Episode #38: Surviving the Lake of Blood and... with Meredith Hendriks, Working Mother & Artist Artwork

The Working Mother Experience

It's The Working Mother Experience podcast. Weekly, we will alternate between interviewing the artists (it could be you) and discussing hot topics related to working and mothering. We promise, it will lift your spirits, make you laugh and think, and deeply connect you to your experience and the experience of other working mothers. The Working Mother Experience inspires ambitious women to honestly and creatively share what it means to work and mother. Our goal is to collect and compile 250 pieces of individual art, painted by working mothers around the globe, to showcase the richness and diversity of what it means to mother and work.

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The Working Mother Experience

Episode #38: Surviving the Lake of Blood and... with Meredith Hendriks, Working Mother & Artist

December 14, 2023 • Working Mother Experience

Meredith Hendriks is a force of resilience and strength. Knowing Meredith for close to a decade, I've had the vantage point of seeing her move through adversity, accidents, setbacks and many personal challenges that would have made most crumble. In this raw interview, Meredith opens up about these moments and how she has persevered despite them.

A teacher by training, Meredith has taken two years off work due to an injury and ongoing challenges associated with a concussion. As she shares, you can't keep pushing through a concussion, sometimes you must simply rest and heal.

A single mother of a teenager with significant medical challenges, challenges that have been present since birth, Meredith opens up about the magnitude of this journey and the depths of her pain and guilt.

Meredith shares there is still a sliver of hope on the other side of this lake of blood and shit. She shares that she has lost site of that a few times over her journey, but today, is firmly footed on this earth and is working to best support her child and herself.

I can't say thank you enough to Meredith for her raw vulnerability and willingness to share a piece of her soul on this podcast. For listeners, this is not an easy discussion with reference to major medical procedures on an infant, thoughts of suicide and major trauma. Thank you, Meredith, you are truly an inspiration and I'm grateful to know you.