Who Am I If I'm Not Carmella?

Mental Load, Mom Guilt & Quitting Breastfeeding Without the Shame with Dr. Sanam Shamtobi

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm introducing someone who is going to become a regular around here, Dr. Sanam Shamtobi or as we like call her, Dr. S, a maternal mental health psychologist and a mom herself. And we're jumping straight into the deep end. I came in with a breastfeeding question. I left with a completely different way of thinking about mom guilt, identity, and why the mental load feels so invisible to the people we live with. In this episode we get real about: * Why partners aren't clueless, they just need a different kind of direction (Dr. S literally makes handouts for husbands in therapy) * The mental load and why it's so hard to explain to someone who isn't carrying it * How to hold onto your identity when it feels like "mom" swallowed everything else * Do dads love their kids the same way moms do? Dr. S gets into it * Pumping six months in and wanting to quit, Dr. S gives me the permission I didn't know I needed * Why mom guilt will always find a new target no matter what you do Want to hear the full conversation? Join Snatch Chat [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=guestsegment&utm_content=episode_4Sanam] and get access to the whole episode along with a community of women who get it.  Momma, we're all figuring this out together. None of us have every box checked and Dr. S is proof that even the experts are navigating this in real time. See you inside. When you join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] you get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=guestsegment&utm_content=episode_4Sanam] Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/]

Our Truth About Postpartum and Marriage

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm bringing on my very first guest — my husband, Matt — and we're getting into one of the most honest conversations we've had about what postpartum and our marriage. If you caught the first episode, you know about the Bluetooth incident. But this one is about what happened after. The conversation we had when I walked upstairs from the gym, three months postpartum, completely undone, and tried to explain to my husband that I felt like I was stuck at the bottom of a well. And he said: I feel like I'm flying around in the air and I don't know where to land. That one exchange cracked something open. Because we weren't just in different rooms — we were in completely different atmospheres. And this episode is us unpacking what that actually looked like, and what it's taken to close some of that distance. In this episode I get real about: * The infamous Bluetooth incident — Matt's side of the story  * The hormone science behind why you don't want sex when you're breastfeeding * Why "I want my wife back" is triggering  * The sushi analogy — the best way I've found to explain postpartum to a man * What couples therapy has taught us about being heard vs. being fixed * The three H's: Held, Heard, or Help — and why naming what you need changes everything * What we'd tell any couple heading into the postpartum season This one's for the couple in the car who needed to hear that they're not alone. Play this one loud. New episodes of Hot Mom Shit drop every Tuesday. Follow along wherever you listen to podcasts. Join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] to get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ourtruthabout&utm_content=episode_3Matt]Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/] "Top Tier Matriarch" — written and produced by Quantum PlectrumEpisode Production by KNWN [https://theknwn.com/]

Who Am I If I'm Not Carmella?

In this episode of Hot Mom Shit, I'm getting real about something I've been quietly carrying for three years: the complete unraveling of my identity. It started with a single observation from my couples therapist — that somewhere in the middle of miscarriages, pregnancies, postpartum, and two kids under two, nobody stopped to acknowledge what I had actually lost. My career. My income. My sense of self. The woman the world knew as Carmella — 12 years under contract with WWE, traveling the world, performing in front of thousands — walked away from all of it. And then became a mom. And then did it again. That's not one identity shift. That's three. All at once. And this episode is the first time I'm really saying that out loud. In this episode I chat about: * What my therapist said that stopped me in my tracks * 12 years as Carmella — what it gave me and what it cost me * Two miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy, and the limbo of trying to become a mom while still under contract * The moment my WWE contract expired and what the finality of that felt like * Going from five nights a week on the road to never leaving the house * What it means to lose your financial independence — and why it's not about the purse * My mom's story and why it matters * What I want for myself that I couldn't name yet * The Snatch community — why I built it and who it's for This one goes deep. But it ends with something that feels like the beginning of something. Join the Snatch community [https://snatch-chat.mn.co/plans/1947758?bundle_token=fa4cf205db7d3ca29e04d2c80cac446f&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=whoami&utm_content=episode_2Leah] to get first access to new episodes, behind the scenes content and so much more. Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://www.snatch.co/] Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/]

Three Months Postpartum and My Husband Did What!?

Welcome to Hot Mom Sh!t — my podcast where nothing is perfectly curated and everything is real. In this first episode I am introducing the philosophy at the heart of this show: living in the and. I can love my kids fiercely and need a break from them. I can love my husband and also want to lose my mind sometimes. I can be a devoted mom and have absolutely no idea who I am outside of that role. Both things. At the same time. That is what we are doing here. I kick things off with a story that perfectly captures everything this podcast is about: the moment my husband accidentally connected his phone to the Bluetooth speaker in our home gym while my trainer was there. Three months postpartum, running on zero sleep, trying to do one good thing for myself that day — and that happened. What followed was one of the most honest conversations Matt and I have ever had, standing on the stairs in the middle of our stairwell, neither of us sitting down, both of us finally saying the thing. In this episode I cover: * What "Hot Mom Shit" actually means (hint: it's not about thinking you're hot) * Why women are constantly forced into one box — mom, career woman, wife — and why that's exhausting * The "and" philosophy: two opposing truths can exist at the same time * Why I started this podcast instead of a newsletter (sorry, newsletters) * The porn/Bluetooth/trainer story in full * Postpartum, body image, and not feeling like yourself * What a real marriage conversation actually looks like Links: Follow me on Instagram: @theleahvandale [https://www.instagram.com/theleahvandale/] Join the Snatch community: snatch.co [https://www.snatch.co/] Follow Snatch on Instagram: @snatchforher [https://www.instagram.com/snatchforher/]

Introducing...Hot Mom Sh!t

Hot Mom Sh!t is the podcast that lives in the AND — because you can look good and be a good mom. You can love your kids fiercely and still need to be more than just their mom. Hosted by Leah Van Dale, this is the show for the mom who is done pretending to have it all together, all of the time. Hear the real stories, honest conversations, and the moments Leah probably should have kept to herself but didn't. This isn’t a show about doing it perfectly. It’s about the raw side of motherhood exactly as it is — hot and messy.