Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All With Nikki
by Nikki Wallace
Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki is the podcast for powerhouse moms juggling kids, careers, relationships, and big dreams...while navigating the chaos of modern motherhood.Hosted by pharmacist, entrepreneur, and mom of three Nikki Wallace, each episode blends honest storytelling, real-life struggles, and practical encouragement for moms who feel like they’re carrying it all.From mom guilt to mental load, parenting wins to personal growth, Nikki shares her own journey alongside conversations with authors, entrepreneurs, and fellow moms. This mom life podcast is all about work life balance for moms, motherhood and entrepreneurship, and tackling mom guilt and the mental load with encouragement and actionable takeaways.If you’ve ever thought:“I love my kids, but I feel guilty wanting space.”“I’m exhausted, but I can’t slow down.”“I want to build something for myself, but I don’t know how.”…then this show is for you.This isn’t about being a perfect mom. It’s abo
Episodes
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Episode 97: Why Do Moms Feel Like Bad Parents When We Let Go? Mom Guilt, Letting Go & Having Fun Too
Have you ever let your kids go off on their own for the first time and immediately felt like you were doing something wrong? They are up the street with their friends. You are finally talking to another grown-up. You are laughing. You are actually finishing your sentences. And then a little voice...
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Episode 96: Why Do Moms Blame Ourselves When Our Kids Struggle? | Mom Guilt, Fear of Failure & Kids Who Feel Different
Have you ever tucked your child into bed and walked out of the room wondering if you have gotten this whole parenting thing wrong? Your child is lonely. Your child cries the second someone corrects them. Your kids say they do not have friends. They ask to be homeschooled. And suddenly one…
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Episode 95: Not Rich Enough. Not Pretty Enough. Not Skinny Enough. Says Who? | Mom Comparison, Feeling Inadequate & Imposter Syndrome
Have you ever picked up your phone late at night and, two minutes later, decided you are behind in your entire life? One mom ran a half marathon. Another made homemade costumes for every kid. Somebody launched a business. Somebody's kitchen is spotless. And suddenly you feel not rich enough, not...
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Episode 94: Lonely in a Room Full of People | Friendship, Fitting In & Finding Your People
Have you ever stood in a room full of people and felt completely alone? Everyone is laughing. Everyone seems to know each other. And you are standing by the snack table, pretending to be very interested in the pretzels. Now imagine your child feeling that way. This weekend my daughter went to a...
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Episode 93: Are You Having a Bad Day... Or Did You Have a Bad 10 Minutes? | Mom Stress, Mindset & Choosing What Happens Next
Have you ever had something go wrong first thing in the morning and decided five minutes later that the entire day was ruined? The kids cannot find their shoes. Someone spills breakfast. Nobody is listening. You are running late. You lose your patience. And suddenly... “Today is going to be a...
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Episode 92: Why Are We Trying So Hard to Impress Everyone? | Self Worth, Comparison & Finally Being Yourself
How much of your life is spent worrying about what other people think? How you look. What you wear. How your kids behave. Whether your house is clean enough. Whether you are a good enough mom. Whether you are successful enough. Whether people like you. But what if they judge you anyway? This…
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Episode 91: The Things We Miss When We Need Everything to Feel Safe | Fear, Control & Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone
Have you ever noticed how quickly your brain can take one uncomfortable moment and turn it into the worst possible scenario? A child does not answer their phone. Your boss says, “Can we talk?” You hear a noise in the middle of the night. You walk into an unfamiliar situation and suddenly your…
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Episode 90: Are We Raising Resilient Kids... or Pushing Them Too Hard? | Tough Love, Grit & Knowing When to Stop
We want to raise resilient kids. But can we push that lesson too far? At a soccer game this weekend, Nikki watched an 8 or 9-year-old boy who had already played three games in extreme heat tell an adult he wasn't okay. He raised his hand, came out of the game, and later said he felt sick to his...
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Episode 89: Why Do I Have No Patience Anymore? | Perimenopause, Mom Rage & Feeling Overstimulated
Why do I have no patience anymore? One more question. One more interruption. One more kid asking for the exact same thing you already said no to five minutes ago, and suddenly you feel like you're about to lose it. Then comes the mom guilt. Why did I react like that? Was I always this irritable?…
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Episode 88: Why Is It So Hard for Moms to Let Our Kids Figure It Out? | Mom Control & Learning to Step Back
Why is it so hard for moms to let our kids figure things out on their own even when we know they're completely capable? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a hilarious and surprisingly emotional moment from her kids' very first cross-country…
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Episode 87: We're Not 1950s Moms... So Why Are We Still Trying to Be? | Motherhood, Identity & Expectations
We're raising families in a completely different world, so why are so many moms still trying to live up to an outdated definition of what a “good mom” should be? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki sits down with her friend Laura for a conversation that...
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Episode 86: Why Moms Struggle When Kids Go Back to School | Mom Guilt, Growing Up & Letting Go
When did they get so big? Back to school is supposed to be exciting. New teachers. New friends. New experiences. A fresh start. So why can it also make a mom want to cry? This week, after Meet the Teacher nights, back to school bashes and preparing three kids to enter fourth, fifth and sixth...
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Episode 85: Why Moms Get So Emotional About Kids’ Sports | When Their Wins and Losses Feel Like Our Own
Have you ever watched your child compete and somehow felt like YOU were the one competing? After watching my daughter struggle during her 3 meter competition at USA Diving Nationals, I found myself genuinely upset. And then I had to ask myself a hard question: Why am I taking this so personally...
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Episode 84: Why Moms Need to Stop Waiting to Take Care of Themselves | Healthy Moms, Healthy Families
What if the greatest gift you could give your family isn't doing more... but taking better care of yourself? This week, a conversation at a community event stopped Nikki in her tracks. A mom walked up after seeing the health products on her table and said something that so many women quietly...
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Episode 83: The High-Achieving Mom Trap | Why Doing Everything Is Keeping You Overwhelmed
Do you ever feel like you're carrying your entire family on your shoulders? If you're a high-achieving mom, you've probably said these words before: "It's just easier if I do it myself." "By the time I explain it, I could have already finished it." "If I don't remind everyone, it won't get done."...
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Episode 82: Why Moms Just Want to Feel Chosen | The Emotional Side of Motherhood Nobody Talks About
Have you ever felt overlooked... even after giving everything to your family? As moms, we spend countless hours planning, packing, organizing, encouraging, and making sure everyone else has what they need. Most of that work happens behind the scenes and often goes unnoticed. After her daughter's...
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Episode 81: Why Moms Lose Themselves After Kids | Identity, Self-Worth & The Questions I Couldn't Answer
Have you ever been asked a simple question about yourself... and realized you didn't know how to answer? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a powerful coaching conversation that uncovered something she wasn't expecting. After years of balancing...
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Episode 80: Why Making Mom Friends Feels So Hard | Loneliness, Friendship & Finding Your People Again
Why does making friends as an adult and especially as a mom feel so much harder than it used to? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares an unexpected Fourth of July story that reminded her how deeply many moms long for genuine connection. Somewhere...
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Episode 79: I Left for Four Days... and Came Home a Different Woman | Learning to Let Go as a Mom
I thought leaving for four days would teach me how to become a better entrepreneur. Instead, it taught me how to become a better mom. Like so many mothers, I believed balancing it all meant making sure every detail was handled by me. Before I boarded my flight, I had packed bags, coordinated...
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Episode 78: Why Moms Can't Just Pack a Bag and Leave | Travel, Kids, Work & Keeping It All Together
Why is it that moms can physically leave the house, but mentally we never really leave at all? This week, I'm heading to Arizona for a mastermind event while my husband and daughter travel to Orlando for a diving competition. My parents are flying in from New York to stay with my boys. Add in...
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Episode 77: When Did You Stop Being You? | Motherhood, Identity & Finding Yourself Again
When was the last time you thought about who YOU are? Not as a mom. Not as a wife. Not as an employee. Not as the person everyone depends on. Just you. In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, I share a powerful realization that came from working through my own...
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Episode 76: Why Moms Feel Burned Out When Their Values and Priorities Don't Match | Family Time, Healthy Boundaries & Intentional Living
What if the reason you're feeling burned out isn't because you're doing too much... What if it's because your daily life no longer reflects what matters most? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a powerful realization she had after returning from…
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Episode 75: Why Moms Struggle to Accept Help | The Gift I Almost Refused
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to help other people... but how uncomfortable it feels when someone wants to help you? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares the unexpected story of a Sunday morning run with her two boys that led to a powerful...
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Episode 74: Why Moms Are Craving Simplicity More Than Success | Mom Burnout, Overwhelmed Moms & Escaping Hustle Culture
After a 9-night Alaskan cruise with her family, Nikki came home with an unexpected realization… She did not miss the chaos. She did not miss the constant rushing from activity to activity. She did not miss the endless pressure to do it all. And for the first time in a long time, she started...
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Episode 73: It Wasn’t Just My Hair | Mom Burnout, Self-Care Struggles & Why Time for Yourself Feels So Hard
Why does something small feel so big sometimes? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a real-life story about a simple hair appointment that turned into something much deeper. From coordinating schedules, juggling kids’ activities, and finally...
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Episode 72: Why Moms in Their 40s Feel So Overwhelmed | Perimenopause, Mom Burnout & Losing Yourself
Why does everything feel harder after 40? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a real conversation with a friend that opened up a deeper truth about motherhood in your 40s. From gray hairs and perimenopause symptoms to mood swings, exhaustion…
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Episode 71: When Parents Ruin Youth Sports | Toxic Sidelines, Mom Frustration & What Kids Are Really Learning
Have youth sports gotten out of control? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a raw and eye-opening experience from her daughter’s soccer game that left her questioning what is really happening on the sidelines. From parents yelling at referees…
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Episode 70: The Calm They See… The Storm You Feel | Mom Anxiety, Letting Go & Raising Confident Kids
Have you ever tried to look calm for your child… while your heart is racing inside? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a powerful moment from a dive meet that reveals the invisible emotional load moms carry every day. Watching kids take risks,...
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Episode 69: When Life Isn’t Going as Planned | Trusting God, Letting Go of Control & Finding Peace as a Busy Mom
What do you do when life stops going according to plan? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a deeply personal shift from trying to control everything to learning how to trust God in the middle of uncertainty. If you are a busy mom, working mom,...
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Episode 68: They Said I Look Amazing… But I Felt Invisible at Home | Mom Burnout, Mental Load & Feeling Unseen
Have you ever had someone tell you “you look amazing” or “you have it all together”… but inside, you feel overwhelmed, exhausted, and completely unseen? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a powerful and relatable story about the emotional...
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Episode 67: The Watcher: Choosing Your Values When the System Is Asleep at the Wheel
Have you ever looked around and realized you’re the only person truly paying attention while the rest of the world is on autopilot? In this episode, Nikki shares two raw, powerful stories from a week of high-stakes youth sports that will make every mother stop and think. First, Nikki recounts a...
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Episode 66: When the Hustle Stops Working: Breaking the Cycle of Chaos and Last-Minute Living
Are you the CEO of your household but an intern in your own life? In this episode, Nikki gets raw about a weekend of solo-parenting chaos juggling futsal, tennis, and soccer while her husband was away at a dive meet. If you’ve ever reached Sunday night staring at an untouched to-do list, feeling...
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Episode 65: Why Doing It All Is Burning You Out | Boundaries, Mom Guilt & Finding Yourself Again
Are you a busy mom trying to balance it all...career, kids, home, and maybe even a side hustle and still feeling like you’re losing yourself in the process? In this episode of Struggle and Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, we’re talking about the hidden cost of “doing it all.” If you’ve...
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Episode 64: When Sports Aren’t Fair | What Parents Must Teach Their Kids
If you have kids in sports, you have probably experienced this moment. Your child works hard. They practice. They show up. They give everything they have. And then something happens that just does not feel fair. Maybe the same players start every game. Maybe the coach only rotates a few players...
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Episode 63: Why Seeing It First Changes Everything | How Kids, Moms, and Professionals Learn
Have you ever noticed how kids learn something new? Often they need to see it first, then believe it is possible, and only after that are they willing to try it themselves. In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a fascinating conversation she had…
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Episode 62: Busy Working Mom? Here’s How to Stay Present & Reduce Mom Guilt
Are you a busy working mom struggling to stay present with your kids? Do you feel mom guilt when your brain never turns off...thinking about work, side hustles, schedules, and everything you have to manage? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, we talk about: •...
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Episode 61: What I Added for Lent Changed My House in 48 Hours
This week my son asked me something that stopped me cold: “Mom… is this just our time?” And I realized how rare that actually is. Not because I am not around. Not because I do not love my kids. But because I am almost always partially there. For Lent this year, instead of giving something up, I...
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Episode 60: When Doing Everything Right Still Isn't Working
You’re eating clean. Working out. Doing all the “right” things… and still not seeing results. Sound familiar? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, I open up about the frustration so many high-achieving women feel...stubborn belly fat, hormone shifts, low…
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Episode 59: This Is Me...When Your Worth Was Tied to What You Did, Not Who You Were
In this deeply personal solo episode, Nikki opens up about what it truly means to say “This Is Me.” After a recent speaking event, Nikki realized something powerful for most of her life, her worth was tied to what she did, not who she was. Being helpful, busy, productive, and needed became the…
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Episode 58: When Enough Is Enough — Learning to Set Boundaries Without Guilt
If you’re feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, and stretched thin… it might not be because life is too much. It might be because you’ve been available to everyone except yourself. In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki opens up about the invisible weight so…
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Episode 57: When the Pressure Lifts and You Can Finally Breathe Again
When the Pressure Lifts and You Can Finally Breathe Again I did not realize how heavy life had become… until the pressure was gone. In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, I share what the transition to my kids’ new school has been like and how it unexpectedly...
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Episode 56: New Year, New School, New Us
What happens when you stop resisting change and actually lean into it? In Episode 56 of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki shares a personal, unfiltered reflection on trying something new, embracing change, and how small shifts can create massive peace in family life.…
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Episode 55: Building a Business While Caring for Others...Even Before Kids
You don’t have to be a mom to kids to understand responsibility, balance, and the pull toward something more. In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, Nikki sits down with Elena Elzz, a functional pharmacist, integrative health coach, and proud dog mom, to talk...
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Episode 54: How One Mom Built Scalable Income in Part-Time Hours
What if building extra income didn’t require quitting your job, creating a product, or starting from scratch? In this episode of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki, I sit down with pharmacist mom Dayle Diffey, who shares how she built a scalable side business in very part-time...
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Episode 53: A New Year, A New Season, A New YOU Is Calling
This episode marks the beginning of a brand new season of Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki. This is not just about motherhood anymore. This is about identity, ownership, and the quiet pull toward something more. In this episode, Nikki shares why this podcast is evolving to...
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Episode 52: One Year In: What This Podcast Taught Me About Showing Up, Growth, and Believing in Yourself
One year ago, I pressed record for the first time and almost talked myself out of it. I wondered who would listen. I questioned whether my voice mattered. I debated adding one more thing to an already full life. And yet, here we are one year, 52 episodes, and thousands of downloads later. This...
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Episode 51: Why We’re Not a Fan of Big Organizations (And Why That Matters)
For years, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but now I finally understand why our family struggles in big systems. We are not a fan of big organizations. And it has nothing to do with size… it has everything to do with being seen and valued. From schools to sports, we have learned that our…
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Episode 50: Why We Lose Our Purpose In the First Place
We say we “lost our purpose.” We say we “lost our passion.” But what does that really mean? This week, after a conversation with my son’s friend’s mom, something hit me hard: Most moms cannot answer a simple question… If you had two hours completely to yourself what would you do? Not for your…
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Episode 49: When Moms Give Everything and Still Feel Unvalued: Rediscovering Purpose and Passion Again
Why do high-achieving moms give everything they have… and still feel invisible? This week, I talked to several pharmacist moms who are brilliant, talented, educated, and experienced yet feel undervalued, unfulfilled, and stuck. And the truth is: they are not alone. In this episode, we are diving...
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Episode 48: Why We Keep Saying Yes When We Are Exhausted
Why do moms keep saying yes… even when we are exhausted? Even when we know we do not have time? Even when it means more late nights and more chaos? This week, one tiny yes spiraled into a full-on heat press marathon...numbers, logos, sponsor patches, everything. My husband was frustrated. I was...
About this show
Struggle & Strength: Moms Balancing It All with Nikki is the podcast for powerhouse moms juggling kids, careers, relationships, and big dreams...while navigating the chaos of modern motherhood.Hosted by pharmacist, entrepreneur, and mom of three Nikki Wallace, each episode blends honest storytelling, real-life struggles, and practical encouragement for moms who feel like they’re carrying it all.From mom guilt to mental load, parenting wins to personal growth, Nikki shares her own journey alongside conversations with authors, entrepreneurs, and fellow moms. This mom life podcast is all about work life balance for moms, motherhood and entrepreneurship, and tackling mom guilt and the mental load with encouragement and actionable takeaways.If you’ve ever thought:“I love my kids, but I feel guilty wanting space.”“I’m exhausted, but I can’t slow down.”“I want to build something for myself, but I don’t know how.”…then this show is for you.This isn’t about being a perfect mom. It’s abo
Hosted by
Nikki Wallace
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