Hey there, mama.

Anna here. Lately, I’ve been talking to a lot of women about our group coaching program Camp Can-A-Mama-Get-A-Minute, and the “why”s and the “what for”s of coaching. Does it really make a difference? Is it worth taking the time for? And these conversations have caused me to reflect on my own journey over the past eight years, since I started canoodling with coaching support. How I got here, to this life I am proud of that gives me purpose, pleasure, and a meaningful place on this blue-green marble on which I am lucky enough to live.

Today, I am a coach with my own practice. I work with writers and creatives looking to cultivate and share their authentic voice with the world. And in the Land of Luscious, I am Chief Creative Officer of both Luscious Mother Life & Leadership Coaching and LUMO, our corporate arm “Where Motherhood and Work Intersect,” passionately helping other women define their own version of luscious motherhood. I love what I do, I love who I’m doing it with, and I love the women and companies we are serving. My marriage is a solid partnership laced with humor and mutual respect. My relationship with my son, and my relationship to motherhood itself, is playful, meaningful, joyful.

But this certainly isn’t where I started. 8 years ago, when my Luscious adventure began I was dried up. Worn down. Bummed out. My brain numb from the endless cycle of laundry and trips to the grocery store.

My inner-monologue of hostility had started to creep past my frontal lobe and was breaking through the 4th wall of my home life. My seemingly bottomless pot of magical maternal goodness had become just another caked-on, crusty burden in the teetering tower of dishes in the kitchen sink. My screenwriting career had buckled under the pressure of motherhood, the ensuing wild hormonal ride, and an illness that nary a doctor could pin down.

I was checking boxes and getting it done, but in a decidedly unfulfilling, uninspired way. In this directionless tailspin of self-pity, I got a call from my friend Sarah Olin. She had read my tea leaves on social media: “You seem like you’re having a tough time. I want you to come to my retreat,” she said. “You deserve to feel LUSCIOUS!”

“Given my bourbon intake, I’m so much closer to lush than luscious,” I told her.

But, Sarah isn’t one to give up on the first “no.” She promised me a weekend of meaningful connections, actual adult conversations – with completed sentences! – around singular and interesting topics (read: NOT Pokemon).

Sarah’s offer was a chance to connect with women asking themselves the same questions I was asking myself:

“Am I the only one struggling with the monotony of motherhood? Does that make me a bad mom? A bad person?”

“Is this all there is? Am I delusional in thinking there should be… more? And if I’m not, then… ‘more’ what?”

“How do I get my dormant best self—the adventurous, curious, hilarious, joyful person I used to be—off life support and back in circulation?”

Sarah’s promises seemed lofty, but enticing. I booked a ticket to fly south from New England to Charlotte for my first retreat. Frankly, I was in as soon as she promised a weekend devoid of laundry, grocery stores, and Pikachu.

How was it? The weekend was a game changer. Actually, a life changer.

The retreat was a paradigm shift. Two days with a posse of ladies who arrived as strangers, but left as a sisterhood. Our relative anonymity matched with a commitment to empathy and openness allowed us to dispense with the need for the self-conscious veneer of social media polish and dig into the truth. We steeped ourselves in one another’s vulnerability and humor, sharing our own trials of modern motherhood without the fear of being judged or minimized by a tag of “but really I should feel so grateful.”

“Shoulds,” I am convinced, are the patriarchal gremlins that erode women’s boundaries and eat their soul. I await the science to support this theory.

My retreat weekend – which included zero spa treatments or fancy meals – led to deep connections, and lasting friendships. We are social animals, we humans. And mothers? Mothers need each other.

When I returned home I enlisted old and new friends to form our own circle of local “luscious mothers,” and it has become integral for my happiness. And my family’s. And that of my friends’ families. We remind each other who we are at our best and what we are committed to when we forget. (Which can be often!)

That, my fair ladies, is the secret sauce of Camp CMGM. Time for you. Tools to feel better, have more fun, and feel more fully expressed both personally and professionally. Hang with a group of amazing women (almost weekly) who have your back. Connect to yourself and connect to others. Access your innate power and confidence. Best of all? Be seen, heard and celebrated by a group of women who are looking to create the best life possible. Why would you settle for a life that’s a 6 or 7 when you could create a 9 or 10? Or even dare to explore the possibility of 11!

Coaching, Lusciousness, is what got me here. Could I have gotten here on my own? I’m inclined to say no. I suppose it would’ve been possible, but it would’ve been a lot more rigorous. And a LOT less Luscious.

Come get Luscious with us, sisters. And bring a friend. Sisterhood is the springboard you’ve been waiting for.

Anna & Sarah

P.S. If you sign up for Camp CMGM before August 1st, you will receive 1 hour of *FREE* 1-on-1 coaching with one of the Luscious Mother founders. 60 minutes to clear your mind, unburden your spirit, and help you get cracking on whatever is most important to you. A $295 value for FREE when you register for Camp CMGM!

P.P.S. Wanna rock your Sunday? Get that GPS!