You're Not Too Much

I miss my dad. You know that. What you might not know is that he was a forensic psychiatrist for 55 years, I ran his practice for 10 of them, and on a case like Lindsay Clancy's, he's exactly who would've been called to testify. So for the last couple of weeks I've had his voice in my ear. Screaming. Not about postpartum illness. That conversation is correct — women get sick after babies, they're scared to say so, they deserve better help. All of it, yes. He'd be screaming because that's not what happened here. Lindsay Clancy was diagnosed bipolar. That came out at trial. She was complaining of racing thoughts, worsening intrusive thoughts and no sleep, and somebody's answer was to increase her antidepressant — a thing that is documented to make bipolar patients worse. Her illness didn't make her psychotic. Her medication did. And if we don't separate "postpartum illness" from "shit-ass medical care," every woman who's already scared to disclose gets more scared. I'm not a clinician. I say that about six times in this episode. This is his rant, from beyond the grave, delivered by the person who sat in the depositions. Heads up: this one talks about postpartum mental illness, bipolar disorder, the Lindsay Clancy case (including the deaths of her children) and, briefly, suicide. Look after yourself. If you're postpartum and struggling: Postpartum Support International, 1-800-944-4773. If you're in crisis: call or text 988.

Idris Elba jumped off my nightstand at three o'clock in the morning. Ten minutes before my alarm. Which was also set for three o'clock in the morning, because I had that much work to get to. There is nothing in that room that can fall, and I lay there in the dark going " what?" So Kyle and I went looking for the piece, under nightstands that have about an eight-inch gap at the bottom. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00:00 I named my CPAP Idris Elba 00:00:11 3am: the thunk 00:00:45 The clip is broken 00:01:28 One plastic clip is my entire edge 00:01:58 Under the nightstand 00:02:27 I am leaving the dust bunnies 00:02:46 Kyle was not leaving the dust bunnies 00:03:15 Vacuuming at 11pm

Every time I talk publicly about being a woman at work, the first response is the same. It’s never "that sounds hard." It’s "well, I had a terrible boss once, and she was a woman." Yeah. Okay. Women are allowed to suck, too. Plenty of men suck and we just accept that as fine. So this episode is about the two women you’re allowed to be in a workplace that was not built for you. The one who shrinks to fit — who gets told she’s too big, too loud, too many ideas, and folds all of it up inside herself, hands her ideas to somebody else so they’ll get heard, stops saying the thing she knows is going to go wrong. And the one who strikes to kill — who was taught there’s only ever room for one of her, so she leaves no space for the next one coming up behind. They’re the same woman. Same message, two ways out. You are not allowed here, you should feel lucky we let you in, and if you’re uncomfortable with how we do things then you should shut up or leave. I’ve talked to thousands of women over the last five years who live inside that, and I lived inside it myself. I’m the person who had to hand her idea to the nearest male coworker because it would be taken seriously from him and ignored from me. All of that is evidence of a problem with the workplace. It is not evidence of a problem with you. You are not intimidating. They’re intimidated. Nobody is going to make them do the work to find out why you’re such a threat, so you’re going to stay a threat — but you do not have to make yourself smaller to fix something you didn’t break. You’ve been the same person the whole time. You are not too much. They are not enough. Plus: breaking news on the semicolon rant, in which four actual English professors turn up to tell me I was right. And an Ask L2 from Kieran, who wants an exemption from the don’t-fight-with-pigs rule for a pig who owes him $4,000. CHAPTERS 00:00:00 "You are not allowed here" 00:00:23 Welcome to You’re Not Too Much 00:00:37 What always happens when I talk about women at work 00:01:08 Women are allowed to suck, too 00:01:46 I wish you the success of the mediocre white male 00:02:25 Persona one: the woman who shrinks to fit 00:04:13 Persona two: the woman who strikes to kill 00:05:09 Both of those are the same thing 00:06:37 Thousands of women, same paradigm 00:07:57 Give it to your nearest male coworker 00:08:19 A problem with the workplace, not a problem with you 00:08:28 You are not intimidating. They’re intimidated. 00:09:03 What you actually owe a job you need 00:09:44 You are not too much 00:10:04 They are not enough 00:10:57 Do enough to survive, then find a place that doesn’t suck 00:11:05 Ten thousand levers you don’t need to pull 00:11:20 You’ve been the same person the whole time 00:11:55 Your five to nine is better than your nine to five 00:12:03 A toxic waste dump and no hazmat suit 00:12:31 What professionalism actually means 00:12:57 Why the show is now called You’re Not Too Much 00:13:25 Breaking news: the semicolon rant, vindicated 00:15:26 Ask L2 — "This pig owes me $4,000" 00:16:37 You can have whatever tone you want 00:17:15 The strongly worded email Every episode: https://yourenottoomuchpodcast.com Leave me a voicemail: https://yourenottoomuchpodcast.com/voicemail Come find the rest of us: https://alwaysquirky.com

I heard the Fed Ex van. Which means my husband bought something else stupid. P.S. If you are the household's designated Reasonable Adult — the one doing the mental maths on everybody else's impulse purchases — this is a very short episode to let you know you are very seen.

Right. Semicolons. There is one rule of semicolons. I wonder if you can guess what that is. I was a journalism major and the first time my professor taught us the situations where a semicolon is appropriate, I put my hand up and told him the only rule is don't. If you disagree you may want to skip this episode. But not before you bite me. But that's just one of the things we have for this week, friends. We walked out of the house to go and get french fries and there was a car two houses down that didn't look right. When we tracked the skid marks back to their origin, we quickly found out why. I'll tell you all about Carlos. Spoiler alert, this story is not going where you think it is. Then Ask L2, from Ray: everyone tells him the money's in the room, but the room is two hundred people, a buffet and compulsory eye contact. Is there a version of networking that doesn't involve the room? Grab a pen. I have the lesson plan for you. 🎧 Apple Podcasts | Spotify Membership community for awesome people who know they're worth more than the standard average mediocre white men: http://whatthefractional.com/ 📞 Voicemail line, for Ask L2 questions, small talk, brags and fights: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail 💬 Come and argue with us in the Quirky community, it's free: https://alwaysquirky.com

Same show, same me, new name on the door. If your app says You're Not Too Much and you were looking for Different, Not Broken — you're in the right place, nothing has changed except the sign. There's that saying that all roads lead to Rome. In my life, all roads lead back to my dad. If there's something annoying I do, it came from him. If there's something good I do, it came from him too. I'm good at business because he was abhorrent at it — I took over his practice at 21 because it was a mess and that is not how you're supposed to do anything. He was also the best doctor I have ever met, and I don't say that because he was my dad. Sometimes those two things don't go together. August 21st, he will have been gone for ten years. We recorded this two days out. Here's the thing about ten years. In the first week I remember thinking there was no way we would ever get here — that I could not be a person for a decade without him, that it was structurally impossible. Except I'm here. And I have a ten-year-old who got six weeks with him, and who was six weeks early, which is a level of detail the universe did not have to include and included anyway. There's an idea that you survive grief. That you get to the other side of it. There is no other side of grief. It doesn't end. It doesn't stop. Some days it might as well be the day it happened, and some days are worse. My grief is not smaller. I've just grown around it. The life around him got so much bigger that it takes up less of my brain — but he's still at the middle of it, I still talk about him like he's here, he's still in every decision I make, and he still drives me fricking crazy, which I assume is the job. I tell you about the drive to get everybody dinner, the first time I'd properly been alone since he died, and asking out loud into an empty car for anything at all. And what was in the text box on my phone when I picked it up again. I didn't type it. I'm not a woo-woo afterlife person. I'm just telling you what was there. And I leave you with my youngest, who asked what Pop Pop's real name was, found out how Jewish naming works, and reached a conclusion I could not argue with. Ten years. He hasn't left. Here's to a long time more of missing him. This one is about my dad, and about grief. If today isn't the day for that, it'll still be here when it is. 🎧 You're Not Too Much — honest, funny conversations about neurodivergence, mental health, burnout and being human. 📞 Leave me a voicemail: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail 💬 Come hang out with the rest of us in the Quirky community (it's free): https://alwaysquirky.com 🌐 Everything else: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com

Same feed. Same me. New name. If you subscribed to Different, Not Broken, you're in the right place and there is nothing for you to do — this show is now called You're Not Too Much, and it lives on the Different, Not Broken Network alongside everything else we're building. Same host, same voicemail line, same everything. Just a name that finally says what the show has always been about. Now. On to it. There are extremely good reasons not to start a business. You have a job. You don't want the stress, the minutia, the responsibility. You have a non-compete. You have bills, and in the US you have health insurance to think about. All of that is valid and I am not one of those people who acts like having a job is embarrassing. If you're paying your bills and taking care of your people, you're doing the right thing. But if the reason you're not betting on yourself is what somebody else might think — that's not a reason. What other people think about you is not your business. What they say when you're not in the room has nothing to do with you. And in my experience the people who actually matter don't have the time or the calories to hold an opinion about what you're doing that isn't a positive one. If a negative one does turn up, it's a two-second blip and then they've forgotten and gone back to their day. So the critic you're performing for is imaginary. You built him. Tell him to get bent and get to work. In this one: why "I don't have the connections" is the easiest problem on the list, why the referrals that actually land come from people nowhere near your industry, the fact that someone less qualified than you is already getting paid to teach the thing you know better, what networking is and very much is not, and my new career in bowling alley maintenance — a field I invented mid-sentence and now urgently need to know about. Then Ask L2, which is what Small Talk is called now. Deborah writes in: she hired someone to take the admin off her plate and has spent three weeks secretly redoing their work at midnight. Bad boss, or bad delegator? Not a bad boss. Possibly a bad delegator. There's a difference, it's fixable, and I go through exactly how — including how people successfully manage me, which takes a lot, and the employee I genuinely loved who was in completely the wrong job. Space expands. Let's fill it. — Voicemail line — Ask L2, brags, fights: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail — Quirky community (free): https://alwaysquirky.com — What The Fractional: https://whatthefractional.com/

Okay. Big news and I want to get the important part out of the way in the first line: nothing you’re subscribed to breaks. Same host, same feed, same weekly nonsense. You don’t have to do anything. Here’s what’s actually happening. We’ve been doing this for over a year. In that time, the person who was most resistant to this podcast — a podcast that was, and I cannot stress this enough, her own idea — started building podcasts for other people. We’re also, apparently, in the top 40 on the Apple charts. So it's time there’s a network now. Different, Not Broken becomes the DNB Network — a home for a batch of new shows, all built on the same idea: authoritative people who are also, genuinely, credible. And sometimes freakin' hilarious. One launches immediately and several are behind it, and you’ll meet those hosts as we bring them in. And to make room for all of that, this show gets a new name. We are becoming You’re Not Too Much . I’m excited and scared and then excited again. But so many of us have spent our whole lives being told we’re too much — too loud, too direct, too sensitive, too something — and we’re not. You’re not. You’re perfect exactly the way you are. You’re not too much, and you are at the same time enough. That’s the name. That’s the whole reason for the name. Same feed. Same host. New stupid stuff, plus all the old stupid stuff. Every week, sometimes more than once. — 🎧 You’re Not Too Much , a Different, Not Broken podcast — honest, funny conversations about neurodivergence, mental health, burnout and being human. 📞 Leave me a voicemail (Ask L2, brags, fights): https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail 💬 Come fight me in the Quirky community (it’s free): https://alwaysquirky.com 🌐 Everything else: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com

I broke the sacred Pact of Daughters. I let my mother run out of Equal. That is the funny half. Here’s the other half. My mother lives two blocks away, alone. She falls. I don’t let her drive. Her home health company didn’t show up for ten days and neither of them thought to tell me. On Saturday she sent me to voicemail. At four in the morning, my husband was standing next to the bed telling me my mother had called him — not me. So the thing I kept telling myself wouldn’t happen, happened. And I don’t know what we do now. Raising parents is 1,000 times harder than raising children, and I will die on that hill. And this week's episode is digesting all of this, and wondering what this crazy timeline has lined up for us next. Then Alison brings a Small Talk from Nada, who raised her rates 40% and needed help with processing that. But yeah, The sandwich generation is not for the faint of heart. Mentioned in this episode: Become a podcast sponsor

My mother has had a serious health issue for six months. Nobody treated it. It was in her chart. Six studies confirmed it. Ten doctors saw her this year, and every one of them told her to lose weight. Here’s the thing. She wasn’t eating. Not “eating less” — not eating, for days at a time, and still gaining weight in places she had never gained weight before. Sleeping all day. Couldn’t walk the way she used to. Couldn’t breathe. And every appointment ended the same way. Lose weight. Exercise more. You’re getting older. She could have died. And it would not have been her body’s fault. It would have been someone’s. I work in healthcare. I know what to look for, I speak the jargon, I know which doors to knock on and whose favour to call in. It still took six months and a twenty-dollar device from Walmart. So what happens to the woman who doesn’t know any of that? This one is angry. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. And then Alison brings a Small Talk from Brianna, who wants to know whether her big, loud, takes-up-the-whole-room ADHD joy was ever actually the problem — or whether the problem was just people who couldn’t hold it. That one I had an answer for immediately. 🎧 Different, Not Broken — honest, funny, occasionally furious conversations about neurodivergence, mental health, healthcare and being a person - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/ 📞 Leave me a voicemail (small talk, brags, fights): https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail 💬 Come hang out with the rest of us in the Quirky community (it’s free): https://alwaysquirky.com Mentioned in this episode: Become a podcast sponsor

The CEO said something shitty to me at 8:00 in the morning and I resigned by 8:30. There was no plan. There was no thought process. There was just a body that physically could not do it for one more day. So I called a family member. Someone who owns a business, has owned one for years, who understands small business, who had let me call and cry through every terrible month of that job. In my mind I was talking to exactly the right person. I told them I didn't think I could go back to work. That I thought I had to find a way to work for myself. That I didn't know what that looked like, but I thought I could do it. And they said: no. That's a terrible idea. Every ounce of cobbled-together confidence I'd scraped up in the days since — gone. All the air went out of the universe. What I heard was I don't think you should bet on yourself. I don't think that's what they meant. But that's what I heard. This episode is what came after. The consulting company that started completely by accident. The job I took because someone who loved me told me it was what I was supposed to do. The boss who told me "it's not if you get it, it's when" during early COVID, while I was the primary caretaker for my mom, who had just had an organ transplant. The fact that I have spent years remembering that I quit that job when actually — I've just realised — they fired me. Which is fine, by the way. Getting fired gets a bad rap. Let someone pay you to go away. There is no greater joy in life. Six years on, I make significantly more than the person who told me not to start my own business. I don't say that to brag. I say it because somebody else's faith in you should not be the thing that decides whether you bet on yourself. Even people who love you will give you bad advice. Even people who know their own business very well might not know yours. Take in opinions. Let them influence your perception. Don't let them make the decision. Then Alison brings a Small Talk from Tamara in Louisiana, whose son was diagnosed autistic at five. Her mother-in-law said she was letting doctors label him. Her father said she was looking for excuses. Her husband believed it immediately and has been his biggest champion ever since. She asked: how do you love someone who won't do the work of understanding the person you love most? Don't sit at the table with them. I have an infinite amount of love and a finite amount of space. The love is awarded whether you want it or not — once I give it to you, I don't take it back. The space is awarded on a merit system, and you have to earn it. You are worth betting on. I would bet on you. So you should bet on you too. 🎧 Different, Not Broken — honest, funny conversations about neurodivergence, mental health, burnout, and being a person. 📞 Leave me a voicemail — Small Talk, brags, fights: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail 💬 Come argue with us in the Quirky community (it's free): https://alwaysquirky.com Learn more: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com Contains strong language.

I woke up in the middle of the night, checked my phone, and read that Lindsey Graham died. My brain, naturally, read it as Mitch McConnell — because who among us can tell them apart — and from there the whole weekend was just political whiplash. This one is a tour of the chaos of this timeline. A senator had been missing for almost a month. They said he was "working remotely," and I said, yeah, me too, the only difference is I'm just dead inside. His wife left the country. Contractors were redoing his floors. And I had a lot of questions that nobody was interested in answering, so I did what I do: I made it funny. Somewhere in there I decided "The Dead Senators" would make an excellent throwback band name (the genre, obviously, is French Regency punk with banjos — a punk rock minuet), I invited everyone to come fight me in our Quirky community, where the Daily Fights have already established that the only acceptable pen is a Pilot V10 in purple and the jury is still out on whether a hot dog is a taco. And then the part that matters most. A Small Talk from Kristen in North Carolina: "I'm a 38-year-old woman with ADHD, and I look fine. From the inside, I'm running 40 browser tabs, three of which are on fire, and I haven't replied to a text from my sister in 11 days. I want someone to say out loud that looking fine and being fine are not the same thing." So here it is, out loud: they are not the same thing, and you are allowed to be a put-together human on the outside and a hot mess on the inside. Nobody has it together. Nobody knows what they're doing. We are all raw-dogging life with no guidebook — least of all a guidebook for this exact timeline — and the sooner we stop pretending otherwise, the better. 🎧 Different, Not Broken — honest, funny conversations about neurodivergence, mental health, burnout, and being human. 📞 Leave me a voicemail (small talk, brags, fights): https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail Learn more: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com Contains strong language and political commentary. Mentioned in this episode: Wanna learn to write like me? Here's how you can! Writing Course Become a podcast sponsor

I keep getting thanked by restaurant staff. Not for tipping well. For not screaming at them. Hi, I'm Lauren Howard (you can call me L2) and this is my podcast Different, Not Broken - which is about exactly that. This one covers a lot of ground: why service staff now brace for impact over an overcooked salmon, why I tipped extra for honesty, and — since the outrage economy makes no sense to me — why Taylor Swift's wedding has the internet in a chokehold while Donald Trump has made $2 billion he can hold in his disgusting sweaty fat hands and nobody seems to care. What starts with an inedible salmon at Chili's, and a misplaced pizza descends into the Taylor Swift wedding outrage — the double standard around wealthy women being self-indulgent, and where I think our collective anger would be far better spent. Plus, in Small Talk: Priya from Oregon has been the planner friend her whole life. 📞 Leave me a voicemail: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail Learn more: https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com Mentioned in this episode: Sponsor the show https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors Sponsor Different Not Broken Join Quirky

This is what happens when your brain runs out of RAM. Hi, I'm Lauren Howard (you can call me L2) and this is my podcast Different, Not Broken - which is about exactly that. My mom is in the hospital. Again. My kids are at camp for the first time ever. My co-worker Vanessa's grandmother fell. Kyle's eye is still a thing. And I have exactly zero bandwidth left for anything — including, apparently, remembering that not everyone knows my mom's transplanted kidney's nickname. The nephrologist found out the hard way. He's fine. Kidney Poitier is fine. I am questionable. In this episode, I tell you about the nurse who pretended she needed help from my mom — a former phlebotomist — just to get her brain working and make her feel useful in that hospital bed. I ugly-cried a little on the inside. Then I talk about the moment my filter completely abandoned me mid-conversation with a medical professional. And then Alison brings us a Small Talk question from Opal in Georgia, who's been close with her best friend for 26 years and is starting to feel like she gives more than she gets. Brain full. Filter gone. Heart kind of full, too. Let's get into it. New episodes every Wednesday. Find them all at differentnobrokenpodcast.com.

My oldest turns 10 this week, which is rude and kind of bullshit, and I will accept no part of it. She did not ask my permission. Hi, I'm Lauren Howard . Some people call me L2. You can too if you want. This is my podcast "Different, Not Broken" which is about exactly that. In this episode, I take you back to exactly 10 years ago — the Thursday night when a weird feeling turned into a labor story I was absolutely not ready for, including the shower incident. (You’ll know when you get there.) Then we get into what I’m calling Furniture Fuckery: the story of why my home office carpet smelled like funky ass dog for a decade, how it took me 10 years to buy a desk I first saw when we bought this house, and how Manny — a furniture store salesperson on his very first day — accidentally became the emotional highlight of my weekend. Alison joins for this week’s Small Talk to answer Kevin from Rhode Island, who is already spiraling about his upcoming high school reunion. We talk comparison culture, social media highlight reels, and why nobody — and I mean nobody — has their shit together. Not even the people who look like they do. I have lots of excellent things available for you to buy in my Stan Store so you should probably go do that at https://stan.store/elletwo Want to sponsor the podcast and speak directly to thousands of neurodivergent small business owners? You can do that here, and it's probably less cost than you think - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors Want to leave a voicemail with a Small Talk question or even just to let us know you're enjoying a Fountain coke? Do that here - https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/voicemail Mentioned in this episode: Sponsor the show https://differentnotbrokenpodcast.com/sponsors Sponsor Different Not Broken Wanna learn to write like me? Here's how you can! Writing Course

I am not generally a catastrophizer.I can see worst-case scenarios in almost any situation — and I'm usually right. But I'm always happy to be wrong. I just... don't get the opportunity that often. This week's episode is exactly the kind of chaos that makes me me. It starts with the NY Knicks winning the NBA Championship (for which I personally deserve significant credit, having been invested in their success for approximately 46 milliseconds). Five minutes later, something happened to my house that I was absolutely certain was the beginning of global nuclear war. Then I tell you about Stephen Colbert's series finale, Paul McCartney walking out onto the Ed Sullivan stage, and the exact moment I became a puddle of tears on the floor — because some feelings are genetic, and the Beatles are one of mine. And in Small Talk, Alison answers a question from Brianna in Tennessee, who's spent years being told she's "too much." Too direct. Too blunt. Too honest.

Life right now feels like putting on a pair of jeans immediately out of the shower. We’re gonna get through it. But it’s gonna feel sticky. Hi friends. I'm Lauren Howard , and this is my podcast Different, Not Broken . I did so much peopling in one single Sunday that I genuinely lost track of what week it was. A makeup class. Brunch at a place that charges $30 for an omelette and somehow recommends the cheeseburger. My mom’s birthday dinner at the Melting Pot. The balloon bouquet she hates. Venmoing at the table because I’m very Gen Z apparently. All of it, start to finish, until I got home at 6:30pm and was absolutely cooked. If that sounds familiar—if you also left a room full of strangers and had to run a silent internal audit of whether you were being annoying—this episode is for you. Also, Alison shares a question from Alejandro in New Mexico, who graduated with his bachelor’s at 37 and can’t stop doing the math on the years he considers “lost.”

Welcome to another episode of Different, Not Broken , the podcast that dives deep into the beauty of being different and the myth of brokenness. I’m Lauren Howard, and today I’m joined by the inimitable Cindy Gallop—renowned brand builder, outspoken public speaker, and founder of Make Love Not Porn. In this candid conversation, we talk about the challenges and triumphs of showing up authentically in a world that’s constantly trying to put us and our voices into boxes. You’ll hear us discuss what it means to speak your truth—and why the world desperately needs authentic voices now more than ever. From navigating criticism and resiliency to the unique struggles faced by women labeled as “difficult,” this episode is filled with practical wisdom and unfiltered encouragement. Plus, we tackle questions about emotional labor and the importance of asking for help, reminding all of us that being the “strong one” doesn’t mean carrying it all alone. Buckle up for some honest advice, permission to take a break, and a much-needed pep talk for anyone doubting the value of their voice. And in this week's Small Talk, Alison shares a question from Jenna in New York.

Potatoes, cat tongues, and sandpaper skin—let’s talk food aversions, texture nightmares, and why maybe it’s totally fine to be a grown adult who can’t stand an apple. This week on Different, Not Broken, I go fully public with a truth: I am not a picky eater. I am… let’s say, texture specific. I will sample almost anything—once. What happens afterward is between me, my gag reflex, and whatever unholy thing just brushed across my taste buds. Mashed potatoes? Yes. Potatoes in soup? Get them away from me. Tomato sauce? Great! Raw tomato? Why do you hate me? Apple slices? Hard pass. Apple juice? Sign me up. Oranges are a war zone, but orange juice is fine—just keep the strings (and the heartburn) far, far away. Are these food preferences weird? Yes. Am I objectively a successful adult nonetheless? Also yes. Even if I can’t finish a plate of beans without gagging while my kids, in a spectacular twist of parental fate, will eat literally anything with stoic enthusiasm. It’s not just about food, though. We blend the personal with the professional this episode. Our guest is the incomparable Dr. Sipra Laddha, CEO of Luna Joy, mental health advocate, and my literal first phone call when I decided to build my practice. We tackle the idea of “competition” in women’s mental health spaces (spoiler: the real competition is the broken system, not each other) and how collaboration—not cutthroat tactics—moves everyone forward. Thinking of launching your own thing but stuck on knowing whether venture capital and bootstrapping are just buzzwords for other people? We’ve lived both sides. Sipra and I compare paths: raising millions in venture funding (which is about as glamorous as microwaving leftovers, more or less) versus scraping resources together and building from the ground up. Both are exhausting. Both are possible. Both come with landmines only those who have actually been in the room can describe. Maybe you’ve never considered what it’s like to be the only woman—sometimes the only woman of color—pitching life-or-death solutions to a room full of people who need to check with their wives to know what postpartum depression is. Spoiler: you end up not only knowing you belong in those rooms, but also knowing you’ve got something the rest of the room literally cannot bring. Still deciding if Different, Not Broken is your kind of podcast? If you’ve ever: Wondered why your sandwich can’t just be a sandwich—without some slimy tomato sabotaging it Needed to know how real women founders support each other through texts, resources, and mutual survival tactics instead of passive-aggressive LinkedIn shade Wanted to hear a vulnerable, unfiltered story about living through postpartum depression from someone who was clinically trained to help others (and still couldn’t get help herself) Needed a reason to feel absolutely valid in your own “weirdness,” whether that’s food, mood, or business battles Are looking for a show where softness is strength, and being different is a whole functional life, not a defect Then hit play. If nothing else, you’ll leave feeling a little less alone in your quirks, and maybe with exactly the push you need to find your own sandbox—and fill it with the right people. Plus, in Small Talk: a former Marine writes in about random, emotional tears in middle age. Why does softness sneak up on us, and what does it mean to finally drop the armor and just feel? Spoiler: it isn’t weakness. Listen in. We save room for you—no tomatoes required. Find out more about Sipra here: https://sipraladdhamd.com/

My kids were supposed to be gone for three days. Three days turned into eleven. I had the house to myself, figured out who I am without background chaos, and managed to function like an actual adult person. Then they came home. And then everyone got norovirus. This week I'm walking through the Mother's Day that was the Mother's Dayest Mother's Day of any Mother's Day ever recorded — and one that was so chaotic, I've only just recovered from it enough to talk about it! Then Alison joins for Small Talk with a question from Tammy in Montana — a florist who built a real, thriving business from scratch, but whose mom still calls it "a phase."