It's Tradish!

Turning the tables can be an exhilarating experience, and that's exactly what we're doing in this episode. Today, I (Nicole) have the pleasure of shining the spotlight on my co-host, Alix Mackey, as we toast to her exciting entrepreneurial journey. Alix's story is one of triumph, a beacon for anyone navigating their midlife journey with boldness and joy. Pull up a seat at our family table where traditions simmer alongside our favorite dishes. We'll give you a taste of the magic that happens when families come together in the kitchen. So, let's raise our glasses (and spatulas) to crafting a legacy of laughter, love, and a little bit of mess in the kitchen.

In this episode, we talk about the following:
1. The importance of family dinners, traditions, and building connections.
2. Adding a "sprinkle of fun" to meals and involving kids in cooking.
3. The lasting impact of family traditions on children's memories.

Join the Midlife Squad:
Want to stay up to date on the Don't Call Me Midlife podcast and community? Click below so we can keep you in the know!
www.itstradish.myflodesk.com/dontcallmemidlife

Hang Out on Social:
Follow Alix on Instagram @everydaywithalix
Follow Nicole on Instagram @touch_of_stass

______________________________________________________________

Help us expand our mom-tourage! Share our podcast with your fellow mom friends and let's conquer midlife together.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Don't Call Me Midlife podcast.
I'm Nicole and I'm Alex.
We're your coffee-addicted,wine-loving, amazon-obsessed mom
squad.
Think of us as your new besties, but with a podcast.
And, just like you, we'renavigating the Google-defined
chaos of midlife while wranglinga pack of boys.
But here's the twist we're morethan just moms and wives.
We're on a mission to reclaimour identities beyond motherhood

(00:24):
, and we're bringing you alongfor the wild ride.
Now, we don't pretend to haveall the answers to life's
mysteries, but we're so good atlearning and laughing our way
through them.
So whether you're sipping fromyour trusty Stanley, indulging
in an oat milk latte fromStarbucks or raising a glass of
Whispering Angel, get ready tohang with us.
Together.
We'll keep it real, have somelaughs and remind you that this

(00:44):
crazy journey called life is oneadventure worth sharing.
Hi, friends, it's Nicole here.
So today's episode is a bitspecial because, guess what, I'm
the one leading the show andAlex is in the interview seat.
Yep, that's right.
I get to be the one asking allthe juicy questions this time.

(01:05):
But before we dive into all thefun stuff, let me properly
introduce you to my bestie andco-host, alex Mackie.
Today, on our Modern Mom Day, Iam going to be interviewing
Alex Mackey.
She's in the hot seat so I'llbe asking all the questions, but

(01:31):
I really, I'm really excitedfor Alex and I'm excited for you
to know what's going on in herlife, and we're going to dive
into all that once we find outwhat's in her cup.
Hi, I'm super excited to talkto you too.
I'm a little nervous.
I am very basic.
Today I've got my Stanley withLMNT, but I brought out my

(01:52):
bright pink one that I love thatI just got.
Ooh, that's fun, it's like neonpink.
So good, I'm actually gonnagive away one for my birthday.
Nicole, don't tell anyone, butlisteners, be on Instagram on my
birthday, which is June 7th.
And then I also just have blackcoffee because I always have to
have coffee.
So I'm pretty simple, but mycup is also filled with

(02:15):
excitement, like major, majorexcitement.
Yes, my cup is filled withpride.
I am so freaking proud of you.
I am just like a mama bear, sofreaking proud of you.
I am just like um, like a mamabear, just so proud of you.
And I have seen this journeyfrom before.
It was even, I don't know,started or it was probably like

(02:38):
always burning in the back, but,um, it's just been like a
beautiful, like unfolding, andI'm just like, so excited to be
like one of your biggestcheerleaders.
So, yes, you're so sweet.
Well, you are my work wife, soyou have been instrumental in
this journey of my new company,so I thank you for that, because

(03:00):
there's no one like you.
So, thank you.
Oh, my gosh, we're just like abunch of, we're here to have fun
and, um, get this, get thisparty started.
Um, but before I ask you, um,any questions about your
business, I want to know how youfeel about the word.

(03:23):
I want to know how you feelabout the word midlife.
You know what we I know we bothhave learned so much about
midlife and we started thispodcast.
We were like, ah, do we call itmidlife?
And the podcast is don't callus midlife, right, because such
of the negative connotation ofmidlife.
But I have to say, after doingthis podcast, for what have we

(03:43):
done six months?
I actually feel proud to be inmidlife.
I know that's going to be asilly thing to say no, no, not
at all.
I think where we are right now,our whole journey has brought us
to here, right, honestly, Idon't think I could have started

(04:10):
this company without thispodcast, because it's given me
an insight into midlife,especially confidence about what
we're doing in midlife.
So so I love midlife right now.
I think it's empowering and Ilove the word midlife, I love
where we're at, where we'regoing, where we've been, all
those things.
What do you think?
No, honestly, like I couldn'tagree more with you.
Like my idea of midlife beforewe started this podcast was, I

(04:34):
mean, I didn't have thestereotypical like oh life's
over type thing.
But you know, in doing this Ican see, like, how life has led
me to this point and connectingall the dots that obviously you
don't see when you're younger.
But and every dots are going tobe different and I'm so glad

(04:57):
that our dots have crossed paths, but I do.
I think it's a beautiful time inlife and it's also just very
exciting and I just feel so muchmore confident in where I'm at
and who I am and where I want togo and what I want and who I
want in my life.
I just I really love it and Iremember being, you know, in my

(05:20):
younger like 20 something yearsand thinking like what am I
going to do with my life?
Like the quarter life crisisand, like women, I've always
looked up to certain women andthey've always been at least 15,
20 years older than myself.

(05:40):
So you know, it's um.
So I love here and I'd like tostay here for a while.
You know, I don't want to rushthrough it because I felt like I
wanted to rush through my 20sand, you know, get to the next
milestone.
But like I'm like I love ridingthis wave.
It's beautiful, yeah, well, wehope all our listeners do too.
So let us know, pop us a DM oran email about how you're

(06:04):
feeling right now about midlife.
We hope that Nicole and Ichanged your mind a little bit
about midlife.
You know and that's our goal is, I think, the thing about
midlife and we hear this from alot of our guests, nicole is
there are no limits to what wecan do.
Right, I started my new business.
I'm 46 years old.
Like, if you asked 40 year oldme, would I be starting a

(06:26):
business at 46?
No, no way in heck would I haveever thought that.
But now it's like there's noglass ceiling, like the there's
no limits as to what both of uscan do, whether it's our
business, our personal life.
Like, I don't feel any likelike I just don't feel held back
by any expectations and it'slike you know what this is like

(06:47):
super exciting, and it's superexciting for our kids to see us
too, at the same time, like whatwe are doing, what we're
building Right, um.
So, yeah, midlife is good,midlife is good, we're good, it
is good.
So for for um, for those of youthat can't see, alex, she is
wearing the cutest apron and Iwant you to tell us what it says

(07:12):
.
It says my new company.
I love this.
It's very cute.
You can buy one too.
It's called it's Tradish.
That is my new company name.
So I'm the CEO and founder, andthe tagline is reinventing
family dinners with a sprinkleof fun.
And if you see these colorsI've got.
I got pink, of course, and I'mwearing a fun pink headband Um,

(07:34):
but I have orange, I haveturquoise, um.
So I have lots of fun colors onthere and I love my new logo.
I'm excited, I love it.
I love the name it's Tradish,it is.
It's like a fun twist, it'slike a little whimsical twist on
the.
Obviously the word traditional,and obviously you always bring

(07:55):
fun to whatever you do.
But how did you come up with thename, like what was, what was
the story behind the name?
Behind the name?
Well, it's been a huge journey.
So I didn't realize, you know,being a health coach before I
was given a program right, so Iwas selling someone else's

(08:17):
business essentially, right, Ihad my own business.
So I learned a lot from that onhow to build my own business.
But building your own businesswhat I didn't realize was it is
very much a personal journeybecause I knew when I was health
coaching and you know this thatI loved the meal planning and
prepping aspect and that's sortof what I dived into.
It made me feel alive and soconnecting all of those dots to

(08:41):
build a business around it hasbeen a journey in into who I am
and what my story is and who Iwant to be, right.
So the combination of well,I'll talk a little bit about how
it got, how it got to be.
So I've always, you know, I'vealways loved cooking.
I had the catering company whenI was 13,.
I did, I was social chair incollege and just have always

(09:05):
loved bringing people togetherand I realized that over time
that connection to familydinners, to cooking, was because
of my father and he loved tocook.
You know, my mom's amazing butshe is not a cook.
So we cooked and we had thesefamily dinners and I went
through a little bit of thatjourney when I wrote the
cookbook Nourished, last October.

(09:25):
But I really realized what Iloved about the cooking was the
connection.
And you know we have three boys.
I'm not really sporty.
So when I started meal preppingand planning, it was that
connection of bringing my kidsinto my sort of story and
connecting with them throughfood, through family dinners.

(09:46):
That was really reallyempowering to them and me,
because they could also help me.
And I realized, okay, I do havethree boys hungry boys, right,
like we do that meal planningand prepping isn't as hard as
everyone makes it seem.
It doesn't have to be that way.
And actually having the familydinners, I didn't realize I was
starting a tradition, you know,by having these family dinners

(10:07):
and how important that was untilone time.
You know, baker's a boardingschool and he said to me I go,
well, what do you miss mostabout home?
And he's like I'll cry, he'slike I miss family dinners, you
know.
And so it was just like allthese little pieces that have
built me to build this and Ilove it's tradition because it's

(10:28):
a slang term right, it's amodern day term on taking old
and new traditions.
But I think there's a lot ofbusy moms out there that have
written a story like I don'thave time to cook or I don't
cook, or I don't want to cook orI can't cook, and I think
bringing in that sprinkle of funmaking food fun again has
something that I've always,always loved.

(10:49):
So, yeah, I'm excited aboutbringing all the new traditions
and bringing some fun to thefamily.
So I love this story and itdoes.
It brings a tear to my eyebecause it hits so close to home
, like this was.
This was my um own personalthing that I wanted the family

(11:10):
dinners, and it is.
It just does so much more forour families than we.
We then I don't know if it'sthat we realize, because I think
we do know the importance, butthose memories that we're
creating, I mean you still havememories from when you were a
little girl with your dad.
So, yeah, I think it'sbeautiful, did you?
When you were growing up and youhad your family dinners?

(11:32):
Was it like on Sundays?
Was it a lot of the time or itwas mostly on Sundays?
Yeah, it was mostly on Sundays,cause that's when my dad worked
a ton.
So when he was home for dinnerit was a big deal.
I mean, he, we lived inConnecticut, he worked in the
city, new York city, and he hadto wake up at four, 30 and he
had to entertain clients too.

(11:53):
So it was mostly what the waythat I grew up, it was like a
grill night, right, which issomething that I do on Sundays
too.
My dad loved to grill.
He's this love food, right.
He loved to eat.
He loves.
Anyone that knows him knowsthat, um, and so it's like he
introduced me to like mozzarellaand tomato salad with like a
drizzle of balsamic vinegar andolive oil, and I remember some

(12:13):
of the food that he introducedus to.
I remember when Alex and I gotmarried he grew up in the
Midwest, which is very like youknow, more meat and potatoes,
and there are still things tothis day where he's like I don't
know what that is and I'm like,oh my gosh, I'm so appreciative
that well of Alex, but thatwell of Alex, but that my dad
introduced me to these differentfoods and I want to do that for
my kids, not saying I liked allthe food that he introduced me

(12:36):
to.
But it was really these Sundaydinners with big steaks or
burgers or you know anything onthe grill that were really nice.
And my brother, sister and I areall one year apart, so we are
super close in age, but we'reall going through things at
different times, right.
And now that we have teenagers,just bringing them together
over a common thing like dinner,right, it seems so easy.

(13:01):
But, like your journey, I knowyour journey about family
dinners and I think it does havean a bigger impact than we
think.
Right, our teenagers aren'tgoing to be like thanks, mom, I
love family dinners, you know, Imean they do.
Well, john Mackey does.
John Mackey cooks with me.
But I've seen in the past twoyears when I've really dived

(13:21):
deep into this, nicole, like mykids wanting to cook, my kids
asking me about food.
I make fun, you know.
Uh, you know I'll do someextravagant things like a
breakfast buffet or a basketball, you know themed thing for my
kids' friends.
And I had one of my son'sfriends recently say to me oh my
gosh, this is amazing.
Did this take you like allafternoon to do?

(13:41):
And I was like that's so cute.
I felt that sense of pride,right, because I think when I
also was, you know, mealplanning and prepping, I would
realize that I could cookhealthier food, right.
I also save time.
So I felt better about myselfas a woman, not just a mom, and
I also had more time to do thethings that I wanted to do, like

(14:03):
work out right it take walks,things that I things have more
time with friends.
So I think that's part of ourenergy energy, a pile of, you
know, not be like on the couchall the time.
So there's lots of.
There's a whole familyconnection aspect of my business
.
But there's also empoweringmoms to feel good about

(14:24):
themselves, and that doesn'tmean that she has to go be Betty
Crocker and cook everything.
Part of empowering the moms isalso her empowering her family,
like I've done, and incorporateyour family into prepping,
cooking planning, setting thetable, you know, deciding what's
fun.
So that's that's part of it too, that I just, I just love doing
.
So it sounds like you have a lotin the in the works.

(14:46):
There's a lot you can.
There's a lot you can bring andteach everybody, because I
don't know, is it going to befocused on like one specific
thing, or are you going to havemany, many different things down
the road.
Well, you know I do.
I'm not at a lack of ideas.
This is very true about you,yes, anyone, anyone that knows

(15:08):
me or sees me anywhere.
Um, so I launched, you know, mynew brand on May 20th, and that
was.
That was exciting, and it was alot of fun to get there.
Different photo shoots, lots ofdifferent ideas.
Um, what I have out now is Ihave a seasonal guide called
savor the season and it is ameal prepping guide for dinner,

(15:32):
dinners and family fun for thesummer.
So that's a free guide that Ihave.
I'm going to be coming out withone every single season.
I like being creative with theseasons and so you can
definitely get that one.
That's a free one.
I also have a prep and plateguide that is make ahead family
friendly meals that you can alsoget, because I think I'm a big

(15:54):
fan of planning ahead and if youdo that you can save time.
So I think it's changing thatmindset too, of thinking ahead a
little bit.
I also am doing, on June 3rdcoming up, five-day dinner reset
, and I did this for free acouple months ago and I revamped

(16:14):
it and I'm excited about itbecause I am going to be
teaching you my full plateplanning method, which is how I
plan dinners.
So, step-by-step, we will gothrough that and then I'll tell
these listeners and you a secretI'm going to be coming out with
a membership in the fall.
Oh, so fun.

(16:34):
Yeah, I'm super excited aboutit.
You'll get recipes, you'll getmeal plans, you'll get fun stuff
.
You will get everything.
You'll get all of me.
So I can't get enough of you andI feel very lucky to work with
you but also be your friend, tobe like hey, I need help with
this idea.

(16:55):
I don't know what to do.
I'm at the grocery store, whatshould I make for dinner?
So you always have ideas rightthen and there.
So for anybody to have accessto you in this membership is
such a treat.
It's so fun.
It's going to be fun.
And the dinner reset is greatbecause you do have one-on-one
access to me so I can answer youback.

(17:15):
You know I do answer my texts.
It's me.
I answer my DMs.
We know that.
We know that I think one of thefun things that's been well,
there's a lot of fun things offorming this business and again,
it's like this, this journey.
You know I'm going to have themembership.
Hopefully I'm going to havesome live events and things that
come up.
So, um, the idea of a sprinkleof fun, and I thought a lot

(17:36):
about this, right, and Iwouldn't.
I knew we were going to do this.
I wanted to ask you because alot of people have said well,
what, what is fun?
What does that mean?
Right, and I'm not going tototally define it, like this
apron to me as a sprinkle of fun, right, but my headband is a
sprinkle of fun.
But defining what fun is foreveryone's family is a little

(17:58):
bit different.
So, this concept of it'stradition, I'm not going to tell
you exactly what to do.
I will give you the tools tofigure it out, but part of the
fun of the process is youdeciding for your family or for
you what works for you, yourfamily, and what is fun.
Is fun putting fresh flowers ona table?
Is fun doing pancake for dinner?

(18:20):
Is it adding sprinkles to aSunday bar?
Is it wearing a margaritat-shirt?
I don't know.
Well, I can tell you myyoungest thinks sprinkles on
everything is fun, because whenyou came to visit you realized I
didn't have sprinkles and thenyou sent me some and now he's

(18:41):
like can I have sprinkles on myI don't even know my oatmeal?
I'm just like, oh sure, yes,yes.
So I have.
I also have a drawer ofseasonal sprinkles.
So I I swap out my sprinklesevery single season.
I do always have um rainbowcolor and chocolate, but I do, I
do.

(19:01):
Sprinkles are just likeautomatic fun, just like
balloons.
I mean, it is like I have likea dial into party city.
I just love it.
I love it.
Yeah, I love the color that itbrings, like when you put it on
whipped cream.
It's just like so fun and cute.
So, yes, I'm a sprinkle persontoo.
I just um, I just don't alwayshave it.
Now, this is completely offtopic, but I'm just curious Do

(19:22):
you like the little round ballsprinkles or do you like the
more?
Like the little?
Um, I think the traditionalones are easier to put on things
.
But I think the traditionalones are easier to put on things
, but I think the balls and theshapes are more fun.
Yes, okay, I've had a lot ofdifferent sprinkles.

(19:45):
It's so funny and I think it'sfun.
This is the place where you canincorporate kids, whether any
age right, whether you havelittle toddlers or whether you
have kids home from college,right, incorporating that fun
because a big part of what mydad did for me is sorry is
leaving this legacy.
This part about legacy, right,and again, you don't have to be

(20:09):
a good cook, I'm not a gourmetchef, but it's part of our
legacy, needs to be.
You know these memories and Ilove the quote.

(20:30):
It's like they may forget.
It doesn't matter whether theyremember X, y, z, but they're
going to remember what I reallywant people when they come to my
house, when they come to dinner, my kids.
And when I say family, I alsomean friends, because you know,
I consider friends family.
So whether it's a backyardbarbecue with couples or you're
having another family over orit's just your core family, it's

(20:52):
still the experience of thateating, which doesn't have to be
extravagant either.
Right, like you, putting outthe sprinkles for heiress, like
that's fun.
He's like, oh yes, this is fun,I like this.
So, just remembering that youcan keep it simple, but also
leaving, passing on that legacyand talking with your kids about

(21:13):
some of the traditions that youused to do as a kid and making
new ones and not making dinnerboring.
So, yeah, I love it and,honestly, you, I don't tell you
enough how much you've inspiredme to bring fun into dinner and
just, I just think you're justsuch a beautiful person and I'm
about to cry right now becauseyou truly, you truly are one of

(21:33):
those people that makes everyonefeel special and like the most
important person in your lifeand I can only imagine what
you're doing for your children.
And this business is just goingto, you know, hopefully have a
ripple effect on other familiesand bringing in fun and new
traditions and realizing itdoesn't have to be so hard.

(21:54):
And, yes, you can.
You can grill and eat on paperplates and sit around and and
just talk.
You know, but, yeah, it's, it's, it's a lost, it's a lost
tradition.
You know these family dinnersthat are just so important and I
hope, I hope your impactreaches all around the world

(22:16):
because I think you're just sospecial and I love what you're
doing.
Alex, I'm excited.
I've got lots of fun plans.
Hope to be on the Today Showone day.
That has been my goal since dayone, because my mom was like,
wow, you've really made it.
When you're on the Today Show,I'm like, yeah, I've got a while
to go, but you know, it's okay,look at, look at Martha Stewart
.
She started at this age.
So, um, yes, midlife, go midlife, go midlife, yes, so, anyway,

(22:43):
um, so where can everybody findyou?
Tell us your business nameagain.
You can find me now on myInstagram at it's tradition
again, you can find me now on myInstagram at it's tradition T R
a, d I S H.
And you can also pop me anemail at Alex a L I X at it's
traditioncom.
Amazing, all right.
And then they can find, like,where to sign up for your um,

(23:04):
sign up for the day dinner reset.
You can sign up for all myguides, um, and there will be
new stuff, you know, seasonally,and if you have any questions,
just pop me a DM, give me anyfeedback, things that you are
having a challenge with withmeal time.
I love, love, love hearing frompeople, from our listeners, um,
because that's what matters.
So, yes, all right.

(23:25):
Well, thank you, alex, forsharing so much of your soul
today.
I love it, and thank you aboutyour business.
Okay, but my unsolicited adviceis go follow Alex and get her
stuff.
Get on her newsletter, becauseit's incredible, um, and you can
sign up for her newsletter onyour Amazon, um, amazon page,

(23:46):
your Instagram page, right, youcan sign up for newsletter too.
I send that out.
I also have a um, a free Fridaydinner text where I give a
recipe and some tips for that.
That's super fun to do too.
I love doing the newsletter, Ilove doing all this stuff.
So lots of, lots of good infoout there.
So, okay, awesome, all right,thanks, love you.
Love you too.
Bye, and that's a wrap fortoday's episode of don't call me

(24:13):
midlife.
We hope you had as much fun aswe did.
Absolutely.
Your support means the world tous.
If you're just waiting in thecarpool line, don't forget to
follow the show, and if you'refeeling extra spicy today, leave
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(24:34):
content and more.
Head on over to the show notesfor how to sign up.
We can't wait to keep theconversation going.
And, of course, remember, inthe whirlwind of life and
motherhood, don't forget to fillup your own cup first.
You're extraordinary and yourjourney is worth every moment.
Until next time, cheers.