We're back for part two of my momversation with fellow podcaster, Katie Lynn of Just a Mom and Her Coffee. Katie is a down to earth mama of three, and she didn't hold anything back when we sat down to chat about her experience of motherhood and the dreams and ambitions she's currently nurturing.
Wanna come on the show? Click here to fill out the form and let’s start a Momversation!
Connect With Today's Guest:
Just a Mom and Her Coffee Podcast
Katie's IG
Next Week on Mama's Cup of Ambition...
Join me for another off the cuff park podcast. This one may or may not get a little emotional because I'm talking firsts and lasts. Did I cry in the park? Maybe. You'll have to tune in to find out.
Have you been dreaming of starting a podcast but have no idea where to start? Ditch your podcasting paralysis with my FREE podcast checklist for aspiring mama podcasters.
Let's Connect On Instagram:
connect with the Show (@mamascupofambition)
connect with Rachel Mae (@rachelmaemusic)
May your dreams be ambitious and may your coffee be strong! xoxo -Rachel Mae
We're back for part two of my momversation with fellow podcaster, Katie Lynn of Just a Mom and Her Coffee. Katie is a down to earth mama of three, and she didn't hold anything back when we sat down to chat about her experience of motherhood and the dreams and ambitions she's currently nurturing.
Wanna come on the show? Click here to fill out the form and let’s start a Momversation!
Connect With Today's Guest:
Just a Mom and Her Coffee Podcast
Katie's IG
Next Week on Mama's Cup of Ambition...
Join me for another off the cuff park podcast. This one may or may not get a little emotional because I'm talking firsts and lasts. Did I cry in the park? Maybe. You'll have to tune in to find out.
Have you been dreaming of starting a podcast but have no idea where to start? Ditch your podcasting paralysis with my FREE podcast checklist for aspiring mama podcasters.
Let's Connect On Instagram:
connect with the Show (@mamascupofambition)
connect with Rachel Mae (@rachelmaemusic)
May your dreams be ambitious and may your coffee be strong! xoxo -Rachel Mae
Hello, hello and welcome to Mamas Cup of Ambition, the show for ambitious mamas with big dreams and little kids. I'm your host, Rachel Mae, country Singer, songwriter and Mamas of Two, and I'm so excited to be here presenting another installment of the momversation series. I created this series as a way to have fun and honest conversations with mamas at every stage of their dream chasing journey and, through a series of questions curated specifically for these momvers , we'll get acquainted with the mamas in this community. We'll chat about everything from their biggest ambitions to their favorite TV shows and everything in between. My intention is to create a space for inspiration, connection and solidarity for us mamas navigating the wild world of motherhood and dream chasing. Wherever you are in your journey, this series is for you. So grab yourself a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage of choice and let's have a momversation .
Katie Lynn:Okay, so we are back for part two. I mean, it's kind of fitting, I'm a Gemini. We just hit Gemini season. Everything's in twos, it works. That's totally right.
Rachel Mae:I was going to say I haven't had any two-parters, but that's not true because my sister was on and we talked and talked and talked and talked. That turned into a two-part episode. But this could be the first official two-part mamversation.
Katie Lynn:Yeah.
Rachel Mae:I'm such a crock, too, when I'm like 20 questions and 30 minutes. None of them are 30.
Katie Lynn:That's impossible, especially when you have moms who have been so deprived of actual human conversation. Yes, I'm one of those Exactly. We're all just coming off of a pandemic where we were all sequestered. We have had no human contact and now it's like I've been stuck home with my kids.
Rachel Mae:Yeah, I feel like that. I feel like all week I'm just in mama mode and I'm doing things and trying to keep this house from total pandemonium. And then it's like on Mondays, when I have podcast schedules, it's like, oh, I get to have an uninterrupted conversation because nobody's busting in here. Well, knock on wood, somebody might bust in here, but for the most part I get to have an uninterrupted conversation with another adult. That does not happen during the week for me.
Katie Lynn:It doesn't happen.
Rachel Mae:So trying to keep these at 30 minutes Exactly, it's just, it's really hard.
Katie Lynn:It's nearly impossible. That's just the reality of actual momversation.
Rachel Mae:Right, and you and I, I just feel like we were friends in another life or something. I just feel so comfortable around you I said that on my Instagram stories today.
Katie Lynn:I was like I was like in my manic cleaning and I was like I've got to get as much as I can before I get on to my interview again with Rachel, who I love, and I just feel like it's talking to an old friend.
Rachel Mae:Oh, I'm so glad I didn't have not seen that yet. But I feel the same way. I don't know, Like we've never even met in person, but I feel like we go way back.
Katie Lynn:I know we're like kindred or something Right? Is that the word Kindred?
Rachel Mae:Yes, Okay, so what's your guilty? Not so guilty pleasure TV show.
Katie Lynn:Right now it's a one order SVU rerun. Okay, again, this is part of that ADHD where I will watch the same shows over and over and over, like I was rewatching Gilmore Girls a couple months ago on my daughter's. Like you're rewatching it again. You're watching Gilmore Girls again, yeah, yeah, I am Thanks for pointing it out that it's again. But I probably rewatch, like certain series, at least once a year. You know, obviously a one order SVU is a little bit heavier, so I do not do it every year. I just I love to watch it and there's something really special about those earlier seasons with Elliott Stabler.
Rachel Mae:That's your show, I get it.
Katie Lynn:Let's get into what it is that's making you feel Comfort it exactly, exactly, and sometimes you know, some times it's 2020, where you know it's like okay, this is how someone so is plotted their murder, and here you go, crime is where it's at yeah, I've definitely been a lot of like date line when you're just like this is so bad and they always think like, oh okay, I know exactly who did this, I know how it's going down.
Rachel Mae:and then there comes that point where you're like I have no idea what I thought was going down is not what's going down and draws you in. It's compelling. It is, it is and it's just like, oh man okay, what's something that you wish someone had told you about becoming a mama?
Katie Lynn:I wish somebody would have said you don't owe your motherhood To anybody and you don't own your children to anybody. Because man, society just want you to be a mom the way they were a mom, or they want you to be a mom the way they think you should be a mom and my motherhood is mine, like this is my motherhood and it's not what my mom did, because, like, there are times where, like my mom, like my mom, she was a great mom, she did her best, but there are things that she did that I would never do to my kids and there are things that she did that I would totally do for my kids and I don't owe that to anybody. I don't owe explaining why I'm doing what I'm doing for my kids. I don't I don't owe that to somebody and that's kind of ties into where, like I was talking earlier about my, my c-section confidence and my breastfeeding issue, confidence, like I own that and that's my motherhood journey, that's mine. You can take that from me and these are my kids and I don't owe you my children. Like I did not have kids for you and I think I really just wish like somebody would have told me like it is okay and it is normal to set those boundaries for your children to have relationships with certain people you want them to have and not to have. I think it is okay to set that boundary to not allow toxic people into your motherhood and into your children's lives. And I just wish somebody would have told me that you're not a bitch if you do that, because when I did it, I got a lot of backlash and it was rough for, like my first year of motherhood I was doing like I felt like I was constantly defending myself and defending why I did what I did, yeah.
Katie Lynn:And then I had my second kid and I was like, yeah, screw that. Like this is my, I got this. Now I know what I'm doing. And then, especially now with the third baby, I'm like I got this, like don't even, don't even come at me, yeah. So that's what I really wish and that's what I try to like now. Like talk about where it's like you don't owe anybody, that you don't owe them your kids, you don't owe them your motherhood, this is yours, you got this brilliant, that's a good one.
Rachel Mae:Okay, what's your go to influencer? This could be like a blog or a podcast.
Katie Lynn:I don't have like one specific one. Yeah, like there are a lot of them like I will actively go to. Like I will actively Click and like, search and click for certain stories from certain people Financially focused, she's like she's a financial guru, I guess for better lack of words savvy saving. Sarah again, yeah, who? And like I'm friends with these people now just from following them for so long and getting to that vulnerable spot of talking about budgeting and finances and like what works, what doesn't work. Cc Suarez I love her. She does all of like the, the busting scams, busting cults, all of that and I love. I love her. Julie Joe, also walking who she's walking on Lexa pro on Instagram.
Katie Lynn:Callie Brantifor, her screen name. Is it a screen name? You know, I don't know it's a screen name, like I'm still in Handle, I guess, but hers is. But first coffee and my husband actually was like you would really like her and I was super anti YouTube. I was like I don't want to watch YouTube, I don't want to do this, I don't want to do like. He is the one who really like, got me into more like techie, like watching YouTubers and everything like that, and she's great she. She actually just had her third baby. So it's like her and I were on like a very similar timeline and like she is a mama who doesn't always have her stuff together, but she gets it together and she makes it happen. And she is also a coffee mom, like I. For people who don't drink coffee, you know they they're freaking out a little bit sometimes, but yeah.
Rachel Mae:All right. So you have a favorite product or resource that's made your life easier as a mama. My minivan.
Katie Lynn:My minivan.
Katie Lynn:I love it. I was like super anti-minivan at first and even like when I had just had Harper and my husband was like let's go treat because I had a Hyundai Accent, which I don't know if you have ever been in a Hyundai Accent, but it was a tiny little car and that's what I started with. So when we initially went to the car dealership we were going to get a minivan and I didn't want to like it and I have, like I drove around in it but it was like a little bit of a different, you know, a little bit of a different older model, because it was like it was a used minivan and it just wasn't worth us like putting the money into it to get it. So I ended up with a Hyundai Tucson SUV and then when we had our second, it was a tighter squeeze but it was still doable. But because, like it was always just me and the kids in the car Because, like my husband had at that time and the only other person who would come in my car was my mom or my best friend and it didn't matter for them. Like my husband is six foot seven and so he's got he needs that room and in the Tucson. He didn't have that room with the two car seats and stuff, but, like I said, he was like never really in it and then when I had gotten pregnant, for the pregnancy that we ended up losing in the second trimester, it was in the middle of 2020.
Katie Lynn:So it was like right when, like cars like they were becoming hard to get, hard to find and we managed to score our minivan right before like the prices jacked up, we got it was a 2017 Toyota Sienna minivan. We got a great deal on it and only had like it had like 25,000 miles on it because it had been like a least and they traded it in and stuff and I love that thing so much. It is the best. I love it. It's like right up there with, like my mental health meds, like my minivan and my mental health meds. They're like right there, like making my motherhood easier. Well then, what are you obsessed with my kids? I am obsessed with them. My kids are. They are my greatest accomplishments and like we could be talking about the weather and then I could be like, oh, this one time, when it was really nice out, harper was doing this outside. Just because I am just obsessed with them. I think they are the coolest kids in the world. I love them so much. But that's a pretty legit obsession.
Rachel Mae:That's a pretty legit thing to be obsessed with. Okay, Katie, what is your dream vacation? I?
Katie Lynn:would love to be able to get like one of those really souped out, really awesome RVs and just go cross country because, like, I feel like you have two types of family vacations. You have the families that like to go to Disney every year for a vacation and I feel like you have those people who like to go like camping, on vacation in different random spots. I don't like sleeping on the ground in a tent, but I will go in an RV, that's okay. I do like to have all of the accommodations and amenities that I need to like function as a human, like coffee and a shower, but I don't want to go to Disney every year. I mean, that's what my mom did for me when I was little, but when I was little it was different.
Katie Lynn:I had families out in Florida. It was not basically like the cost of a down payment on a house. You know what I mean? Yeah, like it was just a different Disney. So I would just love to be able to get in an RV with the kids like on like summer vacation, whatever. And we just hit all these other states that, like I've never been to and like my husband's ever been, like I would love to take them to like Montana.
Katie Lynn:I don't know what's in Montana, but like I've seen pictures and it's really pretty and just like, hit all these random different places, hit all of those like you know, like worlds, you know biggest whatever you know like potato Exactly the world's largest potato I want to take them to see like the, the biggest ball of twine you know, Like we just last summer, my mom and I, we took the kids to Washington DC and we didn't get to really like do a ton of tours, but like we went to all of like the Smithsonian museums, and like I had never done that when I was a kid and it was just so cool to see my kids experience something that I'm also experiencing for the first time. But like seeing it through their eyes, yeah, like it was really cool. Like when I, when we drove past the White House, I was like Harper, do you know what that is? She's like no, she's like what is it? And I was like that's, that's where the president lives. She's like shut up. I was like, yeah, she's like that's the president's house. She's like it's the home. I'm like I don't know. I'm like I don't know, it's Joe White and he's probably going to get some ice cream right now. I don't know. Like who knows, baby? I'm like but we're not allowed to go there right now. But like she was just so enamored with it and and it was just so cool to see that through her eyes.
Katie Lynn:So it's like I would love to be able to like go to, like all these places I never saw as a kid. So it's like I would love to have those memories with my kids and I also really want to go to Hawaii, just to go to Hawaii. I would love to go back to Alaska. We went to Alaska on our honeymoon. We did an Alaskan cruise on our honeymoon, yeah, and it was one of the coolest vacations ever. So I would love to do that and like, but just take the kids and let them see, like these glaciers and you know, see all of this awesome wildlife that we got to see and, yeah, experience it through their eyes.
Katie Lynn:Like you said, see it through their eyes and just and have these firsts with my kids. Yeah, that goes back into the I'm obsessed with my kids thing, but that's really what it is Like. I would just love to get like a really awesome giant RV when the kids are older, so like we don't have to worry about car seat safety and everything like that, and like where they can really appreciate the experience. Like, yes, like eventually, yes, we will take the kids to Disney, but like the baby I'm not taking the baby to Disney just because he's one years old and he'll still be free yeah, I want to go to Disney where, like, we can really make it an experience that they're going to remember and going to enjoy. So if that means, like my oldest will be 16 when we go to Disney for the first time, then that's what it is. Yeah, but I want them to enjoy the experience and I want them to be able to see the world, and I think that would definitely be my dream vacation.
Rachel Mae:Yes, so good, okay, fill in the blank.
Katie Lynn:I feel most like myself when I'm on the couch with my kids and my husband and we're like, snuggled. We're having a movie night, we're just at their home, like it doesn't even matter if, like, everyone's taken a bath that night. It's just like we're home, we're together, we're snuggled and that's it. Like yesterday, we were in the car on the right home from a birthday party and each of us took turns telling dad jokes Foxes vary into jokes right now and it was just like like this is what I want. Like this is like the stuff. Like I want. I want that to be a core memory for my kids.
Katie Lynn:Or like one day I want my, I want, like Harper and Fox and Stephen, to be like oh man, do you remember that terrible joke you guys told us in the van about? Like the gingerbread man? You know I'm like. I'm like Gee, thanks, I thought it was great. Glad to know it's crummy to you. That was the joke, by the way. It was like you know why did the gingerbread leave the bakery? Because it was crummy. And that's what I want for. Like them, the five of us together just doing stuff for ourselves.
Rachel Mae:That's it. Yeah, there's something to be said about that, like the snuggle on the couch or the snuggle in the bed where you're all just like huddled up together.
Katie Lynn:It's my favorite times. It's like my favorite time of the day when we have that moment together. Totally feel that. Okay, so my current ambitious goal is Well, I mean because I am like who I am and it's always go big or go home. I have several goals. But some of them include finally starting my own podcast. I just need to do it.
Rachel Mae:I'm going to hold you to this.
Katie Lynn:It's just getting over that like imposter syndrome and you know, like my RSD and everything, where it's just like well, is anybody gonna listen to me? Is anybody gonna like me? Like people couldn't care what I have to say, can I just tell you.
Rachel Mae:Yes, they will.
Katie Lynn:I think so, and then DIYing some of my home updates. I really just want to like rip out some wallpaper we've got in the hallway because it's very old. I will keep my pink countertops if it means I can get rid of this wallpaper. But, like there, I am a handy. Like you know, my parents were always like able to do it themselves and my husband is very DIY friendly, and so like it's doable. I just need to again put my mind to it and I really want to get a spin by. The problem is like the Peloton and the Nordetrack brand ones. They're not made for short people. I'm only 410. So like I found one that is suitable for short people, but it's like I got to make the space for it. But it's like it's something I really want to do because my big ambitious goal is to lose 100 pounds.
Katie Lynn:I've done it before and I can do it again Because, while I'm perfectly happy with my body knowing like it grew humans, it sort of fed them and it's been through the ringer since 2015. I want to make sure that, like I, give my body the best ability to be here as long as I can. You know we have a family history of cancers and my mom has a heart problem and stuff. This body is at risk for a lot and just the way like the cancer epidemic right now is really hurting younger women and I've had one friend battle and beat breast cancer before she was 30.
Katie Lynn:And my best friend she fought really hard and her cancer was super rare and super aggressive and we lost her back in early 2022. And she didn't even hit her 36th birthday so young. It is something that has, like, really weighed heavily on me. And now I'm like you know what? I'm a year postpartum. Now it's time to like claim my body back, give my body the best opportunity it can, if any of that arises. So it's like that 100 pounds, I know, will just it'll keep me in check, it's gonna hold me accountable to just really like work hard and get my body in a position where I know it's been before and I know it can be again and I know that I will feel better with it.
Rachel Mae:Those are great goals and being around for our kiddos too. Like that's such motivation, Like I feel that on a soul level there's never been a better, more motivating reason to do it.
Katie Lynn:That's it. It's like my mom. My mom didn't have a mom. My mom's mom died when my mom was eight, so my grandmother died when my mom was eight, and like Harper's going to be eight next year and so like that's like always in the back of my head where I'm like, yeah, that's hard and it's definitely like I mean, my goals are centered around my kids. They are my greatest accomplishments, so I want to make sure that they know they are worth every single thing I do so good.
Rachel Mae:Well, those are really good, ambitious goals and you know I'm going to hold you accountable to the podcasting one, I know, I know, oh my gosh. Well, katie, what are you known for?
Katie Lynn:Currently I'm being known for being Harper and Fox's mom, Particularly Harper's mom because at her school I did PT meetings. I've hosted two of the book fairs as the PT resident, so all of the kids know me as Harper's mom and I kind of love that you know where it's like yeah, that's right, I'm Harper's mom and they love the baby, they love seeing him because he comes to everything with me.
Katie Lynn:So it's like I am Harper's mommy or I'm that tall guy's wife, that's the other one. Or it's like you're big Tom's wife, right? Yep, that's me, that's me, harper's mom, tall guy's wife, that's it Awesome.
Rachel Mae:What's something that most folks don't know about you? I?
Katie Lynn:am really introverted, which I know, I know it's part of a leaf, I know. But here's the thing I am incredibly awkward. It's like an introverted extra. I love to be around people, but when I hit my limit, I hit my limit and like I gotta go and I'm home for like a week and a half. Yeah, you did that decompression time, that's it. I need that decompression time, Like after like hosting the book fairs that we did for the school. I'm like whoa, I need like a weekend away alone in a hotel by myself so I could hear myself, because like it's a lot, and you know, it's like talking to 800 something people throughout three days, it's a lot. It's a lot. You know I'm really I'm much more introverted than people assume I am, that's where I'm at.
Rachel Mae:Well, fill in the blank. I do blank, so my kids blank.
Katie Lynn:I do my best so my kids are not part of the generational trauma cycle. That's really important to me because it's like I know my mom did her best and my mom was doing everything she could with her resources that she had at the time and I know that like ow, that's not nice. He just ripped off my glasses.
Rachel Mae:You guys can't see this, but Gailia's her son, is like standing basically on her shoulder, pulling her hair, pulling her glasses, like the fact that you're able to get out when you're trying to say, while having this happen, like this, is such a classic mom life moment. That's it.
Katie Lynn:He's doing my hair here go ahead. Do mommy's hair? Go ahead. But yeah, so it's like. I know my mom did her best and everything, but I also know that we have to repair on ourselves to parent our kids. That's what it is Like.
Katie Lynn:We may not have the village that, like some of our parents and our parents had at like you can call on Aunt Rosie or whoever to just come and they'll come and watch your kid for you, no problem. But we also have a resource of women who are empowered by other women and supported by other women in so many different ways that it's just a way and like, even like this, this is something where it's like we can help and reach other women to just normalize chaos, where it's like it's okay, it's okay. So I just want to be able to break that cycle of generational trauma that so many of us in the Gen X and millennial generations have to deal with. We work really hard to live on one income. So my kids aren't a latchkey kid like I was. They have a parent to come home to every day. They have a mom who comes and picks them up from school. Really, do, really, you just give me the raspberries. Oh, thank you.
Rachel Mae:Thank you, oh Lord, it's the best. Thank you, I love you.
Katie Lynn:The best.
Rachel Mae:Oh my gosh. Okay, well, I kind of already know the answer to this next question what fills your cup, literally and figuratively? I know the literal answer, I think.
Katie Lynn:Literally, it's coffee.
Rachel Mae:Coffee, Diet Coke or flavored water. If you said anything other than coffee, I was going to feel like I didn't know you at all.
Katie Lynn:It would be a whole lie. It would be a lie right. Is mommy to coffee mom? Yes, I am. I'm to coffee mom and figuratively, as much as motherhood empties my cup, it fills my cup because it's all I ever wanted to be. It's literally the only thing that was consistent in my life that I was like oh, what do you want to be when you grow up? A mom, a mom, a mom Having communication and having a community with other moms who may or may not be local to me. That is the stuff that fills my cup, where I can have other moms relate to me on a way that so many other people would be afraid to talk about. Yeah, don't rip my hair out. It's finally starting to grow back after you. Please don't rip it out.
Katie Lynn:I forgot the postpartum bangs going here too, oh God it's like, yeah, it's like, what is it like over here in particular? I'm like what is that? But yeah, so that's where it at my kids fill my cup in one way, and then having that community of moms really just, really just like to lean on, just to have to lean on and talk to where it's like, oh okay, it's like you know what? I'm not alone. Other people have old countertops too. Other people like listen, if you still have wood paneling and at least one wall of your house, hit me up. I'm with you.
Rachel Mae:Yeah, there is something really special about finding those connections with other mamas that you feel like, okay, you get me or I get you and we see each other where we're at. It's not like I need to show up as this version of myself in order to be in your world. And I think sometimes in some of the different moms groups and stuff, it can feel a little bit like that, like you have to show up as a certain version of yourself to participate and yeah, there's real magic when you can find those mamas that you can just show up as yourself and with all of your stuff.
Rachel Mae:That's it.
Katie Lynn:And yeah, just be it. Is it's having that grouper, it's like you don't have to have this perfectly curated life. I wanna be one of those types of moms where it's like you know what girl, I got you, I got you, I got you back. The come as you are. Like come as you are, come and sweat pants. Like come in mom jeans, come dressed to the nines, I don't care, be you and we got this. That's the type of mom friend like I want to be and like that I hope I am. You know, like that's really where it is.
Rachel Mae:Yeah, my gosh. Okay, well, where can everybody find you, or can they connect with you? All of the places?
Katie Lynn:I am on Instagram and TikTok at Just the Mom and Her Coffee and you will see me and my chaos and all of my mugs.
Rachel Mae:Oh, my gosh. Well, I appreciate you. Thank you for coming back for round two. It's been really fun.
Rachel Mae:That's it for today's episode, but if you're loving this series and you want to join me for a conversation, follow the link in the show description to submit the guest form and let's chat, and if you want to continue the conversation with me over on Instagram, I'd love to connect with you there.
Rachel Mae:You can find me at Mama's Cup of Ambition. I want to extend a special thanks to today's guests for bringing the energy and the good vibes to this podcast party, and a great big, heartfelt thanks to you as well. This show exists because you tune in, and I really can't tell you how much your support means to me. And, last but not least, if you got something out of today's episode, it would mean so much to me if you would take a moment to leave the show a rating and review. Or, if reviews aren't really your thing, consider sharing the show with a friend who you think might take value from it. Those are both great ways to support the podcast and keep it going and growing. Plus, it just seriously fills my cup. So thank you. Okay, so until next time, may your dreams be ambitious and may your coffee be strong. I'll talk to you soon.