Mean girl culture doesn’t necessarily end when we grow up. For many women, it just follows us into motherhood. As the kids head back to school, Emily sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Noëlle Santorelli to unpack mean girl mom culture and the relational aggression that can show up in adult female friendships, mom groups, school communities, youth sports, and even group chats.

The episode explores why modern motherhood can feel so competitive, how social media and intensive mothering contribute to the pressure to perform, and why our need for belonging can sometimes bring out behaviors we don’t recognize in ourselves. Dr. Noëlle also shares practical ways to recognize patterns of relational aggression, decide when a friendship needs stronger boundaries, and protect your peace without automatically walking away from your community.

The episode discusses:

• What mean girl behavior can look like in motherhood
• How competition, scarcity, and belonging influence mom friendships
• The connection between social media and performative motherhood
• Signs that a mom group or friendship may be affecting your mental health
• Strategic distancing versus ending a friendship
• How to avoid contributing to toxic mom group dynamics

This episode is for every mom out there navigating her own sense of belonging while raising kids. Tune in, and don't forget to leave a 5-star rating and review wherever you listen!

🔗 Connect with Dr. Noëlle Santorelli:

Instagram: @drnoellesantorelli
TikTok: @drnoellesantorelli
Website: www.drnoellesantorelli.com

✨ Let’s keep the convo going:

Follow Emily on Instagram → @honestlyemilyrose
Follow the podcast on TikTok → @thesparkleprojectpod

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If this episode encouraged you, share it with a fellow mom and leave a 5-star review!

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With the Lindsay Clancy taking center stage in the current cultural conversation, this week's conversation is adding to the discussion about how a systemic lack of postpartum supports impacts moms, families, and society at large. In this episode, Emily explores what happens when one of the most vulnerable seasons of motherhood teaches you that you’re supposed to handle everything yourself.

Emily digs into the connection between inadequate postpartum support and the patterns of martyrdom, mom guilt, and self-sacrifice that can follow us into later stages of motherhood. She talks about why prioritizing yourself can feel so uncomfortable, how early experiences in motherhood can influence what you believe you should be able to handle, and why understanding where these patterns came from can be an important part of reconnecting with yourself.

In this episode:

• The gap between prenatal care and postpartum support
• How the lack of support becomes normalized in early motherhood
• The connection between postpartum experiences and maternal self-sacrifice
• Why asking for help can bring up shame and mom guilt
• How martyrdom contributes to losing your sense of self
• Why prioritizing yourself benefits more than just you
• The role of awareness and self-compassion in reconnecting with yourself

Whether you recently had a baby or you’re years beyond postpartum and wondering when you stopped feeling like yourself, this conversation offers a new way to understand why changing these patterns can feel so difficult.

If this episode resonates, share it with another mom who needs this conversation. And if The Sparkle Project is supporting you in your motherhood journey, subscribe and leave a five-star rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

✨ Let’s keep the convo going:

Follow Emily on Instagram → @honestlyemilyrose
Follow the podcast on TikTok → @thesparkleprojectpod

Subscribe + Review:
If this episode encouraged you, share it with a fellow mom and leave a 5-star review!

Episode Topics:

• postpartum support
• lack of postpartum support
• postpartum care for mothers
• postpartum mental health
• motherhood and identity
• losing yourself in motherhood
• feeling lost in motherhood
• reconnecting with yourself after motherhood
• maternal self-sacrifice
• motherhood martyrdom
• mom martyrdom
• mom guilt
• putting yourself first as a mom
• prioritizing yourself as a mom
• asking for help as a mom
• motherhood burnout
• support for new moms
• postpartum recovery
• postpartum anxiety
• postpartum depression
• postpartum mental health support
• motherhood and self-worth
• finding yourself again after having kids
• rediscovering yourself after motherhood
• sense of self after becoming a mom
• identity loss after having a baby

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You spent your whole life being the woman who worked hard, achieved your goals, and built an identity around being capable. Then motherhood arrived - and suddenly the strategies that always worked stopped working.

Many ambitious women enter motherhood believing they'll simply add "mom" to everything they've already built. Instead, they find themselves questioning their identity, battling perfectionism, and wondering why they no longer feel successful in the ways they once did. In this episode, Emily sits down with licensed mental health therapist and coach Alexis Adams to unpack the challenges high-achieving women often face in motherhood.

Together they explore the hidden pressure to perform, the emotional patterns that keep moms stuck, and why the answer isn't simply doing less. Alexis also shares her POWER framework for creating lasting change, helping moms move away from reacting out of fear and toward living with greater intention.

In this episode, they discuss:

• Why high-achieving women often struggle with identity after becoming moms
• How patterns of perfectionism and people-pleasing show up in motherhood
• Why success before kids doesn't always translate into confidence after kids
• Alexis's POWER framework for breaking reactive patterns
• Why self-awareness alone isn't enough to create change
• Learning to pursue ambition without sacrificing yourself

If motherhood has left you feeling unfulfilled and unsure of yourself, this is one you don't want to miss!

🔗 Connect with Alexis:

Instagram: @confidently.alexis
Website: www.confidentlytherapy.org

✨ Let’s keep the convo going:

Follow Emily on Instagram → @honestlyemilyrose
Follow the podcast on TikTok → @thesparkleprojectpod

Subscribe + Review:
If this episode encouraged you, share it with a fellow mom and leave a 5-star review!

Send us Fan Mail