💌 SOWM Digest 028 | grit and resilience

Sharing some of my takeaways from yesterday’s workshop! (btw, if you work for a company that hires facilitators and workshop providers, check out Mouna’s offerings on reducing burnout!)

— — —

We’ve been taught that being ✨resilient✨ and developing ✨grit✨ will get us through whatever hurdles life throws at us. And as working moms, we know that the hurdles are many.

But what do you think of when you hear the word “grit”?

I personally envision literally gritting my teeth. 😬 
And tensing every muscle in my body. 😤 

Or I think about old John Wayne movies.

(The point is, none of this is all that appealing to me, and it doesn’t seem to align with the vision of motherhood that I want for myself.)

So when I met Mouna Laaragat several months back and learned about her journey and philosophy behind The Grit Makers, I breathed a sigh of relief.

In 5 minutes of talking to her, my body and mind relaxed. Cultivating grit and resilience wasn’t what I thought it was. At least not when you’re doing it mindfully and sustainably.

— — —

Motherhood is hard.

Resilience and grit ARE necessary.

But in order to keep showing up for yourself, your family, your colleagues… you 👏 need 👏 to 👏 rest.

So unclench that jaw.

Take a deep breath. (DO IT!)

Breathe it all out.

Now think of a micro self-love practice that you could build into an existing no-fail routine (ie: waking up, walking the dog, school drop off, eating dinner, folding laundry).

Is it something just for you? Or is it something your family could get it on?

Leave little notes around the house imploring you to do it.

Give it a week and let me know how it goes! If you’re already in the Slack community, feel free to share your tweaked routine🔒️ for everyone to cheer you on!

(Or feel free to simply reply to this email and I’ll personally cheer you on! 🤸‍♀️📣)

Founder, The Society of Working Moms

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join us over in the paid community! (Former members can re-up their membership here!)

Events Preview

* = member-led session
🤗 = free and open to the public
All other events are open to our paid community only.
(Which, by the way, is less than $1/day and totally worth it!)

• Tuesday, October 22 @ 8:30 - 9:00 PM CT - Speed Networking — “Happy [Half] Hour” 🤗

• Wednesday, October 23 @ 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CT - Group Coaching (note earlier time this week!)

• Friday, October 25 @ 12:30 - 1:00 PM CT - New & Prospective Member Orientation 🤗

• Tuesday, October 29 @ 1:00 - 2:00 PM CT - Ask The Expert: Care Feminism with Elissa Strauss 🤗

• Wednesday, October 30 @ 10:00 - 11:00 AM CT - Creative Command: Design Best Practices* 🤗

• Monday, November 4 @ 10:00 - 11:00 AM CT - Contemplative Circle*

• Monday, November 4 @ 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM CT - Speed Networking — “Coffee Break” 🤗

Register at lu.ma/working-moms.

Member Recs

Never sponsored, just the good stuff as touted inside the Slack community!

This “okay to wake” visual alarm clock for your kiddos; this portable water purifier; this job board for roles in women’s health; this highly approachable nonfiction book about the alimentary canal; this mommy blogger who details her ridiculously ambitious 1600’s Normandy house revival; this podcast for creating a better life, this YouTube channel for getting your kids moving and grooving; this all-too-real novel that touches on themes of the invisible load; these ridiculously comfortable and flattering wide-leg knit pants; this book and philosophy for turning your business into a money-making machine; this cool mist humidifier for baby’s (or your!) bedroom; and this book, this book, and this book encouraging kids to be and love themselves. 🥰 

Meme Me

In lieu of a meme this week, I’m sharing another social share (ht to Missy!)
about “friend love” —

(What makes you fall in “friend love”? Weigh in here!🔒️)

Share your best memes with us by replying to this email or posting in #mom-jokes-and-memes🔒️ and I’ll give you a shout out in the next newsletter!

Weekly Read

How to Get the Most out of Caregiving
14-minute read

• Elissa notes that she was surprised by care when she became a mother, in that she found it more gratifying and complex than she could have anticipated. Were you similarly surprised?

• What does pop culture, theology, philosophy tell us about caregiving, and how does it align with your truth?

• Would you rather have a happy life, or a meaningful one?

• Let’s discuss here🔒️!

(P.s.: This is written by Elissa Strauss, our 10/29 Ask The Expert expert!)

Open Roles

These are all jobs that were recently posted inside the #job-board🔒️.
Warm leads are noted with a ♨️ and only visible to members of the Slack community. If you have a warm lead to share but aren’t in the community, feel free to simply reply to this email!

• ♨️ Director, E-Commerce Site Merchandising @ Spanx (Hybrid Atlanta) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Merchandising Manager @ Spanx (Hybrid Atlanta) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Senior Engineering Manager @ Spanx (Remote) (Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Senior Product Manager @ PuroAir (Remote) (Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Executive Assistant (pt) @ PuroAir (Remote) (Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Hubspot Operations Manager @ Revive (Remote) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Senior Account Lead, Strategy @ Revive (Remote) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Business Development Manager @ Revive (Remote) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Director of Marketing @ Serenity Kids (Hybrid Austin) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Growth Marketing Manager @ CourseStorm (Remote) (PD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Senior Product Designer @ Good Inside (Hybrid NYC) (PD)

• Marketing Manager of Member Communication & Engagement @ Carliloop (Remote) (PD)

• Demand Generation Manager @ Carliloop (Remote) (PD)

Not a FT role, but I’m also looking for a little social media ad help, specifically on LinkedIn & Instagram. Let me know if this is you!

Mindset Moment

Psssst! SOWM members have the distinct pleasure of joining Jess every Wednesday for free weekly group coaching calls! 

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SOWM Member Spotlight

Britni Miltner | Professional Services Leader | Expert in Remote Work, Team & Community Building | Leadership Development | Harvard Cert. in Meta-Leadership & Conflict Resolution | Host of The Remote Mom Collective Podcast

👨‍👩‍👧 Kid: 9-year-old daughter
📍 Location: Atlanta, GA
💗 Favorite thing about the WM Slack community: I'm impressed by the activity and how there are multiple contributions every day. I've belonged to some communities that are very quiet with very little interaction. Working Moms members show up for their community!
📚️ Reading right now: Living Untethered by Michael Alan Singer
📽️ Favorite movie: Any ‘80’s/’90’s rom com
🐕️ Pets: Our Angel dog, Max, crossed the rainbow bridge in late August. He was 16 and my "Soul Dog." My husband and I miss him dearly; he joined our family 1 year after we were married. He was a little chorkie (chihuahua yorkie) with a big personality and will always be our special boy.
👻 Hidden talent: I'm really good at useless trivia, history, and facts. I also am very intuitive, can sense ghosts (!!) and am learning tarot.
🎉 Recent win: I was asked to co-host a virtual wellness summit for military spouses (my husband is retired military). I was very active in the milspouse community while he was active duty, including a podcast for military spouses. I recently started a new podcast for moms who work remotely called The Remote Mom Collective podcast, and was approached based on my past work in the milspouse community and Season 1 of The Remote Mom Collective podcast.
🥾 Favorite way to relax: I like to go on walks or hikes at a nearby trail and either listen to a podcast about spooky stories or listen to meditation music.
🎯 Goal for the upcoming year: Consistency and to be fearless.

SOWM Community News

If you’d like to join, re-up, or otherwise manage your membership, you can always do so at this link.
(If you’re a returning member, please forward me your confirmation email and I’ll reactivate your Slack.)

• Welcome to our newest members: Aparna, Kelly, Rachel, Carrie, Kiersten, and Ashley! 👋 

• This week’s coaching conversation is an hour earlier! Tune in tomorrow at 11AM CT over in #coaching-convos🔒️ for a conversation all about boundaries!

• Attn: biz owners — vote on a time🔒️ if you’d like to have another consultants call before the end of the year!

• I’ve tweaked some channels:

  • #like-my-post is now #posts-and-promo🔒️ — a catch-all for all things promotional (vs. just pointing to LinkedIn content)

  • #food-and-recipes is now #i-made-this🔒️ — a catch-all for anything you made (food, craft project, human, etc.)

• I’m switching up our newsletter cadence, with every other week being a simple SOWM events roundup.

• For funsies, I mapped out our membership last week. Not sure what I’ll do with this information, but figured it was worth keeping track of as we continue to grow! 🤷‍♀️ 

ISO…

If you want to help but are not in Slack, simply reply to this email and I’ll make the connection.

• … a good CPA for a freelancer (Slack thread🔒️)

• … best books to have on hand for Java (Slack thread🔒️)

• … recommendation from fellow “second brain” keepers on optimizing 2-week lead-in to a new job (Slack thread🔒️)

Slacktivity Highlights

The following are 10 of the hottest conversations from this past week inside the SOWM Slack community.

• Any children of divorce? (weigh in! 🔒️)

• Returning to the org you left (wwyd?🔒️)

• Stand out in a crowded field (take note! 🔒️)

• Mixed feelings around possible “lasts” (support!🔒️)

• Happy 8th birthday to this babe and mom! (celebrate!🔒️)

• A long-game contract win for this solopreneur (wahoo! 🔒️)

• Buy Nothing FB group lending situation gone awry (wwyd?🔒️)

• Another win after dipping toes in the freelance waters (yay! 🔒️)

• The issue with LinkedIn engagement pods (share your thoughts!🔒️)

• How to have tough financial conversations with your parents (weigh in!🔒️)

And can we all just collectively celebrate the delayed-onset “September Surge” that this group has been experiencing?! 

Congrats to Meghan, Yami, and Annie for all landing roles in the last couple of weeks!!

💃 💃 💃