What the HECK am I doing?

Hi, I’m Jill, the founder of Mama Outspoken! (I think this might be the third intro of me on this blog, but as I grow, I feel that I must reintroduce myself) 

Here’s the news! I transitioned to my new business from being a virtual assistant. It’s FINALLY here and will be launching so soon! BUT, not only that. My husband has joined me in helping out with my new podcast. You can now catch us together talking about our journey into parenthood. 

The mom group that I joined right after our son was born has been a lifesaver for us. This group of women, although different each week, is my extended village; I go to them with questions or seek validation without judgement, a truly safe space for me to retreat to. Each meeting we share our highs and lows for the week (peaks and valleys). This is always my favorite part, so of course, it is how I wanted to start off my podcast. 

My husband, Bobby, and I recently joined my parents camping upstate NY. We were so unsure how this would be taking our son out of his element and disrupting his patterns and normalcy - mostly just concerned about how well he would sleep. We were pleasantly surprised! He slept better than we thought and loved being in nature so much. It was definitely difficult sometimes. Bobby found it rough when we went on a hike and the baby was great for the first leg, but became irritable after some time (we were told the trails took about 35 mins...NOOOO we hiked for over two hours!!!!) and it was completely understandable. 

 

 

What the HECK am I doing?

We figured that we would explain to listeners (and ourselves lol) why we started this new podcast. Of course, Bobby is just along for the ride because he’s a great husband like that. But this was the next step for me according to my mastermind group. My mentor pushed me to get started and it just so happened that Bobby and I had been playing around with the idea for some time and this was the push we needed. 

Bobby and I can find ourselves in great conversations once the baby goes down for the night and have often said that we should have recorded it. So that little push really got me thinking and Bobby was totally on board. We decided to make this first season about our journey to becoming parents. Obviously, it is the most impactful thing in our lives at the moment and the reason behind my business. 

 

 

So what is the reason behind Mama Outspoken?

While I was on maternity leave Bobby and I had a difficult time seeing the benefit of me continuing to work in a lousy environment (NYS DMV) even with a potential promotion when I went back to work. We’d both be working 10 hour days and have very little reliable help from family which meant we’d have to spend more than I made for childcare. So we made a tough decision that I would stay home and care for the baby. I also discovered 90 Day VA at the same time and thought the investment to learn to be a virtual assistant would really pay off and help us out. 

One of my clients adopted me as her mentee and pointed out to me that I was meant to serve a higher purpose with my business. I struggled throughout my pregnancy and the early postpartum period. Bobby and I felt that “nobody told me that” was an issue and it became the spark for us to share my motherhood journey with others. We don’t want to scare people, we just want them to know that it can be scary becoming parents and that it’s okay. There is support and help for you; you are not alone.

So I shifted my focus from helping mom owned small businesses as a virtual assistant to helping those moms directly, to help mamas find their voices and be heard, advocate for themselves, and spread awareness for motherhood transitions.

The first episode of the podcast dropped today, we hope that you’ll take a listen and join us on this wild ride of parenthood!