Mother's Quest Podcast
by Julie Neale
Are you a mom who is ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life? A few months before a big milestone birthday, host Julie Neale, a life and leadership coach, community builder and mom to two high-energy boys, decided to stop sidelining her dreams and become the hero of her own journey. She created this show to help light her way by gathering words of wisdom and lessons learned from other mothers further ahead on their quest. Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, engaging mindfully with their children (E), passionately and purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), investing in themselves (I), and connecting to a strong support network (C). Come along with Julie and you are sure to find some treasures of your own.
Episodes
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Ep 115: Father's Day Special: Four Fathers on the E.P.I.C. Framework
Welcome to this Father's Day special of the Mother's Quest Podcast. This year, I decided to reach out to the husbands and life partners of incredible mothers I've interviewed on the podcast in the past, inviting four extraordinary fathers to share their reflections on living an E.P.I.C. life....
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Ep 114: Fierce Love, Grief and Showing Up Anyway with Tricia Creason-Valencia
I'm honored to share this special Mother's Day episode with my friend Tricia Creason-Valencia, recorded live in the UnMuted Studio at PowerHouse, the creative event space Tricia co-founded in San Jose. Tricia and I first came into each other's lives while collaborating on the Autism Storytelling...
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Ep 113: A New Way of Life: How Love Disrupts Systems of Harm with Susan Burton and Pamela Marshall
I'm honored to bring you a special episode of the Mother's Quest Podcast during Black History Month, featuring two extraordinary Black women, Susan Burton and Pamela Marshall, who are shaping history in real time, breaking cycles of incarceration for women through their work with the organization…
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Ep 112: Mothering Through the Darkness: Lessons Inspired by The Mystics Almanac
Welcome to this special episode, one I recorded in the days leading up to the holidays and the winter solstice, the darkest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. This season, when the nights are long and the light feels scarce, invites us to pause, reflect, and seek warmth and meaning in...
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Ep 111: Living Resistance: A Call for These Times with Poet Kaitlin Curtice
In a world heavy with heartbreak and injustice, I've been searching for ways to stay grounded in my humanity…ways to resist not only despair, but also the systems of harm and oppression around us. My guest today, Kaitlin Curtice, calls this practice living resistance. Kaitlin is an award-winning...
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We Bought the Block: Building Legacy, Love and Community in South LA With Joe Ward-Wallace
Welcome to this special Father's Day episode of the Mother's Quest Podcast. Each year, I feature a father who is not only present for his own family but also answering a larger call to lead and serve in the world. This year, all signs pointed to me interviewing Joe Ward-Wallace! Joe is a retired...
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Turning Toward One Another with Rabbi Sharon Brous
At a time when so many of us feel brokenhearted by the ongoing pain, uncertainty and polarization in our world, Rabbi Sharon Brous has been a grounding force and a guiding light for me and so many. She is the senior rabbi and founder of IKAR, a leading-edge Jewish community based in Los Angeles,...
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Ep. 108: E.P.I.C. Life Dreams and Unicorn Teams with Jen Kem
Hello and Welcome to Season Ten of the Mother's Quest Podcast. It's hard to believe it's been nearly a decade since I first opened the metaphorical door to Mother's Quest—sparked by the day two birds got trapped in my house and helped me realize it was time to stop staying stuck; it was time to…
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Ep 107: Start the Year with Resilience: Ayurvedic Wisdom for Tough Times with Dr. Avanti Kumar-Singh
Welcome to this episode of the Mother's Quest Podcast—the first of 2025 and the final episode of Season Nine before I take a winter break and prepare to launch Season Ten in the spring. As I sat down for this conversation with Dr. Avanti Kumar Singh just before the holiday break, I had no idea of...
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Ep 106: The Secret to Impacting Our Democracy with States Project's Melissa Walker
As I bring you this episode, we are less than two weeks from the 2024 U.S. Election. In preparation for this moment, I seized the opportunity to sit down with Melissa Walker, a children's book author turned powerful political advocate, instrumental in the founding of an organization called The...
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Ep 105: The Evolution of Parenting Teens and Beyond with Parent Coach Casey O'Roarty
I'm excited to share this conversation with my longtime fellow podcasting friend and parenting guide, Casey O'Roarty. Casey is a positive discipline trainer, certified coach and facilitator of personal growth and development, who encourages parents to discover the purpose of our journey. Through...
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Ep 104: Calm, Compassion, Clarity: Election 2024
I'm excited to share with you this special episode featuring bite-sized messages from past podcast guests with practices to help us stay grounded, find calm, and regulate our nervous systems in these final days leading up to the 2024 U.S. election! The inspiration for it… A few weeks ago, amid…
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Ep 103: Knowing Our History: Civil Rights Insights for Today's World with Sojourn Project's Jeff Steinberg
I'm honored to share this special Father's Day edition of the Mother's Quest Podcast. This episode features my friend Jeff Steinberg, whose commitment to the lessons of the civil rights movement can shine a light for us now, during another pivotal time in our nation's history. Jeff and I first...
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Ep 102: Milestone Hike Revisited: A Mother Son Neurodiversity Journey
Welcome to this first episode of Season Nine of the Mother's Quest Podcast with a returning and special guest, my own son Ryan Neale. I first sat down to record an episode with Ryan in 2017, on his 13th birthday, after we embarked on a milestone hike, using the ascent and descent at our local...
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Ep 101: Stoking our Soul Fire for a Revolution from Home with Beth Berry
Welcome to this last conversation of 2023, with coach, teacher, small group and retreat facilitator at Revolution from Home, mother of four daughters and author of the book Motherwhelmed, Beth Berry. Beth says she has revolution in her bones. It began when she was seventeen and pumping milk in…
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Ep 100: Mothering as Revolutionary Love
This September 11, 2023, I had the honor of holding space for an intimate conversation with civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, educator, and best-selling author of the book SEE NO STRANGER, Valarie Kaur. The fact that we were recording on September 11th was meaningful, because...
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Dear Body Revisited: And Then I Got Shingles
This month, I was planning to record a special solocast to welcome in our 100th episode of the podcast. Instead, three days before my son Jacob's scheduled knee surgery on July 11th, I got diagnosed with shingles. I'm recovering well and so is Jacob thankfully. But it really caused me to revisit…
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Ep 99: Building and Thinking Outside the Box with David Neale
I'm honored to share this special Father's Day Episode featuring my very own father-in-law, David Neale. I started dating my husband Chris when I was only 19, so I realize David has been a source of inspiration and guidance in my life for over 30 years. How lucky I am to have had his example of...
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Ep 98: Sometimes Change Sucks "Reflections at the 5 year Anniversary of the Manifesto Challenge" With Graeme Seabrook
In 2018, I sat down for a special Mother's Day episode with Graeme Seabrook, a life coach and maternal health advocate, affectionately known by the thousands of mothers she supported as the "Mom for Moms." We hit it off immediately, delving deep into her Motherhood Bill of Rights and my E.P.I.C....
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Ep 97: Reclaiming Our Time and Creativity through Fair Play in the Household with Eve Rodsky and special guest Co-host Caren Lettiere
Welcome to this special Season Seven finale episode of the Mother's Quest Podcast, released on International Women's Day 2023. It feels like just right timing to bring this conversation to you, but the seeds for this episode have been germinating since last spring, when Jill Daniel of Happy Women...
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Ep 96: Coming Home To Ourselves with Self-Care Coach Jamie Greenwood
In 2016, on a leap of faith, I signed up for something called a Power Circle and was guided through a six month process by this amazing facilitator Jamie Greenwood. In the space that Jamie held for a small group of us, I said out loud my dreams for Mother's Quest for the first time, and at…
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Throwback Thursday: Smashing the Kyriarchy with Books for Littles Ashia Ray
I am honored to bring you back to a powerful and important conversation with a woman who deeply impacted my life and my children's life, Ashia Ray of Raising Luminaries and Books for Littles. Thousands of parents like me seek Ashia's help in finding the best books to foster age-appropriate...
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Throwback Thursday: "Flawed" with Truth Bomb Mom Kristina Kuzmic
2022 is almost over; it's time to reflect and set intentions for the upcoming new year! As I thought about what episode I wanted to bring back to you, I kept coming to this conversation with the Truth Bomb Mom Kristina Kuzmic. One of the most powerful takeaways of this episode is how owning her...
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Throwback Thursday: Here Comes the Sun: A Solocast on Death, Grief, and Love
This Throwback Thursday episode releases just one day after winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, the darkest day of the year which also marks the moment when we begin to usher in more light. It's also just days after the anniversary of my father's death. What I've learned again and again...
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Throwback Thursday: Being Seen and The Power of Reflection with Leslie Medine In Honor of our Great Coach Edd Conboy
I'm honored to share this throwback episode with a mentor and coach who has had a tremendous impact on the person and parent I am today, Leslie Medine. I released this episode on December 21st, 2020, on the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year in the northern hemisphere, in honor of a…
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Throwback Thursday: Making Space and Finding Rhythm with "Kindie Rock" Star Laurie Berkner
I'm honored to share this throwback episode with best-selling, award-winning, children's recording artist Laurie Berkner. Laurie's music bridges a divide between parents and their children and invites connection, joy and meaning. In our conversation, I was compelled by the stories Laurie shared...
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Throwback Thursday: Overcoming Overwhelm with Dr. Samantha Brody
Sharing this Throwback Thursday episode with Dr. Samantha Brody, author of Overcoming Overwhelm: Dismantle Your Stress from the Inside Out. She is a licensed naturopathic physician and acupuncturist, and the founder of Evergreen Natural Health Center in Portland, OR. I invite you to press pause…
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Throwback Thursday: Blazing a Transgender Trail with Corey Rae and her mother Judy Blank
This Throwback Thursday, in honor of Transgender Remembrance Day that just passed and the memory of the five people who were killed this week at the LGBTQ+ Club Q, we reshare this episode with transgender model and activist Corey Rae and her mother Judy Blank. May the love and courage explored in...
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Ep 95: An Anti-Hustle Guide To Living Your E.P.I.C. Life with She Build's Jadah Sellner
In 2015, when Mother's Quest was still a dream in my heart, I heard an interview with an inspiring mother, Jadah Sellner, on the Good Life Project Podcast. She and her partner had co-created what became in a short time a viral phenomenon and seven figure flourishing business, called Simple Green...
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Throw Back Thursday: Sit at the Table & Own Your Power with Chandra Brooks
This Throwback Thursday episode arrives as final votes are being counted in the 2022 elections in the United States. It's a full circle moment to revisit this powerful conversation from 2017 with community activist, TedX speaker, author of the book "Black Brown and Political: Get Informed, Get...
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Throw Back Thursday: MOM THE VOTE: Election Impact Advice To Light Your Way
As the election in the United States approaches, I'm honored to bring back these words of wisdom from a diverse group of mothers working toward a brighter future in this special episode "Mom the Vote." Original Show Notes At the time of this episode's release, we are at a crossroads in the United...
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Throwback Thursday: Space, Grace & Love Planted Across Generations with Tembi Locke
In honor of Mother's Quest turning 5, all season we've been sharing Throwback Thursday episodes from the archives. I've been excitedly anticipating resharing this episode with you with actress, author of the memoir From Scratch, and now co-creator and executive producer of the Netflix series by…
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Throwback Thursday: An Honest Conversation with Rowan About Her Journey of Mental Health & Self Discovery with Casey and Rowan O'Roarty
For this weeks' Throwback Thursday, I'm excited to do a podcast exchange with Mother's Quest member and fellow podcaster Casey O'Rourty. Casey is a positive discipline trainer and parent coach and host of the Joyful Courage Podcast. When Casey and I talked about sharing favorite episodes on one...
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Ep 94: Dear Body: Reflections on Embracing and Embodying 50
This fall, I was honored to participate as a community host for a reboot of a Zibby Owens podcast, now called Moms Don't Have Time to Move and Shake. The reflection and recording of the episode was transformative for me, shifting the way I think about my body, especially in this stage of my life,...
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Throwback Thursday: Unmasking Motherhood with Katherine Wintsch
This October, taking a cue from the leaves on the trees this fall season, I'll share episodes that invite us to release the societal and internal pressures that disempower and confine us in the "role" of motherhood. Let's examine them through powerful conversations with Mother's Quest Podcast...
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Throwback Thursday: On a Quest for Peace and Reconciliation Parents Circle Interview With Layla Alsheikh and Robi Damelin
This Throwback Thursday, I wanted to bring back a powerful episode I released a year ago, with two mothers, Layla and Robi from the Parents Circle, who are working toward peace and reconciliation in Israel and Palestine. Alongside the release of the episode, I set an intention to raise $10,000…
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Ep 93: Learning Outside the Lines in College with Neurodivergent Advocates Ryan Neale & Jonathan Mooney
I'm honored to bring you this special part two with dyslexic writer, award winning author, entrepreneur and activist Jonathan Mooney, this time interviewed by my neurodivergent college freshman son, Ryan Neale. If you haven't yet listened to part one for a full exploration of Jonathan's E.P.I.C....
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Throwback Thursday: The Healer Lies Within through Ayurveda with Avanti Kumar Singh
"Each of us has that innate ability to attain and maintain our own optimal health – the real healer lies within." — Avanti Kumar Singh Touching on each E.P.I.C guidepost on this Throwback Thursday episode, Avanti shares how Ayurveda can become a powerful lens for living a healthy, reflective…
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Throwback Thursday: Talking about Boys and Sex with Peggy Orenstein
This month in the Mother's Quest Facebook Group, we're focused on the big transitions under way for our children and ourselves during this back to school season. To join the group and the conversation, visit www.mothersquest.com/community. This topic feels especially important for me this year,...
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Throwback Thursday: Back to School Milestone Hike: My Secret to Starting The School Year Well
This Throwback Thursday's minisode is inspired by the photos, posts and stories from so many of you about your children's new beginnings at the start of this school year. Recorded a few years ago, it outlines my secret to a powerful start that we can share with our children…an experience called a...
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Ep 92: Showing Up with Shameless Mom Academy's Sara Dean
Today's show with keynote speaker, business and leadership coach and Step into Your Moxie® facilitator Sara Dean, was five years in the making and worth the wait! Sara is the creator and host of the Shameless Mom Academy Podcast, a top rated podcast with over 600 episodes and 5 million downloads....
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Throwback Thursday: A Maker's Journey to a Good Life with Jonathan Fields
As I record this opening today, I'm filled with emotion because I just dropped off my son Ryan at UCLA for his freshmen orientation. Check the show notes for more reflections about this epic snapshot moment. Last night, Ryan and I stayed up late talking about what he wants to study in college and...
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Throwback Thursday: Weaving our Ancestral Threads with Genealogist Nicka Smith
I hope you've been listening over the past few months to our Throwback Thursday series…episodes I'm curating from the archives for you to listen to again, or for the first time, if they are new to you. This Throwback Thursday, there were so many reasons I decided to select this episode titled...
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Throwback Thursday: Core Values, Ohana and Keystone Habits With Kalika Yap
I'm excited to revisit this episode with Kalika Yap, a serial entrepreneur, inventor, intentional mother, and business leader. Kalika is from more humble beginnings. She came from a big family born in the Philippines in the time of Martial Law that then moved to a low income community in Hawaii....
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Throwback Thursday: Planting Seeds for Mother's Quest – An Introduction
Last week on the podcast I shared a solocast about the power of manifestos and the many ways that we can express them. I was reminded that my first episode of the podcast, called "Planting Seeds for Mother's Quest" was a manifesto itself, an expression of where I had been, where I was headed, and…
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Ep 91: The Power of Manifestos
Ever wanted to create a manifesto, a personal declaration of how you want to live your life? In this new solocast on the podcast, I share my story of creating manifestos, more about what they are, the many different ways that we can express them, and an invitation for you to create your own! In...
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Throwback Thursday: The Power of Friendship and a 50 Year-Old Book Club with Fran Lieberman and Sandy Klasky
This month, in the Mother's Quest Community, we've been celebrating the power of books. It made me think about this past episode with my mother Fran and her dear friend Sandy Klasky about their then 50 year old book club. This year, the book club will be turning 55 and is still going strong, even...
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Throwback Thursday: Living and Loving with Authenticity with Hands Free Mama Rachel Macy Stafford
This Throwback Thursday episode comes to you while I'm away on vacation at my happy place, UCLA's Bruin Woods in Lake Arrowhead. While here for the week, I've made it an annual tradition to take off all my social media apps from my phone, truly unplug, and be present. The inspiration for this…
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Throwback Thursday: Rising Up with Paola Mendoza
In the wake of the reversal of Roe v Wade, 49 years since women finally received the constitutional right to abortion, women across the country are rising up to have our voices heard. I knew this moment called for bringing back this powerful 2017 conversation with mother, filmmaker, author, and...
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Throwback Thursday: A Call for Kinetic Partnership with While Black's Darius Hicks
For this Throwback Thursday, just after Father's Day, I knew I wanted to bring you this episode with my friend, an incredible father and podcaster at the While Black Podcast, Darius Hicks. This past week in the United States, in addition to Father's Day, we also acknowledged Juneteenth (short for...
About this show
Are you a mom who is ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life? A few months before a big milestone birthday, host Julie Neale, a life and leadership coach, community builder and mom to two high-energy boys, decided to stop sidelining her dreams and become the hero of her own journey. She created this show to help light her way by gathering words of wisdom and lessons learned from other mothers further ahead on their quest. Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, engaging mindfully with their children (E), passionately and purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), investing in themselves (I), and connecting to a strong support network (C). Come along with Julie and you are sure to find some treasures of your own.
Hosted by
Julie Neale