Episode 19: Building A Supportive Community - Cultivating A Mom Tribe Full of Connection and Support

Episode 19 — Building a Supportive Community: Defining Connection and Nurturing Your Tribe

In this episode of A Soulful Mom’s Wisdom, we continue the monthly theme of building a supportive community, with a more refined focus on what meaningful connection actually looks like in practice. As we approach Episode 20, this conversation reinforces the intentionality behind creating a wellness-centered space through LiveAfricaO—one that prioritizes mental well-being, especially for mothers.

At the core of this episode is a powerful definition of connection inspired by Brené Brown. This perspective reframes connection as more than proximity or shared roles—it becomes about feeling seen, heard, and valued without judgment. From this foundation, we explore how authentic relationships are built through presence, empathy, and mutual respect.

I reflect on my own experience cultivating a “mom tribe,” highlighting key characteristics that define a supportive environment: non-judgmental support, active listening, and thoughtful, constructive input. These elements create a space where vulnerability is met with understanding rather than critique.

The episode also moves into practical application—how to begin nurturing or expanding your own community. This includes engaging in local environments such as play centers or group activities, as well as leveraging online platforms as entry points for connection. While digital spaces can initiate relationships, the emphasis remains on fostering deeper, more intentional interactions over time.

A consistent theme is the importance of patience and openness. Building meaningful connections is a process that requires time, trial, and a willingness to show up authentically, even when outcomes are uncertain.

This episode ultimately reinforces that community is not defined by quantity, but by quality of connection—and that cultivating the right relationships can significantly enhance emotional well-being and daily support systems.

A closing reflection:
 “Are the connections in your life allowing you to be fully seen and are you offering that same presence to others?”

Theme: Building a Supportive Community

Quote:

“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” — Brené Brown

Episode Highlights

• Continued focus on building a supportive community as Episode 20 approaches
 • Exploration of Brené Brown’s definition of true connection
 • Reflection on qualities of a healthy and supportive “mom tribe”
 • Importance of non-judgmental support, listening, and thoughtful feedback
 • Practical strategies for building connections both locally and online
 • Emphasis on patience, openness, and authenticity in relationship-building

Transcript

Well, hello, beautiful people. Welcome to another episode of A Soulful Mom's Wisdom. This week, we are at episode 19. One week away from episode 20. Oh, I'm excited, y'all. I'm excited. It's just. You know, it's podcast life, podcast life, and it feels great. We are again at episode 19 and we got a lot of good stuff in store for this episode.
I'm super excited for what we're going to discuss and for who we're going to discuss and their work and just how it relates to what I am passionate about and all the things. By the way, If you are new here to A Soulful Mom's Wisdom, A Soulful Mom's Wisdom was birthed from LiveAfricaO, which is my holistic wellness space.
Live Africa O is all about helping mothers prioritize their mental well being and truly [00:01:00] helping them do that through their holistic wellness journey. I feel like that is the true way to tap into that joy, that joy that is not fleeting but is always with you. We just gotta put that mental well being first to really experience it.
So that's what I'm here for. And I also provide support in the areas of fitness and nutrition. So if you like any of that, or want to just learn about more of that, go over to liveafricao.com, hit that subscribe button and voila, you will be in the loop. All right, so let's go ahead and jump into today's episode, y'all.
We got some good stuff. So for this month, we are still in the theme of building a supportive community. Building a supportive community. And I spoke about this already in this month's week of episodes, not this month's week, but in this month's [00:02:00] episodes, but I'm going to cover it again really quickly.
What community is to me. I think about community as a feeling of fellowship with others as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. It's nothing like a community. All right. So what is the quote? Where did I hear it? Who's the author? All of the above. All right. So this particular author, she is an American professor, social worker.
She's a podcast host. And. Because she has written so many good books and I have read a couple of them. I honestly don't know where I was when I heard this quote. I'm trying to get better at that, but I do tend to read multiple books at one time and I just take in a lot of information. So. I don't always remember exactly when I received the information, but nonetheless, when it's great information, I'm [00:03:00] very good for remembering it.
All right, so let me tell you about some of those books really quickly, by the way. Not that I'm You know, promoting her or hired for promoting her content. But if it's good, it's good. So some of the books that she's written are Daring Greatly, Dare to Lead, Rising Strong. Ooh, that's one of my favorites. The Power of Vulnerability.
That's another good one. She basically does a lot of work around shame and vulnerability. And there is so much to say for that. Woof. But that's for a whole nother podcast episode. So this is the quote. I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued. When they can give and receive without judgment.
And when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship. Oof, that was just so beautiful. Like, I can hear her saying those words in a very [00:04:00] eloquent way, right? Cause they just, they just flow together like liquid. I love it. Mm hmm. I'm into it. I'm into all of it. I'm gonna tell you why we're gonna get into this Okay Because I want you to get some of this some of this of what i'm feeling and what I resonate with I just want to see if maybe You can take some of it and pour it into your wellness journey, too Okay.
Only if it makes sense. So I really love the way that Brene defines connection. I just want to start there. It truly resonates with me. So what did Brene say about connection? Because it's a long quote. So I just want to make sure we very clearly remember. She said, I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard and valued, you know what, you know, I don't really believe that someone has to agree with you to make you feel seen, heard, and valued. And I just wanted to start there because I think that, that can sometimes be a barrier to connecting with people, I mean, of course it can feel quite easy to connect with people that agree with you.
Right. But I do think you can still connect with people who may not agree, but they still respect you and they are sensitive to your thoughts and feelings. That to me is what can allow you to still feel seen, heard, and valued. So I, I really, I love that she talks about that and, and my mom tribe, and mind you, let me just add this caveat.
I am in no way trying to say my mom tribe is perfect. Okay. [00:06:00] My mom tribe, just like any other group of people, is imperfect. I don't. I don't actually know what all those imperfections are. I just know they're people so they exist. However, my mom tribe definitely has more of the positive things that I need in my life, a part of it.
And this is what it looks like. We don't make fun of or negatively judge each other's parenting choices and styles. That's a big one. Okay, because think about it, when you're in this new chapter that you've never experienced before and you have, like, the biggest job ever of raising a human, there's already an uncanny amount of pressure and, oof, responsibility and I can't even explain all of the other things that you feel in the role of a mother.
To make certain decisions [00:07:00] and to try to figure out your flow while parenting, you're going to make mistakes or you're going to doubt yourself. You're going to look, you're going to go through all the things. And the last thing you need, cause you're going to be hard enough on yourself. The last thing you need is someone somewhere else judging you,
negatively. That's the last thing you need. You're in such a sensitive, vulnerable space that you really just need people to give you grace and let you figure it out day by day. Yeah, that's really important. Also in my mom tribe, we listen attentively. And gently offer suggestions when it feels okay to. So something you may hear a lot in motherhood or parenthood in general is just unsolicited advice.
You get a lot of it. You really do. No, really. I can't, I could do a whole podcast about it. It's out of control. It really is. It's [00:08:00] like people just feel because they are parents or, you know, they were a parent or I don't know, they just feel like. They have it figured out as if their child or whoever they watched is literally your child, as if everybody's the same.
It's, it's just, yeah, it can get really weird and frustrating. All the different emotions are warranted for sure. But what I will say is in my mom group, We are pretty good at offering suggestions when it feels okay to right, like when we can kind of feel out the room and simply offer something that may be helpful for what's being shared.
And it's not even in a way where it's like, I'm sure that this will work or, you know, like you need to take my advice. It's just. A gentle suggestion and it's just [00:09:00] trying to tell you it's all about delivery. And I'm just very grateful to be in a group of moms that get those types of things, giving and receiving without judgment is also something that Brene Brown mentions in her quote.
And I think. Let me tell you when I think, okay, this is, this is a big one. I kind of just touched on it, but this really hits the nail on the head, giving and receiving without judgment to me, it's just that you're offering support and grace without evaluating something as being bad or negative. To me, that's more what it is because I think, and I'm still exploring this, but I feel like as humans, we do judge things.
And so I don't know if like, just judging in itself is necessarily bad, but I feel like when you are conclusively judging it as negative or bad, I think that's where we get it wrong because we are all on our own individual journeys, right? And that also applies to motherhood. We are on very different journeys, every single one of us.
It really doesn't make sense, right? To like to evaluate something as negative or bad. It's just more about offering support, offering compassion. It's like when we share mistakes we've made or we offer support.
We are very kind and thoughtful in how we respond or show up in the conversation. That's what I experience and that's what I'm thinking of when I read that in the quote. And I was like, yes, come on, Brené, you're spot on. Now, sustenance, what is sustenance? So it's basically something that gives support, endurance, or strength.
Right? Like if you just look at the definition of sustenance and this particular part of her quote really resonates with me because it instantly [00:11:00] reminds me of my values and how my mom tribe reflects several of them. I think about growth. I think about several people from my tribe really enjoy reading to themselves and their littles and just figuring out ways to grow and develop themselves as well as their child, whether it's just unlearning things that have not served them and their family or in society as it relates to raising children growing in the area of maybe learning how to cook healthier.
I mean, there's just so many different things I have seen within the mom group that I have where they're trying to grow in it. And I. I love being surrounded with that. Several of my mom's friends are also into wellness. And these are not all just, by the way, people who are friends. Some of these people I am thinking about are also family members.
But they're into wellness. They're into nutrition, fitness, like anything under that umbrella, which is a plus because, you know, that's all about me or that's all about my wellness space. That's 100 percent what I'm into. And some of my mom tribe are very ambitious and we just all value kindness and are committed to growing kind humans.
Yep, that's really our job. That's really what we're out here for, what we're out here doing every day. For all of these reasons and more, it's no wonder I'm just able to give and receive support and strength from my community. And that's why when I heard Brene say that, I said, okay, girl, yes. Yes, give me more of that.
Let's give each other more of that. I'm all about stuff like that. Y'all really am. All right. As we close out this episode, let's close with some ways to [00:13:00] start the journey of creating your tribe. So I think that it's really good to, well, actually, let me start with when to start. So from my experience, I would say like any relationship, there's no blueprint, right?
There's no blueprint on when to start or what to do, all the things. But I definitely think a few of the things that have helped me out in creating a mom tribe that I really, really feel connected to and could apply to your journey looks like this. Okay. So starting even before you're pregnant. I think the earlier, the better and starting with going to local play centers.
I think that's a really great way to build your mom tribe. Maybe if you know someone else who's a mom, you may just go hang out with them. Right ...at a play center like that definitely can happen. And that can be an easy way for you to have some time with your friend, help them look after their child, but [00:14:00] also meet other moms.
And I would just suggest googling the words play centers exactly if you're looking for the play center options that are in your area. Also, I think going to your local library, that is where a lot of moms live, at least in my experience. There's so many activities typically for the youngins that you can definitely take your, your little there and you can, can just do something that you would already do and then find someone who's into that too and connect with them, right?
So like me and my daughter love reading books, so we would go to the library and read books and then I would connect with other moms who are reading books and it's been beautiful. I also think that local playgrounds, local churches. are great places to create a mom tribe or, you know, start the creation of one.
Now apps, I don't want to forget to talk about apps. There's not really a lot that I [00:15:00] can say to be very honest, about them because in my personal experience, what has been best for me is just in person. Organic connections, sometimes online. I'm not saying you can't connect with people online. Cause I have connected with some moms online as well, for sure, where things have worked out, but I feel like most of my connections that really lasted were in person.
And I think it's just because of the uncontrollable variables that just tend to happen organically in person were present, right. I definitely would say check out. Apps, if you want to, if you feel inclined to, I mean, it's definitely something you can do from the comfort of your home, but I would just, you know, keep in mind that like anything, authentic connection, in person connection is like the closest connection you can have, right?

When it comes to just connecting, I think that, giving yourself patience is just [00:16:00] a big thing you can implement in creating your mom tribe because like Brene Brown said, when you find the right one, y'all will connect and you will experience all of these beautiful things of feeling seen, heard, and you know, that's just what comes from connecting, right?

Is what she's talking about, but you can experience that in a mom tribe. You should, but I think that can take time. That is. All I have for this episode. But again, if you enjoyed this episode, stay tuned for the next one. And if you haven't already go on over to Instagram, follow me at live Africa. O I like to share different posts that are related to the content I push on my podcasts, and I'm always appreciative of your engagement with that content. If something resonates with you, we are a community and we're just all about, again, uplifting each other. So have a wonderful day and we will do this all over again next week.