274 Kristin Kessler “Working Motherhood”

Today on the show I am joined by Kristin Kessler, a registered dietitian, yoga teacher, and advocate for equitable access to nutritious food and opportunities to live a healthful lifestyle. She has worked across multiple sectors of the field of nutrition for the past 12 years, including at PR agencies and in community nutrition, like at Food Bank For New York City. She also has a long-held passion for women’s rights and equitable opportunities in all aspects of life, particularly the workforce, something she credits to watching her mom work hard and excel in her career while raising her as a single mother after her parents divorced. Herself a new mother of an infant who works outside of the home, she is seeing the world through new eyes and experiencing how much of it isn’t set up for the success of birthing people, from prenatal to perinatal to postnatal and beyond.

Originally from New Orleans with a good, long stint in Dallas and Austin, Texas before making her way up to Brooklyn, she now resides in Woodstock, where she lives with her husband, infant son, and dog. She works for the City of Kingston’s Health and Wellness Department, where she creates policy, system, and environmental changes to help make healthy choices an easier choice in Kingston for everyone.

How do we move from surviving to thriving in motherhood? Today is an honest conversation on the practical challenges of motherhood from navigating the emotions and personal and public expectations on returning to work to the practical aspects of juggling nursing, pumping, childcare and costs with a work schedule. Kristin shares personal stories that perfectly illustrate why we need better systems in place to support working mothers and parents. So much of this comes down to our value system which practically speaking is largely based upon productivity and finance in a patriarchal system. It’s time for a change!

Here is the article I mentioned related to expenditure for child care in the US compared with other wealthy countries, and here’s the previous episode where I discussed child care operations with a former daycare provider.

Ahhhh, and then I end the show with a little moon reporting from Tanaaz in honor of Friday’s New Moon!

You can get your tickets to The Goddess Party here!

Today’s show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.

Our show music is from Shana Falana!

Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org

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