S3E6: Arizona Grit, Mom Strength: Meet Tessie!

In this episode of Pearls of Motherhood, host Diana flips the mic to co-host Tessie—who went from a free-range childhood in rural Arizona to raising (soon-to-be) five kids with heart, humor, and grit. 

Tessie shares how growing up with brothers, helping in her family’s business, and working in a homeless shelter shaped her confidence, compassion, and perspective as a mom. She opens up about her journey through motherhood, mental health work, and learning to build community while raising a big family.

This is a real motherhood story about identity, resilience, and finding joy in the chaos. Whether you’re juggling toddlers or teens, you’ll laugh, nod, and maybe tear up a little too.

Key Takeaways:
Independence builds confidence and courage in motherhood
Motherhood reveals strength you didn’t know you had
Community and compassion matter more than perfection

A must-listen for any mom craving connection, laughter, and a reminder that there’s no one way to do this mom life.

Transcript

Diana (00:03.15)
Hi, welcome back to Pearls of Motherhood. I'm your host, Diana. Today we're gonna do something fun. We are gonna turn the mic towards someone you've heard many times, but maybe you don't fully know yet. My co-host Tessie. She's strong, she's confident, and she has a story that deserves to be told, just like every mother does. She is the voice behind the sassy mouth, the you do you mantra that we have here on Pearls. She is the crunchy granola mama, and of course,

our mom expert with her soon to be five kids. I like to call her our in podcast joy because she is always about laughing. And as you can all know, we have a great time here from growing up in rural Arizona as the only girl among four kids to building a career, chasing big dreams and raising soon to be five children. Tessie's journey is full of grit, resilience and heart.

Today, we get to hear her story unfiltered and in her own words. Hi, Tessie.

Tessie (01:02.286)
Hi. That was awesome.

Diana (01:06.372)
But it's true, it's completely true. Every little bit of it. Can you tell I'm like a number one fan? Like, really?

Tessie (01:08.917)
you

Yeah.

Tessie (01:15.398)
At least I have one. Maybe I have five. Soon to be five. Yeah, him too.

Diana (01:19.972)
seems to be- well, your husband too, let's count him my gosh, you have a whole posse!

Diana (01:29.146)
Well, thank you for sharing your story. So I know, right? I think I'm going to learn a lot about you. I've known you for years, but I feel like I'm going to learn a lot more too. So this is going to be great. All right. So you grew up in rural Arizona, the only girl in the family. Can you tell us what that's like?

Tessie (01:32.115)
Of course, this will be interesting.

Yeah.

Tessie (01:49.718)
Yeah, it was very much like I would describe it as free range childhood, you know? And I do feel like it was probably because I had a bunch of brothers that I was just kind of treated like a boy, you know? And I was just treated as if I was very capable and more independent and stronger. And I definitely was, you know, like I grew up, I wanted to be a boy because

Diana (02:05.955)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (02:18.793)
Everybody around me was a boy. Nowadays, they would have turned me into a boy. That's awful.

Diana (02:21.007)
Which is

Diana (02:24.611)
But you know what's so funny? You're so girly. You love the sparkles. You love the pink. Like you are like the epitome of girly girl.

Tessie (02:31.795)
Yes, I am now. But when I was growing up, literally, I don't think I wore a skirt or a dress until I was like 25 or something. It was yes, growing up, I was like very tomboy.

Diana (02:40.695)
Really?

Diana (02:46.351)
Well, I mean, to be honest, I think you were just being practical because pants are just easier to run around in, honestly. mean, to this day, I do too. I prefer pants.

Tessie (02:49.869)
You

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, especially when I was, I was literally just running the town. I would say pretty much since I was 12, 11 or 12, I would just ride my bike all over town. Our town's not very big, but it's big enough. You know what I mean? Like it's not like one of these little cowpoke little towns. It's a plenty big town, but... Is it?

Diana (03:15.471)
It's actually a city. It's actually a city. We call it a town, but it's actually a city.

You are not!

Tessie (03:22.931)
And yeah, so I mean, even from a very, very young age, like I was definitely a tomboy and I would want to run around with my shirt off just like my brothers and that kind of stuff. You know, I just, I really embraced the boy life, you know, and I was super tough and, instead, you know, I would handle conflict by like violence, just like guys who would just beat my brothers up and stuff like that.

Diana (03:51.139)
believe it. I believe it.

Tessie (03:52.578)
Yeah. Yeah. But it was good. It was, I think it was fun.

Diana (03:57.36)
Was it a lot of outdoor time then?

Tessie (04:01.013)
Yes, tons of outdoor time, like building forts. I would build forts and literally do all those, boy things, you know, we would build forts, pine cone wars, and we would play sports.

Diana (04:13.968)
That's why your throw is so accurate.

Tessie (04:16.551)
my throw is like very accurate. Don't get in the way of my throw. I will nail you.

Diana (04:22.371)
I saw you throwing a ball at one of your kids one time. I'm like, my gosh, is she a pitcher? Did I not know this?

Tessie (04:29.357)
Yeah, I actually was. was like obsessed with softball and I was a pitcher. Yeah. And I was a really good hitter and I used to hit like home runs and I, I used to do it though. This is funny. I used to wear like one of those skorts you know, once I got older, like 12, 13, I would wear like a skort to play softball, not a skirt, not a full on skirt, but that's what I put my softball in. So I guess, I guess I was like a little bit girly here and there like back in the day. Definitely nothing like I am now.

Diana (04:32.495)
Really?

Diana (04:44.324)
Mm-hmm.

but still not as far.

Tessie (04:59.393)
But yeah, I guess I was a little girly. But I was also like such a I was I've just always been like, nobody's going to tell me what to do. I'm going to trail trailblaze. I'm not going to like follow the crowd. I'm deaf. I used to make t-shirts when I was in high school. And like one of them literally said not a sheep. And then I had like a sheep and a circle on.

And I used to wear that around everywhere. I was such a rebel. Yeah. It's funny. I still have it. Like my parents still have it because they're hoarders. I used to make all of these t-shirts with like t-shirt glue with statements, like bold state. I feel like I was like some sort of a mini little activist that I didn't even know that I was. But I was very eccentric and

Diana (05:31.347)
I have one? Can I have one of those now?

Diana (05:39.64)
Mine too.

Tessie (05:56.28)
crazy, I would say like very crazy. also at the same time, like, my parents made me go to the Boy Scout camping trips with all my brothers, like I had to go sleep in the snow when they had to do their like Klondike badge and stuff. So I didn't have a choice but to be tough. And I definitely was.

Diana (06:17.593)
Did you enjoy it? Did you enjoy all those? those? No? But you did it.

Tessie (06:20.013)
No. You know, as I got older, I kind of enjoyed being around the Boy Scouts. Not gonna lie, but I mean, nothing ever happened there. Like I never dated a Boy Scout or you know what I mean? But yeah, and it was fun. And I was kind of a trailblazer. And I was just like, I definitely was not the popular kid in school, you know. And it's, no, it's funny because I joke that.

Diana (06:26.115)
Yes.

Diana (06:33.487)
Mm-hmm. It was fun.

Diana (06:44.079)
Really?

Tessie (06:48.141)
Like everyone from my high school would probably have voted me to be most likely to like end up in jail or to marry a felon or something. I was like such, like hung out with just, I didn't actually hang out with a lot of people in my high school. I hung out with kind of like the dropouts.

Diana (06:59.215)
Are you serious?

Diana (07:11.779)
would not have guessed that. I would have thought you were like prom queen, because you're all, you're blonde, blue eyed, like this gorgeous woman. I thought you would have been like super popular, a cheerleader and all that. Boy, am I wrong.

Tessie (07:14.529)
Yeah.

Tessie (07:26.259)
No, yeah, I wasn't really interested in any of that. I was like interested in being like the fringe. wore the skater pants and the skater shoes and the parachute pants and I always wore a belly shirt. That is one thing that I'm like surprised my parents. Yeah, I had great abs. One time I literally had a teacher tell me that I looked good, but I had to change my shirt. I'm not even doing it. And I was like, really? Okay.

Diana (07:39.139)
Well, you had great abs.

Diana (07:55.384)
Okay. That's interesting. I don't think that we can do that nowadays, even if it's to change the shirt, but you know.

Tessie (07:56.174)
It's kind of weird.

that it was an interesting interaction.

Diana (08:07.791)
80s and 90s.

Tessie (08:09.613)
Yeah, exactly. Like those were the good days, right? 90s. Yeah. Early 2000s. Good days.

Diana (08:13.327)
Yeah, right. They're crazy. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Those are a lot of fun, but maybe we're at a fun age at that time.

Tessie (08:19.765)
Yeah.

That's true. Yeah, I mean, you don't have any I didn't have any responsibility. I did a lot of like crafting, which is so funny because I hate crafting now. But I used to make all of these things. Yes, t shirts. I used to make belts. I used to go around to all the bars in town and gather up their like beer bottle caps. And I would like my dad gave me this little rivet machine. And I would literally like put them on belts with like

Diana (08:31.875)
Really?

T-shirts.

Diana (08:46.212)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (08:52.933)
old, I'd go to the junkyard and get the old car, what are they, the seat belts, you know, like the old metal ones, the nice ones. And I would make my own belts, make my own purses. And I was just like very, I don't know, I was just like all over the place.

Diana (09:00.919)
Yeah, the felt. Yeah, yeah.

Diana (09:10.661)
my gosh, you should have been in fashion. You should have gone and been a fashion designer. And yeah, I think you could have. And also you were the first recycling program. You were.

Tessie (09:15.629)
Probably could have.

Yeah, it's so funny because I was like 14 going into these bars and they were like totally giving me bags of bottle caps.

Diana (09:31.705)
Small town, right? They know who you are. Everyone knew you and they knew why you were there. So, and they knew who to call if you were up to something.

Tessie (09:33.789)
Yeah, yeah, it's

And it's true, like my parents were both very involved in the community. My mother was a school teacher at the elementary school. My dad was a business owner in town. they definitely, everybody knew who we, I mean, to this day, people still come up to me and they're like, I went to school with your brother or, I know your dad. I know, like to this day, people from like literally 20 years ago still know me. Yeah.

Diana (10:01.646)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (10:05.283)
Wow, because you're still in that town. You're still in that town. That's why you went back. you grew up in a working class family. What kind of business did your dad have?

Tessie (10:11.335)
Yeah, we went back!

Tessie (10:18.599)
He grew a window cleaning company in the town. And I think like back when it was one of the first ones, there might have been like one other competition, you know, but still to this day, it's the best of the rim. And it's the it has the best reputation in town. also has like the most long lasting. It's been here the longest. And it's like, he really did a good job because what he he has skills in people skills and

Diana (10:21.594)
my God, that's amazing.

Diana (10:34.191)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (10:47.629)
Yeah, your dad is amazing.

Tessie (10:49.259)
He's like really connect. Yeah. And like the customers love him and he doesn't do it for the money. Yeah. It's not like about the money for him. Like he, think, I think he genuinely likes the, the socialization or something.

Diana (10:53.433)
cannot. Yeah.

Diana (11:02.849)
talk to your dad about his business. He loves his business. He loves what he does and it's about integrity for him. And that's what it's built on, right? And that's what a long lasting business is always built on. So coming from a working class family, how does that still guide you today? Right now as your own CEO right now, you have your own business, you have your kids. How does that guide you?

Tessie (11:14.879)
Yeah.

Tessie (11:27.979)
Well, for sure, by having like growing up in a family where we had a business and I kind of got to see like, yes, there's a lot that goes into owning a business and it's very stressful at times and it's very, there's like, you have to do everything and you know, it's stressful, you're responsible, nobody else is gonna pay your bills, you know what I mean? But what I got from it, I feel like growing up was just the flexibility that

They had like they could, my dad could take time off in the summer. When my mom was off, we could travel. He had just like tons of flexibility that I feel like you don't get when you, like my mom didn't have that because she had to be at work. You know what I mean? Or she had to take time off and she had to get approval. And like he, nobody told him what to do. You know, he basically was like, I'm gonna work these days or I'm not gonna work these days for the most part. I mean,

Diana (12:19.567)
you

Tessie (12:25.175)
Essentially when you own your own business, all of your customers are your boss. So you have to look at it like that. But at the end of the day, you do have flexibility. You have freedom. And so for me, when I was growing up, I wanted that. So obviously that's where I pursued business. And also I intentionally kind of found a spouse that had similar values. You know what I mean?

Diana (12:53.623)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tessie (12:55.083)
Because I don't want to be tied down. You have to have flexibility. it's great because we both enjoy business now, my husband and I. And he didn't grow up in that environment. Both of his parents worked for a large corporation their entire lives. That was like the thing to do back then. His parents were quite older than my parents. But like that was the thing that you did back then. You know what I mean?

Diana (13:10.009)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Diana (13:21.326)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (13:22.325)
And so he had a very different upbringing in that regard, but he still has that like entrepreneurial spirit. And I don't know how much of that I'm like rubbing off on him. feel like I rub off a lot on him. Yeah.

Diana (13:29.795)
He does.

Diana (13:34.831)
Well, yeah, of course, because he's smart. He goes, Tessie has good ideas. We're going to think like Tessie.

Tessie (13:42.579)
Yeah, so I feel like that did shape, you know, my entire life.

Diana (13:46.072)
Yeah, yeah, of course. So going back to your parents and your family dynamic, so you were really pushed out there to do things, some things that you didn't want to do, but it really opened up your world. How did that approach kind of from your parents affect how you are a mom now?

Tessie (14:07.927)
So yeah, like I say, I feel like I was very much free. My brothers and I have had these conversations. We were like free range raised. you know, our parents were very busy. My mom was a school teacher. Everyone knows school teachers work like after hours, weekends, everything, you know. And so, yeah, she would all.

Diana (14:26.649)
The invisible work, the invisible work, yeah. Same thing with your dad.

Tessie (14:31.501)
Yeah, and my dad, would work like 12 hour days when it was summertime out, like he was working sun up to sun down, you you got to work when you can, you know. And so like my, I feel like my brothers and I were just like left to free range, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. And actually I should probably do more of it as a mother is what I think. But

I feel like I went like the complete opposite where I'm like very controlling of their environment and very controlling of like the content and homeschooling and present and my, you know, I want to always be, this is why I'm a stay at home mom, because I want to be there if they need me or when they need me forever, like their whole life. That's why I had babies.

Diana (15:22.393)
Well, I, yeah. Well, I mean, I love it because it's like you're blending both. You're blending what you wanna do, your vision of what your ideal motherhood would be for you and what you learn from your parents because I know you, you're all about natural consequences too. You're not all about controlling everything. You're like, well, I told you not to. And if you do it yourself, that's on you. And well, I know you.

Tessie (15:28.429)
Thank you.

Tessie (15:39.671)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (15:45.726)
That's true. Yeah, it's true. And then also like growing up in a family where you have a business in a small town, I had to start where I started working at like 12 or 13. Like I started working with my dad in the business, literally doing what I like to call the BITCH work. Like I had to do the worst job.

Diana (16:08.812)
You are the intern.

Tessie (16:11.533)
So I started there at like five dollars an hour, you know But when you're 12 and 13, that's like a fortune, you know But yeah, so I worked every summer I worked whenever I could pretty much throughout college starting when I was like 12 all the way through college I worked whenever I could in the family business and that's that was like the best thing so that is something that I'm trying to instill in my kids is

Diana (16:19.885)
Yeah, you're rich.

Tessie (16:39.533)
working in the family business, like one day you're gonna take this business over. I want you to like learn and they have to start down at the bottom just like I did. So they start like cleaning the office. They have to deposit the checks and this and that. Like they have these certain roles. They have to shred the papers, like all of the like stuff that nobody wants to do.

Diana (17:00.611)
The busy work. Yeah. But that's where you start. But you learn so many skills from that. You think, this stinks, but you learn so much responsibility and how that trickles down to everyone else. I think seeing that you are the influence that makes everyone's day better makes such a powerful impact. Now, your kids are very, so you are very entrepreneurial. So is your husband. So is obviously your parents.

Tessie (17:07.137)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (17:22.497)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Diana (17:29.891)
But I also know your kids are very entrepreneurial too. Isn't there a lemonade stand somewhere that they have?

Tessie (17:38.446)
So this is really funny. I tell my kids all kinds, like, I don't know if your parents did this, but like, I tell my kids stories about me as a child. And one of like a big thing that I feel like shaped my life was when I was young, I would say starting probably around like 11 or 12, we were neighbors with the guy who ran Safeway. he was like some, I don't even know if he ran it, I don't know, but he would like allow us to have a little booth.

and out in front of Safeway doors. me and my friends would make key chains and we would pick flowers through town and we would sell them in front of Safeway. And this guy, was so nice. He was like in his eighties. He was like the greatest guy ever. yes, he was so great. And so I used to do that when I was, that's what I used to do. I mean, you grow up in a small town. There's not a lot to do for kids. You have to find a way.

Diana (18:22.659)
He's like grandpa, the town's grandpa.

Tessie (18:36.651)
to entertain yourself, especially back then. We didn't have the internet. The internet was not a thing. And so that's how I would entertain myself was by like making money and setting up booths selling, making key chains like at night and selling them. And the people who would buy them, just makes me, cracks me up. Like, I don't know why anyone would buy these dorky little key chains, but they did.

Diana (18:40.751)
No.

Diana (18:59.407)
because you're a cute kid. I do it. think selling something on the street. I'm like, sure, I don't want to but here's some money.

Tessie (19:04.081)
I know. Yeah. And I also did the whole Girl Scout cookie selling, but I did it like the hard way. They don't do it the hard way anymore. I went door to door selling the cookies, bringing the cookies to them when they came in. Like I was winning all those prizes. You know what I mean? And I was competitive. And so my kids, they pick up on these stories that I tell about my life. And yeah, they do. Like they always want to do a lemonade stand.

Diana (19:12.207)
with a wagon.

Tessie (19:31.65)
They wanted to do a snow cone stand this summer. And we have lemon trees in one of our properties. they literally like grew these lemons throughout the winter, picked them when they were ripe, took them in a wagon around our neighborhood, which is not easy. I think I've talked about this before, like the houses are not close and they're hills.

Diana (19:39.105)
at your house, yeah?

Diana (19:51.981)
No, a lot of hills. No, yes.

Tessie (19:56.928)
and sold lemons door to door. I think they made like $25 in a couple of hours, which is pretty good. And then they took some of my books like that I have, and they went and sold those door to door, some like kids books, and they actually sold two. Yeah. They were like, they have that spirit, but I also do instill it in them, you know, because I know that it's an important thing.

Diana (20:03.023)
in the phone.

Diana (20:12.845)
I'm like, wow, they cleaned out the garage. I love that.

Tessie (20:26.381)
And I think that's awesome. Like I just tell them stories about that and they run with it. I know. Cause I told them we have this snow cone like truck in town and they sell the snow cones for like $5 for a cup. I know it's so much and they're always wanting one. And I told them, like, you know, you could set up a snow cone stand next to them. And if you sell your snow cones for, for $2.

Diana (20:30.895)
They're like, I want to try it. Yeah, I love it.

Diana (20:40.259)
What?

something.

Diana (20:53.273)
We're $3. Yeah.

Tessie (20:55.386)
three and you have like organic syrups you probably do better.

Diana (20:58.465)
Mm-hmm. You guys are really adorable. How can you not?

Tessie (21:04.791)
They were so into that. It was awesome.

Diana (21:06.351)
I I bet that's amazing. But you're showing them resilience. You're showing them to be resourceful. You're showing them to use, you know, resourceful as using their strength, but also to be dynamic and to think outside the box. I love that. That's amazing.

Tessie (21:09.549)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Tessie (21:21.823)
Yeah, it is funny. Like I kind of grew up, you know, not not being I had to be resourceful. You know what I mean? Like I wasn't baby for sure. And my husband and I do differ on this because he kind of was, you know, his mom was a stay at home mom for like several years when he was younger. And we kind of do. just like, let him go, let him go. And he's like, no, you have to protect them.

Diana (21:50.723)
He's a helicopter dad.

Tessie (21:53.12)
for sure. But it's nice because I don't have to worry about them when they're ever with him, you know? Like if I left them with one of my brothers, I would be worried they would get kidnapped, that he would forget they were there.

Diana (22:06.777)
So, this makes me think of a story that my mother-in-law told me. She left her boys with her brother and she comes back and my husband, her oldest son, comes back with stitches in his leg.

Tessie (22:27.021)
my god, would totally be me.

Yeah, I mean like my brother would let his girls go to the restroom in a restaurant by themselves when they were like five and I'm over here like can't even hardly imagine doing that, you

Diana (22:44.143)
Nope, nope. I took my nephew to New York with me and granted this is in New York, New York City and I took him to a show. He was about 10 at the time and it was just me and him and he had to use the bathroom during the show and he goes, I can go by myself. I said, no, you are not. I'm sorry. I said, you get to choose whether you come with me to the ladies room and I'll stand outside the stall or I go with you into the men's room. I don't care what they say. And he goes,

Tessie (22:52.257)
Okay.

Tessie (23:02.651)
Tessie (23:11.84)
Yeah.

Diana (23:13.485)
I'll go into the ladies room stall. You just stand outside. said, that's fine. But there's no way he was 10 years old. And maybe some people would say, no, it's totally fine. I'm like, not on my watch buddy.

Tessie (23:23.615)
Yeah, I definitely do feel like if we're in the city for sure. I am starting to loosen up a little bit with my oldest who's seven, almost eight. And now it depends on where we are. But like, obviously, if we're in our small town in a certain area, I'm fine with it. But you know, it's like baby steps.

Diana (23:40.089)
Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I mean, that's natural. That makes a lot of sense. That makes a lot of sense. Okay. So before motherhood, you worked in healthcare, you have degrees in pre-law and psychology, and you started your own business. What was driving you in that season of your life and those seasons before kids?

Tessie (23:48.234)
Yeah. Yeah.

Tessie (23:53.227)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Tessie (24:04.525)
Um, so before kids, guess, you know, everyone knows that I always knew that I was going to have kids. So one thing that I did not really do was focus heavily on like creating some ridiculously successful career. Like I did what I thought was fun and interesting instead. You know what I mean? Because I obviously did the pre-law for a reason. My plan was to go to law school and become a lawyer, but

Diana (24:11.011)
Yes.

Tessie (24:33.611)
You know, something just in me, I feel like just said, like, don't do that, because it's, it'd be too hard to choose, you know. And so instead, I did my psychology. And one of my classes was clinical psychology. You know, you learned all about like the hardcore, very mentally ill, like conditions, like psych hospital level. And I just was like, that sounds so interesting. I want to work with those people and

Diana (24:57.123)
Yeah.

Tessie (25:03.049)
see what it's like and try to help them, you know? And so that's the route that I ended up taking. And really, I think it was because it was just like, I was kind of seeking more just like a fun job, not necessarily like a career. And so I actually started, you know, I got my degrees, I started out working in domestic violence shelters and homeless shelters. Yes.

Diana (25:26.539)
really? gosh, that's dark. my gosh.

Tessie (25:32.046)
It was bad because I actually worked in the largest domestic violence shelter in Arizona and it was in, it's like in Phoenix down like, you know, kind of the ghetto. Yeah, in Phoenix. And it was so big that we had families, we had kids, I mean, hundreds of rooms. This is how many, this is how big it was. And it was always full.

Diana (25:38.031)
Can I ask where that was located?

Okay, it is in Phoenix. is in the biggest city. Okay.

Tessie (25:58.722)
We were always turning people away because like, or referring them out because we couldn't keep them. We couldn't house them. Yeah. Yeah. And so at that time I didn't have kids. So I had no idea, like the vastness of what they were going through with kids. Now I just like, I don't even think I could do it now that I have kids and see the kids in that situation. I was totally clueless. Yeah. It was, it was insane.

Diana (26:05.273)
You don't have vacancies. You don't have vacancies.

Diana (26:23.138)
Impersonal.

Yeah.

Tessie (26:28.019)
So I started out there and then I moved into homeless shelters, which was very interesting. that was very...

Diana (26:36.234)
huh.

Do you have any stories you'd like to share with us that you think are really interesting or funny or just interesting?

Tessie (26:45.261)
So much, I don't even know. It's just like, I don't know for some reason, and this is probably because I'm like, I was super tough. They always made me be the one to kick them out if they were breaking the rules. Whether it was at the... Somehow I have this aura about me and it must be like growing up like with all these boys or something.

Diana (27:02.617)
You're this tiny little woman.

Diana (27:10.063)
You do. Like, I knew when I first met you, don't mess with this woman. I knew that.

Tessie (27:15.606)
Yeah!

So I was always the one that they would have like remove people from the campus and basically kick them out and tell them they need to go somewhere else. But it was very different. Like in the domestic violence shelter, they were all women. So it was like different. But in the homeless shelter, there was like a lot of men, mostly men actually. So I would have to kick out men out of the homeless shelter.

Diana (27:34.532)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (27:43.417)
Can I ask something? What were the grounds that they would have to leave?

Tessie (27:48.534)
like if they brought, you know, substances, illegal substances in or there were like a list of certain rules. I can't remember now it's been so long, but they were very strict. You know, they were like, if you're going to be here, like you have to follow these rules. I mean, they weren't like outrageous rules. They were, they're reasonable. And

Diana (28:08.717)
Right, but to keep a civilization like a civilized environment, that makes sense.

Tessie (28:14.421)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. So one time, like, I had to kick out this, like, humongous guy who was, like, basically young guy. You know, he could have totally, like, broken me in half, probably. So I did. He took it well. But then, like, the craziest thing, you know, when you're in smaller towns, because this wasn't in the city, this wasn't in Phoenix, you know, in Phoenix, you cannot run into anyone, you know, ever.

Diana (28:28.547)
Yeah.

Tessie (28:42.017)
But this town was like in Colorado and it was like a hundred thousand people. So it's smaller. So you run into people. So I ran into him one time at Walmart and he tried intimidating me at the Walmart, like inside the Walmart. But I was there with a male friend, okay, not even a boyfriend or anything who just happened to be around the corner. He comes around and he's like this big stocky cowboy. And he comes around and he's like, what's going on? And he was like older too.

Diana (28:48.335)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (29:11.309)
The guy just like scurried off and ran away.

Diana (29:16.291)
Walmart, always the most interesting experiences.

Tessie (29:16.621)
but yeah, that was interesting. So the things that like you would hear and see, there was this one guy who would carry his cat in his backpack at the homeless shelter and like one time the cat suffocated, it was so sad, but he would like try to sneak the cat in in his backpack. I think, no, it was like this one little kitten.

Diana (29:39.375)
Was it a different cat every time?

Tessie (29:45.23)
It was so sad. But then that also had like a family section too. And at the time I didn't have kids. So I did not know the gravity of like, my God, these people having to be homeless with kids. Like I literally can't even imagine. My kids are so spoiled and privileged that they can't even sleep without a fan on, you know? And me too. But it just like really wakes you up.

Diana (29:56.823)
Hmm? Mm-hmm?

Diana (30:05.762)
Yeah, I hear you.

Diana (30:13.495)
It puts things in perspective. You see the gravity, you understand what the needs are. And I think that's very powerful because now you are in a position where you can and you do try to make things better in your community for people who are in those positions. I think that's huge. You've taken your experiences from your past and you're trying to make other people's lives better.

Tessie (30:15.469)
Yeah.

Diana (30:41.871)
Because I know the charity work that you do. I know, I see what you do on a regular basis. And I had no idea you worked in a homeless shelter. That blows my mind. That blows my mind. yeah.

Tessie (30:55.327)
Yeah. And basically for nothing. I literally I'm talking like in 2023 or no, this was this was 2013. I was making $9 an hour, putting my life at risk working second shift at the homeless shelter until midnight, leaving in like blizzard storms. Yes, like

Diana (31:06.935)
What?

Diana (31:13.807)
I haven't been home. my gosh.

Tessie (31:19.959)
But I'm kind of a thrill seeker. I liked that kind of stuff. It was exciting to me. You know what I mean? I didn't care about the money.

Diana (31:24.463)
Yeah, I mean, you're young and you feel invincible and you know that you're making a difference. Even, you know, sometimes you had to do things that weren't fun, but you were making a difference. And anyone who kind of gets into, especially in psych, you have to love what you do. Because even though I studied psych, I have to say that's not a field for me. That wasn't. I respect it. I respect what it does. I appreciate it.

Tessie (31:36.663)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Tessie (31:43.213)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (31:51.492)
but it's not a field that I could practice in. No, it's not. It's not. So anyone who can and does, I say more power to you. I respect you and I like you that much more.

Tessie (31:52.033)
Yeah, not for everyone. No.

Tessie (32:01.741)
Yeah, so that's actually when I transitioned into psych was I started at the homeless shelter when I moved to this place in Colorado. And I didn't even know there was a psych hospital there when I moved there. I just and then my aunt told me about it and I was like, what? Like this is what I went to school. This is what I want to do. I want to work with these people.

Diana (32:23.629)
Yeah, I love this stuff, right?

Tessie (32:27.445)
I know. And so I went and I interviewed and I got the job like on the spot because I had great like experience. But I didn't have any experience in a psych hospital. I'll tell you what, that is definitely a trip. It's like it is a lot. It's a lot to work. But it was so cool. You would literally see people come in to the point where they can't even take care of themselves. And then after a few weeks, they're

Diana (32:34.063)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (32:55.307)
like talking to you like a normal person and then they're leaving with their families or going off on doing their lives and all of the different things that you see. It is incredible the change that you can act like literally you can see it.

Diana (33:09.121)
Mm-hmm. And for those of you who don't know, anyone who's admitted into the psych hospital, usually they're very, very ill. They've been considered not safe for the rest of the community. So they have to be, I guess, institutionalized, I guess, or separated from the community to keep themselves and everyone else safe. And then within the hospital, it's up to the healthcare providers to help them.

feel better to give them the resources and the medications and the therapy that they need and set them on the right track. And hopefully, you know, they can get their lives back on track. And I had no idea about this because it's a whole different world in a psych hospital. I didn't know this. I only learned this from my own sister who worked in a psych hospital. But like even even like your equipment, totally different from the rest of the hospital, because you have to safeguard against

it becoming a weapon, possibly. Bananas to me. But the change that you make in a person's life is incredible. If you want to make a difference, mean, that's where the difference comes from.

Tessie (34:06.135)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (34:09.848)
yeah.

Tessie (34:17.485)
That is, it's a very dangerous place to work, feel like, because staff members are always getting attacked. I actually got like two stalkers who were very severely schizophrenic. And even when they left, like I couldn't really have social media and stuff like that. I had like two stalkers who would want to come back to the hospital. And yeah, and yes.

Diana (34:22.84)
Yes.

Diana (34:27.16)
Hmm

Diana (34:31.481)
Bye.

Diana (34:41.764)
my God, just to see you?

Tessie (34:45.585)
And one like had wrote this whole entire letter about all these things he was going to do to me when he like finds me. But he was very sick, you know, at the time. They were both very sick, you know what I mean? But like, I was their case manager. That's what I did. you know, they maybe they felt like because I was helping them, they got like a connection with me or something. I don't know. You see the craziest things, but.

Diana (34:55.791)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (35:11.485)
It is. It's just a different, it's dangerous. Like staff members are always getting attacked and punched. You always have to be on your toes, you know, you got to be ready. Cause they're not in their right mind, you know.

Diana (35:18.959)
Mm-hmm. Yep. It's not their fault. They're just not thinking clearly. I remember when my sister took her first job in psych hospital and I was so scared. And when she decided to leave in psych hospital, in psych work, I remember breathing a sigh of relief and going, thank goodness. But I mean, she always said that

Tessie (35:27.123)
No. yeah, no.

Tessie (35:39.373)
Okay.

Tessie (35:43.659)
Yeah.

Diana (35:48.33)
your unit is as good as your team. So it's really a team mentality with all the providers, security, doctors, nurses, social workers, everyone is there to keep each other safe and to keep the patients safe. That's incredible.

Tessie (35:53.226)
It is, yeah.

Tessie (36:02.253)
Mm hmm. It's true. Yeah, it's a different world. have to like, you know, the doors are locked so that they can't run away. Sometimes they do escape though. you have to get the codes. Yeah, and it's a different but what I liked about it was it's not like just sitting there typing on a computer, same thing every single day. I can't do that.

Diana (36:08.303)
yeah, you get the codes. You get the codes. I remember that.

Tessie (36:28.397)
I'm way too ADD to like, couldn't work at the post office or something. I would be so bored. If I like had to work at a toll booth, I'd be so bored. I need stimulation, you know? So yeah, it's dangerous and all of that. That's probably what draws me to it is that it's like not the same thing every single day. You get to come in and say different things. You never know.

Diana (36:49.359)
You never know what's going to happen. You never know who's going to come. I can say that probably a toll booth is probably pretty exciting too, because you never know who's going to pull through.

Tessie (37:01.441)
That's true.

Diana (37:03.289)
So looking back, what's the moment when you realize I'm stronger than I thought I was?

Tessie (37:11.533)
Let's see, I feel like I've had to be strong so much my whole entire life. You know, I just have only ever really relied on myself. I guess 100 % it would have to be once I became a mother because you don't actually realize the strength that it actually takes. I guess I always consider myself strong because I just was very prideful, I guess you could say, or like,

independent. wouldn't take help that I wouldn't expect anyone to take care of me. I didn't even let my parents help me even if they wanted to. When I was going through like major struggles. I mean, I was like so broke. I'm working at a homeless shelter. They're making more they're bragging about how much money they're getting from like cash assistance. And I'm over here like living off of SpaghettiOs from Sam's Club because I can't $9 an hour can't like just

Diana (38:04.259)
for $9 an hour.

That's a shift.

Tessie (38:10.357)
Yeah, with like two roommates and, you know, not the best area neighborhood in town, you know, I've been there. I've been the gamut.

Diana (38:17.333)
Didn't, didn't, isn't there, didn't you have to bike to school in the snow? Because you didn't have a car with you?

Tessie (38:23.981)
yes. Yes, I went to school in Flagstaff, Arizona, where it's 7,000 feet and they get like these ridiculous amount of snow and it's a ski town. Yeah. And the snow falls and it doesn't melt. Like they just pile it up in in the parking lots. Yes. Then you have piles of snow.

Diana (38:35.927)
It's a ski town. It's a ski town basically.

Diana (38:45.071)
corner on the street corner.

Tessie (38:49.611)
I used to, yes, I didn't have a car in college. I didn't ride the bus. I don't really know why, but my parents gave me a bike. yay. I look back now and I'm like, I have a daughter. like, I can't even imagine doing that. Like giving my daughter a bike to go to live in some ski town. my gosh. But anyways.

So I did that and I rode my bike everywhere in the winters, in the snow, in the ice. My hair would be frozen. You know, I would literally break it off. And I don't know. just, yeah, that's what I did in college. And I always tell my boys that though. Like I tell them these stories about things that I do in life that were rough. And I tell them like, but look how strong it made me, you know, I'm not like a baby and I'm not a wimp and I'm tough and

Diana (39:37.103)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (39:37.749)
And look, I survived it, you know, I use that for like teaching lessons with my kids.

Diana (39:39.684)
Yeah. Well, I mean, you're a privileged woman, but you fought for it. Everything you fought for. And I mean, that's a huge statement for your kids, right? So where does your confidence as a woman and as a mom come from? Where would you say it comes from?

Tessie (39:48.061)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

That's very true. Yeah.

Tessie (40:02.153)
I think that just comes from the innate need to protect my babies. I don't think I would have this much confidence. Because even before I had kids, I was still a nervous Nellie, as tough as I was. I just felt like I was anxious about stupid things, things that didn't even matter, things that weren't important. And now I just literally have all my confidence in.

Like no one's messing with my babies. Like, no, we're not doing that. Like, and if I have to do this, I have to do this to protect my babies. Like this is why I do home birth because I think it's very important to like protect them. And I want a certain, I want a certain start to life for them. You know what I mean? And so like, that's where I get my strength is, is total sacrifice for them. You know, like, like, do I want to do this? home birth.

Diana (40:31.311)
That's right. That's right. That tiger mom is real.

Diana (40:43.567)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (40:53.839)
100%. Yeah.

Tessie (40:58.313)
natural birth with no epidural when that's a total option? No, I don't want to do that. No, who wants to do that? I don't want to do that.

Diana (41:10.723)
but you do it.

Tessie (41:11.309)
I do it for them, clearly. This is not for me.

Diana (41:14.425)
You mean it's not a vanity project for you? What? You don't like pain. I get that. Because you're talking to the woman who said to the nurse, me the drugs, give me all the drugs, give me all the drugs I'm not supposed to have. I don't want to feel anything. That was me.

Tessie (41:16.712)
NAH!

Tessie (41:20.271)
Now. Now.

Tessie (41:29.687)
I know, well that would be me if I was in the hospital. So I know this about myself. And so I'm like, if this is the decision I've made, that's one thing about me. I make a decision and you know what I mean? I go with it. And I'm like, if this is the decision I made for my babies, this is what I want for them. I can't put myself in the situation where I have the ability to change my mind.

Diana (41:34.671)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (41:51.299)
You're like, no, I know me and I'm going to stop this. I love it.

Tessie (41:55.202)
Yeah, so I and I would have to with my first, you know, like the whole transitioning point there's a point in childbirth in I think they called the transitioning point where You get to the point where you're like, I am gonna die. I cannot do this. There's no way I'm not strong enough all the stuff goes to your head and Then it's over shortly after but like that point in time I would tell I would have totally taken an epidural the first time around like no way

Diana (42:04.462)
Yes.

Tessie (42:24.865)
haha

Diana (42:25.167)
the things we do for our children,

Tessie (42:28.499)
I know, right? And today still.

Diana (42:31.215)
Yeah, any day now, any day.

Tessie (42:34.955)
Any day, I know. I'm like, no, I don't want to do it, but I want to get it over with, but I don't want to do it, but I want to get it over with.

Diana (42:38.764)
Mm-hmm. I don't-

I told, can we just like fast forward to like the baby's born and everything's perfect and wonderful. Let's fast forward to that part, right?

Tessie (42:47.661)
Yes, and past like the eight weeks of like postpartum. my god. Yes, I can't wait until those days Actually one year then I don't have to breastfeed anymore

Diana (42:52.345)
Period. Period.

Diana (43:01.271)
Yeah, that's true. And those night times are over because that's so hard. That's so hard. Yes, yes. Well, Tessie, something that's always struck me about you was your generosity, whether it's time, encouragement or unconditional love. Your generosity is always what touched me. And I knew that the moment I met you at the Black and White Gala. What does generosity look like to you as a mom?

Tessie (43:05.205)
Yes, get my body back, yes.

Tessie (43:26.296)
yeah.

Diana (43:31.011)
and as a friend. Like how does it inspire you? How does it play a part in your everyday life?

Tessie (43:38.606)
I just feel like I have learned over time too to be so much less self-centered, you know, before you have kids. feel like a lot of us are just so self-centered. And so, yeah, I do. I like help people. I'll make meals for friends or people who are sick or new moms, things like this that I never would have thought to do ever.

Diana (44:04.611)
Mm-hmm.

Tessie (44:07.329)
before I had kids, you know, and yeah, like I help out. I don't know. Like, it's just, it's all about, you want to raise good humans. I feel like you can't raise good humans if you're not a good human. So at the end of the day, like you have to be a good human or it's not going to work.

Diana (44:19.331)
That's true.

Diana (44:24.207)
Mm-hmm. I love that. I love that. That's such a great takeaway message, right? So what's one way your kids have softened or surprised you in the way that you love? Because we've always talked about how we were one way as a mom before. You know, our idea of ourselves as a mother was that we were perfect and now we are actually moms. How have your kids changed or surprised or softened a part of you that you didn't know was in there?

Tessie (44:29.61)
Yeah.

Tessie (44:51.789)
So that's a good question. They definitely have softened me. Well, for one, I'm way more cuddly with them.

Diana (44:59.032)
you

Diana (45:05.177)
You're not a cuddle person to begin with. No.

Tessie (45:08.183)
I am not a cuddle person, but with them, I will cuddle them all day long, not all night, because I don't do co-sleeping. I need my space still. I love rocking them. They've just like, you know, motherhood, feel like, has made me realize that they're like, nothing is important. Nothing in this world.

besides my babies is important. Like everything else don't care. You know what I mean? Like doesn't matter. Whereas before it, yeah, it changes your whole perspective. It makes you realize what actually is truly important in life. And like life's very short. They grow up really fast. You, it's insane. You know, everybody tells you that, but actually experiencing it is like another thing, you know?

Diana (45:45.005)
It's a perspective.

Diana (46:07.118)
Yeah.

Tessie (46:07.347)
Makes me feel like I want to do more experiences with them, that things really aren't important. it's all these cliches that people say, but it really is kind of true. You know what I mean?

Diana (46:17.623)
Yeah, they change, they give a new dimension. They've given you a new dimension in life almost. Like there's a secret door that opened when you become a mom and now you get to step through it because you've earned that.

Tessie (46:25.206)
Yeah, yeah.

Tessie (46:32.909)
Totally. like in situations where I wouldn't have had as much compassion for certain people, I look at them as like, that's somebody's child, you know? It's like, how would their mother feel? And then I help instead of being judgmental, instead of being like, get your kids under control or being like annoyed, like, that kid just won't stop crying on the airplane or whatever. I actually help.

Diana (46:44.973)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (47:02.723)
Yeah.

Tessie (47:02.797)
And try to offer to step in where I wouldn't have done that before I had kids 100%. Yeah. And been so annoyed. Yeah.

Diana (47:08.375)
before you just put on your headphones and just roll your eyes, because I know I've done that. But yeah, it's totally different. The compassion is there. You're like, know. Here, let me try to make this better for you, because that's what you would want, right?

Tessie (47:21.781)
Yes, and I always look at it like I would hope somebody would treat my kids with decency if I wasn't around regardless, you know what I mean? So that's how I look at it now.

Diana (47:29.177)
Yeah.

Yeah, think it's, do onto to others. It's the golden rule, right? Yeah. I love that. Okay. Let's lighten it up a little bit. What is your mom's superpower?

Tessie (47:36.907)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tessie (47:45.238)
Hmm, my mom's superpower. That's a good one. What is it? I feel like we covered this before and I had a good one and I forget because I have no brain.

Diana (47:56.175)
I don't remember what you

Tessie (48:02.197)
My mom's superpower. I'm really good at like redirecting them when I think about it. Like when I'm not, when I'm not, know, like, you know, just overwhelmed or just snappy or whatever. Yeah, like, I'm very good at, yeah, I'm very good at redirecting them and connecting with them and, and

Diana (48:15.691)
overstimulated or hungry.

Diana (48:25.007)
I get it. You are a master of illusions. I get it. I love it. I love that. I love that.

Tessie (48:29.165)
That's what it is. Yes. Yeah. So I have that ability, but it takes like, it's not, it doesn't come natural. Like I have to like for think about it. I'm like, okay, you're two. I'm clearly smarter than you. I should be able to outsmart you in this situation. So as long as I just use like three brain cells, I could probably do it. So let me think here.

Diana (48:57.945)
Okay, obviously you are smarter than me because I'm being outsmarted by my toddler on a daily basis. And I think I to use more than three brain cells, but they're just not working.

Tessie (49:11.533)
It's so funny, I was telling my husband this with my two and a half year old. She's such a sweet girl. She's so great. She listens to me most of the time. She sasses me and this and that, but I'm good at redirecting her. And then I was telling my husband, I'm like, man, I just can't even ever imagine spanking her because she never does anything that warrants physical violence. You know what I mean? That would be that bad because we know

We know, obviously we know people who like spank their two year olds and stuff. And I'm just like, I just like, can't even imagine what she could ever do that would qualify for that. You know what I mean? And he, and he made a good point. He's like, but you put in a lot of effort to this point to get her to this point, to the point where you don't have to just use physical because she respects you and loves you. like, and I can like outsmart her a little bit. Doesn't work every time.

Diana (49:58.957)
Mm-hmm.

Diana (50:11.203)
you try.

Tessie (50:11.597)
I mean, not to say I don't yell at her sometimes. I'm gonna be like, that's enough.

Diana (50:14.479)
We all yell, we all yell. Let's get that straight.

Tessie (50:18.145)
Yes. Yes. So I thought that was he always has like these like really like profound. I think that I'm profound. He's like really profound with his perspectives of things. And I'm like, I never thought about that.

Diana (50:33.123)
Well, I think out of his love and respect for you, I mean, let's face it, he thinks you're a goddess because he's Okay, if you have one luxury mom item upgraded every day, what would it be like a private chef, a chauffeur, a daily nap, one luxury mom upgrade every day? What would it be?

Tessie (50:38.367)
Yeah.

Tessie (50:56.749)
for sure a nap at this point in my life.

Diana (50:59.503)
Yeah, I would say the same thing. I would say the same thing. It's a dependable nap, right? It's a dependable nap.

Tessie (51:03.861)
Yes. my gosh, a dependable one that you're not getting woken up from. That's the worst. It's like when your body wants to wake up on its own. That's what I want. Yeah.

Diana (51:13.999)
Mm-hmm. I think I would be unconscious for the next 10 hours if that would I think that's called sleep not a nap Honestly, I would choose the same thing

Tessie (51:18.317)
Doesn't that sound amazing? What is that like? I know.

Diana (51:26.947)
don't know.

Tessie (51:28.183)
I used to be, before kids, would sleep like 12 hours a I would sleep so much and I can't even believe that I can live on the amount of sleep that I get nowadays. It's incredible.

Diana (51:40.055)
As a teenager, I figured out how many hours was my ideal sleep window. And they always said eight. No, mine is like 10. 10 hours was my happy place. And I definitely do not get anywhere near 10.

Tessie (51:53.984)
No, so how do you keep your happy place? Like, what do you do? How do you keep your sanity?

Diana (51:59.312)
I work out. I, have my podcasts. I have a very loving and understanding husband and I have, I have great friends, who I can call at any time. So that's really important. My community and, chocolate, chocolate's really important. How do you keep happy? How do you stay happy?

Tessie (52:02.7)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm, that's important.

Mm-hmm.

Tessie (52:17.729)
Mm-hmm.

Yes.

How do I keep happy? Definitely, yes, my family. It's so funny because like my babies keep me happy, my husband, but they also are the ones that cause me like to be sleep deprived and have all of the stress at the same time. But yes, I have a good support system. I get out of the house a lot. Like we're always outside. We live in the forest, which helps. We're not in the city. Yeah.

Diana (52:32.315)
huh.

Diana (52:37.005)
huh. Yup.

Diana (52:48.475)
that's where your free range comes from. Your free range of bringing comes from, I get it.

Tessie (52:53.261)
Yes, like being in the forest, there's something about it. It's very healing. So anytime I can, I am out in the sun, in the forest, we're out at the park, we do a lot of outdoor activities. I do like I prioritize things in my life and what's important. And I do not overdo myself because if I do, I get totally stressed out.

Diana (52:57.536)
It is.

Diana (53:19.055)
Knowing your limits. That's so important. And I know I'm still learning mine. I'm getting better at it, but now I'm finding that there are new limits. It's not like it's a set target anymore because as she grows, everything changes too. So it's a, I'm a work in progress. Right? Yeah.

Tessie (53:21.847)
Yeah.

Tessie (53:35.913)
Yeah, we all are. my God. Till the day we die. We're you know, we're we're parenting a different person. It's a different human every single day. And so it like, we're going to be a different mother when they're 15, even it's going to we're to have to figure it all out all over again. Every single, every moment, every year, every season of their life, we're going to have to figure out

Diana (53:46.561)
huh.

Diana (53:55.125)
every day, every moment.

Tessie (54:02.247)
well, how am I going to be the best mother in this scenario? You know, it's like it's never ending, never ending.

Diana (54:06.403)
And that's only one child. Imagine you have soon to be five.

Tessie (54:09.101)
I know.

Save me. Someone save me. I need help. Yeah. Bring food. That makes everything better.

Diana (54:16.879)
I'll bring food, I'll bring food.

I think so. I'll bring food. I'll save the wine for a year from now. But I'll bring chocolate. How's that sound? Okay. And ranch dressing. I know how much you love that. Yup, absolutely. Tessie, you are amazing. I admire your strength, your confidence, and the way that you pour love into your family and friends.

Tessie (54:26.509)
Yes.

Yes, sounds good.

yeah, I have to have my good ranch, that's for sure.

Diana (54:50.777)
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us today. I know listeners will walk away inspired. I know they're gonna walk away laughing because this was such a fun episode for even for me and I know you. And I hope you all see some side of Tessie that I didn't see before because I know I didn't. I had no idea about so many of these things.

Tessie (55:12.333)
Random facts about me. Yeah.

Diana (55:15.075)
I love it. I love it. If you love getting to know our Tessie a little deeper today, share this episode with another mom who inspires you. And don't forget to follow Pearls of Motherhood so you never miss an episode that reminds us that motherhood is hard, but it's also full of strength, laughter and love. Talk to you soon. Bye.

Tessie (55:34.733)
Bye.