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Mondays With Motivo

A weekly newsletter from our CEO, Rachel

Jan 18, 2024

Ripple in still water

Hi friends, Several years ago, Warren and I lived in Los Angeles, CA. It was during our coming-of-age years - the years right after college when we were dating, and then newly married, establishing our careers, and finding our way in the world. Since we were both raised in the church, we began to search for a faith community soon after we arrived

Jan 15, 2024

Be in this moment

As I begin this post, I’m asking for a judgement-free zone. I want to admit to you that I have a deep love for trashy reality TV. I love it. As a therapist, I often feel a self-imposed pressure to do something interesting, insightful, or edifying with my down time. Like… read a book or something. Do any other therapists feel this way? However

Jan 8, 2024

Thanks for the "we"

\_"For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack." Rudyard Kipling-\_ Hi friends, I love watching depressing-yet-heartwarming movies. Don't you? They are my second favorite movie type after any sort of true-crime documentary about a cult, a murder, or intricate Ponzi scheme. One of my favorite depressing-ye

Dec 11, 2023

The wrong direction

Hi friends, Last night, I cussed out my yoga teacher. Granted it was only in my head, but I'm hoping she received the message telepathically. Every Sunday night, I go to a hot yoga class. The name of the class is "Fire Glow" and its basically 30 minutes of intense yoga poses, followed by a luxurious 30-minute nap on your mat. It's peaceful and

Nov 20, 2023

Grow, but don't change

Hi friends, A little over a month ago, Motivo welcomed a new member of our executive team. His name is Jon Stout and, he's kind of a big deal. He's one of those people who has had an extremely impressive career, but when you meet him, you'd never know it. He's humble, kind, disarming, and super-duper smart. Jon could have gone anywhere, but he c

Nov 12, 2023

The Period at the End of a Sentence

Hi friends, Some of you might remember a Mondays with Motivo I wrote a while back about a pregnancy loss I experienced last October. Getting pregnant wasn't in the plans for me and Warren, but when it happened naturally, we were beyond excited. I remember feeling like my future felt brighter and even more significant. Not long into my first trim

Feb 6, 2023

It takes a village

Recently, I came across a story on my social media feed that inspired me. You might have seen it as well. It was a post from an organization called New Era – a world-wide movement focused on activism, development, and support of Black communities. The specific clip I saw was from the Detroit chapter – and features Black men pumping gas, loading

Dec 19, 2022

Active stillness

I can distinctly remember a night a few months ago when I was, surprisingly, all caught up on my emails and had checked every single thing off of my work to-do list. There was absolutely nothing that still needed my attention. And, as the CEO of a growing startup, this was a pretty rare occurrence. However, instead of powering down my laptop and

Dec 12, 2022

Embracing what is

The holidays bring up a variety of emotions for many of us. I’ve heard before that the holiday season has a way of accentuating what one might already be feeling. If you’re stressed, you might feel even more overwhelmed. If you’re happy, you might feel even more joy. If you’re sad or lonely, the sadness might feel more intense. If you’re conte

Dec 5, 2022

You can't mess up what's meant to be

I make really good pancakes. Not just a little bit good, like really, really good. My nephew, Joe, has officially declared them to be “the best pancakes in the whole wide world.” I figure that some of my fellow carb-lovers out there might like the recipe so here it is: 2 eggs 2 cups of milk 5 Tbsp of vegetable oil 2 1/2 Tbsp of sugar 2 cups

Nov 21, 2022

"whole even through hurt"

A few months ago, I attended the wedding of one of my childhood friends. It was a beautiful wedding – with delicious food and perfect weather. However, I wasn’t a big fan of the words the officiant said at the ceremony. The minister said things like, “true happiness can’t occur until one finds a spouse” and “a person isn’t fully whole until they j

Nov 14, 2022

"let me slow down and be with her"

A gentle word of awareness: My reflections today discuss the topic of pregnancy, motherhood, and loss – which I realize can be a painful subject for many. Please feel free to prioritize yourself and skip this one if you feel it might be best to do so. —— I’ve mentioned here before that Warren and I are childless by choice. When we got married 16

Oct 31, 2022

There is only what is

Last week, I spoke about a new podcast I’ve been listening to from broadcast journalist, Anderson Cooper. It’s called All There Is with Anderson Cooper and it explores how people cope with grief and loss. I’m bringing it up again because I wanted to double-click on one powerful takeaway from the first episode of the podcast – which is about Ander

Oct 17, 2022

The one contains the all

One of my favorite things to do for my own self-care is get a massage. In fact, I once told Warren, “If you are ever about to order me flowers for any reason, stop yourself, and book me a massage instead.” This past weekend, I got a massage at my regular place, but I was assigned to a therapist I’ve never had before – she was new to the establis

Oct 3, 2022

Sweeping my own side of the street

Okay – big news to share today. Wrigley, our new puppy, officially came home to us last week. Brace yourself — here he is… He’s a 3.5 pound Boston Terrier – the runt of his litter – and a total party animal. He’s definitely a 7 on the Enneagram scale. I’m sure you’re immediately wondering, “What does big sister Lucy think?” Well, I gotta be

Sep 27, 2022

Sharing our calm

A few weeks ago, I came across a quote that resonated with me. Here it is: “When our little people are overwhelmed by big emotions it is our job to share our calm, not join their chaos.” \~ L.R. Knost The quote immediately reminded me of a story one of my former supervisees told me several years ago. Amber (not her real name) was a new therapis

Sep 19, 2022

Thank you for teaching me that

This past week, I’ve been visiting my family in North Georgia. I take my role of “Aunt Rachel” very seriously and so my visits are typically a whirlwind of sleepovers, late night movie watching, daily runs to the ice cream store, and Target shopping sprees. I return home more exhausted than when I left — and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sep 12, 2022

Getting better with age

My partner, Warren, loves to watch sports. He doesn’t discriminate against any particular type of sport – he loves them all. Warren watches football, women’s basketball, men’s basketball, baseball, tennis, and (my personal hell) golf. I prefer more sophisticated television, like The Bachelorette, Selling Sunset, or similar shows that make me los

Sep 5, 2022

Feeling small, on purpose

We don’t have a brick and mortar office at Motivo — all our team members work 100% remotely. We like it this way cause it means 1) we don’t have to put on real pants, 2) we don’t spend hours of our week commuting, and 3) we can spend more time with those most precious to us — our people, pets, and plants. However, working remote means we also have

Aug 29, 2022

Comma, yet

As therapists, we know that language is important. The words we use have an impact on our beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. There are certain words that I’ve tried to remove from my vocabulary. These are words that convey black-and-white-thinking, shame, or blame. A few examples are words like: should, always, and never. On the fli

Aug 21, 2022

One step closer to healing

Do you ever scroll through social media and come across a post so powerful that you have to screenshot it and save it for later? That’s what I did this weekend when I saw an Instagram post from Vienna Pharaon, founder of @mindfulmft. Here is what it said… Screen Shot 2022-08-21 at 9.57.16 AM Wow. Pretty powerful words. About five years ago, I e

Aug 15, 2022

The place that raised us

Originally, I had a whole different Mondays with Motivo written for today. Then, late Saturday night, Warren and I learned that a dear friend from Los Angeles had passed away. Her name was Paulette. I’ve never been good at keeping a journal so Mondays with Motivo is often my go-to medium for processing thoughts, feelings and emotions. And, there

Aug 8, 2022

The unseen becoming seen

This past weekend, my husband and I took a quick trip to Chicago to celebrate his 40th birthday. Ironically, two of the most important people in my life – my sister and my husband – were born just 20 days apart. So, suffice it to say, I’ve been in major planning + celebration mode these last few weeks. Warren is a die-hard Cubs fan, always has be

Aug 1, 2022

Sending the elevator back down

I used to hate elevators. I’m still not crazy about them – particularly old ones that are small and compact. If there is an option to take the stairs, I usually do. The worst kind of elevators are the ones that move slow and try to fool you into thinking you’re about to get trapped. I wouldn’t say I’m full-on claustrophobic – I just don’t like e

Jul 25, 2022

More than the absence of

This past weekend, my sister, Becca, and I took a quick trip to Martha’s Vineyard to celebrate her 40th birthday. Becca is an American Sign Language interpreter and she’s always wanted to go to Martha’s Vineyard because the island has a rich and interesting history of sign language. If you are curious, you can read about the Vineyard’s sign langu

Jul 18, 2022

I don't worry about you

Recently, I listened to this podcast interview with Natalie Portman on Glennon Doyle’s You Can Do Hard Things. I’ve always loved Natalie Portman — I think she’s an incredible actor and I loved the active stance she took in the #MeToo movement several years ago. It’s a great podcast episode with a lot gems throughout – but the part I liked the mos

Jul 11, 2022

Remembering what's true

My sister is an avid reader – she reads like 5-6 books a month. She is always recommending books to me and I always say, “sounds interesting” and then I never read them. I prefer podcasts. I regularly send her links to different podcast episodes and she says, “sounds interesting” and then she never listens to them. A few months ago, she said, “C

Jul 4, 2022

Creating a better America

When I was growing up, the Fourth of July meant a few things – fireworks, burgers and hotdogs, my dad’s homemade Oreo ice cream, and sitting on our deck until the mosquitos drove us back inside. I would feel pride for my country and gratitude for my family. Today, Independence Day feels a bit different. The last few years, I’ve been trying to c

Jun 26, 2022

One question that changed my point of view

Deep breath. This is a hard one to write. I laid in bed all morning today (Saturday) trying to decide how I could bring sense, comfort, or hope through Mondays with Motivo, when I’m experiencing none of those feelings myself, in light of the overturn of Roe v Wade. I’m guessing some of you might have experienced similar feelings during your Frida

Jun 20, 2022

The importance of Juneteenth and what it means to me

Dr. Carla here. For those I haven’t met just yet, I’m Motivo’s new Chief Clinical Officer. I help strengthen our clinical voice and systems throughout the company. I’m also creating the framework for our continuing education platform, launching this Fall. Rachel is back in The States, but I decided to jump in for an opportunity to write about a cel

Jun 13, 2022

Celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community

Hope everyone had a good week! I’ve been looking forward to writing this next entry as it is near and dear to my heart while I continue my journey as an ally for the LGTBQIA+ community. Inclusivity is so important and something that is so sought after, yet not always achieved in today’s society. While Pride Month is something to be celebrated and

Jun 6, 2022

Music makes the world go round

Changing Mondays with Motivo to Music with Motivo for this week – the boss is out of town so here’s my chance! 🎵 I want to talk about the different ways music impacts everyone and brings people together. Everyone has songs that they play when they are sad, happy, angry, unmotivated, tired – you name it, we got a song for that. Music has a uniqu

May 30, 2022

Time to recharge

Sarah McReynolds here from the Community Operations team filling in while Rachel takes a break to travel and recharge. Recharging is so important and rarely done in today’s fast-paced world. Recharging looks different to different people: whether that be traveling, spending time with loved ones, cooking a meal, and listening to or playing music.

May 23, 2022

Through our very own heartbeat

Recently, I joined a network of women leaders called Chief. The goal of Chief is to strengthen women leaders, magnify our influence, and pave the way for more women in executive positions. Pretty cool, right?! A key element of Chief membership is what they call “Core Groups.” Core Groups are a group of 6-8 women who meet together monthly to discus

May 16, 2022

Becoming a more distilled version of myself

Today is my 41st birthday. I’m not one of those people who likes to keep my birthday a secret. I actually don’t understand those kinds of people at all. I like everyone to know it’s my birthday, birth week, and birth month. I remember when I turned 21, I really wanted a surprise party. My sister and brother got right to it and planned a huge part

May 9, 2022

To the women...

Years ago, when I was in my graduate program in Los Angeles, I would leave the house really (really) early on Tuesday and Thursday mornings in order to drive to my practicum placement at an all-girls Catholic high school. On these early morning drives, I would often listen to Brooke Waggoner. You know how certain songs immediately take you back to

May 2, 2022

Together

People often ask me a variety of questions about the origin of Motivo. They ask things like, How did you come up with the idea? What inspired you to pursue it full time? How did you find people to invest in Motivo? What have you learned along the way? I particularly like the last question – What have you learned along the way? I could talk abo

Apr 25, 2022

Don't change your Wordle strategy

An incredibly unfortunate event happened in my life this past week. At the risk of sounding over-dramatic, I’ll say that it was truly tragic. I, along with 300,000 other people, play the game Wordle every day. If you are unfamiliar with Wordle, it’s a NY Times daily word challenge in which players try to guess a random five-letter word in six gues

Apr 18, 2022

Pain, waiting, rising

You may have noticed that three major world religions had an overlap in holidays this past weekend. Muslims are currently in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan, while Jews are celebrating Passover from April 15-23 and, yesterday, April 17, Christians celebrated Easter. As I’ve mentioned here before, I was raised in the Christian faith but, as

Apr 11, 2022

R&R as an ambivert

Motivo is on the road this week: at Texas Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, American Counseling Association, and NatCon22 with National Council for Mental Well-Being. It is quite a whirlwind being back in person and such a good feeling to meet Motivo teammates beyond the Zoom square. In light of all of this traveling, I am taking tod

Apr 4, 2022

Thoughts on regret

A couple of weeks ago, I listened to this Armchair Expert episode with New York Times bestselling author, Daniel Pink. Dax and Monica interviewed Daniel about his recent book, “The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward.” It was a powerful episode that has stuck with me all week. Daniel believes, and his research has shown, that re

Mar 28, 2022

Personal sustainability

This past week, I had a few skip-level meetings with various Motivo employees. If you are unfamiliar with this term, I was too! In short, it’s a one-on-one meeting between a manager and a team member who doesn’t directly report to the manager. The goal of the meeting is to build rapport with other members of the company, and to gain insight and fe

Mar 21, 2022

Always a student

Hi friends, One of my favorite quotes is from American cinematographer, Conrad Hall who said, “You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward.” I think I’m drawn to this quote because I’ve always been a bit obsessed with learning, particularly as it pertains to my own growth and development. When I was in grad school,

Mar 14, 2022

Not merely the absence of

Recently, I joined the Board of Advisors for Capella University’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences, as a behavioral health representative. This past week, I attended my first in-person board meeting in Orlando and really enjoyed seeing the 3D version of people I’ve only ever met on Zoom. We had a lot of rich discussion over the two days about

Mar 7, 2022

Suspended coffee

Warren and I love to watch cooking and travel shows on the weekends. The Great British Baking Show is one of my faves — it always makes we wish I was British. A few weekends ago, we were watching Searching for Italy with Stanley Tucci – have you seen it? It’s so good. The first episode highlights Naples and the Amalfi Coast, and it will have you

Mar 6, 2022

There goes me

Today, I want to share a story of one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve ever had as a therapist. I’m sure many of you have moments like this that stand out in your mind – one of those defining moments where you learn something from a client, a supervisor, or a colleague that shifts your thinking about the work we do as therapists and impact

Mar 6, 2022

Embracing Pain: A Journey of Growth and Healing in Mental Health

Last week, I shared a link to this TED Talk with Dr. LaTonya Summers in the resources section of Mondays with Motivo. Did you have a chance to watch it? In case you missed it, I wanted to share it again because I can’t stop thinking about it! The eight-minute TED Talk is packed with incredible wisdom, insight, and vulnerability. Here it is again

Mar 4, 2022

Nurturing Hope in 2022: Embracing Resilience, Action, and Personal Growth

Hope is the thing with feathers. Happy New Year! Here we are at 2022 – can you believe it?? 😳 I hope each of you had a lovely holiday season. I sure did. Warren got me a plush robe which I wore over my pajamas for two straight weeks and it was glorious. Today, as we head into 2022, I want to share a few thoughts on hope. We’ve been through – an

Feb 28, 2022

Wired for struggle, wired for strength

Those of you who read Mondays with Motivo regularly know that I’m a big podcast fan, plus a big Brené Brown fan. These two things were combined last week when I listened to this Armchair Expert podcast interview with Brené Brown about her new book, Atlas of the Heart. I’m familiar with Atlas of the Heart because several members of our Motivo team

Feb 21, 2022

Sisu: Sustained courage

Last year, we hired a Chief Operating Officer at Motivo. I interviewed a lot of people and ultimately decided on Sarah Louragh — a super smart and incredibly driven leader, who previously worked at Airbnb. Sarah is the ying to my yang at Motivo. She’s strong in all the areas I’m not as strong — like operations, systems and processes, and pretty muc

Feb 14, 2022

Not knowing

This past week, I received an email from one of my old college friends, Aaron. Aaron, and his wife, Grete, are two of my favorite people. They are the kind of people who seemed super wise even when they were young – do you know what I mean? In college, I remember Aaron and Grete being regularly sought out for advice and guidance even when they were

Jan 24, 2022

Deep listening, loving speech

One of my favorite authors, activists, and teachers passed away this past week – Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh. Thich Nhat Hanh was a widely known and highly respected peace activist, Vietnamese monk and mindfulness teacher. During his 95 years on this earth, he wrote over 100 books on the practice of mindfulness, global ethics and peace. I’m not

Each Monday, I’ll share my perspective on topics that mean a lot to me: growth, resilience, relationships, and leadership.

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