We're Not Kidding

Ky joins me again on the podcast to share the details of a summer reading challenge underway in WNK Club.

Ky Gerbush is a writer, a lowkey tree and flower farmer, a WNK-member, and the co-facilitator of a course we created together in the WNK community called Creating A Meaningful Childfree Life. Ky has added so much to both my life and WNK community. I'm forever grateful to her and honored to call her a friend.

In this episode, she shares how her childfree identity unfolded and the terrible moment that awakened it. She also shares her less-than-straightforward sterilization process and we talk about the value of community and the course we have created. This is a phenomenal episode and I am so excited to share it with you, dear listener.

Connect with Ky:

In this episode, I sit down with the lovely Jess Ridder to talk all things childfree. We talk about losing our fathers at a young age and how this shaped our view of aging. Jess shares her excitement for what aging as a childfree person means and what opportunities might exist for communal living. I loved every second of this conversation and I think you will too!

About Jess:

Jess Ridder is a professional voice-over artist and has also worked as a journalist. She is the founder of a womxn’s interview project called “What She Says.” I was honored to be featured on this fantastic blog in which interviewees from around the world are asked the same six questions showcasing the different facets of female voices and stories. The project is currently in blog form though may take shape as a podcast soon!  There have been a few video talks already in the past.

Connect with Jess:

Brenda Brodie is an all-around fabulous human who I am grateful to consider a friend. In this episode, Brenda shares her experience advocating for her choice to be sterilized and her relatively easy experience getting approved for a bilateral salpingectomy. Brenda was incredibly helpful in my own personal journey of seeking sterilization and helping me with my pre-surgery angst. I'm incredibly grateful to her and it was an honor to have her as a guest on We're Not Kidding.

It was an honor and a blast to interview Daina Bond for this episode of the podcast. At 52, Daina has no regrets when it comes to not having kids. She is a proud dog mom who understands the value of being selfish with her time. Having met Daina through a mutual friend in the small town that we live in, reminds me that we really aren't alone in this life path.

In today's episode, Veronica Weston shares her childfree experience and how she cultivated a community after moving from Canada to Mexico.

Veronica is a personal development coach. She and her husband moved to Mexico in 2021. They have two sweet adopted pups named Lily and Layla. When she's not coaching, Veronica enjoys going to the beach, trying a new restaurant, or exploring all the ruins, cenotes Mexico has to offer.

In this episode, Grant and I sit down with Dr. Jay at the end of March to recap our experience getting a disability insurance quote from our local insurance agent. This was an eye-opening experience and unpacking it with Dr. Jay was enlightening.

If you haven't heard the first three sessions with Dr. Jay, you can listen to them here:

Nicole Louie is a writer, translator, and content curator based in Ireland. She has dedicated a great amount of time to finding and sharing the stories of amazing women without children through her social media accounts (@bynicolelouie). In our conversation, Nicole shares her personal journey of feeling isolated as a childfree woman which lead her to books, and in turn, she has written one of her own.

Here are the resources she shared in our conversation, sorted by topic.

Ambivalence 

• Book: Beyond Motherhood by Jeanne Safer (1996). 

Childfree path 

Laura Carrol: 

• Book: Families of Two: Interviews with Happily Married Couples Without Children by Choice (2000).

• Book: The Baby Matrix (2012).

Marcia Drut Davis: 

• Book. Confession of a Childfree Woman (2013).

Childless not by choice path

Jody Day, Founder of the Gateway community

In this episode, Grant and I sit down with Dr. Jay at the end of February to recap how our budget went in February. We also discuss the ins and outs of disability insurance and talk about what might be best for Grant. Then we talk about an upcoming trip and how to budget for that. 

In this episode, Grant and I sit down with Dr. Jay at the end of January to recap how our budget went over the holidays. We also get into more detailed goal discussions.

Jewel Hohman is a life coach who specializes in helping people feel secure and confident, while also teaching them how to create deep, meaningful friendships. In this episode, she shares what she calls the connection formula, an intentional way to build fulfilling friendships. Did you know that research shows that roughly half of our friendships change and shift every seven years? Tune into this episode to learn more about that and so much more!

Dr. Morgan Levy is a psychologist and therapist who helps executives and professionals maximize their personal and professional development. In this episode, she shares tips for embracing all of who we are not just one aspect of our identities as well as how to create more balance and less burnout in our lives. This is a value-packed episode you won't want to miss!

In this episode, I sit down with Eli Weissman, a Senior Private Wealth Advisor. Eli shares what to look for in selecting a financial professional as well as the top five mistakes he sees people without children making when it comes to their finances. If you’re wanting to improve your finances in 2023, don’t miss this episode.

Maggie Dickens is a licensed professional counselor and childfree millennial in Texas. In addition to

providing mental health support for her private practice clients, she’s also an online community builder

for women who are childfree by choice or circumstances. Her online group, "the unapologetically

childfree collective," is a place for women to find friends with similar values and encouragement to

enhance and maximize their lives. She shares her personal decision to be childfree and the importance of

choice, boundaries and friendships.

0:00 Teaser
1:00 TikTok
2:20 About Maggie
5:30 1:1 vs group settings
10:00 Finding identity
12:30 “yes” life
18:30 Untamed
20:00 Maggie’s child-free choice
30:00 Friendship and boundaries
39:04 More than a label
40:30 Final thoughts
43:30 Connect with Maggie

Maggie Dickens

In this episode, Dr. Jay Zigmont shares his tips and expertise as a Childfree Financial Planner. If you've ever wondered who will take care of you when you're older. You won't want to miss this episode as he shares how to prepare for old age when you don't have kids.

Dr. Jay Zigmont and his wife are childfree and live in Water Valley, MS. He has a Ph.D. in Adult Learning from the University of Connecticut and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Childfree Wealth Specialist. He is the founder of Childfree Wealth, a life and financial planning firm specializing in helping Childfree Individuals.

LeNora is a childfree lifestyle advocate, speaker, and moderator who creates global platforms, both public and private, for people who are choosing not to birth or raise children.

She is a co-founder of Childfree Media, a co-host of the international podcast and web series, Childfree Girls, and serves as PR manager and co-moderator for Childfree Convention.

Hamsa is a digital marketing professional from India. She is passionate about intersectional feminism and human rights. Hamsa shares her perspective and experience as a childfree woman living in India. It's a conversation you won't want to miss!

Connect with Hamsa: hamsanandini97@gmail.com 

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This week's guest is the lovely Kaigan Carrie. Kaigan is passionate about improving well-being and encouraging people to live an aligned life that brings them joy. She is eager to improve prisons around the world to make them places of growth and transformation. When she's not working to improve prison systems, Kaigan spends her time pursuing her interests as an avid travel lover, foodie, and personal development enthusiast.

Kimberly Martinez Phillips is a Doctoral Candidate at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador. Her dissertation studies single, never-married, childfree women of color. She has a bachelor’s degree in both Cultural Anthropology and Criminology, a master’s in Sociology, and has been teaching sociology courses in colleges and universities for over 24 years. Previous to her work in academia she was a Program Director, Jury Consultant, Local Evaluator, Safety Educator, and Health Educator working in extremely diverse communities.

I share my thoughts on regret along with a couple of tips for anyone who is conflicted about having kids and fears regret.

Let me know what you think of this episode.

Courtney Clucas is a digital nomad who owns her own business and travels full-time with her husband. Courtney opens up about her realization that she didn't want to have kids and how that impacted her faith as a Christian. She also shares how she and her husband who wants kids have navigated this together.

Jennifer Flint's debut novel, Wild Egg, is a delicious story about one woman's search for her childfree life. From ambivalence to clarity and beyond, I was hooked from page one. In part one of this two-part episode, Jennifer shares her own childfree experience. In part two, we dive into all things Wild Egg!

Jennifer Flint's debut novel, Wild Egg, is a delicious story about one woman's search for her childfree life. From ambivalence to clarity and beyond, I was hooked from page one. In part one of this two-part episode, Jennifer shares her own childfree experience. In part 2 we dive into all things Wild Egg! 

This is an episode with lots of twists and turns. Strap in, it's a fun one!

I had the insane honor of sitting down to record a podcast with the award-winning documentary filmmaker, Therese Shechter. She shares her process of making the film as well as what she was surprised to learn in the process. This is an episode you won't want to miss!

Lee and Lindsay are two of my favorite people. I met them ten years ago through my husband and they've had a huge impact on both of us. I'm honored to share their story and wisdom with you in this episode.

If you have questions for Lee & Lindsay to answer on our follow-up episode you can submit them by email to anna@annaolson.com.

Sina is a life coach for childfree women. She shares her own experience as a childfree woman as well as what she's learned from working with childfree clients. She has a lot of wisdom to share. You won't want to miss this conversation.