Ambition, Babies, and Business: Navigating Motherhood as an Entrepreneur with Mindset Coach Gigi Diaz

Motherhood has a way of rewriting the story we thought we had planned.

In this powerful episode of Musings of a Geriatric Mama, Kedna Amey sits down with mindset and business coach Gigi Diaz to explore the unexpected realities of motherhood, identity transformation, and entrepreneurship.

Gigi shares her journey from believing she didn’t want children to becoming a mother and discovering that motherhood requires not just adding another role—but becoming an entirely new version of yourself.

Together, Kedna and Gigi discuss the grief of leaving behind the “old you,” the pressure of social expectations around motherhood, and the importance of trusting your intuition as a woman and mother.

They also dive into Gigi’s 3R System: Re-evaluate, Restructure, Reset, and how entrepreneurial tools can help women navigate motherhood with strategy, compassion, and confidence.

This episode is an honest and empowering conversation about redefining motherhood on your own terms.

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• Why motherhood requires an identity expansion, not just an added role
• How social constructs  can shape our expectations of motherhood
• Why ambitious women often struggle with the transition into motherhood
• The importance of trusting your inner knowing as a parent
• How entrepreneurship tools can support motherhood
• The power of integrating motherhood and career instead of separating them
• Why mental health matters more than perfection in parenting

About the Guest

Gigi Diaz is a mindset and business coach, media personality, executive producer, and founder of Seizing Happy, a community dedicated to supporting women in business and life.

With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship and media, she helps women reframe success through her signature 3R System: Re-evaluate, Restructure, Reset.

She is also the host of Chats with Gigi and an upcoming debut author empowering women to build joyful, aligned businesses while embracing motherhood.

Key Takeaways

• Motherhood is an identity transformation.
• Grieving the old version of yourself is normal.
• Your intuition is one of your greatest parenting tools.
• Integration—not separation—is the key to motherhood and entrepreneurship.
• A whole woman is better for everyone around her.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Gigi Diaz and Her Journey
03:11 Identity Before and After Motherhood
08:42 The Unexpected Journey of Motherhood
19:31 Embracing the 3R System for Balance
27:50 The Integration of Motherhood and Entrepreneurship
36:55 Empowering Women Through Community and Coaching
43:11 Millennial Nostalgia and Personal Reflections
55:41 Closing Thoughts and Resources

Connect with Gigi Diaz

Instagram: @ggidiazlive
Community: Seizing Happy : https://bit.ly/seizinghappyaffiliate

Share This Episode

If this conversation resonated with you, share it with another mother, entrepreneur, or ambitious woman navigating the beautiful and messy journey of motherhood.

Busy Moms and Entrepreneurs use this 90 Day planner to kick start or recalibrate your mindset!  

Let's stay connected!  https://linktr.ee/K.AmeyInspires?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=0eb50dac-1e79-445d-9c1e-8a5dd2e34847

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Musings of a Geriatric Mom, where we discuss all things millennial and motherhood. This is not your average show where we romanticize being a mom, but rather a place where we keep it real while guiding you through restorative living and wealth. Mind body. Here you'll find impactful insights from high-achievs and mother figures, navigating life through this exhausting yet simultaneously rewarding good. You may laugh or cry and even possibly pee yourself. So do a kegle or two and hold on to your seat. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but it doesn't have to be a bumpy ride. I'm your host, Kenna Ame, and thank you for meeting. Welcome back to Musings of a Geriatric Mama. I'm your host, Kenna Ame, and I'm so excited about today's show. We are going to be diving right into the beautiful, messy, and often funny reality of unexpected motherhood with our special guest. Gigi Diaz is in the building. Hello, babe. It's so good to see you. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

So we need to see you on a screen and not be able to give you a big ginormous hug.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

A big hug. Like our hugs last about two minutes. Okay, guys. I just gotta soak all of GG in. Listeners, you're in for a treat. I have to let you know about this amazing woman, mother, wife that's just doing incredible things. So let's get into it. Gigi Diaz is a mindset and business coach, media personality, executive producer, and host of Chats with Gigi Podcast. She is the founder of Seizing Happy, a coaching organization and community dedicated to nurturing both the business and the woman behind the business. A multi-passionate entrepreneur, Gigi opened her first company, Gigi's Dance Academy, right after high school and grew it into an award-winning studio while earning her degree at Florida International University. Over her 20 years in the public eye, she's become known as the conscious influencer, collaborating with brands like Mazda, Truest Bank, Xfinity, Pandora, and more. She's also served as an in-game host for the Miami Marlins and made history as the first Latina correspondent for the U.S. Trotting Association. After facing a life-changing health scare during her graduate studies, Gigi realized that true success doesn't come from hustle and burnout, but from intentional balance. Now a certified life coach specializing in mindset and happiness studies, she helps women reframe their lives and businesses with her signature 3R system. Re-evaluate, restructure, reset. Through Seizing Happy and her growing community, Gigi empowers women to create abundance, confidence, and joy while embracing their power as CEOs. She is a leader, motivator, wife, mother, and soon-to-be debut author. I know today's conversation will bring encouragement, laughter, and a fresh perspective to so many of us.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Gigi, welcome. After that intro, I have goosebumps. I'm like, who is she? I want to get to know her.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Listen, our listeners are in for a treat. Gigi, yes. Let's just start off by giving you your flowers. You have had such an amazing career at so young to me, to be honest, and it's made impact on so many levels. So I cannot wait till we dive into all the different layers of who Gigi Diaz is and how you are making impact in the world and bringing other women along on the journey with you. But before we get into that, tell me a little bit about who Gigi was before motherhood.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

It's such a powerful question. I was just on a call with a client right now before jumping into this beautiful space with you. And we were talking about that. We were talking about that identity of who we are before motherhood and who we need to allow ourselves to become after we bring life into this world. And you know, I the GG before motherhood was what was she like? Because I feel like there are pieces of her here, but so many pieces of her are gone. She was more, she was definitely lighter. Okay. And she was more physically free, right? Okay. I feel like this Gigi is more mentally free, but she was more physically free. And so what that looks like is packing a backpack and saying, We're out for the week, I'm done being here, right? And just heading to the keys or heading up north somewhere, or you know, jumping on a plane and and not really caring where I had to be. If I have my computer with me, I can still support my clients and hold that space. But now moving physically is different, right? I have a two-year-old and he doesn't move at my speed, and so I have to move at his speed and all those other things. So I think that there's a certain physicality to that shift of identity. But I also feel like there was a certain sense of confident oblivion in that previous girl. I feel like even though I have been working with kids for over 20 years, I helped to raise my brother, who is 11 and a half years younger than me as an immigrant with obviously immigrant parents. We came here together. When my little brother was born, I had a lot of responsibilities of his care, you know, including all of his schoolwork, including taking care of him after school, uh, because my parents each worked two jobs. And so, you know, I was like mom number two. To this day, I am still his emergency contact. To this day, I'm still the person he calls when there's like something going on and he's like, Hey, G, what do you think about this? Um, and so even with all of that, I never understood, and I think most non-moms don't understand, no matter how logical certain parts of motherhood are, the depth of motherhood, right? And you can logically say things like, Well, you know, you're gonna have less time, you're gonna be more tired, now you're responsible for a human, blah, blah, blah. You can you can logically think of those things and be like, that's a lot of that's a lot of weight, right? Like that's a lot of responsibility. But you have no idea until you're in it. And then you're like, holy crap, what is this? Right. And I feel like that version of me was was in this like confidence, very because I I was very confident in what I believed in, and then also like oblivion, because you also have no idea, right? Until you're like in it, in it. Whereas this version of me is confidently aware that there's still so much I don't know. Yeah. And that's probably the only thing I'm really, really confident about now that it's just like, I'm just here to learn, just here to figure things out. I have no big magic wander message. I have a beautiful mirror that I can hold up, right? Um, where we can reflect off of each other, yeah, that we see in each other. Absolutely. But definitely a different, a different me after becoming a mom.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Yes, so many good things that you said there. Identity shifts, right? I always say this as much as you know, friends and family try to pour into you to get you mentally prepared for motherhood, nothing can fully prepare you for your unique experience. And it's a roller coaster, and you know, sometimes we like to say it's sometimes really ghetto, but it's beautiful, it's beautiful. Gigi, you said something that I wanted to kind of get into a little bit, okay? So you took care of your younger brother, so technically you were already prepared for motherhood to an extent. Absolutely. Motherhood still kind of caught you off guard, and I can't wait to get into that because I think that sometimes we believe that innately all women can just be mothers, or the mother or being a mother or getting into the role is super automatic. Okay. I really have come to the understanding that it's a growing journey every day. And as you learn and as you figure things out, you fall more in love with your journey. But the journey isn't easy. So before we deep dive into your perspective on how things can be a little unexpected, how you're embracing the new, let's talk about how your motherhood journey started and when did it start?

SPEAKER_03 8:39

That's such a good, good question because I don't think that motherhood is something that is innately available to moms, you know? I think that it can flourish if you allow it to, but it's not an innate thing because I feel like there's so much social construct around the definition of mom that we enter motherhood trying to fit into those boxes. And that's where the biggest difficulty in the adaptation of who you need to become as a mother happens because you're you're going into it with certain expectations, right? Rather than going into it with a full trust on your what I like to call in seizing happy is our intuitive compass, right? Allowing that to kind of guide the way. But for me, it was interesting because I, you know, I I never had motherhood on my list of things that I wanted to accomplish. After, you know, being very involved raising my brother, whom I love, but it was a lot of work, right? And a lot of awareness of what it takes to be a mom.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

After the difficulties of immigration, right? Like being able to set new roots here and being able to develop financially and you know, witnessing at that point in my life that the again, the social constructs that we adopt, right? From of what motherhood means, watching my parents raise my brother, and then, you know, as immigrants having two jobs each and the time that it took and the the work and the money, how expensive these kids are. And, you know, then opening my first business, Gigi's Dance Academy, also working with kids and seeing that a lot of the parents had hardships, you know, to be able to keep the kids in this safe environment in this dance studio where at least they wouldn't be running around unsupervised and parts or in front of video games all afternoon. So it was big sacrifices.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

And so I saw that and I was like, I don't want all of that stress for me. And what I didn't realize was that it didn't have to be that way for me. And it took me a long time to come to terms with that. And even when I met my now husband, you know, when we were falling in love, I told him, I was like, I know I've told you this before, but I'm gonna tell you again, I don't want kids. I don't want kids. Kids are not in my like, it's not something I want to do. So I just need you to know. And he was always like, Yeah, yeah, no problem. I understand. I choose you over any unknown all day. I choose you. Love you. Yeah. And then one day I I was meditating and I was, it occurred to me, just like the seed of knowing that was like, what I define as difficulty in motherhood is from what I witnessed from my immigrant parents who didn't have the time or the money, right? Who they didn't have the financial freedom to be able to do the things in the way that they wanted to do it. And, you know, people can say all day money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure makes life a lot easier. So when you have financial comforts and you can hire support or, you know, like have food made so that you don't have to spend the time cooking or have somebody come over and help with the cleaning, like those things cost money, but they ease the pressure, you know, of that that transition. And so when I realized that, I was I I talked to my at that point, he was already my husband, and I was like, you know what we should do? I think that I have been living under constructs about motherhood. I'm not sure that the beliefs around motherhood are mine anymore. And so let's do this. I'll start taking prenatals and in January we will revisit if I still because I have to sit with this new knowledge now, right? Of like, motherhood doesn't have to be like that for me because I've developed a different kind of business because I was more financially secure than my parents were at the time. Because my husband had more time, you know, than than my dad did when I was watching my dad raise my little brother here. It was like, dude, we you know, this is hard, you know, he's working so much and all these other things. And we had an oopsie, and I got pregnant way before January. And I was shocked. Like you would think that, you know, knowing how babies are made, that I wouldn't have been shocked. But I was yeah, and it was it was really difficult for me because the first thing that happened was you you do the comparison thing, right? Like all the moms on Instagram, when they see the pregnant stick, they all start crying and they're happy and they're jumping up and down. And I didn't feel any of those things. Yeah, I was in an absolute void of emotion. And it took me two days when I told until I told my husband to realize that after spiraling in judging myself and in really shaming myself in the way of like, how could you not be excited? And there's so many moms that try so hard, and you know, you had this one oopsie and you get pregnant, and you're so ungrateful, and this baby probably thinks you hate him, and you're already like the worst type of human being if you're not super happy about it. Like, I went down this really terrible dialogue, inner dialogue with myself. And when I told my husband, he asked me, he was delighted, right? Like he was he was ecstatic about the situation, and he gave me this big hug and he looked at me and he goes, Are you happy? And I looked at him and I said, No. And he gave me this huge hug and he said, It's okay. And when he kind of like opened up that space for me was when I finally realized and I told him, I'm really scared. And it wasn't that I wasn't happy, it wasn't that I wasn't excited to be a mom. It was that my entire nervous system already knew what that meant. My entire mind and body already knew that my business had to change, my time had to change, my marriage was going to change, I was going to change, my body had to change, my brain chemistry had to change, my view of the world had to change. And so it wasn't a lack of joy, it was an it I like jumped over all of the things to the immediate knowing of like what this means because I've raised my brother, because I've worked with kids forever, because I know it's not just like cute clothes and bow ties, you know. Like I know what it was. Yes. My whole body was like, this is scary because I know that you're going into an enormous unknown. Yeah. And it took a lot of um, a lot of utilizing my own tools and training on myself and a lot of reworking of my nervous system and implementing of my own 3R system into what motherhood, what I wanted motherhood to mean for me instead of what that fear-induced definition of motherhood was um that I got from from all everybody, really. Because a lot of times you ask moms, especially before you're a mom, like what's motherhood like? And they're like, it's magical. And then you're like, Cool, like how? And then they're like, Well, and then they go down like this list of like you'll never sleep again and your body gets destroyed, and your kiddings are gonna get tagged, and you're gonna be roommates with your husband for like two years, you're not even gonna want him to touch you and you know, paranky rage. And I'm just like, I don't want any of that. I don't want yeah, this sounds like a nightmare. And then when you know, I had to like undo a lot of those constructs. In fact, my book, which you and I have discussed offline quite a bit, is based on that. It's based on how to reincorporate the that um difference that we're told that the mother is one version and the business owner is another. And I don't believe that. I believe that the integration of the two and the resources and tools that we utilize for successful entrepreneurship are the exact same tools that we can use for successful, powerful motherhood. Agreed. And so in my book, I approached that through my 3R system. And it's what helped me to really step into my power as a mother and as a business owner and to live more integrated without the fears and without the outside definitions and social constructs of motherhood, especially as an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

I GG. Okay, listeners, okay. We're getting a TED talk right now. I just want you to know, just get prepared, make sure you have a pen, pad, paper, laptop, iPad, whatever you need. Because we have so much to unpack here. Gigi, phenomenal. I'm going to try to reiterate some of the amazing things you imparted on us. One, our definition of motherhood could be affected by our own childhood experiences. And if they are not as positive, or we've seen, you know, challenges that really created difficulties, then that can trickle into our psyche when it comes to what motherhood could be. The other thing is, flipping that is we have to redefine motherhood. And that is one of the main premises of this show, debunking myths about what it means to be an ambitious woman while being a mother and navigating these life experiences and all the dynamic roles that we that we play. One of the one of the things I always say is, I'm not just, you know, we are dynamic. Our experiences from childhood and as we go on day to day make us who we are and who we're evolving to be. Motherhood is just a beautiful piece of the puzzle into the woman that I am and the woman that I'm becoming through this beautiful journey. Another thing that I heard loud and clear is that outside opinions can affect our perception of an experience that we may not even be ready to experience or that we haven't experienced yet. Like for anyone that may be listening that is thinking about motherhood, that's why this is a great episode because we're going to keep it 1000% with you, okay. One of the things that I'm realizing online is that they're romanticizing motherhood. I do not subscribe to that channel, okay? Motherhood is beautiful, and at the same time, it is one of the hardest things that I have ever done personally, and I know what it takes internally, and I'm learning what it takes internally to really push through this journey and overcome those things and overcome the mindsets that may limit what we feel like we can do because we're a mother. So, TG, we're gonna get into it because this is so good, and we're gonna be talking about your 3R system, and we're gonna be talking more about your book and how our listeners can really find themselves instead of feeling like they're losing themselves in this journey. So, what I want to talk about is what was the most surprising and possibly even funny thing about stepping into motherhood unexpectedly?

SPEAKER_03 18:50

Oh girl, everything was surprising. I'll tell you this. I think that the most surprising, or maybe not surprising is not the word, but like what caught me off guard the most was the necessary identity shift. I was under the impression, the erroneous impression, that when you become a mom, you add motherhood to the plate, right? So you are all these things, and then you add, you just add motherhood and you remain all those other things, right? And that is not the case. Now, I say that not in a negative way, not in the way of like it's a bad thing, it's actually a beautiful thing in the way of it requires that you become a bigger version of you. Yeah. And so it's just like how I I, you know, we we hear a lot about this in entrepreneurship. I coach my clients through this all the time. Where it's, you know, when you want to become the business owner, when you want to become a CEO, when you want to launch the second or the third business, when you want to go from a six-figure business to a seven-figure business, the identity that you carry of who you are needs to change. Absolutely. There are parts of you that need to die. You need to shed certain parts of you in order to go from that six-figure business owner to that seven-figure business owner. Sometimes that means changing your diet. Most of the time, that means taking care of your body in a different way. All of the time, that means the people around you need to change. And just, you know, parts of you, thoughts that you used to have, behaviors, habits, routines need to change. Those parts of you that liked certain things or leaned on certain crutches, those parts of you need to be shed in order for you to create space for the new identity to grow. I feel that it's the same with motherhood. And we cannot try to hold on to the old us because I feel like that old identity can't thrive in this new chapter. And the more you hold on to it, it has to go anyway. So your grip on it is utilizing energy that is better spent in finding, okay, these parts of me have to go or get to go so that I can flourish into what? What kind of woman do I want to be as a mother?

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 21:09

What kind of routines do I want to have as a mother? What kind of business do I want to run as a mother? What kind of wife do I want to be as a mother? Yeah. Because I'll tell you what, I'm not the same kind of wife that I was before I had my baby. Then I am. Talk about it. Let's talk about it. I'm a different kind of wife, you know? And I'm lucky I chose a man who answers in response and is very involved because I am a much more demanding wife now than I was before I had children. My expectations are way higher of our marriage, of him as an individual, and even of myself and how I show up as his woman and as his partner. You know. And I think that when we for me, that that was a big shocker because at first I was like, Yeah, yeah, I'm the same me, just with a kid now. And there was something out of alignment because when I would go do some of the things that I To do before, I didn't like them. When I used to go hang out with, you know, in certain places or with certain people in certain types of events or whatever, I was like, I ain't got no time to be here. I don't want to, this doesn't bring me joy anymore like it did before. And it was because now there were parts of my brain, parts of my desires, parts of my soul that required a different kind of nourishing, a different kind of information, a different kind of support, a different kind of light than I needed before. And what happens is if we're gripping too hard to the old us, we don't allow ourselves to create lightness in the body and in our lives and in our energy to allow for the new you that needs to be born to be born also. We are, I believe that when we become mothers, we are raising a child, but we are also nurturing the new version of you at the same time. And it's almost like in my book, I talk about how we have customer-led growth in business, right? Like you do your marketing research almost always, I hope, before you launch something, right? Like you talk to your people and you ask them questions like, hey, does this sound as good as I think it does? How much would you pay for this? What do you think the value in this is? What are you excited about with a product like this? Would you even use this stuff? Like, and it's client-led, right? It's kind of the same to be a mom. You got to talk to your kid and you got to look at your kid and be like, what does this kid need? Right? Like, what kind of support does it need? Is it up at these hours and those hours? Well, what do I need to do in order to be okay serving that kind of client, right? Like this is the guy I can't choose. This client, this client chose me. Right. So, what do I need to do to expand into being able to hold this client in a way that doesn't deplete me, that doesn't exhaust me, that doesn't make me feel burnt, right? So, what do I need to do to expand to be able to serve this? This is my ideal client. Like my client, I love that my best client. You know what I'm saying? This is the only client that matters. Yeah, all the other clients can come and go. And no offense to my clients who I know are gonna listen to this. I love you guys, but if you go, nothing's gonna happen, right? Like somebody else will come in. My son is irreplaceable. And so that kind of approach is an entrepreneurial mindset, but I was I'm very good at business. And so for me, that adaptation of like, what do I what do I already know that can help me in this process? And it's kind of the same. So you gotta let the world be old you you gotta let, you gotta allow the shedding in order to create the space for that kind of like client-led evolution of the business. You are the business, the baby is the client, and you can you gotta play with each other and see like how does this work best for both of us? How do we keep this relationship healthy? How do I keep my client thriving without it costing everything?

SPEAKER_01 24:38

I know. Oh my gosh, yes. And I love that analogy. You are such an entrepreneur, boss, babe. I love that you're you're putting those pieces together, but I heard some really impactful things. I have a quote that I found so inspirational and so true at the same time. It goes something like this when a child is born, so is a mother.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Yeah, so is a mother. And in that birth, okay, sometimes you have to grieve because it's you said dying to that old self or the old versions or iterations of yourself. We grieve who we were. And listeners, actually, what I really want to hone in on is that you can grieve for who you were. It's okay to miss that version of her or those attributes that you used to be, but you are evolving into an amazing person that has to carry legacy right along with them. And you're building, and every sacrifice you make is for the greater generational impact that you are creating daily as you're going doing, you know, going through life as a mom. GG, so so good. We might as well lead into talking a little bit more about your book, okay? Um and then afterwards, what I really want to do is just give a little quick advice to ambitious women. You're already doing it, but just how we're balancing things. But let's first get into your book. What inspired you to start writing it, and what do you hope that mothers take away from it?

SPEAKER_03 26:12

Thank you so much for that question. It's so interesting because as you mentioned, grief, this was one, this is one of the chapters in my book is grief, the grief of of that older that old version of you before the mother is born. And you know, in this book, what I wish to dismantle is the notion that the entrepreneur and the mother are compartmentalized. That when you are in entrepreneurship mode, you have to, you know, box away your mom self, right? And then and vice versa. Like when you go be a mom, you're supposed to completely compartmentalize and leave away, detached, separate from the business you. And the truth is that, you know, if you're a mom, whether you're in corporate or you own your own business, yeah, when something's wrong with your kid, it doesn't matter where you are. It is front of mind.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 27:04

It is front of mind when you're with your biggest client who pays you the most, does all the things, when you're about to, you know, you're presenting in front of the board. Your kid is still on your mind. That that little fever, that little cough, their teething, whatever it is, right? The same is true when you are breastfeeding at three in the morning or trying to, and uh, you're checking your email to make sure that nothing's on fire. Right. And I'm not a big supporter of checking your email at three in the morning, but we do it. Right? Like it's and so trying to force these two powerful, heavy, beautiful, legacy-making parts of yourself, ripping them away from each other is a disservice to both parts, right? And to your whole self. Yeah. And so with this book, what I aim is I aim at helping women to integrate those two powerful sides of themselves so that they can show up fully as a powerful self that honors all of those areas. And that's not to say that you're not gonna have boundaries between work and motherhood. Of course, we're not gonna have our business seep into our family time and vice versa. But the the utilization of the tools of entrepreneurship and the utilization of the wisdom of motherhood are equally valuable in both settings. Yes, right? The empathy, kindness, and nurture that you bring to your children while still not letting them run you over with boundaries and rules and guidelines. Yeah. Tell me that that's not the most delicious way to guide a client through your client journey in your business. Yes. With loving nurture and empathy. Sometimes we go into business and we're like, these are the rules and this is how it's gotta be, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we leave out the soft feminine beauty of a nurturing woman, a nurturing softness, our creative, right? Yeah. Our our negotiation skills. I don't know if you remember putting little ones to sleep. It is the biggest negotiation of my damn life every single night. For sure. So we're trying to get them to eat a certain thing. Yeah. Like it is, it is negotiation at its best. Presenting that plate of colorful foods when they're like, but can I have chocolate? It's the biggest marketing messaging exercise of my life every time. I have to market these carrots like they're chocolate. So you eat them. Tell me that's not a messaging exercise at its highest potential for expansion and creativity. You know, so looking at entrepreneurship in a more playful eye and looking at motherhood from a more strategic eye, and looking at entrepreneurship and motherhood. I mean, my book is called Sacred and Strategic because I feel like that's what both of these things are. Yeah. They're sacred and they are strategic. You birth your business the same way you birth your children from a space of love, from a space of desire, from a space of aspiration, and you build legacy with both and through both. Yes. And so there's just so much that is in alignment with the two exercises, with the two experiences, rather, that the exercises in the book aim to integrate the whole woman so that you can show up unapologetically, so that you can show up without shame on both sides of that. And so that you feel powerful enough to say, I am both all the time. And I don't have to apologize or excuse either side of me because I am both. And being both unapologetically is what makes me great at both motherhood and entrepreneurship. So that's what I that's what I'm doing with this book. I want women to walk away with. And I do it in a very simple and tangible way because I implement the 3R system in the book. So with each chapter, there is an experiential, there's storytelling, there is connection, and there is action-taking steps. So you can implement as you go. And what's yummy also about the book is you can pick it up anywhere. It's got, you know, it's got both parts. So it's got the pregnant entrepreneur and it's got the mother entrepreneur. And so let's say you've already gone through through pregnancy, just pick it up and go straight into the mother, right? And see what that transition can feel like. And then maybe you are just an entrepreneur now, but you're on that that fence of like, I want to become a mom, but I'm not quite sure. It sounds scary. I don't know if I have to do it. How do I do both? Well, grab the book and see what that might feel like, right? Like live through some of the stories and see how they feel in your body and utilize the exercises to see how they might uh help you, right? And see what that feels like. And then you might be already pregnant and thinking, how am I going to restructure my business to be able to support me through maternity leave, to be able to support me through these identity shifts that need to happen? Yeah. You grab the book and you start in part one, the pregnant entrepreneur, and you go through those exercises and see what they can do for you and what doors they open. And with the book, right now, you know, we have a bundle available where you also get access to voice notes and coaching from me. You get access to trainings that are available in the book, you get access to the actual 3R system, uh, which you can um you can take in via audio. So it's very practical. You can do it while you're walking with the kids, while you're doing if you're if you're almost due and you're doing the steps. What is that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:01

The curve walking on the sidewalk like a girl taking all the time. Yeah. Oh my gosh, Gigi. Wow. Practical, strategic with compassion, nurturing, love, all the things that make us dynamic as women and mothers, you figured it out. And the thing about it is for listeners, like motherhood can stretch you in different ways, and entrepreneurship can stretch you in different ways. And to find a guidebook that can be a partner in your journey or can help you strategize how to restructure when you are expecting and you don't know where to go. I mean, this is just phenomenal. It is going to be an amazing tool that is holistic, mind, body, and soul, because that's who we are. And another thing that I heard you say is whole, when you're able to nurture all sa all aspects of who you are, mind, body, and spirit, a whole mom or a whole me is better for everyone else. Girl, say that again. A whole mom, I'll say it again for those in the back. A whole mom or a whole me is better for everyone else. And I realize as ambitious women, we already had outlined our life by the time we were 12. We knew that we were gonna be married by X, Y, and Z. We knew that we were gonna have this career for ambitious, goal-driven women. Motherhood could really be a straight up mac truck to the soul, yeah, and to your identity because you're just so used to going, going, going, and now you have to expect the unexpected. And for us that are have planned out every detail, the unexpected aspects of motherhood can be soul stirring and soul shaking. But when you have community, when you have practical steps and strategy, okay, and when you can create healthy boundaries that allow for you to refuel your cup ever so often, it's easier to get through this journey without burnout. And I love that you're doing that. And I want to just talk a little bit about how you, through your books, through your community, through your coaching, how you're guiding ambitious, goal-driven women while embracing some of the unpredictability of motherhood, of business, of it all.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

That's such a yummy question. Thank you. And it's it's one of my favorite things to talk about because it's really where my soul's purpose lies. And that is we as women have the deepest power within us. And the only mistake that I find women making over and over again is to seek the power outside of themselves, to seek the energy outside of themselves, to seek the answers outside of themselves. And something that makes my coaching style very unique is that we begin, like you mentioned in the intro, we always begin with nurturing the business and the woman behind the business equally. And so a simple example I can give you is you want to make more money in your business, right? Who doesn't? Everybody wants to have more sales and have more revenue, more profit, et cetera. But then I tell you, okay, then we need to restructure your packaging. Let's talk about your pricing. Let's talk about elevating your price points and making sure that you're attracting a more ready-to-buy client. If you are not confident with money, if you have money wounds that are unhealed, if you are coming from a scarcity background like I did, I was born in what is considered a third world country. I had a lot of money inner work to do when I came here and when I started entrepreneurship. If you're dealing with those things, it doesn't matter how much strategy I give you and how much pricing and sales training I give you. Yeah, I ain't gonna implement none of it because your nervous system talks about it freaking out about raising your pricing by 20 bucks. Talk about it. And who's gonna stay and who's gonna go? It's gonna drive you nuts and you're not gonna be able to implement, right? And so what we do a lot of inside our seizing happy ecosystem is making sure that we're also working on the woman because I can give you all the strategy, I can give you all the tools, and if I give you$100,000 to implement, if your nervous system, your capacity, your confidence, your time management, your boundaries, your belief in yourself, your clarity on your purpose, if all of those things aren't on point, you're not gonna implement. Yeah. And if you do, it's not gonna have the same impact as if you were implementing from a space of I know exactly where I am, who I am, what I want, and how I want it. Because sometimes we know what we want, but we don't have clarity on how we want to get it and how we want it to feel. And the autopilot is I'm gonna hustle through it, I'm gonna work my butt off, I'm gonna put it all in. And then all that happens on the other side of that is I am burnt out, I am tired, I am defeated, I am depleted, and I'm just not sure if I can keep going. Right. Yeah. And so it's how do you want it to feel? And how can we make sure that we structure a business that supports the woman and the vision of the woman rather than the other way around? I don't support my business. My business needs to support me, right? I don't give my business vision. I have a vision and my business needs to fulfill that vision, right? And that vision is both for my impact, for my life, for what I want my afternoons to feel like. And so I have to structure a business that feeds that, right? It's not the other way around. And that comes from a shift in the understanding of how women's entrepreneurship, how a woman's ability to receive works. And that is that is a completely different approach to entrepreneurship. Business, you know, if we're going back to the beginning of time, business and these kinds of transactions were led by men, right? We were we were homemakers and that was fine and beautiful and outstanding. And then we decided that that wasn't enough. We wanted to be homemakers and go into the world and make our own money, and that's okay too, and beautiful. Yes. And when we did that, we we did not reshape a world that was made by men for men. We just jumped into it and adapted to it. And that was okay because that's what we needed to do at the time. But now we have an opportunity, especially as entrepreneurs, to shape the world of our business to suit us. And that can look like cycle syncing. That can look like you take calls and you go to events and you do things with your clients when you're in the part of your cycle that allows you to have the energy to do so. If you're on your bleed, I'm pretty sure you don't want to be dealing with clients or networking events, right? Or doing presentations or doing any of that. And so structuring your business to satisfy you the life you want to build and how you want to build it. And I that's really empowering and powerful for a woman, especially as a mother, to be able to do. And it takes a lot of courage to be able to go against the grain of what we've been told to do. But it is, it is very delicious and juicy in the space of coaching to be able to witness women who are either coming from corporate or who have been running businesses that have been running them to the ground to stand on their own to feet and say, I no longer want it to feel this way. My goals haven't changed, my passion hasn't changed, I want my income to change, and I want the way it feels to change. Lovely. And that's a really great, powerful space from which to do business and in which I help women to expand as entrepreneurs in a way that satisfies their other goals of motherhood and marriage and travel and whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

And all the things. Oh my gosh, Gigi, such a holistic approach to empowering women to be able to see that they can do whatever they desire to because inwardly they have the power, they possess, we possess the power to rewrite the narrative. We don't have to abide by constructs, uh societal constructs that were set in place hundreds of years ago. Girl, we can girl, we could rewrite the narrative, we can create the legacy that we desire in the space that we desire that is feminine yet strong at the same time, and that allows us to meet those goals, reach those goals of whatever we want to do in this beautiful and dynamic life. Girl, come on now. Yeah, I love it. I love it. And um, we'll have a chance very shortly for our listeners to be able to connect with the community to keep in touch with you. But we've come to one of my favorite parts though. This is our millennial nostalgia break. Okay. Oh boy. Hopefully, you're ready for this one. So, Gigi, do you have a favorite millennial memory? Whether it's the clothes, the music, where you're into boy bands. Let's talk about it just for a little.

SPEAKER_03 40:37

Oh my gosh, I have so many. My very first ever concert was and sync. And at the time, yes, and sync all day, all day. At the time, I was in a singing dancing group called Fresh. So I've been performing and and on television since I was five. When I came to the United States, I continued performing for Univision and continued to get training. And then at around, I think, I don't know, it must have been like 13 or something, maybe 14, I don't remember. I got picked up by this girl band essentially. And I'll never forget we went in a van, all these four girls and two dads, and and then the moms, I think there were like three moms in another in another car, and we drove to, I think it must have been Orlando, and we had like a van, they like flattened out. This is probably shouldn't have done this, but they flattened out the seats in the back, and we had like pillows and things like that, and we were all just like laying out. And when we got to this concert in this giant park, it felt like we were driving for ages. We got to this concert and Britney Spears was opening. And I remember I was like, the whole audience was like booing her and telling her to get off stage, and I was like, This is not it. This girl sounds good. Like, what is this? And I remember all of us looking at each other and thinking, like, what if we get booed when we get off stage? Oh my gosh. You know, like what if we are performing somewhere and somebody and then Insync came on and we completely forgot about it. And um fast forward, Brittany is still making news, and um yeah, for better or worse, but she's still she had a phenomenal career.

SPEAKER_01 42:08

She had a great career for sure.

SPEAKER_03 42:09

Yeah, and it was like it's to this day, it's such a reminder of like, yeah, sometimes it's okay to get booed and you succeed regardless, you know. Sometimes we're just not ready, sometimes you're in the wrong place. Maybe she shouldn't have been opening for in sync, maybe she should have been doing her own thing, she was just on the on the wrong place, you know, at the right time. And so that's one of my favorite memories, is like my very first concert being in sync. And by the way, if they went back on stage and did concerts again, I would totally go see them anywhere.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

First of all, it needs to happen. Backstreet Boys just wrapped up a residency in Vegas, it looked phenomenal. In sync, if you happen to be listening to this, it's if it's on your feed, the algorithm finds you, just please go on tour. We are ready. We're ready, we're ready. Oh my gosh. Thank you. I love that. We are wrapping up shortly, but this is a point where um in the show where I like to reflect because sometimes as moms, we don't give ourselves enough grace, especially high-achieving moms. We're so used to operating with a spirit of perfectionism where grace really needs to replace that more. So if you had an opportunity to tell yourself when you were a first-time mom something that she would be proud of now, what would you tell her?

SPEAKER_03 43:21

I would tell her that her courage to go against the grain and do what she believes is best for her and for her son is always going to pay off and will always be the right path to follow, even if it doesn't feel like it at the time.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

Oh my goodness. I love that. Some of the things that we the decisions we make doesn't always feel comfortable because we may get a little bit of pushback, whether it's from family, friends, a boss, you know, a spouse, who knows. But we talked about that innate uh that innate power within. Inside of us that develops as we become moms. Okay. That mother's intuition, it's not a lie, it's the truth. Listeners, follow your gut instinct when it comes to what's going to be best for your family and for your child. You are an advocate and be empowered to believe that you can make change with the decisions you make.

SPEAKER_03 44:20

And that inner knowing is so important. I think one of the things that, and one of the reasons I love this podcast is, you know, I'm an I'm an old mom too, right? I had my kid when I was, I think, 37 or 38. Yeah. My OBGs, they were like, you gotta go see an expert in advanced maternal, whatever. And I was like, I don't have time for this. Like, I ain't going to do a doctor's appointment and then four doctors' appointment a month. Like, this is nonsense. And um, and and what I'll tell you is that I know myself a lot better in my 35 and over than I did in my 35 and under. Agreed. And when it comes to pushback, some things that I did that I would have gotten pushback if I had stopped to listen, but I didn't stop to listen. I did it because I needed to. Is for example, I want to say, like maybe two months before my son was born. Yeah. I was still looking through some of the communities and, you know, listening to other moms and stuff. And it was super toxic for me. And I was like, I don't want to hear what anybody else has done. And I stopped and I asked myself, and and by communities I mean like looking for like tips and ways to handle postpartum and all this other stuff. And I was like, this is not my vibe. So I stopped and I I sat down. Um, I had this mango tree at the house where we were living at, and I used to always sit under that tree to meditate. And I sat there and I was like, okay, what do I want postpartum to feel like? What do I need? Right. Yeah. And as I started to think about it, I was like, what I need is peace. I know myself. And I know that if I have the silence to listen through a moment, that moment being postpartum, that I can figure it out. I don't do well with people telling me what to do. I don't do well with opinions when they are unrequested because if I haven't asked for it, it's because I don't want it, right? And if I don't need it, I or or don't want it, then I don't want it imposed on me. Right. And I knew for a fact that I was gonna have a difficult recovery. I had to be a c-section. My son was breached the entire pregnancy. He was standing up with his little face digging into my right rib the entire time and stepping on my ladder, you know, and I knew I was gonna have to be a c-section. And I'm a very private person. I'm like, I don't want to be post-surgery, bleeding out of my hoo-ha and with a surgery and limping through my house and having to have people. And so I had a conversation with my husband and I told him, I said, I don't want anybody in the hospital. I don't want anybody in our house when we have the baby. Not the grandmas, not the grandpas, not nobody. It's we made this baby, I carried this baby, and we're bringing this baby in. You and I need to figure out who we are and what we are and what we need as a unit before we let third and fourth parties in the house. And he looked at me and he said, The grandmas are gonna have a hard time with that. And I was like, That's not my problem. I sent it in a group chat. I am sure conversations were had among them. There was some resistance. And when I said, I understand, but this is what we need, and we will let you guys know when we're ready for guests. I stood by that, and I'll tell you what, it was the best damn thing I ever did.

SPEAKER_01 47:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:10

Because it allowed me the space to connect with my husband on such a deep level in such an intimate transitional time. Yes. Of what it means for a marriage and for a woman to become a mother. Um, and also, and I say this with all the love in the world, but I don't always think that your tribe is the best support. And if your tribe isn't going to support you in the way that you need to be supported, it's okay to find a tribe somewhere else. And it's okay to um to to do some parts on your own too.

SPEAKER_02 47:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 47:41

Then the other thing that I did that was very much against the grain is I stopped breastfeeding at five days and I didn't want to, but I wasn't producing any milk, right? And my son would cry, he was latching perfectly. All the consultants were like, This is great, just keep trying, just keep trying. But I wasn't producing enough, and my son would cry himself purple, stop breathing for several seconds at a time. And I cannot tell you the level of anxiety that a mom would can feel watching her son not breathe, literally not breathe. Just you know, and I was like, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that because then he would eventually tire and fall asleep, still hungry. And I then I would cry until I wasn't breathing, was just hyperventilating tears, right? Because I felt like a failure, because breastfeeding is kind of depressing. So, you know, like the letdown requires you to have it's like a I forget the name now, but like your letdown literally causes a drop in your mood and all these other things. And I told my husband, I'm like, I need you to go to Publix right now and I need you to get formula because I'm not mentally okay. I can't handle this baby not breathing. And he he's gonna grow up eating something. And if I can't produce the food, he needs to have some sort of nutrition. That is best. I cannot tell you when I went to uh his pediatrician and I was still pumping. I have pictures of pumping all day and getting like less than an ounce of milk, you know, and his pediatrician telling me, because breast is best and all these other things. And I was like, I looked, well, no longer his pediatrician, and I said to him, I was like, My breast milk is replaceable. I am not. I can replace my breast milk with formula or whatever other supplement. I, my mental health, my ability to feel okay, my ability to work through the baby blues, postpartum depression, whatever I need to be good and healthy for my son, that is not replaceable.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:27

And I got a lot of pushback for not, you know, going harder at pumping for, you know, six months. And I was just like, no, I tried pumping several weeks after I stopped actually breast, after I started supplementing with um formula, and it just didn't work for me.

SPEAKER_01 49:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:41

And the pushback was insane, but I have to trust my inner knowing that in my mind, I am not replaceable. My breast milk is. And so it was formula for for mental health. And I just want to tell moms out there who are struggling with a decision that they want to make, don't ask around. You know, short of an actual medical decision, then absolutely go with a medical, go with medical support. But when it comes to motherhood, when it comes to raising your child, when it comes to this beautiful, magical, sacred transition, don't ask around. Ask yourself. Look at your child, hold your child close to your heart and ask you and your child, what do we need right now, baby? Tell me what you need, and I promise you, you will know. There are there is science that proves that our cells are activated by our children, that they're in each other. They have our cells, we have theirs. It is activated knowing of what they need and follow that unapologetically and shamelessly to the end to the edge of the earth. Yeah. Because that's the that's gonna be the best thing for you and for your son.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

Oh what a perfect place. What a perfect place for us to my gosh. I don't want this conversation to end. And I realize that you gotta come back so that we can talk about that postpartum wellness part a little bit anymore. Because what I realize, and what maybe a lot of listeners may not realize, is how challenging those first two weeks into that first full year, into almost that first two years it is, and how much your body changes, your your brain chemistry, how depleted you are, and how all those interworkings affect the mother, affect our supply, affect everything. And not a lot of people are talking about something that we call even postnatal depletion, which is basically a decreased amount of very important uh nutrients and vitamins and elements that when they are low, they actually increase your risk of baby blues, postpartum depression, and anxiety. So we need to get into that and GG. I really cannot thank you enough. This conversation was so soothing to the soul, it was like bomb to the soul, and it was an open door for more conversations to be had about the realness, uh not the what you see on TV on TV and social media romanticize, about the real impact that motherhood makes. But not only that, the essential inner workings, healings, and holistic approach that is actually obtainable when you do it in community, the inner workings when you trust yourself more as a new mom or as someone that's on a motherhood journey, pregnant, expecting, thinking about it. Wherever you are, trust the inner power that you possess to do this. Gigi, where can our listeners stay in contact with you? Because we just have to. You're you're amazing. Where can we stay connected?

SPEAKER_03 52:42

Thank you so much for this invitation and for uh allowing me a space inside your ecosystem to share these stories and these views and girl, in pass time. You can find me anywhere on all social media platforms as at G G Diaz Live. It's G-I-G-I-D-I-A-Z-L-I-V-E or G G Diaz.com. And I'd love to offer your community. I'll send you a link for our book bundle where they will get a signed copy of the book, free access to the 3R system, and uh access to some additional perks that are gonna be a ton of fun. So I'll include that link in the show and bio just for your community.

SPEAKER_01 53:22

Oh my gosh, Gigi, thank you again for such a thought-provoking and just beautiful. Like for those that are listening, when you get a chance to connect with Gigi, you'll see why I'm kind of stuck with her like Chuck, okay? Love it. She is the epitome of warmth inside and out. She is powerful, unapologetic. And uh, Gigi, we're so grateful that you just gave us a little glimpse of your ecosystem that you're creating and how you're empowering women in such a special way. Thank you for tuning into Musings of a Geriatric Mama. Please, if you have the opportunity, especially this episode, like, share with someone that needs to hear the realness about this journey. And once again, stay tuned for another impactful conversation. Thank you.