On my podcast It’s a Lot this week, I chatted with Champagne Manley, owner of Cakedd by Champ, mom, and very creative human who has taken an unconventional path to where she is today. It was a fun recording session and felt like we could’ve talked for hours! We explored some of the low points of the years where they were deep in alcoholism, what it was like to attend their first AA meeting, and how working out has helped replace some of the feelings alcohol gave them. She also shared why she suddenly shut down her popular jewelry business, Pop Shop Jewelry (hint: running it wasn’t compatible with being present with her newborn in the NICU), and why becoming a cake and cookie baker and artist was actually a way better fit.

In the second half of our conversation, we discuss what happens when your baby shows up 10 weeks early, the joyful parts of raising a toddler, the lore of Baby Shark, and more.

This week on my podcast It’s a Lot, I spoke to my college friend Ashley Charbonneau, who is now a therapist, author, and podcaster. We met during our sophomore year of college and worked together on a research project about people's writing traumas and how they impacted their feelings about writing 🤓 It was so fun to have an in-depth conversation with Ashley over a decade and a half later. In the first half of the show, we discuss abusive workplaces, how AI is causing issues that therapists now have to determine how to deal with, the writing process for her new book, why she was inspired to start a podcast, and more.

In the second half of our conversation, we explore what it was like to become the guardian of a teenage sibling, how being the oldest of 8 affected Ashley growing up, her decision to be childfree by choice, and how to read more books you love!

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Champagne Manley says being a sober mom is her biggest flex

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