Reflecting on Season One

Jess and Lisa reflect on Season One, exploring the themes, growth, and insights gathered through 20 episodes of genuine conversation.

• Time management, bravery, parenting, confidence, productivity, and authenticity emerged as key topics
• Started the podcast in a period of heaviness, now feeling stronger and more supported in carrying life's burdens
• Discussed how vision boards serve as powerful reminders of values and help attract aligned opportunities
• Lisa shared how her "professional pause" created space for intentionality and new habits
• Examined the importance of balancing seasons of intensity with periods of rest
• Recognized the podcast's appeal extends beyond their demographic to universal human experiences
• Planning to take a brief hiatus before returning with Season Two

Join us on Instagram @lotstounpacktherepodcast and subscribe to our Substack for more content. We've also opened access to our "Unpacked Snacks" bonus episodes for a limited time.

Chapters

• 0:00 Season One Finale Introduction
• 2:00 Reflecting on Topics We've Covered
• 8:45 Evolution From Heaviness to Hope
• 15:50 Vision Boards and Values Update
• 25:44 Finding Balance in Learning and Practice
• 30:28 Managing Seasonal Energy and Burnout
• 44:03 Professional Pauses and Intentionality
• 51:52 Season One Accomplishments and Next Steps

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey, it's Jess and Lisa. We've got stories to share From our hearts to your ears. Lots to unpack there. Tune in every week you won't want to miss. Dive deep into life with Jess and Lisa and Lisa.

Jess: 0:27

We're Jess and Lisa, two best friends in our forties living in Maryland. This podcast is about life, motherhood, leadership and everything in between.

Lisa: 0:30

We're navigating the messy middle of personal and professional life and have learned that having someone along the way who just gets it makes the journey less hard.

Jess: 0:39

So each week, we'll share something from our own lives and unpack it together in real time. Our hope is that, as we process and reflect, it'll inspire you to do the same wherever you are. Hi Hi, it is our last episode of season one.

Lisa: 0:55

I know. I know it's a very exciting episode and one that I've been looking forward to, not because I'm looking forward to the season ending, but looking forward to unpacking and reflecting a little bit about our season, our season one, which is just so hard to believe that we have completed what we set out to complete in season one. It's just, it's awesome, but also kind of sad a little bit, because I'm like, oh man, we did it and now we did it, so now what? Right?

Jess: 1:25

Well, I have lots of thoughts about potentials for season two, but I think it's probably good to reflect on season one.

Lisa: 1:40

I think it is. I think it's a good opportunity for us, along with our listeners, if they want to come on this retrospective with us, to think about all of the not maybe all of them, but many of the topics that we've covered in season one, and the ground that we've gained in this time, the perspective that we've gained. So I'm really excited to unpack season one with you.

Jess: 2:02

I'm excited too and you've kept me mostly in the dark about what it means to unpack season one.

Lisa: 2:07

So yeah, I have a couple of sections, I guess, of things that I want to cover. The first one doesn't really require much from you other than I took the initiative, I guess, to find all of the summaries and transcripts of our last however many episodes, and I pulled out all of the keywords of topics that we covered, and there are a lot of them, and if you follow us on Instagram, you will see that I posted a word cloud based on those topics. Now I had to really really trim them down and narrow the focus a little bit, otherwise the word cloud would have been unreadable essentially, but I was really happy with it and I want to read some of the ones that rose to the top of that word cloud. Are you pulling it up right?

Jess: 3:01

now? Yeah, I pulled it up. I wanted to look at it and I would encourage our listeners to also pull it up because it's so beautiful and colorful.

Lisa: 3:09

It is very colorful. I was happy with the colors that came out. There is, however, a mistake in there, and so if anyone wants to find the mistake and point it out in our Instagram, that would be just fine. It will not offend me at all.

Speaker 1: 3:21

Did you already find it?

Jess: 3:25

not offend me at all.

Lisa: 3:26

Did you already find it? I did, yeah, I won't point no spoilers, I won't point to that. Yeah, so there's a couple different versions of this, so hopefully I'm looking at the same version that you are. But a couple of the ones that really rose to the top as being really prime topics for us that we covered multiple times, and that's what makes the word cloud words bigger or smaller is how many times we covered them. And so no surprise to anybody, I think time gets like top billing and and I think that's not a surprise and it's it's also it really is so key to what we do on earth, so I think it's apt.

Lisa: 4:10

A few more are bravery, parenting, confidence, productivity strategy, belonging, coaching, growth, authenticity, decision points, communication, creativity, owning your narrative, success, mentorship, taking up space, happy place, adulting, stress strategy, again, maybe what ifs? Mental space, overachievement, vulnerability. We had so many awesome topics that we covered and I think what I really wanted to do in highlighting these things is one. I wanted to take this journey myself to think back over what we've covered, because it's really easy to sort of do it and move on and not really think much more of it, but what I really realized is how applicable this podcast or this discussion space that we have is for pretty much anybody, and I think I've been limiting myself to thinking that only people who are really similar to us will be interested in what we have to talk about, and I'm not really sure why I've done that exactly. Maybe it's limiting beliefs, which we also have on the list there.

Lisa: 5:23

I really did realize, in writing all of these down and putting them together, that this really does apply to pretty much anybody. I'm not saying that every single topic and every single scenario that we cover is going to speak to people on an individual level across the board, but I truly think that the topics that we're covering are universal in a lot of ways and are things that are dear to us and important to us, and we are not special in that. I think we think about and care about the same stuff that most people think about and care about. So that was a really cool realization that I had is that I need to stop thinking about this space as being only for people who are identical to us demographically.

Jess: 6:13

Yeah, it's interesting to hear you reflect back on that, because I think I had kind of a similar journey and I didn't do the word cloud, but even just talking to people about it, I found myself couching it as well. It's probably geared more towards women, or moms, or moms in leadership or professional women, and it certainly does.

Lisa: 6:36

It is applicable to those people very, very tightly. Yes.

Jess: 6:40

And also that's just. I think maybe in doing that I overemphasized how the humanity part of my identity is much more dominant in all of these things, and that's the part that's going to be more applicable to anyone who listens to it.

Jess: 7:17

And I also think one of the things we set out in the very beginning was that we recognize that we are two white women who have experienced very different things than our diverse listenership may have experienced, or we may have experienced them in different ways. We're aware of that lens and also that doesn't mean that the deeper human components might not ring true to somebody who doesn't look like us or have a similar lived experience.

Lisa: 7:46

Right, right, yeah, I think it's easy to.

Lisa: 7:51

I mean, we talk about reducing the people that we interact with into certain categories, and that's very much a part of human natural behavior that exists for very good reasons from an ancient history standpoint.

Lisa: 8:04

But I think it is funny that one we still do that, even though for the most part we don't have to unless there's a danger involved and sometimes there is but that we also do it to ourselves. We also reduce ourselves down into these component pieces and forget that we're so much bigger and more complex than those things that you would put on a I don't know application or entry form to something like what's your age, what's your marital status, what's your occupational status, like all of those things that are checkboxes on some form that you would fill out. Those are things. They're aspects of who you are and they do shape your lens, but they are tiny component pieces compared to the whole. And so I think, like you said, that's really what this has shown me over the last several months of doing it and in reflecting back during this week as I was preparing to have our last episode of the season. What about you? Did you seek any purposeful reflection or were you just kind of mulling over in the back of your mind like thinking about it.

Jess: 9:07

Mostly mulling over in the back of my mind. I think one of the benefits of being our editor and producer is that I have had multiple opportunities to listen back to our episodes, and so there's a kind of a tactical piece of that of how do we want the episode to sound and to say or not say, and then there's also the kind of meta themes that come throughout all of this. And, thinking back to our first episode, just how many things have changed in our lives since the end of January when we started recording.

Lisa: 9:55

That is a perfect segue, because I did go back to all of our previous episodes, which you have spent much more time in than I have as the producer and editor of the show. I went back to the initial transcript. I went back to all of them, but I started with the initial first episode, and in even just reading the transcript for the first couple of minutes, it was so clear, even on the written version, how heavy and intensely we were experiencing the beginning of the year of 2025. Yeah, were experiencing the beginning of the year of 2025. And so I had a reflection question that came up for me, which was are you still experiencing that same level of heaviness that we started out with?

Jess: 10:36

That's a great question and I think the answer is yes and no. There's some amount of habituation that has come of. What can I do? And what I can do is pouring into my local community.

Jess: 10:53

It's in making stronger connections, and I think all of those things have worked to buoy me in a considerable way, and so I think the heaviness is still there in a considerable way, and so I think the heaviness is still there. There's so much shock and awe in the news and in what is happening and in some ways the world is just. There are so many heartbreaking things. It's hard to not feel those things. I mean, I think if I were to zoom out and look at the year, I think the year has gotten heavier.

Lisa: 11:24

I think if I were to zoom out, and look at the year, I think the year has gotten heavier, so, but maybe we've gotten used to the weight. But I've also gotten stronger. So it's like you started off with a 50 pound backpack and, like over the seven months you know, a five pound weight has been added to it. So you're now working on a much heavier backpack but you're also a lot stronger, I guess in the process of getting used to it A lot stronger, and also I'm realizing that I'm not carrying it by myself.

Jess: 11:55

And that's what the community piece is really for is that ability to you know load. Share some of that. What about you. You've had, I think, an even more drastic seven months, as we've talked about. I'm wondering how the heaviness of January is hitting you different today.

Lisa: 12:14

Yeah, so halfway between when we started and where we are, as our listeners will know very well, I was laid off from my job and pretty matter-of-factly changed a lot of aspects of my life. I was no longer having this let's call it a 40-hour-a-week job even though we know it wasn't a full-time job to really getting space and time to reflect, and so I think in some ways I actually feel lighter. I don't disagree with you that in general, world events and things going on do feel just as heavy, if not heavier, but I feel maybe a bit lighter Because, even though I'm still experiencing those world events, I myself have had a lot more breathing room for me, yeah, and for the things that make me happy. And not to say that my job didn't I can't say that it like decreased my happiness actively, but I think it was. It was still a hurdle that I had to jump over every single day of like there are many things to take care of, too many for me to take care of on my own, and yet I still have to pretend that I can take care of all of them on my own because that's my job, and now I don't have that. There's no hurdles, it's just there are things I need to take care of and I can take care of them, yeah.

Lisa: 13:47

So yeah, that has definitely added to my lightness overall, which makes sense. Yeah, yeah, it does. I mean, I think it would be very easy to assume that, with the way that the year started and then getting laid off, my world would be exponentially heavier at this point. But because I'm fortunate to not be in a dire financial situation, I can think about all of the really, really great aspects of this professional pause, as we call it. So, yeah, yeah, to another section of our season. One unpacking is that I thought it would be good to go back and update our listeners on a couple of things that we left, not necessarily unfinished, but just things that we promised that we were going to update on.

Lisa: 14:37

So as I went back and looked now granted, I was only keyword searching and I only found two, to my great surprise. Oh okay, I thought for sure there was more than that, but I only found two and they're both yours, oh okay.

Jess: 14:51

So roll up your sleeves.

Lisa: 14:52

Madeline. All right, I consider my sleeves rolled. The first one was from episode three, which was our resilience episode at least our first resilience episode and it was about your vision board at least our first resilience episode and it was about your vision board and you had just recently created your vision board and you had it tacked on the wall near your desk and you were talking about maybe transforming it into a different medium or putting it on your website to some degree, or utilizing it in other mediums. Whatever the case may be, you left it very open-ended and so you said well, I'll update once I figure out what I'm going to do with it. So I thought we would get a refresher on your vision board and how that, as well as like how is your vision?

Jess: 15:40

board for 2025. Going now that we're over half the way through Amazing, I totally forgot so clearly. I did not take that as an action item from our podcast, Even as you describe it. I'm kind of like did.

Lisa: 15:51

I say that oh, that happens to me constantly.

Jess: 15:55

when I'm going back and re-listening to episodes, I'm like so I my I will update on the status of the vision board and then also share how it has kind of transformed and is represented on my website and also in my, in my business. So the vision board is still up on the wall. I look at it all day, every day. It is where my eyes go when I'm thinking about what a client just told me, when I'm thinking about a question.

Jess: 16:31

I found so many of the words on there. I just kind of settle on them and it feels kismet sometimes and so maybe because some of them are my values and some of them are just things that are in the ether right now. But yeah, I look at it all the time. And how am I doing on the vision board? So I have one of the things on there is a cactus picture that was to represent our trip to Arizona. I also oh my gosh, I have a yellow beach umbrella, which I did not realize at the time, but we bought a yellow beach umbrella, so it feels even more meaningful there.

Jess: 17:15

Yes, both of those trips have happened. I have my book, a bunch of books there to remind me to read and reflect, and I have done a ton of that. Yes, you have. So I think that has definitely happened.

Lisa: 17:30

You are the number one reader in my friend group, by a factor of 10, I think.

Jess: 17:36

My sister, listening to this, would probably laugh at the amount of books that I've read, because if I'm your 10x, she's my 10x. Oh my God, she reads so, so much. But the words that I come to are bravery, curiosity, authentic patience, learning, family. And then I have this quote on there the storm will not knock me down, but rather propel me forward towards my destiny, and I think that kind of ties into what's happening this year and how to ride the wave, but also to just exist and thrive in this environment, despite all of the heaviness.

Jess: 18:18

And then my kids' pictures are on there and the animals that represent them are on there, and I think the animals that represent them are ones that I come to even more and it just brings me so much joy to look at it. So I think all of those things like I wasn't sure how to use the vision board because this was my first time making one, but I would say that even just having it in a place where I look at it every single day and it reminds me of all of the things that I have to look forward to and promises that I've made to myself, the things that matter most, and just the future's ahead Good things are coming. All good things start with one step Patience, cultivate, what matters all of those things they just like they seep in, and it's been really cool. So I'm really glad that it's up there and that I get to look at it every day.

Lisa: 19:17

Did it in some form make it onto your website?

Jess: 19:19

Sort of. So what did make it onto my website were my values.

Lisa: 19:24

Okay, you extracted those from the vision board.

Jess: 19:28

And I have next to my vision board I have another one of those white and black letter board things and I have my values up there too and kind of the same thing. It's just such a good visual reminder of those things and that probably comes up more in my client work. It is empowerment is one of them, and so even just having it in my mind it's like it's like a drumbeat, Like what is the most empowering thing that this person can do in their life or can think about differently Authenticity, curiosity, compassion also up there, and then just the mantra to be brave.

Lisa: 20:23

That's a good one, and it's one of our very center words from our first season, so bravery was one of the largest words that came up, yeah, so that makes sense. It sounds like there's a lot of your values, and probably some of my values, that are shaping the content of this podcast, and so it makes total sense that this is a very full circle experience for you. You have your vision board, you have your values, you have this podcast that are echoing all of those things, and so it's really sort of swirling around us.

Jess: 20:49

Right, and it's the way that we influence our world. While our world influences us, we filter the things that we want to see in the world, and so, by having this up on my wall, it's reminding me how I want to filter life.

Lisa: 21:06

It makes me think of us as magnets, people as magnets, and that, like, the more clear you are about what you want, the stronger your magnet is and the more it can pull things from further away that match your magnet. It can pull them towards you more and I really, I truly believe that that is the case. I don't know that much of a moment.

Jess: 21:34

There's a lot of attraction. Yeah, in that sense.

Lisa: 21:37

But I can say, as I and this is definitely something that I would say is been increased as I get older and therefore wiser the magnet of what I want in my life gets stronger and I think it gets easier to find and attract those things. I just I think when I was in my 20s my magnet was so weak so I would kind of whatever paperclip or pushpin was flying around sort of just landed on my magnet and I was like, okay, paperclips, they're good Pushpins, you can use those, Nevermind that they're super pointy and they can stab you, which happened a lot in my 20s. Because when you're just attracting any old thing, you're going to get any old magnetic object. And when your magnet gets stronger and has a better sense of what it's looking for, you're going to attract and it's going to be just easy. They're just going to come to you, You're just going to attract those things.

Lisa: 22:36

So I'm pretty sure lots of people have written books about that sort of stuff, or I'm sure. Yeah, I think it's not too dissimilar from what was that book that like?

Jess: 22:47

The Secret.

Lisa: 22:48

Yes, yes, I think it's not too dissimilar from that concept. Yes, I think it's not too dissimilar from that concept.

Jess: 22:54

Yes, and the alchemist, where, if you are clear on what you want and what matters, the universe will conspire to give it to you, which it steps into, a woo kind of place that I'm like. I don't know how much I personally believe that, but I do believe that we are so much more capable in shaping our environment and recognizing the types of opportunities that come up when we are aligned with what those are and what we're looking for.

Lisa: 23:29

Certainly you've cleared a hurdle, at least in the process, by knowing what you're looking for Certainly you've cleared a hurdle, at least in the process, by knowing what you're looking for.

Jess: 23:38

Yeah, it's like if you're so busy or your head's in the clouds and you miss this potential goldmine opportunity, then you're going to miss it and that probably happens to us all the time. But if you're there, I think about a conversation we were having in the car where I was kind of feeling annoyed about something and then my kids said something and it was just really heartwarming and cool.

Jess: 23:57

And I was like oh my gosh, I almost missed that because I was like not present in that moment, and so it it reminded me to come back to that moment, and life is just so much more enjoyable when when you can, yeah, absolutely, just so much more enjoyable when.

Lisa: 24:17

When you can, yeah, absolutely. What was the other thing? Yeah, the second thing is, uh, from episode seven, beyond fitting in, and it was you were feeling a bit conflicted with your learning in theory versus learning in practice balance. And I was wondering, now that you have your PCC and you've really like crossed the finish line, so to speak, of that one really big professional milestone, how is your, are you working on writing that balance between the learning and practice and learning in theory, and how's it going?

Jess: 24:50

I feel much more balanced. But it's interesting because I think some of that that was when we talked about kind of like the restlessness and the itchiness to move and the cutting room floor and all that stuff.

Jess: 25:02

It's so interesting because when I got my PCC, the following week was probably one of the busiest weeks that I've ever had working not ever, but this year and it didn't feel busy because the pressure was off. And so I'm learning that my perception of where I am in that continuum and the itchiness of the restlessness is maybe not so much an indication of the need to shift Though I do think there's part of it. That's a need to shift from one to the other but it's also part of my stress escalation path that there's a pressure system that's influencing how things are playing out.

Lisa: 25:48

Yes, you should do your own. That should be a season two episode is Jess's stress escalation path and that way we can cross, compare them, because I know they're going to be very dissimilar from each other.

Jess: 26:03

Yeah, I'm going to have to put a lot of thought into that, because I don't know.

Lisa: 26:08

Yeah, well, I think it'll be a good exercise for you. But knowing now that this pressure of achieving this thing by this time so it wasn't just volume pressure, it was time pressure on top of volume pressure yeah, does that help inform a future situation that will be similar to that, because, guaranteed, that's not the last time you'll ever experience those two things together? And like, do you think you'll be able to recognize it more easily now, like, oh, I'm feeling itchy, restless, and like my balance is off, like I wonder if I'm artificially putting pressure on myself that doesn't need to be there, or something. I don't want to put words in your mouth, but something like that.

Jess: 26:53

Yeah, yeah, I think, even just differentiating. Is it the time pressure or the achievement pressure? Yeah, that is going on and it makes sense that having both of those pressures would make for the prep.

Lisa: 27:10

Maybe that yeah they were multiplying each other exactly.

Jess: 27:14

There was some sort of resonance there where, like they were double bouncing on the trampoline they'll double bounce. They'll double bounce yeah, so my hope is that I will be able to, but I'm also hoping that, like I don't I don't know how to say this without sounding a certain way, but like it's not that serious- Like telling yourself to chill out basically Just telling myself to chill out Exactly that like there was a deadline, I only sort of made up the deadline.

Jess: 27:47

There were consequences if I didn't meet the deadline. Those are the consequences I was hoping to avoid.

Lisa: 27:51

Right, they were totally like doable consequences, though, if I recall, it was retaking a test that you basically aced the first time.

Jess: 28:00

I. It was not aced, but, yes, I passed it. But, and then all of the things that come with that, the studying and the getting my space together, and all of those things.

Lisa: 28:10

An annoyance for sure.

Jess: 28:11

Definitely an inconvenience. Yeah, looking back, I am still really glad that I got it. Yeah, I was worried a little bit that I would look back and say was this three?

Lisa: 28:24

months of really busyness worth it.

Jess: 28:26

And I think I land on yes, I'm glad that it happened the way. It would have been better if I'd had five months instead of three months so that it was a little bit more stretched out Absolutely, but I also had the cookie manager stuff, and so I don't know that I would have had the capacity to do more during that time anyway.

Lisa: 28:45

You would have just started a little earlier, is all.

Jess: 28:48

Yeah, I am exactly where I need to be right now and the deadlines and timelines and goals that I have moving forward. I don't foresee them creating that same kind of pressure system, because good things take time.

Speaker 1: 29:05

Yeah.

Jess: 29:06

And that's what I keep coming back to yeah.

Lisa: 29:10

Well, good, I'm glad that much of that has been resolved and that you even got to pick up a couple of little like learning nuggets about yourself along the way too, so that's always a net positive. You met your goal you learned a little bit and you get to feel the relief now of being on the other side of it Exactly Awesome. Well, those were our two follow-ups. I also had one more overarching question for you, okay, and us generally.

Jess: 29:41

Yeah, I was going to say. I hope you're going to answer this question too.

Lisa: 29:45

Which was in episode four, which I didn't write down the title for, I'm sorry. In episode four we talked about hibernation and making sure that we are not going so overboard in spring, summer, fall that winter comes around and we have to collapse on the chaise lounge and not talk to anybody for three months. So, given that we have moved through spring, we are more than halfway through summer and we are barreling towards fall, are we keeping up with this pseudo promise that we made to not kill ourselves so that winter comes along and we lose it? I know my answer is definitely yes, but that is like I am, you know, very much in my circumstance right now, which is that I get time and space to be a little bit more relaxed in my life. So for me, the answer is yes, but that's a little bit unfair, and so that's why the question is a bit more for you.

Jess: 30:42

I think, yes, despite what we just talked about, but that's, that's the big. But is like the January, february, february, march were really cookie centric for me and you know, there are some experiences that we go through and it's really really hard, maybe running a marathon, I don't know, I've never run a marathon, but I've heard.

Lisa: 31:03

I did a half. I can, I can, I can get on board with that Yep.

Jess: 31:07

So you get to the end and you're like, wow, that wasn't so bad, I could probably do that again. And you're like, wow, that wasn't so bad, I could probably do that again. And cookie season was not like that for me, where I got to the end and I was like, no, I don't think I wanted to do that again.

Jess: 31:25

Glad I did it. I'm sure it was helpful. Probably not going to happen, yeah, even though I do have ideas for how it could be less painful next time. I don't think it's going to be for me Right.

Lisa: 31:36

Those would be great pieces of advice to give the next person who volunteers Absolutely.

Jess: 31:42

Happy to handhold and let them know what I did and how it works to make it, you know, less hard for them.

Jess: 31:50

And then, but then, q2 was all about all of the coaching time and the sprint and I do feel like that was absolutely worth it and I am glad to have. Yeah, I'm glad that I pulled back, and so I think I guess my answer to the question is I. I think, all in all, I'm not going to be at the end of the year gasping for breath, right, I think the big rocks that I have now for my business, yeah, I mean, I think the family is going to, it's going to be fine, like it's just doing the things that they normally do. I don't. We don't have a super busy fall as far as I know. I think it'll be appropriately busy and mindful at the same time.

Lisa: 32:43

Well, this is a good reminder for you and for anyone listening who this really resonates with. But, like we're more than halfway through the year, if you're, if you're already running on fumes, it's time to pull back now, not when it gets to the holiday season or something like that, when you're, when you're all out of breath. So this is my nice reminder to everyone to like be kind to yourself, don't try to do too much, don't don't go nuts. Or, if you, if there's a period of time when you do have to go super, super fast, like you did this year, then you have to be willing to mirror that with a more slow, more measured, more thoughtful, mindful, chill pace for some amount of time, so that you don't end up. I don't know, miserable, I guess the word that comes to mind. I don't know if people actually feel miserable, but I'm. You know there is a, there is an amount of ennui that comes when you're just so overscheduled for so long.

Jess: 33:53

Yes, I've started playing with the idea of leadership drift as a concept or as a way to describe this phenomenon, and I think, the way I'm thinking about it, it is when the escalation of our circumstance kind of pushes us to act in a way that is maybe not intentional.

Speaker 1: 34:17

Right.

Jess: 34:17

And so we're working as hard as we can just to keep our head above water or to to manage all of the things. But then we look back, we're like, where did that week go? Or, for myself, some of the symptoms that I feel are like, wow, I really had wanted to go strawberry picking this year and time just got away from me, and so I think that's how I want to measure. That is maybe kind of going back to your season board, doing some semblance of that, so that I don't look and say, well, I guess I'll try again next year, right, those things that kind of take me out of intentionality.

Lisa: 34:56

Yeah.

Jess: 34:57

That's. I don't want to be at a pace where I have to react all the time. Right, I want to be at a pace when I can respond and plan.

Lisa: 35:05

Yes, I think that's a really good place to be in. And, speaking of the season by season bucket list that my family does, that you just referenced, it does serve to motivate us, but it also serves to say this is what we're doing, not this, plus a bunch of other things.

Lisa: 35:27

And so in that way, if it's whatever season and somebody comes to us and says it's whatever season and somebody comes to us and says, hey, we're doing this thing, and like none of it was on our collective vision for how that season was to go, it does give us an opportunity to quote live the bigger life, which is the quote above the list, and choose to do that.

Lisa: 35:48

But it also gives us the space to say, like that wasn't in our priorities this season, but we can definitely put it on for next season or next time this season comes around, to do it together or separately. And I do have to have those conversations with my kids sometimes so they're like, oh, let's go do this thing. Like our season is is built, our season is spoken for. But absolutely that will like, don't forget it, hang on to it. Next time it comes around that we get the chance to make this board, let's put it on there. And so it works almost. Rather, as opposed to just a pull, it also acts as a push in the other direction as well, to kind of keep us in the space that we want to be in.

Lisa: 36:31

It is both inclusive and exclusive as well to kind of keep us in the space that we want to be in. It is both inclusive and exclusive. Yes, yes, not in a black and white sort of way.

Speaker 1: 36:42

There is always room for negotiation, but it tends to be minimal room for negotiation.

Jess: 36:45

Yeah, I'm imagining a swap of some sort. Yeah, like, if you want to do that, what needs to come off of the list? Right, and if everybody agrees that this other thing is more important, then we can make the swap.

Lisa: 36:58

Yes, otherwise I don't know if we've ever swapped, because my kids are still so young. I tend to be the master of the list very much, so I will get suggestions and input from the crowd, but it's mostly me writing the list and me saying, okay, this is the weekend that we're going to go do this thing, and then I make all the logistics happen to make that thing happen, because that's how I want to live my life, and if no one else is going to have a contrary option, then it's going to be what I want. Sure, I'm going to act as cruise director. It's going to be what it's going to be, but happy to take suggestions from the crowd.

Jess: 37:38

You mentioned. It feels a little bit unfair for you to answer that question because of your circumstance that has changed in your professional pause. But I'm curious if there's anything else you want to add to this. Where is your tank now? How are you feeling? Going into the fall?

Lisa: 37:55

Well, it is something I have been contemplating because I have sort of the threat of full time work at any time. I'm always interviewing, I'm always taking meetings, so there's always this possibility that this could be on the horizon. Once we got into summer I said well, no matter what happens, I'm not going to take a job before the end of the summer. I want to have the summer as flexible, especially because my kids are in so many camps. And oh my God, oh my gosh, yeah, yeah. So it just didn't really make sense. So I always knew that I was going to go up through the summer anyway, of being in this pause. But there are some habits and some perspectives that I have gained during this time that I definitely, definitely would like to take with me. And it's so funny the pep talks I give myself.

Lisa: 38:44

So occasionally I do some consulting work and I also just have a lot of meetings anyway, just with professional networking and things like that. And I really, really, really try, even if I don't have any meetings during the day. I am trying so hard to get into the habit of figuring out what the most important thing I have to do that day is and then starting with that. It is so hard I think of. We just rewatched the movie Titanic, which, if you're my age which you are, but for me Titanic was the thing when it came out, and I think I saw it in theaters six times. It's what I did for several weeks. I mean, it was in the theaters for over a year, so there was lots of time to do that. Really, I'm pretty sure it was. Yeah, wow, avatar was was on that long too.

Lisa: 39:37

James cameron, he really knows what he's doing I still haven't seen avatar, but go on that's another good one I can recommend, right, um, but I think of when the titanic hits the iceberg. The first thing they do is like throw the propellers in reverse to try to like not hit it as hard, like the damage was already done. But whatever, they just like throw the handles and all of them are trying to go backwards, backwards, backwards this huge ship. And I feel like that's a little bit what it's like for me to rewire my habit of like it used to be, and it's been this way for well over a decade. I walk into work, I make a list of everything that I have to do and I just start ticking off the list and always, always, always, without fail. The things on that list include check on this email, this clear inbox, that update this thing, this you know mechanism or so much Like that's the vast majority of it, and so I am throwing my propellers in reverse.

Lisa: 40:45

I am trying to take this time even though the work isn't necessarily work, I'm still trying to take this time to rewire my process, to say what's the most important thing, even if that's change the cat litter box right, like, even if that's the number one thing I need to do today, then that's the first thing I do, that's the thing that I make sure, even if it's not the first thing, it's the thing I make sure gets done. Yeah, and so I am definitely using this time as wisely as I can so that when and if I'm going to say when I get another full time job, I can be really, really intentional with my time, so as not to just have this churn and burn mentality every single day.

Jess: 41:31

Yeah, the one where your calendar manages you, instead of you managing your calendar.

Lisa: 41:36

Yes, I'm trying to like prepare for that time. So I am a little bit protecting myself and my future rest of my year in that sense. So your question is very apt, because I really am trying to be very much protective of that future Lisa, by getting present Lisa as like squared away as possible, and a lot of that includes like being mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually healthy and like taking the time that needs to be taken to do that. That I've been pretty neglectful of, I would say, in the last decade or so that I've been pretty neglectful of, I would say, in the last decade or so.

Jess: 42:22

I can't remember which episode we talked about it, but it is the space for reinvention and tune up that you're. That is the gift part of this experience. Yes, that is the gift part, Yep and I was clever enough to recognize that almost right away.

Lisa: 42:30

Yeah, and I was clever enough to recognize that almost right away, yeah, and I. You know it was difficult at first to actually realize that and embody it, but I think I'm at a good pretty, I'm at a nice click now with it.

Jess: 42:46

Yeah, I'm reminded of a client I had quite some time ago who was experiencing something kind of similar and had started volunteering during this professional pause and when they went back to work full time, it was what do I need to do to protect this practice, because it gives me life? Yeah, and that seems it's kind of like those practices of the most important thing and then also the life-giving things that you're doing.

Lisa: 43:19

I would love to talk to whoever that person was and ask them if that has remained a priority in their life. That would be an amazing unpacking. Yeah, and why or why not? Does it not give you life anymore? Is it just not possible, like, tell us List everything? Random person who I don't know your name, right, yeah.

Jess: 43:39

Well, we're just about at our time of unpacking season one, yes, but I have one more question for you, okay, which?

Speaker 1: 43:48

is.

Jess: 43:48

I feel very well steeped and informed in what it's like for me to be a part of this podcast, uh-huh. But I'm wondering what is it like for you looking back over the last 20 episodes now?

Lisa: 44:03

Yeah, for me, the main description that I can come up with is just, I'm proud, just I'm proud. I'm proud that, you know, being creative is really taking inspiration that exists in a non-physical state and putting something to it to make it solid or tangible. And I really think that's what we've done here, much of it because of you and your vision. And so when I look at what you took out of thin air, you took inspiration from that's just around you and you thought we can do this, the two of us can do this. And then you started to pull in all of these aspects and then we started to be able to work together to creatively refine them and turn this into something that I can absolutely say I am super proud of and super happy to be associated with it.

Lisa: 45:02

Like there's no part of me that is like, oh, I don't want to talk about it because you know, I don't want people to know that I do this thing, you know this side thing that I do. I would be happy for anybody to listen to it. And, secondarily, I feel so strongly about it that if Michelle Obama or I don't know other powerful women or influential people were to listen to it, I don't know why I only named one person. There's lots of influential people, but anyway, and they said, wow, that's really good. I'd be like I know right, there's no part of me. That would be like, oh really, you think so. I'm so glad you feel that way. I don't know. I'd be like, yeah, I'm really happy that we have done this thing, especially because we are a very indie organization here, the two of us. There is no more indie than the two of us doing this we have no sponsor.

Lisa: 46:02

We have no producer other than ourselves, and so I'm really really just happy and pleased and stoked that I get to be a part of it and that you chose me to be a part of it and that we keep choosing each other to be a part of it, and that you chose me to be a part of it and that we keep choosing each other to be a part of it.

Jess: 46:19

I love that sentiment so much and thank you for sharing that. I remember the dinner where it was like, no, really we should do this, we should take these conversations and put them someplace where other people can benefit from them and listen to them. It really kind of highlights for me how important it is to just do the next thing. Yeah, Like if we had waited until we thought that the episode was perfect, or if we tried rerecording any of the episodes, like it just wouldn't have been us and so you know, Rome wasn't built in a day. Right, there are lots of cool things that we can continue to do and shake up and think about, but I made a face when you said it was my vision. I think it was very much. It feels co-created and the creative work that's there. Like I, you are the ideas person of the two of us. So, in the best possible way, like you see things To be fair.

Lisa: 47:21

I didn't even really know we were making a podcast until you showed up at my house with a microphone what, oh my bad? And you said here's your microphone. I think you even might've said something like I bet you know what this is and in my head I was like I definitely do not know what that is. And then it was a microphone and I was like it's not getting clearer for me. And you were like it's for our podcast. And I was like wonderful, I'm so excited, and I'm so excited.

Jess: 47:49

But I'm telling you, you were the little engine that could behind this, more than you realized you were Well, I'm telling you, you were the little engine that could behind this more than you realized. You were Well, I'm understanding that now.

Lisa: 47:57

Yeah.

Jess: 47:58

You are truly the one that made this happen. Let me be quite clear that's hysterical that I did not. Thanks for coming along Absolutely.

Lisa: 48:11

You're an easy person to bet on. I was like well, if Jess thinks this is a great idea.

Jess: 48:16

I'm on board, let's do it, let's do it. And it's been so much fun, even, yeah, the work. I will say anybody who has made a podcast in any way knows that there are probably varying degrees of work, and polish that can go into it. I remember remember listening to normal gossip and Alex Sujan Laughlin was like takes me about eight hours to produce one episode and I was thinking like, oh my gosh, what am I in for? What am I in for? And? But it doesn't. So it is work, but it doesn't feel heavy and I loved that. It's just something that I could say like, okay, now I'm going to edit this episode and I take a little trip down memory lane every single time. So it's been really cool.

Lisa: 49:04

And I think what you said earlier too letting go of perfection has been super important during this process, because I can say fully on there is not one episode of this podcast that is perfect and I am also 100% fine with that because it is genuine, it is authentic, it is 100% us and I'm still exceptionally proud of it. So, yeah, and a lot of that is due to you and your massive editing techniques and everything that you've done to buoy this whole organization of two people and two microphones.

Jess: 49:44

Yes, I will take credit for the microphones. Yeah, it has been really, really cool, and I'm so excited for season two. Yes, really cool and I'm so excited for season two yes, so, yeah.

Lisa: 49:55

So this is a couple of things I wanted to say before we wrap up for our season one finale is to say we are going to be taking a break on producing and publishing the episodes for do we know how long? Do we know when the next season is meant to start? A couple of months, a couple of months, okay, so maybe look Like. Maybe up to six months, okay, so maybe start 2026, looking for things to start coming out.

Jess: 50:25

Yeah, I think we will have unpacked snacks that we'll release periodically, okay, and just to kind of keep things flowing and bring lots of joy to your ears.

Lisa: 50:35

That was another reminder that I wanted to tell folks about. If you have not subscribed to it, which it is, it's a paid bonus content, but our unpack snacks are really cute and really fun and they are just like mini unpacking sessions about something very discreet and small and they typically are pretty light in their content and we really enjoy making those little bonus ones. So please feel free to subscribe to that bonus content. We haven't really talked about it much on here, but we also have a sub stack and it is a extremely prolific sub stack and if it's not every day, it's nearly every day that we send something out. So the cadence of that might change over the next few months, but we really have a lot of really great content out there that once again just produces the majority of If you are more of a reader rather than a listener or, if you want both, there's a lot of great takeaways that we put into those sub stacks that will solidify a lot of the topics that we talk about here and put them into concrete actions for you.

Lisa: 51:49

So those are a really really good resource that are free. You can, obviously you can be a paid contributor to those and we're happy for that to be the case. But we're also happy that if you just want to read and just want to be a part of that Substack community, feel free to subscribe to that as well, and lots to unpack there Podcast and lots to unpack there on Substack. It will be very easy to find. If you put us into Google, you will find lots of things and it will be one click away for most of our resources.

Lisa: 52:19

As I referenced earlier, we have Instagram. Lots to unpack their podcast and we put up a lot of little snippets and a lot of fun mentions about the podcast. So that's always fun to get some interaction with our podcast community that way. And the last thing and we've never asked for this and if it's not your thing, that's cool. But if you feel like interacting with our stuff liking it, subscribing to it, referring it to other people, commenting on it, sending us mail through Substack, whatever it is we want to engage with you. We would love to take suggestions of things that you want to have us unpack or suggestions about how you see our podcast going in the future. We are not ending. This is just the end of the first season, so we have lots and lots of ideas that jess and I are going to be noodling over over the next couple months and we would love to hear from you. We'd love to hear from you. We'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, comments, everything. So keep it coming.

Jess: 53:20

Amazing. Yeah, no notes, nothing to add. Wonderful, so I will say I did open up some of our unpacked snacks so that people can see what they're like. So even if you haven't subscribed to them, you can check it out. I'll probably put them on lockdown again next year, okay, but they are open for everything for right now. Get them while you can, okay.

Lisa: 53:45

Well, good, all right, that's a little bonus I didn't know about. Yeah, it's a bonus bonus. It's a bonus bonus, double bonus. I a bonus bonus, double bonus. I think that's everything that I wanted to talk about. Uh, yeah, I'm just. I'm just grateful to be here, grateful to have had all of these wonderful conversations with you. I've learned a lot about myself, I've learned a ton about podcasting and I've learned quite a bit about you as well, which is quite a feat, because I thought I knew a lot about you already.

Jess: 54:15

Same, same and same. I mean, I think anytime I get to learn something new about you or something new about myself, I just there's so much delight in that. It's like Ooh, I've never put these two pieces together before, and now I can, and that's really cool, absolutely.

Lisa: 54:33

Well, thank you for unpacking this season with me and thank you to everyone who's listening and supporting us. We love you guys. Thank you very much, and we cannot wait to come back in a couple months with brand new episodes, brand new season for everyone.

Jess: 54:53

Yes, from our hearts to your ears. Yeah, lots to unpack there, love it Bye, bye.

Speaker 1: 55:02

Hey, it's Jess and Lisa. We've got stories to share From our hearts to your ears. Lots to unpack there. Tune in every week you won't want to miss. Dive deep into life with jess and lisa. Tune in every week you won't want to miss. Dive deep into life with jess and lisa.

Jess: 55:39

Like my oldest, is a snake. Let's see what's the really poisonous one.

Lisa: 55:47

Coral snake. Okay, I think there's like a coral snake that is very venomous and then one that isn't venomous at all. Yeah, they look very similar.

Jess: 55:56

I think this is the venomous one, the one that says red and black, friend of Jack, red and yellow will kill a fellow. It's the kill a fellow one. Okay, so that's up there for my oldest.

Lisa: 56:08

Wait, hold on, we're going to have to pause. Why is she represented by a super venomous snake? Pause. Why is she represented by a super venomous snake?

Jess: 56:12

It is her favorite animal, that one specifically, that specifically. I'm pretty sure it's a coral snake.

Lisa: 56:20

Yeah, I think you're right.