In this episode with Karen Cook, we dive into the beautiful intersection of motherhood, entrepreneurship, and self-discovery. Karen shares her journey of following her dreams while raising her family, and the lessons she’s learned along the way.
0:02: Welcome to the Fully Expressed podcast.
0:04: We’re your host Karenna and Samantha.
0:06: This show is your permission slip to stop holding back.
0:10: Here we talk about what it really means to live unapologetically you in your relationships, your business, and your everyday life.
0:17: We believe the most magnetic version of you is rooted in self-expression, honesty, vulnerability, and showing up fully as you are.
0:24: When you own that, you naturally attract the people, the opportunities.
0:28: And the life that is meant for you.
0:29: In today’s episode, we sit down with mom of 3 and entrepreneur Karen Cook, who is the founder of Wildflower Co.
0:36: Initially, Wildflower Co started as a camp for adults and their children and has morphed into a company that really helps brands do it all.
0:46: They elevate their marketing and their community experiences.
0:50: Yes, and so in this episode, when you hear Karen Cook speak You’re going to specifically hear that we dive deep into what it was like for her to welcome entrepreneurship.
1:00: So she was a mother working in corporate and she felt called to be more creative.
1:05: And she also talked so much of what it was like to bring her husband on board with the idea of starting her entrepreneurial business.
1:11: The deep dive into their relationship dynamics and navigating her as a mom, not only being a mother, but also being a creative.
1:18: Yeah, that part really hit.
1:20: Because I think as moms, it’s really easy to feel like that’s where all your attention needs to be, but there was a desire in her that was waiting to be birthed and that was this business and she speaks all about that.
1:30: So if you’ve been either in it as a mother, as a creative, an entrepreneur, or you’re considering entrepreneurship as a mother, or if you are eventually in the future thinking like, oh, if I want kids, can I do it?
1:42: I really think you’re going to hear that you can in this episode.
1:45: We hope you enjoy it.
1:49: So welcome Karen to the podcast.
1:50: We’re so excited to have you on and you know, you’re a mom, you’re an entrepreneur, you’re doing it all and we’re really excited to dive into that topic because a lot of our listeners are moms, they’re high achievers, they want to be moms, but there is this fear, this underlying kind of.
2:05: desire to be a great mom, show up and still keep their business or their job, their role, and so we’re really looking forward to talking about how you do that in your life.
2:17: Thank you so much for having me.
2:18: It’s my favorite topic.
2:19: Happy to chat.
2:21: So let’s start with like, where did entrepreneurship start for you?
2:24: , well, it started out of a desperate need to find myself again in motherhood.
2:31: So I had a little bit of postpartum after my second was born.
2:34: I have 3 kids.
2:35: They’re currently 11, 8, and 4.
2:38: And so after my second was born, I just felt trapped in motherhood that I felt like the walls really starting to close in on me and, building a business was actually the missing piece for me that made me feel complete.
2:50: It’s like a really important part of my life and yeah.
2:54: Were you a stay at home mom at that point, here and there, so I stayed home with my first for 18 months and then I was freelancing.
3:00: I was, I’m creative director is my background, so I was freelancing and then my second, I think the PPD started around 6 months, so I was staying home still.
3:09: yeah.
3:11: What I love about what you said is that entrepreneurship kind of unlocked this thing that you really needed.
3:15: Something I think about with business and I think women sometimes think about like as women we’re here to create, we’re here to build.
3:21: I think that’s why we’re called to be mothers or some of us are called to be brothers and we get to bring a soul into this world.
3:26: But a lot of ways entrepreneurship gets to be that as well as creation.
3:30: Can you talk a little bit more about how that was for you?
3:32: , I, I’m a creative soul.
3:35: I’m a Pisces.
3:36: I’m, I’m, I’m a double Pisces.
3:39: I’m just really here to create as well and being a motherhood can be very creative, but it can also be isolating and it can also, there’s just a lot of mundaneness.
3:49: To it.
3:49: And so I just, I was really stuck in, just the, the mundaneness that can be motherhood.
3:57: And so I knew I just wanted to create something on my own, something for myself and basically solve problems.
4:03: And so, it really was a missing piece to me.
4:06: And so I’m just here to encourage moms to really tap into their full self as an act of service to more than just their family, but to the world around them.
4:16: What did that look like?
4:17: Like what did that feel like you’re in, cause I know, you know, postpartum depression is so common and I think it’s easy to get stuck in loops or in this cycle of just not knowing how to get out of it.
4:28: And so like, how, what did that look like for you and how did you know, OK, the business, this is what I need to do.
4:33: Like, what was that journey like for you?
4:35: Yeah, thanks for asking.
4:36: So I actually, I went to the doctor because I was like, this does not feel right.
4:40: And you know, naturally she recommended antidepressants and I’m not anti-pharmaceuticals, but I’m very much like, what can I do first to help myself?
4:48: What natural routes can I take?
4:49: So,, I first just started going on walks.
4:53: I did start playing a little bit with plant medicine or just herbs and things like that, so to kind of get more grounded, but really, I had my first coach.
5:01: I remember her name is Claire and she was offering free sessions at the time, just starting out and I just said I just want to feel more joyful and more free.
5:09: Like that’s my new, my true essence is joyful and free.
5:12: And and she said, well, what does joy feel like?
5:15: And so, When I really thought about it, to me, Joy’s not running off to Portugal for a two week vacation without my kids.
5:22: It really is bike rides and reggae music and maybe the top down, a convertible and the beach with friends, and there’s so much joy that we can tap into every day.
5:31: So what I started doing is just tapping back into my own joy in my own way.
5:37: So that would be Instead of just say if my child was in daycare for 3 hours in the morning, instead of just going and doing the food shopping and the meal prepping and the laundry, I would first go to the beach and go for a walk and first journal, and I’m a big believer in kind of dreaming about what your ideal vision is.
5:54: And so that’s kind of where it started, is just tapping back into my joy and then the business found me.
6:01: What does that mean?
6:03: Well, I read, I listened somewhere on a podcast about like a business or your next idea has a gestation period just like your baby does in a womb.
6:10: And so I started just letting listening about what I really wanted and what I wanted to create.
6:17: And so I just started following the threads and it really took months before it really came through.
6:23: But ultimately, I was living in LA at the time, and two kids just blew my mind.
6:28: I mean, one kid is challenging, but it’s so new and beautiful and Yeah there’s 2 of you typically, so you can take breaks and 2 is another level 3 talk about is.
6:39: In a good way, in a good way though, because 2, I think I was still trying to control all the things, and 3, I realized you can’t control anything and that’s actually been my next evolution.
6:48: But, so I, yeah, I lost my train of thought.
6:55: Hopefully though that’s OK.
6:56: So like you’re talking about, you know, what does it mean for you to find your business and how you were finding it and how, how this idea was coming through.
7:05: Yes, thank you so much.
7:06: Thanks.
7:07: So giving myself space to actually dream again and giving myself space, I don’t think enough women give themselves space to think about what they actually want, you know, even just going for a walk by yourself without necessarily podcasting and music, actually listening to what you want and so.
7:22: Little by little, I just started realizing that families in general just need so much more support and modern parenting is just insane and how can we support and all do it more together and thrive together and so that’s how I name my brand Wildflower cause I think together we thrive, but, I was living in LA and seeing all these wellness retreats happening and nothing that parents could go on because we often can’t just drop our kids for the whole weekend and go on a wellness retreat.
7:49: You can, but you know, it’s not that I hire a nanny for the whole weekend and most people in LA and San Diego that I know don’t have family nearby, so.
8:00: The idea came to me that we should really create family wellness retreats where the whole family can go, and that was, that was the big idea and aha, and you know, it would wake me up at night.
8:11: I would get visions of what that would look like in the middle of the night and then eventually I just was like, I’m doing this and when I went all in.
8:18: And you know, we talked about this a little before the podcast, but you created this Camp Wild, which was retreats for families to go on.
8:27: Can you speak a little?
8:27: More about it.
8:28: I know that’s not everything you do now, but I think that’s such a cool concept that you don’t really hear hardly ever a retreat where parents and kids get to come and be together and probably have time apart, maybe.
8:40: I know.
8:40: And thank you so much.
8:42: And so ultimately I think as moms, we’re problem solvers, and that’s why I think moms make the best entrepreneurs because you’re just, you are on the fly needing to solve problems and I saw a problem where I think parents really need a break.
8:54: So to be, I wanted to create the dream weekend for families, and that’s my skill, like my gift is coming up with the dream scenario and then taking little steps to get there.
9:06: So I would just dream about, well, what would it look like if we had live music and family meals, but then there’s also a time in the morning where parents can go to yoga or go take a walk or a hike with their partners.
9:18: But then we come back for these joyful, like beautiful experiences.
9:22: And so that’s really, that was the vision for it and it’s hard work, and I still, I try, I’ve done 4 and they’ve all sold out and 70 people at each and so they are amazing, but I haven’t, I haven’t quite figured out how to scale it, how to make it sustainable.
9:36: I’m looking for a partner that like sees the vision, a partner, a location partner.
9:41: Because oftentimes they want to charge me so much rent the space, and I’m like, but this is marketing for your space too.
9:46: So that’s, you know, another topic, but that’s why I haven’t done them over and over again.
9:51: But yes, I think they’re so needed.
9:54: I really do think that’s what I’m here to do, and I’m just kind of figured out other things to help me sustain the business along the way.
10:02: So one thing that you’ve talked about, and I think what I love about the retreats that it meets families where they’re at, right?
10:07: They’re like in the place of like, I have, I have kids.
10:10: They’re not going anywhere.
10:11: I can’t necessarily get childcare.
10:12: There’s no one here to help me.
10:13: , but one thing that you were talking about when you were creating your own entrepreneurial journey was how you would take space for yourself first.
10:20: And I think a lot of mothers fear that or like this like, how do I put myself first?
10:25: How do I take the time to spend time to lean into the creativity or to take the course that is going to give you the next thing or to listen to my my need or my desire to step into this thing without feeling guilty or feeling that like mom guilt that a lot of people talk about.
10:41: How did you navigate that?
10:42: I’m super familiar with mom guilt, and I have a whole history of moms and grandmas that pour on the guilt, love you mom, but it’s a real, real thing.
10:52: I think when I hit my rock bottom after that depression, I was like, this is, this is not the way I’m meant to live.
10:57: Like there’s no chance that all the, everything that’s inside of me is meant for living in this way, the way I felt was so.
11:07: So lost really, I just knew that wasn’t meant for me and so I kind of called myself out of it, and I have to say like.
11:15: Motherhood needs a big public relations makeover.
11:18: I mean, we need to step into, we’re the queens of society.
11:22: And so I realized that in order to be treated that way, we need to treat ourselves that way.
11:27: And that’s really where it started and I just started really taking really good care of myself, putting myself first because I really believe we’re running the family, we’re running the show.
11:36: I mean, I joke that Even with my husband, of course, we make decisions together, but it’s always me that kind of drops the idea.
11:44: Like, let’s move to Tanitas.
11:45: He’s like, OK, let’s check it out.
11:47: But we moved, let’s move to LA.
11:48: Let’s, you know, just the big ideas in our family.
11:52: It’s a woman thing.
11:53: I know that from my parents, for myself, my own experience, the dynamics are exactly the same.
11:59: Yeah.
12:00: And so women and mothers we run the family and so, but how can we do that if we’re depleted.
12:06: And I know it sounds so simple, but it’s like, I don’t think moms, women respect themselves enough to take that, to take that stance.
12:14: And so, I really, that’s, that’s why I love this conversation so much because I think, you know, ultimately women don’t have enough compassion for themselves because if they did, they would see all they’re doing and if they saw they’re doing, then they would be like, oh well, I deserve a nap right now, and I deserve a beach walk because I was up in the middle of the night with my toddler, but I think there’s this running that we have to do it all and it’s, it’s this hustle and it’s burnt out mom and it’s just, it’s bad PR and we just we really got to change it.
12:43: I love that.
12:45: one thing that I think you’re talking about the thing that comes to mind anyway I just going to lose my train of thought, Shit, now I lost my train of thought.
12:53: It’s OK.
12:54: I have come back.
12:54: Go ahead.
12:55: I want to go back to what you said when you mentioned your third child and how it like took you to a whole new place.
13:02: So can you speak on that, what you meant by that?
13:04: Sure.
13:05: Well, so I had my second child launch my business and so for 6, I, you know, for the next, what my, my 3rd was born 4 years ago.
13:15: So for the 4 years after that I was Hustling, to be honest.
13:20: I mean, building a business is a hustle.
13:22: And so there was a little bit of like, there had to be a shift in my family, which we can get back to.
13:28: I had to be a shift in my family of how our family worked, but with two, I feel like a lot of us moms, a lot of us high achievers with 2, we feel like we can still kind of control things.
13:37: There’s a little bit of like you can manage it.
13:39: There’s like, I don’t know, and I was definitely still controlling.
13:44: My kids, what they ate, and of course I still do that to an extent, but I, I was very much so controlling.
13:50: I was making amazing meals at night and I was just like planning amazing trips and we were going on all these adventures and looking back, I’m like, how did I even do that?
13:57: I was still functioning as if I didn’t have kids or a business.
14:00: I was still doing, I was doing it all somehow and it came at a cost.
14:04: My marriage struggled a little bit.
14:06: We, we have, we’re married 17 years.
14:08: We’ve We’re doing amazing now, and I think marriage has seasons, you know, but the third one, it basically, it, it made me have to expand in such a way to be able to hold all the pieces together.
14:25: In a way that I realized I can’t hold all the pieces together, if you know what I mean.
14:29: So it was so much more expansive that I realized I don’t control, I can’t really control any of it.
14:36: And I actually, it made me surrender.
14:37: So it’s like you, when you add more stuff on, you can, you, there has to be a way to be able to hold it all up.
14:43: And so for me that was even more surrender.
14:46: And so I actually found I was able to enjoy motherhood more.
14:51: The past 4 years because it’s just too much chaos to control in a way.
14:57: Do you know what I’m saying?
14:58: So it was like, does that make sense?
15:01: It forced you into a release because forced me into surrender, surrender.
15:05: That’s yeah and I think that’s the equation to holding more.
15:09: I think like when you’re holding all these things, or either you’re busy you’re doing all this stuff and you want to call in more, it’s not like, I mean, we’re expanding ourselves to be able to let go more and become even more unattached and just become the surrender and trust that the energy that you’re putting in is enough and it’s working and it’s perfect and that’s good.
15:27: And you’re the perfect mom for your kids.
15:28: They chose you.
15:30: I always tell my little boy, I’m like, thanks for choosing me.
15:32: You’re in the stars and you were looking for us and you chose me.
15:35: Thank you.
15:35: So that’s how I talked to them about it, but they chose you just as you are with all the flaws.
15:41: And the thing about motherhood that I think is so beautiful is even on your worst days, your kids still love you so much.
15:47: And that alone is like, well then can we love ourselves?
15:51: Can we love ourselves fully?
15:52: Look, our kids can, so can’t we?
15:54: We should too, you know, so.
15:56: I mean, I know neither of you mothers yet, but it’s really is the ultimate growth journey because you’re forced to expand in these ways and to love yourself in the messy.
16:08: Yeah, and I love that you did this while also building a business because it is one of the it’s really like a baby baby entrepreneurship is your motherhood.
16:17: Yes, to your point, you’re expanding even more.
16:19: So it feels like you’ve just like, I don’t like to call them levels, but expansion, even expanding and expanding and expanding even more to hold it all, which is so beautiful.
16:27: And you said you’re a Pisces moon, so you probably love that.
16:31: I’m a Pisces rising and a Pisces sun and then I’m a Lieberman looking for.
16:38: Well, that’s the thing, finding flow in it all and finding the beauty in it all.
16:42: So that has been beautiful to realize too recently in the past few years, to into astrology and human design and kind of realizing all the parts of me and kind of working them all in instead of just being the creative.
16:53: That’s not really, that’s, I mean, I love to work, so I mean I could work 12 hours a day.
16:58: I love it so much, but kind of where’s that balance and how do I bring that balance back into my life is to help me knowing I’m a Libra, I’m a Libra moon, so that’s helped a lot.
17:08: Talk to us a little bit about human design.
17:09: So you were talking a little bit about energy management, you were talking about expanding your energy.
17:13: How has human design impacted you or how do you use it?
17:17: It’s actually been really huge for me.
17:19: I probably learned about it 5 or so years ago and I learned I’m a manifester, so there’s 5 types of human design.
17:25: We all can manifest things, of course, but the manifester energy is very up and down.
17:30: And so, which means when we’re up and we’re high, high in a way like all-in kind of energy, we can create at warp speed.
17:39: So that’s how I built my business.
17:40: So when I was feeling very energized or inspired, I would prioritize that time and give myself like I would build a whole website in a day or, you know, record podcasts or whatever I was doing.
17:51: , but then recognizing that I have these lower points has been so important because if we just, if we don’t recognize our energy levels, we just bombard them and keep going and we burn out, but realizing like I had a low energy point a few weeks ago after a big event, I went down big time.
18:12: And I was like, am I ever gonna get out of this?
18:14: And I, you do, but trusting it, and then when you’re in that lower energy, kind of really being compassionate with yourself and going on more nature walks and all those things.
18:21: So that’s what I love so much about human design because it helps you understand more about you, who you are.
18:28: And there’s one part of human design that is, it’s called your incarnation cross and it blows my mind because for mine, it talks about How I’m meant to create my version of a dream life and show others how that’s possible, and that’s exactly what I’ve done in my life and exactly what I’m like on a mission to do and as a Pisces dreamer and so it really blew my mind.
18:50: So I’m curious if you look into that for yourself, how that would resonate.
18:52: I’m like curious if I looked it up.
18:54: I’m a projector, a 46 projector, a mental projector on top of that.
18:59: and then I’m a 51, I think, and I’m a manifesting generator.
19:03: I’m the heretic, so I’m supposed to speak uncomfortable truths to people.
19:08: So maybe this is, of course, and I’m the regal one, regal, but I want to bring it back to like I resonate so much around the energy management just in general.
19:19: One, I’m a projector, so I have a lot less energy, whatever.
19:23: I feel like I have a lot of capacity to hold.
19:25: She’s always like, you have a lot of capacity, but it’s been the grace of understanding and giving myself permission to be like.
19:30: I don’t have to show up at 100% all the time because I did burn out in general and because there’s like this expectation of like I have to hold it all and I think not being a mother, I think that kind of gets put on steroids a little bit of like I have to hold it all.
19:44: I’m the mom.
19:44: There’s like this innate.
19:45: , primal part to mothers that I think gets clicked on when they become moms and they’re constantly like keeping kids safe, baby safe.
19:54: What does baby need and you know that area.
19:57: So I just want to reflect back to you like the energy piece is a huge part.
20:01: And I think something that we’re, they’re constantly ignoring.
20:04: And well, you said the word grace, which is what I think a lot of women miss, the grace for themselves.
20:09: And so yeah, knowing your projector and your energy is a little bit different than others is huge because when it’s on, it’s on.
20:16: So when you’re on, you probably cut through and you get so much done and you’re so clear and concise and You know, and my sister’s a projector and she’s like, yeah, I just really like to nap a lot.
20:27: I’m like, well now you know your projector, allow yourself to do that.
20:30: Oh yeah, she’ll text me and she’s like, I just took a long nap.
20:33: I’m like, I could not even imagine napping.
20:35: Like I’m not a napper.
20:36: Yeah, they’re manifesting my energy is insane.
20:40: So generators in general have consistent energy if you love what you’re doing and manifesting generators.
20:45: They have lots of different things they love and lots of passions, which is amazing.
20:49: My husband’s a manifesting generator, and so that works really well for our family because he can, he can hold the energy and he can keep going, whereas I’m like, I need to kind of go be alone right now.
21:00: Yeah very great teeth.
21:01: And then the times I do have lows, which is not super, it’s not often, but like she’s able to.
21:06: carry that too, which is so nice.
21:10: I’m curious because you talked about, you know, just recently you were in a low.
21:13: What does that look like as a mother in a low?
21:15: because I know in a business like you can maybe you do some of the like more menial tasks or you do less or you take a break, but like obviously you can’t take a break as a mom.
21:23: So how does that show up for you or like what does that look like as a mom when you experience a low?
21:28: Well, luckily all three of my kids are in school, so I do pick them up every day at 2:20.
21:33: So I’m with them from 2:20 through till bedtime.
21:36: My husband gets home from work around 6-ish, so through till bedtime.
21:39: And so what that means is instead of maybe having huge work days before 2 o’clock, I am going for a beach walk.
21:48: I’m going for a hike.
21:49: I’m taking a bath in the middle of the day.
21:51: I am, you know, I, I, I can’t say I’m a Netflix and chill kind of person.
21:55: I don’t.
21:56: Not that I don’t agree with that.
21:57: I just don’t let myself get that, I don’t do that, but I just do less, so much less, and I just fill up myself in a way that’s nourishing, so.
22:08: Yeah, that’s when I’m in.
22:10: I might read more.
22:11: So it’s like nurturing yourself so that you can show up for them when you pick them up.
22:15: Yeah, so, and I’m just doing less, so I just expect less of myself.
22:19: So it’s probably like the not the the week I’m going to be making these amazing dinners and we might just keep it.
22:24: How simple can we make it?
22:25: How simple, you know, kind of getting back to basics, just taking care of like the basic needs of everyone and.
22:32: I was talking to one of my really good friends who’s still in corporate.
22:35: She just went back to get, she just had her baby.
22:37: She went back to work and she’s like stuck.
22:39: She’s at her 9 to 5 and I was like, I keep telling her like, you’re so, you’re meant for entrepreneurship, please.
22:44: And I was like, one, because I know you’re committed to your creativity, you execute so well in corporate like you’re so good at what you do and I feel like it’s going to give you moments of giving you time back to yourself and time with your kids because she’s also struggling between like I only get him for a couple of hours at night now because he’s gone all day, she’s gone all day and things like that.
23:02: But I think to bring it back, like entrepreneurship has this flexibility to it that a lot of mothers can leverage.
23:11: Exactly.
23:11: , yeah, well, my, my ultimate value is freedom, and I think a lot of us is just freedom.
23:18: So I, I, for a minute was looking at going back to corporate because we actually need two incomes.
23:23: I don’t have this like cushy lifestyle where I don’t need to work and I was looking at going back to corporate and everything in my gut was just like, no, it’s a no, it’s a huge no.
23:31: like everything and then finally something really clicked in my business and now it’s like actually helping sustain our family, which is amazing, but Yeah, so freedom is my ultimate goal, so, I agree.
23:44: Entrepreneurship is the way to go, and I’m a big believer in like creating your ideal week and what that looks like.
23:50: So that’s what you can do in entrepreneurship.
23:52: So I have super heavy.
23:54: I try to get so much more work done Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Mondays I do some family admin stuff or admin stuff, and Fridays I try to do more self-care.
24:02: So it’s like, you can’t really do that if you’re corporate job, but you can if you’re an entrepreneur.
24:07: How do you navigate the waves of the financial side of entrepreneurship with the family?
24:13: mhm.
24:14: How do I navigate?
24:15: Well, you’re asking, I don’t know if I’m gonna say the right or the wrong person because my husband, my husband is a 100% commission job and the market’s really bad right now.
24:25: So that’s been kind of rough, but my job actually just kicked in, which has been awesome, so that’s been really great, but I have to say, You know, when I decided it was 2019 to launch this business, it was a mutual thing.
24:37: We made a decision as a lifestyle for our family that it’s actually a lifestyle choice for me to become an entrepreneur and build my own business, one, because it made me happy and my happiness is super important to the family, but Too, because then I can still pick up the kids from school and do all the after school stuff.
24:53: So but as far as finances go, I mean, we, we actually made that decision that our lifestyle is way more important than the car we drive, and the house we own.
25:01: So we rent our house, we don’t, we don’t own and we got really lucky.
25:06: Our landlord loves us, but it’s like she could skyrocket the rent and she hasn’t, thank goodness.
25:11: But.
25:12: We make decisions based on our lifestyle versus, yeah, it’s a beautiful answer.
25:18: Yeah, thank you.
25:19: Yeah, you prioritize what was best for the two of you and your family.
25:22: But that also means paying for childcare when my business wasn’t working.
25:26: So, and how does that look?
25:27: And so that’s another topic I’d love to discuss is that.
25:30: , not that it wasn’t working when it was just starting out, when my business is just starting out, not making money.
25:35: We still paid for childcare, and this is one thing I really want, future mothers or mothers to hear is there’s this epidemic of like, let’s get the least amount of support possible.
25:48: And where that leaves no space for mom, so I’m a big believer in getting as much as you can afford.
25:56: And my ideal is working part time and having full-time childcare because I have 3 kids and so I often have someone staying home with my 4 year old when I’m running the other two around.
26:04: So just having more support and that we’ve grown to this where I do now have a full-time nanny, but before.
26:11: When I was just starting out, we, I would get a nanny share and say that’s $24 an hour, I would share it with another family, that’s $12 an hour.
26:19: I started having 8 hours a week of childcare.
26:21: We started growing like a little bit, a little bit over time.
26:24: , but my dream was to have full-time support and work part time, and that’s where I am now.
26:29: You don’t start there, but it’s like if you know what your dream, ideal scenario is, you can at least start kind of working towards that scenario, and that’s what we love child share.
26:39: I never heard of that.
26:41: I was like I kind of hear about this with like pods, you know, you know, with homeschooling, like there’s a pod and like families will share the teacher or whatever like that, but I’ve never heard of like child share.
26:50: Why are we not doing that more?
26:51: Yeah, that’s genius.
26:53: You know, you got to get creative when you’re a mom, you know, you’ve got it, I mean, especially like I knew I wanted to build a business and we don’t have a ton of extra income, but I, I also didn’t want to only do it during nap times or only do it at bedtime because then I knew I’d be exhausted.
27:06: And there’s been times that I’ve been exhausted anyway, but I mean, in general, how can we support ourselves to be able to sustain it all if we aren’t supported ourselves?
27:17: Wow, that’s just awesome.
27:19: I’m learning so much.
27:20: I know.
27:20: I love it.
27:22: It’s a little bit untraditional because I have to say like I have a lot of friends that don’t have any support, and I don’t really know how they do it.
27:28: Yes, their kids are in school, but they’re working full time, so as soon as they’re out of school, they’re running their kids around and I truly don’t know how they’re doing it.
27:35: I want someone to tell me.
27:36: I think about this all the time, like how, how are they doing it?
27:40: well, hopefully they have a really supportive partner and that’s definitely a modern thing where, you don’t have to have traditional roles in the house.
27:47: If mom does this and dad does this, you can actually create it yourself, is that true?
27:52: I’m, that’s one of my big messages I would say is like, what kind of mom do you want to be and then create that.
27:59: Who cares what everyone else is doing?
28:01: Like, what does it look like for you?
28:03: You know, what kind of motherhood journey do you want?
28:06: and kind of owning that.
28:07: And my partner, I mean, my husband’s a great partner and he’s a manifesting generator, so he has more energy than I do.
28:14: And he was like literally an example of this, is today, this morning.
28:20: I went for a hike.
28:21: I, you know, slowly got ready.
28:24: I danced around my house, so I, you know, I need a quiet house for a few hours a week.
28:29: It’s not really that much to ask, right?
28:31: He brought all three kids to Costco and to lunch like that.
28:34: It’s a little untraditional, I would say.
28:35: Some people like, what?
28:36: Your husband took all 3 kids.
28:37: Yeah, he actually likes going to Costco.
28:39: He’s a manifesting generator in the sense he likes, he loves checking out boxes and he loves like accomplishing tasks where I’m like, don’t give me any more tasks.
28:48: I need like big idea generation, you know.
28:50: So I think it’s OK, you know, and.
28:53: I’ve gotten a lot of, I’ve gotten a lot of grief from my own mom and mother-in-law in the past when I was building my business because they saw how much more he had to pick up when we decided together for me to launch a business.
29:06: But in the end, it’s been great for our family to be more balanced.
29:09: For instance, like in the beginning Getting when I launched, I, I worked night a lot.
29:13: I worked at night when the kids went to bed and when I was first launching, sometimes I would work till 10 a.m., which means in the morning, Mommy needs to sleep till 8 a.m. So he would handle getting the kids up and ready for school.
29:23: And, but then I’d be with them from 2 to 6 when he came home.
29:27: And that shift before I launched my business, it was 80% me doing all the motherhood, all the parenting stuff.
29:36: And then because I launched my business, And we agreed that I would do this is when things shifted.
29:43: So I, I think it’s actually an act of service in a way to listen to our intuition.
29:50: Did you ever run into like this sense of like wanting to control how he was taking care of your kids?
29:56: I feel like some parents, some mothers like want to have that time that you’re talking about like oh it’d be so nice for me to stay until 8 a.m. but then There’s like this fear of how our their husband will take care of them and like they said of like wanting to control the situation.
30:14: Did you ever run into any of that?
30:15: I’m sure I had.
30:16: I mean, the other day he came home with like he does a lot of the food shopping and he came home with just like the junkiest snack.
30:23: And I was like, Chris, like we, you know, I’m kind of drawing a line here.
30:27: So he returned 2 out of the 3 things, you know, it’s just like, so I do, I do kind of still control it, but I have to let go a little bit.
30:35: So just that simple example, he came home with, I mean these are bulk size snacks.
30:39: He came home with like 3 and they were just like, like, come on, can at least like 2 of them be healthy and one of them be junkies?
30:45: So he returned it.
30:46: So I do still have some of that control, but, ultimately, you know, if you’re in partnership and there’s a mom and a dad or two moms or two dads, whatever, it’s like you both are bringing something to the table and so trusting and knowing that my kids are getting so much out of daddy doing it his way too, like there’s, it’s a partnership.
31:07: I know I can’t do it all.
31:08: So thank gosh for him to come in with his skills, you know, so kind of respecting like what he brings to the table, so.
31:16: I’ve had like that maybe that’s been the past 4 years, my 3rd.
31:18: I’ve had to let go like big time.
31:20: My other question is, did you ever run into your husband having resistance to your business?
31:26: Or has he always been open to it?
31:27: No, yeah, there’s been a bit, there’s been a bit of resistance there.
31:31: the first like 4 years I think were pretty challenging because I was obsessed with it.
31:37: And your sole focus in a way.
31:39: I mean, well, it can’t be my, yeah, I mean, but it couldn’t, right, but it was my sole passion and so I would just talk about it.
31:48: Yeah, and I would talk about it all the time at night and he’s just like, I’m over this discussion.
31:54: Like all we’re talking about is your business.
31:56: And you know, when I was trying to fill retreats at the time, like it was like there’s money on the table.
32:01: Like this needs to sell out for it to work.
32:02: So I was obsessed with it and that caused some friction because he’s like, Karen, I don’t.
32:07: I don’t want to work all day.
32:08: I’m on the phone.
32:08: He’s on the phone all day at work and then come home and all you’re talking about is work.
32:12: So, yeah, I’ve had to kind of pull away, but what what helped me realize that what that was, he doesn’t have to be my end, I’ll be off everything.
32:21: So like, where are my other outlets?
32:23: Who else can I talk to you about work and who else can I, like he doesn’t have to be my everything.
32:27: He, you know, there’s a certain role that my husband plays in my life, but I don’t, so now I don’t really, I don’t unload.
32:35: him about all my work stuff because he cares a little bit, but I joke that like the men they don’t like details and I’m like I love the details and so there’s there’s like a little yeah the same.
32:46: I’m like yeah they like tell me the details what they say, how they say it, what do they mean behind what they said?
32:53: Tell me more.
32:54: It’s like they just said no, and I’m like, how did they say no.
33:00: Yeah, so there was a resistance, but we worked through it in the sense that I kind of, you know, I did burn down a little bit and then I had my 3rd kid.
33:07: I took some time, oh, the pandemic happened, so my events got canceled, and that’s when I got pregnant with my 3rd.
33:13: And then when I decided after my 3rd was about 6 months to start up again, I promised him I would do it differently, which wouldn’t be like.
33:20: The only thing I talk about is work, and the only thing I’m ever doing outside of the family is work.
33:24: So I’m working on that, but I feel like I’ve found a little bit, a little bit of a better balance this time around.
33:30: And what is wild look like now?
33:31: I mean, when, because you said you’re not doing the treats as much, how is it transitioned for you?
33:37: Yeah, this is another exciting thing I want to share with anyone thinking of starting a business.
33:41: I was really just doing at the time when I started what I felt was a problem that needed to be solved, and the way I would do that is I launched this huge retreat, which I’m not recommending anyone go all in like I did, but the way I was.
33:55: The way I would sell out those retreats was by having small local community events, just the simplest events for parents, and I would actually bring activities and toys to restaurants and I’d be like, let’s have dinner.
34:06: I brought all this stuff for the kids to play with so we can connect.
34:09: And that was like the tiniest version of Camp Wild just at a restaurant, right?
34:14: And so, so that’s how I built my business over time with small community events.
34:19: And I’m really happy to share.
34:21: That after 6 years of doing community events, just what I felt like was needed in the community, that I now get hired by locations to do programming for them, to bring more community to them.
34:32: So my biggest client right now is Flower Hill Promenade in Del Mar, which I just love their location so much.
34:38: It’s such a special space, has so much potential.
34:42: And so in February, I signed my first contract ever, 12 month contract to do all their marketing and all their events, which is like A breath of fresh air as an entrepreneur to get like a consistent income, if you will, versus just these one-off events.
34:57: So that’s, so that’s been the biggest shift is now after 6 years of doing community events, I actually realized it put me in a position and I’m kind of an expert and I can consult locations and other businesses on how to create community events in their space, which has been beautiful.
35:14: And I didn’t know the whole time.
35:15: The whole time I really thought it was Camp Wild was going to be my thing and I love it so much and I will bring it back, but it’s really hard to make money on a family retreat because you can’t charge, say a retreat could be $3000 a person, if like a really nice one-person retreat.
35:31: You can’t charge times 4 for a family.
35:34: So it still needs to be about that 20 to $3500 mark.
35:38: So the margins are so slim.
35:40: So unless I get sponsorship and all that, which is a whole another.
35:44: It’s so much work and that wasn’t, I wasn’t passionate about going after that, but this feels really good.
35:50: So I just, what I’m, my point is, is that little did I know, I was just following what fell a line in solving problems along the way that I actually built a portfolio that now I’m getting hired to do that for other places, which has been A huge celebration in my life right now.
36:06: What are some tips and tricks for people that want to start communities as a part of their businesses that you would say?
36:12: What are like some levers that you would absolutely pull.
36:15: , depending on the community.
36:19: So I think starting as simple as possible, like what is the problem you’re trying to solve and how can you be as simple as possible to create that?
36:27: And I have an example.
36:28: I shared with someone recently.
36:29: She’s an etiquette teacher and I said to her, I was like, why don’t you partner with the restaurant and host etiquette tables where the parents can put their kids at the table and they’re having a date and you’re teaching them etiquette.
36:41: How simple is that?
36:42: It’s literally, it’s the simplest idea.
36:44: It doesn’t cost anything.
36:45: So what your business, what’s the simplest version they actually call it like the MVP in business, the most viable product or the minimum viable product.
36:54: What’s the simplest version of your biggest idea that you can start creating that’s just feels good.
37:00: You want it to feel good, cause it feels good, you’re going to bring your energy to it and it will fill.
37:05: So good.
37:06: I love that.
37:07: Yeah, that’s a great suggestion.
37:10: One question that we ask all of our guests is, well, is there anything else you want to share real quick about motherhood and entrepreneurship or any like last words of advice or wisdom that you would give to someone.
37:23: I just think for any mom that feels burnt out or anyone scared to become a mom, to kind of start trusting your mother instincts, your female instinct is so powerful.
37:34: And if you’re tired, please let yourself rest.
37:37: If you’re inspired, please give yourself time to go birth that idea.
37:42: It’s so important.
37:43: And I think, you know, women, moms, I, I really do think make really great entrepreneurs because we have to be so we learn on the job of being a mom, like, you’re out of diapers and your kid just exploded, like what are you gonna do?
37:53: Like we’re constantly challenged in that way, which is I think how I became an entrepreneur because I I was like having to just really just on the fly, come up with all these solutions and figure it out.
38:05: And so, I don’t know, I think I think when we start stepping into our, I call it the queen role and really start honoring ourselves and our needs and kind of Come from an empowered place.
38:16: I think the world will start respecting motherhood again.
38:19: I mean, I just saw a headline about like maternal mental health side of decline.
38:23: Well, yeah, because I don’t think people respect moms and the role that we play in society because a lot of moms don’t respect it themselves.
38:31: They’re they’re getting minimum childcare.
38:34: They’re trying to do all the things and not speaking their truth to their partners and asking for help.
38:39: And so it’s really kind of digging in and Ask giving your space to ask yourself what you actually want, like, really give yourself a half hour a day to, what is it that I’m looking for?
38:51: What do I want?
38:53: That would be my biggest tip, get more space.
38:56: Great tip.
38:56: Thank you.
38:57: Such a good tip.
38:58: Thank you.
39:00: Yeah, so the last question we ask every guest is where in your life do you want to be more fully expressed?
39:08: Yeah, I’m trying to step out of all the details of event planning, and I’ve just hired a team, so I’m learning to delegate with the team.
39:16: And so yeah, being on stage more and sharing my story more, is really where I want to be.
39:22: So thank you for this opportunity.
39:24: You got to get in front of more podcasts and you have your own.
39:27: I do, and it’s not something I’m being consistent with, but maybe you’re inspiring me to get back.
39:32: Thank you so much.
39:34: It’s called the Wild and Free Mama podcast.
39:36: It’s about unconventional motherhood and how to choose your own way.
39:39: So good.
39:40: Thank you.
39:41: I feel like this conversation has been so beautiful because I think every mother gets to hear it, whether you want to be, I’d also say like whether you want to be a mother or not want to be a mother.
39:49: I feel like there’s so many gems in what you just said that can apply to anyone in womanhood and that we get to take around of like what does it look like to really create space to create, what does it look like to create space to be with ourselves?
40:01: What does it look like?
40:02: To lean into the idea so that it can evolve into a new idea and the alignment will come through.
40:08: So, thank you.
40:09: Thank you so much.
40:11: Yeah, thank you so much.
40:12: You’re welcome.
40:13: Thank you so much for tuning in.
40:15: We really appreciate you being here.
40:17: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
40:22: Also, we would love to hear from you.
40:25: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
40:32: We are here to support you and encourage you.
40:34: Before we go, we want to remind you that you are powerful and deserving a fully Expressing who you are.
40:40: Embracing your journey toward authenticity is a vital part of that process, and we’re grateful to be alongside you.
40:46: If you’re looking to dive deeper and connect with others who celebrate their true selves, we invite you to join our community.
40:53: It’s a virtual space for connection and accountability where you can share your experiences and grow together.
40:59: You can find the link in our show notes.
41:01: We can’t wait to welcome you.
41:02: See you on the next one.
0:04: We’re your host Karenna and Samantha.
0:06: This show is your permission slip to stop holding back.
0:10: Here we talk about what it really means to live unapologetically you in your relationships, your business, and your everyday life.
0:17: We believe the most magnetic version of you is rooted in self-expression, honesty, vulnerability, and showing up fully as you are.
0:24: When you own that, you naturally attract the people, the opportunities.
0:28: And the life that is meant for you.
0:29: In today’s episode, we sit down with mom of 3 and entrepreneur Karen Cook, who is the founder of Wildflower Co.
0:36: Initially, Wildflower Co started as a camp for adults and their children and has morphed into a company that really helps brands do it all.
0:46: They elevate their marketing and their community experiences.
0:50: Yes, and so in this episode, when you hear Karen Cook speak You’re going to specifically hear that we dive deep into what it was like for her to welcome entrepreneurship.
1:00: So she was a mother working in corporate and she felt called to be more creative.
1:05: And she also talked so much of what it was like to bring her husband on board with the idea of starting her entrepreneurial business.
1:11: The deep dive into their relationship dynamics and navigating her as a mom, not only being a mother, but also being a creative.
1:18: Yeah, that part really hit.
1:20: Because I think as moms, it’s really easy to feel like that’s where all your attention needs to be, but there was a desire in her that was waiting to be birthed and that was this business and she speaks all about that.
1:30: So if you’ve been either in it as a mother, as a creative, an entrepreneur, or you’re considering entrepreneurship as a mother, or if you are eventually in the future thinking like, oh, if I want kids, can I do it?
1:42: I really think you’re going to hear that you can in this episode.
1:45: We hope you enjoy it.
1:49: So welcome Karen to the podcast.
1:50: We’re so excited to have you on and you know, you’re a mom, you’re an entrepreneur, you’re doing it all and we’re really excited to dive into that topic because a lot of our listeners are moms, they’re high achievers, they want to be moms, but there is this fear, this underlying kind of.
2:05: desire to be a great mom, show up and still keep their business or their job, their role, and so we’re really looking forward to talking about how you do that in your life.
2:17: Thank you so much for having me.
2:18: It’s my favorite topic.
2:19: Happy to chat.
2:21: So let’s start with like, where did entrepreneurship start for you?
2:24: , well, it started out of a desperate need to find myself again in motherhood.
2:31: So I had a little bit of postpartum after my second was born.
2:34: I have 3 kids.
2:35: They’re currently 11, 8, and 4.
2:38: And so after my second was born, I just felt trapped in motherhood that I felt like the walls really starting to close in on me and, building a business was actually the missing piece for me that made me feel complete.
2:50: It’s like a really important part of my life and yeah.
2:54: Were you a stay at home mom at that point, here and there, so I stayed home with my first for 18 months and then I was freelancing.
3:00: I was, I’m creative director is my background, so I was freelancing and then my second, I think the PPD started around 6 months, so I was staying home still.
3:09: yeah.
3:11: What I love about what you said is that entrepreneurship kind of unlocked this thing that you really needed.
3:15: Something I think about with business and I think women sometimes think about like as women we’re here to create, we’re here to build.
3:21: I think that’s why we’re called to be mothers or some of us are called to be brothers and we get to bring a soul into this world.
3:26: But a lot of ways entrepreneurship gets to be that as well as creation.
3:30: Can you talk a little bit more about how that was for you?
3:32: , I, I’m a creative soul.
3:35: I’m a Pisces.
3:36: I’m, I’m, I’m a double Pisces.
3:39: I’m just really here to create as well and being a motherhood can be very creative, but it can also be isolating and it can also, there’s just a lot of mundaneness.
3:49: To it.
3:49: And so I just, I was really stuck in, just the, the mundaneness that can be motherhood.
3:57: And so I knew I just wanted to create something on my own, something for myself and basically solve problems.
4:03: And so, it really was a missing piece to me.
4:06: And so I’m just here to encourage moms to really tap into their full self as an act of service to more than just their family, but to the world around them.
4:16: What did that look like?
4:17: Like what did that feel like you’re in, cause I know, you know, postpartum depression is so common and I think it’s easy to get stuck in loops or in this cycle of just not knowing how to get out of it.
4:28: And so like, how, what did that look like for you and how did you know, OK, the business, this is what I need to do.
4:33: Like, what was that journey like for you?
4:35: Yeah, thanks for asking.
4:36: So I actually, I went to the doctor because I was like, this does not feel right.
4:40: And you know, naturally she recommended antidepressants and I’m not anti-pharmaceuticals, but I’m very much like, what can I do first to help myself?
4:48: What natural routes can I take?
4:49: So,, I first just started going on walks.
4:53: I did start playing a little bit with plant medicine or just herbs and things like that, so to kind of get more grounded, but really, I had my first coach.
5:01: I remember her name is Claire and she was offering free sessions at the time, just starting out and I just said I just want to feel more joyful and more free.
5:09: Like that’s my new, my true essence is joyful and free.
5:12: And and she said, well, what does joy feel like?
5:15: And so, When I really thought about it, to me, Joy’s not running off to Portugal for a two week vacation without my kids.
5:22: It really is bike rides and reggae music and maybe the top down, a convertible and the beach with friends, and there’s so much joy that we can tap into every day.
5:31: So what I started doing is just tapping back into my own joy in my own way.
5:37: So that would be Instead of just say if my child was in daycare for 3 hours in the morning, instead of just going and doing the food shopping and the meal prepping and the laundry, I would first go to the beach and go for a walk and first journal, and I’m a big believer in kind of dreaming about what your ideal vision is.
5:54: And so that’s kind of where it started, is just tapping back into my joy and then the business found me.
6:01: What does that mean?
6:03: Well, I read, I listened somewhere on a podcast about like a business or your next idea has a gestation period just like your baby does in a womb.
6:10: And so I started just letting listening about what I really wanted and what I wanted to create.
6:17: And so I just started following the threads and it really took months before it really came through.
6:23: But ultimately, I was living in LA at the time, and two kids just blew my mind.
6:28: I mean, one kid is challenging, but it’s so new and beautiful and Yeah there’s 2 of you typically, so you can take breaks and 2 is another level 3 talk about is.
6:39: In a good way, in a good way though, because 2, I think I was still trying to control all the things, and 3, I realized you can’t control anything and that’s actually been my next evolution.
6:48: But, so I, yeah, I lost my train of thought.
6:55: Hopefully though that’s OK.
6:56: So like you’re talking about, you know, what does it mean for you to find your business and how you were finding it and how, how this idea was coming through.
7:05: Yes, thank you so much.
7:06: Thanks.
7:07: So giving myself space to actually dream again and giving myself space, I don’t think enough women give themselves space to think about what they actually want, you know, even just going for a walk by yourself without necessarily podcasting and music, actually listening to what you want and so.
7:22: Little by little, I just started realizing that families in general just need so much more support and modern parenting is just insane and how can we support and all do it more together and thrive together and so that’s how I name my brand Wildflower cause I think together we thrive, but, I was living in LA and seeing all these wellness retreats happening and nothing that parents could go on because we often can’t just drop our kids for the whole weekend and go on a wellness retreat.
7:49: You can, but you know, it’s not that I hire a nanny for the whole weekend and most people in LA and San Diego that I know don’t have family nearby, so.
8:00: The idea came to me that we should really create family wellness retreats where the whole family can go, and that was, that was the big idea and aha, and you know, it would wake me up at night.
8:11: I would get visions of what that would look like in the middle of the night and then eventually I just was like, I’m doing this and when I went all in.
8:18: And you know, we talked about this a little before the podcast, but you created this Camp Wild, which was retreats for families to go on.
8:27: Can you speak a little?
8:27: More about it.
8:28: I know that’s not everything you do now, but I think that’s such a cool concept that you don’t really hear hardly ever a retreat where parents and kids get to come and be together and probably have time apart, maybe.
8:40: I know.
8:40: And thank you so much.
8:42: And so ultimately I think as moms, we’re problem solvers, and that’s why I think moms make the best entrepreneurs because you’re just, you are on the fly needing to solve problems and I saw a problem where I think parents really need a break.
8:54: So to be, I wanted to create the dream weekend for families, and that’s my skill, like my gift is coming up with the dream scenario and then taking little steps to get there.
9:06: So I would just dream about, well, what would it look like if we had live music and family meals, but then there’s also a time in the morning where parents can go to yoga or go take a walk or a hike with their partners.
9:18: But then we come back for these joyful, like beautiful experiences.
9:22: And so that’s really, that was the vision for it and it’s hard work, and I still, I try, I’ve done 4 and they’ve all sold out and 70 people at each and so they are amazing, but I haven’t, I haven’t quite figured out how to scale it, how to make it sustainable.
9:36: I’m looking for a partner that like sees the vision, a partner, a location partner.
9:41: Because oftentimes they want to charge me so much rent the space, and I’m like, but this is marketing for your space too.
9:46: So that’s, you know, another topic, but that’s why I haven’t done them over and over again.
9:51: But yes, I think they’re so needed.
9:54: I really do think that’s what I’m here to do, and I’m just kind of figured out other things to help me sustain the business along the way.
10:02: So one thing that you’ve talked about, and I think what I love about the retreats that it meets families where they’re at, right?
10:07: They’re like in the place of like, I have, I have kids.
10:10: They’re not going anywhere.
10:11: I can’t necessarily get childcare.
10:12: There’s no one here to help me.
10:13: , but one thing that you were talking about when you were creating your own entrepreneurial journey was how you would take space for yourself first.
10:20: And I think a lot of mothers fear that or like this like, how do I put myself first?
10:25: How do I take the time to spend time to lean into the creativity or to take the course that is going to give you the next thing or to listen to my my need or my desire to step into this thing without feeling guilty or feeling that like mom guilt that a lot of people talk about.
10:41: How did you navigate that?
10:42: I’m super familiar with mom guilt, and I have a whole history of moms and grandmas that pour on the guilt, love you mom, but it’s a real, real thing.
10:52: I think when I hit my rock bottom after that depression, I was like, this is, this is not the way I’m meant to live.
10:57: Like there’s no chance that all the, everything that’s inside of me is meant for living in this way, the way I felt was so.
11:07: So lost really, I just knew that wasn’t meant for me and so I kind of called myself out of it, and I have to say like.
11:15: Motherhood needs a big public relations makeover.
11:18: I mean, we need to step into, we’re the queens of society.
11:22: And so I realized that in order to be treated that way, we need to treat ourselves that way.
11:27: And that’s really where it started and I just started really taking really good care of myself, putting myself first because I really believe we’re running the family, we’re running the show.
11:36: I mean, I joke that Even with my husband, of course, we make decisions together, but it’s always me that kind of drops the idea.
11:44: Like, let’s move to Tanitas.
11:45: He’s like, OK, let’s check it out.
11:47: But we moved, let’s move to LA.
11:48: Let’s, you know, just the big ideas in our family.
11:52: It’s a woman thing.
11:53: I know that from my parents, for myself, my own experience, the dynamics are exactly the same.
11:59: Yeah.
12:00: And so women and mothers we run the family and so, but how can we do that if we’re depleted.
12:06: And I know it sounds so simple, but it’s like, I don’t think moms, women respect themselves enough to take that, to take that stance.
12:14: And so, I really, that’s, that’s why I love this conversation so much because I think, you know, ultimately women don’t have enough compassion for themselves because if they did, they would see all they’re doing and if they saw they’re doing, then they would be like, oh well, I deserve a nap right now, and I deserve a beach walk because I was up in the middle of the night with my toddler, but I think there’s this running that we have to do it all and it’s, it’s this hustle and it’s burnt out mom and it’s just, it’s bad PR and we just we really got to change it.
12:43: I love that.
12:45: one thing that I think you’re talking about the thing that comes to mind anyway I just going to lose my train of thought, Shit, now I lost my train of thought.
12:53: It’s OK.
12:54: I have come back.
12:54: Go ahead.
12:55: I want to go back to what you said when you mentioned your third child and how it like took you to a whole new place.
13:02: So can you speak on that, what you meant by that?
13:04: Sure.
13:05: Well, so I had my second child launch my business and so for 6, I, you know, for the next, what my, my 3rd was born 4 years ago.
13:15: So for the 4 years after that I was Hustling, to be honest.
13:20: I mean, building a business is a hustle.
13:22: And so there was a little bit of like, there had to be a shift in my family, which we can get back to.
13:28: I had to be a shift in my family of how our family worked, but with two, I feel like a lot of us moms, a lot of us high achievers with 2, we feel like we can still kind of control things.
13:37: There’s a little bit of like you can manage it.
13:39: There’s like, I don’t know, and I was definitely still controlling.
13:44: My kids, what they ate, and of course I still do that to an extent, but I, I was very much so controlling.
13:50: I was making amazing meals at night and I was just like planning amazing trips and we were going on all these adventures and looking back, I’m like, how did I even do that?
13:57: I was still functioning as if I didn’t have kids or a business.
14:00: I was still doing, I was doing it all somehow and it came at a cost.
14:04: My marriage struggled a little bit.
14:06: We, we have, we’re married 17 years.
14:08: We’ve We’re doing amazing now, and I think marriage has seasons, you know, but the third one, it basically, it, it made me have to expand in such a way to be able to hold all the pieces together.
14:25: In a way that I realized I can’t hold all the pieces together, if you know what I mean.
14:29: So it was so much more expansive that I realized I don’t control, I can’t really control any of it.
14:36: And I actually, it made me surrender.
14:37: So it’s like you, when you add more stuff on, you can, you, there has to be a way to be able to hold it all up.
14:43: And so for me that was even more surrender.
14:46: And so I actually found I was able to enjoy motherhood more.
14:51: The past 4 years because it’s just too much chaos to control in a way.
14:57: Do you know what I’m saying?
14:58: So it was like, does that make sense?
15:01: It forced you into a release because forced me into surrender, surrender.
15:05: That’s yeah and I think that’s the equation to holding more.
15:09: I think like when you’re holding all these things, or either you’re busy you’re doing all this stuff and you want to call in more, it’s not like, I mean, we’re expanding ourselves to be able to let go more and become even more unattached and just become the surrender and trust that the energy that you’re putting in is enough and it’s working and it’s perfect and that’s good.
15:27: And you’re the perfect mom for your kids.
15:28: They chose you.
15:30: I always tell my little boy, I’m like, thanks for choosing me.
15:32: You’re in the stars and you were looking for us and you chose me.
15:35: Thank you.
15:35: So that’s how I talked to them about it, but they chose you just as you are with all the flaws.
15:41: And the thing about motherhood that I think is so beautiful is even on your worst days, your kids still love you so much.
15:47: And that alone is like, well then can we love ourselves?
15:51: Can we love ourselves fully?
15:52: Look, our kids can, so can’t we?
15:54: We should too, you know, so.
15:56: I mean, I know neither of you mothers yet, but it’s really is the ultimate growth journey because you’re forced to expand in these ways and to love yourself in the messy.
16:08: Yeah, and I love that you did this while also building a business because it is one of the it’s really like a baby baby entrepreneurship is your motherhood.
16:17: Yes, to your point, you’re expanding even more.
16:19: So it feels like you’ve just like, I don’t like to call them levels, but expansion, even expanding and expanding and expanding even more to hold it all, which is so beautiful.
16:27: And you said you’re a Pisces moon, so you probably love that.
16:31: I’m a Pisces rising and a Pisces sun and then I’m a Lieberman looking for.
16:38: Well, that’s the thing, finding flow in it all and finding the beauty in it all.
16:42: So that has been beautiful to realize too recently in the past few years, to into astrology and human design and kind of realizing all the parts of me and kind of working them all in instead of just being the creative.
16:53: That’s not really, that’s, I mean, I love to work, so I mean I could work 12 hours a day.
16:58: I love it so much, but kind of where’s that balance and how do I bring that balance back into my life is to help me knowing I’m a Libra, I’m a Libra moon, so that’s helped a lot.
17:08: Talk to us a little bit about human design.
17:09: So you were talking a little bit about energy management, you were talking about expanding your energy.
17:13: How has human design impacted you or how do you use it?
17:17: It’s actually been really huge for me.
17:19: I probably learned about it 5 or so years ago and I learned I’m a manifester, so there’s 5 types of human design.
17:25: We all can manifest things, of course, but the manifester energy is very up and down.
17:30: And so, which means when we’re up and we’re high, high in a way like all-in kind of energy, we can create at warp speed.
17:39: So that’s how I built my business.
17:40: So when I was feeling very energized or inspired, I would prioritize that time and give myself like I would build a whole website in a day or, you know, record podcasts or whatever I was doing.
17:51: , but then recognizing that I have these lower points has been so important because if we just, if we don’t recognize our energy levels, we just bombard them and keep going and we burn out, but realizing like I had a low energy point a few weeks ago after a big event, I went down big time.
18:12: And I was like, am I ever gonna get out of this?
18:14: And I, you do, but trusting it, and then when you’re in that lower energy, kind of really being compassionate with yourself and going on more nature walks and all those things.
18:21: So that’s what I love so much about human design because it helps you understand more about you, who you are.
18:28: And there’s one part of human design that is, it’s called your incarnation cross and it blows my mind because for mine, it talks about How I’m meant to create my version of a dream life and show others how that’s possible, and that’s exactly what I’ve done in my life and exactly what I’m like on a mission to do and as a Pisces dreamer and so it really blew my mind.
18:50: So I’m curious if you look into that for yourself, how that would resonate.
18:52: I’m like curious if I looked it up.
18:54: I’m a projector, a 46 projector, a mental projector on top of that.
18:59: and then I’m a 51, I think, and I’m a manifesting generator.
19:03: I’m the heretic, so I’m supposed to speak uncomfortable truths to people.
19:08: So maybe this is, of course, and I’m the regal one, regal, but I want to bring it back to like I resonate so much around the energy management just in general.
19:19: One, I’m a projector, so I have a lot less energy, whatever.
19:23: I feel like I have a lot of capacity to hold.
19:25: She’s always like, you have a lot of capacity, but it’s been the grace of understanding and giving myself permission to be like.
19:30: I don’t have to show up at 100% all the time because I did burn out in general and because there’s like this expectation of like I have to hold it all and I think not being a mother, I think that kind of gets put on steroids a little bit of like I have to hold it all.
19:44: I’m the mom.
19:44: There’s like this innate.
19:45: , primal part to mothers that I think gets clicked on when they become moms and they’re constantly like keeping kids safe, baby safe.
19:54: What does baby need and you know that area.
19:57: So I just want to reflect back to you like the energy piece is a huge part.
20:01: And I think something that we’re, they’re constantly ignoring.
20:04: And well, you said the word grace, which is what I think a lot of women miss, the grace for themselves.
20:09: And so yeah, knowing your projector and your energy is a little bit different than others is huge because when it’s on, it’s on.
20:16: So when you’re on, you probably cut through and you get so much done and you’re so clear and concise and You know, and my sister’s a projector and she’s like, yeah, I just really like to nap a lot.
20:27: I’m like, well now you know your projector, allow yourself to do that.
20:30: Oh yeah, she’ll text me and she’s like, I just took a long nap.
20:33: I’m like, I could not even imagine napping.
20:35: Like I’m not a napper.
20:36: Yeah, they’re manifesting my energy is insane.
20:40: So generators in general have consistent energy if you love what you’re doing and manifesting generators.
20:45: They have lots of different things they love and lots of passions, which is amazing.
20:49: My husband’s a manifesting generator, and so that works really well for our family because he can, he can hold the energy and he can keep going, whereas I’m like, I need to kind of go be alone right now.
21:00: Yeah very great teeth.
21:01: And then the times I do have lows, which is not super, it’s not often, but like she’s able to.
21:06: carry that too, which is so nice.
21:10: I’m curious because you talked about, you know, just recently you were in a low.
21:13: What does that look like as a mother in a low?
21:15: because I know in a business like you can maybe you do some of the like more menial tasks or you do less or you take a break, but like obviously you can’t take a break as a mom.
21:23: So how does that show up for you or like what does that look like as a mom when you experience a low?
21:28: Well, luckily all three of my kids are in school, so I do pick them up every day at 2:20.
21:33: So I’m with them from 2:20 through till bedtime.
21:36: My husband gets home from work around 6-ish, so through till bedtime.
21:39: And so what that means is instead of maybe having huge work days before 2 o’clock, I am going for a beach walk.
21:48: I’m going for a hike.
21:49: I’m taking a bath in the middle of the day.
21:51: I am, you know, I, I, I can’t say I’m a Netflix and chill kind of person.
21:55: I don’t.
21:56: Not that I don’t agree with that.
21:57: I just don’t let myself get that, I don’t do that, but I just do less, so much less, and I just fill up myself in a way that’s nourishing, so.
22:08: Yeah, that’s when I’m in.
22:10: I might read more.
22:11: So it’s like nurturing yourself so that you can show up for them when you pick them up.
22:15: Yeah, so, and I’m just doing less, so I just expect less of myself.
22:19: So it’s probably like the not the the week I’m going to be making these amazing dinners and we might just keep it.
22:24: How simple can we make it?
22:25: How simple, you know, kind of getting back to basics, just taking care of like the basic needs of everyone and.
22:32: I was talking to one of my really good friends who’s still in corporate.
22:35: She just went back to get, she just had her baby.
22:37: She went back to work and she’s like stuck.
22:39: She’s at her 9 to 5 and I was like, I keep telling her like, you’re so, you’re meant for entrepreneurship, please.
22:44: And I was like, one, because I know you’re committed to your creativity, you execute so well in corporate like you’re so good at what you do and I feel like it’s going to give you moments of giving you time back to yourself and time with your kids because she’s also struggling between like I only get him for a couple of hours at night now because he’s gone all day, she’s gone all day and things like that.
23:02: But I think to bring it back, like entrepreneurship has this flexibility to it that a lot of mothers can leverage.
23:11: Exactly.
23:11: , yeah, well, my, my ultimate value is freedom, and I think a lot of us is just freedom.
23:18: So I, I, for a minute was looking at going back to corporate because we actually need two incomes.
23:23: I don’t have this like cushy lifestyle where I don’t need to work and I was looking at going back to corporate and everything in my gut was just like, no, it’s a no, it’s a huge no.
23:31: like everything and then finally something really clicked in my business and now it’s like actually helping sustain our family, which is amazing, but Yeah, so freedom is my ultimate goal, so, I agree.
23:44: Entrepreneurship is the way to go, and I’m a big believer in like creating your ideal week and what that looks like.
23:50: So that’s what you can do in entrepreneurship.
23:52: So I have super heavy.
23:54: I try to get so much more work done Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Mondays I do some family admin stuff or admin stuff, and Fridays I try to do more self-care.
24:02: So it’s like, you can’t really do that if you’re corporate job, but you can if you’re an entrepreneur.
24:07: How do you navigate the waves of the financial side of entrepreneurship with the family?
24:13: mhm.
24:14: How do I navigate?
24:15: Well, you’re asking, I don’t know if I’m gonna say the right or the wrong person because my husband, my husband is a 100% commission job and the market’s really bad right now.
24:25: So that’s been kind of rough, but my job actually just kicked in, which has been awesome, so that’s been really great, but I have to say, You know, when I decided it was 2019 to launch this business, it was a mutual thing.
24:37: We made a decision as a lifestyle for our family that it’s actually a lifestyle choice for me to become an entrepreneur and build my own business, one, because it made me happy and my happiness is super important to the family, but Too, because then I can still pick up the kids from school and do all the after school stuff.
24:53: So but as far as finances go, I mean, we, we actually made that decision that our lifestyle is way more important than the car we drive, and the house we own.
25:01: So we rent our house, we don’t, we don’t own and we got really lucky.
25:06: Our landlord loves us, but it’s like she could skyrocket the rent and she hasn’t, thank goodness.
25:11: But.
25:12: We make decisions based on our lifestyle versus, yeah, it’s a beautiful answer.
25:18: Yeah, thank you.
25:19: Yeah, you prioritize what was best for the two of you and your family.
25:22: But that also means paying for childcare when my business wasn’t working.
25:26: So, and how does that look?
25:27: And so that’s another topic I’d love to discuss is that.
25:30: , not that it wasn’t working when it was just starting out, when my business is just starting out, not making money.
25:35: We still paid for childcare, and this is one thing I really want, future mothers or mothers to hear is there’s this epidemic of like, let’s get the least amount of support possible.
25:48: And where that leaves no space for mom, so I’m a big believer in getting as much as you can afford.
25:56: And my ideal is working part time and having full-time childcare because I have 3 kids and so I often have someone staying home with my 4 year old when I’m running the other two around.
26:04: So just having more support and that we’ve grown to this where I do now have a full-time nanny, but before.
26:11: When I was just starting out, we, I would get a nanny share and say that’s $24 an hour, I would share it with another family, that’s $12 an hour.
26:19: I started having 8 hours a week of childcare.
26:21: We started growing like a little bit, a little bit over time.
26:24: , but my dream was to have full-time support and work part time, and that’s where I am now.
26:29: You don’t start there, but it’s like if you know what your dream, ideal scenario is, you can at least start kind of working towards that scenario, and that’s what we love child share.
26:39: I never heard of that.
26:41: I was like I kind of hear about this with like pods, you know, you know, with homeschooling, like there’s a pod and like families will share the teacher or whatever like that, but I’ve never heard of like child share.
26:50: Why are we not doing that more?
26:51: Yeah, that’s genius.
26:53: You know, you got to get creative when you’re a mom, you know, you’ve got it, I mean, especially like I knew I wanted to build a business and we don’t have a ton of extra income, but I, I also didn’t want to only do it during nap times or only do it at bedtime because then I knew I’d be exhausted.
27:06: And there’s been times that I’ve been exhausted anyway, but I mean, in general, how can we support ourselves to be able to sustain it all if we aren’t supported ourselves?
27:17: Wow, that’s just awesome.
27:19: I’m learning so much.
27:20: I know.
27:20: I love it.
27:22: It’s a little bit untraditional because I have to say like I have a lot of friends that don’t have any support, and I don’t really know how they do it.
27:28: Yes, their kids are in school, but they’re working full time, so as soon as they’re out of school, they’re running their kids around and I truly don’t know how they’re doing it.
27:35: I want someone to tell me.
27:36: I think about this all the time, like how, how are they doing it?
27:40: well, hopefully they have a really supportive partner and that’s definitely a modern thing where, you don’t have to have traditional roles in the house.
27:47: If mom does this and dad does this, you can actually create it yourself, is that true?
27:52: I’m, that’s one of my big messages I would say is like, what kind of mom do you want to be and then create that.
27:59: Who cares what everyone else is doing?
28:01: Like, what does it look like for you?
28:03: You know, what kind of motherhood journey do you want?
28:06: and kind of owning that.
28:07: And my partner, I mean, my husband’s a great partner and he’s a manifesting generator, so he has more energy than I do.
28:14: And he was like literally an example of this, is today, this morning.
28:20: I went for a hike.
28:21: I, you know, slowly got ready.
28:24: I danced around my house, so I, you know, I need a quiet house for a few hours a week.
28:29: It’s not really that much to ask, right?
28:31: He brought all three kids to Costco and to lunch like that.
28:34: It’s a little untraditional, I would say.
28:35: Some people like, what?
28:36: Your husband took all 3 kids.
28:37: Yeah, he actually likes going to Costco.
28:39: He’s a manifesting generator in the sense he likes, he loves checking out boxes and he loves like accomplishing tasks where I’m like, don’t give me any more tasks.
28:48: I need like big idea generation, you know.
28:50: So I think it’s OK, you know, and.
28:53: I’ve gotten a lot of, I’ve gotten a lot of grief from my own mom and mother-in-law in the past when I was building my business because they saw how much more he had to pick up when we decided together for me to launch a business.
29:06: But in the end, it’s been great for our family to be more balanced.
29:09: For instance, like in the beginning Getting when I launched, I, I worked night a lot.
29:13: I worked at night when the kids went to bed and when I was first launching, sometimes I would work till 10 a.m., which means in the morning, Mommy needs to sleep till 8 a.m. So he would handle getting the kids up and ready for school.
29:23: And, but then I’d be with them from 2 to 6 when he came home.
29:27: And that shift before I launched my business, it was 80% me doing all the motherhood, all the parenting stuff.
29:36: And then because I launched my business, And we agreed that I would do this is when things shifted.
29:43: So I, I think it’s actually an act of service in a way to listen to our intuition.
29:50: Did you ever run into like this sense of like wanting to control how he was taking care of your kids?
29:56: I feel like some parents, some mothers like want to have that time that you’re talking about like oh it’d be so nice for me to stay until 8 a.m. but then There’s like this fear of how our their husband will take care of them and like they said of like wanting to control the situation.
30:14: Did you ever run into any of that?
30:15: I’m sure I had.
30:16: I mean, the other day he came home with like he does a lot of the food shopping and he came home with just like the junkiest snack.
30:23: And I was like, Chris, like we, you know, I’m kind of drawing a line here.
30:27: So he returned 2 out of the 3 things, you know, it’s just like, so I do, I do kind of still control it, but I have to let go a little bit.
30:35: So just that simple example, he came home with, I mean these are bulk size snacks.
30:39: He came home with like 3 and they were just like, like, come on, can at least like 2 of them be healthy and one of them be junkies?
30:45: So he returned it.
30:46: So I do still have some of that control, but, ultimately, you know, if you’re in partnership and there’s a mom and a dad or two moms or two dads, whatever, it’s like you both are bringing something to the table and so trusting and knowing that my kids are getting so much out of daddy doing it his way too, like there’s, it’s a partnership.
31:07: I know I can’t do it all.
31:08: So thank gosh for him to come in with his skills, you know, so kind of respecting like what he brings to the table, so.
31:16: I’ve had like that maybe that’s been the past 4 years, my 3rd.
31:18: I’ve had to let go like big time.
31:20: My other question is, did you ever run into your husband having resistance to your business?
31:26: Or has he always been open to it?
31:27: No, yeah, there’s been a bit, there’s been a bit of resistance there.
31:31: the first like 4 years I think were pretty challenging because I was obsessed with it.
31:37: And your sole focus in a way.
31:39: I mean, well, it can’t be my, yeah, I mean, but it couldn’t, right, but it was my sole passion and so I would just talk about it.
31:48: Yeah, and I would talk about it all the time at night and he’s just like, I’m over this discussion.
31:54: Like all we’re talking about is your business.
31:56: And you know, when I was trying to fill retreats at the time, like it was like there’s money on the table.
32:01: Like this needs to sell out for it to work.
32:02: So I was obsessed with it and that caused some friction because he’s like, Karen, I don’t.
32:07: I don’t want to work all day.
32:08: I’m on the phone.
32:08: He’s on the phone all day at work and then come home and all you’re talking about is work.
32:12: So, yeah, I’ve had to kind of pull away, but what what helped me realize that what that was, he doesn’t have to be my end, I’ll be off everything.
32:21: So like, where are my other outlets?
32:23: Who else can I talk to you about work and who else can I, like he doesn’t have to be my everything.
32:27: He, you know, there’s a certain role that my husband plays in my life, but I don’t, so now I don’t really, I don’t unload.
32:35: him about all my work stuff because he cares a little bit, but I joke that like the men they don’t like details and I’m like I love the details and so there’s there’s like a little yeah the same.
32:46: I’m like yeah they like tell me the details what they say, how they say it, what do they mean behind what they said?
32:53: Tell me more.
32:54: It’s like they just said no, and I’m like, how did they say no.
33:00: Yeah, so there was a resistance, but we worked through it in the sense that I kind of, you know, I did burn down a little bit and then I had my 3rd kid.
33:07: I took some time, oh, the pandemic happened, so my events got canceled, and that’s when I got pregnant with my 3rd.
33:13: And then when I decided after my 3rd was about 6 months to start up again, I promised him I would do it differently, which wouldn’t be like.
33:20: The only thing I talk about is work, and the only thing I’m ever doing outside of the family is work.
33:24: So I’m working on that, but I feel like I’ve found a little bit, a little bit of a better balance this time around.
33:30: And what is wild look like now?
33:31: I mean, when, because you said you’re not doing the treats as much, how is it transitioned for you?
33:37: Yeah, this is another exciting thing I want to share with anyone thinking of starting a business.
33:41: I was really just doing at the time when I started what I felt was a problem that needed to be solved, and the way I would do that is I launched this huge retreat, which I’m not recommending anyone go all in like I did, but the way I was.
33:55: The way I would sell out those retreats was by having small local community events, just the simplest events for parents, and I would actually bring activities and toys to restaurants and I’d be like, let’s have dinner.
34:06: I brought all this stuff for the kids to play with so we can connect.
34:09: And that was like the tiniest version of Camp Wild just at a restaurant, right?
34:14: And so, so that’s how I built my business over time with small community events.
34:19: And I’m really happy to share.
34:21: That after 6 years of doing community events, just what I felt like was needed in the community, that I now get hired by locations to do programming for them, to bring more community to them.
34:32: So my biggest client right now is Flower Hill Promenade in Del Mar, which I just love their location so much.
34:38: It’s such a special space, has so much potential.
34:42: And so in February, I signed my first contract ever, 12 month contract to do all their marketing and all their events, which is like A breath of fresh air as an entrepreneur to get like a consistent income, if you will, versus just these one-off events.
34:57: So that’s, so that’s been the biggest shift is now after 6 years of doing community events, I actually realized it put me in a position and I’m kind of an expert and I can consult locations and other businesses on how to create community events in their space, which has been beautiful.
35:14: And I didn’t know the whole time.
35:15: The whole time I really thought it was Camp Wild was going to be my thing and I love it so much and I will bring it back, but it’s really hard to make money on a family retreat because you can’t charge, say a retreat could be $3000 a person, if like a really nice one-person retreat.
35:31: You can’t charge times 4 for a family.
35:34: So it still needs to be about that 20 to $3500 mark.
35:38: So the margins are so slim.
35:40: So unless I get sponsorship and all that, which is a whole another.
35:44: It’s so much work and that wasn’t, I wasn’t passionate about going after that, but this feels really good.
35:50: So I just, what I’m, my point is, is that little did I know, I was just following what fell a line in solving problems along the way that I actually built a portfolio that now I’m getting hired to do that for other places, which has been A huge celebration in my life right now.
36:06: What are some tips and tricks for people that want to start communities as a part of their businesses that you would say?
36:12: What are like some levers that you would absolutely pull.
36:15: , depending on the community.
36:19: So I think starting as simple as possible, like what is the problem you’re trying to solve and how can you be as simple as possible to create that?
36:27: And I have an example.
36:28: I shared with someone recently.
36:29: She’s an etiquette teacher and I said to her, I was like, why don’t you partner with the restaurant and host etiquette tables where the parents can put their kids at the table and they’re having a date and you’re teaching them etiquette.
36:41: How simple is that?
36:42: It’s literally, it’s the simplest idea.
36:44: It doesn’t cost anything.
36:45: So what your business, what’s the simplest version they actually call it like the MVP in business, the most viable product or the minimum viable product.
36:54: What’s the simplest version of your biggest idea that you can start creating that’s just feels good.
37:00: You want it to feel good, cause it feels good, you’re going to bring your energy to it and it will fill.
37:05: So good.
37:06: I love that.
37:07: Yeah, that’s a great suggestion.
37:10: One question that we ask all of our guests is, well, is there anything else you want to share real quick about motherhood and entrepreneurship or any like last words of advice or wisdom that you would give to someone.
37:23: I just think for any mom that feels burnt out or anyone scared to become a mom, to kind of start trusting your mother instincts, your female instinct is so powerful.
37:34: And if you’re tired, please let yourself rest.
37:37: If you’re inspired, please give yourself time to go birth that idea.
37:42: It’s so important.
37:43: And I think, you know, women, moms, I, I really do think make really great entrepreneurs because we have to be so we learn on the job of being a mom, like, you’re out of diapers and your kid just exploded, like what are you gonna do?
37:53: Like we’re constantly challenged in that way, which is I think how I became an entrepreneur because I I was like having to just really just on the fly, come up with all these solutions and figure it out.
38:05: And so, I don’t know, I think I think when we start stepping into our, I call it the queen role and really start honoring ourselves and our needs and kind of Come from an empowered place.
38:16: I think the world will start respecting motherhood again.
38:19: I mean, I just saw a headline about like maternal mental health side of decline.
38:23: Well, yeah, because I don’t think people respect moms and the role that we play in society because a lot of moms don’t respect it themselves.
38:31: They’re they’re getting minimum childcare.
38:34: They’re trying to do all the things and not speaking their truth to their partners and asking for help.
38:39: And so it’s really kind of digging in and Ask giving your space to ask yourself what you actually want, like, really give yourself a half hour a day to, what is it that I’m looking for?
38:51: What do I want?
38:53: That would be my biggest tip, get more space.
38:56: Great tip.
38:56: Thank you.
38:57: Such a good tip.
38:58: Thank you.
39:00: Yeah, so the last question we ask every guest is where in your life do you want to be more fully expressed?
39:08: Yeah, I’m trying to step out of all the details of event planning, and I’ve just hired a team, so I’m learning to delegate with the team.
39:16: And so yeah, being on stage more and sharing my story more, is really where I want to be.
39:22: So thank you for this opportunity.
39:24: You got to get in front of more podcasts and you have your own.
39:27: I do, and it’s not something I’m being consistent with, but maybe you’re inspiring me to get back.
39:32: Thank you so much.
39:34: It’s called the Wild and Free Mama podcast.
39:36: It’s about unconventional motherhood and how to choose your own way.
39:39: So good.
39:40: Thank you.
39:41: I feel like this conversation has been so beautiful because I think every mother gets to hear it, whether you want to be, I’d also say like whether you want to be a mother or not want to be a mother.
39:49: I feel like there’s so many gems in what you just said that can apply to anyone in womanhood and that we get to take around of like what does it look like to really create space to create, what does it look like to create space to be with ourselves?
40:01: What does it look like?
40:02: To lean into the idea so that it can evolve into a new idea and the alignment will come through.
40:08: So, thank you.
40:09: Thank you so much.
40:11: Yeah, thank you so much.
40:12: You’re welcome.
40:13: Thank you so much for tuning in.
40:15: We really appreciate you being here.
40:17: If you enjoyed this episode, we’d be grateful if you could leave us a review and share it with a friend.
40:22: Also, we would love to hear from you.
40:25: Reach out to us on Instagram and let us know where you feel inspired to express yourself as you embrace this next era.
40:32: We are here to support you and encourage you.
40:34: Before we go, we want to remind you that you are powerful and deserving a fully Expressing who you are.
40:40: Embracing your journey toward authenticity is a vital part of that process, and we’re grateful to be alongside you.
40:46: If you’re looking to dive deeper and connect with others who celebrate their true selves, we invite you to join our community.
40:53: It’s a virtual space for connection and accountability where you can share your experiences and grow together.
40:59: You can find the link in our show notes.
41:01: We can’t wait to welcome you.
41:02: See you on the next one.
Together, we explore:
- How she’s pursuing her dreams while being a present mama
- The agreements she and her husband made to support her in starting her business
- The practices she uses to reconnect with herself so she can fully show up as a mom
- How her children became the catalyst for her spiritual awakening
- The ways entrepreneurship has evolved for her through the lens of motherhood
Links & Resources:
Website: thewyldflowerco.com
Podcast: Wyld & Free Momma
Connect with Karen:
Instagram Wyldflower Events & Marketing: @thewyldflowerco
Instagram Wyld & Free Momma – podcast and coaching: @wyldandfreemomma
About Karen:
Karen Cook is the Founder and Creative Director at WYLDFLOWER Events & Marketing where she and a small team design, market and produce community experiences by collaborating with local small businesses. Karen also consults small businesses on events and marketing to help them better engage their own communities.
Together, we help communities gather and thrive through intentional experiences aimed to bring more joy, downtime and connection to the community the small businesses that serve them. Learn more at thewyldflowerco.com or email us at hello@thewyldflowerco.com. Want to balance business and mom life? Listen to the podcast Wyld & Free Momma or sign up for Wyld & Free Momma Group Coaching.
This conversation is inspiring, heart-centered, and a reminder that motherhood and big dreams can co-exist. You’ll walk away with insights, encouragement, and permission to create a life that honors all of who you are.
Join The Fully Expressed Community, where you can be surrounded by other women who are also on the same path of personal growth, healing, and uncovering their authentic expression. Being in a community surrounded by others can truly be one of the most supporting and healing containers to support your personal invitation.
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Contact Karenna: hello@karennasoto.com
