Our Messy Collective
By Carey Shofner & Suzanne Gillies-Smith
Our Messy CollectiveMar 01, 2021
S2E8: Mother's Day Reflections
We're B A C K!
Just in time to share our thoughts on Mother's Day.
Join us as we catch up, talk about the complexities and the joys of Motherhood, and discuss what boundaries look like.
We will be on a bi-weekly schedule for the rest of the season with the next episode airing May 24th!
Thank you so much for your patience as we navigate the ever changing demands of our personal and professional lives.
S2E7: The Impact of Women
Join Carey and Suzanne as they catch up, discuss what Women's History Month means to them, and talk about the women who have impacted them.
S2E6: The Kohl Chronicles with Kayla
Join us this week as Carey sits down with Kayla from The Kohl Chronicles to discuss infertility, loss, parenting, and everything in between.
Kayla lives and works in Omaha, Nebraska with her husband, two cats, and dog. She is passionate about supporting others with their fertility journey and breaking the stigma around infertility and loss. She graduated with a B.S. in Elementary Education, and a Deaf studies minor. She is a certified Postpartum and Infant Care Doula through ProDoula. She is also a certified Reproductive Health Doula with the Child Birth Institute, and is working on her Fertility Support Specialist certification with Bebo Mia.
S2E5: A Year of Covid: Reflections on Surviving
Carey and Suzanne sit down to mark the one year anniversary of COVID's impact on the United States and their individual lives. They discuss where they were a year ago, how the pandemic has shaped their lives in the last year, and how they are actually feeling about things now that the vaccine is available.
S2E4: Easy, Breezy, Beautiful Enneagram
Suzanne & Carey catch up and discuss their enneagram types, their favorite enneagram Instagram accounts, and their understanding of the enneagram.
Click here for more!
S2E3: Babies & Business with Kayleigh M.
This week Carey and Suzanne catch up, share stories from their week, and discuss their new adventures on Clubhouse!
Our guest this week is Kayleigh of Heritage Baby Designs. Carey and Kayleigh discuss motherhood, infertility and loss, and life as a business owner.
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Heritage Baby is the brainchild of me - Kayleigh, mother to William who resides in Simcoe County in Ontario, Canada. I can't tell you the exact moment that I knew that this was an adventure that I wanted to embark on, but it has felt 500% right from the start. Before my son was born I knew that I wanted to try to be one of those moms with her baby strapped to her body. It always seemed that those babies were so calm and comfortable, and those parents always had their hands free! This appealed to my general busy nature. William was in his first baby carrier (a stretchy wrap) by the time he hit 12hrs old....I was hooked.
As my obsession for babywearing grew, so did my desire to find a product and brand that fit my wants; an eco-conscious, company that gives back, parent-owned and operated, handmade, and cute (think patterns). I made my first sling to fit these wants and more, and so Heritage was born.
The name Heritage came to me when I started thinking about what mattered to me in my life and what sets my family apart. I am of Jamaican and Guyanese descent, and my husband Portuguese, but we're both born in Canada. Each carrier is (and will be) named after places that are close to our hearts and the hearts of those we know and love.
S2E2: Fat Positive Motherhood with Nikki B.
This week we are joined by Nikki, a busy woman with a mission! Suzanne and Nikki discuss her brand, Fat Positive Motherhood, her 9-5 career as a business analyst, her small business providing career coaching, and all things motherhood. Special cameo by Nikki's passionate 8 month old!
Nikki B. is a wife, mom, career Coach, fat positive advocate and serial binge watcher living her best life in South Carolina with her obnoxiously loud dog, collection of teen fiction novels, and Sims games. You’ll often find her writing resumes or coaching clients as the founder of Corporate Melanin Millennial, cooking in the kitchen while her hubby washes the dishes, or her new favorite- cuddling her daughter.
Connect with Nikki online here:
Career Coaching
S2E1: Slightly Messier
Would you like to be a guest in Season 2? Email us at ourmessycollective@gmail.com or DM on Instagram @ourmessycollective.
Are you following our TikTok? It's @ourmessycollective
Love our work and want to support us with a monthly contribution of as little as 99¢? Click this link for more info!
Episode 14: The First Last One
In our Season 1 Finale, we catch up, talk about the upcoming holidays, and discuss our hopes for Season 2!
We reflect on our past guests, what we've learned about ourselves, how we can uphold boundaries during the pandemic, and look forward to the new year with realistic expectations.
Thank you for tuning in to the first season of Our Messy Collective!
We will return in 2021!
Episode 13: Eat the Food, Drink the Drinks with @DevonElizabethPlz
TikTok: @devonelizabethplz
Instagram: DevonElizabethPlz
Hello! My name is Devon and I am a fat activist on TikTok. I started on TikTok in March 2020 to pass the time in lockdown, but quickly found myself leaping into the world of fat activism and delivering lectures into my phone. I focus on systemic issues fat people face and use my personal experiences with fatphobia to create a place of community. I also proudly identify as a fat woman and dedicate a lot to work towards changing the narrative around the word “fat”. By day I am a second year law student with an undecided legal path. However, I do hope to work as an advocate for victims of domestic violence in some capacity. I am also a live-in caretaker for my 94-year-old Nana, a wife, a dog mom, a boxer (in my garage), and occasionally, I sleep!
Episode 12: Still Here, Still Messy
Carey and Suzanne update one another and listeners on life since our last episode. We talk about the pandemic, our kids, resiliency, and upcoming episodes.
Episode 11: Struggle Care with KC Davis
Get to know KC in her own words, below!
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I'm KC Davis, a licensed professional counselor, mother of two, and creator of StruggleCare.com. After having my second baby in a new city right as the world shut down from COVID-19, I found herself without access to a support network for months on end. I used every tool in my therapy training arsenal and created a self-compassionate way to address my stress, depression, and ever-mounting laundry pile. After sharing this unique approach on social media, I found myself with 180k followers in under 90 days. The struggle resonated with so many people that I decided to write a book about my approach: How to Keep House While Drowning debuts in November 2020.
Episode 10: Loving Motherhood with Carla Thomas
Social:
facebook.com/love.your.motherhood
instagram.com/loving.motherhood
Sites:
lovingmotherhood.vipmembervault.com
My World's On Fire, How 'Bout Yours?
It's election week in the US and we thought we'd spend a few minutes together just to catch up.
We talk about taking care of ourselves, where the election currently stands, and how we're surviving the uncertainty of this historic time.
Join us for a moment just to take a break.
Episode 9: Hannah Talks Bodies
Hannah Fuhlendorf is a professional counselor, personal coach, and public speaker who specializes in the areas of social justice, fat liberation, and Health at Every Size. She has worked professionally in progressive politics, human rights, eating disorder treatment, substance use treatment, and community mental health. Hannah is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) through the National Board of Certified Counselors and has a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling. When Hannah isn’t working with clients or making TikToks, she enjoys swimming, cooking, and hanging out with her husband and two cats at their home in Colorado.
Handles:
TikTok and Insta: HannahTalksBodies
Web: HannahTalksBodies.com
Episode 8: What babywearing means to YOU!
Episode 7: #plussizebabywearing with Mia O'Malley
Mia O'Malley is an influencer and
advocate for plus size parents and the founder of @plussizebabywearing on Instagram. She is a certified babywearing educator, a social media consultant, a writer, and a mom. She has been featured on the Today Show, Cup of Jo, Plus Size Birth, and The Plus Mommy Podcast.
She loves babywearing, The Office, and most of all being a mom to her 2 year old son Ivan.
To book a consultation with her head to
bit.ly/miaomalleypbw
You can follow her on Instagram @miaomalley
Episode 6: Babywearing + Catching Up
This week we attempt to get back on schedule after both experiencing some unexpected issues. We talk about how we've been doing, how we became friends, how we found babywearing, and how we navigate babywearing as plus size parents. We also discuss World Mental Health Day (10/10) and National Coming Out Day (10/11)
Links:
It Feels Good To Be Yourself: A Book on Gender Identity
Being a Super Trans Ally
Sex Positive Families LGBTQ+ Reading List
Plus Size Babywearing
Episode 5: The NICU
Episode 4: Mental Health & How We Manage
S1E3: Our Big Fat (not Greek) Weddings
S1E2: Birth
We recommend Evidence Based Birth for more information about Inductions
We recommend Plus Size Birth and Plus Mommy for more information about all things plus size motherhood from pregnancy to parenting.
Follow us on Instagram @ourmessycollective
Thanks for listening!