Mama's Cup of Ambition

Momversation with Brittni Clarkson

• Rachel Mae | Brittni Clarkson • Season 2 • Episode 75

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Today I'm joined for a momversation with Brittni Clarkson, a mama of three and the founder of the Meant to Bloom podcast.  Brittni is down to earth and her wit and humor made this conversation both entertaining and thought provoking.

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Mentioned In This Episode
Allie Casazza

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May your dreams be ambitious and may your coffee be strong! xoxo -Rachel Mae

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 momversation, 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.

Rachel Mae:

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. Okay, Brittni, welcome to Mamas Cup of Ambition. I'm so excited to have you here and I would love to kick off this momversation with you, just giving us a little introduction to who you are and what you do.

Brittni Clarkson:

Hi, thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I'm really glad we got to connect like this. So I'm Brittni Clarkson. I am owner of Mea nt to Bloom, the host of the Meant To Bloom podcast. In a nutshell, I mean gosh, I do so many things. You know I'm a mom to three boys, a wife of 10 years, and then that whole mom wife boat, as well as being a fellow podcaster and an entrepreneur. So yeah, over at like Mea nt To Bloom over what I do when I'm not mom-ing and wife-ing and housekeeping and all of that. I design planners and journals to help the desperately overwhelmed moms to find peace, ease and joy in their everyday life, and that is just my vibe of what I'm about.

Rachel Mae:

So good, I think you can talk a little bit more about your podcast as well, because obviously we're podcast lovers around here.

Brittni Clarkson:

Oh, yes, yes, so the podcast is meant to bloom. I often have guests on and we talk so much about infusing really mental health practices into your everyday life, just making things easier and letting go of guilt and stress and choosing to think about things differently.

Rachel Mae:

Yeah, I love that. I just had another interview with a guest and we were talking about that same concept of just letting things be easy. I think, as mommas especially, sometimes we want to have like the chokehold on our to-do list and all of the things and try to like manage it all, and sometimes the beauty really does come from just sort of like loosening the grip and letting things be easy. So I love that you said that and that that's something that you focus on and talk about and, yeah, I'm so happy to have you here. So let's jump right into our momversation question.

Brittni Clarkson:

So the first one is I dream of Honestly, I just I dream of continuing moving forward right now. Beautiful, I'm at this insane place in my life where I'm just like. I feel like I'm on the cusp of greatness. We're preparing to move right now, so I'm just surrounded by all this chaos, but I have this vision because we're moving into my literal dream home, finally, after years of living in a renovation home. Congratulations, thank you. We're so excited. It's big for us. I try to downplay it all the time and I don't know why. I keep trying to shrink it and just, you know that whole woman thing that we all do?

Rachel Mae:

Yeah, we do that. We're funny that way.

Brittni Clarkson:

I can't talk about it without bragging, but you know.

Rachel Mae:

No, you so can, and this is totally the place. This is like that's a big moment and you should be bragging about that, moving into your dream home. That's huge, and I love the picture you just painted there of being surrounded by chaos. I feel like so many of the like pivotal moments in our lives are that way right, like our greatest achievements and our greatest moments, and things are usually surrounded by so many moving parts that feel kind of chaotic and crazy, but they lead to beautiful outcomes. So what a great transition to be in.

Brittni Clarkson:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, what they say, that's always darkest before the dawn. Yeah, like I can see it on the horizon, and just all my positivity and all my focus and all my dreams right now are like focused on getting to that next stage being in a home that is not as chaotic as this one. I mean, yeah, obviously there's some chaos that follows me. Have to bring my kids. I've got to bring my dogs. Yeah, got to bring the business. Got to bring the husband. Got to bring my own habits. It's this next level and it's so exciting right now.

Rachel Mae:

Amazing. Well, I'm excited for you and, yes, you should be bragging on that. That's a big deal. Thank you, so maybe this goes hand in hand, but what's a moment that you felt proud of yourself?

Brittni Clarkson:

I think I have many of them lately. I just finished reading Jamie Kern Lima's book Believe it. Oh, so good. Yeah right, it took me like six months to read it or something. I was gifted it back in August, I think, but I finally got to the end of it and she's just talking so much about, you know, not shrinking yourself and paying attention to the winds, and so I'm like, okay, I'm taking time every day right now to just focus in on like how far have I come? And I didn't come this far to only go this far.

Brittni Clarkson:

Ooh, that's big. Like let's be proud of where I was. There's so much of like popping up, of like the syncronicities. My Instagram feed is just full of like you, five years ago, would be so proud of yourself right now. And like five years ago I was moving into the house that I'm leaving right now, I was pregnant with my second child, like eight months pregnant, and we had such big dreams for this house that we have abandoned because, instead of renovating the house like we had originally planned because it's a 1925, big updates Like it is not good for my mental health the kind of updates it needs.

Rachel Mae:

Yeah, so hard with kids too. I feel like that's a big undertaking, yeah.

Brittni Clarkson:

Yeah. So we had one, we're pregnant with our second, we move in here, then we have another kid, and then we have our third kid, and then 2020 happens. My husband and I each start our own business and we're like we don't want to fix this house anymore, like who I was before. All that was so different than who I am now.

Rachel Mae:

Yeah, have you heard I'm going to reference it to Gabby Bernstein, because that's who I feel like I always hear referencing it, but she talks a lot about like this or something better, and I love that concept because it's like sometimes what you think you want or the direction that you head initially, it drastically changes, but it changes in like a beautiful way that you never could have imagined, and so when you're just open to that and open to wherever things are going to point, you can stumble into something so much greater than you could have dreamed up for yourself. So it sounds like that's what's happening for you. You maybe bought that house with one vision and are open to letting that initial vision go and knowing it served you well up to this point. But yeah, this is something better. Absolutely Awesome, yeah, okay, so what's your biggest challenge right now?

Brittni Clarkson:

Staying focused and motivated. I mean, obviously we're moving houses and I'm running business at the same time, growing a family at the same time. We're getting to the end of the school year with my kindergarten and it's staying focused and motivated. Got to pack stuff, got to declutter stuff, got to you know, finally let go of everything I've been setting aside for the last five years, like this is going to go to goodwill eventually. Yeah, I have to get out of the way so I can stack boxes of things that need to go with us on the day we pack.

Rachel Mae:

I think that's the challenge that a lot of us can resonate Right, okay, well, what would your perfect day look like? You've got a completely free day. What are you doing with it?

Brittni Clarkson:

Oh my goodness, you know what. Yesterday was actually kind of like a perfect day for me, sitting outside on the porch while my kids are playing and you know, my porch overlooks the chicken. So I love that Just being able to sit out there. I had my laptop, I had my notebook, I had my book and I'm like I'm just going to stay off my phone. That was a big boost for the mental health of yesterday. I'm just having like nothing I had to do. It was fantastic.

Rachel Mae:

So good, unscripted, nice, okay. So do you have a power song, like a song that can bring you back from like the worst mood, something that just boosts you every time you listen to it?

Brittni Clarkson:

You know, when you say power song, I have a whole playlist, but the one that always comes to mind first that I'm like this is always like my kick butt song and it is um lose yourself by Eminem. So good, yes.

Rachel Mae:

That is really like that'll amp you up. You'd like put that in the headphones and crank that up. That's a good one.

Brittni Clarkson:

And another one that just touches my soul if I listen to the lyrics, because I grew up on like 90s alternative. I had an older brother. So I mean, yeah, five year old, six year old me shouldn't have been listening to this music. But you know my brother's 10 years older. So, yeah, I heard it. Yeah, but Jimmy E Worlds Okay, in the middle, okay, I don't know that one, oh, I'm not going to sing it.

Rachel Mae:

I can add it to the list to look up.

Brittni Clarkson:

Yeah, but it's like I always loved it because it was such a vibe Like I heard the song so many times and then, a couple years ago, I started listening to the lyrics and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is speaking to my soul. Like not only is it the genre that I've grown up with, yeah, like I heard this song as a little girl. Now I'm listening to it, talking to like my inner child in the middle and like I said something like I don't know Something about. It's all in your head that nobody likes you and you know, just keep moving forward. Kind of is the vibe of the song. Yeah, okay, I'm going to have to look this up.

Rachel Mae:

Okay, I love this one. Okay, so kind of in line with that, do you have a mantra or a motto?

Brittni Clarkson:

I have a handful of them Like mantras that just kind of keep me going. Yeah, one of them is I'm already enough that one has kept me afloat many times and also one thing at a time.

Rachel Mae:

Okay, that's like key in motherhood, right.

Brittni Clarkson:

Uh-huh, yes, and I have a funny story about that. I wrote that on a post-it note and put it like on the microwave. So I would see it when I'm cooking and getting that anxiety of like, oh, there's so much going on and I'm like, okay, one thing at a time. And I put on my microwave and my six year old, who's just learning how to read, he's like what does this say? And I'm like, one thing at a time. He's like okay, and he leaves. And then I come back later to the kitchen and every appliance has a post-it note with the number one written on it.

Brittni Clarkson:

Cute and I'm like what's this for? He goes one thing at a time. Oh my gosh, what's in a rule for the microwave?

Rachel Mae:

So cute. I love that oh my gosh, our kids. I really love the idea of the like post-it note visual too Like, because it's one thing to have a mantra or have a motto or something that you say to yourself, but I think there's such power in seeing something for that like visual reminder when you need it, oh my gosh, okay. So what's your go to indulgence?

Brittni Clarkson:

Okay, I'm going to say Netflix and Caramel filled chocolates.

Rachel Mae:

Oh, yes, at the same time, yes, yes, okay. Well, this goes hand in hand, then, with what's your like guilty pleasure TV show? What could you just binge watch?

Brittni Clarkson:

Oh my goodness, I have been on like a Netflix binge rampage lately, so I've gone through a lot of shows. Like it's an embarrassing amount. I don't know why. I was even thinking about this like right before. I was like I just finished watching once upon a time, like a month ago. Since then, I've also watched Charmed and now I have finished watching the two seasons of Bridgerton and I'm halfway through Queen Charlotte. Yeah, I mean Netflix. I'm down for almost anything Like my taste is all over the place with music and movies and TV shows.

Rachel Mae:

I love it. Well, what's something that you wish someone would have told you about becoming a mama before you became a mama?

Brittni Clarkson:

That's weird. I was just thinking about this and I don't remember what I was telling myself. I mean, I don't know For the most part, though. Honestly, when people have asked like what would you have told a younger version of yourself, I've mostly always answered like nothing. Yeah. It wouldn't have mattered. Younger me wouldn't have listened, I wasn't ready to hear it. I guess the one thing that I think every mom and mom to be needs to know is, like that, you are the exact right mom for the children that you end up with.

Rachel Mae:

Yes, that's perfect, okay, so what's your go to influencer? This could be like a blog or a podcast, or I have to say Allie Casazza.

Brittni Clarkson:

She has always held like just a big place in my heart. Like she's in the. Do you know who she is, Allie Casazza? Okay, she started out as like the minimalist mom like, and became the life minimalist. She's the host of the Purpose Show podcast, okay. So it's like tailored minimalism for moms, where it's like it's not the Joshua Becker style, where it's like you have to have three pairs of pants and like your house needs to be all white. It's like this is minimalism in a way that works for moms who have small children around. Do you think it's a very practical way of minimalism. And I have never fully embraced that, but I fully embraced her and her principles and she's moved into like simplicity and business coaching. And so now she, like is my business mentor. I've been to her house and I've like had dinner with her multiple times, awesome, right, I love her so much.

Brittni Clarkson:

But she's the one who repeatedly in her messaging would say you are the right mom for your kids. Like you're the perfect mom for your kids. You're chosen across all time and space to be the mother to those kids. Like. It's not a coincidence, it's not an accident. And that phrase of saying that over and over again stuck with me when I really really needed it and I was like ready to just like let go of, you know, being alive entirely. 2020 was a rough year. But out of that moment of being like okay, no, I am the right mom, I have to stay here, like I can't abandon them. They really do need me. So, like, what am I going to change? And so, from deciding something has to change because I can't keep living like this, that's how, like, all of mental bloom was born. How do I make it easy to not go into this pit of depression over and over and over again Because I got to stay here for these kids?

Rachel Mae:

Yeah, sounds like Allie was really like an anchor for you too in that season to just sort of like remind you of who you are. So that's really powerful. I am definitely going to look her up. So what's a product or your favorite product that has made mom life easier Can be a product or resource.

Brittni Clarkson:

I mean honestly, I wish this wasn't my answer, but it's going to be the Amazon Fire tablets.

Rachel Mae:

Look, there's no, this is a judgment-free zone here. We get it as mama's here.

Brittni Clarkson:

Yeah, like there's this ideal version of myself that does not allow more than like 45 minutes of screen time for my kids, but the real version of me, like if I'm being authentic and honest, like they maybe get 45 minutes a day without screens at this point right now.

Rachel Mae:

I feel like there's a lot that goes around or that we see floating around, that's very like judgmental towards screen time and the use of screens and there's sort of a whole narrative behind it. But I do understand, like I think sometimes, as mamas, like you, have to do what you have to do to preserve your own mental health and well-being so that you can show up and support your family and be there in the way that you need to be, and sometimes that means you need help and sense. Most of us are parenting without the like metaphorical village that everybody talks about. Like us, mamas have to do what we got to do, absolutely, yeah, okay, so what's something that you are obsessed with?

Brittni Clarkson:

Honestly, my kids like gosh. They're cute, they're smart, they're adorable and I can't be in a room with them and not be like just goo goo eyes all over them Like you guys are so cute. You know you're cute, right you?

Rachel Mae:

know you're adorable.

Brittni Clarkson:

You're so funny. Oh my gosh, you're so smart. I can't believe you know subtraction already. You're so smart Like I'm just constantly gushing over them. I'm like I need to give you your space. Here's your tablet. I'm gonna let you do you for a little while.

Rachel Mae:

I love it so good. Okay, what is your dream vacation?

Brittni Clarkson:

I don't know exactly where it is, but I keep seeing this image on the internet and in scrolling and things. Whenever there's like a vacation thing. It's like bungalows out in, out in the super blue ocean, and all the little bungalows have a water slide on them. I think it's in like golly or something like that. Wait, the water slide is in the bungalow. There's like a bungalow and it's got like a big porch and then there's like a water slide on it. What? Yeah, like the picture shown up in my social media feeds tons of times. I don't know where it actually is. My brother even just sent it to the family chat the other day and he's like next family vacation. I'm like yes, yes, I will go there. That looks like so much fun.

Rachel Mae:

Awesome, okay, so fill it the blank. I feel most like myself when I'm.

Brittni Clarkson:

I'm gonna say when I am sitting in the dirt, okay, like in the garden, or yeah, like doing grounding practices just outside, feet Grass in the dirt and just just being, you know, no expectations on me. Nothing I'm doing, I'm just sitting and being, like that's me.

Rachel Mae:

So good, okay. So what's your current ambitious goal?

Brittni Clarkson:

My current ambitious goal. That's got to be business related. I want to make the amount of the mortgage of the house we're buying. Yes, I totally pay it off. Blow my husband's paycheck out of the water and just like we don't need you to make money anymore. I just paid for the whole house.

Rachel Mae:

I want that for you, cannot wait for the follow-up. When you tell me like, oh yeah, remember when we talked about that, it's happened. And then some, I want that for you.

Brittni Clarkson:

So good, okay, I'm known for oh, I guess I'm known for authenticity. That's what people keep telling me.

Rachel Mae:

They appreciate my authenticity, authenticity that's a great thing to be known for. What's something that most folks don't know about you?

Brittni Clarkson:

Wow off the top of my head. What comes to mind is that I've been bit by an emo.

Rachel Mae:

Tell me more. I need to know Context for this. That was not what I thought was coming. I need to know some context here. Where do you even get bit by an emu? How does this happen?

Brittni Clarkson:

a wildlife safari.

Brittni Clarkson:

It's like a drive-through safari and they have wild animals right out your window yeah and then there's this little part where it's like they have a feeding station where you can buy a cup of feed and you know, the whole time you're in a in the safari, you can have your windows rolled down because the only really dangerous animals are behind, like another barrier, but apparently they don't think even those are very dangerous when you have a feeding cup. And the thing just tried to take the whole thing and it just snapped my finger and did it like break skin, like what happens yeah.

Rachel Mae:

Like attacked me. Is it like when you get bit by a dog and you're gonna go get like the tetanus shot? I thought they knew and crossed my mind.

Brittni Clarkson:

I was just so blown away that it had happened. I'm okay. I never thought this was gonna be my life so wild.

Rachel Mae:

That was not at all what I thought was coming. This is why I love these questions, because when else would I find this out about you Like, I love that these questions just pull out some of the like most off-the-wall answers. I would never have guessed that about you and I'm so happy that I have this little bit of knowledge now.

Brittni Clarkson:

Yeah, I mean, you spend enough time around my four year old.

Rachel Mae:

He'll tell you oh my gosh, was it scary or was it just like more shocking in the moment when it happened?

Brittni Clarkson:

I rolled my window up. I became very terrified. After that. I told my husband roll the windows up, bring the kids hands in, like kids, don't put your head out here. They're, they're not nice. Yeah, I like became so fearful and my husband thinks he's hilarious so he exploited that. He Stops the car, rolls all the windows down, starts enticing them to all come over and I'm like you need to stop it's all fun and games until somebody's bleeding in the car oh my gosh, okay, well, so from that to this, fill in the blanks.

Rachel Mae:

I do blank, so my kids blank.

Brittni Clarkson:

Oh, I practice self-care mental health. You know, I take time for myself Specifically so that my kids can have a mom who is halfway same. If I don't do me time, my children suffer. So they get a screen time, I get a me time. Everybody wins, yes.

Rachel Mae:

So great? Okay, what fills your cup, both literally and figuratively?

Brittni Clarkson:

I mean literally. It's coffee and water, just.

Rachel Mae:

Non-stop. Yeah, awesome. And what fills your cup figuratively?

Brittni Clarkson:

figuratively. I mean, I don't know. I feel like it's so cliche to say anything like oh, my children do, or oh, my faith fills my cup, but it's like I don't know. I feel like I've structured my life in a way that, like being alive fills my cup when I'm focused on today.

Rachel Mae:

I think that's a great answer. Oh my gosh. Well, brittany, this has been so much fun. Please tell everybody where they can find you, where they can listen to your podcast, where they can connect with you. Give us all the things.

Brittni Clarkson:

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This is a lot of fun. Yeah, thank you for opening so many doors like in my heart and my mind today. Yes, mission accomplished. You can find my podcast meant to bloom on any major platforms Apple, spotify, google, amazon. Just hop on over there, follow me and I will guide you to wherever else you want to follow me from there.

Rachel Mae:

Perfect, okay, I'll make sure and link up to that too in the show description and Anything else you want to leave us with, I think. I mean we've covered a lot of ground.

Brittni Clarkson:

Right, we did. I know mamas are listening, so mama always know that you are the right mom for your kids. You are perfect for your purpose and you are already enough.

Rachel Mae:

Amazing.

Brittni Clarkson:

Brittany and laugh at yourself.

Rachel Mae:

Often, yes, and keep your hands inside if you're at the safari and there are any.

Brittni Clarkson:

Because they will bite.

Rachel Mae:

Oh, my gosh Brittni, so good. Thank you so much for joining me today. It has been an absolute pleasure.

Brittni Clarkson:

Thank you for having me.

Rachel Mae:

That's it for today's episode, but if you're loving this series and you wanna join me for a conversation, follow the link in the show description to submit the guest form and let's chat, and if you wanna continue the conversation with me over on Instagram, I'd love to connect with you there. You can find me at Mama's Cup of Ambition. I wanna 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.

Rachel Mae:

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, make your dreams be ambitious, and may your coffee be strong. I'll talk to you soon.

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