For anyone who hasn’t heard the news, our podcast has changed to the “Hear Me Roar” Podcast with Kate Itacy!

Make sure to follow the new podcast at http://hearmeroarpodcast.com

You can also follow the podcast’s social media pages via Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr.

You can also send us an email at hearmeroarpodcast@gmail.com

Head over to our new website now to check out the latest podcast episode, “Female Business Owners: The Benefits, Pitfalls and Struggles Women Face When Running Their Own Business”!

The episode features the podcast’s very first guest, Angie Bonin, of Angelina Rose Photography!

Nikki and Kate have appreciated all of your feedback and loyalty during their Hammer Time podcasts. Hopefully, you’ll continue to listen to “Hear Me Roar” with Kate hosting!

Best to all of you!

–Nikki and Kate

Next week, we’ll be recording and uploading our seventh episode, “Female Business Owners: The Benefits, Pitfalls and Struggles Women Face When Running Their Own Business.”

The episode will feature our podcast’s very first guest, Angie Bonin, of Angelina Rose Photography!

Kate’s been a huge pan of Angie’s photography since Angie first opened her studio. She captures so many beautiful, candid moments, and sets up some amazing composition for her wedding couples! If you’re lucky enough to hire her for your special day, you will have some of the most incredible photographs you could have ever dreamt of!

Anyway, Angie will join Kate next Tuesday to discuss what it’s like to be a woman running her own business. Angie has been running a very successful wedding photography studio for a number of years now, and Kate, as you may already know, used to run her own criminal defense law firm in Rhode Island and Massachusetts for five years.

They’re going to discuss what it’s like to be/have been a small business owner.

More specifically, they’ll be discussing how being a woman typically impacts one’s willingness to quote your worth; methods they’ve developed to learn not cave in when people beg you for help or a lower price, as well as other issues.

They’ll also talk about how age can factor in to establishing respect and credibility in your field; how operating a business in a saturated market can force you to establish a more unique business model; the hustle involved in owning and operating a business, including the hours and hours required to market your business, both in networking opportunities as well as on social media platforms; and how we, as female business owners, can help support one another and guide new business owners into their own paths to success.

We hope you’ll tune in for this very special and important episode!

And as always, we’d love to hear from you! Feel free to leave a comment or send us a message as to what else you might like discussed in the episode, or suggestions for future episodes. You can reach us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr.

And make sure you check out Angie’s incredible portfolio here!

’Til next week, dear listeners!

Best, 

Nikki and Kate

And welcome back to Nikki, who has returned from her hiatus to rejoin Kate in our podcast, “Hammer Time with Nikki and Kate”!

Today’s episode focuses on how couples divide up the household, financial and/or parenting responsibilities, and what emotions/expectations may bubble up from that division.

We talk about how single parents deal with handling all of it on their own, and how teaching their kids to become more self-sufficient can help lighten the load a bit. We discuss households where one partner is the primary breadwinner and the other handles the child-rearing and/or household duties; where both partners are working; where one is disabled and the other is able-bodied, and how in every relationship, you need to be appreciative and sensitive to the other partner’s feelings.

While we do not proclaim to be any kind of relationship experts, we love sharing our thoughts and experiences with you, our dear listeners, in the hopes that you can relate to some of our stories and thoughts, and can feel comfort in the fact that we all need to continue to take account of our own feelings, as well as the feelings of those in our lives.

As always, we hope you’ll enjoy this episode of the podcast, just as we hope that you’ll stay tuned for the next one. Make sure you’re following us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr to keep up with us! Remember – our episodes are also available to stream on iTunes and Google Play.

We’d love to continue receiving your feedback as to past episodes, as well as suggestions for upcoming episodes. Feel free to hit us up via social media, or by sending us an email at hammertimewithnikkiandkate@gmail.com.

Stay well, friends, and remember – be kind to each other, and to yourself!

While half of our dynamic duo is still on her hiatus (during which time, she’ll be creating and starting her own online nutrition-based education/coaching system – Go, Nikki!), the other half, Kate, is here to give you our fifth podcast episode, “Self-Hate and Female Rivalry.”

This podcast episode focuses on how we, as the female gender/sex, are taught to aspire to a particular body image and ideal weight, and the damage that we do to our own bodies and lifespans by pursing those ideals in an unhealthy way.

The episode also details the competitive and destructive nature of the female psyche when it comes to interacting with other women, whether it’s about hitting certain milestones “first,” being the very best mom/homemaker/spouse, being a superior female because you’re a working professional (as compared to a stay-at-home mom), and even between other women in your profession.

Kate spends the hour detailing how destructive these methods can be, not only to the women we direct our negative energy towards, but also to ourselves.

We need to be kinder and more loving, not only towards others, but towards ourselves. There’s no unlimited amount of happiness out there. We can all succeed without tearing one another down. Let’s lift each other up, and become better role models for the next generation of women/females out there.

As always, we hope you’ll enjoy this episode of the podcast, just as we hope that you’ll stay tuned for the next one. We’re still planning to ask some pretty awesome guest co-hosts to come in for the next few episodes, so make sure you’re following us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr to keep up with us! Remember – our episodes are also available to stream on iTunes and Google Play.

We’d love to continue receiving your feedback as to past episodes, as well as suggestions for upcoming episodes. Feel free to hit us up via social media, or by sending us an email at hammertimewithnikkiandkate@gmail.com.

Stay well, friends, and remember – be kind to each other, and to yourself!

Referenced resources:

1. Roxane Gay, “Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body”
2. Ashley Graham, “A New Model: What Confidence, Beauty, and Power Really Look Like”
3. Jen Mann, “People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Competitive Crafters, Drop-Off Despots, and Other Suburban Scourges” ***CORRECTION – Kate’s reference to Jenny Lawson and her hilarious and bravely honest books were in error – she meant to reference Jen Mann and her hilarious and bravely honest book. Her bad.***
4. “Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie” (available on Hulu)
5. Gabrielle Union, “We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True”

What if a VR game existed that could teach the user empathy towards others?

via Could We Teach Empathy Through VR? — Katherine Itacy

Well, half of our dynamic duo is here to give you our fourth episode, “Being Your Own Health Care Advocate.” In it, Kate talks about the power that medical professionals have over our lives, and the faith that we put in them for that reason. She discusses her own experience as a disabled person and a lifelong patient, as well as the need for you, as adults, to have some frank conversations and make some fairly morbid decisions in order to make sure that your intentions are followed in the case of an emergency, as well as to protect your children or those you take care of in case of an untimely death or incapacitation.

Kate also goes on to discuss just how important it is to do your own research about your health, and to feel confident and empowered enough to become your own health care advocate; to ask the questions you need answers to; to make sure that your health care professional hears what you’re saying and knows what you’re feeling.

Our health care system is far from perfect, but it’s far more advanced and effective than it was in years past. Just like the legal profession and the law enforcement field, there are incredible professionals working within an imperfect, sometimes broken system. It may not be the individual professional’s fault, per se, that the system needs repair, but that doesn’t change the fact that the system can fail you at times. That’s why we, as patients, need to be informed and proactive in trying to collaborate with our health care professionals, so that we can work together with them to ensure that we receive the best medical treatment available.

We hope you’ll enjoy this episode of the podcast, just as we hope that you’ll stay tuned for the next one. We plan to ask some pretty awesome guest co-hosts to come in for the next few episodes, so make sure you’re following us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Tumblr to keep up with us! Remember – our episodes are also available to stream on iTunes and Google Play.

Also, as always, we’d love your feedback as to past episodes, or suggestions for upcoming episodes. Feel free to hit us up via social media, or by sending us an email at hammertimewithnikkiandkate@gmail.com.

Stay well, friends!

P.S. Kate wants to thank everyone who came to the hospital to visit her after her spinal surgery at the end of March, as well as everyone who sent her good wishes, positive thoughts and prayers for her recovery. You all helped her get through a tough time, and it’s so appreciated!

Kate is on the mend from her spinal surgery, and we are getting ready to record our next podcast episode, “Being Your Own Health Care Advocate.”

Whether you’re a professional patient like Kate, or are a relatively healthy person (and thus, are fairly unfamiliar with the ins and outs of the health care system), it’s important to know some basic, yet helpful tips on how to be better prepared for emergencies, how to become a more informed, educated patient, and how to ensure that your questions and concerns are addressed.

Our next episode will focus on how to be your own health care advocate.

Are you doing all that you can to advocate for yourself with medical personnel? Have any of you felt dismissed or unheard when you tried to voice your concerns? Has anyone been caught off-guard when a medical emergency happened and you weren’t prepared to make such a huge decision in so little time? Do you have the proper legal documents prepared to explain what kind of life-sustaining measures you’d want performed on you if you weren’t able to voice them yourself?

We’d love to hear your stories, positive or negative, about being your own health care advocate. Please feel free to leave a comment below, send us a message via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or Google+, or write us an email at hammertimewithnikkiandkate@gmail.com.

And as always, we’d love to hear your suggestions for future episode topics.

Wishing you and yours nothing but health and happiness!

Best,

Nikki and Kate

And for those Moms who’ve been diagnosed with Diastasis Recti (i.e., what we call “Postpartum Pooch”), if you want to learn more about the “Moms Gone Strong” workout Nikki mentioned during the podcast, feel free to check out http://girlsgonestrong.com for more information.

As always, stay tuned for new blog posts and info on upcoming episodes, and feel free to comment below or reach out to us via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Tumblr, or by sending us an email at hammertimewithnikkiandkate@gmail.com.