mm-hmm.
- 48:20But I still like being home.
- 48:23Yep.
- 48:23So I'm curious though, Pippa's, honestly we would love if you guys could send us,'cause we're always looking for like different points of view.
- 48:31'cause obviously t and I can only share our points of view.
- 48:34We can only share our point.
- 48:35Yeah.
- 48:35And so we're only coming at it from like what we know and what we've experienced.
- 48:39But if you guys have anybody, I guess to that point of maybe like a, like a real career woman, I'm calling it like somebody that.
- 48:50We could have on, and that we could talk to about this, because I think that that's just something that a lot of people struggle with, right.
- 48:56And I would love another point of view of somebody who maybe travels a ton for work and who tries to manage it all at home, you know?
- 49:05Right.
- 49:05I think that that's just so interesting.
- 49:06And also how they compare their self to other people.
- 49:11Right.
- 49:12Like I think that that's the interesting part of piece of this is like how the comparison affects you and what you get out of it.
- 49:18Right.
- 49:19For sure.
- 49:19We're gonna close out with our pink spotlight, which is our person place think, tip, mantra.
- 49:25That is making life a little bit better this week.
- 49:28T do you have something you can share?
- 49:30Okay, so I've listened to a podcast and it talked about like.
- 49:34Um, if you can do small things, you can do big things.
- 49:37Mm.
- 49:38And I've been like mirroring this stuff for my kids.
- 49:40Okay.
- 49:41So a small thing is we all wake up, we all make our bed every morning.
- 49:44Yeah.
- 49:44That's like a small thing.
- 49:45But if we do these small things, then we do big things.
- 49:48So I'm like a big bed maker.
- 49:50Mm-hmm.
- 49:50I like to make my bed and my sheets are like sold and my duvet cover so old.
- 49:56So I jumped on the Bolen branch sheet.
- 49:58Oh, love Bolen branch.
- 49:59Do you have that?
- 50:00Yes.
- 50:00That's what we have on our bag.
- 50:01Oh my gosh.
- 50:02I'm obsessed and they are worth the hype.
- 50:04And now I understand what it's all about.
- 50:06They are.
- 50:06Mm-hmm.
- 50:06So like a hundred percent cotton, they don't wrinkle.
- 50:08And I bought pure white.
- 50:10There's like a little bit of like a, like a pewter piping.
- 50:13Ooh.
- 50:13And so they're like very fresh.
- 50:15They're very clean.
- 50:16Actually they're not on my bed right now'cause I just threw them in the washing machine.
- 50:19But you can like add bleach to it.
- 50:20And they like, yeah.
- 50:21They really bleach and they like.
- 50:23Clean up.
- 50:24So nice.
- 50:24And they look like so nice and fresh.
- 50:26I love, so everything is white.
- 50:28So the sheets are white, the pillowcases are white.
- 50:30Yep.
- 50:30The duvet, like everything is just like white A and fresh white.
- 50:33And pretty clean.
- 50:34And clean.
- 50:35Yep.
- 50:35And I love getting into my nice white clean bed.
- 50:38I know we have the same, we have an all white bed and we've had their stuff for a long time and honestly they always say like, I think their tagline is like, it gets softer with each wash.
- 50:48It literally does like the, well this is my first wash.
- 50:51Yeah.
- 50:51So I'll, I'll get back to you on that.
- 50:53As time goes on, they somehow get softer they're so soft and so amazing.
- 50:58And what I also love about them is that they have, I don't know if you notice this, but they have like the head and foot.
- 51:04On like labeled so that you aren't like, which way do these go?
- 51:08Right?
- 51:08I mean, how freaking simple is that?
- 51:09But like, thank you.
- 51:10Well, also with the duvet cover, I never could figure out like, is this lengthwise?
- 51:14Is this horizontal?
- 51:15Yes.
- 51:15Like, did I do this right?
- 51:17And they have the little ties in the duvet.
- 51:18So like the ties zipper, the zip.
- 51:20Oh, it's really easy.
- 51:21I like it a lot.
- 51:22So I got the whole set.
- 51:23It wasn't like cheap.
- 51:24No, it's not.
- 51:24It was a little bit of a splurge.
- 51:25It's an, I wanna say it came to like$800.
- 51:28Yeah.
- 51:28With like the, for the whole thing.
- 51:29Promo code.
- 51:30But the, I got the whole, I got the whole thing.
- 51:32I got the pillows, the, we got a whole new setup in there.
- 51:35Yeah.
- 51:36Bedding is expensive.
- 51:37It's part of my like routine.
- 51:38Like we all get up, we all make our beds.
- 51:40Yep.
- 51:40I love it.
- 51:41Even though my kids now sleep on top of the sheets and on top of their comforter so that they don't have to make the bed so they don't have to make the bed.
- 51:48You know what, like leave it to them.
- 51:49Know what to be like Yama, whatever.
- 51:51Made my bed.
- 51:53Haven't slept in it in months.
- 51:54Love it.
- 51:55But anyways, I love my hack.
- 51:56My pink, I love a hat.
- 51:57That's my pink spotlight.
- 51:58so I hope mine isn't too lengthy.
- 52:00I was gonna do this at the beginning of the episode, but I wanted to save it for my pink spotlight, Oh wait, is this the health stuff?
- 52:06Yeah.
- 52:06Oh yes.
- 52:06You might remember.
- 52:08Perk your up ladies that perk your ears up girl.
- 52:10So I think it was early on we had Dr.
- 52:13Kate from Holistic Health Code on, and she talked at length about hormones.
- 52:18We had a whole hormone discussion.
- 52:20It was like one of my favorite conversations that we've had on this podcast.
- 52:25And I vowed to myself and to her I was like, I am gonna go in and get my hormones checked and do a kind of like full panel on myself to get right.
- 52:34'cause hers was linked to like infertility.
- 52:37Yes.
- 52:37And now if your levels aren't in check your, you have nutrient deficiencies.
- 52:40Yes.
- 52:40You won't be able to get pregnant.
- 52:42Yep.
- 52:42Yep.
- 52:43Also after pregnancy.
- 52:45Yep.
- 52:45And we kind of like that conversation.
- 52:47This was off air with like, if you're not feeling better.
- 52:50'cause I have been kind of like raising my hand and being like, I don't feel right.
- 52:54And you guys probably know, you've heard me say to multiple guests that we've had on like, when do you know if like something still doesn't feel right?
- 53:02And everyone keeps saying, you know, like two years is kind of like the magic number postpartum.
- 53:07So your time is two almost.
- 53:08She's almost two.
- 53:09And you're there.
- 53:10I have just been saying this.
- 53:11And so I left that conversation with Dr.
- 53:12Kate of like, okay.
- 53:15She's like, hit me up if you still don't feel right.
- 53:17And so I was like, you know what, now is the time and.
- 53:21So I went to Holistic Health Code, did a full hormone panel.
- 53:25So I did a urine test, a blood test, and I actually did a stool test.
- 53:29I did like the entire thing.
- 53:31I did everything.
- 53:32And the reason why I did everything was because obviously everything is connected, and so I got my results back and I have never felt more validated in my entire life.
- 53:44Mm-hmm.
- 53:45Because what came back was exactly how I have been feeling.
- 53:49So I'm gonna kind of read this because it's, it's a lot, and I'm not gonna get into the nitty gritty of it, but basically I had two pregnancies really close together and.
- 54:01That alone used up so many nutrients in my body.
- 54:04And then you add in like the recovery, not sleeping, trying to be present for two little ones.
- 54:11Running a household, running a business.
- 54:12My body was doing a lot for a long time without getting a chance to fully recover from either.
- 54:18Over that time, all of the stress and the lack of sleep started to affect my gut.
- 54:25And my gut is what absorbs nutrients.
- 54:28And now it's not doing that.
- 54:29Even when I was eating well and taking care of myself, my body wasn't really using what I was giving it.
- 54:36Right.
- 54:36I kept trying to refuel, but the tank had a leak.
- 54:39I'm like such a visual person.
- 54:41Yes.
- 54:41It's like if you're fueling the car, but there's a leak.
- 54:44So once your nutrient levels drop low enough, your hormones start to drop, your energy crashes and you don't feel like yourself.
- 54:53Like, that is me.
- 54:54Right?
- 54:55Like, that's what I've been saying.
- 54:55So that's where I've ended up.
- 54:57It's like, I'm anxious, I'm exhausted, I'm drained.
- 55:00And I, I'm like, why the f am I not feeling that?
- 55:03So, so do you close the leak?
- 55:04How do you plug the leak?
- 55:05So I'm working with Dr.
- 55:06Kate and I'm trying to rebuild things in order so that everything will turn back on again.
- 55:13The full testing revealed my hormones are very low.
- 55:17My stress system is worn out from years of being in overdrive.
- 55:21My body isn't making enough cortisol or DHEA, which helps with energy and stress level.
- 55:27So that's why you're so tired.
- 55:28Mm-hmm.
- 55:29I'm very low in important vitamins and minerals.
- 55:32My gut isn't'cause of the gut.
- 55:33Yes.
- 55:34My gut isn't absorbing nutrients properly.
- 55:36And I have a bacteria called h pylori, which affects digestion and iron levels.
- 55:41So all of this is connected.
- 55:43So what she's doing is she's put, she put me on kind of like an insane supplement protocol.
- 55:49And it's so funny that I just got on my Instagram and said, I'm not really like a supplement girl.
- 55:54And literally as we speak, there's like a huge amount of supplements being delivered to my house.
- 56:00And we're going to try to address the hormone first, the hormone levels first, which hormones are they do, you know?
- 56:07So estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are all low.
- 56:11So all three are low.
- 56:12All three are low.
- 56:13So are you gonna go, are you going on estrogen, progesterone?
- 56:15So we're not, what we're trying to do is we're trying to get every, like, we're trying to get my adrenals back because defeated they produce, and so then they will.
- 56:26So it's really kind of a holistic way.
- 56:29So you're starting from the bottom?
- 56:29We're starting from the bottom.
- 56:31Oh.
- 56:31Then we're gonna add in some like gut support stuff.
- 56:34So it's like gonna be very layered and it's not gonna be a overnight fix.
- 56:38Like this is gonna take months.
- 56:39They said up to a year of kind of just like adding things back and like starting slow, doing some retesting to see how everything is and.
- 56:49I'm also doing some like vitamin D shots and gonna probably incorporate some infusions into the mix, like just to kind of get my body back.
- 56:57But my point, and obviously this is not like a one size fits all, like what?
- 57:01What came back on my test is not gonna come back on somebody else's test.
- 57:05But I think the moral of the story is that I knew I did not feel right.
- 57:10I feel like, I don't wanna say everyone was brushing me off, but I feel like.
- 57:15Blanket statement of like postpartum, it was anxious.
- 57:17Yes, you're anxious and you know what, you're still in that postpartum period.
- 57:21And I was just like, no.
- 57:24I feel like everyone's not understanding.
- 57:26Postpartum probably caused some of this.
- 57:28Well, it did, and you can't just continue to blame it on the Yes.
- 57:32It's like, how long can you continue to blame?
- 57:34You have to.
- 57:34Wow.
- 57:35Yep.
- 57:35So I felt very validated.
- 57:38I think that.
- 57:39Yes, you wanna give yourself time, right?
- 57:42Like you can only give yourself like time to heal from things.
- 57:45But I think that once you get to a point where you know something's not right, you have to raise your hand.
- 57:51And if someone's not listening to you, you have to go to someone else and find someone until someone does listen to you.
- 57:56And Dr.
- 57:57Kate listened to me and we ran everything.
- 57:59And she literally called me and was like, you're not crazy.
- 58:02So I'm gonna read the results with you.
- 58:04You feel exactly as you should.
- 58:06Did you do everything with her in person or did you do this remote?
- 58:10So because she sees patients remotely, she does.
- 58:11She sees patients remotely.
- 58:12I went in because they're only a town away from us.
- 58:15Okay.
- 58:15So I went in the first time, I did all my blood tests through Quest.
- 58:19Did you do it there?
- 58:20Oh, you went to Quest?
- 58:20Nope, I went, so she ordered it?
- 58:21She submits it and orders that to Quest.
- 58:23I did my blood tests there.
- 58:24Was it a lot of blood work?
- 58:25It was okay, but, and then I did, all of the other tests came to my house.
- 58:29So like, and then I mailed those in and then she got the results and went over it.
- 58:33So this sample mm-hmm.
- 58:34You do at Quest?
- 58:35Yep.
- 58:35Nope, we did that.
- 58:36You mailed that in?
- 58:36I mailed that in.
- 58:37Oh, so I did that and the urine test at home, mailed those back.
- 58:40She got all the results.
- 58:41We went over that on a telehealth call, how long did all the results take to come in?
- 58:46So the urine test had to be done during cycle day 18.
- 58:50Okay.
- 58:50So, because when I ordered it, I think I ended up having to wait until like I had the test with me, but, but couldn't take it.
- 58:56Yeah.
- 58:56Yeah.
- 58:56So I would say all of it took probably like three-ish weeks.
- 59:00Okay.
- 59:00Which is not that bad because then we ended up up getting the test back and so I would say within the month, now I'm starting on a protocol, so it hasn't been like too long.
- 59:09So how long will you do the, this first step of your regimen For three months until you see her for three months.
- 59:14So you do this three months and then you'll retest some stuff?
- 59:17Yep.
- 59:18We're gonna probably retest some of the, she was saying the sex hormones, which are estrogen, progesterone, and are there any like testosterone that she's telling you to look for?
- 59:28Or most of them are just supplements, so there's nothing.
- 59:30Means your body should be naturally making for you that it's not.
- 59:34Yep.
- 59:34This is so interesting.
- 59:35It's fascinating.
- 59:37So I wanna move her back on again.
- 59:38I know.
- 59:38I would love to have her back on.
- 59:40It's, yep.
- 59:41So I'm very, very grateful.
- 59:42So thank you to obviously Dr.
- 59:44Kate and Holistic Health Code.
- 59:45This is not sponsored by any means.
- 59:47No, but it is not.
- 59:49Um, this was something I did all on my own and it was because I really felt like I needed to, and I'm so glad I did because everything that I was feeling is.
- 1:00:00What my body is feeling for real, right?
- 1:00:02This is not mental.
- 1:00:03This is literally how my body is feeling.
- 1:00:05So I'm so grateful to have been able to do it.
- 1:00:08Well, you know many people that are sitting driving their car right now listening to this are like, oh shit.
- 1:00:12Me too.
- 1:00:13Yeah, me too.
- 1:00:13Me too.
- 1:00:13Me too.
- 1:00:13Yeah.
- 1:00:14I just want everyone, this is a reminder again, I always say you're the main character too.
- 1:00:19Yeah.
- 1:00:19If you don't feel right, go do something about it.
- 1:00:23You have to advocate for yourself, like no one's gonna step in and be like, yeah.
- 1:00:27You know, and like overtake your health.
- 1:00:29Like you have to be in the driver's seat to do it.
- 1:00:31Well, this is another example of how you took matters into your own hands.
- 1:00:34You have to, because nobody knows what's best than you.
- 1:00:36Right.
- 1:00:37Right.
- 1:00:37Nobody else is gonna do this for you.
- 1:00:39Right, right.
- 1:00:39Good job and kudos to you.
- 1:00:41For our listeners, go back if you haven't, if you are like, new to tuning in, go back and listen to Dr.
- 1:00:45Kate's podcast.
- 1:00:46She's great.
- 1:00:46She's like this infertility specialist.
- 1:00:48Yep.
- 1:00:48But really, like, we were prepping her with questions, not only about like infertility, but like now.
- 1:00:55Yep.
- 1:00:55So it's just kind of funny that you are here in this spot.
- 1:00:58Yes.
- 1:00:58If you kind of knew when she was here that day.
- 1:01:01Like, and that was a while ago.
- 1:01:02I was like, I'm I'm gonna do this.
- 1:01:04Be in that chair.
- 1:01:05Yeah.
- 1:01:05But it just, it took me, I dragged my feet.
- 1:01:07It took me a while.
- 1:01:08Well, it's a time and money investment.
- 1:01:10Yep.
- 1:01:10You have to be in the right space to do that.
- 1:01:12Yep.
- 1:01:12You have to be ready to prioritize your health.
- 1:01:14Yep.
- 1:01:14You can't let those supplements, supplement supplements sit on your counter.
- 1:01:16You have to be ready to take them.
- 1:01:17Yep.
- 1:01:18And you are.
- 1:01:18So, I'm so excited to see what's next for you.
- 1:01:20I am, yeah.
- 1:01:21So I'll, I'll make sure to update everybody if you're interested in that type of thing.
- 1:01:25And then we will leave, Dr.
- 1:01:26Kate's episode in our show notes.
- 1:01:28So if you haven't listened to that, we'll link it so that you can,'cause that was fascinating.
- 1:01:32Fascinating.
- 1:01:33So thank you guys for tuning in.
- 1:01:35Yeah, we will.
- 1:01:36See you guys next week.
- 1:01:37See you next week.
- 1:01:38Bye