Actress Malin Akerman, Dr. Marika Lindholm | The Solo Mom: Redefining Single Motherhood, Plus Support
#232 - Actress Malin Akerman (Watchmen, Couples Retreat, Billions) and Dr. Marika Lindholm (ESME.com founder) share their personal experiences as single mothers and ways in which we can support single parent caregivers, including, but not limited to military moms, single moms, divorced moms, and widowed moms. After all, 22 million American children are raised by single mothers today.
Our first guest Malin Akerman speaks to the challenges, lessons, and wins during her first year of motherhood that coincided with her divorce and shares the way she introduced co-parenting to the equation.
And sociologist Dr. Marika Lindholm shares her mission behind ESME.com "Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere". In this wide-ranging conversation, we also discuss our own upbringings with single mothers and the new anthology Dr. Lindholm co-edited We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor, including essays by Anne Lamott, Amy Poehler, and 75 solo mothers.
Xx Ellie Knaus
Special thanks to Owen O’Neill, our NYC sound engineer, our production assistant Olivia Hastie, and Jeremy Turner for our original theme composition.
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Crib Notes: Episode Research
Dr. Marika Lindholm’s Articles & Essays on Working Mother - Working Mother
The Strength of Cultural Misunderstanding (Dr. Marika Lindholm) - The Culture-ist
My Career Choice: Marika Lindholm – ESME (Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere) - Woman Around Town
The Incredible Backstory of Dr. Marika Lindholm - Medium
How Malin Akerman 'Finds the Silver Lining' in Divorce and Single Motherhood: 'I Roll with the Punches' - People.com
Malin Akerman Wants to Focus on Being a Single Mom Before Dating - People.com
Malin Akerman Finds The 'Bright Side' In Divorce And Single Motherhood: 'I Think Everything Happens For A Reason' - Parent Herald
About Our Guests: Dr. Marika Lindholm & Malin Akerman
Dr. Marika Lindholm founded ESME.com to ignite a social movement of solo moms. A trained sociologist, Lindholm taught courses on inequality, diversity, and gender at Northwestern University for over a decade. After a divorce left her parenting two children on her own, she realized solo moms lacked much-needed resources, support, and connection. She built her social platform, Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere, out of this combination of academic and personal experience. In addition to publishing numerous scholarly articles, Lindholm has been a regular contributor to Psychology Today, Working Mother, Mind Body Green, and Talk Space. She has published essays and fiction in the Daily News, Elephant Journal, The Hill, Ms., Silent Voices, and the Southern Indiana Review.
Keep up with Dr. Marika Lindholm at https://esme.com/
Malin Akerman is a Swedish-born Canadian actress well known for her roles in 'The Brothers Solomon', 'The Heartbreak Kid', '27 Dresses'. , 'Watchmen', 'The Proposal', and 'Couples Retreat'. She worked with A-list Hollywood celebrities in the films 'Wanderlust', 'Rock of Ages' and 'Stolen', and received critical acclaim for her role in 'The Final Girls'. Among her television appearances, 'Childrens Hospital' has been the longest running series she acted in, while 'Trophy Wife' is her most loved work.
“We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor”
Frank, funny, and unflinchingly real stories by solo moms, for solo moms.
In the United States, more than 15 million women are parenting children on their own, either by circumstance or by choice. Too often these moms who do it all have been misrepresented and maligned. Not anymore.
In We Got This, seventy-five solo mom writers tell the truth about their lives—their hopes and fears, their resilience and setbacks, their embarrassments and triumphs.
Some of these writers’ names will sound familiar, like Amy Poehler, Anne Lamott, and Elizabeth Alexander, while others are about to become unforgettable.
Bound together by their strength, pride, and most of all, their dedication to their children, they broadcast a universal and empowering message: You are not alone, solo moms—and your tenacity, courage, and fierce love are worthy of celebration.
You can pre-order We Got This: Solo Mom Stories of Grit, Heart, and Humor now!
Atomic Moms podcast pairing:
The Financially Independent Mama | Emma Johnson, Business Journalist
#148 - In this no holds barred Atomic Moms parenting podcast, award-winning business and personal finance journalist Emma Johnson talks cents into Ellie Knaus about what money means in our relationships, where we should focus our savings, what holds us back from going big in our careers, and why we owe it to our kids to go for it! Ellie speaks honestly about her money-making hang ups. And Johnson, a champion for solo moms everywhere, alleviates listener working mom guilt, shares how she carves out guilt free me-time, and discusses the “the sandwich generation” stress when you find yourself suddenly the primary caregiver of both your kids and your parents.
Finally we share a fantastic "Family Manifesto" exercise pulled straight from her new book The Kickass Single Mom: Be Financially Independent, Discover Your Sexiest Self, and Raise Fabulous, Happy Children to do with your family this week.
xx Ellie Knaus
#185 - We’re empowering blended families and talking stepmom strategies! Holistic psychotherapist, step-mom coach, and #atomicmama Nathalie Savell tackles the biggest challenges stepmoms face. We’re talking high conflict exes, healthy boundaries, and smooth transitions between households. Then we turn the tables and share my guest interview with Nathalie from her “Empowering Stepmoms: Re-Imagining the Modern Family” series in May. I share my insights as a child of blended families — after all, I’m an only child with six siblings! — and reflect on all my stepmother has taught me about parenting. x Ellie Knaus
You’ll learn:
The unique frustrations of blended families and tools to overcome them. How to handle anyone with a "high conflict" personality. How to create boundaries. How to help your children have a smooth transition between homes. How to interact with the ex. The single most important thing to remember as a stepmom when times get tough.