Dr. Kim Van Dusen | Parenting Through Play: Building Better Behavior and Deeper Connection with Your Kids

Alexandra Swayne | From Layoff to Launch: How One Mom Built Three Businesses While Raising Two Kids Under Three

What do you do when you get laid off while pregnant, have a toddler at home, and just bought a house?  If you're Alexandra Swayne, you start a marketing business, invent a baby product, and launch a women's networking group — all within a year. In this episode, Jessica sits down with Alex to talk about the layoff that cracked everything open, the 2 a.m. manufacturer calls that turned Binky Bands into a viral product launch, and what it actually looks like to build three businesses while raising two kids under three. This one is for every mom who has an idea they haven't trusted yet. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * Getting laid off while pregnant — and why it became the catalyst for everything * Launching Sunkiss Media: 12 years of marketing experience, one layoff, and one LLC * The middle-of-the-night idea that became Binky Bands — a wearable pacifier and teether * Going viral on LinkedIn on launch day and selling 100+ units before noon * Starting She Means Business Long Island — 600 members, 75 women at the first event * How motherhood built her confidence — and helped her stop shrinking herself * Trusting your idea when people close to you say it won't work * Using her marketing background to launch a product she actually believed in * Balancing three businesses, two kids, and daycare two days a week * AI as a business tool — the love-hate relationship that saves her hours * Advice for moms on the edge of making a leap of faith HOW TO CONNECT WITH ALEXANDRA SWAYNE * Sunkiss Media: sunkissedmedia.net [http://sunkissedmedia.net] | Instagram/TikTok: @sun.kissedmedia * Binky Bands: Instagram/TikTok: @binkibands * She Means Business Long Island: Facebook Group + Instagram: @shemeansbusiness.li This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a digital marketing company supporting makers, creatives, and small business owners with all things digital and design.  Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/themamamakingpodcast/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/themamamakingpodcast]! Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link [https://pod.link/1548163284] Watch on YouTube: Click here! [https://www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast]

Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers | Shameless Parenting: Breaking the Cycle of Sexual Shame and Raising Kids Who Know Their Worth

What would it mean to raise a child who never learns to be ashamed of their body?  In this episode, Jessica sits down with Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers — licensed sex therapist, bestselling author, researcher, and founder of the Northwest Institute on Intimacy — for a conversation that every parent needs to hear.  From the definition of sexual shame and how it develops from infancy, to the impact of abstinence-only education on an entire generation, to the practical framework for healing shame and changing your family's legacy — Dr. Tina brings the research, the tools, and the deep humanity that has made her work transformational for thousands of families. She also shares her work with psychedelic-assisted therapy for trauma, and why she's on a mission to make healing accessible to everyone.  This one will change the way you think about your own story — and the one you want to pass on. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * Dr. Tina's Swedish upbringing — why she thought every family talked about sexuality like recipes * The first wave of abstinence-only education and the shame epidemic it created * The clinical definition of sexual shame — and why it starts earlier than most parents realize * What to say when your baby finds their genitals for the first time (and why it matters more than you think) * How sexual shame develops across the lifespan — from infancy through adolescence * The role of authoritarian religious structures in creating unsafe environments for curiosity * Religious trauma and sexual shame — how they intersect and where they come from * The Frame, Name, Claim, Aim model for healing sexual shame * Practical tools for raising shame-free kids at every developmental stage * Shameless Parenting — what's in it and how to use it as a roadmap * The Northwest Institute on Intimacy — training clinicians in sexual health * Psychedelic-assisted therapy for trauma — the research, the ethics, and the Inana Rising organization * The patient equity scholarship fund and Indigenous Reparations Fund * Dr. Tina's offer: free promo codes for her books for anyone who can't afford them RESOURCES MENTIONED * Northwest Institute on Intimacy  * Inana Rising (psychedelic-assisted therapy organization) — https://inannarising.org/ [http://inarising.org] * Girls and Sex and Boys and Sex by Peggy Orenstein — referenced * Brené Brown's work on shame — referenced HOW TO CONNECT WITH DR. TINA * Website: TinaSchermerSellers.com [http://TinaSchermerSellers.com] * Instagram: @drtinashameless [https://www.instagram.com/drtinashameless/] (parenting/shame work) * Shameless Parenting by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers  [https://www.tinaschermersellers.com/books] * Sex, God and the Conservative Church: Erasing Shame from Sexual Intimacy by Dr. Tina Schermer Sellers [https://www.amazon.com/Sex-God-Conservative-Church-Intimacy/dp/B08Z785LHF] This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a digital marketing company supporting makers, creatives, and small business owners with all things digital and design.  Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/themamamakingpodcast/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/themamamakingpodcast]! Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link [https://pod.link/1548163284] Watch on YouTube: Click here! [https://www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast]

Emily Encinosa | The Maternity Ecosystem: Home Birth, Midwifery Care, and the Future of Community-Based Birth

What if birth wasn't something to be afraid of — but something to be prepared for?  In this episode, Jessica sits down with Emily Encinosa, certified professional midwife, hypnobirthing instructor, and founder of Birds and Bees Maternity Center in Annapolis, Maryland, to talk about the modern home birth movement, the maternity care ecosystem she's building, and why continuity of care changes everything. From debunking home birth myths to navigating state regulations, transfer rates, and what it actually means to give birth on your own terms, Emily brings the clinical knowledge and the heart of someone who has attended over 500 births — and had two home birth transfers herself. This one is for every mom who has ever wanted more from her birth experience. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * Emily's background — from New York to Las Vegas to bringing midwifery home to Annapolis * The biggest misconceptions about home birth and where they come from * Who home birth is actually for — low-risk screening, intermittent monitoring, and what qualifies * Transfer rates — why a midwife who transfers freely is a sign of a good midwife, not a failed birth * Emily's own two home birth transfers — and what they taught her as both a midwife and a mother * The maternity ecosystem she's building at Birds and Bees — classes, support groups, doula referrals, and community * Hypnobirthing, reframing pain as intensity, and shifting the cultural conversation around birth * Postpartum Support International, the CLIMB fundraiser, and mental health advocacy * The birth plan audit — a new offering for hospital-birth families who want a midwife's eyes on their plan * State regulations, maternity deserts, and what needs to change for midwives to be recognized as legitimate stakeholders * The role of community midwives in closing the gap in maternity care access RESOURCES MENTIONED * Expecting with Emily — expectingwithemily.com [http://expectingwithemily.com] * Instagram: @expectingwithemily [https://www.instagram.com/expectingwithemily/] * Birth Plan Audit  [https://expectingwithemily.com/birthing-infant-care-classes-2/] * Postpartum Support International — Anne Arundel County Chapter * The Village — women's networking group for perinatal professionals in Annapolis * The Business of Being Born — documentary referenced * The Big Push — documentary referenced * Dr. Nathan and Dr. Stu — OBGYNs referenced for their advocacy work * Born Free Conference — virtual attendance referenced HOW TO CONNECT WITH THE GUEST * Website: expectingwithemily.com [http://expectingwithemily.com] * Instagram: @expectingwithemily [https://www.instagram.com/expectingwithemily/] This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a digital marketing company supporting makers, creatives, and small business owners with all things digital and design.  Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/themamamakingpodcast/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/themamamakingpodcast]! Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link [https://pod.link/1548163284] Watch on YouTube: Click here! [https://www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast]

Jessica Lamb | Survival Mode, Season Five, and What's Coming Next for the Mama Making Podcast

Sometimes life just doesn't ask permission.  In this solo episode, Jessica gets real about the last two weeks — a broken arm, a late-night ER visit with her son, a hard decision to miss a conference she was really looking forward to, and a full dental surgery under general anesthesia the following week. She talks about what it looks and feels like to go into survival mode, why the emotional weight hits hardest when it's all over, and what she's still figuring out about how to take care of herself on the back end of a crisis. Plus — a look ahead at what's coming for Season Five of the Mama Making Podcast and why she is more excited about it than anything she's done yet. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * Bode's broken arm — the fall, the late-night ER visit, and navigating it solo while her husband was traveling * The soft cast weekend from hell — keeping a wild, high-energy toddler still on pain meds * The hard decision to skip the Podcasting Moms conference and what she was most bummed to miss * Bode's dental surgery at Lurie's — general anesthesia, root canal, extractions, and an extra tooth * Going into survival mode vs. feeling emotions on the back end * The emotional and physical toll of shouldering two weeks of crisis largely alone * What she's asking from her community: how do you decompress after survival mode? * Season Five preview — Moms Making Impact: women building communities, working abroad, navigating advocacy, changing laws * The newsletter, private episodes, and what's coming next for the Mama Making Podcast * A big ask: share the podcast with someone who needs it HOW TO CONNECT WITH JESSICA * The Mama Making Podcast newsletter — themamamakingpodcast.com [http://themamamakingpodcast.com/] * Subscribe on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast [http://www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast] * Follow on social: https://tr.ee/tJdzccD-oi [https://tr.ee/tJdzccD-oi] This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a digital marketing company supporting makers, creatives, and small business owners with all things digital and design.  Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/themamamakingpodcast/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/themamamakingpodcast]! Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link [https://pod.link/1548163284] Watch on YouTube: Click here! [https://www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast]

Terry Tateossian | From Burnout to Vitality: How One Mom Lost 80 Pounds, Survived Perimenopause, and Reclaimed Her Health

What does it look like when a business-owning mom hits rock bottom — physically, emotionally, and hormonally — and finds her way back?  In this episode, Jessica sits down with Terry Tateossian, founder of Thor (The House of Rose), a health coaching practice built for midlife women ready to reclaim their vitality. At 42, Terry lost over 80 pounds, overcame emotional eating, and discovered she had been navigating early perimenopause since age 37 — without knowing it. She shares the raw truth about burnout, using sugar and alcohol to regulate a dysregulated nervous system, the identity shift required to actually keep the weight off, and why strength training was the medicine that changed everything. This one hits home for every woman who has ever felt like she is running on empty and can't figure out where to start. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * Terry's background — from Eastern Europe to entrepreneurship, two kids, and corporate burnout * The panic attacks that sent her to the ER twice — and what they were really telling her * Using sugar, alcohol, and nicotine to regulate an overwhelmed nervous system * Why doing more was never the answer — and what doing less actually looked like in practice * Early onset perimenopause at 37 — and why she thought she was pregnant again at 42 * The identity shift required to lose 80 pounds and keep it off for 13 years * Time blocking, strength training, and the two-hour morning non-negotiable that changed everything * How physical health transformed her business decisions — and freed her from fear-based choices * The difference between profitable work and work that breaks you * Thor retreats — what they are, what happens there, and who they're for * Nervous system regulation, breathwork, restorative yoga, hiking, and community as medicine RESOURCES MENTIONED * Thor (The House of Rose) retreats — thehouseofrose.com [http://thehouseofrose.com] * Instagram: @how.good.can.it.get [https://www.instagram.com/how.good.can.it.get/] & @thor.wellness [https://www.instagram.com/thor.wellness/] * Walking pad — mentioned as a tool for movement during the workday * Resistance bands and dumbbells — Terry's recommendation for home-based strength training HOW TO CONNECT WITH THE GUEST * Website: thehouseofrose.com [http://thehouseofrose.com] * Instagram: @how.good.can.it.get [https://www.instagram.com/how.good.can.it.get/] & @thor.wellness [https://www.instagram.com/thor.wellness/] This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a digital marketing company supporting makers, creatives, and small business owners with all things digital and design.  Follow The Mama Making Podcast on socials on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/themamamakingpodcast/] and Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/themamamakingpodcast]! Share and subscribe to the podcast: click this link [https://pod.link/1548163284] Watch on YouTube: Click here! [https://www.youtube.com/@TheMamaMakingPodcast]