Minimalist Moms Podcast | Purposeful Life & Parenting Tips

What truly makes a place feel like home?
In this episode, I’m joined by Jean Stoffer and Grace Stoffer of The Established Home to discuss their children’s book, We Are Home When We’re Together, inspired by their families’ experiences with moving, transition, and the emotions that often accompany change.
Together, we explore how to help children navigate uncertainty with honesty, steadiness, and compassion. Jean shares what it was like leaving the Chicago area for Michigan to be closer to family, while Grace reflects on relocating her own family after an unexpected housing transition that ultimately inspired the heart of the book.
We discuss how home is often less about a physical space and more about the people we share life with, the importance of listening to children’s fears without dismissing them, and how faith, memory, and connection can help anchor families through seasons of change.
Links Discussed in This Episode |
Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.
Subscribe to the Minimalist Moms Youtube Channel
Grace's Resource: Nuuly
Jean's Can't Stop Talking About: The Bible Recap
Connect with Jean & Grace:
Jean's Website
Jean's Instagram
Grace's Instagram
Stoffer Home
Book: We Are Home When We’re Together

About Jean & Grace|
Jean Stoffer is an award‑winning designer, television personality, and longtime storyteller at heart. She is known for her warm, thoughtful spaces, affection for the kitchen and her love of family. Jean and her husband Dale live in Michigan, have four adult children and 13 grandchildren (so far!) 
Grace Start, a former preschool teacher is the other half of the acclaimed design firm Jean Stoffer Design along with her mother, Jean. Her family, faith and love of design inspires all she does. She and her husband Ted have fixed up several homes, moving each time with their growing family. She is a mother of four and resides in West Michigan.
Episode Sponsors |
The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!
Enjoy the Podcast?
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. 
Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.
You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://AvocadoGreenMattress.com/MINIMALIST
* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com
* Check out Boll & Branch: https://bollandbranch.com/minimalist
* Check out Ruggable and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://ruggable.com
* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

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Today, we're planning our summer! Joining me for the conversation is host of the Minimal-ish podcast, Desirae Endres! Instead of traditional scheduling, Desirae shares her four pillars of minimal-ish living to help shape the summer season. We chat balancing flexibility and structure, creating simple routines, prioritizing family connections, and finding time for friendships. I hope this episode is helpful to you as you kick off your own minimal(ish) summer! 
Episode Sponsors |
The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!
Enjoy the Podcast?
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. 
Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.
You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://AvocadoGreenMattress.com/MINIMALIST
* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com
* Check out Boll & Branch: https://bollandbranch.com/minimalist
* Check out Ruggable and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://ruggable.com
* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What happens when women slowly lose themselves inside motherhood, marriage, addiction, caregiving, and the pressure to keep everything together?
In this Going Deeper Episode, I’m joined by novelist Jessica Guerrieri to discuss her emotionally layered new novel, Both Can Be True. Jessica vulnerably shares how addiction can evolve beyond substances into cravings for validation, desirability, productivity, and being needed - and why connection, honesty, and learning to stay present in difficult emotions are often the real path toward healing. We also explore motherhood’s contradictions, unresolved trauma, social media’s impact on selfhood, and the subtle ways women lose themselves while trying to be everything for everyone else.
While this conversation centers around Jessica’s novel, it ultimately becomes a deeper discussion about intentional living, emotional awareness, and what it looks like to reclaim yourself in a world that constantly pulls you away from who you truly are.
Links Discussed in This Episode |
Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.
Subscribe to the Minimalist Moms Youtube Channel
Previous Episode: Sobriety, Storytelling, and the Truth About "Mommy Wine Culture" | Jessica Guerrieri (Going Deeper)
Book: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Connect with Jessica:
Website
Instagram
Book: Both Can Be True: A Novel

About Jessica |
Jessica Guerrieri (grr-AIR-ee) is a Northern California–based writer and novelist, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. A former special education teacher, she left the classroom to raise her family and pursue writing full-time. Now more than a decade sober, she is a passionate advocate for addiction recovery, and her work centers on the complex interior lives of women, motherhood, and healing.
Episode Sponsors |
The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!
Enjoy the Podcast?
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. 
Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.
You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://AvocadoGreenMattress.com/MINIMALIST
* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com
* Check out Boll & Branch: https://bollandbranch.com/minimalist
* Check out Ruggable and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://ruggable.com
* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What if lasting health has less to do with willpower - and more to do with identity, environment, and the systems we create around ourselves?
In today's episode, I’m joined by Susan Peirce Thompson to discuss her new book, Maintain: The Three Identity Shifts that Turn Temporary Weight Loss into Lasting Freedom, and the deeper realities behind lasting behavior change. Susan shares her personal history with addiction, obesity, and creating Bright Line Eating, while explaining why long-term weight struggles are often rooted more in brain chemistry and hormones than willpower alone.
Together, we explore food addiction, habit formation, emotional coping, the overstimulation of modern life, and the three identity shifts Susan believes are necessary for sustainable freedom. We also discuss the role of ultra-processed foods, leptin resistance, GLP-1 medications, and what it looks like to pursue health from a place of intention rather than obsession.
Links Discussed in This Episode |
Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.
Subscribe to the Minimalist Moms Youtube Channel
Susan's Resource: FocusMate | Stickk Contract
Connect with Susan:
Website
Bright Line Eating
Instagram
Book: Maintain: The Three Identity Shifts that Turn Temporary Weight Loss into Lasting Freedom

About Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson|
Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D. is an expert in the psychology of eating and a recovering addict herself, bringing personal insight and lived experience to the field of Food Addiction. Her own journey through addiction — first to drugs and alcohol, and later to food - has profoundly shaped her life’s work. 
Dr. Thompson holds a Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester, where she focuses her research on the neuroscience of self-regulation, weight loss, and Food Addiction. She also has a strong academic background in cognitive psychology, having taught at the university level for many years. Professionally, Susan is best known as the founder and CEO of Bright Line Eating®, a global movement that has helped hundreds of thousands of people achieve sustainable weight loss and food freedom. 
Episode Sponsors |
The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!
Enjoy the Podcast?
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. 
Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.
You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://AvocadoGreenMattress.com/MINIMALIST
* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com
* Check out Boll & Branch: https://bollandbranch.com/minimalist
* Check out Ruggable and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://ruggable.com
* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, author and journalist Lisa Katayama joins me to discuss her book The Japanese Way of Parenting and the lessons she’s bringing from her upbringing in Tokyo into raising her children in America. We explore Japanese parenting philosophies around cooperation, responsibility, routines, independence, and caring for others - while also discussing the balance between freedom and boundaries. This conversation is all about creating calmer, more connected homes and raising kind, capable kids in today’s world.
Links Discussed in This Episode |
Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.
Subscribe to the Minimalist Moms Youtube Channel
Connect with Lisa:
Instagram
Book: The Japanese Way of Parenting: And What It Taught Me About Raising (Mostly) Calm, Caring, Capable Kids

About Lisa |
Lisa Katayama is a working mom and writer who was born and raised in Tokyo. She is the author of two books, including Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan, and is a former tech and culture journalist for Wired, Fast Company, and The New York Times Magazine. Katayama is a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow and an Asia Society Young Leader and was named one of Forbes Japan’s Top Women to Watch in 2018. She currently serves as Chief Transformation Officer for the Japanese technology company Digital Garage and lives in Northern California with her family.
Episode Sponsors |
The Minimalist Moms Podcast would not be possible without the support of weekly sponsors. Choosing brands that I believe in is important to me. I only want to recommend brands that I believe may help you in your daily life. As always, never feel pressured into buying anything. Remember: if you don't need it, it's not a good deal!
Enjoy the Podcast?
Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed tuning into this podcast, then do not hesitate to write a review. You can also share this with your fellow mothers so that they can be inspired to think more and do with less. 
Order (or review) my book, Minimalist Moms: Living & Parenting With Simplicity.
You can contact me through my website, find me on Instagram, Pinterest or like The Minimalist Moms Page on Facebook.

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://AvocadoGreenMattress.com/MINIMALIST
* Check out BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com
* Check out Boll & Branch: https://bollandbranch.com/minimalist
* Check out Ruggable and use my code MINIMALIST for a great deal: https://ruggable.com
* Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy