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The MomForce Podcast Hosted by Chatbooks

Vanessa Quigley

Welcome to The Mom Force Podcast! We know that parenting is the hardest job in the world, and we've got you covered! Vanessa Quigley, mother of 7 and co-founder of the Internet's favorite photo book company Chatbooks, hosts this refreshing take on all things mom as she chats with parenting experts to answer some of our toughest parenting questions. And check out our Facebook group — the #momforce by Chatbooks — to see the power of women supporting women. That's the MomForce!

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#223
Today · 18 min· Video
High School: The Glory Years or Survival Days?
In this episode, Sarah asks Vanessa and Julie if they loved their high school years or not. Each of them reflect on different reasons why high school was fun, confusing, difficult, enriching, and also why they're all glad they don't have to relive it. Vanessa shares about one old friend who she still looks at as a role model to this day for her positivity and kindness to everyone, even in the years of life when it would be easy to be shy and stand-offish. Julie shares how she's seeing her own children have different personalities come out as they mature into their teenage years. She also shares a motto that they're all going to stick by: instead of saying "fake it til you make it," try adopting "force it til you feel it," because it's not always about faking a feeling, but instead digging deep and forcing it. Get started on your Kid Yearbook now! 20% off sitewide!
#222
October 27 · 28 min· Video
The Power of Noticing
Small rituals carry us through hard seasons — from creating weekly Monday visits while in the postpartum days to a couch-and-snacks Dancing with the Stars watch with the whole family. This episode is about attention as devotion: slowing down, really noticing, and asking what you actually want versus what you're marketed to want. Start your Chatbooks today!
#221
October 20 · 24 min· Video
Maybe, Maybe Not
Sarah is in the final stretch of wedding planning, and she's not too proud to admit it: there was a breakdown, a small bridezilla moment, and a reality check from her sister that she probably needed. This week, Sarah and Julie get real about control — why life's biggest transitions (weddings, new babies, a teenager getting his driver's license) seem to bring out our worst with the people we love most, and what it actually takes to let go. Also on the table: whether "it doesn't matter" is a healthy reframe or just dismissive, the great Oreo group-chat scandal, a bride's perfectly timed words — "the last two weeks were terrible, but today I've had so much peace" — and the two-word therapy mantra behind this episode's title. Because something will go wrong. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it's just the beginning. Start your Chatbooks subscription today!
#220
October 13 · 21 min· Video
Maybe Escapism is Okay (If It's a 90s Dance Party)
Fresh off a 90s throwback dance party at East High School (yes, the High School Musical one), the ladies of the MomForce look back on a night when nearly a thousand women showed up in costume to forget their worries and dance. From there, the conversation turns to why nights like that matter. Life doesn't stop being hard, and the key to joy might be learning to be okay when things aren't. They talk about the escapes that get them through, including mahjong, quilting, music and a good cry at the movies. They also discuss Dolly Parton's belief in the power of imagination, and why sometimes the best thing to do is call a friend, put on your acid-wash jeans and join the limbo line. Get started on your Chatbooks today!
#219
October 6 · 20 min· Video
Never Underestimate the Hot Girls with Annie Ricks
Episode description: In this episode, Annie, a Manhattan-based Chatbooks marketer of five and a half years, joins the conversation and tells how she was pushed into a new role in acquisition against her wishes. As the resident hot girl at Chatbooks, she defends the idea that you can be both a personality hire and a major player. The group talks about letting people underestimate you, beating the plan by 30% in candy bar costumes, and why a little overwhelm might be the best thing for your kids and your team. Also, Julie shares how she turned a Classic Book into a camp keepsake for her daughter and friends, complete with a junk journaling party to bedazzle every page (the Chatbooks office now takes "bedazzle breaks" instead of smoke breaks). Don't miss this inspiring episode about seeing potential in people before they see it in themselves. Get started on your Chatbooks today!
#218
September 29 · 13 min· Video
Too Much Information? Or Not Trusting Intuition?
In this episode, the ladies of the MomForce Podcast share their thoughts on what this age of the information overload has done to their brains, and especially to how they view themselves. From something as inoccuous as fashion and not finding your own personal style to childrearing and sifting through the millions of voices who tell you the "right way", there is something a little scary and unsettling about not knowing a real source of truth. Sarah explains that she sometimes feels silly because there is so much information out there, but she isn't sure what her real intuition tells her. Julie and Vanessa both prescribe turning the phone off, finding out what truly matters, and flexing the skill that is listening to your own brain. Check out Chatbooks and create your Monthbook now!
#217
September 22 · 26 min· Video
Can We Celebrate The Highlight Reel For A Minute?
In this episode, Vanessa is facing her first fall with zero kids in school after 7 children — and the relief is real (even if it came with some end-of-summer office vibes). Julie and Sarah talk about how scary it can feel to admit that your 20's are often hard but we like to pretend that they're easy. And Sarah shares the biggest news of the season: she's engaged! Julie and Sarah reflect on wishing they could've relaxed into their 20s more, knowing now that things work out, and talk about the right way (and wrong way) to reassure someone in a hard season: validate first, and save the "it'll be okay" for people who've earned the trust to say it. Don't miss this heartfelt episode about the life phases that shape us. Get started on your Chatbooks today!
#216
September 15 · 14 min· Video
Shopping is the Modern Day Hunting and Gathering
In this week's episode, Julie shares about how she and her eldest daughter have a shared skill of shopping together and being quite procifient at it. The conversation touches on how shopping is an actual skill that not everyone has. Julie and Sarah discuss how often skills like this are looked at as frivolous because they are something typically women are better at, but we're not taking into consideration that shopping is a balancing act and important skill that the whole family benefits from. Additionally, shopping is an amazing bonding experience for women where they can hype each other up, pass along their style preferences, and enjoy time together. Want to do an OOTD Monthbook like Sarah? Get started on your Chatbooks today!
#215
September 8 · 12 min· Video
Sit in the Shake
In this episode, Sarah and Vanessa discuss a little about their Pilates class earlier that morning that leads them all into a discussion about the lessons you learn when you "sit in the shake." In Pilates, the muscles get built in that uncomfortable moment when your experiencing muscle failure and your body starts to shake. Julie expresses how when we were young, we weren't able to get immediate answers to anything, and how her kids are experiencing the exact opposite. The conversation turns into what happens long-term when we avoid discomfort instead of sitting in it. Get your Chatbooks started now!
#214
September 1 · 25 min· Video
Type A, Type B, or Somewhere In Between?
This week, Vanessa, Julie, and Sarah dig into a discussion that's been brewing since a fan comment recently called Chatbooks "the perfect Type-A solution for a Type-B mom." That line kicks off a real conversation about where each of them actually falls on the Type A/Type B spectrum. Julie shares about how her hyper-organized momhood was really a stress response to survival mode (and what it's looked like to let that go), while also owning her Type-B proclivities to completely color drench her office and paint without any tape or ladders. Vanessa shares that her approach to motherhood has mostly been somewhat Type B, but that things have evolved throughout different stages of her life. Sarah shares that she lands somewhere in the middle as a self-declared "Type A minus." They also discuss why lately there has been a sort of pride in being Type B while the Type A personality gets a lot of the hate for being bossy. They discuss why we should celebrate both people who get things done and people who bring the good times. The real takeaway: the label matters less than the self-awareness. Know your tendencies, build a few guardrails around them, give yourself and everyone else some grace, and stop using either type as an excuse for bad behavior. Download Chatbooks today!
#213
August 25 · 26 min· Video
The Work Lore that Built Us
In this episode, Vanessa shares what it was like changing a tire in Disneyland Pluto costume. Julie's asks Vanessa if she is more hirable because she's had experience dressing up as Chuck E. Cheese at her day job as a teenager. And Sarah tells all about how she was hired by a catering service to serve food at a private concert and instead snuck into the concert (spoiler alert: it was an Adam Levine, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani private show--totally worth it). Don't miss this hilarious episode about the work lore that built us. Get started on your Chatbooks today!
#212
August 18 · 12 min· Video
Buy the Tickets: A Case for Scheduling Inspiration
This week, Vanessa and Julie share abou the importance of the arts and prioritizing it in your life in order to find inspiration for all aspects of life including work, motherhood, and entertainment. They also discuss what creation costs the creator, and how watching something like Hamnet can be a reminder of that. Julie and Vanessa talk about the tendency to get heads-down in daily life and forget to seek out beauty, and land on a practical fix: putting inspiration on the calendar intentionally, the same way you'd schedule a dentist appointment, and buying tickets the moment interest strikes instead of waiting. Speaking of arts, getting started with your Chatbooks is the best way to keep the important things in your life at the forefront. Get started today!
#211
August 11 · 46 min· Video
Our Five Things Worth the Money
Cozy is worth the money. Subscriptions are worth the money. And claw machines from Amazon are definitely worth the money. These are the official "worth the money" lists of Emily King, Head of Creative, Julie Taylor, VP of Marketing, and Vanessa Quigley, Chief Chatbooker. One of our favorite episodes to date. You don't want to miss out on it. What we recommend is worth the money? Getting your Chatbooks started today!
#210
August 4 · 20 min· Video
How to Raise Confident Kids
This week, Sarah shares how she has observed certain families whose teenagers are simply magnetic and very confident in themselves around adults. She asks Julie and Vanessa what they think it takes to raise confident kids and how to instill confidence as parents raising young children and young adults. The conversation also discusses a mindset shift that changes everything: choosing to be inspired instead of threatened by the people around you. Julie wraps it up with a one-liner: "Nobody knows what they're doing. We're all just trying stuff out." Get started on your Chatbooks today!
#209
July 28 · 18 min· Video
How to Keep Going When You Don't Want To
In this episode, we get into what to actually do when you don't want to keep going and why obligation and duty are wildly underrated motivators. We also talk about laying on the ground as an actual reset (10/10, would recommend), an end-of-day ritual we've practiced for years, and why "listening to your body" on social media doesn't look anything like it does in real life. Plus, how we built positivity into our team culture with something called Manic Monday, why learning from your wins matters as much as learning from your failures, and how the same principle applies to parenting. Days that start with dread can still end well. And sometimes "pushing through" isn't a wellness routine, it's just doing it anyway. Also, if all else fails, a Baja Blast from Taco Bell is always recommended.
#208
July 21 · 20 min· Video
Be Petty in Private: Stop Oversharing on the Internet
In this episode, we chat about Julie's casual confession to being a proud, private "Petty Betty" (and why that's different from oversharing online), the real reasons people post the messy stuff: comfort, clout, or community, sometimes all three at once, and a Brazilian wax story that made someone's teenagers beg her to stop. We also get into the mother-in-law-ripping, motherhood-is-brutal corners of the internet, the fine line between describing your life and creating it, and the hard stuff nobody shows up for. Plus, the questions we're asking ourselves before we post anything personal these days, and why a little more shame (the good kind) might actually be a gift. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. We didn't come up with that one. We're stealing it. Get started with your Chatbooks today! There has never been a better time to make a classic book.
#207
July 14 · 26 min· Video
Be Unbothered This Week
This week, Vanessa shares about how she threw her own birthday party and how it taught her that if you build it, people will come. Celebrating together is something that women get to be good at! This conversation led to a discussion about whether or not you're a party planner and how to not let those expectations fail when things like holidays, birthdays, and family traditions don't go according to plan. The best advice is that you get to create your own family culture, and the best way to be is to stay unbothered.
#206
July 7 · 23 min· Video
What Swollen Ankles Taught Us About Our Purpose
Vanessa just spent two and a half weeks in the Dominican Republic building a school with her son Declan, taking cold showers out of a garden hose, and coming home fearing permanently swollen ankles and asking herself a big question: "who am I now?" We talk about the weird whiplash of walking straight from that into an air-conditioned house and a "well-stocked Costco" — plus what happened when she got her phone back after weeks off social media. We also get into why Chatbooks just switched to fixed pricing with no hidden fees (yes, we're losing money on the big books on purpose), why we proactively cancel inactive subscribers instead of quietly taking your money, and a sneak peek at Sarah's next trip: off-grid and headed to Havasupai.
#205
June 30 · 21 min
Proud to Be a Human
In this episode, we chat about what it actually feels like to come home after time abroad (hint: air conditioning has never felt so good), a wild pickpocketing incident in Rome that took an unexpected turn, and why a cold Diet Coke is genuinely one of America's greatest gifts to the world. We also get into why World Cup social media has been one of the most surprisingly feel-good corners of the internet lately, what it looks like to teach kids real gratitude without dismissing hard things, and why choosing a good attitude, even when it's hard, is always worth it. Plus, we're making Chatbooks a real habit now, because the memories are happening whether you're documenting them or not.
#204
June 23 · 27 min
Are We Health Maxxing Too Hard? with Rikki!
In this episode, Julie and Sarah are joined by podcaster OG and sister to Vanessa, Erika Anderson. They discuss why we should all have vices and why motherhood especially requires us to sometimes just simply chill. They discuss the trend of "health maxxing" and why that isn't sustainable over a lifetime. And sometimes it's okay to just endulge every once in a while. Get started on your Chatbooks today!

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