Montessori is a 100-year-old educational method taught at 4,500 Montessori schools around the country, and another 20,000 worldwide. Many successful folks contribute their success to this education model. Today, author, Junnifa Uzodike will join me to give you tips on laying the groundwork to raising successful children as early as when they’re babies. Whether parents have access to a Montessori school or not – the invaluable suggestions these educators share will help foster years of learning and set your kids on a road to success.

A question that keeps coming up is: how do I declutter crafts? I knew this was a topic that could be applied to not just kids crafts, but our own. Where do we store it all? Do I have too much? How do I know what to keep and get rid of? Joining me today to tackle these questions (and more) is author of Simple Lion Heart Life, Melissa Russell.

The tendency to overcomplicate things can be applied to almost every area, including potty training. I’ve had a handful of listeners reach out wondering how to simplify the process, so I invited Lauren Jones from The Simple Life Project to join me in discussing her tried and true methods.

How do I cultivate my children’s interest in gardening? What are good activities to increase my child's hands-on involvement in the garden? And what are some good ways to encourage children to feel ownership of the garden? Stephanie has been writing about gardening, food preservation, and from-scratch cooking over on her blog, Wingin' It On The Homestead and has recently started a podcast where she shares about similar topics.

If you’ve been a listener here for awhile, you’ll know that minimalism goes beyond stuff. I’m thrilled to share today’s guests, Joshua Fields Milburn and Ryan Nicodemus - otherwise known as ‘The Minimalists’. Today they’ll dive deeper into the seven essential relationships in our lives: stuff, truth, self, money, values, creativity, and people and how minimalism makes room in our lives to re-evaluate and heal these areas.  

In today’s bonus episode with Tara Clark (@modernmomprobs), we discuss intentionality and mental health - specifically when it comes to social media. Modern technology is not going to change (if anything, it’ll only capture more areas of our lives.) It’s up to us to MODIFY our behavior. While social media can provide an escape, connect us to friends across the globe and become a useful resource for income, it can quickly become an addiction that takes us away from our priorities, and most importantly, our children. It’s something most of us realize but have a hard time actively combating. What do you do to set boundaries and protect mental health in this area?

Any family with children will experience their fair share of toys throughout the years. It’s inevitable that some will slip in that have a short ’lifespan’; however, being intentional in this area isn’t as hard as it seems and simple strategies can help foster diverse play experiences for children without filing our playroom with junk. Join me today as I talk with founder of Tiny Earth Toys, Rachel Classi. She’ll discuss scientific studies that discuss the benefits of minimal toys in the playroom, how the choices we make about what toys to buy impact our child's play and the environment, what we know about how the toy industry is playing a role in the plastic crisis and tips for parents about how to take the power struggle out of gifting to align with your family values.

As mothers, we have a lot on our plates to juggle each day. It can be tricky to pin-point what exactly takes priority (especially when everything feels that way). If you struggle with productivity and overall enjoying your days, this conversation may help! Join me for this conversation with Ashley Barber, a KonMari Consultant based in Texas, for some of her best tips to identify and focus energy on what we deem ‘high-priority’ tasks.

Are you a member of Costco or Sam’s Club? Wholesale retail stores such as this are able to sell their products for much cheaper than local businesses; however, the question I pose to you and my guest today, Carly Adams, is: is bulk shopping anti-minimalist? There is a certain affordability when it comes to big chains; however, big-box retail stores also promote consumerism due to the sheer volume of products for sale. As we work through this topic, I’m sure you’ll build your own pros and cons list to see whether it’s the right choice for your family.

Join me today as I speak with Elizabeth Presta about all things regarding a simpler birth plan. Elizabeth is a licensed doula through DONA International and has been practicing since 2013. She is passionate about women’s healthcare and is continually learning. Today she’s here to explain how we can simplify the birth experience, create a simple birth plan, how a doula can help us throughout the process and some of her suggestions for packing the hospital bag.

“There’s no way you can be intentional with just your wardrobe or your home. Once you see and experience how good your home and closet feel, you want every area of your life to feel that way.” I wholeheartedly agree this statement from author, Christine Platt (also known in the minimalist community as The Afrominimalist). Christine is my guest today and we’ll discuss her upcoming book, 'authenticity over aesthetics' and how less is liberating in our lives. 

Do you feel like you need to write in every line of your child’s baby book? Are there days when the camera doesn’t leave your hand? Or do you intentionally keep it tucked away on some family outings? As with most things in life, it’s all about balance, right? Join me and fellow podcast host & photographer, Jenna Arvidson as we talk through the idea of over-documenting our days. We discuss what made Jenna begin to think about over-documentation, how to decide what to document and what not to, easy shifts to simplify this area, and more.

What do you know about meditation? Do you include a meditation practice in your day-to-day? I’ve always wondered the difference between mindfulness and meditation. I know both are know to make your life simpler and yourself happier. Here to answer these questions (and more) today is founder of Yoga For You and host of the Mindful in Minutes Podcast, Kelly Smith.

Today’s episode is all about small spaces: How minimalism makes living in a small space easier, but also sometimes forces minimalism upon us (in the best way possible!) Practical advice about being a minimalist mom in a small space - where to start? We’ll also cover ways to “live small” in your existing space. Joining me to discuss these topics is author, Laura Fenton. Laura is the author of The Little Book of Living Small: a comprehensive guide to small-space secrets and real-life solutions for living in 1,200 square feet or less. She writes about home design and sustainability, and is a regular contributor to Apartment Therapy.

If you’re anything like me, you desire to maintain an everyday skincare routine. That said, it can be time-consuming, expensive and induce unnecessary decision-fatigue. There is so much noise when it comes to what products to use, when to use them and, of course, what is currently ‘on trend’. My goal with this episode is to simplify the amount of energy spent on your skincare routine so that you can open space for things 

As women, our bodies are constantly evolving. From puberty to our 20s to our pregnancy and postpartum bodies - there can be a lot of shifts that naturally take place. That said, it makes sense that our workouts should also evolve to fit our season of life. It takes focus and attention to maintain a routine. Today I have founder and CEO of The Bloom Method, Brooke Cates, her to join me to talk about intentionality with exercise. How do we fit exercise into a minimalist lifestyle? Find out what Brooke has to say on this bonus episode of the show.

After years of living a minimalist lifestyle, I’ve noticed that there are certain items I never (or rarely) buy anymore. Some of these you simply can say ‘no’ to while others take a bit more intentionality. My guest today, Bridget Utschig. joins me to share her list of twenty items she no longer buys as a minimalist. A lot of her list is curated towards clean living; however, the vast majority of these items are simple shifts you could make that benefit in more ways than one. Also, I wanted to note that some of the items Bridget mentions may require an initial investment; however, moving forward, you’ll no longer need to buy them (at least not as regularly)!

We’ve been talking a lot about frugality and budgeting tips recently; however, we’ve not touched upon how minimalism can actually be a tool to help us reach debt freedom. Joining me today is fellow minimalist, Lauren Hooper to talk about the impact that minimalism has had on her debt freedom. She answers how exactly we can utilize our minimalist habits to finally become debt free, why it’s important to consider the ‘true’ cost when shopping and more.

One of the topics I’m asked about regularly is how to minimize social media and phone usage. Questions such as: there are too many devices in my home, how can I cut down? Is there such a thing as too many? Do you think there’s a healthy place for social media? What are the costs and benefits of pursuing a digital minimalist lifestyle? What does that even look like practically? Joining me today is co-host of the Find the Magic podcast, Felica Allen to discuss all of these questions and more.

Join me for a special bonus episode with the founder and director of Novel Education Group, Tiffany Sorya. Today we’ll talk about education with intentional - specifically, what does purpose look like in the day-to-day? How can we set our children up for success? What does our role look like?