Mutha Life

Today we are hanging out in the closet with Whitney Wagner Hartley of HELLOWHITNEY fame. She is a retired model, a wellness and beauty influencer and….has become a vocal critic of the MAGA and MAHA agendas. Her videos have amassed millions of views where she crushes a skincare or makeup routine WHILE ALSO explaining in very accessible terms how our consumer dollars - and how we decide to use them - can be an act of resistance. This episode has it all. From near run-ins with Joshua Jackson, commentary on Pedro Pascal as our north star for advocacy, armchair psych diagnoses of celebrities, fermented foods and farts and so much more. Come get involved on this first friend date. I think we're going places, people. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @hellowhitney Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Come hang with Billy Mann immediately. Billy is a Grammy Nominated multi-platinum multi-hyphenate. He’s a songwriter, producer, artist, executive, podcaster, entrepreneur, philanthropist, Philadelphia-loving husband and father of 4 (Go Birds?). From his longstanding collaboration with PINK to his work with Sting, Celine Dion, Cher, Backstreet Boys, David Guetta, Robyn, Carole King, Hall & Oates, and SO MANY MORE, Billy has been an integral part of shaping so many moments of our lives with his music. His most recent collaborator is Episode 54’s Shawn Stockman with their Chosen Family project. Between Chosen Family and his podcast Yeah, I Fucked That Up, we get the best of what Billy has learned over a storied career and parenting journey - from where it all started in Philly, to living in his car while he pursued his dreams, to almost filing for bankruptcy only to find he had a hit on his hands…to losing a great love, to finding love again, raising four children, becoming a needle-moving autism advocate. and more. It just has to be heard to be believed. Enjoy and share. There is so much in this episode that celebrates failure in way that we all need to hear. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @billymann Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Come hang in the closet with celeb makeup powerhouse, Jamie Greenberg of Jamie Makeup. She’s the go-to artist for so many of Hollywood’s funniest and most talented women - Rashida Jones, Kaley Cuoco, Chelsea Handler, the list goes on and on…but today we get down to the FOUNDATION of the person behind the brush. We focus on taking off the CONCEALER and getting the BAREFACED story of what kind of childhood and life story has given us this wonderful new pal (see what I did there? Moms can make puns too, pffff). A first for the pod, I believe, we’ve got a Maryland girl with New Jersey roots and a love of Zoloft and laughter like nobody’s business. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @jamiemakeup Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Today we get to hang in the closet with Victoria de la Fuente. She’s a brand strategist. A tech entrepreneur. A fashion girly. And an absurdly successful substacker with her stack Zillion Trillion. We start with what it was like growing up in Peru, what happens when your mom becomes one of the most famous women in Latin America in your teenage years, navigating the international fashion scene, and how starting a family might be her biggest creative and important venture yet. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @victoriadela_fuente Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

I HOPE YOU ARE SITTING DOWN. Today on the pod we have Shawn Stockman - a 4-time Grammy award winner and a member of the most commercially successful R&B group of all time, BoyzIIMen. We start with Shawn's childhood in southwest Philadelphia - we go from singing in THE Boys Choir at age 8 to attending the prestigious Creative and Performing Arts High School. Then we talk about growing up and into adulthood under the watchful eye of the whole world - Shawn covers so much in a new light. From his partnership with his wife to what it's like to parent a child on the spectrum, and what lessons he took from his own childhood into his approach to parenting, there is so much to dig into here. We answer some listener questions, talk about his new music collab with fellow CAPA alum Billy Mann - Chosen Family - I get a lesson on water ice, and we talk about the fine line between giving your kids what you didn't have while also figuring out how to keep them grounded.  Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @shawnstockmanofficial Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa   

Let’s go hang with Chana Karna Blugrind - she has been an early childhood educator for 25 years and is the Director of a pre-school in Los Angeles. She’s also a mom to four kids and step mom to two more. She’s an ultramarathoner. A doctoral candidate. A Danish woman living in America….A woman with many layers, all of which are tied together with her faith. And tattoos. Lots of tattoos. We follow Chana from growing up in Denmark - a kid with undiagnosed ADHD whose parents never made her feel like an inconvenience. We follow her through her (double) conversion to Judaism, her time spent as a member of an ultra-orthodox community, escaping an abusive relationship and finding new purpose through running. We cover a lot in this episode - from how different it feels to parent when society is set up for families to succeed. How hard it can be to leave a community - even a bad one - if you don’t have a community to help you overcome the transition. And how focusing on joy, despite being dealt repeated shitty hands, can make every day worth living. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life  Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY FAM! They say for a first anniversary you should get your beloved paper, but I think substack and a podcast is the modern day equivalent, right? This episode is the product of your requests to get MY story. I couldn’t think of anything more cringe than talking about myself at length, but our repeat guest and friend of the pod SOSUPERSAM wasn't going to let me off the hook. So here we are. A long ass episode where Sam gets in the interview chair while I sit down in the hot seat and we chop it up - all of the standard Mutha Life topics are on the table. From Tampa, Florida to my closet in Los Angeles and the more than fifty countries in between, let’s figure out why I am so obsessed with bodily fluids, parenthood and other people’s life shit. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @sosupersam Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Is it just me or is the dream to flip the script on your doctor and ask THEM the personal questions? Well, cha ching. Today’s the day for me. Not too long ago I started with a new doctor to work out the latest challenges and question marks around my Crohn’s disease. She came highly recommended by my doc as THE woman to talk to about BEING a woman with Crohn’s, especially around the hormonal roller coaster of having kids and post partum. But it wasn’t until almost 17 million views of a procedure I did for this new doc, a capsule endoscopy, went viral that I really took the plunge and asked my doc out on a POD DATE. Dr. Puja Khanna is the Clinical Director of Women’s Health of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at Cedars-Sinai. She’s a research powerhouse who specializes in women with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. AND she’s got three kids of her own. The first half of the ep is the classic MUTHA LIFE fare you’ve come to know and love - then we get into all of the listener questions around gut health. Come hang. Let’s talk about poop and butts. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @poojakhannamd Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Today we are hanging out in the closet with Bennett Kaspar-Williams, the multi-threat. Lawyer, activist, writer, creative…and seahorse dad. If you don’t know what a seahorse is, you’re in the right place today to learn from source. Bennett is trans and was the gestational carrier for his son (get it? male seahorses are famously the gestational carriers). In talking to Bennett about his life - from Texas to Seattle to New York and LA, each chapter has provided stones for his life’s foundation. We are going to cover so much ground in this one - from why our almost five year old boys are psychos right now (it’s the LIMBIC LEAP PEOPLE), to why Labubus are actually a valuable contribution to society, to reframing what partnership in the parent era looks like (she whispers: just unload the dishwasher, people). Ultimately, this is a conversation about what happens when we keep interrogating and asking ourselves what we need to feel complete and happy. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @bennettonpurpose Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

This week we have Emily Tucker in the virtual closet all the way in beautiful Boulder, Colorado. Emily is the founder and face of Emily Tucker Design - an insanely talented firm building projects that would be right up my alley if my house wasn't a toy vomit factory. On this episode, I use Emily as my personal guru for all things - from understanding how interior designers actually work with clients to what she does in her own home to make her kids get along. We talked about what it means to be inspired by your parents' work and finding your own place in the world while taking that inspiration with you. We talked about division of labor, what she and her husband argue about, and how hard it can be when your kids are all....shocker, different people. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @emilytuckerdesign Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

This week in the closet we have celebrity trainer/founder of Bad Badger Treats, Charlie Curtis. You may know him as ‘Perfect 10 Charlie’ of Armchair Expert fame. Or maybe as the founder of Indoorphins, the online high intensity workout community. Orrrrr that guy who seems to live at the little league field. Maybe you don’t know him at all and you’re here because you just want to hear how someone who is actively involved in raising his two boys also manages to juggle his own fitness and professional goals. This is a sprawling chat - from being raised by a single mom in San Diego, to playing college football, to building a durable relationship with his wife based on shared history, respect and understanding - it’s all here. AND we managed to answer a few listener questions that were submitted ahead of time. Let’s goooooo. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @badbadgertreats @charcurtis Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

This week we get down and dischargey with the founder of Auggie, the parent platform so many of us want and need. Lily Walla’s childhood story is one of contrasts - bouncing between her parents’ apartments, sleeping on pull out beds and sharing tight spaces - all while going to one of the country’s most elite private schools and running around with classmates with literal mansions to call home. Today, we find Lily the fully actualized person, in Brooklyn with her family. She’s a million weeks pregnant and about to pop…all while at the helm of her second entrepreneurial venture. This conversation covers so much both in parenting and in career - how confusingly devastating it can feel in the lead up to welcoming a new baby. The way taking on investors is both a blessing and a stressor when you’re in the early stages of building. The importance of being able to be honest with yourself when the thoughts get a little too dark and working toward getting yourself help. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @joinauggie  Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Today we are hanging out with a movement guru of the highest order and getting extremely vulnerable about the road to healing and building resilience in the body and the mind. Come meet THE Jill Miller. We start in New Orleans and land here in LA. We cover experiencing her parents’ divorce as a child and being uprooted more times than she can count on two hands…and the underlying impact all of that can have on the body and mind. Jill is a pioneer in her field - taking all of the pieces of fitness, yoga, athletics, massage and pain management and putting them together to create an approach to movement that is both focused on healing and resilience. She is the author of best-selling books, has created multiple fitness formats that are taught worldwide, and has been featured everywhere from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal, to Women’s Health, GMA and Self Magazine. She’s also a mom of two kids and was crazy enough to go into business with her husband. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life  Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

This week we are celebrating the 4th of July by spending time highlighting parenting while building a career in the military. The department of defense is the LARGEST employer in the United States which means millions of people and families are working through the unique experiences associated with this career path. Overseas deployments. Being separated from loved ones. Moving cities and countries often. Constantly being worried about the safety and well-being of those you love the most. To cover all of this and more we are hanging out in the virtual closet with retired Colonel Jeff McCausland. We follow Jeff from his childhood in West Central Illinois, working jobs after school and listening to the war stories of the grown men around him, to - instead of waiting for the draft to find him - going to West Point, where he would launch a 30 year career in the Army. From leading 750 soldiers in battle to being the Dean of the US Army War College - Jeff’s is a story centered on service…all while working with his wife to make sure his kids were given the opportunity to have more/do better than he did. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life  Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

This week we are hanging out with E! The Rundown's Erin Lim Rhodes. In this episode we cover what happens when a focused and extremely driven person in a highly competitive field takes on parenthood. And, if that's not enough of a hook for you, we cover what it's like when parents separate later in life, the power of the placenta, finding her faith and her husband in a new church, how hobbies helped her through post partum depression, and the subtle joys of becoming a Disney adult. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @erinlimrhodes Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Today we've got serial entrepeneur and sports obsessed former D1 Soccer Star, Stacy Bernstein, on the pod. She is the Co-Founder of All Better Company, a company re-imagining first aid in a way that’s showing up for you and your kids AND doing it in a way that’s also good for the planet. We follow Stacy from childhood in THE VALLEY, to her life as a D1 athlete, to working for the NHL, coaching, and starting out on her own. It's an episode that covers so many things I care deeply about - from how we talk to our kids about sex, to THE ART OF NOTICING. ENJOY! Share! Talk about it! TW: Child Sexual Abuse. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @getallbetter Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

Whitney Port has been in the public eye for 20 years and she’s cultivated an ability to both be vulnerable and share her life without it feeling exploitative. From her time on the Hills and the City, to her following years building her own mini media empire with her successful podcast and Youtube channel, watching Whitney grow and cultivate relationships has been a mainstay for so many people who grew up watching her. Today she’s in the closet and we cover such a wide range of topics - from finding meaningful connection and friendship in new stages of life, figuring out the balance between what’s best for YOU and what’s best for everyone else around you. Her very public experience with infertility and the decision to try and expand her family via surrogacy, what it’s like to be a member of the ‘sandwich generation’ and so much more. This is also a podcast first - we’ve had Whitney’s sister, Paige, on the pod (Episode 12) and so that makes Whitney’s episode our first-ever sibling episode…because you know what they say, no two people get the same two parents. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @whitneyeveport Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

This week in the closet we have Senior Director of Community and Partnerships Tubby Todd. To most, however, she's likely better known as the grand master of all things hobby...or just having a good time. Erika's path to corporate girly has been paved with stardust, dreams, and...community. From singing for Disney in Japan to being the front woman of an all-Filipino hip hop group to cross-fit gym co-owner and Lululemon MAVEN, I don't think little Erika growing up in the Mormon church could've guessed much of the turns her life would take, but I imagine she'd find it immensely entertaining, along with the rest of us.  Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @erikajaye Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

For an entire generation of girls wanting to be journalists, work in magazines and/or fashion, Atoosa Rubenstein was the pinnacle we looked to. She was living out loud and doing it YOUNG. Not waiting for any traditional hierarchies to retire. But what we didn’t see is how much was weighing those designer shoulders down at the same time. The unanswered questions. The lack of connection. The missing warmth and safety of a loving childhood home. This expansive hang in the virtual closet has us starting in Iran, growing up in a challenging home dynamic, skyrocketing to notoriety at a young age, and then finding new purpose in motherhood - leaving the photoshoots, Met Balls, and bougie Hamptons parties behind to just be. With her kids. And ZERO LAUNDRY. Full show notes with alll the links: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @atoosarubenstein Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa 

It can feel like nothing is more precious and elusive to parents of young kids, as sleep. Today in the closet we've got Brittany Sheehan, certified kid's sleep guru and Internet funny girl, according to me. In this hang we cover everything from the impact of limited sex ed as kids, losing a parent too soon, finding new super powers with parenthood, division of labor at home...and we also answer some listener questions on sleep. We even cover why a quick trip to California grocery store staple, Gelson's, is a slippery slope and why pre-teens make the best babysitters. Full show notes with alll the links INCLUDING A SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE FOR BRITTANY SHEEHAN SLEEP: muthalife.substack.com  Instagram: @mutha.life @brittanysheehansleep Produced by: Mutha Life Music by: Ronen Landa