Made for Mothers
29. A Well-Nourished Motherhood w/ Kim Perez, Founder of Root and Branch Nutrition
I'm a big, big fan of today’s guest, Kim Perez, and I feel like we’re kindred spirits. Fun fact - we’re both mothers to boys named Henry!
Kim Perez is a functional nutritionist and women's health practitioner specializing in supporting moms. She founded Root and Branch Nutrition with a mission to normalize nourished motherhood and make it achievable for all moms. Kim challenges societal norms, particularly the 'bounceback' culture, advocating for a paradigm shift in how mothers and motherhood are viewed and supported. As a recovering perfectionist, Kim's transformative journey through her first pregnancy highlighted the importance of feeling happy, whole, and vibrant in her body, especially during motherhood. She believes every woman can feel energetic and resilient throughout pregnancy and beyond, thriving both as mothers and in their daily lives.
In today’s conversation, Kim and I delve into women’s health, nutrition, and the journey of motherhood. We emphasize the need to reject depleted motherhood as the norm and address common challenges women face in accessing reliable health information and guidance. Topics include the impact of stress on metabolism, the significance of minerals and nutrient deficiencies, navigating postpartum challenges during a pandemic (something Kim and I both have firsthand experience with), balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, and more.
Both passionate about fostering communities for moms, we believe in the crucial support networks mothers need. I’m deeply appreciative of Kim’s impactful work for moms everywhere, including her new membership program, the Nourished Moms Village, which offers empowerment, education, and accountability. If you’re ready to prioritize yourself and live a nourished life in motherhood, be sure to explore the Nourished Moms Village (linked below)!
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Do Less by Kate Northrup (book mentioned in episode)
Connect with Kim on Instagram @rootandbranchnutrition
Join the Nourished Moms Village
Learn more about working with Kim by visiting her website
Connect with me on Instagram
Learn more about booking a Biz Therapy session and working together by visiting my website
I'm a big, big fan of today’s guest, Kim Perez, and I feel like we’re kindred spirits. Fun fact - we’re both mothers to boys named Henry!
Kim Perez is a functional nutritionist and women's health practitioner specializing in supporting moms. She founded Root and Branch Nutrition with a mission to normalize nourished motherhood and make it achievable for all moms. Kim challenges societal norms, particularly the 'bounceback' culture, advocating for a paradigm shift in how mothers and motherhood are viewed and supported. As a recovering perfectionist, Kim's transformative journey through her first pregnancy highlighted the importance of feeling happy, whole, and vibrant in her body, especially during motherhood. She believes every woman can feel energetic and resilient throughout pregnancy and beyond, thriving both as mothers and in their daily lives.
In today’s conversation, Kim and I delve into women’s health, nutrition, and the journey of motherhood. We emphasize the need to reject depleted motherhood as the norm and address common challenges women face in accessing reliable health information and guidance. Topics include the impact of stress on metabolism, the significance of minerals and nutrient deficiencies, navigating postpartum challenges during a pandemic (something Kim and I both have firsthand experience with), balancing motherhood with entrepreneurship, and more.
Both passionate about fostering communities for moms, we believe in the crucial support networks mothers need. I’m deeply appreciative of Kim’s impactful work for moms everywhere, including her new membership program, the Nourished Moms Village, which offers empowerment, education, and accountability. If you’re ready to prioritize yourself and live a nourished life in motherhood, be sure to explore the Nourished Moms Village (linked below)!
____
Do Less by Kate Northrup (book mentioned in episode)
Connect with Kim on Instagram @rootandbranchnutrition
Join the Nourished Moms Village
Learn more about working with Kim by visiting her website
Connect with me on Instagram
Learn more about booking a Biz Therapy session and working together by visiting my website
Hi, my name is Kim. I'm the founder of Fruit and Branch Nutrition, where I work as a functional nutritionist and women's health practitioner for moms, and I want to be known for helping to make a nourished motherhood the norm and an achievable goal for all moms. I'm here to challenge the status quo in so many ways, like changing society's view and treatment of moms and motherhood in general, like making bounce back culture a thing of the past and making caring for ourselves as moms feel doable, stress-free, judgment-free, shame-free. I am just so passionate about helping women thrive in motherhood and in their lives outside of that too.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to the Made for Mothers podcast, your one-stop shop for candid and relatable conversations about motherhood and entrepreneurship. Think of the show as your new mom friend, where we dive into all things marketing, branding, mindset, money, child care and growing your business while we all navigate our roles as both CEO and mom. I'm your host, mariah Stockman, and I wear a bunch of hats. I'm a boy mama, I'm serving as a marketing mentor for mothers, I'm running a six-figure marketing agency and, on top of that, I'm the proud founder of the Made for Mothers community. This show is about sharing the real stories and the practical strategies from fellow mother-run businesses. So dive in, grab your headphones, reheat that coffee and let's go. Hello, hello, hello and welcome to another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast. I am your host, maria Stockman, founder of the Made for Mothers community, boy mama and very big fan of our guest today, kim, hello, kim.
Speaker 1:Hello Mariah, I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 2:I'm so excited to be here. I literally we just got on the call together today on Zoom and I literally was like I get to see Kim today. So a little background, kim, you want to like just say hi, hi to the, say hi to the major mother's universe.
Speaker 1:Hello everyone, hello okay.
Speaker 2:So I gotta give everyone just a little. I gotta set the stage here a little bit. So, kim, how did this get started? You are one of my biz therapy clients, so you worked with me one-on-one through biz therapy therapy for your business coaching and I felt like when we worked together I was like, oh, kim's going to be in my circle, probably in some capacity, forever. I feel like in like three years you're going to see us host some swoony swoony is that a word? Dreamy? Like upstate New York, like business and hormones retreat.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, put it out into the universe.
Speaker 2:Like retreat on some lake, you know. So you're my therapy client. We totally connected. I love what you're doing in the world for moms around hormonal health. Postpartum pregnancy like just all of it nutrition Fast forward. Pregnancy like just all of it nutrition Fast forward.
Speaker 2:we both have Henry's, so that was like the other, like weird serendipitous connection, kindred spirits we both have Henry's and then I signed up for your five-day revival, which you're going to talk a little bit about, because I feel like, from like a business perspective and from just like a motherhood perspective, that was such a cool experience. So I did this five-day community-free thing around, just like a full reset of focusing on nutrition, hydration, movement, hormones, all of it. It was like I felt like I learned so much from you in those five days, by the way, and now you launched your membership and I'm in your membership and it's like so cool. So we're going to talk about that. But I just feel like you have so much to offer and I'm really, really excited to hear your story, to share your story, to talk more about your business and to really just get into like the nuts and bolts of like why women don't have a lot of education around the hormones, don't have a lot of like, understanding of like why we start to feel a certain way and like why is like a depleted motherhood, like the standard um that comes up in a lot of our podcasts, like just like fatigue, hormone health, like depletion, and you have such a just like foundational, easy, like noiseless approach to how you do this. I feel like it's cutting through just a lot of the BS that we find online. Oh yeah, that's the one thing I'll say and then I'll let you take it from here.
Speaker 2:One of the one things we DMed each other this is the DMfluencing, but what I love about Kim, one of the first things that we DMed was she had some stance on Athletic Greens and no, no disrespect for anyone who likes athletic greens because I literally drank it for like six months and I felt like you were just like, listen at that price point and the percentages of ingredients in you basically like showed me such a different angle to look at that like quote unquote, bunny ears, like health and nutrition product where I was like oh, kim has like such a cool voice, like she has such a cool perspective, and I felt like I was like I need her on the podcast. This is I think that was like how we first started. I was like like so many months ago, I was like you need to be on the podcast and talk about like exploitive health and wellness products that are geared towards moms, that aren't effective anyways.
Speaker 1:So super long intro like so many things there's so many new ones since that, but I appreciate it because it's funny. I don't even know how I found you. There's just like this like web of Instagram people in this circle that I have just like found through each other and I remember stumbling upon. I guess I found you through Instagram and it was one of those like oh, I love everything she's doing and I need to like be in it, like I need to follow everything that you're doing, like it just spoke to me and I appreciated that and then I found out we both have Henry, so I was like that was it.
Speaker 2:I know, and we both care so deeply about villages too, which that's like a whole other thing. So tell us a little bit about introduce yourself, get into it, tell us about your business, who you are, all the things, all the big exciting news that you have going on 2024,.
Speaker 1:This year so far has been a ride, but I'll back up. So I am Kim Perez. I am a mom to my son, henry, who's four and a half now, and another baby boy on the way, due in the fall. So that's really exciting. And I founded Root Branch Nutrition in 2015, actually, and it was like my life was calling me to do something different.
Speaker 1:I went to school to be in. I went to school not knowing what I wanted to be and I just kind of like defaulted. As a kid, I always wanted to be a teacher, you know, and so I majored in English because I always loved books. That is like my first love. And I finished my undergrad and I was like meh, okay, what else? And I had at the time gotten very into fitness and nutrition and all of that. So I took a few classes at the local community college in nutrition. I was like I really do love this and I could see it becoming a little bit, you know, going down this path.
Speaker 1:So I decided to do a master's in health education and it was very public health focused and I learned a lot. And I still I go back and forth between believing like it was not a good choice. It was a good choice whatever it brought me to where I am, but it helped me because there was internships that I did in hospitals. In I did diabetes education. I was at one point working at a local state rehab hospital doing like bone health and osteoporosis education and all these different areas where I was just like.
Speaker 1:I remember a few turning points and one of them was where I was speaking to this group. I had to run these osteoporosis education groups and it was a group of like women in their 60s and 70s who all had been diagnosed and we were teaching about nutrition and I got reprimanded for switching out. I think they were telling them to use low fat milk and I switched it, or it was like something with coconut oil, I don't know. I got reprimanded for preaching that these women should be eating full fat, like full fat, real food.
Speaker 2:Kind of crazy.
Speaker 1:And I remember that being a turning point. I remember just all of these experiences kind of teaching me like this is not. I want to work in this space, but this is not the route that I want to go. I have very different views than you know government led nutrition and like the conventional approach and diet culture. So you mean the food pyramid the food pyramid. The food pyramid where you have to eat all the grains and you're not allowed to eat coconut oil and so did we ever?
Speaker 2:did I ever tell you that I got my, that my bachelor's in public health is in community public health? I don't think I knew that. Yeah, yeah, I did my my thesis. My thesis was called um. My senior thesis was called subsidizing obesity and it was all about the industrial farm system and like corn lead sugar in school lunches. Anyways, keep going. That's just add that to the list of weird little things that we love it, but it's like there's.
Speaker 1:So there were so many things that I just believed that were different from what I was being taught and like things I knew to be true because I'd gone through it myself and I'd seen other women. So, fast forward, I went to, I pursued my functional nutrition certification and I opened my practice in 2015,. Just like the world is my oyster, I just want to help everyone, and I really got into women's health and hormones and I always did it on the side until I became a mom, and so that was the major turning point of where I became a mom. I saw all of these insane gaps in the, you know, pregnancy nutrition space, even in, like, the preconception and fertility space, and then, especially postpartum, like you know, you get one visit and nobody talks about nutrition.
Speaker 1:I had wonderful. I love my midwives. I'm still working with them for this pregnancy, but I don't remember them ever asking me about anything besides like, are you taking a prenatal? And that was it. That was the end of the conversation, and it just like. It's so frustrating because women are left to their own devices, to like figure this out by themselves.
Speaker 2:But why do you think that is Like? Why do you think that that is such like the common experience? Because I feel, like that's come up on this podcast, particularly with doulas and some lactation consultants who've been on here like, what is that gap? Is it because it's such? Is it because you have to change these like massive systems, like industry standards of care, or do you think that they know about? Like I'm always curious, like, do you think they know that there's these gaps? Because I agree, like I agree, like I have this issue with, like your six weeks postpartum and you go get checked up and they're like okay, you can have sex now and then.
Speaker 1:That's like it like that, that's like that's the six-week checkup and I'm just like there's so much missing, there's so much missing, so much missing I think, overall, there's just this like, like there's this disconnect where we feel that conventional medical practitioners whether it's your OB or it's your primary care, whatever the case is like they're supposed to have all the answers around health, and it's like they're just not trained in nutrition, and so that's like a whole other black hole that you can go down, that they don't really know a lot about. You know what I mean, and so I think it's part it's not normalized to have a primary care nutritionist. You know what I mean? Yeah, and so we're seeking this help from them.
Speaker 1:So I think, and I think it depends on the provider, like I fully believe, and I know providers and I believe my providers fall into this, but I also know some who work in the functional space and it's like nurse practitioners and they've said that they just don't have the time. It's like nurse practitioners and they've said that they just don't have the time, and I think it's the whole medical model of, like you know, quantity over quality, the way that they're paid in terms of, like, frequency of visits or, like I said, quantity of visits. Right, you get 15 minutes.
Speaker 2:Like you can't, you just can't cover it all in that time. That's why we see so many like I call them like concierge, like functional health, gynecologist, nutritionist Like I see someone like out of pocket. You know I get like a night, I get like a 70 minute visit and she'll do all like the functional labs and like all the guys like my like gynecology stuff. But also it is a privilege to be able to access that. You know what I mean. Like that's, that's not like the norm to be able to afford that, and it's like we're over here paying for insurance that we that I rarely get to use because I don't like any of the providers, you know.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, so I think I think, just in general, like the systems, the systems that women's health has been like brammed into, which doesn't surprise me. It doesn't surprise me just like across the board, like how little research we have on like little. I mean it's just it's it's so rigged against women on so many levels when it comes to like healthcare. And I'm saying that as a 38 year old who I feel like is just now I'm two years postpartum and I'm just now like learning so much about my hormones and I'm like why didn't I learn about this when I was like 20? First of all, why didn't I learn about this when I was like 16, let alone like 22 or 25, when I had, like, boundless energy? Yep, you know, I mean, it's hard to learn about fatigue when you're fatigued, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's the other thing too. It's like the whole system. There's not really a proactive approach and it's rigged against women 100% and it's almost like you know, in so many different ways women are conditioned to believe certain things and gaslit around, especially in mothers Like this is where so many light bulbs went off for me after becoming a mom and working in this space and learning about all these different things like mineral depletion during pregnancy and so after I became a mom, that was really what opened my eyes to so many different things. Nobody talks about how depleted we can become of our minerals and the demand that pregnancy and breastfeeding takes on our bodies and the impact of stress and nervous system regulation and matricence Nobody.
Speaker 1:I never knew that word before I became a mom. This whole process, this whole transformative process, and yet we're supposed to believe like postpartum is over at six weeks and we're supposed to bounce back and we're supposed to feel like us again and if we don't, there's a problem. Women are feeling lost in motherhood. It's like this derogatory, condescending term where it's like no, you're naturally going to feel a little lost for a little while, that's okay, but there's no normalizing of that, so we're not normalizing things that are very normal, and then we're pathologizing, making a problem out of these things.
Speaker 1:And then we're normalizing the stuff that isn't right, like feeling super exhausted and always being stressed and anxious and overstimulated and eating wine at night Like that's what we've normalized right.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, I try not to follow like these accounts that are like I'm a mom and my kids are asleep and then I sit down and I drink a bunch of wine and da-da-da-da-da. Like that's not like helpful for me. Like that, like a kind of escapism and and I don't mean to, I don't mean that in just any disrespect people are going to cope, how they're going to cope, they're going to do their live, their life, however, they're going to live their life. But I find I find like that type of content for myself to be like a little bit triggering, because I'm just sort of like I mean, I'm also 10 years sober and and that could have something to do with it. But I I find that like the root of that, like why, what is that? Like? It's like what's going on that we need that, we need that? Like how come we're not talking about what's happening in our bodies and in our society and within our villages, of like why it feels like that at seven o'clock at night for us every single day, like chronically, like chronically.
Speaker 2:Like I have never experienced so much joy and so much energizing life from becoming a mom, like I freaking love motherhood so much and I kind of wish that there was more people out there being like it's so rad, do it, like it's like the raddest thing I've ever done, and I didn't expect it to feel that way, like I am bummed that I'm 38 because I think I would have been really good at like having four kids, like I really do think, like I have some like grief around that you have time. Yeah, I mean, I guess I guess I did just hear from that functional doctor I was talking about that I go to and I don't know if you have data on this, but she did tell me that the new Average age for a woman to have their first baby is 38. Do you have any numbers on that? By chance I don't, but I I believe it, I believe it.
Speaker 1:I mean I like group of friends. I was the first. I had Henry, when I was 31, almost turning 32. Lucky, the rest of my friends, lucky. But here I am 36. So most of my friends were, you know, 34, 35 when they had their first. So I believe it, I believe it.
Speaker 2:It's interesting actually. Sorry so much like little jumping around here, but it's interesting actually to think about how you had like a 31, right, 31 pregnancy and now you're having a 36 pregnancy because now you're are you AMA? Now I am AMA.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting, right, because I was a geriatric baby.
Speaker 2:So many more little tests like take my blood every time I go. Do they do that to you, Like I feel like they're like, oh, you're just a little older, so we're going to take your blood. I'm like okay, and a lot more like just checkups and things like that. Like right yeah, I actually.
Speaker 1:So I have a very interesting experience because on the outside, before I got pregnant with Henry, I was healthier. On the outside I looked healthier and I led like a very fit life. I was in the gym.
Speaker 2:I was doing.
Speaker 1:CrossFit I was eating paleo, all the things. I was more depleted and exhausted and dysregulated then and so I'm not going to say that was the thing. But I actually had more scans and stuff going on when I was pregnant with Henry because I had more things happening um this pregnancy.
Speaker 2:I feel so much better, like I feel a lot like five years of like, four and a half years of like really diving into this really intentional, like motherhood?
Speaker 1:depletion work for yourself too and a lot of and it has come up in. I put a question box in my stories the other day when I like actually announced pregnancy and I said I'd love to answer any questions anybody has about my journey or you know, the preconception pregnancy journey in general. And I had a few people ask about the age gap like was it intentional? And I appreciate having discussions around this because I think on the outside a lot of people think if you have a larger space, it's because you know you struggled to get pregnant, struggled to get pregnant, like that, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's super. I totally agree. That's a super common, like, like assumption.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I didn't think that it was going to be this like, like I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm so different. But yeah, this it was intentional, because I hit a year postpartum and I absolutely crashed. I also was a pandemic mom, like pandemic postpartum in a pandemic, so I feel like I lost two years of my life, you know what I mean? Yeah, me too. And I had to like crawl my way back out and, from like a personal health perspective and also from a business perspective, like Henry, hit like two and a half three and I was like whoa, I'm thriving again, you know. So I I selfishly will admit that I, you know, wanted to wait for for those reasons, like I wanted to get my health in a really good place, physically, mentally, because I didn't, I didn't know to do that beforehand.
Speaker 2:But do you think that that's actually selfish? No, no. I use that word so loosely I know, I know, but but don't you think that's like an important, an important piece to like kind of point out Like it's not, it's not selfish? Like my son is two he'll be two and a half in September and I feel that, like God, we better get pregnant soon. I'm old.
Speaker 1:I better get pregnant soon when I'm old.
Speaker 2:You know, and, and I know that, that, I know that that narrative and that voice is coming from a lot of places. And I also know, just like, like I don't want to have a baby when I'm 43.
Speaker 2:Like I don't like I just my, my back doesn't want it, like no, no one wants it. You know my pelvis doesn't want it, my pelvic floor, like God forbid. I also feel like you where he's going to. So I feel like we've hit such a groove of like my business and he like sleeps so good and, like you know, we just we're like a well-oiled machine right now which, knock on wood, I'm sure like we'll jinx that, but there is a lot of anxiety and fear about like throwing another baby into it like a wrench of like the unknown, and I'm sure that that is something that you and I actually talked about like a couple months ago. But like I don't think it's selfish to be like I want to have my next baby in a time of my, in a season where I feel like I have more capacity, like that. I just feel like that's okay, like I don't know.
Speaker 1:It's okay and it should be okay, and I think you know there's something to be said for wanting closely spaced children, siblings, and also I know a lot of women are like I just want to get over with, like I just want to have my babies and like exit that chapter, and that's valid too. But I think something you're saying too, it's okay to you know valid too. But I think something you're saying too, it's okay to you know you're, you're in a season where you're, you know you're thriving more. And I think on the outside, like I said, it's it's that term selfish just in general, like moms who prioritize themselves. But I also think, like my Henry will start kindergarten in a month-ish before this baby comes.
Speaker 1:Wow, big days, big days, big changes up ahead. I love knowing that by that time he will have had almost five years of my full attention. We lived, you know, we had like such a full life together. I was able to be so present with him and I feel good. And also this next baby will get the best of me because I'm not in a season where I'm chasing around a two-year-old and I'm exhausted. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:So that's my viewpoint on it, because I'm chasing around a two-year-old and I'm exhausted.
Speaker 1:I hear you, and so I have friends that had babies two years apart and even less, and seeing that and viewing that was part of my decision to be like I just know myself. I don't have the capacity for that, that's just me. I have a lot of my plate being a mom and having a business Like maybe if I didn't know my own business things would be different. But you know I have a lot of different plates spinning.
Speaker 2:But like would they? Would they? Because I don't think you'd be a stay-at-home mom, I think you would probably have a corporate job. And would that corporate job be more stress or less stress? Oh gosh, way more.
Speaker 1:That's what I mean. That's what I mean Like you would be and I wouldn't feel as fulfilled.
Speaker 2:Yes, and that's so important for our health and you'd be stuck into that corporate, whatever job systems and there's a time and place for people to not work for themselves. I totally get that. But like the flexibility and freedom is a real thing and like being able to fit that in with motherhood, like nooks and crannies are like a real thing, like building a business in the margins, like building at naptime in certain seasons, building when you're at school, like I talked to a lot of moms who were like I used to think that when my kids were young, like, let's say, like kindergarten, under that, I never had any time and what I realized is, once they hit school, it's like I had less time because now there was like practices and carpooling and this and school events, and so I just feel like that like the grass is always greener. It's like a facade for us. So very true, but so, anyways, I just feel like we are so lucky to own our own businesses while we're in our motherhoods, whatever season. That is because we get to call the shots and that's we get to show up in both areas in ways that serve us each individually.
Speaker 2:Right, like you are in such a big season in your business, so let's dive into your business. You're doing big things, like you've launched a membership. You are rebranding Like there. I mean right, sorry, did I just say that rebranding.
Speaker 1:I will be, you will be.
Speaker 2:There's like so many things. You've been investing in the back end, you've been investing in coaching. You've been investing in like systems, like you're overhauled, like I just feel like you were. You're high level in your business right now, even though you're in the weeds day to day. I get that. I totally get that. Both can be true, but we're not always meant to be in super high level of our business in every single season. That would just be the quickest road to burnout. I feel like there's growth stage, I feel like there's maintenance stage. It's probably similar with health there's growth stage, there's maintenance stage, and then there's rest. I do know. And then there's like rest. You know I do view, at least in my work, and you'll appreciate this because you're literally the one who's taught me about anything I know about cycle syncing in my business has come from you, so I'm not like trying to tell you something that you taught me, you know.
Speaker 1:I know, but as you're saying it, that's what I'm thinking. I'm like. This is where this is leading. It makes so much sense for women.
Speaker 2:But I do believe that the more we can get into this, for me at least, I do like to run my business through this seasonal approach and now I'm layering in the season of my cycle. So getting off this 24-hour clock and getting onto this 28-day clock and I would love for you maybe just like to talk a little bit about that. Like this will eventually be like a three hour podcast, but anyways, spring we naturally get into like maintenance. In the summer we naturally get into rest in the winter, like there is so much about the seasonal cycles in business that I feel like we need to pay attention to. Like I'm going to take pretty much like all of July off. Like I'm going to take pretty much all of December off.
Speaker 2:Like I know that, like I know that in what happens out in like nature, like deeply impacts me, like I'm sorry when it's 110 degrees out and like I can't, I'm not functioning, I'm not thinking like high level, I'm thinking like retreat and down and escape and water, and like in the winter, it's like everyone should be like resting and nourishing. So, anyways, so you, right now, when I look at your business from the outside, I feel like you're in like the 30 foot view. You're in the like high level big movement, so you want to talk just a little bit about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I love this concept for women, of course, and this can tie back in that discussion before of just like how women are conditioned to believe that we're supposed to operate a specific way and like match everyone else and we actually operate very differently just because we are cycling. But even when we're not, like I view very closely, like you said, with the seasons and I even say this around motherhood, like I talk about seasons of motherhood, those four phases there's really two and you can break them into four of our cycles so closely aligned with the seasons, like of nature. But also there's a lot of overlap with pregnancy too, like the preconception period, pregnancy, and then that like early postpartum, and then that later postpartum when you're coming out of your cave. And if you haven't, I'm going to plug the book Do Less.
Speaker 2:I love that book, I feel like I've heard you talk about it before.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness If you have not read it.
Speaker 1:I feel like that has to go on your list and you're in your spare time, so understanding that there are certain points where, you know, doing different things in our business and in our life is going to make more sense and feel better to us and we're going to be, you know, more creative and more excited and more motivated versus.
Speaker 1:You know, those times, like when you're in your luteal phase, right before you get your period, and during your period, where you don't maybe feel as motivated, as energized. What do we do? We shame ourselves, we feel bad about it because we have not been taught to understand those things, and I think a lot of that can be said for pregnancy and especially postpartum and this whole concept of bouncing back. And we're not giving women the opportunity to rest and heal right. We're telling women like the opportunity to rest and heal right. We're telling women like you should go back to regular life as soon as possible, you should fit into your pre-pregnancy jeans as soon as possible, like have a baby but make it look like you didn't. And if we were given the truth, I think a lot of women would be a lot healthier and happier, especially new moms.
Speaker 2:Gosh, I totally agree and I feel like a lot of the moms, especially in my circle. It's like they feel like they are going to lose out on their business, like their business is going to suffer if they take care of themselves. But like I mean there's so many outside circumstances and everyone's situations are completely unique and I'm totally honoring that. But like we have been conditioned by this hustle culture to be like and with social media and the pressure of social media, to like you have to show up and if you don't show up then you're like obsolete and people will forget you and then your business will just like disappear because you had a baby. I mean the term like mommy tracking is not just for like corporate moms. Like I feel like there's a lot of pressure for entrepreneurial moms when they have a baby, to come back and start showing up and becoming like quote unquote relevant again because they're told they like need to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I have like a different perspective where, when I see moms kind of come back so soon, I don't know if it's misplaced, I don't know if it's it's not. It's definitely not judgment, but it's like this well of grief I have for them, like I kind of get like. I kind of get like sad, like I don't get. I'm not like pitying them, that's not what I'm doing. I just get this sense of like gosh, I just wish you were like being taking like your baby's three weeks old and you're on Instagram stories. I wish someone was like taking care of you, like I wish. I wish that that wasn't the case for you just right now, whatever.
Speaker 2:But again, like there's so many different circumstances about why people are like financial circumstances and things like that, and I don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Postpartum period and normalized six months down take care of, go inside, be with your village, be with your baby, meet yourself, meet your baby, like all of that, and it's just the reality is that we don't. So we have to find people like you who are changing narratives and rewriting stories and providing resources and like different rituals of patterns that moms can tap into. That at least can help us start to feel better. I don't think we're like supposed to feel like super, super great, like three days after having a baby.
Speaker 2:No, you know like I think you can feel supported, like I think you can feel supported, but like you are sleepless, you are bleeding, you are like malnourished, like there are things happening in your body that are super, super, super hard, and like feeling held is one thing, but like feeling depleted and tired is like just the truth, like that's just the truth.
Speaker 1:And I look at it, too, as like how much of that that lack of emphasis and honoring and care in those early postpartum weeks and months that's just intensifying and that's what's bringing moms to like five years later, 10 years later, feeling absolutely awful Like. I really do believe that postpartum is an opportunity and it's an opportunity, like you said, to to get to know your baby and to get to know your new life and get to know your, your new self, and form this new version of you and get comfortable with that. But also it gives you such like. I really am looking forward to postpartum this time around.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that tune out the outside noise and I get to set up systems and enlist my village and my support team to deeply nourish myself, because that's what's going to help me recover better and feel better. But in a year from now, two years from now, that's how I'm going to. That's the foundation that I'm going to need to thrive, and I just wish that more of that was honored and celebrated and rather than glorifying, like you said, like women going back to work again. I know finances and all that, but yeah, there's so many things we don't understand.
Speaker 2:Yeah right.
Speaker 1:I've seen so many things on social media women. Most recently, there was this whole controversy of somebody qualifying for the CrossFit Games and I think she was like six weeks postpartum and the comments were like wow, setting a new standard for moms everywhere. And I was like, is she though? Like no, that should not be the standard. I don't aspire to do that, because that's just gonna, that's going against what women in general, in general, what women need at that time and what babies need at that time. You know, and so I think there, you know, and so I think there's always going to be those outliers and that's great if that's working for her and she's feeling good and all of that, but it's just that's not the norm and that's not what we should be making women feel pressured to achieve as new moms.
Speaker 2:Is there a part of you that feels like gosh, I can't wait to just do postpartum better this time, like? Is there a part of you that's like yeah, like, almost like, not like, like, almost like a little bit like competitive with your former self, a little bit, a little?
Speaker 1:bit, a little bit. I, I really love, I love talk to me in a few months.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure Sure.
Speaker 1:Right, you know, but I think there's something so beautiful and special about postpartum and it is such a unique time and I do feel really fortunate to have the information and the tools, and it's those are things that I really want to get to all women to prepare a nourished postpartum experience. And so, yeah, I'm excited to do things differently. I've learned a lot. We had a lot of feeding issues and then the world shut down when I was four or five months postpartum, so I didn't have the support, I didn't get to go to the mommy and me groups and do all the things.
Speaker 2:Like, I cannot wait for that this time around. I was on like the tail end of it, like we still had to wear masks in the like. I didn't have to wear a mask when I was like in birth, but like we had to wear masks in the hospital. No mommy and me, no prenatnatal like. No yoga classes. Like no mom groups. No it's traumatizing.
Speaker 2:It's absolutely traumatizing in a time of your life where you need, like you really need that, you need that connection, like I feel really sad because I see I have certain mom friends, especially back home in california, who have these like really deep groups of women who they've been like raising their babies together since like their birth education classes. You know, like they've been in every single like nook and cranny of their life but they're but they're raising their kids and it's like they met in those like like hypnobirthing or like prenatal yoga classes and I'm just like gosh, like what a loss for for the COVID mamas.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is, it really is, and I I don't want to identify as that I'm like, but the reality is like I was, that was a big part of our story and so, yes, I'm excited to do things differently. I'm excited to. I have a. I have a village here. Like my family is very close. We live, you know, by choice. We live close to our families. I have friends nearby who are now moms, who weren't when I had Henry, but I still felt like I had to build a village of my own and I know that you totally get that. Like I had to find, I had to go through many lactation consultants to find the one that I felt helped us the best, and pelvic floor physical therapy and a therapist. And now I feel like I've got that team, I've got those tools.
Speaker 1:I've got those tools, I've got those resources and I don't feel as alone, like I don't feel like I'm going to have to figure breastfeeding out again, because I know who to turn to when I need help.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. So great A little bit proactive. Yeah, you were like resourced.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yes, more connections. I've built an online community of moms where I'm, like, I feel so comfortable going in there and chatting with them about like hey, what did, what did you find to be helpful with this issue? Right, and and that is what I think we really need we need to feel like we're not alone. We need to feel seen, we need to be feel heard and connected and supported and not like judged and shamed for choosing or going different routes okay, let's talk about this membership.
Speaker 2:I want to hear about it. I want to hear about it. I want to hear about the membership. Tell us all about it and why did you start it? I want to know, like, how you got to the business decision of starting a membership, because I think a lot of moms in business, especially like one-on-one service providers, who are trying to go from like one-on-one to like one-to-many, to like group, are like teetering on that decision, constantly wondering if this is, you know, the best strategic move for them. And so I want you just to be like honest and sure, like was it a heavy lift? Like was it harder than you thought? Are you super like happy you did it?
Speaker 1:like all of that yes, I will from a like the strategic decision to open this was because I I am burnt out on one-on-one work and I love it and I don't think I will ever from like the strategic decision to open this was because I am burnt out on one-on-one work and I love it and I don't think I will ever abandon it. But in the work in the field that I'm in, I work with women through a lot of really heavy things and I get to know my clients very deeply, and so there's infertility, there's loss, there's marriage challenges, there's divorces and messy divorces, and so I am an empath and I take that on, you know, and I can only take so much and I've had to understand that. So, in pulling back a little bit on one-on-one, I'm like, but I just I still want to help women and I want to help women in a different way, and so building a community as a membership, as a business decision, was definitely like. I can reach more women this way, I can build libraries of content, I can educate on a larger spectrum and I can have this, this thing, come to life Like this is.
Speaker 1:This is my thing, but it's also going to be sustained. It's sustained by the women that are in it, and so that was really the business decision behind it. And I will say it is something that I've gone back and forth with for at least two years, and I'm so glad that I waited to do it till now, because now my vision for it is so much stronger and so much different and I know exactly who I'm calling into this membership and, like selfishly, I am loving it because I get to meet all these women and I get to connect with more you know. So, yes, I'm so glad that I've done it. It's an interesting thing for me. I've never done something like this before where I have kind of like an evergreen rolling enrollment situation.
Speaker 1:I've always had like a wait list for one-on-one spots are opening. I have my group program. It's launching twice a year doors open, doors closed. So now it's pivoting to kind of figure out how this is all going to work in terms of promoting it and marketing it. And also, with maternity leave coming like, there's a lot of preparation that is happening.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean you kind of have to go into this like I'm always selling kind of mentality, which I'm sure there's like pluses and minuses to that, like good and bad to that. Like you know, we can't always be selling, that would be like burnout. But I feel like as your membership grows and as more and more moms and women get into that space, like that the internal promotion of it, like the internal, like I'm hoping it'll be like a, you know, just like a snowball effect, like you know, rolling down the hill or whatever, and that way, like you said, like the women are the moms and it will sustain it, like that, that would be like the goal right, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I I think just the concept of moms being able to get together in a village is obviously something I deeply am rooted in and that's like the whole ethos I've made from others. But also having the space to ask questions in there that are private and there's like anxiety around women's health and our health. And I just remember someone asked like hey, like at certain points in my cycle I feel like really low in my depression and anxiety feels like really peaked. Has anyone had any experience with PPD?
Speaker 2:And like I remember seeing like this thread of responses to this mom's post in the membership, of being like yes, I'm right there with you, I experienced this. This is what I do Like, and then you being able to jump in there and be like we're actually going to address this, like we're going to have like a call on this, we're going to talk about this. I'm going to provide some like tips and tools and this is like a very low cost membership that I'm in Like this is not. This is like not a big out of pocket expense to have a qualified women's health nutritionist and like hormone expert and like access to you. Who I can be like hey, my son always drinks my protein powder shakes, like my smoothies, and what's the best protein powder I can? That I would feel like silly questions. I even told you to like hey, I'm really into cycle syncing right now. Like, are you going to do any like Q and a or any like live coaching on like cycle syncing? I'm really into cycle syncing right now. Like are you going to do any like Q&A or any like live coaching on like cycle syncing?
Speaker 2:Because I'm trying to connect my business calendar to my cycle and I'd like love to learn more about that in a way that doesn't feel like it's going to like inundate me, like. I feel like there's such a broad spectrum here for you to be like sure, we can like talk about cauliflower and broccoli and like and. Or we can talk about like you know what I mean Like supplementation, or we can talk about like labs, or we can talk about like hormonal shifts with I don't know. I just feel like what a gift that I get to be in this membership and then also what a gift for for women to find it and be like okay, like I can't have a well woman visit for another like eight months because that's the wait list to see my doctor and I don't even really like my doctor and I need women, need more support. We need more support than what we're getting.
Speaker 1:And I think too that the internet and social media, in terms of, like health and nutrition information, is an absolute dumpster fire yeah.
Speaker 1:One person telling you one thing and one another and everyone's trying to sell you something and you know I'm going to tell it to you straight. Yes, I'm going to consider both sides and I really love to make sure that what I'm, the information that I'm giving, is actually sustainable and realistic for moms, and that is my vision for the informational aspect of the community. It's like you can come here and you can trust. You can trust this information and it's curated for your life as a mom and your needs as a mom. I'm not gonna tell you to do 50 things.
Speaker 2:Get up at 5 am Right.
Speaker 1:The cycle syncing Bibles that are out there. They're so great, but it's like, do you need a list of 10 things that you have to change every other week of your cycle? Yeah, we need lowest hanging fruit. We need what's going to give us most bang for our buck, what's going to feel good, and not just like nutrition and how we're feeling our bodies, but all the other areas too, and so it's just. That is the culmination, and the members, like I want this to be. Yes, I'm the expert, but this is member driven. Like you said, if you want to learn about a topic and I feel comfortable and I'm excited to talk about it, I'm going to make that a piece of the resource library or I'm going to bring an expert in that can. So this is like a space literally created by mom for moms, and that's what I want it to be, and all the other fun stuff too Our book club and all those fun pieces too, so moms can have that connection that they're needing.
Speaker 2:So let's just say there's a mom listening and she's like would I fit to come into this membership? Like, do I need this? I guess I want to hear from you. Would I fit to come into this membership? Like, do I need this? I guess I want to hear from you like what are just like a super short list of symptoms that moms who come and seek one-on-one support with you like what are those like common symptoms that they're feeling, like depression, fatigue, like all of that? Like, can you make like a short list of like universal symptoms that you have seen across the board that maybe, if someone's listening, they're like oh yeah, that's me. Oh yeah, that's me. Oh yeah, that's me. And then that maybe the membership will start to help address those like foundational lifestyle, nutritional supplement, like changes that we're learning in the membership yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Um, any form of fatigue, I see that the most common, whether it's like you're just tired all the time, you have energy crashes, you're tired all day and then you can't sleep at night. Mental fatigue too, like brain fog, right what's been normalized, like mommy brain and I can't remember anything and I start sentences and don't know where I was going with them. Um, that's a very common symptom. Anxiety is also huge Depression rage. I'm so passionate about mom rage opposite way that you'd think, but mom's feeling really irritable and reactive and more angry.
Speaker 1:Short-fused yeah, short-fused, that's such a sign of blood sugar dysregulation, mineral imbalance, any hormonal, so irregular cycles, really painful periods. Pms or PMDD also super common and what's PMDD?
Speaker 2:What's PMDD? In case someone doesn't know what it is, because we've mentioned it.
Speaker 1:Good, good question. So PMS is premenstrual syndrome, so it's like that umbrella term for like feeling more cranky, fatigued, irritable before your period. Pmdd is premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is essentially like a more intense form of PMS. So those are women. That's like their symptoms before their period are absolutely debilitating and impact their life. And then they get their period and they're like, oh okay, I'm fine now.
Speaker 2:You're like, I don't want to actually like murder my husband Right, Right, Like oh okay.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I mean, those are some of the most common things I see a lot of women with. You know, my overall approach is just how, like energy depletion and how stress and the increased stress that we have, how that impacts our metabolisms and nervous systems, and so really that's going to trickle down to affect how your body produces and uses energy. So really it can be any symptom, but those are the main ones that are going to stand out and very clearly impact your ability to show up as a mom the way that you want, show up in your life the way that you want. Right, how many women are just going through motherhood like surviving, and they're like, well, I have no energy to do anything for me. I can't, you know, I want to read, I want to garden, I want to exercise, but like I don't have anything left over and I'm trying to teach women that it can be different, right? All this stuff we're told is normal to feel as a mom. All those symptoms, those are the symptoms that I'm working with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like I said earlier, there's nothing like learning about fatigue. When you're fatigued, there's nothing like it. I mean there's nothing more, just frustrating to be like. Okay, I guess I'll just pile this onto the list of all these things I have to fix about myself, because I was like I don't have enough potassium. Oh yeah, that was what I learned from you.
Speaker 2:That was like one of my biggest things I was like I need some freaking potassium in my life. Like I didn't realize that women need more potassium, like anyways. So where can what's like your invitation for them to join? Like where can they find you? Like, if anyone wants to hang out with me in there? And also also, today is kind of a cool day because today's the first kickoff call. Like like this is new. Like I know this podcast won't be out for a little bit, but you know it's may 9th and this afternoon you have your like first, like big, you know nourished mom's village.
Speaker 1:Like community call, and so that's really ribbon cutting ceremony yeah, we're gonna have more of these things like I love the. I always say the cow. You're getting the casual and the clinical in this group you know like you're getting both sides.
Speaker 1:I want the like nourished moms just hang out um. So that is today and, yes, you can find me root and branch nutrition everywhere. Instagramcom, kim at for my email. And right now for the month of the membership is on sale on promo $10 off per month. But I feel like we have to get you set up as an affiliate, like we have to figure that out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was going to say maybe we can talk about like made for mothers, moms, I don't know, We'll talk, we'll talk and maybe we can come up with something. Because I feel like our communities are so like intertwined, ambitious, driven, overworked, overwhelmed moms like me. You know, like I strongly, strongly believe that, like I feel like I've learned so much from you and just like having you in my, you know, energy field, or whatever. Likewise, likewise.
Speaker 1:I love it. It goes both ways. But I agree with you and it's like I get it because I'm a mom and I do own a business and I think that I think that moms have this we have to take care of ourselves. We don't have a choice and I wish that we had more community care and all that. That's unrelated. But moms and business owners, you have even more draining you, even more. That's draining your cup, and so I just feel that the Made for for mothers community in general needs this, because you have to be filling that cup a lot more often, a lot more intentionally, and you I even know it myself like I need the accountability to do those things. I need someone that's going to, you know is doing it alongside of me, and someone in this community like you can show up and you can feel supported and you can not feel so alone.
Speaker 1:I think like even just being at motherhood in general is isolating, being a business owner in general is isolating, but being a mom who is choosing to go against the status quo, like I'm not going to complain all the time about motherhood and like not going to talk about pouring a glass of wine because I need it at the end of the day, and I'm not going to talk about pouring a glass of wine because I need it at the end of the day, and I'm not going to talk about, like, so many things on the internet. Just get to me where women are like oh, my kid had four meals today and I've had nothing but coffee and I feel like I'm going to pass out. And it's like. The comments on that are always like oh, I get it, I've been there, that's me too. And it's like.
Speaker 1:I get that, that happens, happens and I've been there as a mom. But can we stop making that in the norm? Yes show up and be like I had breakfast today and everyone's gonna applaud you like good I know I feel like you feel yourself today.
Speaker 2:I can like, I can like very proudly say that I feel like, since I've been in the that five-day revival with you, I have had breakfast every single day like I was a coffee first thing in the morning, person, and I mean I even switched to decaf for like a month. Talk about influencing. I mean, for anyone who knows me, coffee was like a part of like a brand pillar of mine and I just feel like I switched to like decaf for like a month. I'm back on caffeine. I do like half caff, but but you know it's easier when my husband travels because we're not making like two different pots of coffee. But it is.
Speaker 2:It's huge what can happen in those community spaces when you have the support and you have the education and then you have the accountability like those three things like empowerment, education, accountability, like I just feel like that's huge for making small but manageable lifestyle changes that like greatly affect our ability to be a better mom and to be a better business owner. I mean like, come on, that's like win-win. All right, well, I will link everything in the show notes and I can't wait to have you back on the podcast to talk all other things some other time. Maybe we can host like a made from others, I don't know nourishment workshop or something together. That also sounds like super fun and I just have like so much, just so much like love for you, you and what you're doing, and I just appreciate you so much and just all the things.
Speaker 1:I appreciate you. I'm just so happy to have this connection, to have you in the space, in the community. It's just. I love it. I'm grateful for you.
Speaker 2:Thank you All right. Well, thank you, kim, and thank you for tuning in to another episode of the made for mothers podcast. If you found anything like relevant, resonating, connecting, you feel seen, heard, loved, um, from what we shared today, please go follow Kim and send her a DM and just let her know that you found her through the made for mothers podcast. That is happening on like every single episode, and I just love building those, you know, little bridges and threads to people, and I just feel like that's what we all need. Is this ever growing village that we need to often build ourselves? So, build your own damn village is what we believe around here. Amen, thank you, thank you, thank you, kim, and we'll talk to you guys all soon. Yay, you just finished another episode of the Made for Mothers podcast.
Speaker 2:As always, you can find more details about today's show in the show notes and be sure to give us a review. Subscribe so you don't miss a chance to grow your biz from fellow moms. Are you wanting more one-on-one support or are you looking to learn how to market your business in a way so you can spend more time with your family and less time stressing about what to do next? Then follow along on Instagram at Mariah Stockman or book a one-on-one biz therapy session with yours truly, and let's find that work-mama-hood harmony we all deserve. Until next time, this is your host, mariah Stockman, and thank you so much for tuning in.