LIFE UPDATE: The Real, Unfiltered Season I’m In Right Now

In today’s episode, I’m bringing you a cozy, real-life catch up from my very loud Florida house (construction noises and all 🙃). Baby girl just turned 11 months, and I’m sharing honestly about the time vortex of new motherhood, juggling nap-time work blocks, and why I feel like I’m still in the “newborn bubble” almost a year later.

We chat about life lately—Halloween as the Flintstones, traveling to California for my brother’s baby shower, my first solo trip away from Amalia for a mastermind retreat, plus all the family + travel plans stacked around Thanksgiving and the holidays. And because we’re all feeling the end-of-year energy, I walk you through the simple system I’m using to stay sane: my brain dump + 4-quadrant prioritization grid that’s helping me manage business, motherhood, travel, and, you know… being a human.

Inside this episode, we talk about:

• What 11 months of motherhood really feels like (the guilt, the rush, the joy, the presence)
• How I’m navigating work in tiny pockets of time (nap windows + evenings)
• Halloween with a baby, a California trip recap, and upcoming travel to a mastermind retreat & Chicago
• How I’m prepping for being away from baby for the first time (milk, boobs, feelings… all of it)
• Black Friday + 2026 planning energy and why I’m already thinking about the new year - DM me "BLACK FRIDAY" on IG to learn about what my offers are and the discounts!
• My brain dump ritual for when life feels like “too much”
• The Do / Schedule / Delegate / Delete grid that’s saving my mental health
• The uncomfortable realization that I don’t ask for help enough—and how I’m actively changing that

If you’re a mom, a future mom, or just a woman with a lot on her plate heading into the holidays, this one will make you feel seen, a little less alone, and hopefully a lot more supported with some practical tools you can start using today.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Building Her podcast. I'm your host, Kati Lillian. If you've been loving this podcast, go ahead and rate the podcast five stars and DM me on Instagram when you do that, because I want to connect and personally thank you. If you are new here, hit that subscribe button. It really helps the podcast grow, and that way you'll never miss an episode. So let's dive in. Hey, my name is Kati Lillian, and I am obsessed with all things mindset, personal development, and helping you build the best version of yourself. I'm a women's life and mindset coach and an entrepreneur who started a fun hobby of posting hashtag sweaty selfies, grew a successful side hustle, and now I run a six figure coaching business. I teach you the secret of building a life that aligns with your deepest values and one that you wake up excited for. This podcast is designed to expand your mind and. Challenge the status quo. So get ready to uplevel your life and let's start building her. Hello everyone. I have quite a bit of a life update for you all today. As I talk and get started, there might be some background noise. I literally cannot escape it. They are doing whatever the hell they're doing outside of my house. I think it's like new fiber lines maybe, or they're like hurricane proofing our streets. I don't know. But it is so loud and there's these huge tractors they blocked off our driveway. We can't even leave. And when there's like this huge crane, it hits the street and my whole house shakes like an earthquake. It's wild. But you know, I'm here in my closet and we can't escape the earthquake. Type sounds and shake. So we might hear some of that in today's podcast, but you guys are here for it. You know me, you love me. It's all great. Okay, so life update. Oh my gosh, baby girl, three days ago, two days ago, she turned 11 months. I, of course, everyone says the same thing, like time flies by what the hell just happened, but truly. They're, I, I feel like I'm still in a vortex. Number one, they always say like, enjoy the newborn bubble when you first have a baby. I'm like, I'm still in the fucking bubble and it's 11 months postpartum. That's cool. Because time doesn't feel real If any other moms are listening to this, I hope you can agree. It's, it's just like the time is one speeding up and then the time that you do have, I feel like I'm never fully. Like not present. That's not the right word, but like it when I have time, it doesn't slow down. There we go. My time does not slow down. Like right now, I am alone. I'm sitting in my closet. Baby girl is napping. Dad has her, like if she wakes up or cries like he's on duty. Yet, I'm still here feeling like I need to rush this podcast episode now, because it's like it's just a matter of time before she wakes up, or, oh my gosh, if she wakes up and she wants milk or she wants mom, or she just stops or doesn't stop crying. Do I end my podcast episode short? You know what I mean? It's like I'm always constantly on like overdrive over here trying to get shit done because I don't have much time. I literally have her nap times if and when she naps and then at night, and God forbid I'm also tired that I don't wanna work at night. And then it's like, well, there's another day. So it's just like, I don't know, I if moms are listening to this and you are like, oh my god, girl, it gets better. Like just wait till, I don't know, a year, two years, five years, 10 years, or never at least just like, give me a clue. Let me know. DM me on Instagram so that I can breathe over here and I can feel and. See the light at the end of the tunnel. I would so appreciate that. So that's my, my opinion on time right now. But it's still like, obviously so special with her because it's 11 months, she turns 12 months now a year, the big year birthday on 12 five. And life just keeps going. Time just keeps moving. And it, it's really like you have to embrace every single. Second, like honestly, there's some times where I just, I catch myself staring at her. Like I think I'm actually really good at being present with her because if I'm on my phone for anything, maybe it's like a quick text, dm, whatever, but other than that, oh my God, I am not scrolling. On my phone next to her, right? Like phone is a side. I am with her. I'm playing, I'm crawling with her. We play this cute little like chase game now. We're working on hide and seek. Uh, she's in the kitchen with me if I'm cooking, if I'm baking, if I'm cleaning, like she is an anklet. She is constantly. Or they call it a Velcro baby, right? So like she's constantly around me, but I love it. Like, I love being a mom. I love being present with her. That is one thing I do not, let's call it regret when I reflect back now in the last 11 months. I truly feel like I made the most of every moment, and I truly feel like I have been so present with her. I enjoy my breakfast with her. I enjoy my lunch with her. I, you know, like everything she does in her waking hours, I'm pretty much doing with her. Unless, again, dad's watching her because I have my calls, right? But. Other than that, like I am a fully present mom, and that's something that's really, really important to me. I want to have a relationship with my daughter. I want her to learn from me and catch how I deal with certain things and my mannerisms and my energy and my personality. Obviously, she's her own human, but you know what I mean? Like I want to be as ingrained in the day-to-day as possible. I want to have a relationship with her even when she's 20, 25, 50. I don't know if I'm still gonna be here, but you understand what I'm saying. So anyways, she is 11 months and a year. Soon in a month, which I'm so excited for. Everyone's like, oh my God, are you gonna do everything or are you gonna like throw a big party and stuff? I was like, I don't think I want to. Like, I think the first birthday, maybe even second. Is like for the parents and she won't remember it besides a photo that we show her when she's older. So I don't know if I'm gonna do anything big. I think we're, of course, I wanna do like a smash cake. I think that's super cute and fun. And then I already have a one balloon. I don't know. I think I bought it as a part of something else, and so I just have it. And then maybe I'll invite like a few of my girlfriends that are just here local, who also have kids. But other than that, I don't, I don't really wanna do too much because it's also in the craziness of the holidays, which we'll get to here in a minute. And yeah, I just feel like it would add more. Stress pressure time that I don't want to make for this party this birthday. So again, maybe something small and intimate, I haven't decided yet, but TBD more to come. If you guys follow me on Instagram, I, we just had Halloween and it. The cutest experience because obviously before Amalia, we haven't done trick or treating in quite some time and we don't even dress up anymore. I think the last time we dressed up for Halloween was in Chicago, so we're talking five years ago and we, it was actually during COVID, uh, we went up to, we were all in this like apartment building. This. Tall condo with the amenities and all that stuff, that kind of building. And the guy at the very top level had the penthouse and he was throwing a Halloween party. And so it's COVID. We're all stuck inside anyway, so we kind of just like hopped around to other people's apartments the whole time. You know what I mean? Like dinner parties and stuff like that, which kept us sane. And so when we heard about a Halloween party, we're like. Fuck it, let's go. Like it's literally up the stairs, you know, like what else are we gonna do? So that was the last time we dressed up. I think I was like a tennis player. So really low effort over here. But it was so much fun and yeah, that was the last time we dressed up. Last year I was very pregnant and I think we laid on the couch and watched like scary Halloween movies, you know, and made chili and that kind of vibe, which is so amazing too. But this was our first year then obviously with the Molly, and we wanted to make it special for her. Again, she's not even one yet, but it was just fun to think of like costumes and then go with our, my two mom friends. Who also have kids, and we went trick-or-treating in a group in her neighborhood, and it was just such a special time. We were the Flintstones. If you missed it, I was Wilma, Bert was Fred. And then of course Amalia was pebbles. And then some people were like, where's bam? Bam. I was like, ha, ha, ha. I know what you're doing here. Not yet. I'm not ready. So anyways, Halloween was amazing. It was such a good time, and I'm happy we have the, the memory tied to it now, you know, before that I'm catching you up because I was in California. Just end of October, actually it was right before Halloween. We came back the week before, so I feel like I haven't even touched on Cali yet or anything like that. But in Cali, we were there. The whole reason why we went is because my brother is having his first. Child with his fiance. They have a baby girl coming on the way. She's due in January, so pretty soon. Now here she's in her third trimester and that was just so special to go there. We landed on a Friday and then the baby shower was already that next day on Saturday. And gosh, her brother has this house in my hometown, Tehachapi. It's this mountain town, and he had a house. Like on top of a mountain and you saw this incredible view. The sunset was amazing. He said, in the mornings you see the fog roll in. It's just like the venue was, oh my God. So beautiful. And then yeah, we played some games. They had good food. The people were amazing. The conversation was amazing. Amalia was. There with her cute little October 1st outfit like, or my first Halloween or something like that. So it was a lot of fun to be with family and then we stay with my parents and they obviously love their grandma and grandpa era that they're in. And yeah, it's just so special. I think we were there for 10 days. And when we were there, it's like, wow, we come to Cali a lot.'cause this year alone, I was there in March. I was there the entire month of July. And then I was there now again, 10 days in October. And I think, I mean we've always done a, a good job traveling back to Cali, even when we lived in Chicago, to always meet and visit our family. That's really important to us, especially living so far away. But. Yeah, I just always think of like my job and my career and I took coaching calls from there, but even before my trip I rescheduled and I, you know, shifted some things around so that I could have a lighter schedule when I was there so that I could make more time with my family members. And so I just always think of like, how nice. The freedom is that I've built for myself because had I, you know, if I have another job and I have to have a 9:00 AM call with a team and talk about shit I don't care about and just bring that stress and anxiety to my family, like, that's not nice either. They're like, you know, stay home. So it's just beautiful that I have dream clients. And that I get to decide when the calls are and if we need to reschedule and everyone's chill and they all get it and they all support. Now my motherhood journey, like it's just like I could go on and on and on. But yeah, Kelly was amazing. The weather was. Fabulous. We actually experienced fall weather. That was fun for us too.'cause since we're here in Florida, we don't really get seasons. And so just like putting on a jacket and you know, having a 50 degree morning up in the mountains, like it was just so special. And I truly feel like I got to enjoy that little bit, that little taste of fall in October. So it was really, really nice. Speaking of travel now, coming ahead, upcoming. I am going to Fort Lauderdale next week, Tuesday through Friday. I'm going to road trip it over there. It's just about three and a half, four hours. So not too bad, but well actually I didn't want to road trip. I wanted to fly because I'm just across the state. Like in my mind, I think it would be super easy to hop on a flight. Jump over to the other side of Florida and be good and also should be like, what, a hundred, 200 bucks max? Yeah. It's not, it's not possible unless you're listening to this and you're like, bitch, I do it all the time. Well, hit me up and let me know. Because I looked from Tampa. Our big airport only goes to Miami now. Fort Lauderdale is another hour north of Miami. So in my mind, that doesn't make sense'cause I know I have. The car. I know I can road trip, so that's my option. That's like my plan B. In the event I could fly because it's a bit more convenient and shorter, well then I'm gonna do that. And so flying to Miami just to drive another hour north there. And then obviously back when I fly out of Miami, it doesn't make sense to me the price. You guys, the price was$700. You heard me write 700. Dollars. Like that's crazy. Like that's just stupid to go on a flight for one hour,$700. Like come on, Florida. Like we've gotta do better. So that's out. But then get this, we have a small airport. It's the Clearwater Airport, and it goes to Fort Lauderdale Airport. So I was like, oh my gosh. Amazing. That's so convenient. This is why I would fly, but get this, it doesn't go direct. So I'm gonna go to Clearwater. Get in the airport another hour to then take me to my final destination of Fort Lauderdale, and that was also like$300. I was like, okay, we're driving. Like, are you kidding me? I honestly wish it was so much easier and better because in Europe you can take a train and it's got wifi and recliner seats and ac and it's like, why? And, and cheap. Like why are we not convenient like that? At least. In the same state going coast to coast. Like yeah, they're working on the bright line that's not uh, available yet. And then there's Amtrak, but that takes like half a day. So. I digress. Your girl is driving and I'm driving to Fort Lauderdale because my mastermind that I'm a part of my year long mastermind, they host an immersion, a retreat as a part of our mastermind year long investment. So I'm super excited to meet everyone in real life. There are a couple of girls that I know from the first time I did this mastermind. So it'll be nice. And then we're in this huge ass mansion the whole time and we might even go on a yacht on one of the days, weather permitting, and it's just gonna be such a vibe. So if you don't follow me on Instagram, go do that now so that you can be a nosy bitch. And. See what I'm up to next week.'cause it's gonna be such a vibe. I'll obviously have like a, a breakdown and review when I get back here on the podcast, but for right now, I'm just super excited for that. But also it's my first solo trip away from Baby Girl. So, uh, my friend, my best friend asked me, she's like, oh my God. Like, are you nervous? Are you worried? Like how she's gonna do? And I'm like, no. So ready for my own solo trip away from Baby Girl Like Mama needs a break over here. I am a little nervous about the milk situation because I'm still breastfeeding and so I started pumping on Thursday. Yeah, yesterday. Okay. And yeah, I have five, five and a half days to pump in surplus so that Bert has, you know, frozen milk that he can thaw out and give it to her in a bottle. So. I just hope I have enough. If not, I might finally buy some clean organic formula and then maybe, you know, he'll have to mix it or something. But TBD on that. But also if she then doesn't have my boobs for three, four days, I'm excited because I think that'll start and ignite the transition of. No more breastfeeding. So maybe I'll still pump and we'll do it through a bottle, but I definitely want her to like get off the boot because your girl has had enough. I'm so done. I'm so over it. So I think this, uh, time away next week will be really good for myself, but also for her to learn to get more milk from a bottle. We'll see how she does at night because I do night feeding. So, yeah, we'll see how it goes, but regardless, we're going, I'm going outside of that, then one week I'm home and then the following week is already Thanksgiving week. And my family, they are going to fly in. Not everyone, just sister nephew and my mom. So. It won't be too overwhelming to host just'cause it's a few of my family members, but that's gonna be special to share Thanksgiving with. And then Amalia turns one, and then we go to Chicago. We're gonna go to Chicago for about a week. Bert's office is out there. They fly him out once a year to see everyone in person. And then, yeah, just basically hang out and they have like annual end of year meetings, reviews, you know, that kind of stuff. And then I'll just kind of be there, uh, in the hotel room, but. Any Chicago girlies listening to this episode right now, I want you to save the date on. Now I need to pull up my calendar on December, what is it? December 20th. I want to do a Chicago meet. With any, like, past clients? Current clients, I have a few current clients in Chicago. But yeah, I just wanna meet everyone and, you know, reconnect in real life. So I'm thinking like a coffee date situation on December 20th, so I'm. I'm going for like 11:00 AM so, I'll put it on Instagram as well and probably message you individually if I know you and we've worked together. But yeah, save the date December 20th, 11 till let's say 1:00 PM We're gonna do some kind of coffee, breakfast, brunch situation, so TBD. But yeah, I'm really excited for that. Because normally I treat it as like a personal holiday trip with my family, but I really wanna see my other family, which are my clients. So yeah, that's Chicago. So that's my personal life update in the professional setting. Oh my god. It's so, so busy. Black Friday, you guys, black Friday is coming up at the end of this month and I've done Black Friday deals the last two years, and it's just insane. The opportunity in front of us. So number one, if you are not a coach, you're not an entrepreneur, and you're thinking about what are we doing in 2026 and what feels right and do I want to invest and what type of investment do I want group? Do I want one-on-one? Like what are we doing? I would highly suggest, recommend. Looking at my Black Friday deals, you could actually DM me today, black Friday on Instagram so that you get early access to the discounts. You'll actually be able to see already what the discounts are, what the programs are. We can talk and see which one would best suit you if I even have something that would suit your needs, and then you could already lock it in and secure your spot before doors even. Open during Black Friday. So I would highly recommend doing that just to even learn so that you could also think a little bit and start to plan what do I want and what do I want to invest in for the new year? I'm at complete capacity for the rest of the year. You cannot work with me now for the next two months. Everything that I'm doing is now to set up January and on, so that's just something for you to be aware of. So again, DM me the word black or words, black Friday, all caps so that I can see it super easy. And then you and I will talk about my deals, my programs. What's the best fit for you? And then should you feel like there is something that is a good fit for you based off of your goals, what you're looking to do, then we can lock it in and secure your spot. So I would recommend that also do it now before the craziness of Thanksgiving and family and travel and then. Christmas and New Year's like that, just, it's insane. So why not do it now the few weeks ahead of time so that you can go into the next season with ease, peace, calm, knowing you have something set up ready to go for you in the new year. So that's what's going on Black Friday and then end of year renewals or anybody that is already DM-ing me Black Friday, I actually just signed, two new one-on-one clients last week because they were ready to go and they dmd me or, yeah, they dmd me Black Friday and one-on-one was the best fit and so they made the most of it. And, yeah, I'm just so proud of them because they knew exactly what they wanted. It was actually pretty quick in terms of like the whole deal because they already knew what they wanted, so they secured their spot. We've got two new clients in the door to kick off the new year. Anybody else, please know that spots are limited. Your girl only has so much time in the day to take one-on-one calls, so if that is something that you're looking for, please, please, please get on it. DM me. Outside of that, I am working on a new freebie for you all. It's going to be much more focused on mindset and the fears that we have. And then I'm also working on a new offer. I can't share anything about that yet'cause it's so new and I'm working on it whenever I can. So that might be a little bit more distant, but it's just all these things in the background that I'm working on and it's just nuts. So over here, nap times and her bedtime is where we're getting all this done. If you feel like me in terms of just a little busy, a little hectic during the next season, I feel like I was good all of October and then November 1st hit and it was like ramp up season. Now the now's the time to like get shit done. I don't know if you guys feel the same, but there is a huge energy shift the the minute November one. Was on the calendar. So what I am doing to mitigate some of my stress and still like get shit done, but more so in the energy of ease and knowing like, okay, when things get done, they get done. Like I don't wanna work from a place of stress. Is a brain dump list. So I don't wanna have all of these tabs open in my brain because that just makes me really anxious and stressed out. So the minute I think of something of like, oh yeah, I gotta do that, or, oh shit, I gotta send this, or, oh, I gotta text this person. I don't just like, I don't hold it in my mind. I release it. Onto a brain dump list right now that's in my notes app on my phone. I used to do this handwritten, but I could be on a walk, I could be at the grocery store, I could be whatever, like, whatever I'm doing. I'm not next to like a pen and paper. So I've moved that into my notes app, which is really convenient because here's why I put it all in my notes app. So it's, there's just, there's this like long list. And I have the little, uh, check mark circles next to it so that I can check it off once it's done, which is just a good feeling and good to see in addition to a brain dump list, though I have an issue with, or. Hmm. I'm working on it, prioritizing then that list. Because if you think about the list, it's just a brain dump. So it's like call mom back, send welcome boxes to my new one-on-one clients send, uh. Christmas holiday cards to all my clients. Go to the tailor, get your damn dress tailor that you've had for a month. Like it's all of that stuff, like all those nuances, right? And so then if you look at the list, that could also still stress you out because now you're like, where the fuck do I start? Where do I begin? So now what I've done. And truly just for this season,'cause the next two months are nuts. So is this prioritization grid, so if you're familiar, it's like this four quadrant grid. Top left quadrant is the do quadrant. Uh, top right is schedule lower left, delegate, lower right. Delete. This has been huge for me, and I feel like I am not only surviving the next two months, but I still am thriving. Like I still have capacity. I still have space to get all this shit done because. I look at my list and I immediately look at my timeline. So like next week I'm going to the immersion, so I need to like order stuff like clothes. I need to go get a manicure. A pedicure is very pressing, so that immediately goes into the do category, right? That is priority number one, given the timing. Now, there's other things I need to do. Let's say in my business, like I just mentioned, the freebie. I really wanna get that done. But maybe in the next couple of days, it's not realistic because I have the due quadrant filled out. So then the freebie is gonna go under the schedule category, and once it's under the schedule category, I know and I see, okay, this needs to go on the calendar maybe sometime when I get back from the immersion. You see what I mean? Delegate. There's these few things on my list, I, I remember it now'cause it's top of mind. But Target, I wanted to go get Kenda Mill. It's this formula my friend sent me. So that's again, to prepare. When I am gone next week, I also need to send my library books back. Yes, we go to the library now. It's so amazing. If you're local, you need to go the Obama library. Highly recommend. Right. But it's those little things that I just mentioned and so it's like, okay, hold up. Why do you have to do it right? Why can't you also ask for help? Hello? Your husband is right here. And so now I asked him, can you take the library books back? Can you go to Target and get Kenda Mill? It doesn't need to be today, but maybe this weekend. So I have to get better about delegating and I'll get to that here in a minute. And then the lower right is, delete. So this maybe has been on my list for a month, and it's like, Katya, you don't need to do this, so just delete the thing. It's not priority, it doesn't matter. So that has been huge for me. It's a four quadrant prioritization grid. Now what I'm realizing. In doing this, and I just alluded to it, is I do not ask for help enough. That is my flaw. I do not ask for help. I don't know why. Like in my mind when I make a to-do list and go over my to-do list, and it keeps stacking with, oh, I have to do this and I have to run here, and then I have to do this, then I have to call this person. Then I, it's like. Why are we making it all or why are we putting it all on my shoulders? Like that is innately my first thing. Like, okay, I gotta do this, and then I gotta, it's like, bitch, slow down. Ask Bert to do some of the things now that you've put in the delegate quadrant and, and then be good with it. Like he'll return the library books when he can turn, return the library books like, that's it. That's the end of it. Release it from your. Brain space, the mental property comes back, you know, so I've realized that about myself. I think here and there. I asked for help and I've done that now, of course a little bit better since having Amalia, but. Yeah, and just like high stress, high season type times, I still have this tendency to put it all on my plate and all on my shoulders. So that is something that this quadrant now has revealed to me of like, all right, there's actually a lot that could go in this delegate square, so let's put more there. Give yourself some breathing room, and then just trust. He'll do it. And you'll be fine. So I really hope that last tip helps you if you feel the way I feel in terms of your personal life and perhaps professional life just in go mode for the rest of this year. I feel like the race is on and yeah, I hope this really helped you. Just one feel seen also. Two, just. To understand a little bit more of what's going on in my world and, you know, connect with me a little bit more on a personal level. I hope you enjoy the, these life updates versus always just, you know, strategic and value and that kind of stuff. And then I hope here at the end, this little tidbit, this quadrant really helped you as well. And maybe you start that today. So that's what I got for you this week. If anything about this episode resonated with you, please do me a favor and take a screenshot of this podcast, post it onto your stories, and tag me at Katia, Lillian, I would love to connect with you. So thank you in advance and I appreciate you. Until next time.