Meet Your Hosts: Jil & Karen Introduce the Show

You love your child—but in the middle of a meltdown, you’re not always sure what to say or do. You’ve wondered if you’re getting it right… or accidentally making things harder. You’re not alone—and you’re not doing it wrong.

In this first episode, meet Jil Hunter and Dr. Karen Manotas and hear how storytelling and science came together to create this podcast for parents of kids ages 3–7. You’ll learn why it exists, how it connects to Lulubug’s Garden, and what to expect each week—real moments, simple strategies, and support you can use right away.

Because parenting big feelings is hard—but you don’t have to do it alone.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm so excited to be here today and to be starting this incredible podcast for parents as part of the Lulubugs Garden, sort of a companion to the show. And I'm just so thrilled to be here. I think it's gonna be really a great gift for my hope for parents that are listening, um, as well as, you know, caregivers of all sorts.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Welcome to Lulubugs Podcast for Parents, where we empower you with the tools to help children become confident, resilient, and ready for life's adventures. Hosted by creator of Lulubug's Garden, Jill Hunter, and child psychiatrist, Dr. Karen Minotis.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

You really were behind the vision of creating Lulubug's Garden. And I think it would be so cool to tell the listeners and the audience um a little bit about yourself and kind of what got you to this vision and this this first of all idea, but then that came to fruition to such a beautiful project.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

And I would absolutely love to share this with you because it's really been a passion project. But I grew up in Germany as an only child and had a beautiful, wonderful childhood, I would say. A lot of outdoors, a lot of craft activities, a lot of family time. And but I remember just laying on my grandma's lap and her just kind of tickling my back or to going through my hair and just watching the shows together. And just honestly, the things I learned from the shows, how much I love them, how much they took me into this fantasy world, kind of like reading books, or it just opened this whole new world of imagination. And I just thought you could learn so much through little shows, and kids really truly love their shows. And this was partially the reason of why I thought it's a good idea to have a little kid show behind this. Um, so but we have seven children, and that was literally like when I was really young, and we would play house or something in Germany where no one really has a lot of kids. When people asked, So Jill, how many kids are you gonna have one day? I always said seven. It was always the number. I don't know where that came from, but probably from some little kid show that had a lot of kids, or maybe being an only child and wishing I had siblings. But so, yes, we did have seven kids, and I love being a mom. I mean, it just it couldn't be a better job for me. Like I really truly enjoy being a mom, have loved it. Now have five grandkids as well. And um, but after my fifth child, I developed severe anxieties and not really at the beginning realizing it was anxieties, it seemed more like physical problems actually. And so trying to heal from that, I just can remember this one day, it was actually in a parking lot in my car, deciding if I can feel better again and if I can learn from this experience, and if I can grow from this and come out at the other and happier and have grown and learned about this and find just my space again where I can I don't even want to say normal, because I really want to say just I grew through the situation and different. I came out different on the other hand. I wanted to give back and I wanted to give hope back. And in the meanwhile, I just heard a lot about teenagers struggling with mental health issues, and the ages seem to be younger and younger and younger. And it made me so sad that these beautiful children that just see this world with their innocent eyes and that they are starting to struggle at younger ages. And so my husband makes movies, and he was somehow in the background mentioning he was maybe gonna do a kid show. Has he always done kids shows? No, that is that's far from what he does. He just doesn't really do kid shows. He does more like high-action sports movies, uh-huh, whatever. I was just in the shower one morning and I just was thinking there's really gotta be a way we can teach at younger age little skills to become a little more resilient, just to have tools for their life to be just emotionally more stable or to be just more prepared for the world.

SPEAKER_01 4:14

I mean, I can't tell you how many times as a child psychiatrist, I see so many young preteens, tweens, and teenagers who have not gained these skills yet. And it makes managing the world and their lives and their interactions so much harder.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Yeah, and even with myself. I mean, I remember learning skills and thinking, how did I not know about these earlier? Like, how did I not just have them? Or just and they didn't seem even that complicated or that hard. It just seemed like, oh, if I would have just known, or if I could have practiced this differently or better, or yeah. So I was just really excited for the idea. Let's do this. But then I didn't really know how, to be honest. And that's where you came into the picture.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

And I was just so excited. So wait, let's rewind. So you went to your husband today. Yes. And you said, I think we should do this kid's show, but with this mission in mind, like what was his response? Because does he have a background in mental health?

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Like no, no. And um, and he at this point knows that I was quite involved in that world already for a few years at this point. And I think he could see that I was very passionate and serious about this and that I really, really wanted to do this. And so he actually pretty much just agreed right away. He's like, of course. And they put everything on hold, they stopped where they were and they said, Okay, let's back up and let's do it. It's your project. You do it. That's amazing. We have Lulu Buck's garden, and I'm so happy that we do. But um, I mean, you were just such a big factor of this, really. And I it was crazy how things just kind of fell into place. So at that moment, we were having this fundraiser and you were speaking at this fundraiser, and I just saw you and I thought you need to work with me. And so now I would like to have you tell the parents and our audience a little more who you are and why you're here and why you're part of Lulubug's Garden and why you said yes to this idea. And so maybe just tell us a little bit about you and who you are and what you do.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Thanks, Jill. You're so kind. And truly, I feel like working with Lulubug's Garden and the team has been such a natural fit. And with my mission, which has been for a very long time increasing access to not only mental health care for kids that are truly struggling, whether that's psychiatry or consultation or therapy for kids that are really struggling, but more so starting from the ground up, reaching kids upstream to be able to teach them basic tools and foundational skills that are going to help them not only understand what they're experiencing when they're in preschool and kindergarten, growing up in those formative years with these big emotional changes and experiences, but also how do you make sense of it? How does what does this mean? Is this normal? How do I regulate it when they get too big? And that really does translate so much into their like development into adolescence. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

So let's back up a little. Why did you get into this field?

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Well, that's a really good question. In fact, I never even thought I was gonna be a doctor when I was in my undergrad studies in Florida. I was gonna be a pharmacist. I love science. And I always thought in my head that like mixing chemicals in my lab, I was gonna create some cure for something and it was gonna be amazing. And in fact, that's not what most pharmacists do, is what I learned. Like, oh no. So then um I started doing some global health work in the Dominican Republic. I speak Spanish, uh, Portuguese, and English. My family is Colombian and Brazilian. Yeah. I grew up learning that. I'm trying to do the same with my son. It's a struggle. And then, you know, I learned English, um, just being born and grow growing up here. But long story short, I really loved women's health. I really loved medicine and I really loved advocacy. And so I felt like medicine was a nice fit. And then as I was doing my clinicals, I realized I loved working with women, but I really loved working with kids. And I wanted to work with them in a way that I could change the trajectory of their lives in some way. And so child psychiatry, when I went through that clinical, felt like such a great, beautiful fit. So that's how I landed in being a child psychiatrist. And then what do you do now? My mission as a child psychiatrist has really evolved. I think people really think of child psychiatrists as like the end of the road sort of step when you've tried all these other things for kids that are struggling with mental health symptoms. And I did inpatient work for a really long time in the hospital. And gosh, it was groundbreaking for me, like realizing how many kids get to a point where they need to be hospitalized for how severe their symptoms are and have not ever been seen by a therapist or a doctor or, you know, even a pediatrician for some of these symptoms. A lot of them had, and then a lot of them hadn't. And they just hadn't told anybody. They were sort of struggling under the radar. They didn't have the skills to communicate and to ask for help. Man, we've got to do something about that, you know, that these kids can get help earlier. And that's what made me pivot to school-based work. And here in Utah, at the time had not been something that had been explored or done. And so, long story short, I'm now a full-time school-based psychiatrist. And what that means in practice is I help schools and systems develop important emotional skills, regulation skills, social skills, how to make and keep friends, and then help also address early access to subspecialty psychiatric care for kids that are really struggling in schools. One of the things I noticed, kids were A, being over medicated, providers in the community were doing their best, but overall symptoms were being treated, right? Rather than like the source and the foundation. And that's what I really wanted to get to. And so with my work in schools, I actually don't even prescribe. Like I don't prescribe medications. Oftentimes I'm working with the primary care doctor or the pediatrician to remove medications safely so that kids are on the least amount of medication if they need to be, to really treat the source, but then also adding wrap-around interventions, including work in the classrooms with the teachers to help them learn better. Like, how do I approach your child based on maybe they're struggling with anxiety instead of oppositionality, but it maybe looks like oppositionality. And then also working with our case manager to help these families get plugged into the right type of therapy, the right type of sometimes parent management skills and classes. There's definitely a place for medications, absolutely. But I think we need to use medication in a way that treats the source and less the symptoms. I feel like with that, and then adding these other pieces, it has been satisfying. And I see a lot of kids doing a lot better. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

I hear this from so many people in this field, how wonderful you are, and how they can all feel how passionate you're about this and how much you love children. And that being said, you're a mom yourself as well. And what is that like to be a child psychiatrist and being a mother at the same time?

SPEAKER_01 11:17

I have a three-year-old son, as you know, and I also have a 17-year-old daughter. You would think that having the skills and the knowledge and all the background and development, that I would be like the perfect mom. And actually, that is not the case whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

That is actually why I kind of had that question for you, like being a psychiatrist and a mom, because you see what it is like being a mom in daily life. Parents cannot be like doing check marks, or you're not just being like, oh, do this with your kid, do this with your kid.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

You just realize life is life. Right. Life is life, and we're all human and we are all trying to manage our own work deadlines and stress and pressure. And it all gets really heavy sometimes. So to the parents out there doing all a great job just by doing what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 12:04

Yes, a hundred percent. I think this is just how life is. We just we are honestly not trying to give you any perfection tips. So, how would you even say, like, oh my goodness, like it's just we're trying to give you some things that help, some things we know something about and hope it helps in some way.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

What's really unique about this partnership and this podcast is yes, I can come and I will come from a real raw mom standpoint as well, because I think that's important. And I can also provide the knowledge that I have about what tools are evidence-based, why are they evidence-based, the science behind it, because I think a lot of times you hear so many things on social media around. Yeah. It's kind of like, well, I don't know which one is right. And I'm here to sort of provide what the literature and what the science is backed. And then you bring such a beautiful lived experience through having seven children of your own and now grandchildren and sort of bringing that real practical life perspective. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Kids really mostly learn from parents what they model for them. And I think very often it's just that you just don't know either. You don't really know why this is, or if this is normal, or if this should be different. Or so I love that we have this podcast to offer something.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

As a mom, I'm now getting to a point where my son is asking to watch TV, which is new. So we don't typically do a ton of screen time. I definitely have found different options that I feel like, okay, this is okay. And I don't feel like it's going to harm you, but nothing that like really intentionally nurtures his development. And not just from the content, but also combining the content with the colors, right? Yes. Less saturation, slower set changes, slower pacing, going back to really like what we used to watch when we were kids in a way. Yeah. And maybe being less dopamine rich, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

And that was really, really important to me. Like the colors we chose, even the materials we chose. Like even our puppet maker, he hand dice his felt to make his puppets. So, yes, to have a fun show, but that also offers them these tools. Even like I feel like sometimes, you know, the kids were just barely out of that stage, not wanting to nap anymore, but you just knew they needed a little quiet time. It wasn't like we had to just kind of calm the day down a little. And a little beautiful show seems to be a wonderful tool for a little quiet time too.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

And I'm excited also for not in the show, we do it a little bit at the end of the show. After the credits, there's a mental health moment where I talk super briefly about the emotion that is discussed in the theme of the show and then sort of what's going on in the brain and a couple of tools, but bridging that to this podcast, not only in the mental health moment, but here really making the science behind what we talk about accessible in a language that feels digestible for anybody who's listening. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

But it is short, really short, obviously. So I am so thankful for this podcast for the parents because we can go more into details of each episode, what we don't, and we'll have guest speakers as well. And real stories from real experiences. This podcast isn't about having all the answers, it's about helping you feel supported. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Definitely from the parents through modeling, through the co-regulation we talk about so much. Kids just absorb all of that. And so I think that is going to be so helpful for kids' development. And my hope is that we can contribute a little bit to helping our mothers out there and caregivers out there and dads out there contribute to raising emotionally strong, resilient, confident kids and adults.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Even just being here, just listening to these scripts and seeing what you're talking about has really changed my life. Like I've been using these skills.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

That's amazing. It comes across. I can feel the intention and the love and the passion. Well, and also team. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 16:03

There's been a lot of love put into this project from lots of people.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

Thanks for tuning in, and we hope that you get as much out of our podcast as we hope you do, and share this with a caregiver that you think may also benefit.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Enjoy Lulu Buck's Garden with your children, and we cannot wait to have you on our next podcast for episode one.