Untitled - March 17, 2025
00:00:00 Unknown: Hi, I'm Denise, a mom, a wife, a business owner, a friend, a sister, a recovering perfectionist, and host of the Working Moms Redefined podcast, Thank you for being here. Let's join together in community as we break free from the mom guilt that so many of us feel and thrive in our fulfilling careers and raising good kids. You guys. It's here. Hi, my name is Denise Talcott and this is the first episode of the Working Moms Redefined Podcast. Wow. I'm not going to get emotional, but what a long time coming and I can't wait to share life with each and every one of you who are choosing to invest into yourself right now. What a pleasure it is to get to live. Life and in community as working moms. And if you're a working parent, thank you for being here as well. We do not take it lightly that you are choosing time. To spend with us. It is so very humbling. And I, like I said, do not take it lightly and can't wait to see how our relationship and journey takes off from here. In every podcast launch, right, there is a formula or things that you are supposed to do. If you will. And I like rules. I like following them. And so in that it's important for us to get to know one another. And I can't wait to learn more about you and would strongly encourage you. To send me an email, send me a note, connect on socials because I want to live life in community with all of you. Vice versa. That being said, again, my name is Denise. I am a business owner, a working mom, a wife. So many hats and titles are worn by so many of you. And As of this date, my husband and I are celebrating ten years of marriage this year. We have two cute little kiddos named Sydney and Hudson. Sydney is our daughter who is eight. And Hudson is six and a half. And later we will talk about the power of our words during our journey together. And I think every parent can understand that when I say six and a half. You would be corrected if you did not add that half on his age. It was my pleasure to get to be in a career that I love. We've have several businesses, an advertising company, a business coaching, a group facilitation, John Maxwell leadership, all sorts of good stuff. But man, it is such a joy to get to show up as who works. I truly am alongside all of you. Working Moms Redefined is a true gift given to me. By God through the act of silence. And that's hard for me to say, because as you'll come to find out, I enjoy talking with all of you and asking questions, but it was in the silence. Where Working Moms Redefined came to be what it is today and what it will be and it's not done by only me it is a team of friends and family and support at home. And also hard work. And so if you are working hard on something behind the scenes, or if you're, there's a desire on your heart to do something, do it, do it. So before I even became a mom. I was introduced to the theme of what mom guilt is now called. Isn't it crazy? I worked at a radio station starting at the age of eighteen and a gentleman there was talking to a woman and I remember hearing them speak with me and overhearing conversations about This pressure this thing that we now call mom guilt and he described it as a feeling of when you're at work you want to be at home and when you're at home you feel as if you should be at work and that. Push and pull that so many of us are like, yeah, I've, I've felt that I know, I know what he's talking about. Well, at the time, right? I had no idea. I was eighteen I had no children and it still stuck with me because now. One, there's a name for it and two, It's something that oftentimes we talk about more, but back then it was not discussed and it never changes, right? So as I looked up more about what truly mom guilt is defined by, Ultimately, it is described as a feeling of not being a good enough mother, dot, dot, dot. It hurts to hear it, right? You are serving your children in the capacity and in the way in which they need. If you didn't care about whether or not you were doing good enough. Then we have a discussion or an area of opportunity, if you will. But the fact that you're here and thinking, I want more. I want to serve them more. I want to serve them better. Tells me that you are doing a great job, but it does not relieve the pressure that is. Mom guilt, right? And so as I did more research, it went on to say that we also don't feel as if we're doing enough for our children or that we are making possibly poor decisions that impact them negatively. And let's be honest, really, we live in a world where we often compare ourselves and our tactics and our parenting to others. And that produces a feeling of inadequacy or honestly negative self-talk. And we know the power that our internal voice has. And I don't think. And this is just my opinion. I do not think the feeling or the pressures of mom guilt will ever truly go away, right? It is a dynamic that so many of us, I gotta fix this, that so many of us will forever feel. It's inevitable. But how do we handle it? How do we handle the mom guilt? That feeling of feeling like you're falling short and nobody wants somebody else to feel like that. So then why do you allow yourself? So rather than tell you, oh my goodness, we are going to make you never feel mom guilt ever, ever again. Well, one, I'd be lying to you. And two, I don't necessarily think it's a terrible thing. To a degree. Is it hard to potentially admit that you don't feel good enough as a mom in some area? Yeah. And yet you're here, right? So many feelings or byproducts can happen when we experience mob guilt, whether it's negative emotions of guilt or shame or regret or even sadness, uh, internalized expectations, right? Whether we put those on ourselves or our partner or our kids, there are sometimes our expectations that we have not clearly stated, which then only fuels mom guilt. It could have an impact on parenting. And honestly, like, Those situations, they're in your mind. They stay there longer than they probably should. And so that is where This mission has been laid on my heart to help working moms like you know that you're not alone. I was listening not too long ago to some statistics about and explanations truly of Being alone and the concept of loneliness and how those are two very different things. Being alone, you can be content and happy. Let's be honest, right? Like you're all moms here when you like some alone time and that would provide hopefully. A sense of contentment, a sense of peace, but loneliness is almost like a mindset. It's a, an experience that we are feeling. And I want to make it very clear that you are not alone in this journey. I don't want you to experience the feelings of loneliness and thinking that, man, am I the only one that feels this way? Am I the only one that feels as if I'm not good enough and everybody else knows what they're doing? No, we are all in this together. And although that might sound cliche, I also mean it for the hard stuff. I also mean it for the things that are. Not often discussed, right? Because we want it to be able to be said that we're raising good kids and we're thriving in our careers. Because let's be honest. You can't always leave work at work and you don't and shouldn't leave home at home. We want and expect a life and career where both flow back and forth a harmony, if you will. And that's the goal. Balance in life does not exist. This will be not the first time that you've heard or you will hear me say that. Balance does not exist. We are in different seasons of life. We want to create cohesiveness and joy while also realizing that there will be sadness and hardships along the way. The whole desire of this podcast is to empower working moms to truly break free from the grip that mom guilt has on us. We're not going to remove it. We are going to lessen its impact in a negative way so that we can feel good about raising good kids and thriving in our careers. It can be done. And not, but, and some days it will be easier than others, which also means it will be harder on other days, which I hope, you know, my heart, this podcast is Like I said, has been a long time coming. I had a morning radio show for several years. It was in West Central Illinois. I had a co-host. I've done it by myself. It was fun. But my heart at that point in my life was selfish. I'm not ashamed to admit that because. I'm able to be who I am today because of who I was. Right. And so at that time in life, young twenty I hadn't been married yet going through all of the fun stuff that that entails. And I wanted to talk to be heard. I wanted people to know me. I wanted to. Be seen. Now, therapists might say that that comes from a multitude of things, but I knew that I wanted to be in the spotlight consistently. And so I'll be honest with you. My. Hesitancy in beginning a podcast stems from that. It is a pleasure and completely an honor when people are like, Denise, we love listening to all of your courses and your social posts and stories and such. Why don't you start a podcast? My fear was I was going to revert back to that selfish mindset. And as I worked through that, because therapy is a beautiful thing, I obviously came to the realization that I have changed so much from that, that my intent is is for you and me. It is to empower Women to know that we are doing good enough because I have been given the honor to coach such amazing high level business people to know that ultimately everyone. Everyone or most people, I don't like superlatives. Most people. Feel a little ounce of I could do more or I'm not doing good enough. And so this is a space for us to be able to realize that we all feel that to a certain degree. And how are we going to handle it? I want you to feel validated. I want you to know that it's okay to be in your feels. And also wanting less and wanting more at different seasons in your life. We want to be good enough in so many areas. We want that sense of balance and realizing that we want that mom guilt to just go away. We want our kids to thrive. We want them to be happy and be children because maybe we miss that lack of responsibility or to-do list. We want them to be happy. And I say all of that to say, and you deserve to be happy too. This podcast is going to pour into you in ways that some days will hit harder than others. We are going to have experts in their field, whether it's pelvic floor therapists discussing how to maybe Pee yourself less when you're jumping on a trampoline. You're giggling because you've been there. We're going to talk with an esthetician about how chemical peels really work for acne and laser hair removal. It's worth it in time and in your budget. We'll talk with strategic analysts as to how to plan for your year for both you and your kids. And the beautiful thing is we're going to talk to people just like you. We are going to talk with working moms who are balancing mom guilt and really hear how they handle their mindset and their homes while also leading a fulfilling career. I want to let you know I struggle with these elements. As well of mom guilt, right? I believe though that by talking through these things and learning from one another in community, we can empower each other to know that you are doing good enough and give that mom guilt a Less of a hold on our minds. No, you are not alone in this journey. Whether you are building a career while having two, three, eight kiddos at home, or whether you are Heavy in the mom journey and the career is a means to an end. This place is for you. This place is for you. We're going to join together and support one another in so many aspects. I cannot wait for you to experience it. Now, you might have seen the next part of Working Moms Redefined, right? It's like that semicolon or the colon where it's like, and then what, right? Working Moms Redefined is The subtitle being, you're not the mom that your mom was and that's okay. There's so much meaning behind that phrase. Good meaning. Behind that, right? What could it mean to you? Could it mean to you that? Oh, man, I'm giving myself some grace and realizing that my mom grew up in a different Time period in a different community in a different world truly than how you are growing up as a working mom. What if we removed that guilt that you feel by not showing up the same way that your mom did? I'm not saying it's better or worse. It's just different. And that's okay. Do you notice how I say the word and and not but? And it's okay. Oftentimes when I had discussed this concept, working moms redefined with the subtitle of you're not the mom that your mom wasn't. That's okay. It hit people because man, there's so much truth to that, but I want to make it very clear. Because I had a wonderful upbringing. Is it different than the way that I am raising our children and that my husband and I are raising these kids? Absolutely. Do I feel guilt sometimes when I'm not home when the kids get off the bus or if I have a meeting that goes until 630 and I meet them at jujitsu class instead of driving them there because my mom would have been there when I got off the bus and drove me. To piano class. Absolutely. And when I realized that sometimes the person that I was comparing or the mom that I was comparing myself to was someone. Of a viewpoint that was eight years old. If you can't see me, my jaw just dropped. If you're on our YouTube channel, like how enlightening, right? How amazing was it that maybe I was telling myself an untrue story that my mom was a fabulous mom and I'm a fabulous mom. And we are different. Working through that was mind-boggling. The next question, right, is the concept of, okay, well then, like, did you talk to your mom about this? Absolutely. Absolutely. It was easy. Mind-boggling easy. Mom is actually going to be the first guest episode that you will later hear and how that conversation hit her, how she viewed life when she was raising kids. It's going to be beautiful, but I wanted to make sure that you knew that. My mom was so on board once I shared with her. Mom, I think I was putting unrealistic or even untrue expectations on you and me. And that maybe anger, I was acting out of anger and some of the things in which I shared life with you because I felt as if I wasn't good enough because you were so much better as a mom. Ah, it hits, right? It's different. Because maybe you felt that too. And again, you're not the mom that your mom was. And that's okay. So we are going to dig more into that in the next episode. I can't wait for you to join us. But leave here in knowing. This is for you. This was meant for you. It is a pleasure and an honor that you are taking time to invest into you in these ways. And I can't wait to talk about how you will feel the impact in our next episode. Thank you for listening to today's Working Moms Redefined podcast episode. We would love to connect with you beyond. Check out the show notes for our socials, workingmomsredefined.com, and any templates that we may have mentioned in today's episode. It is my absolute pleasure to get to live life with you. And if you think someone would benefit from today's message, please share that with them so we can connect and help them in this next season of life. We learn best from one another and when we join in community and we are so honored that you've chosen to spend some time with us to thrive in your career and raise great kids. Thank you.
