Your Mom™

This week, Ashley introduces you to Chantal Below, who we are thrilled to have joining us as a regular contributor on season two. Chantal is a mom of three and an executive leadership coach who works with individuals and teams to challenge their own inhibiting assumptions, or, as she puts it, “giving people the space to pause, recognize their patterns, tendencies, impacts, and choices, and then make a decision about if it’s working.”

After spending time with her over the past six years, Ashley frequently proclaims that, “everyone needs a Chantal in their life”. While we work on cloning Chantal, this episode gives listeners access to her unique perspective and process. Ashley and Chantal’s conversation covers everything from our shared struggle for acceptance, the connection between our best traits and our biggest weaknesses, the power of reframing complacency, our immunity to change, and our ability to question the stories we tell ourselves. Plus, Ashley recounts a personal victory involving direct communication and trash cans.

Thanks as always for listening and please subscribe to our YouTube channel for bonus content!

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More about Chantal Below:

Chantal moved from the US to England in third grade. As an expat, she promptly began saying biscuit instead of cookie and spelling color with a ‘u’ in order to fit in. 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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Your MomTM is back for season two!

Ashley Adamson and Lisa McCaffrey reunite to celebrate motherhood with a second season of Your MomTM. Enjoy their unfiltered conversations with moms of world class athletes and high achievers as they share personal stories of parenthood that feel both familiar and extraordinary.

We launched this podcast last year to celebrate and shine a light on motherhood. The moms we interviewed taught us a lot, but we came to realize that part of the real value of what we were doing was giving these women the space to reflect on their life experiences. They were all moms of exceptional people, but they were so exceptional themselves. After each episode, they expressed gratitude at being asked to share their story.

So this season, our north star remains motherhood. We will still be interviewing moms of highly successful people and sharing powerful stories like how Lisa McCaffrey once saved her entire soccer team from an earthquake. But we will also explore this broader notion of the power of storytelling in our lives. To help us, we’re adding two new regular contributors, Chantal Below and Betsy Bloom, who we consider experts in this field.

We are thrilled to be back, and we thank you deeply for being on this journey with us.

Please do us a favor and subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts!

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Lisa's unending journey for healthy living recently led her to discover Fountain Life, a company dedicated to revolutionizing the healthcare system in order to help people live longer and improve disease detection.

It's a lofty mission and one that our guest, Fountain Life's Chief Medical and Science Officer Dr. Helen Messier, says is fundamental to the future of medicine.

According to the American Cancer Society about 70% of all cancer deaths come from cancers for which there are currently no proven screening tests. So imagine if we could consistently find cancer at stage zero when it's most easily cured? Fountain Life claims their data-driven approach enables them to find cancer, cardiac, metabolic, and neurodegenerative disease early, before they can cause harm.

Dr. Messier received a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Molecular Immunology from the University of Alberta. She completed post-doctoral studies at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology in San Diego, CA and received her MD from the University of Calgary. She’s board certified in family medicine. In addition to leading the company’s clinical and scientific programs, Dr. Messier will establish Fountain Life University to train Fountain Life certified practitioners and lead the effort to gain insights and publish findings from Fountain Life’s vast amount of data. In addition to being related to the Hall of Fame hockey player Mark Messier, she found out on this episode that she's about to be related to the McCaffreys. Listen on for an informative conversation about a critical topic, which ends with a fun reveal.

To learn more about Fountain Life's mission, offerings, and locations, visit their website.

A reminder that you can watch this episode on our YouTube channel. Thanks as always for listening!

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Christian McCaffrey launched The Logan Project to honor the life of Logan Preston Hale, a young superfan from Connecticut who lost his battle with childhood cancer in 2021. While Logan never had a chance to meet his NFL hero, Christian has been on a mission to ensure his legacy and name will live on forever.

This week Logan's mom Kristina Hale joins the show for a powerful interview, shedding light on who her son was and why he felt such a fierce connection to Christian from the moment he saw him play. Kristina also discusses Saturday's upcoming Logan Bowl and explains how healing Christian's kindness has been following the immeasurable loss of her son.

Be sure to stay tuned for the wonderful surprise guest appearance from Christian (44:00), as he describes to Kristina the impact her son's life is having on so many people. To see Kristina's face when he pops on, do yourself a favor and go watch this episode on our YouTube channel.

We are honored to share Logan's story, completely inspired by Christian's compassion, and we remain in total awe of Kristina's strength and heart.

We are honored to share Logan's story, completely inspired by Christian's compassion, and we remain in total awe of Kristina's strength and heart.

Information on the Logan Bowl can be found below.

The Logan Bowl is a LIVE Madden tournament on June 3rd to benefit The Logan Project, an initiative started by the Christian McCaffrey Foundation to honor Logan Hale's dream of putting gaming consoles in children's hospitals for kids undergoing medical treatment as a way to connect with their friends and restore a sense of normalcy.

In addition to McCaffrey, who will be co-hosting the event alongside three-time Pro Bowler and Fox’s
lead NFL analyst Greg Olsen and popular Madden streamer Chris “Dubby” MacFarland, the following NFL players will be involved: Fred Warner (San Francisco 49ers), Saquon Barkley (New York
Giants), JuJu Smith-Schuster (New England Patriots), Dalvin Cook (Minnesota Vikings), and Brian Burns (Carolina Panthers). Esports and gaming production company, Wisdom Gaming, will produce the event.

START TIME: 10AM (PST)

STREAMING CHANNELS: https://twitch.tv/theloganproject

LINK TO DONATE: tiltify.com/theloganbowl

WEBSITE: theloganbowl.org

Those interested in learning more can visit christianmccaffreyfoundation.org.

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The day after the Super Bowl, Chantal Below’s son was so devastated by the 49ers' loss that he requested to stay home from school. Chantal, who admittedly doesn’t care much about sports, was mystified by his utter desolation. This got us thinking: what is it about team sports that inspires such extreme emotions? Where’s the line between loyal fan and zealous fanatic?

In an attempt to answer these questions, we dive into the deep end of fan psychology: the intersection of sports and religion, the gender dynamics of emotional repression, and the toxicity of sideline critics. We question why certain “fans” spew negative comments on social media after a tough loss and others set cars on fire after a momentous victory.

We also celebrate the inspiring side of fandom: the community it creates, the resilience it engenders, and the respect it promotes for the players putting their bodies and souls on the line. As a lifelong sports enthusiast, Ashley shares how watching football kept her connected to her dad during a tough time in her life. As a mom and wife of avid athletes, Chantal acknowledges the magic in the madness of youth sports. And, as a longtime Buffalo Bills fan, our executive producer Betsy Bloom offers an ode to Bills mafia’s enduring loyalty even in the most trying times

So, whether your mental health hinges on a win or you watch sports for the snacks, we hope you’re a fan of this episode. Stay tuned next week for our SuperBowl recap with Lisa, who undeniably earned the right to skip school the next day.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Questions, comments, feedback? We love hearing from you, drop us a line [email protected]. And as always, thanks for listening!

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About Chantal Below:

Chantal moved from the US to England in third grade. As an expat, she promptly began saying biscuit instead of cookie and spelling color with a ‘u’ in order to fit in. 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 also attempts to parent three kids who are curious, compassionate, hysterical, and only vaguely pay attention to her advice. She lives in Oakland, CA.

Psst...our merch store is live! yourmom.co/shop