What Is a Matriarchy — And Why Don't We Talk About It?

The Most Ambitious Woman in the Room Is Also the Most Present Mom — Here's Her Secret | Exclusive Interview with Alex Pensiero, Founder of Wellspring Coaching

What if the skills that make you a great mom are the exact same ones that make you a great leader? In this episode of Between Meetings and Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Alex Pensiero — doctor, school psychologist, leadership coach, and founder of Wellspring Coaching and Consulting (wellspringcoachingandconsulting.org [wellspringcoachingandconsulting.org]) — for a deeply honest conversation about ambition, identity, failure, and what it really means to raise daughters while building a business. Alex started her career working with students who had significant behavioral challenges, went on to earn multiple master's degrees and a doctorate in leadership coaching for organizational performance, and now runs a coaching firm dedicated to helping leaders grow from the inside out. Oh, and she did most of it while raising two daughters in gymnastics and figuring out how to sleep on 45-minute increments. In this episode: * From third grade teacher dream to school psychologist to leadership coach — how one woman followed her passion at every turn * Why "filling your own cup" isn't selfish — it's a gift to your kids * The toxic power of the word "should" and how to stop letting society write your definition of success * How imposter syndrome and mental load show up in leadership coaching — and how to work through both * Reframing failure as opportunity: a mindset she learned at 21 working with trauma-impacted students * The goal-setting technique she uses with her daughters at gymnastics that works for kids and executives alike * What she's actively teaching her daughters about compromise, ambition, and emotional regulation * Why patience, flexibility, and empathy are the three leadership skills motherhood builds most * Modeling what it looks like to apologize, own your mistakes, and keep going Alex is also featured in the June issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full interview at motheredmagazine.com. [https://www.motheredmagazine.com/] 📲 Find Wellspring Coaching: wellspringcoachingandconsulting.org [https://wellspringcoachingandconsulting.org/] | @wellspringcoaches on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/wellspringcoaches/] & TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@wellspringcoaches] And follow ⁠Mothered Magazine⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/mothered.magazine/] on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes and details from the June issue! Interested in being featured in the next issue of Mothered Magazine? Check out feature opportunities here: ⁠https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured ⁠ [https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured] And follow CEO of Mothered Media & Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, Alexa Starks on ⁠Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/alexa.starks/] or ⁠LinkedIn⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexastarks/]

She Burned It All Down & Built Something Better — The Origin Story of Made for Mothers | Exclusive Interview with Mariah Stockman

She was the county's number one Girl Scout cookie seller at nine years old, moved to New York City the day after her 18th birthday with zero plan, built a quarter-million-dollar marketing agency during COVID — and then burned it all down three weeks postpartum while being threatened with a lawsuit while holding her newborn. In this episode of Between Meetings and Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Mariah Stockman, founder of Made for Mothers (madeformothers.co) — one of the fastest-growing communities for moms in business — who is also the cover feature of the June issue of Mothered Magazine. This is an episode about what happens when ambition meets motherhood, isolation forces clarity, and a woman decides to build the village she never had. In this episode: * From Girl Scout cookie hustler to nonprofit leader to marketing agency founder — Mariah's wildly non-linear origin story * Why her quarter-million-dollar agency became her biggest resentment the moment she got pregnant * Being threatened with a lawsuit three weeks postpartum — and the decision that changed everything * Why she only works with moms now and how she designed a business that fits around nap times and school pickups * How Made for Mothers started with 17 women in a yoga studio and grew into a national chapter model * The Virtual Village: a 160+ member online community for moms in business with masterclasses, hot seat coaching and brand partnerships * Why she always charged for her events — and what that taught her about building strong communities * Licensing chapters: how moms across the US can bring Made for Mothers to their city and generate real revenue * Her goal: 100 chapters in 100 cities by the end of 2027 * A magical second birth, exclusive pumping, and what a truly intentional maternity leave looks like * Why motherhood is the MBA — and what happened when the internet's loudest critics proved her right Mariah is the cover feature of the June issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full exclusive interview and see her stunning cover shoot at motheredmagazine.com. 📲 Find Made for Mothers: @madeformothers.co [https://www.instagram.com/madeformothers.co/] on Instagram | https://www.madeformothersco.com/ [https://www.madeformothersco.com/]💸 Join the Virtual Village: use promo code CANADA for $50/month (normally $78)📍 Interested in licensing a chapter in your city? DM Mariah directly on Instagram. And follow ⁠⁠Mothered Magazine⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/mothered.magazine/] on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes and details from the June issue! Interested in being featured in the next issue of Mothered Magazine? Check out feature opportunities here: ⁠⁠https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured ⁠⁠ [https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured] And follow CEO of Mothered Media & Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, Alexa Starks on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/alexa.starks/] or ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexastarks/]

The Invisible Work Running Your Home And How One Founder Is Solving It | Exclusive Interview with Ashley Chang Dawson, Founder of Sundays

Two working parents, a baby, and an endless list of mental load no one ever sees — that's the problem Ashley Chang Dawson set out to solve before she even became a mom herself. In this episode of Between Meetings and Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Ashley, founder of Sundays (withsundays.com [https://withsundays.com/]) — a service that pairs families with expert executive assistants to take the mental load, logistics, and invisible labor of running a household off mom's plate.Ashley spent over a decade in product management in the San Francisco Bay Area, watched brilliant women around her step back from their careers as soon as they had kids, and decided she wasn't going to let that be her story. What started as an app idea became something much bigger: a team of 40+ mom EAs supporting families across the US — and last year alone, they saved parents 25,000 hours.In this episode:-What Sundays actually does — and why it's a service, not just an app-The mental load of running a family and why it almost always defaults to moms-How to use the Fair Play card system to divide household responsibilities with your partner-Building a company before becoming a mom — and what changed once she actually had a baby-How both she and her husband use Sundays (yes, she uses her own product)-Leaving corporate without a plan, pivoting twice, and finding the right idea-When to hire, how to scale, and why she paid her first employee before paying herself-What patience and resilience look like as leadership skills — and how motherhood leveled both upThe goal: save parents one million hours in the next ten yearsAshley is also featured in the June issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full interview at motheredmagazine.com.Find Sundays: withsundays.com [https://withsundays.com/] | @withsundays [https://www.instagram.com/with_sundays/]on InstagramFollow @mothered.magazine [https://www.instagram.com/mothered.magazine/] on Instagram for more behind the scenes of our June features and upcoming issues.Interested in being featured in an upcoming issue? Learn more about feature opportunities here at https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured [https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured]Follow Alexa Starks on Instagram @alexa.starks [https://www.instagram.com/alexa.starks/]

Your Pelvic Floor Changes Everything: Exclusive Interview with Anna McMaster, Pelvic Floor PT

Most women don't hear the words "pelvic floor" until they're already pregnant — or already dealing with symptoms they don't know how to name. In this episode, Alexa talks with Anna McMaster, a Doctor of Physical Therapy and pelvic floor specialist, about the muscle group your OB probably never mentioned and why it matters your entire life. Anna is the founder of Amy (askamie.co), a digital platform that brings personalized pelvic floor physical therapy to women who don't have access to a specialist — whether due to cost, location, or time. They cover what pelvic floor PT actually involves (internal exams, yes — but way less scary than you think), how to strengthen and relax your pelvic floor at home, the connection between your core and pelvic floor, why hemorrhoids happen postpartum and how to manage them, and why the "bounce back" after birth is a myth worth burying for good. Anna is also featured in the June issue of Mothered Magazine. Read more at motheredmagazine.com [motheredmagazine.com]. Find Amie at askamie.co [https://askamie.co/] or @askamie.co [https://www.instagram.com/askamie.co] on Instagram and TikTok. And follow Mothered Magazine [https://www.instagram.com/mothered.magazine/] on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes and details from the June issue! Interested in being featured in the next issue of Mothered Magazine? Check out feature opportunities here: https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured [https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured] And follow CEO of Mothered Media & Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, Alexa Starks on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alexa.starks/] or LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexastarks/]

The Hidden Mental Load of Summer: How One Mom Built a Business to Fix It | Exclusive Interview with Kathryn Hatcher, Founder of Camply

Did you know U.S. kids are out of school up to 18 weeks a year — but most working parents only get 4 weeks of PTO? That gap is exactly what Kathryn Hatcher set out to solve. In this episode of Between Meetings and Motherhood, host Alexa Starks sits down with Kathryn, founder of Camply (joincamply.com) — a two-sided marketplace helping parents find the right summer and school break camps, and helping camps connect with the right families. Kathryn's origin story is one so many working moms will recognize: burned out in corporate consulting, laid off from a health tech startup, and up at 1 a.m. with a color-coded spreadsheet trying to figure out 12 weeks of summer camp logistics. So she built the tool she needed. In this episode: * What summer camp actually costs in 2025 — and why parents are shocked every year * How Camply works: searching 660+ Atlanta camps by location, age, interest, and budget * The invisible labor of summer planning and how it almost always falls on moms * Why corporate America isn't built for working mothers — and how entrepreneurship changed everything * Navigating a layoff, a NICU stay, and a miscarriage while still building a career * Leaving the corporate ladder behind and doing a values reset with your therapist * What work-life "balance" actually looks like as a mom entrepreneur (hint: it's a seesaw, not a scale) * Camply's next chapter: special needs filters, scholarship camps, and expanding beyond Atlanta Kathryn is also featured in the June issue of Mothered Magazine — read the full interview at motheredmagazine.com [motheredmagazine.com]. 📲 Find Campley: joincamply.com [joincamply.com] | @joincampley [https://www.instagram.com/joincamply/] on Instagram & TikTok Follow Kathryn: @kathrynhatcher_ [https://www.instagram.com/kathrynhatcher_/] on Instagram, TikTok & LinkedIn Interested in being featured in the next issue of Mothered Magazine? See feature opportunities here: https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured [https://www.motheredmagazine.com/be-featured ] And follow @mothered.magazine [https://www.instagram.com/mothered.magazine/] on Instagram and follow our CEO of Mothered Media and Editor-in-Chief of Mothered Magazine, Alexa Starks @alexa.starks [https://www.instagram.com/alexa.starks/]