August 30, 2024 • 17 mins
Welcome to the very first episode of Let Yourself Bloom, the podcast where motherhood and ambition coexist beautifully. I'm your host, Jen Banks, and in each episode, we'll dive deep into the journey of being more than a mom. Here, we believe that you can love your children deeply and still have room to nurture your own dreams.
Picture this: a life where you don't have to choose between career and family, where you can be inspired by stories of women who have boldly stepped into their dual roles. Together, we'll explore how to balance, grow, and thrive in every season of life. Our guests will share their personal stories of finding identity beyond motherhood, proving that you can hold both your family and your ambitions in your heart.
In this first episode, we introduce the concept of Let Yourself Bloom and what you can expect from our podcast. We also share exciting news about the upcoming release of my book, Let Yourself Bloom, on August 23. Join us for the book launch party in Draper, where we'll celebrate this milestone with a poppy-themed party and signed copies of the book.
We'll also discuss the inspiration behind our monthly feature, Let Yourself Bloom Stories, where we'll hear from women balancing motherhood and ambition. I'll read a chapter from my book, touching on the themes of guilt and self-care, and share practical tools to help you create the life you want.
To wrap up, we'll introduce a new segment featuring inspiring quotes and questions from the Table Topics deck, perfect for sparking meaningful conversations. Today's quote by Helen Keller reminds us that the best and most beautiful things must be felt with the heart.
Thank you for joining us on this journey. Remember, it's not just about finding balance; it's about thriving in all aspects of your life. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we'll talk to Susan Hard about balancing personal aspirations with motherhood. Until next time, keep dreaming, keep growing, and let yourself bloom.
#letyourselfbloom 🌱
00:00 Welcome to Let Yourself Bloom 01:26 Introduction to the Podcast 01:51 Let Yourself Bloom Stories 02:25 Public Speaking and Storytelling 03:28 Book Announcement and Launch Party 06:36 Reading from 'Let Yourself Bloom' 07:14 Balancing Needs in Marriage 12:42 Upcoming Episodes and Community Engagement 14:28 Gratitude and Reflections on Motherhood 16:28 Closing Remarks and Stay ConnectedLinks:
Toastmasters https://www.toastmasters.org/
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman https://www.5lovelanguages.com/
Amazon (for book purchase) https://www.amazon.com/
Barnes & Noble (for book purchase) https://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Stay in Bloom (book launch location) https://www.stayinbloomutah.com/
Ride the Wave Media https://www.ridethewavemedia.com/
Keywords: Motherhood, Ambition, Work-Life Balance, Entrepreneurship, Personal Growth, Self-Care, Identity Beyond Motherhood, Guilt Management, Love Languages, Relationship Advice, Storytelling, Public Speaking, Book Launch, Memoir, Self-Help, Community Support, Multidimensional Life, Thriving, Personal Aspirations, Family Dynamics
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:07):
Welcome to Let Yourself Bloom,the podcast where motherhood and
ambition coexist beautifully.
I'm your host, Jen Banks, and in eachepisode, we'll dive deep into the
journey of being more than a mom.
Here, we believe that you can loveyour children deeply and still have
room to nurture your own dreams.
Picture this, a life where you don'thave to choose between career and family.
(00:31):
Where you can be inspired bystories of women who have boldly
stepped into their dual roles.
Together, we'll explore how to balance,grow, and thrive in every season of life.
Our guests will share theirpersonal stories of finding
identity beyond motherhood.
Proving that you can hold both yourfamily and your ambitions in your heart.
We'll talk about the seasons oflife, embracing our unique paths,
(00:54):
and giving ourselves permissionto bloom whenever we're ready.
Whether you're a working mom of two ordreaming of a bigger family, whether
you're a stay at home mom seeking more, ora career driven woman balancing the chaos.
This podcast is for you.
Listen in and let the stories, advice,and community support you in becoming
the fullest version of yourself.
(01:17):
Tune in, be inspired, and remember,you are worthy of the same love
and care you give to others.
Welcome to Let Yourself Bloom.
Let's grow together.
Hello, welcome to the very firstepisode of Let Yourself Bloom.
I am thrilled that you'rehere on this journey with me.
Entrepreneurship iskind of like motherhood.
(01:39):
It can feel lonely sometimesif you don't have a village.
So I'm grateful that you're herewith me, joining me as I share
updates, and as I talk with youabout how to let yourself bloom.
Once a month, I will have a featurecalled Let Yourself Bloom Stories,
where I will talk about howmotherhood and ambition can coexist.
(02:01):
I wrote on here, Let YourselfBloom, and Moms with Ambition.
Little did I know I would have to write itbackwards so that it would read forwards.
And for those of you that don'tknow, this podcast is also available
on YouTube, so you can check it outthere if you want to see the video.
I will be, I will also be uploading a lotmore video content to come, so stay tuned.
(02:25):
I have been in Toastmasters sinceApril, and it is an international
club to practice public speaking.
I've gotten a lot better as I've receivedfeedback from others, and learned really
how to engage an audience, and usecertain techniques to, uh, Really focus
(02:46):
on delivering messages or storytellingor just the purpose of your speech.
It was that that inspired my LetYourself Bloom story segment.
I have since done some daybreakstorytelling nights where we've had
people in the community share stories,and I've shared some stories as well.
(03:07):
This was reminiscent of of a storytellingnight a few years ago, where I
hosted the storytelling night wherepeople had crafted stories beforehand
and joined us to share them live.
If you want to check this out,it's in my old podcast, A's
for Adversity, in the archives.
(03:28):
I am so excited to share with you that mybook, Let Yourself Bloom, will be coming
out on, drumroll please, August 23rd.
This month!
I cannot believe it.
Oh my goodness.
It really does feel like a dream tellingyou about it because it doesn't feel
like it has been that long since Iwrote it because I wrote it in April.
(03:50):
That's right.
Only six months ago.
Not even six months ago.
And now it's going to be a published book.
It will be available on Amazon, BarnesNoble, and lots of indie bookstores.
So be sure to check it out and I inviteyou to come to my book launch party.
It will be on August 23rd, a Friday nightfrom 4 to 8pm, open house style, at a
(04:15):
place called, get this, Stay in Bloom.
How perfect is that?
I'm so grateful that my friendshared that location with me.
It's in Draper.
It's the cutest little shopwhere they sell flowers and gifts
and all sorts of little things.
They also host gatherings, certaincookie classes, or whatever.
Women's Nights.
(04:35):
So I thought it wasperfect for my book launch.
I will be there signing copiesand we'll be having a poppy themed
party to celebrate this milestone.
I also hired a videographer becauseagain, I'm just very into video
these days and she will be makinga video for me of this experience.
I publish her jokes that writing a book islike having a baby and it's really true.
(05:00):
I feel like I'm in the last few monthsof pregnancy with it just sort of
Being right around the corner comingout and all of the aches and pains of
editing and my publisher has definitelybeen my midwife through all of this.
I can't wait to actually have itreleased so that I can focus on
other things, other elements of mybusiness, this podcast, and really just
(05:23):
getting more balance back in my life.
As much as I try to avoid filling mylife to the brim, that is a tendency
of mine and with editing on top of it.
I have definitely beenstretched to the max.
So I am looking forward to paring down,realizing what matters most and really
(05:43):
just having a lot more time available.
There's the joke too, that what is freetime when you're a mom, but there's
a book called The Fringe Hours, and Iwould love to have my fringe hours back
to be working on hobbies and interests,as I encourage women to do in the book.
and not so much on entrepreneurialor editing as I have been
(06:06):
these past few months.
All in all though, ithas been a great summer.
I have truly loved so manyaspects of this writing journey.
I thought I would only love the authoradventure, but really Editing has had its
moments of joy and learning how to marketand rebrand has all been incredible.
(06:32):
I would love to share a littlesampler with you of my book.
I will pull it up here and justread you from one of the chapters.
It's called From Weeds to Flowers.
Guilt and intention.
Watering the weeds of guilt.
I hear women talk about mom guilt.
These feelings often arise from theinternal and external pressures to
(06:55):
meet high standards of motherhood,balance work and family life, and
fulfill societal expectations.
Guilt, like fear, is justa weed that's growing.
It's a window into a need or desire.
I rarely have mom guilt.
I know my children are gettingthe care they need and having the
necessary experiences for growth.
What I do experience more often,however, is is spouse guilt.
(07:19):
This still is a window into how I wishmy husband would care for and help me.
After my husband and I had beenmarried for a year, the newlywed
love began to fade a bit.
We were still obsessed witheach other, but it turned more
into a practical sort of love.
I had Jared read about the five lovelanguages, and we determined that his
highest mode of receiving love werequality time and acts of service.
(07:44):
Mine were words ofaffirmation and gift giving.
I tend to show love in the wayI receive it, don't we all?
So I always made sure to leavehim little notes and gifts in his
sock drawer, on the milk jug, byhis pillow, the whole nine yards.
He very rarely reciprocated becausehe showed love the way he received it.
Spending time with me on a dateor vacuuming the living room.
(08:06):
I had heard my whole lifethat a man would complete me.
He would be my other half.
I had also internalized that both of youbring 100 percent to the relationship.
I began keeping score, notinghow much I did compared to him.
How often I poured out my love andhow infrequently he did from my
perspective in how I interpreted love.
(08:27):
I began to feel more and more empty.
I read about the love tank in the book,The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman,
and decided to make a paper representationof how depleted I felt at any given time.
I made it look like a gas tank gauge,complete with an arrow fastened with
a brad to indicate how empty or full.
(08:47):
I colored it and taped itright above our light switch.
Look how helpful I was being.
I could help my husband seewhen I needed some extra love.
Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
Who knew?
My husband saw it as a way for me tocontrol him and I ended up feeling
more alone in my marriage than ever.
(09:08):
We hear that communicationis important, but we're never
really shown how to communicate.
After wallowing in self pity fora time, I pulled up my pants and
got to work meeting my own needs.
I found it was so much easier that way.
I knew exactly what I needed, in exactlythe right way, at the right time.
I began buying myself gifts,purchasing fresh flowers, going out
(09:29):
with friends, hosting get togethers.
It was a dream.
My cup was the fullest it had ever been.
I fell into a pattern ofindependently getting what I wanted
and went on that way for a while.
I began to expect that he couldn't meetmy needs and I relied only on myself.
In doing this, I started tosever my connection to him and
(09:50):
build a wall in our relationship.
At the time, I didn't even see this.
I wasn't aware that by removing himfrom the equation, I was rendering
him entirely useless to me.
I shared with a mentor how good I'dgotten at getting everything I needed.
I told her about my upcoming plansto book a trip for my birthday.
She reminded me to give myhusband the opportunity to
(10:12):
assist in fulfilling my desires.
That was a wake up call.
All of a sudden, I couldsee how I had cut him out.
By meeting every single one of myneeds alone, I was denying him the
opportunity to even help in the process.
I saw the times that I had boughtmyself flowers for the morning of
Valentine's Day, only to realizethat he had brought a bouquet on his
(10:33):
way home from work in the evening.
I had gotten babysitterswithout even consulting his
plans and availability first.
I had preemptively bought a used laptopthree weeks before my birthday, only
to learn that my husband had plans toorder me a brand new one as a gift.
We know there is danger in the extremes.
I had entered my marriage withthe expectation that he would
(10:54):
meet every one of my needs.
I had then shifted my belief by owning allthe responsibility to meet my own needs.
When the pendulum is at either ofthe two ends, there is suffering.
It is only in the middle thatwe can find healing and love.
By voicing and naming our desires,we see what's possible, and then
we can come together and find abeautiful balance in how to meet them.
(11:16):
I used to fill a lot of spouseguilt when I would prepare.
Participate in social activitiesoutside of the home in the evenings.
I craved and needed connections withothers, but I would feel bad that my
husband had to do bedtime routines withthe children after a long day of work.
A friend pointed out to me that I alsohad a long day of work with children,
and then it was healthy to taketurns helping with the second shift.
(11:38):
My husband and I came to a decisionthat he would take care of bedtime
on a couple nights of the week.
I would take the other nights,but request help when needed.
It helped to know that I could counton those days at a minimum guilt free.
Where are you in having your needs met?
Are you on either side of thependulum, somewhere in the middle?
Oh, it's fun to read my own book.
(11:59):
I am excited to do the audioversion because it will, yeah,
be my words, my voice, and I willhave that available soon too.
The book is a blend ofmemoir and self help.
And it's filled with personalstories, but also practical tools to
help you create the life you want.
(12:21):
It emphasizes being multi dimensionaland offers insights on balancing
motherhood with self acceptance.
If that story resonated with you,you can stay tuned for pre order
details, and I'm excited to sharemore of my book in upcoming episodes.
(12:42):
I want to hear from you!
If you have anything to share with me orsay, your thoughts, questions, and stories
on social media, I want to hear them.
Let's build a community ofwomen who support and inspire
each other in our dreams.
I'm always looking for guests.
I'd love to hear how you holdbeing a mom and your ambition.
(13:03):
So reach out to me.
I'm on Instagram at letyourselfbloomunderscore with Jen Banks.
Thank you so much for tuning in to thefirst episode of Let Yourself Bloom.
I will try to keep these episodessomewhat short just because We're moms.
And there's so much to do, so muchvying for our attention, so much
(13:24):
we can give ourselves away, butthank you for listening to this
podcast and giving back to you.
In our next episode, we'll betalking to Susan Hart for our Let
Yourself Bloom Stories feature.
She will share the relatablejourney of balancing her personal
aspirations with motherhood.
You won't want to miss it.
Until next time, keep dreaming, keepgrowing, and let yourself bloom.
(13:47):
One last thing before we go, Ihave this deck of table topics.
They are inspiring women for girls.
I will put the link in the show notes.
They are a fabulous way tohave some conversation starters
and to really get you thinkingabout some profound questions.
I also love that theyare by inspiring women.
(14:08):
So I pulled a card for myselfand this is by Helen Keller.
She says, The best and mostbeautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.
On the back is the question and itsays, what are you thankful for?
I've been thinking a lot aboutthis as I am preparing for my
(14:31):
videography moments on Friday.
And I really want to show and capture.
All of the moments of motherhood.
I am grateful for all of them.
Just like I spoke about in myformer podcast, A is for adversity.
Challenges refine us and makeus so much better and stronger
(14:54):
resilient than we were before.
Even though it's not very fun to gothrough those things, I always look
back and am so grateful and thankful.
I have written a list of moments.
I wanna capture both the good and the bad,the hard and the easy, all those moments.
Produce our highlight reel.
(15:14):
R E A L.
I don't just want a videoof the good moments.
Of course, those are great to remember,but they're easier to remember.
I want to remember the hard moments too.
That motherhood is a sacrificeand it is hard, but also it is
full of joy and we can do it.
I talk about in my book how Iwasn't prepared for motherhood as I
(15:35):
could have been because I did onlysee the highlight reels, R E E L.
I saw the good moments, the happymoments, the cherishing moments
that are so abundant in motherhood.
But I wasn't as aware of the hard moments,the around the clock care, the effort,
the tantrums, the all the three childrensaying mom at the same exact time, the
(15:58):
hanging on your limbs, and everything.
Those endless tears, bothfrom me and my children.
So that's what I'm grateful for.
I'm grateful that there is the good andthe bad and that they, they help each
other out and they sweeten the hardmoments and they make us grow and change
and learn alongside of our children.
(16:18):
I will be sharing one of these everyepisode, and I will be asking each
guest a question randomly from the deck.
So stay tuned.
Thank you for joining us on Let YourselfBloom, where we embrace the beauty
of balancing motherhood and ambition.
I hope today's episode has inspiredyou to nurture your dreams while
being the incredible mom that you are.
(16:39):
Remember, it's not justabout finding balance.
It's about thriving inall aspects of your life.
If you enjoyed today's conversation,be sure to subscribe, leave a
review and share this podcastwith other amazing women.
And if you're the kind of person wholoves to watch podcasts, you can find
this podcast on my YouTube channel atlet yourself bloom underscore with Jen
Banks, or on the ride the wave mediapodcast network, YouTube channel.
(17:02):
Remember to stay connected withus on social media at let yourself
bloom underscore with Jen Banksand join our community to keep
blooming together until next time.
Keep dreaming, keep growingand let yourself bloom.
Welcome to Let Yourself Bloom,the podcast where motherhood and
ambition coexist beautifully.
I'm your host, Jen Banks, and in eachepisode, we'll dive deep into the
journey of being more than a mom.
Here, we believe that you can loveyour children deeply and still have
room to nurture your own dreams.
Picture this, a life where you don'thave to choose between career and family.
(00:31):
Where you can be inspired bystories of women who have boldly
stepped into their dual roles.
Together, we'll explore how to balance,grow, and thrive in every season of life.
Our guests will share theirpersonal stories of finding
identity beyond motherhood.
Proving that you can hold both yourfamily and your ambitions in your heart.
We'll talk about the seasons oflife, embracing our unique paths,
(00:54):
and giving ourselves permissionto bloom whenever we're ready.
Whether you're a working mom of two ordreaming of a bigger family, whether
you're a stay at home mom seeking more, ora career driven woman balancing the chaos.
This podcast is for you.
Listen in and let the stories, advice,and community support you in becoming
the fullest version of yourself.
(01:17):
Tune in, be inspired, and remember,you are worthy of the same love
and care you give to others.
Welcome to Let Yourself Bloom.
Let's grow together.
Hello, welcome to the very firstepisode of Let Yourself Bloom.
I am thrilled that you'rehere on this journey with me.
Entrepreneurship iskind of like motherhood.
(01:39):
It can feel lonely sometimesif you don't have a village.
So I'm grateful that you're herewith me, joining me as I share
updates, and as I talk with youabout how to let yourself bloom.
Once a month, I will have a featurecalled Let Yourself Bloom Stories,
where I will talk about howmotherhood and ambition can coexist.
(02:01):
I wrote on here, Let YourselfBloom, and Moms with Ambition.
Little did I know I would have to write itbackwards so that it would read forwards.
And for those of you that don'tknow, this podcast is also available
on YouTube, so you can check it outthere if you want to see the video.
I will be, I will also be uploading a lotmore video content to come, so stay tuned.
(02:25):
I have been in Toastmasters sinceApril, and it is an international
club to practice public speaking.
I've gotten a lot better as I've receivedfeedback from others, and learned really
how to engage an audience, and usecertain techniques to, uh, Really focus
(02:46):
on delivering messages or storytellingor just the purpose of your speech.
It was that that inspired my LetYourself Bloom story segment.
I have since done some daybreakstorytelling nights where we've had
people in the community share stories,and I've shared some stories as well.
(03:07):
This was reminiscent of of a storytellingnight a few years ago, where I
hosted the storytelling night wherepeople had crafted stories beforehand
and joined us to share them live.
If you want to check this out,it's in my old podcast, A's
for Adversity, in the archives.
(03:28):
I am so excited to share with you that mybook, Let Yourself Bloom, will be coming
out on, drumroll please, August 23rd.
This month!
I cannot believe it.
Oh my goodness.
It really does feel like a dream tellingyou about it because it doesn't feel
like it has been that long since Iwrote it because I wrote it in April.
(03:50):
That's right.
Only six months ago.
Not even six months ago.
And now it's going to be a published book.
It will be available on Amazon, BarnesNoble, and lots of indie bookstores.
So be sure to check it out and I inviteyou to come to my book launch party.
It will be on August 23rd, a Friday nightfrom 4 to 8pm, open house style, at a
(04:15):
place called, get this, Stay in Bloom.
How perfect is that?
I'm so grateful that my friendshared that location with me.
It's in Draper.
It's the cutest little shopwhere they sell flowers and gifts
and all sorts of little things.
They also host gatherings, certaincookie classes, or whatever.
Women's Nights.
(04:35):
So I thought it wasperfect for my book launch.
I will be there signing copiesand we'll be having a poppy themed
party to celebrate this milestone.
I also hired a videographer becauseagain, I'm just very into video
these days and she will be makinga video for me of this experience.
I publish her jokes that writing a book islike having a baby and it's really true.
(05:00):
I feel like I'm in the last few monthsof pregnancy with it just sort of
Being right around the corner comingout and all of the aches and pains of
editing and my publisher has definitelybeen my midwife through all of this.
I can't wait to actually have itreleased so that I can focus on
other things, other elements of mybusiness, this podcast, and really just
(05:23):
getting more balance back in my life.
As much as I try to avoid filling mylife to the brim, that is a tendency
of mine and with editing on top of it.
I have definitely beenstretched to the max.
So I am looking forward to paring down,realizing what matters most and really
(05:43):
just having a lot more time available.
There's the joke too, that what is freetime when you're a mom, but there's
a book called The Fringe Hours, and Iwould love to have my fringe hours back
to be working on hobbies and interests,as I encourage women to do in the book.
and not so much on entrepreneurialor editing as I have been
(06:06):
these past few months.
All in all though, ithas been a great summer.
I have truly loved so manyaspects of this writing journey.
I thought I would only love the authoradventure, but really Editing has had its
moments of joy and learning how to marketand rebrand has all been incredible.
(06:32):
I would love to share a littlesampler with you of my book.
I will pull it up here and justread you from one of the chapters.
It's called From Weeds to Flowers.
Guilt and intention.
Watering the weeds of guilt.
I hear women talk about mom guilt.
These feelings often arise from theinternal and external pressures to
(06:55):
meet high standards of motherhood,balance work and family life, and
fulfill societal expectations.
Guilt, like fear, is justa weed that's growing.
It's a window into a need or desire.
I rarely have mom guilt.
I know my children are gettingthe care they need and having the
necessary experiences for growth.
What I do experience more often,however, is is spouse guilt.
(07:19):
This still is a window into how I wishmy husband would care for and help me.
After my husband and I had beenmarried for a year, the newlywed
love began to fade a bit.
We were still obsessed witheach other, but it turned more
into a practical sort of love.
I had Jared read about the five lovelanguages, and we determined that his
highest mode of receiving love werequality time and acts of service.
(07:44):
Mine were words ofaffirmation and gift giving.
I tend to show love in the wayI receive it, don't we all?
So I always made sure to leavehim little notes and gifts in his
sock drawer, on the milk jug, byhis pillow, the whole nine yards.
He very rarely reciprocated becausehe showed love the way he received it.
Spending time with me on a dateor vacuuming the living room.
(08:06):
I had heard my whole lifethat a man would complete me.
He would be my other half.
I had also internalized that both of youbring 100 percent to the relationship.
I began keeping score, notinghow much I did compared to him.
How often I poured out my love andhow infrequently he did from my
perspective in how I interpreted love.
(08:27):
I began to feel more and more empty.
I read about the love tank in the book,The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman,
and decided to make a paper representationof how depleted I felt at any given time.
I made it look like a gas tank gauge,complete with an arrow fastened with
a brad to indicate how empty or full.
(08:47):
I colored it and taped itright above our light switch.
Look how helpful I was being.
I could help my husband seewhen I needed some extra love.
Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
Who knew?
My husband saw it as a way for me tocontrol him and I ended up feeling
more alone in my marriage than ever.
(09:08):
We hear that communicationis important, but we're never
really shown how to communicate.
After wallowing in self pity fora time, I pulled up my pants and
got to work meeting my own needs.
I found it was so much easier that way.
I knew exactly what I needed, in exactlythe right way, at the right time.
I began buying myself gifts,purchasing fresh flowers, going out
(09:29):
with friends, hosting get togethers.
It was a dream.
My cup was the fullest it had ever been.
I fell into a pattern ofindependently getting what I wanted
and went on that way for a while.
I began to expect that he couldn't meetmy needs and I relied only on myself.
In doing this, I started tosever my connection to him and
(09:50):
build a wall in our relationship.
At the time, I didn't even see this.
I wasn't aware that by removing himfrom the equation, I was rendering
him entirely useless to me.
I shared with a mentor how good I'dgotten at getting everything I needed.
I told her about my upcoming plansto book a trip for my birthday.
She reminded me to give myhusband the opportunity to
(10:12):
assist in fulfilling my desires.
That was a wake up call.
All of a sudden, I couldsee how I had cut him out.
By meeting every single one of myneeds alone, I was denying him the
opportunity to even help in the process.
I saw the times that I had boughtmyself flowers for the morning of
Valentine's Day, only to realizethat he had brought a bouquet on his
(10:33):
way home from work in the evening.
I had gotten babysitterswithout even consulting his
plans and availability first.
I had preemptively bought a used laptopthree weeks before my birthday, only
to learn that my husband had plans toorder me a brand new one as a gift.
We know there is danger in the extremes.
I had entered my marriage withthe expectation that he would
(10:54):
meet every one of my needs.
I had then shifted my belief by owning allthe responsibility to meet my own needs.
When the pendulum is at either ofthe two ends, there is suffering.
It is only in the middle thatwe can find healing and love.
By voicing and naming our desires,we see what's possible, and then
we can come together and find abeautiful balance in how to meet them.
(11:16):
I used to fill a lot of spouseguilt when I would prepare.
Participate in social activitiesoutside of the home in the evenings.
I craved and needed connections withothers, but I would feel bad that my
husband had to do bedtime routines withthe children after a long day of work.
A friend pointed out to me that I alsohad a long day of work with children,
and then it was healthy to taketurns helping with the second shift.
(11:38):
My husband and I came to a decisionthat he would take care of bedtime
on a couple nights of the week.
I would take the other nights,but request help when needed.
It helped to know that I could counton those days at a minimum guilt free.
Where are you in having your needs met?
Are you on either side of thependulum, somewhere in the middle?
Oh, it's fun to read my own book.
(11:59):
I am excited to do the audioversion because it will, yeah,
be my words, my voice, and I willhave that available soon too.
The book is a blend ofmemoir and self help.
And it's filled with personalstories, but also practical tools to
help you create the life you want.
(12:21):
It emphasizes being multi dimensionaland offers insights on balancing
motherhood with self acceptance.
If that story resonated with you,you can stay tuned for pre order
details, and I'm excited to sharemore of my book in upcoming episodes.
(12:42):
I want to hear from you!
If you have anything to share with me orsay, your thoughts, questions, and stories
on social media, I want to hear them.
Let's build a community ofwomen who support and inspire
each other in our dreams.
I'm always looking for guests.
I'd love to hear how you holdbeing a mom and your ambition.
(13:03):
So reach out to me.
I'm on Instagram at letyourselfbloomunderscore with Jen Banks.
Thank you so much for tuning in to thefirst episode of Let Yourself Bloom.
I will try to keep these episodessomewhat short just because We're moms.
And there's so much to do, so muchvying for our attention, so much
(13:24):
we can give ourselves away, butthank you for listening to this
podcast and giving back to you.
In our next episode, we'll betalking to Susan Hart for our Let
Yourself Bloom Stories feature.
She will share the relatablejourney of balancing her personal
aspirations with motherhood.
You won't want to miss it.
Until next time, keep dreaming, keepgrowing, and let yourself bloom.
(13:47):
One last thing before we go, Ihave this deck of table topics.
They are inspiring women for girls.
I will put the link in the show notes.
They are a fabulous way tohave some conversation starters
and to really get you thinkingabout some profound questions.
I also love that theyare by inspiring women.
(14:08):
So I pulled a card for myselfand this is by Helen Keller.
She says, The best and mostbeautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched.
They must be felt with the heart.
On the back is the question and itsays, what are you thankful for?
I've been thinking a lot aboutthis as I am preparing for my
(14:31):
videography moments on Friday.
And I really want to show and capture.
All of the moments of motherhood.
I am grateful for all of them.
Just like I spoke about in myformer podcast, A is for adversity.
Challenges refine us and makeus so much better and stronger
(14:54):
resilient than we were before.
Even though it's not very fun to gothrough those things, I always look
back and am so grateful and thankful.
I have written a list of moments.
I wanna capture both the good and the bad,the hard and the easy, all those moments.
Produce our highlight reel.
(15:14):
R E A L.
I don't just want a videoof the good moments.
Of course, those are great to remember,but they're easier to remember.
I want to remember the hard moments too.
That motherhood is a sacrificeand it is hard, but also it is
full of joy and we can do it.
I talk about in my book how Iwasn't prepared for motherhood as I
(15:35):
could have been because I did onlysee the highlight reels, R E E L.
I saw the good moments, the happymoments, the cherishing moments
that are so abundant in motherhood.
But I wasn't as aware of the hard moments,the around the clock care, the effort,
the tantrums, the all the three childrensaying mom at the same exact time, the
(15:58):
hanging on your limbs, and everything.
Those endless tears, bothfrom me and my children.
So that's what I'm grateful for.
I'm grateful that there is the good andthe bad and that they, they help each
other out and they sweeten the hardmoments and they make us grow and change
and learn alongside of our children.
(16:18):
I will be sharing one of these everyepisode, and I will be asking each
guest a question randomly from the deck.
So stay tuned.
Thank you for joining us on Let YourselfBloom, where we embrace the beauty
of balancing motherhood and ambition.
I hope today's episode has inspiredyou to nurture your dreams while
being the incredible mom that you are.
(16:39):
Remember, it's not justabout finding balance.
It's about thriving inall aspects of your life.
If you enjoyed today's conversation,be sure to subscribe, leave a
review and share this podcastwith other amazing women.
And if you're the kind of person wholoves to watch podcasts, you can find
this podcast on my YouTube channel atlet yourself bloom underscore with Jen
Banks, or on the ride the wave mediapodcast network, YouTube channel.
(17:02):
Remember to stay connected withus on social media at let yourself
bloom underscore with Jen Banksand join our community to keep
blooming together until next time.
Keep dreaming, keep growingand let yourself bloom.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.