Maria Ahmad | Borders, Babies, & Building Bridges: A Humanitarian's Guide to Migration, Motherhood, and Global Sisterhood

Maria Ahmad | Borders, Babies, & Building Bridges: A Humanitarian's Guide to Migration, Motherhood, and Global Sisterhood

What does it mean to raise globally conscious children in a world full of noise, misinformation, and borders — both literal and cultural?  In this episode, Jessica sits down with Maria Ahmad, humanitarian, multilingual professional, journalist, and mom of two, whose life has spanned Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Latin America. Maria shares her journey from BBC radio journalist covering terrorism and elections to leading migration work for the United Nations, the realities of immigration that mainstream media gets wrong, what it looks like to raise sons who understand the female experience, and how moms everywhere — regardless of geography — can build the alliances that change the world. One of the most expansive and important conversations this podcast has ever had. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * Maria's upbringing in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East — and how questioning gender restrictions shaped her worldview * From BBC radio journalist to UN migration expert — the career path she never planned * Covering terrorism, the Obama election, and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto * How becoming a mom transformed the way she experienced the world * Motherhood across continents — what she observed about family, community, and village across cultures * Raising sons to understand and advocate for women — the conversation we're not having enough * The cycle of abuse that gets passed down — and why the work starts with men, not just women * What migration actually is — and why everything in mainstream media is misinformation * Women and children in the migration system — why mothers flee, and what happens when they're separated from their children * How privileged moms can build alliances and take action for migrant families * Media literacy for busy moms — how to navigate the noise and find trustworthy sources * Community protection, child safety, and what grandmothers can do * The global unpaid care labor crisis — and why it's a policy issue, not a personal one RESOURCES MENTIONED * NPR and PBS — recommended as starting points for trustworthy news * The Daily Show — referenced for accessible political commentary * International Organization for Migration (IOM) — UN body on migration * UN Women — referenced for care labor advocacy * Baby Voyage — company founded for traveling parents This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story. 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]

Jenny Tucker | The Centerline Community: Matrescence, Community, and Finding Your People in Motherhood

WELCOME TO SEASON 5: Moms Making Impact  🎉 What if the hardest parts of postpartum aren't a sign that something is wrong with you — but a sign that something is finally waking up?  In this episode, Jessica sits down with Jenny Tucker, founder of Centerline Community, a support space for new and expecting moms navigating postpartum and matrescence. Jenny brings her background in mental health counseling and yoga to a conversation about the good mother myth, the portal of postpartum, generational healing, and why building a village isn't just nice to have — it's biologically necessary.  This one is for every mom who has ever felt alone in the hardest season of her life. MAIN TOPICS COVERED * How Centerline Community started as a prenatal yoga Zoom call in March 2020 — and grew to 500+ moms * Why existing postpartum support is mostly baby-focused — and what moms actually need instead * The portal of postpartum — what gets unearthed when a baby is born * The good mother myth and the facade of perfect mom life * Matrescence as an opportunity for generational healing * Why moms are biologically not designed to be alone with their babies all day * The people-pleasing conditioning that makes postpartum harder than it has to be * Running a business from a feminine energy framework * How to find your village when you're new, isolated, or introverted * What it looks like to stop outsourcing your own wisdom * The Centerline Community membership — weekly Zoom groups, in-person meetups, and the Mothership HOW TO CONNECT WITH JENNY TUCKER * Website: centerlinecommunity.com [http://centerlinecommunity.com] * Instagram: @centerlinecommunity [https://www.instagram.com/centerlinecommunity/] * Free month trial code: welcomemama This episode is sponsored by Collabs Creative [https://www.collabscreative.com/] - a boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story. 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]

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 boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story. 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 boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story. 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 boutique digital marketing company helping small business owners and creatives tell their story. 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]