Amy Johnson is a mother of six, family lawyer and managing partner. We talk about leaving an unsafe marriage, building a career from scratch, and how faith and community opened doors when plans were unclear. Her lived experience now fuels a distinct approach to family law, safety planning, and raising good humans across different paths. We discussed:

• early life, independence, and love of learning
• staying home, daycare math, and coercive control
• the exit without a map and finding immediate help
• faith, church logistics, and “don’t shoulder check”
• safety planning, shelters, and community referrals
• mature-student tactics for law school with six kids
• hospitality as belonging and antidote to isolation
• Windsor roots, articling, and firm-building
• overnight shift to managing partner and operations
• parenting philosophy and valuing each child’s path
• practical hope for mothers feeling trapped

Link to get in touch with Amy at Johnson Miller.

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Tracy Gillett, author and founder at Raised Good, wanted to inspire parents to raise their children with more connection and intention. What began as a blog during her son's nap times has grown into a platform reaching millions, offering resources and community for those seeking alternatives to conventional parenting approaches.

Tracy shares how an award-winning blog grew into a thriving natural parenting community, the Gather membership, and the annual Raised Good Summit. We talk safe bed-sharing and co-sleeping, secure attachment and the power of rupture-and-repair, homeschooling while working, and finding the courage to use your voice. Tracy opens up about her fertility journey, career pivots, and the relationship-first strategies that helped her collaborate with top experts

What you’ll learn

• What it means to follow natural parenting principles
• Science-backed safe bed-sharing & co-sleeping basics
• How secure attachment survives (and grows through) repair
• Designing work and learning around family values
• Building community off social media (inside Gather)
• Turning a blog into a purpose-driven business and summit

Register for the free 2025 Raised Good Summit running September 18-22 featuring over 25 masterclasses with world-renowned experts about raising kids who feel deeply loved, can handle big emotions, and come to you when it matters most.

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Mariela Pecoraro shares her journey of entrepreneurship, faith, and family life as she and her husband Brian have built and sold shower door businesses while raising three young daughters. Listen to learn more about...

• How their entrepreneurship journey was started after relocating to Florida to be close to family support
• Prioritized becoming debt-free
• How to prepare a business for sale
• How to establish boundaries between work and family life to maintain balance
• How to be guided in major life and business decisions through their family verse, Proverbs 3:5-6
• How they recently transitioned into homeschooling their oldest daughter to reclaim lost time and create more freedom
• Discovered that starting each day with prayer leads to greater productivity and peace

Connect with Timeless Shower Doors at TimelessShowerDoors.com or find Mariela on Instagram where she loves connecting with and praying for other moms.

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Calissa Smith shares how she built two thriving businesses around her family's needs while creating community for children of all developmental levels and their parents. She reveals the journey of transitioning from employment to entrepreneurship through a series of small steps of faith rather than one intimidating leap.

• Starting with group music classes at Sing Play Speak that incorporate language development before launching individual speech therapy services through Thrive Therapy
• Using the power of peer learning and socialization to benefit children of all developmental levels
• Taking small steps of faith instead of intimidating leaps when building a business
• How word-of-mouth referrals from community relationships proved more effective than traditional marketing
• Setting boundaries to protect family time even as business grows
• Finding divine timing in business growth, especially when navigating her son's epilepsy diagnosis
• The story behind her new Lake Orion space and the miraculous way it came together
• Creating genuine community spaces where parents and children can connect
• Future plans for mama entrepreneur meetups and therapist networks

If you're considering taking steps toward building your own business and you're a believer, put God's timing over yours. When you wait for the right timing, it will be better than you imagined.

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Lauren Washington, a former pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) nurse, shares her courageous journey of leaving healthcare after COVID to be more present with her children and pursue a life aligned with her values. She discusses the identity crisis that came with stepping away from her career, finding peace in a slower pace, and how transitioning from clinical nursing to becoming a doula allowed her to use her skills in a new way.

• Working in pediatric emergency and intensive care before having children
• The identity crisis and guilt that came with leaving a prestigious nursing career
• Creating a slower pace of life with morning cuddles and homeschooling
• Moving from suburbs to country to provide more space and opportunities for the family
• Becoming a doula after experiencing both traumatic and empowering births
• Navigating multiple passions and interests while prioritizing motherhood
• Using homeschooling to teach life skills beyond traditional academics
• Balancing holistic health values with traditional medical approaches
• Finding identity and purpose in faith rather than career achievements
• Simplifying and taking small steps toward personal goals during the little years

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Emily, a mother of seven, shares her journey of discovering her calling to be fully present in motherhood and living that calling wholeheartedly through biological parenting, foster care, and adoption. Her story reveals how God works through our willingness rather than our perfection, showing how she built a beautifully blended family while navigating real challenges and experiencing incredible grace.

• Becoming a mom at 22 and knowing from the start that motherhood would be her primary calling
• Growing her family from two biological children to becoming licensed foster parents
• Receiving a newborn straight from the hospital and experiencing instant attachment
• Navigating different attachment styles with her adopted children and the importance of age-appropriate honesty
• Finding unexpected compassion for biological parents while struggling more with the broken foster care system
• Learning to trust God with her children's futures rather than carrying anxiety about what might happen
• Creating moments of rest through simple practices like walking, reading, and prioritizing quiet time
• Embracing the sanctifying nature of family life while acknowledging it isn't always perfect
• Encouraging those considering large families to take it "one kid at a time" and trust God's timing

Connect with Emily through her foster care support group called The Village or through the House of Providence, a therapeutic group home for girls where she serves on the board.

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Discover how mothers can find remote part-time work in law firms without requiring a legal degree, with roles paying between $17-$40 per hour. These positions include client intake, scheduling, billing, CRM management, social media, and administrative tasks that leverage the organizational and communication skills mothers already use daily.

• Law firms, especially small ones, actively seek trustworthy part-time remote help
• Most positions range from 5-20 hours weekly with firms willing to train the right person
• Moms make excellent candidates due to their organizational skills and emotional intelligence
• Start by identifying your transferable skills in areas like customer service, organization, or communication
• Learn basic legal terminology through free online resources
• Create a resume highlighting relevant skills, especially confidentiality
• Search for opportunities on LinkedIn, Indeed, FlexJobs, Upwork, and through local networking
• During interviews, emphasize your reliability, consistent availability, and interest in long-term growth

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Nicole Troster, CEO of Courage Labs, shares her journey helping women scale service-based businesses beyond $500,000. We discussed:

• Drawing inspiration from her entrepreneur mother who ran a hospitality business for 34 years after immigrating to Canada
• Developing frameworks to help women scale service-based businesses while avoiding burnout.
• Navigating the tension between career growth and being present for young children.
• Planning for maternity leave as an entrepreneur through stakeholder conversations.
• Shifting from working IN the business to working ON the business to enable scaling.
• Letting go of tasks that aren't your strengths to focus on high-impact priorities.
• Building support systems and having honest conversations about motherhood challenges.
• Creating business systems that provide both time freedom and financial growth.
• Working with clients to create human-centered design for service businesses.

Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn or visit Coeurage Labs to learn more about her coaching programs and services for women entrepreneurs.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another mom who needs encouragement. Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

For other episodes and resources, visit our website at https://littlehandsbigplans.co/pages/podcast