The Goal Digger Podcast | Top Business and Marketing Podcast for Creatives, Entrepreneurs, and Women in Business

939: A Conversation With My Mom About Time, Motherhood, and What Gets Passed Down

December 15, 2025

Key Takeaways Copied to clipboard!

  • Impact is measured not by how loud one is, but by how deeply one shows up, a lesson exemplified by the mother's face-to-face influence versus modern platforms. 
  • Generational differences in parenting and life pressures are significant, particularly concerning the pervasive influence and potential negative impact of technology and social media. 
  • Personal growth, even later in life, is possible and beneficial, as evidenced by the mother starting therapy at 65 and gaining deeper self-compassion and insight. 

Segments

Sponsors and Introduction
Copied to clipboard!
(00:00:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode features a conversation between Jenna Kutcher and her mother.
  • Summary: The segment begins with sponsor messages for Revolve and Spectrum Business, followed by the host, Jenna Kutcher, introducing the episode’s guest: her mother. She praises her mother’s wisdom and perspective.
Motherhood Legacy and Time
Copied to clipboard!
(00:03:54)
  • Key Takeaway: The speed at which children grow up is the most surprising aspect of motherhood in retrospect.
  • Summary: Jenna outlines the three parts of the conversation: legacy/mothering, generational differences, and identity/seasons. The mother discusses how fast time passes, referencing her own aging and the growth of her grandchildren.
Fostering Individual Interests
Copied to clipboard!
(00:06:23)
  • Key Takeaway: The mother intentionally fostered her children’s diverse interests by exploring opportunities for them, like job shadowing.
  • Summary: Jenna expresses admiration for her mother’s capacity to mother each child individually. The mother explains she tapped into their interests, citing examples like Jenna job shadowing a vet and wanting to be a surgeon, which she facilitated.
Worries and Financial Realities
Copied to clipboard!
(00:10:05)
  • Key Takeaway: The mother regrets not saving more mindfully for college, though she believes the financial struggles taught valuable lessons.
  • Summary: The mother states she wasn’t a big worrier about getting things wrong, but wishes she had saved more for college. They discuss how financial seasons taught the children valuable lessons about money and resourcefulness.
Holding On vs. Letting Go
Copied to clipboard!
(00:16:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Letting go is often achieved through natural rites of passage, but also requires individual assessment of a child’s responsibility.
  • Summary: Jenna asks how to know when to hold on and when to let go, especially with her strong-willed oldest child. The mother emphasizes individualizing decisions based on the child’s responsibility, while maintaining the goal of raising independent people.
Generational Concerns and Hopes
Copied to clipboard!
(00:18:47)
  • Key Takeaway: The mother worries about technology and the loss of human connection in the current generation, but is hopeful about the return to basics and increased father involvement.
  • Summary: The mother expresses concern over social media and constant phone use, noting the lack of human connection. Hope comes from seeing the younger generation return to gardening, beekeeping, and slowing down, as well as seeing fathers more involved in childcare.
Entrepreneurial Spirit and Resourcefulness
Copied to clipboard!
(00:32:58)
  • Key Takeaway: The mother’s ’entrepreneurial’ spirit was rooted in resourcefulness, learned from her own mother, exemplified by bartering for gymnastics tuition.
  • Summary: Jenna notes her mother’s resourcefulness, which she now recognizes as entrepreneurial. They discuss stories like face painting to earn money for bikes and bartering renovations for free gymnastics tuition.
Identity Shifts and Therapy
Copied to clipboard!
(00:36:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Starting therapy later in life was a surprising, positive change that deepened the mother’s compassion and enriched her conversations.
  • Summary: The mother shares that starting therapy at 65 was a surprising change, driven by feeling overwhelmed as a caregiver. Jenna shares her own experience starting therapy and the shared language it created between them.
Letting Go of Responsibility
Copied to clipboard!
(00:42:52)
  • Key Takeaway: The mother is learning to step back from always being the ‘responsible child’ and allow others, including siblings, to step up.
  • Summary: The mother discusses learning to stop taking on responsibilities that aren’t hers, a role ingrained since childhood, which therapy helped her recognize and change.
The Gift of Later Life
Copied to clipboard!
(00:48:58)
  • Key Takeaway: The greatest gift of this stage of life is the ’time luxury’—the optionality of how to fill one’s time.
  • Summary: The mother identifies the luxury of optional time in retirement as the unexpected gift. She emphasizes the importance of pausing, reflection, and being inward, balancing activity with stillness.
Reciprocal Mother-Daughter Friendship
Copied to clipboard!
(00:50:44)
  • Key Takeaway: The relationship has evolved into a reciprocal friendship where Jenna mentors her mother, and the mother looks up to Jenna.
  • Summary: They discuss their current relationship, noting it feels like a true friendship where they support each other, with Jenna sometimes mothering her mother, and the mother respecting Jenna’s opinions.
Closing Thoughts and Wisdom
Copied to clipboard!
(00:53:06)
  • Key Takeaway: The most powerful leadership comes from caring about people in the in-between moments, being a safe space, and asking the right questions.
  • Summary: Jenna thanks her mother for leading with empathy and presence, noting that her own success stems from watching her mother care for people. She encourages listeners to learn from the women who came before them.