Episode 53: MOM AF: Real Talk with Christine Michel Carter - The #1 Global Voice for Working Moms
“Matrescence is a very big deal and it changes you forever, personally and professionally, so any support that I can give to those women, I want to continue doing that.” - Christine Michel Carter
Failed it! Fam, today we have a parent, teacher, entrepreneur, speaker, author, and multi-passionate person. Please give a warm welcome to Christine Michel Carter!
In today’s episode, Christine talks to us about:
Being a working mom
A balanced, fluid workforce
Advocating for others
Links from show discussions:
Twitter and Instagram: @cmichelcarter
About the Guest: Best-selling author Christine Michel Carter is the #1 global voice for working moms. Her writing has reached parents and working families in more than 150 countries. At home she’s Mommy to Maya and West, the two cutest damn kids on the planet. Featured in The New York Times and The Washington Post, Christine contributes to ForbesWomen as a senior contributor. She has written hundreds of articles with over one million views for several publications, including TIME and Parents. Christine’s insights have been included by other authors in their books. Her own best-selling children’s book Can Mommy Go To Work? was ranked as an “empowering book” and a “life changing book to guide feminist parenting.” Her book MOM AF is a sister circle in a book, inspired both by Carter’s life and her published articles.
Christine clarifies misconceptions about working mom consumers and multicultural consumers for brands and serves as an amplifier of their personal truths. From delivering consumer insights and brand marketing content to helping HR and diversity teams attract and retain these hardworking professionals, Christine works with advertising agencies, research firms and companies to ensure they’re at the forefront of the minds of female consumers. Christine also works to advance policies on a range of health issues that affect women and families. She does this particularly through collaborations with other organizations focused on eliminating racial disparities in maternal health, addressing the social determinants of health, and a range of women’s health policy issues.
Christine has worked with the Congressional Caucus on Black Women & Girls, the Fam Tech Founders Collaborative, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on maternal and child care related issues. She has also received a Congressional Citation from the U.S. Senate for going “above and beyond in ensuring that Black Moms and Moms of Color have access to important health information for their children and families.” In addition to interviewing former Senator and the first female Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris, Christine has also worked on her maternal initiatives. Christine is the founder of Mompreneur and Me, the nation’s first free mommy and me professional development event. Christine’s co-hosted conference, The State Of Black Mothers In America, is the largest global conference for Black mothers. As an executive committee member of Mom Congress, Christine wants Black mothers around the world to stop suffering in silence.
About the Host: Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the failed it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
Episode 53 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Hey friend, are you a leader who is career-focused goal-driven and possess a lifelong learner mentality? Do you dream about achieving your goals and spend hours Googling how tos and gurus? Does a side effect of your awesome, might I add, personality include perfectionism, the dreaded imposter syndrome and the ever-present fear of failure? Well, you've landed in the right place. We just became virtual BFFs. I'm Erin Diehl, the founder of the improv training company improve it! And a recovering perfectionist turned failfluencer. Inspired by the improv rule, there are no mistakes, only gifts, this podcast is the creative outlet you need to not only motivate you, but the people that you lead. Through interviews with corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and even comedians, you'll walk away becoming a more empathetic boss by realizing that failure is a part of the journey and you must fail in order to improve. In the scene of life, we all have our own unique guests that we bring to the world, and it is our mistakes that help to unwrap them. Welcome to failed it!
Erin (01:20):
Hey, failed it! Fam. I am so excited to welcome today's guest. She is the number one voice for working moms. Her writing has reached parents and working families and more than 150 countries. At home, she's mommy to Maya and West, the two cutest damn kids on the planet. Please welcome Christine Michel Carter to the show. Hello Christine!
Christine (01:49):
Hi Erin, how are you?
Erin (01:53):
I am so good. I love your energy. So this is we're recording this on a Friday. We both said we're, you know, I'm in my yoga pants and a mom bun right now. So I'm feeling my best life. And I'm so excited for the failed it! fam to hear your story today. So Christine, are you ready for me to just brag on you all over the place?
Christine (02:16):
I am. Thank you. I love it. I'll take it. I'll absorb it and receive it on a Friday.
Erin (02:22):
Yes. Open your, open your hands, get ready to receive.
Christine (02:26):
Exactly.
Erin (02:26):
Here it as, because I'm going to give you failed it! Family. This amazing woman's bio. I found her through LinkedIn. I can't even tell you how excited I am to dive in. So Christine Michel Carter has been featured in the New York times and the Washington post Christine contributes to Forbes women as a senior contributor. She's written hundreds of articles with over 1 million views for several publications, including Time and Parents. Christine's insights have been included by other authors in their books, her own best-selling children's books Can Mommy Go to Work? Was ranked as an empowering book and a life-changing book to guide feminist parenting. I'm just going to take, let me receive that holy yes. Okay. Her book, Mom AF is a sister circle in a book inspired both by Carter's life and her published articles. Christine clarifies misconceptions about working mom consumers and multicultural consumers for brands and serves as an amplifier of their personal truths. From delivering consumer insights and brand marketing content to helping HR and diversity teams attract and retain these hardworking professionals, Christine works with advertising agencies, research firms, and companies to ensure they're at the forefront of the minds of female consumers. There's more, Christine also works to advance policies on a range of health issues that affect women and families. She does this particularly through collaborations with other organizations focused on eliminating racial disparities in maternal health, addressing the social determinants of health and a range of women's health policy issues. Christine has worked with the congressional caucus on black women and girls, the fam tech founders collaborative the us department of labor and the U S chamber of commerce on maternal and child care related issues. She's also received a congressional citation from the US Senate for going above and beyond and ensuring that black moms and moms of color have access to important health information for their children and families. Now I'm going to keep going because this, I normally shorten bios, I can't because this is so amazing.
Erin (04:48):
In addition to interviewing former Senator and the first female vice president of the United States, Kamala Harris, which got to hear about this, Christine has also worked on her maternal initiatives. Christine is the founder of Mompreneur and Me, the nation's first free mommy and me professional development event. Christine's co-hosted conference the state of black mothers in America is the largest global conference for black mothers. As an executive committee member of mom Congress, Christine wants black mothers around the world to stop suffering in silence. What a bio Christine!
Christine (05:41):
Thank you!
Erin (05:41):
I was thinking, I sat here contemplating, how, what do I leave out? And then I said, nothing. They need to hear that. Do you, do you sleep? Let's ask that question.
Christine (05:56):
Usually when I present to HR, like when I present into companies, I have that slide. And after I say all that, I say, how do I do all this? Well, I'm divorced and I don't have a love life.
Erin (06:12):
I adore that and you, I think this is amazing because I read your bio when you sent it over. And I said to myself, this woman, I, I, I really, I can't wait to ask you a question. I ask at the end of every interview because I I'm so excited to hear your answer. I don't, like you have done basically what I would consider to be several people's dreams in one human's lifetime.
Christine (06:38):
God bless. Thank God for my problems. Yes. I have been very fortunate. Yes, absolutely. I get very bored very easily and I am always trying to push myself. So I think that that's what that's about.
Erin (06:51):
I love, you're a lifelong learner and I appreciate that. And everyone listening to this show is so everyone here is ready to learn from you. I have a fun question before we dive in. What's one thing that we could not know about you from this bio, from your LinkedIn profile, from if you even have a resume, because God knows you don't need it. What, what's a fun fact about you that we wouldn't know from these things?
Christine (07:18):
Oh gosh. Probably that I am a lifelong McDonald's fan. I think they do no wrong. I know everything that's said about them from a nutrition perspective and from a demographic perspective, but I sure do love the company and going tonight for dinner, so I'm very brand loyal to them. That's probably, I've been eating double quarter pounders since I was six. And I'm going to have one tonight at 34.
Erin (07:50):
Yesss. Okay. Wait, I was going to ask you your favorite. Let me just say this. I'm going to throw this out there and I'm probably going to get some pushback. I like the filet o' fish. I'm a pescatarian.
Christine (08:00):
Oh that's my second favorite.
Erin (08:02):
Okay. A medium fry with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.
Christine (08:06):
Whoa, will you marry me? That's my exact order!
Erin (08:13):
Been doing that for a while myself. Okay. Christine, we just became BFFs. Okay, well this is going off as better than planned. Okay. So let me ask you this. You also looking at this bio, I'm just blown away, obviously this whole interviewing with Kamala Harris. What but if you were to take this bio and dissect it down, what would be the number one thing that you're most proud of?
Christine (08:40):
Absolutely that for, I think about the thing that I'm most proud of as the thing that I want my children to brag about their mother about. And it would be the fact that I've interviewed Vice-President Kamala Harris and boy was she just such a lovely person, as well as her niece, Mina for coordinating that, that was before she made her announcement, um for her candidacy for president. She interviewed, I was able to interview her for a parent's article about black mothers and postpartum depression. And she could have certainly been too busy or been occupied with other more important national interviews, but I was able to get that interview. And then I came back to her team and the only reason I was going to do another interview with her right after she announced her candidacy for vice president. And the only reason that I couldn't get it done was because I was on a deadline for Forbes and it wasn't on her team. It was actually on me. So she has always been so accommodating and I cannot say enough nice things about the fact that she would take time out of her schedule for someone who's not necessarily an Oprah. Right. But to allow to share so much with me and to allow me to put it in my writing and let it influence and impact other parents is incredible.
Erin (10:06):
Okay. I just want to stop you right there. Christine, do you realize that you just said I couldn't interview Kamala Harris because I was on a deadline for Forbes. What? What? That's the coolest... I mean, hello? Life is but a dream. Okay. This is like amazing. I, that, to me, just to even have that in your bio is so stinking cool. And I can't even imagine the feelings you felt knowing when she decided to run that you had interviewed her, that you had gotten this time with her. I mean, this is Christine, this is outstanding. I'm obsessed with her.
Christine (10:48):
I know I have a picture of her sitting on a sandwich in my kitchen.
Erin (10:52):
Wait, she's doing what?
Christine (10:54):
Sitting on the sandwich. So there's a website called celebsonsandwiches.com. And I have all of the black politicians and celebrities that they have. So in my house, I have a Beyonce sitting on the ice cream sandwich, Cardi B, Oprah, Lizzo sitting on a hamburger and Michelle Obama.
Erin (11:14):
What is Oprah on?
Christine (11:16):
I forget what she's on. It's like a rye kind of sandwich.
Erin (11:20):
Stop it. Now we're going to link to this in the show notes. And now I must, this is literally, we were meant to be friends. Okay, this is happening. I'm getting some new art for my office. And I, I have Beyonce quotes already all over my office. So we might have to get Beyonce on a sandwich. This is happening. This is happening. Okay. Things you learn on the failed it! Podcast. Okay. So I'm so glad I asked that question. Now, let me ask you this. You've been doing the work that you've been doing. I mean, in just the D&I space, the mother space, the, the maternal space, the maternal health space. I mean, everything you do is yes, yes, yes. We need you. We need you. What drew you to the sign of work?
Christine (12:11):
Unfortunately like so many women who are in this space, it was becoming a mother myself, which drew me to the work. So I've always been in consumer marketing and I focused on millennials. I always have for the past 15 years. But when I became a mother, I recognized how critical that life stage was for millennials and just buried myself in it. And then once I became a mother and also faced some of the challenges that a lot of women would have, like I had to pump in a bathroom stall and it was disgusting and it was a community stall. It wasn't even like a private company stall. It was a shared workspace, bathroom stall. And just having to research the fair labor standards act and having to advocate on my behalf, it was so frustrating. And I've always been an advocate at heart. I knew that this was what I needed to do moving forward, that there was a lot of work to be done for other women who would decide to become mothers, other women who just want the option and have both options look appealing and women who weren't even considering it just yet and women who were, you know, I just wanted to be able to support women as they entered such a critical and just life-changing life stage. Matrescence is a very big deal and it changes you forever, personally and professionally, so any support that I can give to those women, I want to continue doing that.
Erin (13:42):
I'm going to give amen amen. Okay. Let me just take a moment here. So, first of all, I'm an elder millennial, so I'm, you know, I'm the tail end of the millennials here. And I had a child too. He's almost two. So two years ago, also worked in a coworking space and I have an all female internal team. And I noted that in this coworking space, there was absolutely no mother's room. And they had 30 spaces nationwide. I knew the founder of this company and I went to him and said, I have an all female team. You have mostly an all female staff. Where am I supposed to pump when I come back from maternity leave? And then they made mothers rooms all at all locations. But the fact that, that wasn't a forethought was very intriguing to me. And the fact that you have made this, your mission and you have really helped people in my own situation, not have to go and ask for it, but you've started advocating for this and not just, you know, within community, but on a global scale is fantastic. And I'm so happy that you're doing the work that you're doing. I know you have two kids, Maya and West, right? How old are they?
Christine (15:03):
Nine and six.
Erin (15:05):
Okay. I love this. Okay. So let's fast forward to the year 2030, which we're nine, let's pretend we're nine years from now, fast forward. What will you tell Maya and West about the year 2020 and what it meant for working mothers?
Christine (15:24):
Gosh, so I would tell them that this world, well that last year was the year that mommy's work, really came to the forefront. So they've always known me to be a writer and they've always known me to be a speaker, but they couldn't understand what I was writing about until they saw how much anxiety their mother was facing while having to raise them solo and homeschool them and try and find resources and support to help with that journey. So I think that I won't even have to tell them too much. I think that they'll know that last year was the year that everybody realized how hard mommy works. And if so, facto, how hard mommies period work. I think that'll be very clear.
Erin (16:14):
Very clear and kudos to you for being a parent, a teacher, an entrepreneur, a speaker, an author, a multi-passionate person here. That's I, I mean, everyone has their own 2020 story, but you had to do it on so many different levels. And I really think that they felt it too. So that's so interesting. I want to hear this, this answer too. So let's say we're still, we're still in 2030. Okay. Where it's nine years from now. What do you hope women working, working mothers looks like in 2030? What do you hope to see change in nine years from now? And I don't know why I picked nine years. It just felt like a while, but what do you hope to see different?
Christine (17:03):
You know, they're saying that it will take us 30 years to get back to the equity that women had in the workplace because of so many leaving last year. So I hope nine years from now. It doesn't take 30. I hope we've hit it. I hope we've hit where women have returned to the workforce. They're saying that it's going to take six years for women of color versus six years for every one year that a white woman was behind financially by the pandemic. It will take another six years for women of color. I hope that won't be the case either. I hope that we will have been fully recovered by then because I don't think it will take white women a year. I think it will take much longer than that. And I don't want it to take women of color six times as long as whatever it takes them.
Christine (17:48):
So I hope that we're back at an equitable place all around in nine years. And then within the workplace, I hope that conversations about working mothers shift to becoming working parents, because last time I checked, it takes two, you know to, to do the dues. So to, to raise the kids and or the women who do choose to do it on their own like myself, that they have enough resources and tools and enough independence within their, their job that they aren't afraid or questioned by their employer about their personal life, just because they're a single parent and trying to navigate work-life balance. So overall I just, I think I I'd like equity to be happening nine years from now. And I'd also like there to be a little bit of normalcy and the fact that we are humans, we procreate, we have children. I don't understand why the normalcy is us working behind a desk because that's not what we were meant to do. We were certainly meant to, to live life and have children. So I think that that should be the precedence and we should work around that versus working around work.
Erin (19:05):
This is me giving a full clap. Encore performance. Okay. Yes.
Erin (19:12):
Overachiever, perfectionist, career-minded, focused. Did those words resonate with you? It's Erin your recovering perfectionist turned failfluencer here, and I want to give a shout out to all my type a leaders out there who are failing it left and right, in this quote, unquote, new normal. Those words are gross, but they are unfortunately true. So that's why myself and team have decided to celebrate F words at work. That's right. We at improve it! Are throwing an F word party that's F as in Frank, and we can bring that party to you and your team. Now our newest virtual offering F words at work is a virtual keynote delivered by yours truly. You need a way to engage 50 plus or even hundreds of your team members via zoom, our one hour F course at work note will do just that. Now, unlike our workshops, where we are in and out of breakout rooms, this keynote is a way to appeal to the masses. I don't want you to worry because it's still uber interactive and the F words may not be what you think. So with the notion that failure plus the frequency of failure equals the fundamentals of success, I'll take you and all of the other recovering perfectionists of your organization on a virtual journey filled with laughs, learning, and levity. Reach out to us at learntoimproveit.com on our contact us page to learn more. And I cannot wait to drop some F-bombs with you.
Erin (20:59):
Let me just say this. I, you know, as the founder of a professional development company that uses improv comedy, my mission has been consistently before 2020, take off your masks at work, right? And now, you know, 2020 - 21, we're like put on your mask force, you know, for your health, but take the hypothetical mask off. Do you think that now that a lot of us have been working from home and have really leaned into seeing each other behind the fancy office behind the, you know, business suit and people have started to show a little bit more of their personal life that that's shifted anything, or what are your thoughts around that?
Christine (21:43):
I do think that has shifted things. I also think the civil unrest and racial injustice from last year shifted things a lot. We were in a place of really being vulnerable and empathetic towards one another. And thank God for it because we needed it as a society. Especially, especially last year, we were going through so much with the election. I only hope that, and I've said this, that it continues after the pandemic is over.
Erin (22:09):
I agree. I agree. Cause there was two pandemics and all of this, right. So I totally agree with that. And I think that's fantastic advice. And I hope I saw that shift too. And I felt a lot of that just through conversations with the companies and organizations that we work with. And I really think those conversations needed to happen. And I hope we continue to do so with women like you at the forefront. So let me ask you this, you know, this is the failed it podcast, right? And we use one of the most important rules of improv comedy. There are no mistakes, only gifts, which means if something happens on stage, it's not a mistake.
Erin (22:51):
It becomes a part of the scene. So we don't call our fails, fails, in our professional lives. We call them gifts. So what is one of the biggest quote unquote gifts that you've encountered during your career and what lesson did you learn from it?
Christine (23:09):
Definitely without a doubt, my marriage cause it did affect my career. It did when, prior to me getting married and my husband was my boyfriend, he was ill. And I had the decision to have a meeting in New York to become to write for a publication or to stay with him. And I decided to stay with him and we got married and we had children and the life that I lived as a wife and working mom and trying to balance that, it was so overwhelming. And it brought the experience, brought me back to a talent that I forgot that I had, which was writing. And about seven years into my marriage, I got back into writing more. And that's when I really started writing for different publications. And then I decided I want to write a book. I want to write a book about everything that it means to be a mother and how exhausting it is and how challenging it is and how anti Sheryl Sandberg it is. We can't just lean in, especially women of color. It's not easy. And I want to tell the real story of motherhood and what it means to be a married millennial. And so if I had never gotten married and gotten divorced and had children, I would have never discovered rediscovered my passion for writing. I wouldn't have wrote a book. I wouldn't have a best-selling book. I wouldn't have all of the opportunities that I have today. I wouldn't know what it means to empathize and advocate for women like me. So by far my marriage is my failed it.
Erin (24:45):
Oh, I love that. Let me ask you this, is your best-selling book Mom AF?
Christine (24:52):
Yes it is!
Erin (24:52):
This title, again I told you this before we hit record. I said, as soon as I saw that you wrote a book called Mom AF I said, please come on the show, please, please, please want to hit, send tell us about Mom AF.
Christine (25:05):
Sure. So Mom AF is loosely based on my life and my articles, of course, but it's just about my journey with trying to be a well-rounded wife and mother and be the best at, and be a perfectionist at it. But also like so many women having anxiety about everything I do left and right, and then trying to fit in at corporate America while I'm a young black woman and no one looks like me and obviously nobody thinks like me and then me trying to apply the same business principles that have gotten me to spaces where nobody else's professionally at my home and I, it doesn't work right? Because you can't apply business principles to relationships, but it's just about that. And then the unraveling of that, cause you know, that's not going to work, that's going to be a mess. So it's, it's about the unraveling of that.
Christine (25:56):
And also discovering what truly makes me happy and discovering how to navigate all of that and do it authentically and do it in my own way. And it's of course, full of curse words and has been, has been so well, I'm so blessed that it has been so well received in so many women. I had somebody in India reach out to me last week and say that she rereads the book over and over again because she's surrounded by traditional India, but feels so unconventional. And I don't know, that just touched me so hard cause I never thought I would write a book and somebody in India would be reading it and rereading it and drawing strength from it. So I'm blessed. I'll tell you that.
Erin (26:38):
You are blessed and you are blessing us. I'm going to link to that book in the show notes and any moms, I know we have a lot of moms out there in the failed it! Family, pick up Mom AF. I'm going to get my hands on it too. I can't wait. And I'm so glad that you give the raw and the real through the lens of it seems like failures and things that you've experienced in your life. That's, that's what I want the world to continue to do. And you are really that voice. You really are the number one voice for working moms. So let me ask you this. What do you think is one of the biggest quote unquote gifts remember what we call gifts when it comes to organizations and working mothers today, 2021, what would you say is one of the biggest gifts that you see?
Christine (27:29):
I think the biggest gifts that they have, or the biggest opportunity they have is to stop siloing work and life. And I think that they came through loud and clear last year, right? As you said, as we see people with their babies and dogs in the background and realize that folks do have doctor's appointments and things that they have to tend to for children in the day and a traditional nine to five, just won't cut it. So I think the biggest opportunity or gift that employers have right now is to lay off the micromanaging a bit and remember that we're humans first and that whatever employees need to do whatever working moms need to do to be their best and their most authentic and their best self at work. If it's being, if it's making them productive in the workplace, let them do it. You know, that's the biggest opportunity is to lay off this notion of a traditional nine to five, because I can't tell you how many people have anecdotally heard, say, I just need a moment to go hop on my Peloton in the middle of the day. I'm one of those people, or I just need to walk outside or I need to spend time with my kids or I need to just sit and watch cartoons in the middle of the day because it helps me to recharge.
Erin (28:45):
Totally, totally. Coco Melon, okay is a staple in this house. Let me just say that. I love what you just said right there. And I think that it's so important to repeat that, that silos I think I've really gone away in 2020. I looked at the traditional nine to five before I started improve it. About six years ago, I worked in a recruiting firm and it very much was an eight thirty to five thirty job. You punch in, you punch out, you go home and your job is done. But what we're seeing now is what I like to call work-life blend. Is that what you would call it? A work-life blend?
Christine (29:22):
I would, I would, I would call it a work-life then I think it's not necessarily getting up at nine and working till 12 and then having lunch and then hopping back on at 12:30 or one and working till five. I think it's fluid. I think it happens in the evenings. I think it's happening on the weekends, but I think it's more balanced and if anything, it seems like it's more hours, but it seems to be more balanced and that balance is actually healthier for the employee.
Erin (29:55):
Yes, yes. Balance. And I like that you said fluid. I think both of those things are ringing true. As we go into the rest of 2021 and people are looking at a hybrid work from home, work in the office model. Those things exist now. And I, that is one, I think, positive of all this, there were many, many, many, many negatives, but I think this is something that we're seeing, that we can still be productive. We can still be mothers. We can still be parents and we can still give to both sides of us because we need both of that to feel whole. Oh Christine, can you come on here again?
Christine (30:35):
Of course!
Erin (30:35):
Well, let me ask you this. After looking at these fails that life through your way or your gifts, what would you say is your it, so we say failed at what is your life's purpose or your it?
Christine (30:55):
It's definitely advocating for others. It's my Myers-Brigg personality. I'm literally the advocate. If you look up like the illustration of who you are, so it's advocating for others. Even when I was and I wrote this in the book, even when I was nine, I was the person advocating for black voices. And when I was in high school, I was advocating for my friends so that we could all wear different dresses. Cause it was our private school tradition to wear the same. And I'm just like the person you'll see with a picket fence. I mean, you, I'm sorry with a picket sign and there's just, you know, advocating left and right. And, and being vocal and speaking for others, I just, I feel bad for those who can't speak for themselves. So, or who just don't feel comfortable doing so, or don't feel like they have the right to, so that will always be my it.
Erin (31:44):
Oh yes, yes. Yeah. Let me ask you this. What would you do even if you knew you might fail and this was the question I was alluding to at the top of the show. I cannot wait to hear this answer. I think I know. What would you do even if you knew you might fail?
Christine (32:03):
Oh write. I would write I've had articles that were not well received. I've had articles that may people call me everything, but a child of God, but it doesn't stop me from writing. It just because writing is my release. It gets it off. Whenever I'm thinking it gets it off my chest for good or for bad. And it's in the articles that have always been the most controversial that I've written were the ones that I wrote pretty quickly, but they're also the ones that impacted people the most. So it just, it is what it is. I will always continue write because I feel like others need to, to hear, you know, that could be the millennial in me, but I feel like others need to hear what I have to say. I mean, that's, that's been proven time and time again with my articles and the feedback that I get. So I will always write.
Erin (32:52):
Yes. And you're writing. So you're, you're even doing what you would do even if you might fail, you're writing, you're doing it. So I knew that about you. I was like this, she's doing what she would do anyway. So you're doing it now. Let me ask you this. What did you fail at today, today?
Christine (33:08):
Oh God. What did I fail at today? I measured the for my daughter is turning into her tween room. She's getting her tween room done and I'm measured some of the furniture wrong. So I won't be able to get some of the pieces. It's not, it's not a horrible fail, but that's the fail of the day. It'll be fixed. And you know thanks to anxiety, medication and wine I don't really worry about a lot anymore.
Erin (33:36):
We are best friends. I love that so much. This is our final round, Christine. This is called our fail yeah lightning round. And I shouldn't say final round. This is our last thing. I'm going to ask you, but it's called the fail yeah lightning round. It's a little improv, a little thinking quickly on your feet, but you cannot fail here. I have your back. So I'm going to ask you a series of questions and I want you to respond with just a one word answer. Okay? If you respond with more than one word, that's totally fine, but I'm going to give you a big fail yeah. Just like that in a weird voice. Okay. Are you ready, Christine? For the fail yeah lightning round. Okay. Here we go. One word to describe your early career.
Christine (34:24):
Messy.
Erin (34:26):
One word to describe where you're currently at in your career.
Christine (34:29):
Grateful.
Erin (34:30):
One word to describe your future self.
Christine (34:34):
Relaxed.
Erin (34:35):
One word to describe your favorite boss.
Christine (34:39):
Inspiring.
Erin (34:39):
One word to describe your least favorite boss.
Christine (34:43):
Ugh. I can't, that's the word. That's the word, ugh.
Erin (34:51):
We'll take it. Okay. One word to describe your parenting style.
Christine (34:56):
Oh, relaxed.
Erin (34:59):
You said oh relaxed, but I'm going to give it to you. I'm gonna give it to you. Okay. And then one word to describe your writing style.
Christine (35:08):
Controversial.
Erin (35:10):
And one word to describe this interview.
Christine (35:13):
Fun.
Erin (35:16):
Yes, you nailed it. You didn't fail it. I love that your parenting style is relaxed. I'm going to need some of that anti-anxiety medication and wine immediately because I am not.
Christine (35:27):
Your two year old, is that a boy?
Erin (35:28):
It's a boy then. Yeah. He's into all the things right now.
Christine (35:35):
They never stop. The boys never stop being into all the things.
Erin (35:39):
Oh man. Okay. Never? Like I'm never going to rest?
Christine (35:42):
No, it's always something new. It's always something new with them. I wasn't prepared for it. Like I had the girl. And then when I had West, I was not prepared for how high strung, high energy, but how loving, you know, the boys are. Yeah. They're the ones that make me need wine. The boys.
Erin (36:02):
That's good. I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I will say that too. That I don't have a girl to compare, but he is so sweet. And he like, he is definitely, you know, cuckoo and he loves Coca Melon and all the things, but he is also so loving. And I think the mom and son relationship is so special, don't know anything different, but that's good to know. And I have heard that from women who have a son and a daughter, so thank you. I'm going to just keep drinking Kim Crawford all day long, a little, a little helmet with a straw. So let me ask you this. How can we find you? Tell the failed it! Family, how they can find you, find your books, all the things.
Christine (36:43):
Sure. So my books are at Amazon and Target and Barnes and Noble. Mom AF is. Can mommy go to work? Which is my children's book for kids who are about preschool age to help them understand why moms work that's at Amazon. And then you can find me at ChristineMichelCarter.com or @cMichelCarter on social media.
Erin (37:05):
And we are going to link to all of those things. Books included in the show notes. So if you know someone or you have kids buy the book - I'm going to buy that preschool book for my son. Do you think a two year old could read why mommy's work?
Christine (37:20):
So it's a you would read it to him. It's a quick bedtime read. That's not the idea of it. So I wanted a book that wasn't like, you know, like a, where the wild things are or curious George was a million pages. Cause you got stuff to do at night. You just want to put them down so we could very quick bedtime read. But the idea is to help kids understand that even when mommy works, the kids are always in our hearts and it was written pre COVID. I was really surprised at how many women purchased it during because they needed to teach the kids that I have to work. And I have a job. It's it's a good read. It's a fun read.
Erin (37:55):
I can't wait. All right. What's going in my Amazon cart tonight, but thank you so much Christine for being here. And we are so lucky to have your voice out there as the advocate for working moms everywhere. Please keep using it. I want you to keep screaming it, shouting it. We need you so thank you so much for coming on failed it!
Christine (38:15):
Absolutely. Thank you for having me. I had a great time.
Erin (38:19):
Me too. And to our failed it! Family fail yeah. Fail fricking Yeah.
Erin (38:26):
Hey friends. Thanks for tuning into failed it. I am so happy you were along for the ride. If you enjoyed this show, please head on over to iTunes, leave us a five star review and subscribe to the show. So you never miss an episode. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Now, if you're really feeling today's show, please take a screenshot and tag me on Instagram at keepinitrealdiehl and share it to your stories so we can bring more people to the failed it! Family. I'll see you next week, but I want to leave you with this thought, what will you fail at today and how will that help your future successful self? Think about it. I'm so proud of you and you are totally failing it. See you next time.