Hear Motherhood: Local podcast you need to hear

If you haven’t discovered just how awesome the podcast world is, it’s time. (Gwen is officially addicted to podcasts and listens to them while she’s in car line at the three different schools where she picks up kids daily. Shannon listens while she’s cleaning the house.)

There are some phenomenal podcasts out there, and we are LOVING the new one launched by our friend and fellow mama Paige Ray. The podcast is called Hear Motherhood, and it’s a real-life discussion (with real moms) about how to be a productive creative woman and a happy loving mom at the same time.

We caught up with Paige and asked her a few questions about the birth of her beautiful new baby and her inspiring new podcast.

What inspired you to start the podcast?

As a brand new mom-to-be I was scared that motherhood would totally deplete me of my creativity. However, I realized that I was surrounded by women who were combining motherhood and creativity and that the best way to glean this knowledge was to talk to them directly. I then realized that if I found this knowledge valuable, others would, too, which is why I decided to share it via audio.

How did you decide on the name?

This is going to sound ridiculous but here’s the truth: @hearmotherhood was the only option of a possible five titles that actually fit as both a Twitter and Instagram handle.

The reason this matters: our society is so connected that I knew if I wanted other women to listen & learn from the women I would be talking to, I was going to have to use social media to make that happen.

Tell us about what kinds of topics you cover:

The main question the podcast asks is: “Can creativity and motherhood coexist?” but in answering those questions the women I talk to cover issues as diverse as what it’s like to manage a small creative business to lessons learned from moving with four kids around the globe.

How do you decide on those topics?

I knew from the beginning that I wanted to ask moms what a “normal” day looks like for them. This has two benefits:

1- No one’s day ever looks the same, therefore the conversation is always different.

2- We get to push through the “veil” that so often exists on social media. I know personally I am hesitant to share the negative parts of motherhood on social media for fear that I won’t seem grateful for the immense blessing that my son is to my life. However, audio allows me and my guest to organically bring up both the good and the bad that happens in the span of a day.

Who is your ideal listener? Who would really benefit from hearing Hear Motherhood?

I expected to really connect with new moms like myself. I didn’t expect to help women who aren’t yet moms. I recently received a message from what I lovingly refer to as a “non-mom” who said, “I am storing away the mommy things for future use but I really appreciate learning the way these women are able to balance their families and their work.” I love that women (and maybe men?) are able to learn from and be inspired by these women regardless of their own life experience.

What’s the most surprising thing about motherhood for you so far?

This is going to sound conceited but: the biggest surprise has been that I’m pretty good at it! I was not one of those girls who played with dolls and had my future kids’ names picked out. I know those girls and I love the women they’ve become but my journey to motherhood wasn’t paved with summers of babysitting gigs or loads of time with younger relatives. Because of this, I REALLY didn’t know how I would handle taking care of a small human. Thankfully, he and I are pretty resilient.

Are you enjoying the creative process of Hear Motherhood?

I am!!! Both the technical and editing aspects have been challenging to learn, but it’s so satisfying every time I get a new episode published. And I learn something from every woman I talk to – I love that I can share that knowledge and experience with the world.

What can we look forward to hearing in the next few weeks?

Emily Jeffords is a fine artist whose abstract landscapes have been blowing up the Internet. This has her looking for a way to redefine success.

The week of Thanksgiving my friend MJ and I will be talking about the life lessons we’ve taken away from traveling with our kids. While there will be a few “travel tips,” this is more about taking the 30,000 foot view of how much our kids can teach us.

Amy Clark is a woman of many talents who has written a book called The Good Life for Less. I’m definitely looking forward to her take on smart meal-planning and budgeting while heading into the holiday season.

What would you say to a mom who feels like motherhood stands in the way of being a “creative”?

Just like we don’t expect our children to run a marathon as soon as they learn to walk, neither should we expect ourselves to paint like Picasso after our first watercolor class.

Decide what you want to pursue creatively and take small steps.

Our thanks to Paige for letting us pick her brain about her new venture. Click HERE for info on how to get started listening to the Hear Motherhood podcast. (It’s free! And you can easily subscribe to it on iTunes and by using an app like the Apple Podcasts app or an app like Stitcher.)

Happy listening!