The Loew Down
The Loew Down is the podcast where Hamilton's small business community tells its own story — origin stories, pivots, hard lessons and the real advice that only comes from someone who's actually been through it.
The Loew Down
Amanda's Story: She Built the Space She Always Needed
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Amanda Gurman spent years being the person other women called when they finally had something they needed to say out loud. She's the host of the Honest as a Mother podcast, a three-time bestselling co-author, and the founder of Her Truth Press — a publishing house she built from scratch in Hamilton, Ontario for women who have been carrying a story they were told to keep quiet.
In this conversation we get into all of it. How she went from suffering through postpartum depression in silence to building a platform that has given hundreds of women permission to tell the truth. Why she walked away from the self-publishing model she'd used for three books and built her own company instead. The moment she stopped calling her identity crisis a midlife crisis and renamed it a breakthrough. And how she gets women to share their most vulnerable stories in print — with their real names on the cover — just by showing up as herself.
We close with the question we ask every guest on The Loew Down: what do you want to be remembered for in your community? Her answer is eight words. And it's the whole episode.
Find Amanda at @amanda.gurman and Her Truth Press at @hertruthpress.
Because your story matters.
You're listening to The Lowdown. I'm Kasti Lowen, Real Conversations with Small Business Owners in Hamilton. The version they tell their best friend, not the one they post. Because your story matters. So let's get into it. Hey, and welcome back to The Lowdown. Today we have Amanda German. Welcome, Amanda. Hey, thanks for having me. Amanda is the creator of Honest as a Mother podcast. She is also the author of three published books. And she also started her newest endeavor, which is her truth publishing. Welcome, Amanda. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02I'm so excited to be here, and I'm very excited about this podcast and everything that you're building over here. So thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'm honored that you can come on today. Thank you. It means a lot to me. Amanda, can you tell us a little bit about yourself personally?
SPEAKER_02Sure. I always feel like this is such a big question to answer, right? Like, oh my gosh, okay, where did we start? So my name is Amanda German. Um, like Cassidy said, I am the host of the Honest as a Mother podcast, which Cassidy has been a guest on recently. I am a mom of two wonderful children who I always say, like, you know, came into my world, turned it upside down, and helped me find myself again. I do actually have a full-time job in pharmacy. So that's like a side of me I feel like a lot of people don't know. So this whole motherhood, mental health, advocacy kind of work that I love to do is really just my passion, my side hustle. I recently also did start my own business called Her Truth Publishing, which I know we'll get into a little bit later, but I just love honestly, I love airing out my own problems as a source of healing and helping other women know they're not alone. And I've been really inspired to teach other women to do that and also share with the world so the rest of the world knows they're not alone.
SPEAKER_00I love that, Amanda. I also think that you have already made such a big difference in people's lives, and it's exciting to see what comes with her truth, which we'll talk a little more into depth later. For anyone who is not familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit more about Honest as a Mother?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, sure. So that was honestly born out of a pretty dark place, if I'm being totally honest. So I had one child in 2016, and then my second I had in 2018. And after my second was born, I struggled pretty severely with postpartum depression. A lot of it in silence and in secret, because I was, you know, as many other moms worried about judgment and what people would think of me, you know, like how could you love your kids if you're struggling with your mental health, right? Feeling the weight of the day-to-day and wanting to run away or, you know, wishing for a hospital stay or something like that. Like, there was no way I was ever telling anybody the weight of that. And then I was honestly like talked to, approached by my husband, who was like, What's what's going on here? kind of called me out on it. So for most of the first year of my second child's life, I spent in therapy, really kind of working through all of that. And through all of that, I came across this Instagram. It's not called that anymore, but it used to be called Motherhood Understood. It's a part of motherly now, I think. And so I wanted to, she posted like, I'm looking for moms who want to share their story of mental illness on the on the on her Instagram page. And her Instagram page had like, I don't know, 200,000 followers or something. And anyway, so I applied and I just thought, you know, maybe this will be a way that I can kind of like release it and let it out to the world. But like, what are the odds? She's gonna choose mine. And she did choose mine, and she posted it, and I was so afraid because then it was like, okay, like only my husband knows, and like my therapist know what a terrible mother I really am. But now I've actually put it out into the world, and when I saw it, and then I saw like thousands of comments, and I was gonna read them. My husband was very hesitant to let me read them, but and every comment was like, Oh, I this was exactly my experience. I have felt this too. Like, you're not alone, you are such a good mom, like all of these things. And I ended up getting like a whole bunch of followers through that. And these people were like messaging me through DMs, like, I what are you experiencing this still? What about this? How are you? Have you tried medication? Like, what are you on? And it really opened up this conversation of mental health and motherhood. And I was so shook because I like was not planning on like getting followers, like none of that was on my radar. It was just like, I need to put this out. I need to like, you know, almost let it go. So, like my thought was if I let it go into the Instagram world, it's like out of my brain, at least. And so I just became so fueled by hearing these other women's stories. And I had said to my husband, like, you know, I think I might start writing more, and like I might write a blog. And he was like, Let's get real, Amanda. Like, you don't know how to shut up. So let's get you a mic. And you should just do a podcast. And at the time, like nobody was podcasting, it's very different now, but so that's kind of where it was born. And then I just had friends on, and I was like, let's just like shoot this shit about being a parent and like how hard it is, but then have different topics. But then I was like, wow, there's so much to this motherhood experience that I haven't experienced, such as maybe like a miscarriage. I never had a miscarriage, but then you know, exploring this online world and the community of motherhood, miscarriage is a huge thing that people need to talk about. And so I was like, oh my gosh, like I need to expand and start asking for guests so they could come on and talk about their story of miscarriage, and we can kind of normalize that conversation. And because what I really noticed is moms particularly really require a space to share their thoughts and their feelings. There's so much shame, there's so much stigma, and there's still so much like we don't want to hear about it. And I hated that, so I decided that I was creating a space where we were gonna talk about it, whether you are uncomfortable or not, you don't have to listen, but we're still going to have the conversation, and it just kind of grew from there. And currently I am still doing the podcast. It's I think this is year five.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02I think I like officially launched towards the end of 2020, so maybe six. I don't even know. I've stopped a couple times in between because you know, life. However, I'm kind of changing and shifting a little bit away from just motherhood. I've have felt very like kind of pigeonheld in this like postpartum depression mom story. So now I am struggling with other things just as a woman, but also as a mom, because I am a mom and it's very much ingrained in who I am, but trying to also highlight stories of just like womanhood. So we've got like motherhood and womanhood, but most of the time obviously very much intertwined.
SPEAKER_00I love that, Amanda. I love what you're doing. Thank you. And it's just it's creating you have created this safe space that you were seeking out, or maybe you didn't know that that was quite what you needed. And then that so it was a post, and that was posted on Instagram. Is that what it was? Is that correct? And did it have your name or was like Amanda D or something like that? It had like I think my old handle was like a girl.
SPEAKER_01Oh, so she like tagged me.
SPEAKER_00So then that's how people were directly messaging you too, then.
SPEAKER_01That's right.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and like that back then, I was honestly just like I had my full-time job at the hospital. I was on maternity leave, like I was going back to that, and this was never on my radar. So when I started to get people following me and like wanting more conversation, unless I really wanted to give it, because all of a sudden I was like, oh my god, you guys want to talk about how horrible being a mom is? I'm in. Let me let me in. Let's go. We have lots to we have lots to rant about. Yes. And then like the pandemic hit and it got worse. And you know, I had so it sounds so weird, but like I had such a great time, like having this community of women to be like, I hate this too.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And it's not to say that there isn't good moments, because there are always good moments, but I remember even now, if I have someone that has a baby and I'm texting her to check up and she's like, everything's wonderful, and I'm like, but it's not like I know it's not wonderful. I know that there's lots things that are hard and the sleepless nights, and there is so many layers, and everyone's experience is different too. So it's awesome that you have the podcast. So you and you so you have over 250 episodes?
SPEAKER_02I do, yes. I have uh I don't know, I think it's like 252, something crazy. Like I didn't realize it either until the other day, and I was like, wow, we've we've done a lot of talking on here.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then you also have three books, one which was just recently published. Can you tell us a little bit about those?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so through my podcast, when you know my Instagram started to grow a little bit, I met someone named Courtney, and she had started these co-author projects, and she was doing one called Moming Hard, and she was looking for authors to write a chapter about their hard in motherhood. And I was like, oh my god, I'm so in, and this is kind of what I'm looking for. So I got the writing bug through there, and then her and I really connected, and I asked her to come on the podcast, and then we just kept connecting, and she reached out to me and she was like, Listen, I'm looking at actually launching a self-publishing business, and I really think honest as a mother needs to be a book. Like, how cool is that you're doing a podcast? But I think you need a book, and we could um do the same thing I just did for Moming Heart, but we would call it Honest as a Mother, and the author, the lead author could be you. And so we did that, and we did a volume one, two, and three, and inside those books, there's everything from mental health to you know marriage trouble, domestic violence, like there is so much, like these women just like laid their hearts out, but they're real life things, you know. And one of the craziest things I got from each of these books was like, even though I hadn't experienced everything these women had experienced, like you, you just get it because you are also a mom. So it's like you just you understand her. There's like this some level of understanding of like, I understand what you're going through and I feel for you, and I'm here for you on like a whole new level. And then I started kind of feeling that bug, like I was telling you of like I'm feeling really held in this like postpartum depression, Amanda. Like every time someone has asked me to share my story, and I love sharing it, don't get me wrong. But once you start moving away from it and you've grown so much, you're like, I'm not really this woman anymore who is struggling with her toddler and her newborn at home. Um, like I'm in a totally different phase of life, and I have so much more, I think, to bring to the table. And I started to truthfully, after the pandemic, really struggle in my hospital job, and it just wasn't it anymore. And anyone who has worked in the hospital system through COVID and post-COVID that has quit is probably like, yes, I know her pain. And I started really struggling with like my identity, like who would I be if I wasn't working for the hospital and what would I do? And is pharmacy what I want anymore? And it kind of then made me go through what I was then calling, like I was calling it a midlife crisis. But I think it was just like an awakening to what I actually want versus what I was told that I wanted in my life, and kind of always checking those boxes and doing those right things, according to, you know, my parents, whoever. And so I came up with this concept of breakthrough, where I wanted women to write inside this book where they just change the direction of their life. And so in breakthrough book one and two, we've got things like divorce and career pivots, and oh my gosh, I can't even think of the other things, but basically just like it's never too late to change your mind. We're giving people permission to to start from the ground up if that's what you have to do, if your happiness is at stake and it's something, you know. Obviously, we were like, there's a lot of mental health method messaging in it because I didn't want anyone to be like, I'm gonna read this book and then I'm gonna leave my job because Amanda said I'll be happier for it. But just like I think women get really stuck in that space of like, I have to do the right thing. I checked all the right boxes and I'm still not happy. So what's wrong with me? And I wanted to change that narrative from like, what's wrong with me to just like it's okay to change my mind. It's okay that I'm no longer happy, it's okay that I want a new career, it's okay I don't want to be married to this person anymore, or I don't want to, I'm not in love with this gender anymore. I'm I'm now gay, like whatever it is, it's okay. So let's create a book where we're giving people permission to actually step into who they actually are.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I love that, Amanda. Thank you. So, how did you get so you call them co-authors as well? I call them co-authors, yeah. Okay, so how did you build the trust with these co-authors? I mean, I'm sure maybe some were ready to just dive deep into it, but with someone else, how do you build that trust?
SPEAKER_02So I saw that question in your email, and I'm not even sure I'm not even sure. Like full transparency. I think just showing up as myself, I think just being vulnerable myself, like I know that I do create safe spaces for people to share their stories. Like I have five co-author project books to to prove it, and there's some pretty vulnerable stuff in there. And I think honestly, other than full transparency, like when someone comes to me and they're like, you know, this is what I want to write about, I'm just like, yes, give it to me. Give me more, tell me everything. And then I think I'm just I think I'm just real. I don't know. Like I don't know how to give you a good answer to build the trust, other than like I just show up exactly as myself. And so I think in turn, I give people permission to show up as themselves, and there's nothing more than that. And then also I think because I also have I have a little bit of a past now, right? Like I've got a few projects under my belt. So it's I think people do come to me and recognize that, like, okay, she knows what she's doing, she's done this before. Unlike the first book was a little bit harder to fill because I think people were like, who who is this person and what is she doing?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Who am I sharing my secrets with? Exactly.
SPEAKER_02But I will say that there were three authors in the first book who joined it because of my authenticity. And they were like, I love the way that you talk on your podcast. I love the way that you've shared your stories with postpartum depression. I want to do that too. So it's almost like my realness just like creates a seat at the table for you. Because I'm very open about like, I don't want to do this alone. I can't do this alone because I haven't been through what you've been through. So how can I talk about, you know, whatever if I've never been through it? I have no say in that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, I hear you. And you know what? So I the first time we met was at work nights. I want to say it was a couple of years ago. And then we met a second time at work nights again. And that evening you were giving a speech as well. You were the speaker of the night. And I remember we were talking for a little bit before, and you were just very straightforward and honest with you know, this is what I'm doing with my podcast, but I don't know if that's what I want to do right now, and I need to figure out and wrap my head around it. And uh and then I believe, unless I recall incorrectly, that you also, one of your little ones, was also sick at home. And so you had to run home afterwards as well. And you just showed up and you gave your talk, and I remember wanting to catch you after, and you had to run out, obviously, to get back to your little one. And then again, through talking with you a few times now the past month, you're always just very honest and straightforward and transparent. And I think all of that just gives that comforting space for people to be able to open up and talk about themselves with you.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. That's very kind. And you know what? That night at work nights, I got so much from that too. Because it I think too, when you start sharing or and being vulnerable, it gives other people the opportunity to also support you, which like sometimes I don't even realize I need. Like when I was struggling, that's when I was trying to leave my job, and I was just like, I don't know what I'm gonna do, and I don't know if I want to do my podcast anymore. I was in my quote unquote midlife crisis, and which I now call a breakthrough, by the way. We've redefined midlife crisis. It's just breakthrough now. And yeah, I just was like, you guys were like, Oh, it's fine. And I was like, it's not though. I need to like know everything and do everything. And everyone in the audience was like, No, you're good. And I'm like, Oh, okay, thank you. Yes, I am good. You guys are right.
SPEAKER_00Yes, well, and that's part of the conversation we had yesterday, which I wanted to mention that perhaps would be useful for the listeners, is just you know, you just show up and you do the thing, and that's it, regardless of how scared or anxious or whatever feelings you have behind you. Yeah. And so, can you talk to us a little bit about when you first started doing speaking events, how that felt and how it went compared to now that you are very experienced and established with podcasting and speaking? Okay, well, thank you.
SPEAKER_02First of all, because I still I think we talked about this yesterday. Like, I still feel like I don't, I have no idea what I'm doing. I really don't. I have learned like a very great skill set, which I'm grateful for, which is like I feel like I can officially, I always could, but I can now for sure. Like I could I can make a conversation with this wall. Like I am very good at conversations, but now I think through podcasting, because you you know, not everything is super smooth, as you will find. Like you're gonna have guests on that on paper. It's like, oh my god, this will be such a great guest, but then they get behind the mic, and like not everybody is meant to do these types of things, right? And I've had a few of them on the podcast, and it creates like awkwardness and like tension, and I feel like I've learned how to just roll with that and almost like get them talking more. And then when it comes to speaking, I know I think I was telling you this, like sometimes I feel like I actually like leave my body doing it because it's still really nerve-wracking, right? Like that fear, that like grade five speeches fear. Do you remember when we were young? And like I feel like you're a lot younger than me, but like grade like five, six, seven, eight, we always had to like pick a topic and get in front of the class and do a stupid speech. It was awful. It was awful. It was terrible, so terrible. So maybe like some of us are just like having some trauma from that. I don't know. But it's still really scary. Like, I'm a very big believer in being vulnerable, but anytime I've gotten in front of a crowd and like had to share my story, I'm I feel like I leave my body sometimes. Like, I feel I remember speaking at the Toronto Baby Show, and there was a lot of people, and I noticed how many people there was like while I was talking, and then I got really nervous. And I remember like my brain was thinking about how nervous I was, but my mouth was still going and words were still coming.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I love it. That's hilarious.
SPEAKER_02And it was the weirdest experience, but then that's just kind. Of what keeps me going, like this whole like, well, I didn't die on the stage in Toronto when I was like, What are you doing? but still speaking. And it's just always pushed me to just like show up. And I think because I was so afraid of it, that now when people are like, Hey, will you speak at this? And you know, I got asked to speak at Flora's Walk a couple years ago. And I was just like, Yeah, I'm just gonna do it because I think the greater purpose is so much bigger than my fear of doing it. And I recently last year I spoke at the perinatal mental health conference, and that one was a little bit easier because I had to record it and then submit it. But it's still scary, you know, you're kind of putting everything out there, and then you're just like, I got these messages back from different therapists and different moms of like how much value I provided. And that's why I'm just gonna keep saying yes. And I literally show up as though like I know what I'm doing, and I am not afraid, but inside I am very much afraid. But like every time I do it, I'm a little less afraid and a little bit more confident each time.
SPEAKER_00Yes. I mean, also through your podcast, you're having hard conversations, and I mean, my understanding with hard conversations is the best way to deal with hard conversations is by having them. Yes. So you have had these difficult conversations. You've had podcasts where your guest is maybe not talking back, and you've been able to navigate and pivot. So then even when you're speaking in front of people, if you take a look at the audience and you kind of stop for a second, you're able to gather yourself and just keep going.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and sometimes it's even just as easy as being like, wow, like there's a you there's a lot of people here, like I'm really nervous. Like that almost like breaks my ice, and then it like it's like almost like the audience like like exhales too. Cause they're like everybody's like, okay, cool. So like we're all humans, got it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Oh, that's awesome, Amanda. That's great. So tell us, so right now you're working on a new book now. Uh so I am. So you were looking for applications?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I recently launched Her Truth Press. So I am no longer working with the self-publisher that I did the other books with, mostly just because I wanted to do my own thing. I wanted more control over, you know, the topics and you know, all of the nitty-gritty in between. And so I launched Her Truth Press, and that is just because I want anyone who identifies as a woman that if they want to come forward and share their story, then I want to hear it. And so I decided to launch with a co-author project because co-author projects are what I know. And there is nothing more powerful, truly, than seeing these books come together and seeing, you know, 15, 20 stories, completely different stories, all kind of blend and then all have this like overarching theme of whatever the theme is. It's very cool to see. Um, so yeah, I'm just launching the first one. It's just gonna be called Her Truth. And anyone who identifies as female can write in it, and I literally just want them to share their story. Whatever their truth is, whatever they're ready to, you know, put out into the world. We want to hear it.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Oh, that's so exciting. Thank you. I'm very excited. So, with her truth, is there any other parts to it aside from the book right now, or do you have other kind of things going on in the background that you plan for her truth? I'm dreaming very big about it, which I think as you should.
SPEAKER_02Right. I was gonna say, I think like as we should. And sometimes like I dream I've dreamt about having like her truth media, so having like podcasts involved. I really just want to amplify female voices and like continue to make people feel really uncomfortable with all of the truth that we're gonna put out there. Like, honestly, sometimes I love talking about this stuff like in front of my dad because he's like, I mean, and nobody talks about that. I'm like, no, no, no, everybody does. Yeah, yeah. I love making him squirm a little bit because I'm like a feelings girly, and he's just like, no, I don't, we don't do feelings. And it's just, I love it. So I want to continue that for now. We're doing books. I am launching with the co-author project. I would love to work with someone one-on-one if they wanted to write a whole book, but yeah, for now, just the co-author project, but we I mean, we're taking over the world, as we said yesterday.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. We're we're on a mission. What about your podcast? You're gonna keep that going.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Okay, yeah, I haven't done it for like the last year, to be honest. So I actually did end up leaving my hospital job and I do still work in pharmacy, but I work fully remote from home. And so when I took this job, my husband actually also got a job where he switched to afternoons. So I am solo parenting five days a week. And for the first like year, it was really hard, right? It's a huge transition for me, huge transition for my kids. Plus, I was starting a new job, like so many scary things happening. And so I gave myself that full year to just like be with my kids and transition to my job. And I just became like so content and happy that I was I felt ready to dive back in and then kind of giving myself permission, like what I've given you permission to. Like it is my podcast, so there is no pressure to do the things that you know I think I need to be doing. And so I have been actively recording, trying to get ahead with recording so that I can continue to put episodes out every week. But um, for now, it'll start, it'll come. Um, I think I'm launching the same month, we're relaunching the same month as you. I'm not really doing a launch, we're just gonna start putting them back out.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I love it.
SPEAKER_02I love it. But yeah, so again, I'm always looking for guests. So if anybody's listening that has a story they want to share, I want to hear it.
SPEAKER_00I love it. And you have the application on your website? I do. Is that where it is?
SPEAKER_02Okay, exactly.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, okay, that's awesome. Okay, so you've told us quite a bit about Her Truth. Is there anything that you want to share with us about Her Truth that you haven't talked about yet? I I don't think so.
SPEAKER_02I think just that if you ever wanted to be a published author or you feel like you have a story to tell, something cool about the co-author project is like I a lot of times hear from writers that like they do want to write their own book, but they don't really know where to start or what to do, or do I even have enough to write a whole book? So sometimes a co-author project is a really cool place to start because it almost like gets that writing bug out and you're like, okay, I loved this. I will continue to do that. But yeah, I think just that if if you have a story to share and you want someone to share it with, I want to hear it.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I love it. Well, every time we talk, I feel motivated after speaking with you. So I don't think there's a better person that someone could work with other than you if they decided to share their story. Thank you.
SPEAKER_02I feel the same. You know, there's certain people that it's just like you can sit and like dream with, and you were totally one of those people, and it's like, how are we taking over the world today? You know?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I love it. We're doing it.
SPEAKER_02Pinky in the brain. Wasn't that them? I think so.
SPEAKER_00Pinky in the brain, yeah. Yeah, we're doing it. We're doing it. Oh, I love that, Amanda. Okay, so you're working full time, you have your podcast, you're starting her truth, you just had your third book published. What does a typical day look like for you during the week?
SPEAKER_02Let's say during the week. Listen, I'm gonna be totally transparent with you, and I have been in therapy for a really long time, so that's why I can confidently say this. I have had ADHD my whole life, it is my superpower. Okay, this is why, like, sometimes when people say these things out loud, I'm like, am I am I okay? Like, why am I doing so many things? But I just can't not, like, I really can't not. However, I try and balance it. So, something I'm actively trying to do is obviously be very present in my job. I love my job. And then I like I told you, my husband works evenings. So the only benefit to me of him working evenings is like my kids are asleep by eight o'clock at night and I have nothing to do. I can't leave the house because my kids are sleeping. I so I do this stuff. You know, I put aside an hour every night and I'll edit a podcast, or sometimes I edit podcasts while I'm working during the day because also I have ADHD. I cannot just like sit and read and process emails. I need to be one brain is doing this and the other brain is processing emails. I just find a way to balance my time, but I am actively very much trying to make sure that those hours when I am one-on-one with my kids, then I am not working. So not doing her truth, not answering emails, not Instagramming, not working. So I try to do things either first thing in the morning or I do them in the evening.
SPEAKER_00Amazing. Amazing.
SPEAKER_02We're trying to balance. And I also have decided that balance doesn't exist. So some weeks I do it like every single night, and I'm like, wow, look how productive I am. And then the next two weeks I'll do nothing.
SPEAKER_00No, it's I know it just it depends on the week. It depends how many fires you have to put out and where those fires are. Are they with the kids? Are they with work? Or is it, you know, where where is it happening?
SPEAKER_02Exactly. Or yeah, like if there's a sick kid, then I know I'm out for a few days, you know? So, but I think like accepting and being okay with that, and then also, like we said earlier, alleviating that pressure. Like the only pressure I have is my nine to five. Her truth is mine, so I can work that around what I have available, and same with the podcast, and I think that is something I can get better on on myself, but uh we'll get there.
SPEAKER_00Incredible. That's awesome, Amanda. One question that I did want to ask you is so you spent the last five years holding space for mothers and their stories, and then again with the publishing of these co-author books, how are you able to take on and hear these stories but not let it weigh on you? If that makes sense.
SPEAKER_02No, it does, and it's a good question because the last book that I did when it went through editing, so I there is a hired editor. So I'm not doing any of the editing, but I will create the manuscript. And when I'm creating the manuscript, like I'm reading them, you know what I mean? Like I'm not just like putting them in and it goes off to the editor and I've never read them. Like I've read these chapters five, six, seven times probably before they've even gone into the manuscript. And I think because I'm a huge empath, also, so you know, you you start reading something from a mom and you're just like broken to a thousand pieces because you feel for her on every like cellular level, it feels like. But I don't know. Like, I feel like that's just something I've always been able to do. Like, I do love hearing people's stories. Good, bad, the ugly. I love it. I have always been that way. I like taking them in. Now, if we had a full book of like really awful, real heavy things, I don't know. I might have to go to therapy that week. Like, I might, I'd have to find a way. Have never come across a situation yet where I'm not able to brush off the the story. Um, there was a couple inside Breakthrough Book Two that I was really taken aback by, but more like honestly, more honored that they would share that with me. More honored that they would want to put that inside a book. In Breakthrough Book Two, there was a woman who wrote about losing her child. That one was hard, but that would be hard for any parent to read. But I think knowing that each author is also coming forward because writing about this is gonna heal a piece of them. Writing about this is gonna heal a piece of someone else. I also think like the heaviness, also I'm always reminded that like this heaviness is going to help whoever's gonna read this, right? Like, not everyone will get something from that book, but sorry, maybe not directly from that chapter, but everyone reading the book will get something from that book, whatever chapter it may be.
SPEAKER_00A hundred percent.
SPEAKER_02That's part of it. Like, I'm able to let it go because I'm just like, wow, this is horrific and so tragic and so heartbreaking. I can't imagine how she would go on after that, but you know what she did. Yes, and now she's going to sell that book, and maybe there is another mother or father who has lost their child, and they're gonna read it and they're gonna be like, Okay, so I'm I'm gonna get through this.
SPEAKER_00Yes, it's helping them, it's part of their healing journey for the co-author themselves writing it and for them to see it published. I think it takes it to another level because it's not them writing it in their journal at home or their diary, right? Like I think there is something to be said for that. The same when it comes back to you sharing your story originally and it being shared.
SPEAKER_02It's almost like this weird, I don't know, sometimes I picture like when it's like out on Amazon or like on the shelves in indigo, it's just like it's gone. You know, it's out of your head, and then we've let it out into the world, and someone else is gonna catch it and they're gonna hold it now. It's not like just yours to hold on to anymore, which is a really freeing feeling for a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00It is, it's it's weight off their shoulders and it makes or it makes that weight may never go away, but it makes it sure a lot smaller and lighter. Amanda, before we wrap up, what's one thing that you want every listener to walk away with today?
SPEAKER_02I think just that if anybody gets anything from me, it's just like you're not alone, right? Whatever it is that you're going through, even if you feel like you're the only one in the world, you're not, you are so not alone. And your story is so powerful. Like, you know that silly saying, I used to kind of like roll my eyes about it, but like your story will be someone else's survival guide. That is like a real, real thing. And if you think you have the most horrific, tragic story, I promise you you can change someone's life with it, and probably change your own too. So even if you don't join a co-author project or you don't get on a podcast, like start journaling, write it out, and you know, if you feel brave enough, put it out into the world, put it on an Instagram post or a tweet or a thread or whatever, and see how many people tell you, like me too, and then you have a whole table of people to sit with.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. No, 100%. I love that. So then her truth has the co-author project coming, and again, they can listeners can find the application on your website if they wish to apply. And how can people find you?
SPEAKER_02So you can follow Her Truth on Instagram at her truthpress. And if you just want to follow me, um, my Instagram handle is at AmandaPeriodGurman. G-U-R-M-A-N. Perfect.
SPEAKER_00And for the motherhood podcast, where is that?
SPEAKER_02Honestly, I don't have any other place for it. It's literally on but it's on Spotify. It's on Spotify, it's on Apple, it's everywhere you can find your podcast. It's also on her truth. So if you're on the website, you'll see information about the podcast there. And if you come to my personal page on Instagram, all that info is there too.
SPEAKER_00Amazing. Well, thank you, Amanda, for coming. I have one last question for you. What do you want to be remembered for in your community?
SPEAKER_02I think I want to just be remembered for someone who created space for other people.
SPEAKER_00I love that. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, Amanda, for coming on. Thank you so much for having me, and congratulations on your podcast. Thank you. That's the lowdown for this week. If something in this conversation landed for you, send it to one person who needs to hear it. That's how we build this. One story at a time. I'm Kasty Lohan, and we'll see you in the next episode.