Eps 108: Meredith Masony is on Sharing Her Story of Humor and Growing Community

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Transcription

Casey O'Roarty 0:02
Joy, joyful courage parenting podcast episode 108, Hey everybody. Welcome back to the joyful courage podcast, a place for information and inspiration on the parenting journey. I am your host, Casey o'rourdy, positive discipline trainer and parent coach. And as always, I am thrilled that you are listening. Be sure to listen after the interview. I have some calls to action that I don't want you to miss out on. If you find yourself laughing, taking notes and are excited about what you hear on the show today, do me a favor and pay it forward. Share this episode with your friends, families, neighbors, strangers, at the park. Your sharing is the reason I'm able to show up for you each week, and I am so honored to do so. My guest today is Meredith masonny. Meredith is the founder of that's inappropriate, one of the most popular parenting blogs on the web. That's inappropriate started in October of 2014 as an innocent and humorous way to chronicle Meredith's chaotic days as a working mom, child wrangler and busy wife. It's transformed into a massive, dynamic community of millions of parents, brought together by one common theme, parenting, marriage and life in general doesn't have to be perfect. Meredith is the author of the best selling book, scoop the poop, pick your battles, and has been featured on Pop Sugar, HuffPost, scary mommy, blunt moms, the list goes on and on. Meredith speaks at social media and women's conferences to share her stories and expertise. Hi Meredith, welcome to the podcast. Hello,

Meredith Masony 1:43
hello, hello. Thank you so much for having me.

Casey O'Roarty 1:46
I am so excited to have you on the show. Will you share a little bit about your journey to get to doing what you do?

Meredith Masony 1:55
Basically, I was stuck. I was I was in the position where I had had a bunch of kids, you know, you get married, you have a bunch of kids. And I, I was lost. I was in there somewhere, but I wasn't sure where that was. So after becoming a wife and a mom and working and the grind kind of gets to you. So I, I was, you know, a little bit depressed and a little bit out of sorts as to what it is that I was supposed to be doing, because I knew what I was doing was not what I was supposed to be doing. And I don't mean that in the sense of parenting or or being a wife, what my purpose was in terms of professionally, in terms of enjoying what I was doing for a living. It wasn't what I was doing. And so it was this, I call it in the book, this awful game of hide and seek, because I knew I was in there, but I was having I was struggling to find myself. And so I found that every time I would get on to social media, and I would see the things that my friends were posting, or a friend of a friend, or whomever, I kind of felt defeated, because it was like, Well, my house doesn't look like that. And, you know, how the heck do you find time to go to the gym, and how are you cooking that meal? And How are your kids not running around naked, screaming right at this moment in time, like it's the witching hour, it's bedtime, you know, and you see people online and and I thought to myself, how does this? How does this exist? And I basically decided that I was going to start sharing some of my journey and talk about what my life actually looked like, as opposed to what I call the Pinterest perfect world. Because I didn't, I didn't fit into that, and so not to, I will get into it. But I did get very sick back in March, April of 2014 and I found out that I had a tumor. And we got very, very lucky. But I had to have a major surgery, some reconstructive surgery. The tumor was in my chest, and when I woke up and they told me that I, in fact, did not have cancer because they thought that it was esophageal cancer, I took that as a motivator to get my butt moving and kind of get going with things that I wanted to do instead of things that I felt forced to do, and that's actually when I started the blog in October. So I had my surgery in August. I didn't really wait around too long. I kind of let myself get better and rehabbed, and by October, I was writing,

Casey O'Roarty 4:35
well, I so appreciate the authenticity in your story. And I think it's so relatable. You know, those early years with kids, and you have three, right? Three kids,

Meredith Masony 4:52
11, eight and 611.

Casey O'Roarty 4:56
Eight and six. So at one point you had, what, three, five. Under, oh, yeah, yeah, oh my gosh. I call that being in the weeds.

Meredith Masony 5:04
We call it trenches parenting, but yes, yeah, and

Casey O'Roarty 5:08
it does. It feels isolating and lonely. And I remember that same experience of, like, What do you mean? Take time for myself. What do you mean? Like, I want to create. You know, I had this great book that was all about homemade baby food, and I thought, oh, yeah, I'm gonna do this. It's gonna be so great, just like my friends. And then when it came down to it, it was like, How the hell am I supposed to do this? And it can, yeah, and then, you know, throw in the social media, and it's just no bueno, is that so? So you start telling your story?

Meredith Masony 5:45
Yeah. Well, I decided that, you know, I I, at first, when I would see these social postings, I felt angry, because it was like, Why? Why do those women have it so together? What's wrong with me? And why are they doing it so well, and I can't seem to get my my stuff together. And then I realized, the more I looked, I was like, I wait a minute. Maybe they're just fibbing. Maybe they're just lying. Because I had to kind of step back for a second and think like, you know, are do they really have it together? Because I don't know how anybody with a bunch of kids like this can have it together and and because I felt like I was barely surviving, right? Like I wasn't thriving. I wasn't doing fantastically well. I was surviving, yeah, and I needed to know that I wasn't the only one. So I started it because I was really reaching out to see if others would kind of confirm the fact that I wasn't just like, really crazy. I was just in this trenches parenting, and I needed, I needed to know that I wasn't the only one, right? Because you feel lonely, like you said, when you feel isolated. I was depressed. I was like, you know, why? Why can't I get why can't I get my butt in gear and just go and then I realized it's because I'm dragging along an entire family that has constant needs, and they need constant attention, and I have to be everybody's everything, and it's exhausting, physically, emotionally, and you, you it shows, right? It shows. And so I decided, instead of hiding that, I was just going to show that, and I was gonna see if anybody came to join me to say, Yeah, I felt like that today, or, yeah, I've had that day. Or, you know, I've got, I've got three kids that are the same age as yours, and I don't get out of my sweat pants, and it's like, okay, good. You know, out now people are telling the truth. Now we're having some honest conversations about this, and it was really nice to know I wasn't the only one, because you feel like you're the only one.

Casey O'Roarty 7:47
Yeah, and so what? How else did people respond? I mean, you put it out there back in that October 2014 and you started to hear from your readers, right?

Meredith Masony 7:58
Well, it was definitely slow going. I think anybody who starts doing this, they have to prepare themselves for only their family and friends reading it, and even then, they probably don't want to, right? Because you force it, you force it down their throats. It's like, read this. This is funny, right? And it's like, oh, you know, I read, when I read back on what I first wrote, I cringe, you know, because it's like, how did I even, how did anybody even get what I was trying to say? And so at first, everything was just a written blog. So for the first, like 18 months, it was all about just trying to find an audience, trying to find somebody to publish something of mine, trying to find anybody to listen to a story that I had to tell because it was literally just the written word, and I felt like I wasn't getting my entire story across. So I felt like I knew what I wanted to say, and I was trying to say it, but because I speak the language of sarcasm, I always felt like some of it was lost in translation, and so it was definitely slow going that first year and a half, but when I started to implement video, I saw this dramatic shift. But it is tough when you're trying to get when you're trying to tell a story, you really have to be a genius to tell a story with words and for everybody to get it. And I wasn't by any stretch, that genius. So it was hit or miss when I would post something if it really came across, right

Casey O'Roarty 9:27
well, and I found you after watching your Mother's Day video from last year, you were so funny and so real, and I wanted to know more about you, and that is when loads of people were also having the same response to that video, right? I mean, I was searching around as I was researching for this interview, and I saw a couple, like, local, couple of your local news stations, are you? You're in Florida, yeah,

Meredith Masony 9:54
yeah. We had, we had some news coverage for that. That one was, that was insanity. It was kind of like, I don't really believe in luck. I don't think luck exists. I think that people work really hard, and then there are definitely things that play into that role of how, you know timing, timing is, is huge when you when you're in, working in social media, or even, because I wasn't even working at that point, right? Like I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't my job at that point, it was still, I was still working full time, and I was still just doing this, you know, for hot pockets and free coupons. That's how I was paid. It's great. My kids love Hot Pockets, but I really just wanted to talk about what I wanted for Mother's Day, because I felt like every ad I saw, it's like, no, I don't want flowers. No, no, I don't want a new pair of socks. No, I want, you know, and I wanted, I wanted to be left alone. That was really my mother's day wish, and I it was split, 5050, they people either hated it or they loved it. And and the sad fact was, most of the women loved it, and most of the men who watched hated it, like just the venom that I got as a result of that video. But I have to be honest, I didn't care, because 10 million people watched it exactly. It didn't bother me any that there was hate coming my way for that,

Casey O'Roarty 11:16
right, right? And, I mean, I was one of those people that just loved it. I watched it, and then I watched it again, and then I told my husband, oh my gosh, coming to watch this, and shared it around, because it was so real. And something that I appreciate about you, Meredith, is that, and I'm so glad you went to video, because you're right, like your delivery of what you're talking about is so spot on. And that's what really kind of gets right inside of me. And I'm like, oh yeah, this lady is speaking my language. She is inside my head and talking about exactly how I feel, and not afraid to broadcast it

Meredith Masony 11:57
well. And that's my goal. If I can get you to say, oh my gosh, I was thinking that, or I wanted to say that that's my goal, because I want you to know you're not alone. Like, this is the day I had, or this is what I wanted to talk about. The best thing about the Mother's Day video was that my husband hated it, so I had made the video he was out of town on a golf weekend, on Mother's Day weekend, and I sent him the video clip, and I said, I'm gonna post this. And he said, Oh, it's terrible. And I said, What do you mean? And he's like, Well, number one, it's not funny. And number two, the editing is just awful. And I'm like, Well, I did it based on comedic timing, right for punch for, you know, to get to the punch and the jokes. And I go, What do you mean? It's terrible. This is funny. And he's like, No, it's awful. Nobody's gonna watch it. And I was like, All right, well, I'm posting it. And I remember calling him after I posted it, and at that point, I had, within an hour, I think I had 10,000 views, which is the most I'd ever had on anything ever by like, a bajillion percent. And so I was like, book 10,000 views on this video. And he's like, that's crazy. Check it. There's a problem with your Facebook. People are watching this. They're sharing it. And I said they're tagging their husbands in this video. And he's like, All right, just keep watching it. Give me an update. He's like, don't call me back. I'm on hold, whatever. He's like, text me, you know, because they're all together, drinking and golfing, all right, all right. So then it was like 50,000 views, and then it was 100,000 view. And I was just dying, right? Sure? I'm just sitting here thinking, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. At that point, we had 3000 followers on the page. Right at the beginning of May, there were 3000 loyal Facebook followers this community whom I just to this day, adore and love, there a piece of my soul after that video, at the end of the month, I think we were up to like 60,000 and I was like, holy out, like all of these people should. It took me a year and a half to get 3000 and in under a month, we had hit 60 and it was sanity. And so, you know, at that point, I knew every time my husband hated a video, there was a good and it's and it's been the key. Every time I show him something, if he says, yuck, I'm like, Okay, this one will do well. This one will do well,

Casey O'Roarty 14:15
well. And what did you notice in that, in that because, you know, I'm in it too, right? I've got my page, I've got my group, I'm holding space for community discussion and to go to have that much growth all at once. What were some of the growing pains? What did you notice? Or were there any? Maybe there weren't any. Oh, absolutely.

Meredith Masony 14:36
Because you're, you're, you're going from having an, I mean, to literally knowing people by name, all of these people by name, right? Like the loyal followers that are in there that were that were posting every day, that we were talking every day, to just seeing this unbelievable amount of growth, and you were like, holy smokes. And the last year was just, I mean, it was, it. Was, it was unbelievable to grow to the number that we are today. It was unbelievable for that to happen.

But, and there are pains with that, because you're stressed, I have to make sure that I can deliver every week I have to. Then I started doing live streaming. Then it was one, one live stream a week, then it became two live streams a week, then it was four live streams a week, and it's still one weekly video. And then you're, then you're starting to work with brands and sponsors, because you have to pay your light bill, and I can't pay my bill in hot pocket. So it was like, Okay, I have to figure out how I'm going to make money. And and so it was, there were tons of and there still are growing pains, but what it's done is showed me that so many people need this message, so many people need this message. And if I can deliver that, and if I can get you to say, I'm not the only one, I'm not crazy, this is the nor this is normal, and everybody else was lying about what normal is, and that's, that's a success for me, and I'll take the growing pains, because that means we're reaching other women or parents who need this message, who really, really, really need this message, because we're the we're our own tough, toughest critic. So to be able to get that relief and to come and watch a video and feel like I'm speaking your language, that's, that's, I mean, that's huge for me. That is exactly what I'm trying to do.

Casey O'Roarty 16:28
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Meredith Masony 19:01
was so overwhelmed with with some of the really heavy stuff that's out there, and I thought to myself, I need to be they come. The community comes to me for entertainment, right? And so there have definitely been some heavy moments where we've touched on things and talked about things, but I don't touch on politics, and I'm not here to preach from a soapbox. I don't want to tell you how to live your life. I'm not here to bring those that those real big, heavy pieces. That's not what my job is. My job is to really relate with you, because that's what I need out of this. And on top of that, it's to bring you those light moments where you can get a laugh. Because I always say it's, it's, for me, it's better to laugh than cry, because I don't want to be in a I don't want to be in a in a sad space, even if something, even if something is tough and we're struggling, if you. Find that moment to get the giggle out. It kind of for me, it refocus, excuse me, it refocuses me. So if I can find that giggle, I can say, okay, I can move on from here. I can I can take a step forward. I don't want to spend too much time dwelling, because, believe me, things have been tough. I've had some of the hardest life experiences in the last five years, and I've realized that I have to be able to take it in stride, and I have to be able to find the humor that's for me, right? Like, that's my thing. And so I find when people come to me, that's exactly what they say they're like, I needed that laugh today. Today was a rough I needed that laugh, you know, or I had a really rough parent conference with my kid. I needed to find a way to be okay today. And somebody you know, watched my puberty video, or watched my man cold video, and it's like I had to have that laugh. And it's like, I'm so glad I could provide that for you, because, you know, we we have to be able to get out of our own way sometimes in order to move forward. Yeah, I don't want, I don't want to go back, right, like I need to move forward. So that's why I kind of try to always find the light. We talk about some heavy stuff, but I always try to find the light side of it in order to say, Yeah, this is where we're at. This is the hand that we've been dealt. But we need to our cards. We got to move forward well. And

Casey O'Roarty 21:22
I just find that so much more empowering than like, mucking around in the hole, right? Like, let's

Meredith Masony 21:28
it can be dangerous, you know the and here's the thing, I love a good pity party, because I throw them for myself, but I give myself a time limit, and I say, all right, all right. Or actually, my husband gives me the time limit because sometimes I might linger a little too long, and he's like, You're done now, right? And we to move forward, and this is what we're going to do, and that it's good to have a partner that can do that for you, because you can, you can get stuck. And so I always, I always try to say, Okay, I've, I've, I've cried for this, about this for 10 minutes. I need to. I need to move on to the next thing. What else is on the list for today? Because there's nothing wrong with crying and you want to feel the feelings, right, but don't, don't live in the basement. Don't dwell, right?

Casey O'Roarty 22:13
Yeah, right. Love that. And you blog and blog about sex and marriage too. What does your husband think about your work there?

Meredith Masony 22:25
Um, he wasn't a super fan to start. So for being honest, the first piece that I ever got published on a larger on a on a larger publication, was a post I wrote called, What are the odds tonight? Which are it was a post I wrote about the ways he would try to entice me into the bedroom and so and I didn't really hold back. I wrote the post exactly the way I wanted it to. And he was like, no, no, no, you're not. No, you're not publishing this. And I'm like, listen, I gave him the whole speech. You can't censor me. This is what I and he's like, I don't care about your feeling. No, you cannot tell people that I taped a set of ABS and somebody else's face to my face to get you to sleep with me, exactly what he did because I was watching Grey's Anatomy. And he went and literally printed out Dr Avery's abs and Dr Avery's face and pasted it on him, and came out and he said, Do you want to do it now? And I was like, You know what? Yes, acre, because I am impressed that you took that kind of time. But he it took a while, but he got over it, and for the most part, he he will keep me in check, but he doesn't tell me, No, you can't do this, or No, I don't want you to do that. If there's an issue, we talk about it. And sometimes he's right, and I don't, you know, because I don't try to cross the line. That's not my goal. I don't offend, I don't want to be intrusive, but I want to talk about what my reality is, because I know it's a lot of other, you know, wives reality and so, you know, it's fun, but sometimes, because he is, he's never on my videos. He doesn't come on to my live streams. He's not been in, you know, he's not been in a single thing that you could see. So we keep him off camera, but he is very much a part of that's inappropriate.

Casey O'Roarty 24:19
He's your business manager. Isn't that how you refer to him? Yeah,

Meredith Masony 24:22
well, that's the joke. Somebody remember who in my family was giving me, giving me some guff, but they were basically saying, Oh, you think you're so you think you're so fancy, now you need a business manager. And I said, No, I have a business manager. That's my husband, you know? And so I started calling him the business manager, the BM, and people really thought I had a business manager. No, I don't. It's just my husband, but he does help me. The joke is, he helps me with all my back end stuff. He does all my tech he he helps me with the page. He'll shoot, he'll shoot video for me if I need a hand. But, you know, he's a true. Super awesome.

Casey O'Roarty 25:00
That's great, but a great team. I had my husband on for Father's Day and just to interview him about his experience with being a dad, and it made me realize how comfortable I am on the mic, sitting with his discomfort around, talking into the mic. So that was a really interesting like, oh, not everyone can just blab openly into a microphone, like I can.

Meredith Masony 25:27
I'm very interested to see when, if and when it does happen that I get him on video, what that's going to look like, because he has never done it. And I think sometimes, you know, it takes practice to get comfortable. In front of the camera. I mean, my first videos were rough, but it's also something that I think is part of who you are, and so I'm interested to see what's going to happen if and when we we introduce him, because I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with it no matter what. Yeah.

Casey O'Roarty 26:02
So over here at joyful courage, we talk a lot about the internal experience of parenting, and I am often known to say that our kids are mirrors for us to recognize our areas to grow and stretch and develop what has been your experience around that evolution since becoming a mom? Where have you noticed, like, oh, yeah, that's definitely a place where I've stretched.

Meredith Masony 26:34
Well, they teach you so much about who you are based on how you react to them and how you how you interact with them, right? And I was harboring a ton of mom guilt when I started this, because there were a lot of hours spent, you know, learning how to edit, learning how to shoot, working on my book, working on my projects. And, of course, that takes time away. So there were nights where I literally looked up and realized I had not started dinner. I had not checked on the kids in in an hour, I would like, Oh my gosh. Like, how did I literally forget to make a meal? Like, I know they need to eat logically, like, I knew everybody had to eat, but I was and so you start to harbor this mom guilt. And I realized, yes, get yourself balanced. You need to remember to feed your kids. But I also realized they also need to see how hard I'm working, because this means a great deal to me, and they need to understand that there's a reason I'm doing it. So it was it took me a good long while to get to that spot, because I just felt guilty about everything, but I realized I'm not doing this to run away from them. I'm doing this and I'm bringing them with me. Yeah, so this is a journey that we all get to go on together. Yes, I have traveled and missed gingerbread house Day, which stunk. But I also know that, you know, when I got home, we made eight gingerbread houses because I missed out, and so we made a bunch of them and made a town so it it's about finding balance, which is extremely difficult. And I'm not going to tell you that I'm great at it, because I'm I'm still trying. I'm like, I'm like a paddleboarder that has never had a lesson trying to stand up. But they need to know that you have goals and dreams and aspirations outside of them. They have they have to figure that out, because they have to know that at some point they're going to have to be their own independent people, and they need to be able to appreciate what you did as your own person. I mean, obviously I love being a wife. I love being a mother. I mean, these are things that that I would would risk my life for, you know, and but I also have to be me, and that means that we have to, we have to kind of go through this together, those growing pains, like you were saying, we have to do that together, right? And we've learned a lot about about each other in that respect, yeah, what

Casey O'Roarty 29:09
are your what are some ways that you and your personal practice? How do you let go of mom guilt?

Meredith Masony 29:16
I really, I really just realized that it was, there was no room for it. I had to pick, I had to, you know, I wrote about it in the book. I had to pick my battles. I had to pick what I was going to fight and what I was going to just learn to roll with. And you have to roll with that, because there are going to be things that I'm going to miss. There are going to be things my husband misses. There are going to be things we can't do, but there are going to be other things that we can do and we can enjoy. I got to take my kids to Canada because I spoke at a conference up there, and so it was the first time I had an opportunity to go to Canada myself. But I thought, hey, I'm going to turn this into a trip that my kids will remember forever, and we're going to go and we're going to see i. And we're going to do all of the fun stuff. And so I'm going to build in two days, two or three extra days ahead of the conference, so that we can get all of this done. And it was a great time. And, you know, we had some of the best times. We're just sitting at fast food restaurants in Kansas talking about different things, and it was, it was such a good time. I don't think they're going to forget it, you know, and that's something that I was able to do as a result of of this community, right? But, you know? And so to me, you have to find those opportunities. And it was expensive to take all those kids to Canada, but I thought to myself, how many opportunities am I going to get to do it? I don't know. So I'm going to seize those when I can now, because I want to be able to make those memories and and have my kids know that. Yeah, they're a part of this. They're a big part of this, because I'm sharing their lives as well. Yeah, you know, not just about me, and I'm not just talking about my husband, I'm talking about everybody's everything. Yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 30:58
that resonates with me. I do the same thing. I've had to start asking permission, like, is it okay if I share this on my podcast? Yeah, you know, because I realized when they were little, I didn't really feel like I needed to ask permission. But now that the 14 year old is 14, and, man, there's a lot of juicy stuff going on there, right? She also is not always excited for me to broadcast it, so, right? Well, I love that. I love I love that, and I love that you brought in the stand up paddle boarding because I used that image with my community around like even when we see a really skilled stand up paddleboarder And it seems as though they aren't moving, because they're but, but when you really think about all the small tweaks in the muscles that are happening all the time so that they can be in that quote still place, I think that really speaks into what balance is about, which is just this constant movement towards what you want,

Meredith Masony 31:56
right? And you need to shift, and you need to be ready for change, and you need to be able to embrace it. And sometimes it smacks you in the face and you fall down, but then you just readjust and you go about your business and do the next thing. I mean, we've all, you know, good Lord, for all of for all of the yeses that I've gotten for things that I've wanted to do, whether it was working with a brand that I had been hounding or trying to partner with somebody, the NOS are just falling from the sky. You know, it's like there are no's everywhere, no, no, no, no. So you have, but you have to keep going. Yeah, you have to continue on through and figure things out. Because, you know, it's the journey we have to go through this. We have to be and I just want to share mine, because I know that if somebody else can't, and they feel stuck and they feel alone, at least if they can look at mine, they can, they can have some relief and say, I couldn't say it, but she did, and I feel better for having it been voiced so that that is something that I'm very proud of, that this community has done for people. Because I get those emails all the time and they're just it's gold, because it makes you understand, like, yes, that there's a purpose for this and there's meaning for this, and and people do appreciate what you do, because you get, I at least get a ton of a ton of hate and a ton of backlash for certain things. But I realized that the love is much larger, and, and, and I get way more of it. So I have to remember that every time you get those awful trolls that come to your page, you know,

Casey O'Roarty 33:29
yeah, so you know that my business is called joyful courage and I, and it's interesting, those two words are two of my favorite words together, and on any given day, I have a different response to what is joyful courage. And so in that, in that I always love to ask my guests what those two words together mean to them. So Meredith, what does joyful courage mean to you?

Meredith Masony 33:59
I would have to say it is having the confidence to speak your mind and let your words carry the weight you intended them to. So it's important for me that when I do whether it's a joke or a message that is extremely close to my heart, I want that to be shared with the intention that I had, so that others can really feel better about where they are, no matter what it is and it's that's a very important that's something that I've had to learn how to craft, because sometimes I can, I want to fly off the handle, and that's not the right response. Yeah.

So I try to be very I try to be very deliberate with my with my choice of words when I'm doing these things. But I also want everybody to know that it is coming from my heart and I love. Of this community, more you know, more than more than they know. I hope, I mean, I hope they know but, but I really do the place in my heart for this community. It's so important to me, because it took me out of a dark place. It helped me find who I am, and it's helped create that opportunity for other people, other moms, other parents. Yeah,

Casey O'Roarty 35:23
awesome. Thank you. Where can, where can my listeners find you and follow your work?

Meredith Masony 35:30
Well, we're on Facebook. That's an appropriate blog. I have. The blog itself is housed at that's inappropriate.com you can find me on Instagram and Twitter, and we are, we are just working hard to make sure that you you are laughing and enjoying your stay with us. If you come for one video, if you stay for 10 we just want you to know that you're not alone. You're you're going through this journey with the with the rest of us and and we are there for you as a community.

Casey O'Roarty 36:05
Thank you so much for coming on and spending time with me. Oh, thank

Meredith Masony 36:09
you. This was a blast, and your community is fantastic. And you know, keep, keep doing this podcast, because people need it.

Casey O'Roarty 36:22
You there's so many things that I love about that interview that I just got to do with Meredith. Mostly, I loved being in conversation with this woman whose videos I would see floating around Facebook, who could always make me laugh, you know, and to hear her real person stories right, to heal, hear her, hear the real mom behind those funny videos, and her story is just totally inspiring. And I know that it landed that way for you as well. And you know that's part of the reason that I was inspired to create this podcast is because I found myself as a blogger and a parent educator in circles of other parent educators who were people that I admired, that I looked up to, people whose books I was reading and blogs I was following, and I realized, wow, I have really amazing access to these people right now, and it's so cool to be in a personal relationship with them. Wouldn't it be so powerful to share these people with a larger audience? You know? I mean, we go, I don't know about you, but I go, I love Barnes and Noble. I love going to the bookstore. I love going to that parenting book section. And yes, it's completely overwhelming, and you can find books that support any philosophy or theory that you're looking for, but I there's something about that section. There's something about picking out a book that speaks to me and reading it and really feeling connected to the author, and then to have the opportunity to hear directly from them the good and the bad and the ugly of their experiences, the learning that they got to do and the relationships with their children. You know, I just really want to be a part of bringing more transparency, and those of us that are on the mission, on the positive parenting mission, right? It's messy. It is so messy. Believe me, I'm in it. I'm in it with the 14 year old here at home. And it's not just oh, say this and everything will be great, or, you know, make this little plan and everything will be great. You know, even inside of all of our parenting tools and all of the books and all of the blogs, there is still the actual integration of this work into our relationships. And the problem is that we are not robots, and our children are not robots. We are fueled by emotion, and it gets messy, but then we compare ourselves, you know, to these blogs, to these books, we read these Huffington Post articles, and it's three steps for empathy, or 10 ways to be connected. And, you know, and there's this idea that, okay, if I just do these things, everything's gonna be better. And this podcast exists to be a place that says, No, you know what? Those tips, those ideas, those lists, are great. They're a great vision, right? Putting it out in front of us. Yes, I want to live a more intentional life. Yes, I want to be mindful. Yes, I want to be empathetic and compassionate. I want to do self care, yes to all of those things, and know that it's going to be messy. Don't be surprised by the challenge that exists inside of that, right? Because we have all of our stuff that gets bubbling up to this. Surface and getting in our way, just like last week, right? Or a couple weeks ago, I was on my solo show, 105105 Yeah, talking about our beliefs and how our beliefs can get in our way, but we don't realize that we are actually looking through a particular lens until we take the time and do the work to start recognizing the patterns that are showing up and the thought process, the processes that are showing up. And you know, that's what I love. I love talking about that stuff I and I love supporting parents with that. So, you know, when you listen to these podcasts and you get to the end and you're like, Yep, I'm going to put this into practice, it's going to be great, and then you, you know, move into your relationships with your kids, and you take that first step and you fall flat. It's okay. It doesn't mean that you can't make it happen. It doesn't mean that the tools aren't helpful. It just means you got to practice. And speaking of practicing, you know what? I'm here to support you, right? I'm here to support you if you have tried and tried and tried to move in the direction of positive discipline and peaceful parenting and and all of this, this mindset around mindful and conscious parenting, and you're feeling like, ah, there's there's something missing. Reach out. Reach out. You are the perfect candidate. You are the person that I work one on one with. Things feel overwhelming. You feel stuck or uncomfortable with how things are, but you're just not sure how to make the changes. Even though you listen and you read, it just doesn't seem to to fall into place with your family. And intuitively, you know that there's a better way. I am here, and I want you to reach out to me. All right, my coaching offers. They're three months bi weekly calls. You get unlimited text and email support between calls. I am here for you. I'm here to support you. So if you are having that little physical experience where you're thinking like I kind of want to do that, reach out. Reach out, because one on one coaching might be for you. Another offer that I have, that I want you to consider too, that I've been talking about every week is the mother's journey to joyful courage. This is a training that I've put together that aligns both the internal practice, right? So everything I was just talking about, everything that keeps us from following through with our peaceful, positive, gentle parenting goals, keeps us from following following through gets in our way. It's an experience where we get to get really clear on on what that is, and then take steps to shift into a different mindset, all while learning positive discipline tools. It's a six hour workshop, right? So there's the six hours. We're all together in the room. Dreamy venues. I'm going to be at yoga studios in Bellingham, in Seattle and Portland. They're beautiful spaces for us to come together collectively on this journey, and then the follow up is four weeks of facilitated group calls, facilitated by me. So here's the cool thing about this. I've already had people that have signed up to fly in from out of state to go to these trainings, because you only have to be here for the first initial six hours, right? You need to be in the room for the six hours, and then you can go home, and you can still participate remotely on the facilitated group calls. So again, just like with the coaching, if you're feeling like, Oh man, I really want to be a part of that, make a move. Make a move now for the Bellingham and the Seattle workshops, Bellingham is September 24 Seattle is October 7. Both of those have early bird prices that only are early bird until September 1. So if you want to get in on the Bellingham or the Seattle training at the early bird price register now Portland. I'm going to be in Portland october 22 and the early bird pricing will go will be extended a little bit farther than the other two trainings, but you can find out all the information you need about Mother's journey at WWW dot joyful courage.com/

mother's journey. You'll see everything you need to know about where, when, cost, and you can register and register now, because people are excited by these trainings, and they're starting to fill up, and I only have so much space in each area. And if you're thinking like, well, that sounds cool, and I know some other friends of mine that would be super into it. Pass that link on to them that would be great give them the gift of spending time really focused on this journey, right? And it doesn't matter if you're a stay at home mom, if you're a working mom, if you're a work from home mom, if you're a homeschool mom, if you're a mom of babies or school agers or teens. Teens or even adults like this, this work together that we're gonna do is is for all mothers. It's for all mothers. And what you find when you come together in a room of women this way is that your places of struggle, your places of overwhelm, are not that much different than the gal sitting next to you, right? And there is power in that, and knowing that we are on a collective journey and that we can be supported by the people around us. So mother's journey is is another offer that I I'm going to keep talking about because I'm so excited about it. I've had people reach out from all over the country wanting me to bring it to their state. So 2018 is going to be an exciting year for joyful courage, and I am going to be doing some traveling. I am going to be hitting the road, and I hope that I get to meet you, yay. So some other places that we gather, right, some other places that we gather, the live and love with joyful courage Facebook page, head on over there. It's actually a group, and there's lots of discussion going on. It's where I pull challenges for my solo shows so much support. It's such an awesome safe parent group on Facebook. Come on over and join us. Also. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at joyful courage, yay. So find me in your favorite social media and there I am. Yay. Also, big, huge. Thanks to my team, Anna Proctor, who is my mom behind the scenes. She writes my show notes. She helps me with my online presence, especially through Facebook, so big. Thanks to Anna and all she does. And Chris Mann, the man at pod shaper, he makes sure that the show sounds super duper good. And yeah, I super appreciate you. Chris Mann, thank you for all you do. And you listeners, it wouldn't be a show without you. Every single month the downloads are increasing, and I know it's because you're out there sharing, letting others know that you're finding value in this work. And I can't even tell you how deeply, deeply, deeply I appreciate that. So I'll be back next week with a solo show. Make sure you're subscribed. Make sure you're subscribed and yeah, drink lots of water. Do some meditating today. Maybe some yoga. Feel good. Feel good. Talk soon.

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