💌 SOWM Digest 040 | Happy Mother's MAY!

I’ve never been particularly good at being “celebrated.”

There’s the whole being in the spotlight thing. (Especially cringey on birthdays!) There’s the dreaded, What do you want or want to do for [insert holiday]? question, where you're grateful to be asked but completely overwhelmed by the decision fatigue. And of course there’s the unmet expectations. (Not to mention the shame of having any expectations at all!)

My own Mother’s Day was a mostly typical Sunday. A lovely day, but not really a “special” day.

I also didn’t ask for anything particularly special. l’m fairly low-maintenance, so I suppose I got the Mother’s Day my husband assumed I wanted.

In a weekly group coaching call, coach Jess recently implored us to look for the “micro moments” of joy in our lives. Sometimes you have to look a bit harder for them… you might even have to go out of your way to create them (or ask for them!)!

If last Sunday wasn’t quite what you’d hoped for, for whatever reason, may you find pieces of what you did hope for throughout the rest of the month.

So for the rest of Mother’s MAY, let’s find small ways celebrate ourselves (and practice communicating what we want!) a little bit each day.

Upcoming Events

* = member-led session
🤗 = free & open to the public

Tuesday, 5/20 @ 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM CT
New & Prospective Member Orientation 🤗

Wednesday, 5/21 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Coaching Convo: Burnout Recovery & Prevention (w Jess)

Wednesday, 5/28 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Coaching Convo: Permission to Feel Good (w Jess)

Thursday, 5/29 @ 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM CT
3×30 Networking “Coffee Break” 🤗

Thursday, 5/29 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Introduction to CliftonStrengths *

Friday, 5/30 @ 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM CT
SOWM IRL: Twin Cities Moms(+) Meetup

Wednesday, 6/4 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Coaching Convo: Financial Empowerment for Moms (w Jess)

Thursday, 6/5 @ 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM CT
Purposefully Present Workshop *🤗 

Member Recs

The good stuff, as touted inside the Slack community!

GOODS — this bling for chapped nursing nipples, this sunscreen for sensitive skin and this mineral sunscreen with a UV-indicating cap! (Drop more of your favorite products [or ask for a suggestion!] over in #member-recs!)

RESOURCES — this Calm app spinoff for decidedly “not-calm” moms and this free AI tool for creating calendar events from [almost] thin air.

MEDIA — This best-selling novel that’s a “wry and tender love-letter to the best of being human,” this quirky workplace sitcom about starting over, this book about how tuberculosis shapes our world, and this deeply human TV medical drama.

RECIPES — this beginner friendly creme brûlée and this 3-ingredient, from-scratch mac & cheese.

Today’s newsletter is brought to you by:

Curated gift boxes for moms.

Open Roles & Opportunities

(Want to share a parent-friendly role with our dynamic members? Simply reply to this email and I’ll include in our #job-board channel… extra good karma for warm leads! ♨️)

• ♨️ Paid Social Strategist @ Approach Marketing (remote, PT) (Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Sr. Manager, Loyalty and Brand Marketing @ The Parking Spot (hybrid - Chicago) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Operations Consultant & Strategist @ Magical Teams (remote, PT) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• ♨️ Sr. HR Manager @ USTA Mid-Atlantic Foundation (remote - Mid-Atlantic, FT) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Sr. Content Marketer @ Compt (remote but with state residency reqs) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Paid Media Manager @ Bobbie (remote, temp to hire) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• FP&A Manager @ Bobbie (remote) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Communications Specialist @ Rosie Riveters (remote - Eastern Time, PT) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Lead Director, Strategy & Product Mgt, Genomics & Precision Medicine (and several more positions) @ CVS (remote) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Executive Communications Manager @ NVIDIA (remote) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

• Partner Business Manager @ NVIDIA (remote) (JD / Slack thread🔒️)

Our very own Shannon Amspacher, founder of Potluck, is looking for a technical co-founder. If you are a pragmatic, full-stack engineer who is passionate about community-powered meal sharing, go build something amazing with Shannon! 🍀

SOWM Community News

• Welcome to our newest members 👋 Angie C., Heather Z., Shayna A., Marizza E., Raihana A., Roberta D., Kierstin R., and Tara R.!

  • And welcome to our newest babe, Lainey Lynn! 🐣 

• Happy anniversary to our newest member of the 1-year club! 🎉 Alicia H., Maria Q., Arden E., Stephanie F., Kelsey O., and Leila S.!

• SOWM membership gifting is live! Now in monthly, quarterly, and annual increments!

  • Pssssst, not too late to ask for a little bonus Mother’s May gift! 😉 

• ATTN: Job seekers — our weekly job-seeker circle is starting June 5!

• The recording of our recent Mental Health in the Middle Years Ask The Expert can be found here🔒️!

• Copies of The Mother Code should be in hand for everyone and we are looking forward to the author chat on 6/24! In the meantime, feel free to discuss it over in #no-stakes-book-club🔒️ as you go (announce and then thread any spoilers, please!)

• Speaking of which, a gentle reminder to please thread your replies to keep channel clutter down (and to spare your fellow overextended mamas from any extraneous notifications)! 😚 

Slack Sampler Platter

(Here’s just a sampling of the chatter happening inside the community. 🧀 To see these and the other ~130 conversations that have happened over the last ~2 weeks, join us!)

• Tips for public speaking?

• Mother’s Day photo outtakes

• WFH momming on a short fuse

• A hard-fought internal promotion

• High energy babies and schedules

• Feeling off one’s game in “Maycember”

• Planning parental leave at a Series A startup

• Best practices with a house cleaning service?

• To start kindergarten, or wait it out another year?

• Creating an “all-in” bowl for hassle-free family fun

• 13 weeks pregnant with a toddler and so. many. feels.

• How to approach child care about nutrition preferences

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