Your Mom™

Full disclosure: this Your Story episode with Elizabeth Kendig is our longest of the season, and we could have easily chatted for another hour and a half.

It makes sense that we cover a lot of ground because Elizabeth is majorly multifaceted. She identifies as a hippie disguised in J. Crew, dedicated to “taking the weird out of the woo.” Her investment in spirituality and healing is deeply personal: even while ticking all the so-called boxes of success and carving out a flourishing career as a content creator, beauty blogger, and skincare founder, Elizabeth struggled with depression and a stubborn auto-immune disease. This started her on a “self-help bender” that led to the launch of Healers Podcast and connected her with Spiritual Advisor Monica Lawson, with whom she co-authored Chase You, “a field guide to connecting with the Other Side to find more purpose and peace.”

Whether you’re a spirituality skeptic like Betsy or a faith-filled Catholic like Ashley, this eye-opening conversation with Elizabeth has something uniquely for you.

For example, what do popcorn, peaches, and butterflies have in common? Other than being great names for hamsters, they’re also signs that now carry special significance to Ashley, Betsy, and Elizabeth. And after recording this episode, they’ve all started receiving each other’s signs...cue the goose bumps.

Elizabeth and Ashley met via a tree of extended sister-in-laws, so they affectionately refer to themselves as “Sister-in-Loves”. We’re confident you’ll finish this conversation feeling like an extended member of the family too.

Speaking of conversations with friends, Elizabeth recently launched a creative venture with her good friend and fellow editor Kate Rogers: Les Femmes Quotidienne (Français pour “Women of the Day”) is a substack with advice and recommendations on everything from establishing boundaries to whipping up the perfect potato salad. Think of it as tips and tricks from your chicest bff.

As always, you can watch this episode and find bonus content on our YouTube channel.

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This episode is the season finale of Your Story. While we aren't exactly sure what next season will bring, we know we'll be back in some form because these conversations and this community fills our cup in a way nothing else does. Thanks as always for listening. We couldn’t (and wouldn’t want to) do this without you.

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As Suicide Awareness Month comes to a close, Your MomTM shifts gears this week. Lisa and Ashley speak with a mom who is championing the fight for Suicide Prevention.

Martha Thomas, mother of NFL defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, lost her daughter Ella to suicide in 2018. In this wide-ranging interview, Martha opens up about the bright light Ella brought to the world, the darkness of her mental healthy journey (26:00) and what she wants all of us to understand about suicide (47:11). Learn about the family's non-profit 'The Defensive Line' which aims to reduce the stigma of talking about mental health and in turn reduce the number of suicides among young people, especially those of color (52:33).

There is something for everyone in this powerful interview. You'll laugh as you hear stories about how Lisa and Martha's friendship began at Stanford (4:06 ), and you'll be inspired by the way Martha channeled her grief and pain into a higher purpose, as she works to ensure no family has to suffer the pain and loss of losing a child to suicide.

To learn more about The Defensive Line go to https://thedefensiveline.org/

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That escalated quickly. One day after Lisa invites Kyle Shanahan's mom on the show, the San Francisco 49ers make a trade for her son Christian McCaffrey.

The relationship between the McCaffrey and Shanahan families run deep, as evidenced by this delightfully prescient conversation with Peggy Shanahan.

Ashley's masterplan to get Lisa to the Bay Area is now complete, please stay tuned for their SF apartment hunting episode in the coming weeks.

Thanks as always for listening and most importantly, congrats to CMC on a new chapter and welcome back to the Bay!

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Back in October, Ashley came across a Medium story written in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attacks: “To Be A Jew” by Rachel Wegner.

As Ashley read the first line–“I believe in the power of stories to bring people together, to build bridges and to create connection”–she stopped in her tracks. She had jotted down almost the exact same words during a previous conversation with our executive producer Betsy Bloom. The universe was sending a powerful message: reach out to Rachel to see if she would share her story on the pod. Long story, short: she generously agreed, and we are thrilled to now share it with you.

The Jewish holiday of Passover– which commemorates the Israelites' freedom from slavery in Egypt– begins at sundown on Monday, April 22nd and ends the evening of Tuesday, April 30th. It is a time of reflection and celebration, an opportunity to be together in community to acknowledge an ancient, complicated history and lift each other up with unrelenting hope for a future where all people are fully free.

In this episode, we explore Rachel's personal struggle with modern-day othering and her internal quest for freedom while also rejoicing in the moments that bring her light and keep her hope for a future of true togetherness alive.

We hope this episode inspires you to build your own bridges of connection, be they across the table or across the aisle. Chag Sameach!

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About Rachel Wegner:

"I am an educator and school leader with over 20 years of experience teaching and leading in schools. I believe education is freedom and it is the key to the Jewish concept of "tikkun olam" - repairing the world. When we know, love and serve students fully, we create the next generation of learners, leaders and listeners who believe in their abilities and have the skills to create change. I am passionate about equity work and it is at the center of what I do, what I believe in and what I have come to see as the most important work there is. I believe dialogue founded on trust, intentionality and vulnerability has the power to rebuild dysfunctional systems and structures so everyone has an opportunity to live their most meaningful life."

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Our brains love a binary: extraordinary vs. ordinary, good vs. bad, motivation vs. laziness, beauty vs. brokenness. But, real life is rarely cut and dry. What do we lose in our attempt to have it all? What might we gain if we ditched the dichotomies?

Join Ashley Adamson and Chantal Below in their effort to live in the messy middle, to celebrate our scars, to acknowledge the blessings of a skinned knee, and to adopt some side character energy in 2024.

Like most things worth doing, embracing “both/and” thinking ain’t easy. It encourages us to put our problems into perspective. It challenges our core beliefs about success and satisfaction. It asks us to pay attention to ourselves and those around us.

And yet, this practice also allows us to release the pressure valve and reject the pursuit of perfection. It reminds us that, in the wise words of the great Jess Sims, “You are allowed to be a work in progress and a masterpiece at the same damn time.”

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About the hosts:

Chantal Below moved from the US to England in third grade. She never developed a love of cricket, but did develop a fascination with humanity, unconsciously examining how different cultures and beliefs expand or limit our choices.

After graduating from Georgetown University, she started her career as a 4th grade teacher with Teach For America, hoping to expand choices for too-often marginalized children in low-income schools. She loved the energy of the kids and the vibrancy of the community, but no one really wanted her teaching long division.

Since then, she’s been exploring the many dimensions of the human condition while avoiding math. She worked for years in the education non-profit world leading teams and developing leadership development programs. Then, she ventured out on her own and started Redcliff Coaching, Inc. She supports leaders in all industries - with clients at Google, Homeless Prenatal Program, and to get out of their own way and live and lead in the way they most want.

She also attempts to parent three kids who are curious, compassionate, hysterical, and only vaguely pay attention to her advice. She lives in Oakland, CA.

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Ashley Adamson is an Emmy-award winning storyteller and lead host for the Pac-12 Network. Honored by Cynopsis as a “Game Changing On-Air Talent”, her biggest achievement to date was being crowned the arm wrestling champion in third grade.

A native of Denver, CO, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Boston College followed by a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Boston University.

Adamson lives in San Francisco with her very handsome husband and two young children. In 2022, she started the Your MomTM podcast with Lisa McCaffrey to honor and celebrate the beautiful, messy randomness of motherhood. She dreams of one day becoming a professional karaoke singer in the Florida Keys.

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