"Worth It" -Happily Divorced a brief intro to Aimee

Welcome back to the Mommy Pod, where we share honest stories about motherhood, resilience, and the messy, beautiful process of growth.

Today I’m joined by Aimee, CCMHC, Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor and founder of WORTH IT Counseling + Coaching in Utah. She holds multiple advanced degrees in psychology, counseling, and administration, and her practice covers everything from co-parenting and better breakups to brainspotting, neurofeedback, and crisis management.

But beyond her credentials, Aimee is also a happily divorced mom of two who co-parents like a champion with her ex-husband. She’s here to show us that divorce doesn’t have to be the end of the story—it can actually be the beginning of a healthier, more balanced family life. Aimee, welcome to the Mommy Pod.”

Aimee: https://worth-it.com/therapists/aimee-mortensen/

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Intro Relax and Enjoy

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:47

Living with ADHD means cleaning and organizing can feel impossible. But it doesn't have to. My book, Living with ADHD: Cleaning and Organizing, is built for real life. With step-by-step systems, ADHD-friendly routines, and realistic hacks. It helps you create calm in your space without the overwhelm. This isn't about perfection, it's about progress. Whether you're a busy mom, busy parent, student, or professional, this book will help you reset your home and your mind. Welcome back to the Mommy Pod. Hi everyone. Before we get started, I just wanted to give you a little context for today's episode. We had such a beautiful and inspiring conversation with Amy, who is the founder of Worth It Counseling and Coaching. Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties, only about 10 minutes of our chat was recorded. I tried to reconnect, but as you all know, busy moms, busy life, and schedules don't always line up perfectly. Even so, these 10 minutes are so powerful, and I want all of you to hear it. I wanted to make sure that I got this out. Because in that short time, Amy taught me something that really stayed with me. She shared a story about her and her daughter. Um and how her daughter and her son were staying with their dad, who had a new girlfriend who could cook and clean and did hair beautifully. While Amy goes to pick up her daughter one day and she has braids in her hair and they are perfectly done. And Amy kind of has a little breakdown and feels like she's not enough, and she feels like she should just let the kids stay with their dad and have like that family unit there. But then in that moment, her kids came outside and like hugged her and gave her so much love and told her how much they love her and want to be with her. And it's just so beautiful to know that just because they have this new mother figure in their life, it does not take away from their actual mother, and they love their mom so much. Nothing can mess up that bond. So I think that is so special and so important. And I was crying, and it was just so lovely because that is where I'm at right now. I'm having to deal with my kids having a bonus mom. I would prefer her to be called a stepmom, and they want to call her a bonus mom because she's so nice and they say step mom is mean. So I just have to go with it. And I have to know that she's not gonna take my place. They love me just as much as they ever have, if not more, and they can still love her too. Um Amy also said something that I'll never forget. When you find yourself on the bathroom floor, the best way to get up is to reach out to your community. So she didn't really say that. You're not gonna hear it in the podcast, but we're gonna end with her telling us how she was on the bathroom floor of her kids' school, having a breakdown because she had nothing, no money, and she had just gotten into a divorce and business needed um this, I forget what it's called, maybe a license. The business needed a license, and she just could not afford to renew it. Um, and she had hit rock bottom, which a lot of us hit constantly, or I feel like we hit constantly. So I asked her, like, how did you get up? How did you get out? And her answer was that she reached out to her community. So please don't be afraid to reach out to those around you. Surround yourself with good people, find that network if you need to, and don't be afraid to ask for help. If you can, please look up Amy's practice, Worth It Counseling, and coaching in Utah. And consider booking a session. Her work, her wisdom, and her heart for healing are truly worth your time. So, even though this conversation is shorter than usual, I promise it's just as impactful just hearing her story. Here's my chat with Amy. Welcome to the Mommy Pod where we share honest stories about motherhood, resilience, and the messy, beautiful process of growth. Today I'm joined by Amy. She is a certified clinical mental health counselor and founder of Worth It Counseling and Coaching in Utah. She holds multiple advanced degrees in psychology, counseling, and administration, and her practice covers everything from co-parenting and better breakups to brain spotting, neurofeedback, and crisis management. But beyond her credentials, Amy is also a happily divorced mom of two who co-parents like a champion with her ex-husband. She's also shows us that divorce doesn't have to be the end of a story. It can actually be the beginning of a healthier and more balanced family. Amy, welcome to the Mommy Pod. Thank you for having me. Can you please share a little bit about your journey and both personally as a mom and professionally, and as the founder of Worth It Counseling and Coaching?

SPEAKER_01: 6:23

Um, okay, let me think. Um, so I have two kiddos. I have a daughter who's 14 and a half, and a freshman in high school, and a son who's 12 and a half and a seventh grader. So they're in the same school. Hooray for one drop-off and one pickup. For one year, anyway. Um let's see. I um I've been a therapist for oh, I guess about 17 years now, and I just love it. Um I I don't know that I always imagined I would be. When I was little, I didn't dream of being a mom. I dreamed about being like president of the United States of America. I am I dreamed of making big, massive changes and differences, and now I have no interest in that in that at all. But as a kid, that was my dream. And I also was um a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or a Mormon. Um, and it's pretty important as women in that context to be wives and moms. So I got married pretty young, and my husband passed away in a car accident, and I pursued my master's degree, and I loved it, and I loved the work I got to do. And then I got married, married to a man who was also LDS. And about two years in, he was like, When are we gonna have a baby? That's so scary. Are you sure? We are like finally starting to figure out what being married's like. Are you sure you want to bring a kid into this? And I remember reading Gottman's um Then Comes Three, and you just can't imagine, right? You cannot imagine the changes that happen to your body, your psyche, your finances, your relationships, your mind, nothing like you just can't imagine. I think the idea that we develop our birth plan, not knowing anything about birth, is kind of funny. Kind of funny. So we decided to to start that terrifying journey. And um, I would say that I'm I'm a feminist without that title. I could there's so much negativity to that title that I try to stay away from the title, but I I very much believe in equality for women, and and women can choose what path they want. So I had a baby and I didn't take very much time off, and I went right back to work. And I missed her and I cried and I pumped all the time, and nothing in the world makes you feel more like a cow than pumping. And I loved it. I loved my work and I loved going home to my baby, and I was exhausted. And I remember a nurse, a friend of mine that's a nurse telling me, you know, cherish these moments of sleepless nights when because they go too quickly. It's like I can't wait for them to go faster. And uh, and then I had my second child, and it just got harder, right? I was juggling more and more tired. And and every night when that little boy would hold my finger, I would think of my friend saying, This time is gonna go fast, Amy, just cherish it. Little did I know she was right. It time flies. I now have a 12 and 14 year old, and no one's holding my pinky in the middle of the night, you know. So I I worked a little bit less um with two kids because I was I was I had a uh calling in the church, so I was busy doing that. I was a wife and busy doing that. I was a mom of two cute little kids and taking them to dance and basketball and soccer and all the things. So I worked like three tens, I think. And um, that was incredibly fulfilling to me. I loved it, I felt very balanced, it worked, and then gosh, let's see, about the time my son was five and my daughter was seven, um I separated from their dad. And so it was about a year and a half, maybe close to two years before our divorce was final. And I had moved out, so I just I didn't have any financial support whatsoever. And I was working part-time and I was volunteering at the kids' schools and doing all these things that I love to do, but now I don't have any money. So it's time to step it up and figure it out. And so I went from having this private practice where it was just me, and it was actually called Life's Solutions Counseling, and I developed my website and I I did it all, figured it all out. Just I didn't have capital, I didn't have anything, so I just figured it all out. And now I'm broke and single, and and I I need to stop volunteering in the classes and I need to invest in my work and my clients. But it was really scary because even if I opened up 60 hours a week, and I've it would take me months to fill them, and then if I take insurance, which I do, or I did, it would take months to get payment. So if I've got FICA due tomorrow and my rent due tomorrow, and I have a thousand dollars to my name and$25,000 on a credit card, what do I do? It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I remember, I remember my accountant called me and said your FICA is gonna come out tomorrow, and I just broke down on the floor in a public elementary school bathroom. Gross. Just falling. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I don't have anything to sell. So I think there's a there's a lot of things that keep that keep women in unhappy, unhealthy relationships. And I consider myself incredibly lucky that I do have the education and and ability to do what I've done. I know that it is not that simple for many others, and and many others are in a lot worse situations, you know, abusive homes and all kinds of things. So I'm I'm incredibly grateful that I had a supportive partner, lover, I don't know what I want to call him. He's my person, and he encouraged me to start a real business, you know, with employees. And I was so so excited, nervous sided. I have a friend and her little four-year-old daughter came up with this word, nervous sided, nervous and excited, squished together, and I love it. I love nervous sided. So I was nervous sided. Um, and then it just got more and more complicated because I had a space in Oram that's about, I don't know, it was about 30 miles from where I lived, and then a space in Murray, which is about 30 miles in the other direction. And I was paying rent for both of those places, and then I found a place that just felt right so I could expand, right? I've got one office there and one office there, but that's just me. Well, now I found an office with two office spaces. I think I'm gonna do it. So I paid a deposit and I paid that month's rent, and because I needed to give notice to the other two, I played paid rent in both of those places, and that was March 2020.

SPEAKER_00: 14:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_01: 14:55

And I went into this new clinic and I was terrified that the world was coming to an end and I was gonna go bankrupt. And I just it ended up being some of the hardest and most amazing times, you know, seeing people virtually. I ended up hiring a couple of clinicians in I think June of that year. We just slowly but steadily built and built and built, and now I have a beautiful office space that's luxurious, and I spend more time here than I do at home. So my home is nothing to brag about. It's a three-bedroom condo that I will rent till the end of time because everything I have goes into my two littles and my company. And I just love it. I love the work I do with my clients, I love my clinicians, I I love hearing their stories and the work they get to do. I don't know if that's if that answers your question.

SPEAKER_00: 15:59

It did answer my question, Amy, and we would love to have you back on the mommy pod to finish our episode, even if just for 10 minutes. Amy reminded us that motherhood and co-parenting aren't about perfection, they're about connection, community, and compassion. And you do not have to lose yourself after having your children. You've got this. To every parent listening, remember you are doing enough. You are worth it. Until next time, this is the Mommy Pod. Every parent knows bedtime can feel like a battle. The lights are low, the stories are red, but somehow the little eyes just won't close. That's why we made the Sleepy Spray, a gentle, kid-friendly pillow mist that helps your little one drift into dreamland, made with calming essential oils like lavender, chamomile, and vanilla, no harsh chemicals, just peaceful sleep in a bottle. Just a few sprays in the air or on their pillow or even on their favorite stuffed animal. A deep breath, and suddenly bedtime feels magical. Because when our kids rest well, we all wake up better. Be sleepy spray, where sweet dreams begin.