Warrior Moms Podcast

This post is LONG OVERDUE as I am already into month 3 of the Warrior Moms Podcast! Y’all know that I am a one woman show when it comes to anything on the UnSocially Acceptable front but hopefully that will change sooner rather than later.

This last year+ has been met with lots of ups and downs, with Scarlett’s epilepsy becoming the unwanted member of our family. I remember sitting in her hospital room back in August thinking to myself, “So… this is our life now. We will always have Epilepsy to consider. Epilepsy controls us.” And… again in November and December.

I armed myself with knowledge because, truly, knowledge is power. I am very much a data-driven person (remember, I am trained research and legal analyst by all rights and purposes). Once I started to delve into the world of Epilepsy a few trends emerged – the biggest was that there is no really community of support and awareness. I wrote a few blog entries and… then Covid and the Pandemic hit and depression set in.

I very much followed that narrative until one day I decided that I didn’t want to follow that narrative. I wasn’t going to let Epilepsy and the Pandemic dictate how our lives were going to be. I wasn’t going to hold a fixed mindset. Life is what you make it and my motto is “Everything is Figureoutable.” I was going to figure this out. I was going to find a way to advocate for my child and all the other Warriors out there.

There’s a saying the Epilepsy world – that “science is 30 years behind.” I feel like that community support and awareness are equally behind. There was just SO MUCH TO WRITE. It was overwhelming. How was I going to reach the masses when I would be tied to a desk and keyboard trying to navigate my way through all the different forms of epilepsy and it’s comorbidities? There really was no way for me to do that and do all the things I needed to do both inside and outside my home.

Then came a tough love talk from my friend on the heels of a Rise Live Event created by Rachel Hollis, et al., of The Hollis Company. That tough love talk coupled with the inspiration-injection I had just received from Rise lead to the creation of the Warrior Moms Podcast. Have I ever podcasted before? Nope. Had I ever listened to a podcast prior to this conversation? Also, nope. But I knew it was the right path for this community. I ordered a book on Amazon. I read it. I didn’t understand most of it. I ordered a microphone – it was the wrong kind. I ordered a second microphone, also not great but it gets the job done and then I set a date for the first episode.

I was convinced that the show was going to reach, what I still feel, is a very underserved market but I thought for sure it would take time. I thought I would have months to figure out all of this. Well, add that thought to the list of things I was wrong about. This show was an immediate success (by my standards). Things went from 0 to 100 REAL QUICK. I honestly didn’t know what I was doing. Still don’t. I am just trying to figure it out while trying to reach, help, and inspire others.

Let me say this too, I write because I feel that is my gift. If you have read other entries by me, you would also know that I am battling my own health issues and my own weight and body images. So when I launched Warrior Moms I wasn’t quite sure how the whole podcasting thing works but I figured that the easiest way was to just do it live. Yep. I went that route. Live. Video. Live video when you have body image issues. Live video when you have health issues. Live. Effin. Video. I felt that if I was going to jump in feet first I would have to let go of those thoughts in my head and embrace vulnerability and just do the damn thing.

I also didn’t expect the show to be my own personal form of self-care. This is actually not something I have mentioned on the show yet but it is true. If you haven’t caught the show yet, each week we feature a Warrior Mom or someone who works or supports the special needs community. Hearing these stories and connecting with these people has helped me in ways I never even expected and I hope that is doing the same for my guests, community members, and viewers/listeners.

Another thing I wasn’t expecting was the doors of opportunity to open the way that they did. Within the first few weeks multiple people, companies, foundations were all wanting to connect with me to help me build my audience. What a blessing they have been, what a blessing this entire experience has been.

Each week is a learning curve. I started using a streaming service that had poor quality streaming and we had technical difficulties out the ass. I switched over to a new service and that helped so much. Like I said, it has come with a steep learning curve as well as trials and tribulations. I didn’t understand how to edit sound (still don’t) and lost my audio to my first few months of episodes- which is fine, I still have the live video files.

I committed to a weekly episode format not realizing that it would be a HUGE part of my time in the evenings and weekends which, initially, took away from everything else I am doing. I also didn’t realize the financial commitment it would take to do just some of the things right, like the streaming service and the app I use for my marketing graphics.

All in all, the Warrior Moms Podcast has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I look forward to the future of the show and to the changes it will bring to the special needs and epilepsy communities out there.

You can check out the Warrior Moms Podcast on this blog or on our Facebook Page and Group as we stream live there every Wednesday evening at 8pm/CST. We are a live and interactive show so bring your positive feedback and questions and we will do our best to answer them!