Podcasts about momables

If you're a busy parent with personal and professional goals, you will love this episode. It's packed with actionable tips, from eating better with your family to finding the time to achieve your health goals.   Listen to Laura Fuentes and I discuss topics like personal nutrition and family nutrition, figuring out how much to eat when you're training for something (or working out hard at the gym), and how she found the time to train for the Berlin Marathon while running a successful business and being a mom of 3 kids.   You can find Laura on Instagram over @MOMables and check out her websites: LauraFuentes.com, MOMables.com, and TequilaOclock.com. For Fitness and Nutrition coaching, remote or virtual check out www.stackedcoaching.com

Laura Fuentes, founder of MOMables.com, shares her thoughts on the kitchen tasks kids should learn — and at what age. Author of five cookbooks and mom of three, Laura wants to help parents who want to learn to cook, feed their families and teach their kids. Plus, meet our latest Cooking Kiddo, Rhea Dhingra, from Toronto, Canada.

There's no getting around the fact that we all have to eat and feed our kids, but when dinner time rolls around, you've had a busy day, you're exhausted, and hangry, figuring out what you're going to cook—and what everyone will eat—can feel impossible. Yet with some easy, stress-free meal planning ideas, you can get dinner on the table in no time and bring back the joy in cooking. In this episode, I sat down with Laura Fuentes, founder of the popular site, MOMables. Laura has helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits as a family with her Family KickStart Program and weekly meal plans. Laura is also the author of 5 cookbooks, including her most recent title, Clean Treats for Everyone: Healthy Desserts and Snacks Made with Simple, Real Food Ingredients, an entrepreneur, public speaker, and spokesperson.  Laura explains how to make meal planning easy and enjoyable, how you can save 5 hours of cooking and cleaning in just one hour a week, and how to make cooking enjoyable even if your kids don't eat what you make. Her realistic meal planning ideas will give you a ton of inspiration in the kitchen and make mealtimes pleasurable again.  Welcome 2:34 Let's talk about your story! 7:02 More people took up home cooking during the pandemic and it seems it's a trend that has stuck, but parents are too busy and stressed to cook. How do we bring back the joy to cooking? 10:00 Why is it not a good idea to become a short-order cook? 12:10 When we hear meal planning, we think it's time-consuming, complicated, and overwhelming. True?  22:39 What's the easiest way to get started with meal planning? 26:11 You say people can save 5 hours of cooking and cleaning in one hour a week. How is that possible? 30:14 What are some ways to find healthy, delicious recipes that everyone will enjoy? 35:00 What are your favorite tips for making the most of your meals? 38:54 What do you think about the meal kit subscriptions? LINKS MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Julie mentions this 2022 survey which found 39% of people are cooking 3 to 5 times a week and this 2021 survey which shows parents are too busy and stressed to cook. Laura mentions her popular chili recipe.  Laura talks about her experience with Blue Apron.  Learn more about Laura Fuentes on MOMables.com, and follow her on YouTube and Instagram.  FROM OUR PARTNERS Kids Cook Real Food eCourse The Kids Cook Real Food eCourse, created by a mom of 4 and a former elementary school teacher, is designed to build connection, confidence, and creativity in the kitchen. The course includes 30 basic cooking skills, 45 videos including several bonuses, printable supply and grocery shopping lists, and kid-friendly recipes. The course is designed for all kids ages 2 to teen and has three different skill levels. More than 18,000 families have taken the course and The Wall Street Journal named it the #1 cooking class for kids. Sign up now for the Kids Cook Real Food ecourse and get a free lesson for being a “Food Issues” listener. Thrive Market Thrive Market is an online membership-based market that has the highest quality, organic, non-GMO, healthy, and sustainable products. From groceries, clean beauty, safe supplements, and non-toxic home products to ethical meat, sustainable seafood, clean wine, and more, Thrive Market is where members save an average of $32 on every order! Through Thrive Gives, every paid membership sponsors a free one for a low-income family. Join Thrive Market today and get 25% off your first order and a free gift. 

Sometimes you just need some real talk...and some pancakes. Our interview with Laura Fuentes of Momables managed to do both. Laura let us in on a few of her favorite and effective ways to keep up with a growing family, dinner, and lunches for the week. She also shared a chicken recipe that we can't wait to try. You're bound to find one tip, technique, or recipe to try in this episode. https://dinnersisters.com/2022/02/17/episode-220-laura-fuentes-interview-momables/Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/dinnersisters)

What We Cover: Want to skip straight to a hot topic? See timestamps below. But of course, we recommend listening all the way through to get all the great tips and tricks! 2:48 Get to know Laura! 12:15 How to transform mealtime 13:44 Family communication tips 16:30 How to delegate to your kids 19:46 Tips to start short-order cooking 29:11 How to incorporate new flavors 37:00 Meal Plans 44:22 Laura's easy staple weeknight recipe Relevant Links Check out Laura's Website Follow @LauraSFuentes & @MOMables on Instagram How to Stop Short-Order Cooking for Your Family Laura's Baked Chicken Thigh Recipe 23 Quick & Easy Sheet Pan Dinners Meal Planning Tips + FREE Grocery List Printable 50 Easy Dinners Ready in 30 Minutes or Less Other Podcast Episodes to Check Out: Episode 72: How to Create a No Stress Dinner Plan Episode 45: Conquering Family Mealtime Struggles Episode 21: Meal Planning & Cooking with Kids On this episode of the Healthy Family Project Podcast, we're joined by Laura Fuentes, creator of MOMables, to discuss short order cooking and steps families can take to avoid it and make mealtime stress-free. We covered how to set boundaries and improve family communication, how to ease into meal planning, and tons of kitchen hacks to save time and make cooking less overwhelming. As busy parents, we're often pulled in a million directions between work, school, extracurricular activities, driving kids around, on top of all of our daily tasks. Time and time again, we hear from parents who find themselves feeling stressed spending way too much time in the kitchen cooking different meals for their selective eaters while trying to meal prep and pack lunches for the week. We're here to discuss how parents can cut back on the constant short order cooking and transform mealtime to balance their kids' food preferences without defaulting into cooking 3+ meals every night. Spoiler alert: it's totally possible and throughout the episode, you'll hear lots of tips and strategies to make mealtime work for your family in a way that reduces stress, kitchen clean up and time spent cooking. About Our Guest, Laura Fuentes Laura Fuentes is the creator of MOMables, where she's helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits as a family with her Family KickStart Program and Weekly Meal Plans.  She's the Author of 5 Cookbooks, a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, spokesperson, makes regular television appearances like on TODAY and Good Morning America, has competed on Food Network and won! Her 100K + YouTube subscribers make her an “official YouTuber” according to her 10-year-old that is.  Laura is bilingual, born and raised in Spain, and currently lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and 3 kids. In her spare time, Laura reads, sleeps, and works out. What she loves most is taking her family on travel adventures.

Dig into this exciting interview with Laura Fuentes with me! We're talking all things family meals from how to logistically make family meals happen, to how to handle it when your kids aren't liking the changes.  Top Insights from this episode:>The difference between traditional meal prep and family meal prep >Why meal prep is so useful for families>How to handle it when your kid refuses dinner>The mindset shifts to help you handle picky eatingLaura Fuentes is the creator of MOMables, where she's helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits as a family with her Family KickStart Program and weekly meal plan.She's the Author of 5 Cookbooks, a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, spokesperson, makes regular television appearances like on TODAY and Good Morning America, has competed on Food Network and won! Her 100K + YouTube subscribers make her an “official YouTuber” according to her 9-year-old that is.Laura is bilingual, born and raised in Spain, and currently lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and 3 kids. In her spare time, Laura reads, sleeps, and works out. What she loves most is taking her family on travel adventures.Download a Free clean eating handbook that includes a sample weekly plan, a pantry and fridge list and tips to help you simplify your family's meals week after week here.You can find more about Laura on LauraFuentes.com, on Instagram @LauraSFuentes and @MOMables.  You can also watch her on Youtube.  

In this episode, I talk to Laura Fuentes, the creator of MOMables, to chat all about meal planning for busy families and how to get started when you're too overwhelmed to take that first step! These tips will set you up for success in creating a maintainable family meal plan and make the thought of mealtime prep more enjoyable! Laura and I both agree that many times the thought of meal planning can be too overwhelming for many, especially when both parents are often working full time hours and carting their kids around to activities on top of school or daycare. I've been there too and I know the daunting feeling of feeding my family healthy meals, packing lunches and then doing the whole dang thing over again the next week. Laura has so much knowledge and really breaks down easy tips for making meal planning a habit, for planning meals with minimum time - and as a mom of 3 - she shares some of the super smart strategies she implements to have meals ready and on the table FAST! Plus… she gives us her top 5 breakfast ideas to keep ideas fresh and varied…cause that breakfast rut is a very real thing!  I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did and as always, if you find the tips helpful in this episode please leave a rating and review at Apple Podcasts! Just a quick one line review and a 5 star rating helps me reach more parents just like you who can benefit from my tips and tricks when it comes to feeding their little one :) ♥ Listen on Apple Podcasts                 ♥ Listen on Spotify                 ♥ Listen on Google Podcasts   Additional Resources: Starting solids with your baby? If you're unsure where to start, jump right into my Baby Led Feeding online course! This course gives you all the steps - from what to feed, how to feed and how to progress your baby in textures, so you set your baby up with the skills to become an adventurous eater for life! BABY LED FEEDING ONLINE COURSE: https://mylittleeater.com/baby-led-feeding/ If you've started noticing your toddler having picky tendencies, my Feeding Toddlers online course is a great resource. This course will give you all the tricks to get you on the right path to raising an adventurous and happy eater, eliminating mealtime battles for good!  FEEDING TODDLERS ONLINE COURSE: https://mylittleeater.com/feeding-toddlers/ Laura's Bio:  Laura Fuentes is the creator of MOMables, where she's helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits as a family with her Family KickStart Program and weekly meal plan. She's the Author of 5 Cookbooks, a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, spokesperson, makes regular television appearances like on TODAY and Good Morning America, has competed on Food Network and won! Her 100K + YouTube subscribers make her an “official YouTuber” according to her 9-year-old that is. Laura is bilingual, born and raised in Spain, and currently lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and 3 kids. In her spare time, Laura reads, sleeps, and works out. What she loves most is taking her family on travel adventures. You can find more about Laura on LauraFuentes.com, on Instagram @LauraSFuentes and MOMables.com WEBSITE LINKS: https://www.laurafuentes.com  and  https://www.momables.com INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/laurasfuentes/ 30-DAY FAMILY KICKSTART PROGRAM: https://www.laurafuentes.com/family-kickstart-clean-eating-meal-plan/ COOKBOOKS: https://www.amazon.com/Laura-Fuentes/e/B00IKUA23W/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1397245955&sr=8-1 FREE CLEAN EATING HANDBOOK: https://www.momables.com/exclusive-real-food-ks/ Skip To… Laura's journey with MOMables (3:07) The simplest way to start meal planning (9:57) Typical steps and tricks for easy meal planning (16:00) 5 go to breakfast ideas for busy mornings (28:17)

In this episode, I talk to Laura Fuentes, the creator of MOMables, to chat all about meal planning for busy families and how to get started when you're too overwhelmed to take that first step! These tips will set you up for success in creating a maintainable family meal plan and make the thought of mealtime prep more enjoyable! Laura and I both agree that many times the thought of meal planning can be too overwhelming for many, especially when both parents are often working full time hours and carting their kids around to activities on top of school or daycare. I've been there too and I know the daunting feeling of feeding my family healthy meals, packing lunches and then doing the whole dang thing over again the next week. Laura has so much knowledge and really breaks down easy tips for making meal planning a habit, for planning meals with minimum time - and as a mom of 3 - she shares some of the super smart strategies she implements to have meals ready and on the table FAST! Plus… she gives us her top 5 breakfast ideas to keep ideas fresh and varied…cause that breakfast rut is a very real thing!  I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did and as always, if you find the tips helpful in this episode please leave a rating and review at Apple Podcasts! Just a quick one line review and a 5 star rating helps me reach more parents just like you who can benefit from my tips and tricks when it comes to feeding their little one :) ♥ Listen on Apple Podcasts                 ♥ Listen on Spotify                 ♥ Listen on Google Podcasts   Additional Resources: Starting solids with your baby? If you're unsure where to start, jump right into my Baby Led Feeding online course! This course gives you all the steps - from what to feed, how to feed and how to progress your baby in textures, so you set your baby up with the skills to become an adventurous eater for life! BABY LED FEEDING ONLINE COURSE: http://mylittleeater.com/baby-led-feeding/ If you've started noticing your toddler having picky tendencies, my Feeding Toddlers online course is a great resource. This course will give you all the tricks to get you on the right path to raising an adventurous and happy eater, eliminating mealtime battles for good!  FEEDING TODDLERS ONLINE COURSE: http://mylittleeater.com/feeding-toddlers/ Laura's Bio:  Laura Fuentes is the creator of MOMables, where she's helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits as a family with her Family KickStart Program and weekly meal plan. She's the Author of 5 Cookbooks, a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, spokesperson, makes regular television appearances like on TODAY and Good Morning America, has competed on Food Network and won! Her 100K + YouTube subscribers make her an “official YouTuber” according to her 9-year-old that is. Laura is bilingual, born and raised in Spain, and currently lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and 3 kids. In her spare time, Laura reads, sleeps, and works out. What she loves most is taking her family on travel adventures. You can find more about Laura on LauraFuentes.com, on Instagram @LauraSFuentes and MOMables.com WEBSITE LINKS: https://www.laurafuentes.com  and  https://www.momables.com INSTAGRAM : https://www.instagram.com/laurasfuentes/ 30-DAY FAMILY KICKSTART PROGRAM: https://www.laurafuentes.com/family-kickstart-clean-eating-meal-plan/ COOKBOOKS: https://www.amazon.com/Laura-Fuentes/e/B00IKUA23W/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1397245955&sr=8-1 FREE CLEAN EATING HANDBOOK: https://www.momables.com/exclusive-real-food-ks/ Skip To… Laura's journey with MOMables (3:07) The simplest way to start meal planning (9:57) Typical steps and tricks for easy meal planning (16:00) 5 go to breakfast ideas for busy mornings (28:17)

New Year's Resolutions can seem cliché, but goal-setting is very important for you and your family's health. Today's podcast is all about ways to make those goals realistic and achievable with special guest Laura Fuentes, who is a mom of 3 and the mastermind behind “momables” – a resource for parents looking to feed their family fresh, healthy food!  Laura chats with us about her Family KickStart program.  I am excited to incorporate many of her healthy, fresh, family meals into our 2022 rotation! Resources: www.Momables.com www. LauraFuentes.com

With so much chaos happening in the world, it is more important than ever to ensure your family has a foundation of safety and happiness. One of the first steps to doing this is making sure you and your family prioritize healthy eating and wellness, which are crucial in maintaining a happy family. In fact, it's been shown that people who eat well have better relationships, more energy, less stress and are happier overall. It may be difficult for some, but there are ways to make healthy eating (and wellness) a priority in the family. Our today's guest, Laura Fuentes, will be sharing to us more about it. Laura is the creator of http://www.momables.com/ (MOMables), where she's helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits as a family with her https://www.laurafuentes.com/family-kickstart-clean-eating-meal-plan/ (Family KickStart Program). She's the http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Fuentes/e/B00IKUA23W/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1397245955&sr=8-1 (Author of 5 Cookbooks), a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, spokesperson, makes regular television appearances like on TODAY and Good Morning America, has competed on Food Network and won! Her 100K + YouTube subscribers make her an “official YouTuber” according to her nine-year-old that is. Laura is bilingual, born and raised in Spain, and currently lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and three kids. She spends her spare time reading, sleeping, working out, and traveling with her family. What you'll Learn How to start making change and making time to plan Getting your spouse and/or family on board your health and wellness plans Underscoring the importance of sleep "The truth is that you can eat a balanced and healthy diet and still partake in birthday, going out [and] still have football pre-games with your buddies and drink beer..... it just means that.... we're just going to be more mindful of what that is so that we can establish the good eating habits for ourselves as grownups and for our children."-Laura Fuentes Connect with Laura Fuentes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurasfuentes/ (@laurasfuentes) (Laura Fuentes) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/momables/ (@momables) (MOMables - Laura Fuentes) https://www.laurafuentes.com/ (Lara's website:)  Helping moms to live a healthy lifestyle while juggling their family and work with fresh recipes and practical advice. Resources mentioned on this episode If you want to learn how to reduce your feelings of overwhelm and show up in your life the way you're meant to, simplify healthy eating, get more quality sleep, develop a strong mindset, and treat your body right, download Laura's freehttps://www.laurafuentes.com/events/ ( Busy Mom's Guide to Living Your Best Life). Other resources are found in her biography above. This content is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links whichmeans if you click thru and buy, we'll receive a small commission. 

Welcome to The Write Start. I'm Lisa Iannucci, and this podcast is all about becoming a successful full time freelance writer. I've had a very long career where I've written for many national magazines and newspapers and written, co-written to and ghostwritten more than 20 books. I'll share my experiences and tips and bring on guests who have had successful freelance writing careers too.I'm excited for our guest today but I have to tell you that in this episode and in my next, I struggled with some audio problems, but I hope you'll stick with the episode. The issues come and go and mostly happen when I am the one talking. I finally have rectified the problem going forward, but this interview and the next one that you'll hear were, unfortunately, caught up in the bad audio issues. And for that, I'm so sorry. Listen to this episode here!Today on The Write Start podcast my guest is Laura Fuentes, the creator of MOMables, where she helps busy parents transform their mealtimes and make healthy eating a lifestyle they can sustain long-term as a family. With her Family KickStart Program, Laura has helped thousands of families improve their health and wellness by establishing healthier eating habits, building a strong mindset, focusing on quality sleep, and incorporating physical movement into their lifestyle.If you want to learn how to reduce your feelings of overwhelm and show up in your life the way you're meant to, simplify healthy eating, get more quality sleep, develop a strong mindset, and treat your body right, download her FREE Busy Mom's Guide to Living Your Best Life.She's the Author of 5 Cookbooks, a successful entrepreneur, public speaker and spokesperson, makes regular television appearances, and competed on Food Network and won! Laura is bilingual, born and raised in Spain, and currently lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and 3 kids. You can find more about Laura on LauraFuentes.com, on Instagram @LauraSFuentes and @MOMables.Support the Show.If you like what you've listened to and would like to support The Write Start podcast, please visit https://www.buzzsprout.com/1322467/supporters/new. I'll give you a shoutout on the show! Thanks!

0:00:00 Staying Active as a Working ParentAs parents, we've all felt at different times in our lives, especially now, how difficult it can be to stay active while juggling all of our other responsibilities. When planning out our days, we have to make time for work, cooking, cleaning, taking the kids to school and soccer practice. And we squeeze in the gym at the end of the list for “if we have time”. But working out and staying healthy is important for many of us. We want to make it part of our daily routine. But how do we do it, not only as a parent but also as a working parent? Here to help us out is the founder of MOMables, Laura Fuentes. 0:35:26 Gift GivingNow that we've passed Thanksgiving, we've officially entered gift giving season! Time to start thinking about your shopping list for your kids, significant other, and all those distant friends and family that you feel obligated to include. The question is, what do you get them? Cash is too impersonal but you also don't want to get them something they won't like. And should we include a gift receipt in the bag? And how do we know if our kid's have graduated from toys to clothes and CDs? While one of the best times of the year, clearly the gift giving season requires a little navigation. Here to help guide us on all things gifts for this holiday season is friend of the show Carrie-Ann Rhodes.  0:52:45 Gifted Kid BurnoutDo any of these sound like you? Refusing to ask for help, easily bored, need for constant validation? Then you might be a burned-out gifted kid. Recently, a bingo chart was going around the internet with a list of items that indicate you might be a “gifted burnout.” When a child is gifted, it's natural to want to foster and celebrate that. We give them special education, music lessons, and extra big books to read. But these things can also add extra pressure to our kids, resulting in burn out later in life. So what is gifted burnout and how can we help our gifted children avoid it? Here to share her advice with us is psychotherapist and gifted educator and expert Paula Prober.  1:12:38 Benefits of TheaterMany have disregarded theater, calling it boring and old fashioned, and yet despite the criticism, theater has survived for thousands of years teaching us valuable lessons. From the ancient Greeks to Shakespeare to Hamlet, theater has survived and thrived. However, as technology's influence continues to grow and, in the world today, one must ask what the theater has to offer in today's society. Here with us today is Heater Nathans, a Theater professor from Tufts University, to tell us about the benefits that theater has to humanity and its importance.  1:28:46 Relationship on the RocksAll of the extra time we have spent at home this year has proved interesting, right? We've been productive and learned new skills, and also lazy as we binged new shows. We've felt motivated, and then discouraged. Our skin has never looked better, and yet it has struggled other days. And then there's our relationships! By spending almost all of our time together, some relationships have flourished, and others have taken a hit. For many, the pandemic has caused stress with unemployment and extra at-home responsibilities. And for others, the time together has emphasized habits and behaviors you were once able to overlook. Whatever your situation, and whether your relationship is on the rocks or not, we've enlisted the help of an expert with over 40 years of experience conducting couple's therapy to share advice on how to nourish our relationships. Here with us today is Joan Childs. 

Keeping Kids Active During Online School (0:00:00) As a parent myself, I can relate to all you moms and dads out there who have struggled to watch your kids spend hours staring at a computer screen for school. The pandemic and remote schooling have robbed our kids of P.E, recess, after school sports, and many other physical activities that had been part of their daily routine. So, what can we do to help keep our kids healthy and active during this time of social distancing? Lucky for us, we are talking to Dr. Keshia Pollack Porter, Professor at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, about this very topic.    Practicing Gratitude (0:35:32) As wonderful as the holidays are, at times it can be hard to keep that in perspective. All the stress of holiday cooking, and holiday shopping, and holiday family bonding time are opportunities for friction and little fires. Maybe it's something your sexist Uncle Jim said or the turkey you've just spent 5 hours cooking burned, or half of the guests showed up late. Whatever it is, there's bound to be something this holiday season that gets under your skin. Which is exactly why we should be practicing gratitude this holiday season and focusing on positive outcomes. Here to discuss how to focus on positive experiences this holiday season is friend of the show, Carrie Ann Rhodes.   Girls Can! (0:52:47) When I was a little girl there were a lot of things that girls supposedly “couldn't” do. Girls can't get dirty at recess, girls can't be as strong as boys, girls can't run for president. What if instead, we told our girls all the great things they can do? A new book is trying to do that—with GIRLS CAN! Smash Stereotypes, Defy Expectations, and Make History! Here to tell us more about what Girls Can! Is achieving is one of the co-authors, Marissa Sebastian!   The Social Dilemma (1:07:55) Who listening has had the chance to watch the Social Dilemma documentary? Whether you've seen it or not, the evolution of social media platforms has brought up dozens of debates on what's ethical and what's not in marketing. Joining us today is Prince Ghuman, CEO of neuromarketing company PopNeuro, here with us to talk about marketing, social media, and the neurological effects of both.   What They Don't Tell You about Entrepreneurship (1:28:23) Starting a business can be both intimidating and overwhelming if you've never done it before, especially if you're taking the risk of leaving your current job to do it. While you get advice from friends, books and the internet, much of your learning comes from hands-on experience. And unfortunately, there are still aspects of entrepreneurship that can catch you by surprise. So, we invited an expert on the matter to share what she's learned from experience as an entrepreneur, former corporate woman and now CEO of her own business MOMables . . . Laura Fuentes.

Helping with Hoarding (0:00:00) Everyone likes to hold onto mementos that remind us of the past, but at what point does the habit of holding on to stuff become unhealthy? Some people just refer to this as hoarding, but hoarding is more than just an attachment to your belongings -it's a mental health issue that needs to be taken seriously. Despite the fact that hoarding disorder affects 19 million people in the US, few actually know how to identify it and how to help those who are affected by the disorder. Here with us today to better understand hoarding disorder and how to help those who suffer from it is Dr. Michael A. Tompkins, a renowned psychologist and author.   Healthy Fall Treats (0:35:48) Having made it to October, we can all very well predict the first things we'll smell as soon as we step foot into the grocery store. Cinnamon, pumpkin, nutmeg. Display tables of cookies, cakes and donuts. And of course, the mountains of candy all on sale. Now, isn't this why we love fall? These seasonal treats are what make this time of year so delightful! As much as we love and look forward to enjoying our favorite fall treats, keeping our health, and our family's, in mind is important. So, what's the balance? Is there a way to enjoy the seasonal desserts while staying healthy? Laura Fuentes, creator of MOMables, is here to tell us.   The Future of Theater (1:09:40) Like many other industries, the theater has had to learn to adapt to the rapid changes caused by COVID. The old world where in-person performances was how you watched theater seems to be fading away as the digital age of COVID takes over. This begs the question, what does the future hold for theater? Here with us today to answer that question is a professor from Arizona State University's theater program, Guillermo Reyes.   Uncover Your Happy (1:28:32) Don Goewey, Executive Director of the DeMello Center, believes that happiness isn't something you seek, but rather, something you uncover. He says, "we're born happy. It's inside of us. Over time, conditioning--or programming--that we've received from family, friends, media, has buried it under layers of societal expectations." He's on the show today to help us understand how we can uncover our happy.

In today’s last episode of the season we’re going to talk about how to create a routine that works for you! I’m going to share a few of the most important elements that you’ll need to prioritize if you want to achieve your health goals and create a healthier life. This 6th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping you live a healthier lifestyle as a family.  Topics discussed this episode:  Laura’s personal daily routine Key elements in healthy daily routines Small steps you can take towards a healthier daily life This episode is brought to you the Family KickStart Program. This is MOMables’s whole-food program designed for families who want to eliminate processed foods and sugars for 30 days without feeling like they are giving up the recipes families love. More information about the Family KickStart Program here.  And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here. Links mentioned in this episode: Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle as a Mom Daily Routine for a Happier Healthier You How to Sleep Better Family KickStart Sample Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

In this week’s episode we discuss how I started working out after kids and how my routines have changed over the years. We also dive into “finding the time” to workout, how I trained myself to be a morning person and the importance of movement in daily life. Lastly, we’ll talk about making a commitment to yourself to live the healthy lifestyle you deserve.  This 6th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping you live a healthier lifestyle as a family.  Topics discussed this episode:  How to start working out after having kids Finding time to be active in the middle of a busy schedule The importance of movement for whole-body health Making a commitment to yourself to reach your goals This episode is brought to you the Family KickStart Program. This is MOMables’s whole-food program designed for families who want to eliminate processed foods and sugars for 30 days without feeling like they are giving up the recipes families love More information about the Family KickStart Program here.  And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here. Links mentioned in this episode: Finding the Exercise Routine that is Best for You Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle as a Mom How to Sleep Better Healthy Workout Snacks Family KickStart Sample Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

Today I'm going to answer some of the questions that have come in from the previous two podcasts where I've been talking about eliminating process foods and sugars from our family's die This can be accomplished easier by doing some meal planning and meal prepping so you don't feel like you're spending an eternity in the kitchen in order to make healthier meals.  This 6th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping you live a healthier lifestyle as a family.  Topics discussed this episode:  The first step to clean eating meal planning What happens when kids ask for foods not on the meal plan Saving time in the kitchen when eating clean Laura’s personal favorite recipes on the Family KickStart Program This episode is brought to you the Family KickStart Program. This is MOMables’s whole-food program designed for families who want to eliminate processed foods and sugars for 30 days without feeling like they are giving up the recipes families love More information about the Family KickStart Program here.  And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here. Links mentioned in this episode: The Family KickStart Program How to Make Egg Cups/Mini Quiches How to Thaw Chicken Family KickStart Sample Order Chicken in Bulk Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

Today’s episode is all about how to eat clean, as a family, without breaking the food budget! We talk about how to buy less processed foods and save money all without sacrificing your favorite family recipes. We’ll also talk about how to plan meals to stretch the food budget and of course, spend less time cooking. This 6th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping you live a healthier lifestyle as a family.  Topics discussed this episode:  Whether eating clean is really more expensive and time consuming than eating boxed meals How to strategically meal plan so you don’t waste anything The Family KickStart program and how it makes clean meal planning a breeze  This episode is brought to you the Family KickStart Program. This is MOMables’s whole-food program designed for families who want to eliminate processed foods and sugars for 30 days without feeling like they are giving up the recipes families love More information about the Family KickStart Program here.  And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here. Links mentioned in this episode: Planning Healthy Meals on a Budget How to Make Egg Cups/Mini Quiches Pizza Dough Recipe Grain-Free Pizza Dough Order Chicken in Bulk Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

Today’s episode covers what it means to eliminate processed foods and sugars from your family’s diet. We talk about clean eating, why it’s so hard to get the kids – and sometimes our spouses – on board, and some simple changes you can make that will help you get started.  This 6th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping you live a healthier lifestyle as a family.  Topics discussed this episode:  What is clean eating? Simple changes to help you eliminate processed foods Best clean foods to eat with your family  Foods to avoid when eating clean How to get kids interested in cleaner recipes This episode is brought to you the Family KickStart Program. This is MOMables’s whole-food program designed for families who want to eliminate processed foods and sugars for 30 days without feeling like they are giving up the recipes families love More information about the Family KickStart Program here.  And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here.   Links mentioned in this episode: Picky Eaters Podcast Homemade Ketchup Recipe Clean Eating Snack Ideas Whole30/KickStart Recipe Index on Laura Fuentes Whole30/KickStart Recipe Index on MOMables   Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

In today’s episode, Laura reads a letter from a reader who is struggling with dinnertime battles. She talks through the letter line by line to analyze what went wrong and what choices parent can make to help eliminate dinner time fights and have a more peaceful family mealtime. After listening to this podcast you can change how things go at your house and immediately transform your mealtimes one day at a time. This 5th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping our picky eaters try new foods and establishing happier mealtimes. Topics discussed this episode: What to do when kids are yelling at the table How to handle it when kids refuse to take a bite of something The BEST resource for overcoming picky eating This episode is brought to you by Happier Plates, my digital course for parents who want to teach their kids healthy eating habits for life. Download a free copy of our Mealtime Handbook, the Ultimate Guide to Feeding Happy Kids here. And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here.  Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here! This is the last episode of the season and I want to make sure you don’t miss a thing! Here are a few important links: Your Free Mealtime Handbook Episode 1 – Picky Eater Strategies Episdoe 2 – How to Get Picky Eaters to Try New Foods Episode 3 – When your Kid Doesn’t like the Texture of Foods Episode 4 - Making School Lunches for Picky Eaters Episode 5 – How to Eat a Rainbow of Healthy Foods Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

Today’s episode is all about color! Oftentimes, kids will accept lightly colored foods, while completely avoiding green or other bright colors. If this sounds like your child, listen in as Laura breaks down how to handle colors and encourage kids to eat a rainbow of healthy foods.  This 5th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping our picky eaters try new foods and establishing happier mealtimes.   Topics discussed this episode:  What to do when your child refuses all green foods How to get kids to be more adventurous with color When to keep serving the same rejected foods & when to try something else Tips to encourage kids to eat the rainbow   This episode is brought to you by Happier Plates, my digital course for parents who want to teach their kids healthy eating habits for life.  Download a free copy of our Mealtime Handbook, the Ultimate Guide to Feeding Happy Kids here. And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks! For more show notes and resources on the blog click here!   Links mentioned in this episode: Youtube.com/momables Pinterest.com/momables Picky Eaters Texture Issue Blueberry Muffin Smoothie Broccoli Pesto Riced Cauliflower How to Make a Cobb Salad Bar How to make Shakshuka Natural Food Coloring   Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

Today’s episode is full of practical mom advice to help you pack tasty and healthy lunches that your kids will enjoy. Plus, if you’ve ever struggled with your picky eater coming home with an untouched lunchbox, you’ll hear Laura’s personal story about how she’s handled this with her son in the past, and how she handles it now.     This 5th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping our picky eaters try new foods and establishing happier mealtimes.   Topics discussed this episode:  How to pack good lunches when it feels like your kid won’t eat anything. How to create a will-eat list for your child.  What to do when your child comes home from school with a full lunchbox.  Lunch packing tips that will encourage your child to eat… and more! This episode is brought to you by Happier Plates, my digital course for parents who want to teach their kids healthy eating habits for life.  Download a free copy of our Mealtime Handbook, the Ultimate Guide to Feeding Happy Kids here. And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks!   For more show notes and resources on the blog click here!   Links mentioned in this episode: Packing Pancakes for Lunch Favorite Thermos Containers for School Lunches How Long Food Last in a Thermos? 5 Lunch Ideas Using Turkey 5 Lunch Ideas Using Hard Boiled Eggs Easy Lunch Ideas for Picky Eaters   Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

In today’s episode we talk about one of the most common challenges picky eaters face when trying new foods – texture! Many kids will refuse foods that “feel funny” in their mouths like meat or starchy vegetables.We also talk through practical solutions you can implement when your child does not want to eat foods with specific textures. This 5th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping our picky eaters try new foods and establishing happier mealtimes. Topics discussed this episode: • When texture issues need to be adressed • How sensory activities can help a child with texture aversions • Getting more protein in your child's diet when they refuse to eat meat • Creative ways to change the texture of problem foods... and so much more! This episode is brought to you by Happier Plates, my digital course for parents who want to teach their kids healthy eating habits for life. Download a free copy of our Mealtime Handbook, the Ultimate Guide to Feeding Happy Kids here. And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks!   For more show notes and resources on the blog click here.   Links mentioned in this episode: Southern Chicken Salad Copycat McDonald's Chicken Nuggets Broccoli Tater Tots Sweet Potato Tater Tots Meat & Veggie Paleo Chili Homemade Taco Seasoning Broccoli Pesto   Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)  

In today’s episode, we discuss simple strategies that can help change the way you approach mealtimes with your picky eaters. Each one of these strategies have made huge, positive changes at our house and helped my kids become more open to trying new foods. And I know, that these ideas can help your family too. This 5th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping our picky eaters try new foods and establishing happier mealtimes. Topics discussed this episode: • Where to start when you recognize picky eating in your child. • How snacks can play a huge role in your child’s pickiness at mealtimes. • The “one bite” rule that can sabotage success. • Modeling good eating habits. This episode is brought to you by Happier Plates, my digital course for parents who want to teach their kids healthy eating habits for life. Download a free copy of our Mealtime Handbook, the Ultimate Guide to Feeding Happy Kids here. And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks!   For more show notes and resources on the blog click here.   Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)  

Today’s episode is full of practical tips I learned from 7 years of weekly meetings with feeding therapists, psychologists, and nutritionists as I tried to learn how to help my son try new foods. This 5th season of the MOMables Podcast is all about helping our picky eaters try new foods and establishing happier mealtimes. Topics discussed this episode: How to figure out which foods your child already likes as your starting point. How to re-introduce foods that kids used to love but now seem to hate. Figuring out how your child likes to eat. How to add variety to mealtime when you are working from a short list of ingredients your child will actually eat…and more! This episode is brought to you by Happier Plates, my digital course for parents who want to teach their kids healthy eating habits for life. Download a free copy of our Mealtime Handbook, the Ultimate Guide to Feeding Happy Kids here. And if you’re tired of figuring out what to make for dinner, consider becoming a member of the MOMables Meal Plans. With 5 done-for-you recipes, a meal-prep sheet to save you time, and a done-for-you shopping list; you’ll have everything you need to pull off fresh meals every day of the week! Check out the Classic Meal Plan here. Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. Subscribe in iTunes here. Now, if you feel like this episode was at all helpful and you want to pass on the love, you’d make my day if you left a review on iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. So go ahead, scroll down and click on “Write a Review” – Thanks!   For more show notes and resources on the blog click here.   Links mentioned in this episode: Homemade Taco Seasoning Broccoli Pesto   Want to chat with me? I’m always on Instagram! @LauraSFuentes (personal) @MOMables (all the food!)

For this kick off to Season 2 of the Cook Smarts podcast during back-to-school season, I’ve invited one of my entrepreneurial heroes Laura Fuentes to give us advice on planning for and packing school lunches. Millions of us are about to face that daily task, and Laura is an official lunch expert. Her company MOMables started out as a lunch meal planning company but has grown to also offer dinner meal plans and 3 transformative health programs tackling processed foods, picky eating, and budget meal planning.   However, because Laura is such a remarkable individual who’s totally winning at life, she gives us lots of great tips for beyond the kitchen as well. In today’s episode you’ll:   Learn how to think more creatively about kid lunches Gain a new perspective on what food battles to fight (or not fight) at the dinner table Discover how to help yourself by letting others help you (even if they don’t do it exactly the same way you would)   If you’re someone who’s looking for a lunch and / or life coach, don’t miss this episode full of Laura’s practical and wise advice for life in and out of the kitchen. Head to our show notes for all the links we mention. www.cooksmarts.com/podcast/11   Help us continue to put these info-packed episodes together by subscribing to us in your podcast player and throwing us some stars. If you really love us and want to be a super supporter (and we hope you do!), please do leave us a review on Apple Podcast too. If we share your review in a future episode, we’ll send you a Cook Smarts tote bag to bring you more fun and eco-friendly grocery shopping!

I interviewed today's guest, Laura Fuentes, about a year ago on the show. The interview was one of my most popular ever! Laura is the creator of MOMables, food plans for families. What I love about Laura is that she is very down to earth and practical about the empire she is building.  Building a Food Empire Laura's MOMables business consists of meal plans, courses, and digital products.  The meal plans are based on a subscription model. Every month, Laura provides her customers with 5 meals, a meal prep sheet, and a shopping list.  Laura also sells health and wellness programs in ebook format.  Laura's programs can be compared to Whole30, but specifically for families. It is a 30-day program for both kids and adults.  Laura also has courses where she teaches parents how to put healthy eating for their family into practice. She has a course on picky eaters, as well, for those parents who are battling out mealtimes and need some practical help.  Laurafuentes.com is her lifestyle blog and it's where she shares how she lives the life of the courses she sells.   Learning to Create Video Content Laura was a self-taught cook who competed on Food Network in 2014 and won! She had never been on camera in her life when she auditioned for the show.  In fact, Laura taught herself how to cook by watching Food Network.  Her readers were asking Laura to create videos for her recipes, but she was much too afraid of the camera to comply. But after her stint on television, she decided that it was time to give her audience what they wanted. Laura told her husband, “I now know that I can do it and it's not about winning. From that experience, I learned that I could, so I did.” Later in 2014, she began her dive into video. She took 2 full years to get her processes down and learn how to make great, high-quality videos. At this point, Laura owns a video production company where she produces videos for large and small clients alike.  Growing the Video Side of a Business Laura is not creating the “hands and pans” style cooking videos.  She does all of her videos in front of the camera, no overhead views. She wants her audience to get to know her through her videos.  Her videos average about 3:20. Laura has found that anywhere in the 3:30 - 4: 00-minute range is what her audience wants.  From the time she began doing video in 2014, all the way through 2017, Laura was releasing 1 new video per week. Because she had other facets of her business to run and needed to hire out all of the editing and preproduction of her videos, her budget didn't allow for more than 1 video per week.  Since the fall of 2018, she has begun releasing 2 videos per week. And of those 8 videos a month, 1 or 2 will be sponsored videos.  Laura uses the returns from sponsored posts to build the areas of her business that need growth but aren't bringing in enough income on their own.  Monetizing YouTube  Ads on YouTube don't make Laura a lot of money. Over the last 28 days, Laura has made $227 from YouTube.  She is not what you think of when you think YouTuber; someone who pays the bills solely from their YouTube account. Laura's goal isn't to be a famous YouTube star. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even like to wear makeup for her videos. As she puts it, “I'm not that funny, I don't wear makeup. I just make my recipes.” But she is happy with how things are playing out on her channel now. She is experiencing true joy with her YouTube efforts and looks forward to creating video content. Social Media Burnout Laura doesn't experience burnout over creating YouTube videos.  She personally experiences burnout over the pressure to constantly be churning out new content. But the majority of her burnout comes by way of social media.  Because brands are focusing so heavily on Instagram nowadays, Laura feels the pressure to focus on that platform. Whereas, her preference is to send people to her blog or YouTube channel. Laura says, “If I could get rid of every platform and just choose one, I would choose YouTube. I just feel like IG is an exhausting race that I have no interest in winning.” Being Enough For Yourself  What Laura thinks of herself matters so much more to her than what anyone else thinks about her.  We all struggle or go through periods of struggling with looking for outside validation.  Laura wants to model for her children that outside opinions are not the be-all, end-all. She wants to show them that they don't have to put on a show of perfection for others; they can be themselves.  Laura does care, but she cares about how she thinks about herself, not how others think about her.  When you're in it to win it, you cannot drag yourself down with negative talk. That is not the way to gain success.  When you get turned down by a company or a client, it doesn't mean you're a failure. It means you're not the right fit for that project.  You have to be about serving others, not being emotionally invested in others accepting you.  Once you don't care what others think, you can jump into things and do them without fear.  You will have new opportunities, you will grow so much as a person, and your business will grow too.  I don't know about you, but I always feel so inspired every time I talk to Laura. Let's all look in the mirror and be happy with who we are. What Type of Online Entrepreneur is MiloTree Right For? Are you serious about growing your online business (advanced beginner and above)? Have you got some traffic but you know you need more? Let your MiloTree pop-ups help you get to that next level by turn your visitors into email subscribers and social media followers on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and YouTube. Sign up today! Install your MiloTree pop-ups on your site in under two minutes. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE! Laura's 2 previous episodes on The Blogger Genius Podcast: #024: How to Sell to Moms by Being a Giver with Laura Fuentes (Part 2) #023: How to Start a Business by Solving a Problem for Moms (Part 1) TIMESTAMP  Intro  3:18 Building a Food Empire 7:27 Learning to Create Video Content 10:45 Growing the Video Side of a Business 18:43 Monetizing Youtube  20:35 Social Media Burnout  26:00 Being Enough For Yourself  Read the podcast transcript for “How to Be Self-Taught and Build an Online Empire with Laura Fuentes” TOP 4 TAKEAWAYS Take the time to learn new skills, even if it means you have to teach yourself. Slowly ramp up your efforts as you learn more about what you're doing. You don't have to be everywhere on social media all the time; choose carefully to avoid burnout. Focus on serving others, not on what others think about you.

In the last episode of this three part series on school lunches, Stacie and Meghan explore the lunch box from three wildly different lenses. We ask an elementary school teacher to dish on what really happens in the lunchroom. Laura Fuentes of MOMables talks us through the perspective shift you'll need when your kiddos is diagnosed with a food allergy — and has great advice for what other parents in the classroom can do to support those allergic kids. Finally we talk with chef and artist Jenny Dorsey about her "Privilege" project and what it is like to grow up eating authentic Chinese cuisine in a cafeteria full of corn dogs and frozen pizza.  You can find more details on this show and more from us at https://didntijustfeedyou.com

Today I'm returning with Part 2 of my chat with Laura Fuentes, creator of MOMables, food plans for moms. In this episode, we talk about how to sell to moms by being a giver. Laura proves that by being helpful, you can grow a hugely successful business. Also, don't miss all of Laura's favorite marketing mentors. You're going to love this! Resources: MOMables LauraFuentes.com Marie Forleo's B-School Food Blogger Pro Go Giver Gary Vaynerchuck Amy Porterfield Derek Halpern Lewis Howes The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage MiloTree Some of these links may be affiliate. Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Google Play Stitcher Transcript –How to Sell to Moms by Being a Giver with Laura Fuentes (Part 2) Intro: [00:00:03] Welcome to the Blogger Genius Podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:10] Hey everyone. Welcome back to the show. I'm still in my echoey Airbnb. So I'm going to make this short. But welcome back, because this is part two of my interview with Laura Fuentes, where we talk about how she nurtures her list, how she provides value to them, and how she sells to them. So without further ado... here we go. Jillian: [00:00:35] So let's go back now to your newsletter and how you build a relationship and how you ultimately sell to people. How to build an authentic relationship with your audience Laura: [00:00:43] Yeah. So if you're listening and you sell anything, like at some point in your blog you may want to create like an ebook or course. But also I feel like selling includes when you work with a brand and maybe you're doing a promotion or discount. Laura: [00:01:02] And they can seem very forced and awkward to say, "Buy this," or "Try this," for a lot of people. It feels odd. You have to kind of rethink the relationship that you have with your audience. Laura: [00:01:16] Which is what your original question was is how do I really form that and so when people come to my list -- Jillian: [00:01:23] But I just want to interrupt for one second. Definitely get on her list. Right. It's MOMables.com But that way people can get healthy meals, but also see how you do it because I think you do it so well. Laura: [00:01:39] Thank you. Yeah. Either you go to my website LauraFuentes.com or momables.com You get the same on-boarding experience. Laura: [00:01:50] So and also you know like a lot of brands, you get to think of this as a brand. And I think of Momables as my food brand. But at the same time people see my face all the time. Right. It's a real person speaking behind the brand. Laura: [00:02:06] And so most people think of growing their list as a way to send them the new blog content every week. Right. So somebody opts in, you offer some kind of freebie, and then you give them the freebie when they sign up and then you send them the blog posts that are happening that week. Laura: [00:02:26] But what you have to rethink is that that is a very automated and impersonal process. I used to do it like that and I learned that that really didn't build a relationship. Send a series of email so your audience can get to know you Laura: [00:02:40] I felt like my job was to, once people opted in, was to send them a series of emails where they got to know me and what I'm all about. Laura: [00:02:53] And then after that after they kind of go like OK. So she's got kids, she works. Here's her most helpful content, here's her best recipes. Here's some downloadable freebies from a series of emails. Then I send them my weekly newsletter. Laura: [00:03:10] Because I've just started doing that a couple years ago maybe two years ago and the relationship that I have with people is so much stronger than because imagine like you know if you signed up this week and you get my Sunday newsletter and I'm telling you how I just bombed this week or something, you're like What is she talking about? Right. Laura: [00:03:34] Like you don't even know that I have kids. You don't have a perspective of my life. So before I send them on my newsletter I create a series of emails where people received some of my best content, the most helpful content, and some free downloads. Laura: [00:03:52] I send them to my videos so they got to see me and get to know me on video and then I send them what's happening this week. Jillian: [00:04:00] Got it. So it's like a welcome series. Laura: [00:04:02] Yes. It's a welcome series. Jillian: [00:04:05] And how many emails are in your welcome series? Laura: [00:04:05] I believe there are nine. Jillian: [00:04:07] OK. And do they come out once a week or? Laura: [00:04:10] They're timed. And we still I think we're still a/b testing. But basically it's like the download after you sign up and then there's another one that day and then two days later, and then three days later, and then five days later, and then day seven, and then day eleven or twelve. Using email to build a deeper connection with your audience Laura: [00:04:42] You know so like they're staggered right. You know basically it really, imagine it as you and I just met and the first time we were at the coffee shop. And I'm like, Oh look I got an extra coupon. Here's a dollar off of your coffee because I got an extra one so you know, she's nice, she's helpful. That's your freebie, right. Jillian: [00:05:04] Yeah. Laura: [00:05:05] And then while we're waiting for a coffee drink, at the end of the bar, then you and I are like, Oh so you would probably thank me for your coffee or the coupon, and then I'm like also what are you doing here. Do you work around here? You know, it's kind of like get to know me, and you're like "oh I'm visiting my..." oh you're visiting the area, then check out this restaurant on the right, that's me being helpful to you. Laura: [00:05:30] And then after that, it's like you know, we move on to, oh well next time you are in town, let's grab coffee again and you're like, oh I'm going to be or I'm still here for a few more days. Awesome, we'll get coffee again. Laura: [00:05:47] So there's kind of the same way you would naturally develop a friendship with someone that you click with. Right? I do that via email. Some things are helpful, some things are freebees tangible items. Laura: [00:06:01] Think of it as a coupon, even though I don't give out coupons, but there are tangible things that people can use right away. But for the most part, and all of that what that creates is them understanding my life, and what the content that I'll be sharing on my blog is all about. Jillian: [00:06:19] So OK, so now I've gotten through your welcome series and now I am in your weekly emails. So talk to me about them and how you're sharing your content for the week. Jillian: [00:06:32] You're sharing about your life and then how do you sprinkle in "Hey, if you're stuck figuring out what to pack for lunch or what to make for dinner. You can check out my meal plans." Jillian: [00:06:47] And how often are you selling that? Laura: [00:06:49] Not as often as I should. From a marketer's perspective, from some people's perspective more often than I should. You can't please everyone. Laura: [00:07:04] OK I'm going to answer your question, and then I'm going to make a very important point on this. The short answer is that now I have a sales series where it's almost like here's the problem. It's like a sandwich here's the problem, here is where you want to be, and here's how you're going to get there. So my meal plan is the solution. Laura: [00:07:27] So that could be from a picky eater... I mean you know it doesn't matter what it is but it's a separate series of emails, separate from that Sunday email. The Sunday email doesn't mention the meal plans because I am a meal planning company and that is what you know. Laura: [00:07:53] At the end of the day, like that's one of the products that I sell. And I feel super strongly about meal planning as being the solution to relieving stress in the kitchen, to feeling better about yourself because of the foods that you eat, and it's feeling better as a parent because you are providing good nutrition. Laura: [00:08:17] So honestly, I have no problem telling people that if you're not meal planning, you really are doing yourself a disservice. Laura: [00:08:29] Because being unprepared does not give you the opportunity to feel your best. And planning is the way to achieve whatever mealtime goals may have for you and your family. So honestly I had to make a mind shift. Laura: [00:08:47] I feel so strongly about it for my family. Why not share that as much as I could. So some of the email I do mention, hey this is what our meal plan people are going to be eating this week. If you want to grab the recipes you can go here. Changing your mindset from selling to being helpful Laura: [00:09:04] So sort of give them a preview. But they have to buy a meal plan in order to get the five recipes that done for you and your shopping list. The meal prep sheet so you really do get a lot of value for two bucks a week or less. Laura: [00:09:19] So I kind of had to get out of my mind that I was selling. I am not selling I am being helpful. Jillian: [00:09:27] Yes! Laura: [00:09:27] It's just that planned help costs money. You can DIY yourself a remodel of your house on Pinterest or you can hire somebody like an interior designer to cut the work for you. Jillian: [00:09:40] I like that. Laura: [00:09:42] So I don't feel like I'm selling, but of course there's people on my list who are like, "I just want your free content so you could just stop selling to me." And I'm like OK well then you need to unsubscribe, because I do sell a product that helps thousands of families. Laura: [00:09:58] So if it's not helpful for you, you can come to my website. Of course I don't say these things but you have to be prepared to not be liked by everyone. Jillian: [00:10:07] Yes. Laura: [00:10:08] That's OK. Jillian: [00:10:09] Yes. Yes. And there are people who do expect your content for free. Laura: [00:10:17] And that's ok but not in my newsletter. Like it costs a lot of time, effort, and manpower and intention for me to sit down and build the content, and create the video, and it's totally fine that people will sit on my newsletter for free for years. Laura: [00:10:37] I literally have people that email me and go, gosh I've been on your newsletter for X amount of time, some of them years, and they're like I've never bought a product. Is there a way I can send you money? Laura: [00:10:48] And I'm like, oh my gosh you just made my day. I say to them  it's really my honor to have somebody that's like minded. All I ask is that if you find my content helpful. Share it with your friends online. Laura: [00:11:03] So it's really not about selling. It's really for me, it's always been about creating that relationship and having people understand that I feel super strongly about meal planning. And hopefully they'll give me the opportunity to do that for them and their family. Jillian: [00:11:21] Right. Well the truth is that you can draw a line from meal planning to love, to love of your family, to love of yourself, to living a better life. Yeah. What could be better. Laura: [00:11:38] Yeah I mean in meals. The reality is that meals are something that's very stressful for a lot of people, and I don't understand sometimes how people come to my list, and they tell me that they're just, it is the most stressful meal everyday. Laura: [00:11:51] They don't know what to make, they go through the drive-thru more often they should, like there's all these things at the at the end of the day they're telling me, even in their own words and point blank that they don't think they're doing a good job. Laura: [00:12:05] And I'm like here's a solution for you. And they don't buy. And I'm not sure why. Like we're just so stubborn about accepting help and two dollars or less a week. That is that sometimes I'm like if what you're doing is not working you have to change something. Laura: [00:12:22] You know and the only reason I look online like I've it together is because I plan to death, and not because it's my job to plan, it's because it's the only way that I can make sure that I personally eat good for me food, that my family eats good food and that I can actually make it happen. Laura: [00:12:42] When we get home from karate at 6:45 or 7:15 at night and my family is starving, so it's really easy to go through Chick-Fil-A or something like that on a Wednesday night when we get home at 7 or 7:15. How to solve a problem for your audience Laura: [00:12:56] Or I can say you know what, I have something in the slow cooker, or I already made the meal yesterday with leftovers. All I gotta do is heat it up. Jillian: [00:13:07] I've got say that one thing you've been able to leverage is the fact that you are a planner, so you're able to say let me be the planner because that comes naturally to me, and let's say you're a mom who is not a good planner. I can give you a little bit of extra planning. Jillian: [00:13:24] Like I I'm providing that service for somebody who might not be able to get it together. Laura: [00:13:30] Right. And I would go a little bit further to say that if I looked at me, I've learned to plan because I was not good at it. Jillian: [00:13:40] Interesting, I would have said that you are a natural planner. Laura: [00:13:44] I'm a really good executioner. Like if I have a plan, I can execute like no other, right. I can also wing it because now it's my job and I'm confident the kitchen. Laura: [00:13:54] I look at the ingredients in my fridge and I'm like you know what, I can make something out of nothing. And when in doubt when in doubt serve breakfast for dinner. Laura: [00:14:02] But at the beginning you know, I had to learn myself as well. And it created a process which is what I sell is the process of doing that for any family. How to set up a sales funnel Jillian: [00:14:13] That's great. So you said that you have these funnels to help them sell your meal plans. And can you explain what that means? Laura: [00:14:24] Right. So I think oftentimes we hear the word sales funnel and we think of it like this sleazy marketing way of like some funnel. That all these people go to the top and then they kind of go down. Right. It's really not like that. Laura: [00:14:38] The way we do it it's really about understanding that not everyone is going to open every email that you send. Laura: [00:14:49] And so therefore while you feel like, gosh if I send them an email about my product every week they're not going to like that. Laura: [00:14:58] I mean of course there's a right way of crafting this email with email copy. But the point is is that the reality is that they're probably not opening that email, they're opening one out of every four emails that you're sending out. And people read information differently. Laura: [00:15:12] So in my funnel, I call it funnel but it's really a series, because it's linear more than it's not like, buy the small product. And then the next natural fit is to buy the more expensive one. Laura: [00:15:25] Like for me is a continuous introduction, an education about the products and services that I have to offer that help them in an area of their life. How to use email to sell more than one product Laura: [00:15:37] So beyond the meal plans we also have like other programs, like the picky eaters course that's super successful. Laura: [00:15:45] We have a course on budgeting and meal plans. It is kind of like meal planning 101, How to do it on a budget. This is like when people don't buy meal plans and because they want to do it themselves, but don't know how. Budgeting helps them learn to meal plan, learn how to shop for their food, how to make everything really cost effective. Laura: [00:16:07] And then the other program that we also launched this year is called Kickstart. Family Kickstart which is really helping families like reset the way they eat, is kind of like Whole 30. Laura: [00:16:22] But what I observed when I did Whole 30, gosh like four years ago, is that the Whole 30 community of moms, like they're super successful they feel great when they do it, but they're not taking their families along for the Whole 30 journey. Laura: [00:16:35] And I'm like, oh my gosh you're making multiple meals. And by week 3 you're feeling great but then you're not feeling so great when you look at the table and you're looking at the meals that the rest of your family is eating because you know what your eating is so much better. Laura: [00:16:52] Then it's almost like your mom guilt sets in. And this was happening with a lot of community members of mine that were using our meal plans for most of their families. But then they were also cooking themselves. Laura: [00:17:04] There's very strict Whole 30 meal and they were feeling great but physically but also great emotionally because they felt, gosh I could do so much better right. Laura: [00:17:16] And so that's kind of like what we tried to solve with Family Kickstart. And we have hundreds of families that did it this year to take the entire family on a journey to cut out sugar or cut out processed foods, learned to try new things. Laura: [00:17:31] You know all the principles that I kind of talk about in everything else but kind of like more of a full family approach. Laura: [00:17:39] So whether it's programs, meal plans, you know it's really about figuring out that not everyone knows all that I do. Use your sales funnel to educate and not just sell Laura: [00:17:50] So my funnel is really more of a series that educates them of what's possible and how to get there. Jillian: [00:17:59] And what are you most excited about right now that you're building, that you're selling? You know what are you most proud of? Laura: [00:18:09] So what I'm most proud of is the fact that I've been able to take my real lif,e and I'm still living my life as is. And I'm able to share that with like-minded people and that I'm able to provide for my family. Laura: [00:18:30] My business is my family's livelihood. My husband now works with me for the last two, almost two years now. He quit his corporate job. He was in healthcare for 15 years. And this is what we do. Laura: [00:18:51] There's so much room to grow and change and improve but thus far, I feel like I've done really well because I've stuck to what I believe is true for me and my family. Laura: [00:19:03] And I'm trying to find my customers and the people in my community are like-minded families. That's really what I'm most proud of. Laura: [00:19:12] I've grown as my business has grown. I've been on television. I've had all these opportunities. But at the end of the day, you know I'm still me. I go out without makeup. You know I don't document everything. Laura: [00:19:27] I feel really good about the lifestyle that I've created even though it's not perfect, it's the perfect lifestyle for my family. Jillian: [00:19:34] So if I am a blogger just starting out, or I want to blog and start a business, what advice would you have for me? Laura: [00:19:45] Create a plan for the vision that you see for yourself. Jillian: [00:19:51] Explain what you mean. Laura: [00:19:52] So we all have goals, but like the first thing is to create you know build that vision, like what is it that you want to do. Laura: [00:20:03] Dream it's not just about dreaming, but fill in the color. Like make it real. Paint that picture in your mind day in and day out. And then plan it out how you're going to get there. Laura: [00:20:19] Do you need to invest in courses? There are things you need to learn that quite frankly for free on the Internet it's not going to cut it. Laura: [00:20:29] You know, I've invested thousands in courses to learn things for online marketing. Laura: [00:20:35] Make yourself the best version of yourself so that you can really propel your own growth rate. That's why I say paint a picture, create a vision, and then build a plan on how you're going to get there, because if you have a plan you can then execute it. Laura: [00:20:57] Sometimes it takes longer than other times but you can execute it, you know, planning is huge. Jillian: [00:21:03] Who have you learned from the most? Recommended online marketing courses Laura: [00:21:13] OK so it's been an evolution. So when I first started back in 2013 everybody knows who Marie Forleo is? I took B-School back in 2012 or 2013. Laura: [00:21:26] One of the earlier versions of Bschool and I kind of learned a lot from there at that time. Which is now like that early version of the school is so outdated which is great that Marie updates it. Laura: [00:21:39] So that's really a great investment if you want to take your blog into a business level. If you want to learn how to kind of like grow your blog. Laura: [00:21:55] If you are a food blogger I think Food Blogger Pro is really good. It's by the Pinch Of Yum couple. Jillian: [00:22:01] Bjork? Laura: [00:22:07] Yes they are phenomenal. Laura: [00:22:09] Your blog is a great resource. Laura: [00:22:11] I just think that people need to sit down and learn and seek out the information that you know you're not best at. Laura: [00:22:20] I read a book or two a month. So one to two a month is my kind of good rate on the areas that are my weaknesses. So I'm in business so that I can get better and see a different perspective. Jillian: [00:22:37] Any you can recommend? Laura: [00:22:41] Well I've recently read a ton of how to be a better boss type of books because I need to. I've been hiring. I'm in the hiring process and it's very very difficult to hire where I'm at. Laura: [00:23:03] A book that I really love is the Go Giver. The Go Giver is by Bob Berg and John Mann. In fairness I recently read it. My friend, Alice Chase, she gave it to me because it really puts you in a how to succeed from a giving mindset. Jillian: [00:23:26] I love that. Laura: [00:23:27] She and I got to talk about you know, we met at a conference recently and you know she and I the both are the type of people that will give people five minutes but never like an hour of our time unless we really kind of click and connect and she's like gosh I have an extra copy of this book. Laura: [00:23:45] She sent her husband to go get this book and give it to me. She said, you are everything that this book talks about and I was like, Really? Laura: [00:23:52] And I read it and now it's a book that I've actually given like probably five or six copies recently in the last three months. Jillian: [00:23:59] Wow. I will check it out. Laura: [00:24:00] Yes the Go Giver and it will really change your mind shift of how to really live your life. Laura: [00:24:13] But really for me was like how to position your blog in the role of giving. Laura: [00:24:20] Of course I feel like Gary Vaynerchuk is like my spirit animal in a way. If I've had a bad day. I just I have him on my podcast and I really like to listen. Laura: [00:24:32] It's really about like getting that push you know all the courage like almost like OK go get them right. I'm like, oh, OK. Laura: [00:24:41] He's got me right when I'm feeling low. There are a lot of low days. I feel like I've also learned a ton from Amy Porterfield. She has a great podcast. Laura: [00:24:56] So Amy Porterfield is really really good. I've learned a ton. I've purchased quite a few of Derek Halpern's courses he's socialtriggers.com his courses are second to none. Laura: [00:25:11] And then I also really like Lewis Howes' School of Greatness. Before he was huge. He's got some really great content. Laura: [00:25:24] Wait, have to tell you about this one more, I'm sorry to take so much for your time. I love learning and making myself better. Laura: [00:25:37] There is a woman. Her name is Mel Robbins. At MelRobbins.com. She has a book but she has a she's actually great, you'll love her. And Lewis Howes podcasts. You might want to put this in the show notes. Laura: [00:25:58] The five second rule. She's also on YouTube. But she's written this book about how sometimes, you know, you want to do things and you just don't know how. [00:26:10] There are five crucial seconds to just get up and do it right. And then if you go, and you basically count yourself downed five, four, three, two, one. And it's like a rocket launch like you literally just like there's no nothing to think about. Laura: [00:26:27] You just count yourself down and go do it, whatever it is, and Jillian when I'm telling you that I used to get up at four thirty two mornings a week to go work out for 5:00 AM work out. I'm like OK I envision that in my head. And by the time I get to one, I'm out of bed. Laura: [00:26:46] So I use that and it's so powerful. It is a great resource. So clearly like I find learning an inspiration from everywhere. Laura: [00:26:58] It's always like you said, a few minutes ago it's to fill a hole or a need in your life right now. Laura: [00:27:05] And those are the things that make us better. Jillian: [00:27:08] Right. Right. And I think the the willingness to learn says a lot. I think that people can feel that in your business, that you know you're always challenging yourself and I feel that in you're content. Laura: [00:27:26] You know if not, we remain stagnant. If you remain stagnant like you're going to stay where you're at forever. I don't want to do that. I want my life to be exciting to me, to live it every day. Laura: [00:27:42] If I stay the same way as I was and it's really not that exciting. I so agree. Jillian: [00:27:49] So Laura, this has been wonderful. Jillian: [00:27:52] Where can people reach out to you learn more about you and connect? Laura: [00:27:57] OK. So if you want to connect with me, unscripted just what it is that's happening. Instagram is a great place @LauraSFuentes. I do manage my own Instagram. And that's just really a great place for people to see;, well, shoot, she really does like jump on a plane on a whatever notice you know. Laura: [00:28:21] So I love Instagram for that. You can of course go to LauraFuentes.com and find out more about me there and then you know MOMables. Like really LauraFuentes.com is really a great hub for all of the things lifestyle and MOMables. I will be launching a business site really soon. Laura: [00:28:45] I will be launching Laura Fuentes CEO, which is like the company of Laura and because for years, people are like, How is it that you do it? Walk me through the steps. You know when I feel like my personal blog it's really the lifestyle of living a fresh life but not the business side of my life. Laura: [00:29:06] So that's something that I'm excited to kind of develop more this year. Jillian: [00:29:11] That's wonderful, Laura. Truly I thank you so much for being on the show. Laura: [00:29:17] My pleasure. I had a great time and if I can be a resource to anyone that's listening, I'm not going anywhere. Jillian: [00:29:23] Oh great. And I always learn so much from you. Laura: [00:29:25] Thank you. MiloTree is the easiest way to grow your social media followers and email list Jillian: [00:29:27] Are you trying to grow your social media followers and email subscribers? Well if you've got two minutes I've got a product for you. Jillian: [00:29:34] It's MiloTree. Milo tree is a smart pop-up slider that you install on your site and it pops up and asks visitors to follow you on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest or subscribe to your list. [00:29:51] It takes two minutes to install. We offer a WordPress plugin or a simple line of code, and it's Google-friendly on mobile and desktop. So we know where your traffic is coming from. We show a Google-friendly pop up on desktop and a smaller Google-friendly pop up on mobile. Check it out. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

Today my guest is Laura Fuentes creator of MOMables, food plans to moms. Our discussion was all about how to start a business by solving a problem for moms, and I thought the interview was so good, I didn't want to cut anything out. So I've split it into 2 parts. Part 1 is about how Laura has worked hard to build a community of like-minded moms by creating content they will enjoy, and Part 2 is about how she sells to them. I think you're going to be impressed with how Laura has turned herself into a YouTuube influencer,  that her community trusts. Resources: MOMables LauraFuentes.com Catch My Party MOMables - Laura Fuentes YouTube MiloTree Subscribe to The Blogger Genius Podcast: iTunes Google Play Stitcher Transcript –How to Start a Business by Solving a Problem for Moms (Part 1) [00:00:03] Welcome to the Blogger Genius podcast brought to you by MiloTree. Here's your host, Jillian Leslie. Jillian: [00:00:12] Hello everybody. Welcome back to the show. I'm recording this intro in my new city of Austin, Texas. I'm recording it in my Airbnb, so it sounds kind of echoey but the interview will sound much better today. Jillian: [00:00:40] My guest is my friend, Laura Fuentes. The interview went long, so I am splitting this one into two parts because I think it is that good. Jillian: [00:00:46] Let me tell you a little bit about Laura, where she is the creator of momables.com. She sells food plans to families to help them eat healthier, fresh foods. Jillian: [00:00:55] She's a cookbook writer. She is a YouTuber, she's been on TV shows like Good Morning America. I think you're going to really like this. So here is Part 1. Jillian: [00:01:04] So welcome to the show, Laura. Laura: [00:01:06] Thanks so much. I'm so excited to be here with you. I am a listener of your podcast. I love how helpful your emails that you send out are, you know I'm a fan. Laura: [00:01:16] So what am I going to say. The ones are listening it is such a pleasure to be here. Jillian: [00:01:19] Yes. And OK so we met as I said yep gosh maybe four years ago, and I went to your session, you did a session on email and I was blown away by what you were doing. Jillian: [00:01:31] And I went up to you. We started talking and we became friends, and then we've seen each other I guess at other conferences and we're going to be at a conference together. Momables started with a blog for her family Jillian: [00:01:38] Mom 2.0 very soon so we'll get to hang out IRL. So will you share your journey and how you started creating recipes food plans all of that? Laura: [00:01:51] Sure. So in the blogging age, I'm a dinosaur, seems like nine years ago now I started with a personal blog. It wasn't really even what we see today at momables.com or LauraFuentes.com. Laura: [00:02:08] I really started blogging because after I came to the south for my MBA, I married a southern man. I live right outside of New Orleans, and my whole family is in Spain. I was born and raised in Spain and my mom was in California. Laura: [00:02:23] And you know like we used to have these megapixel phones that took photos, and like my mom wanted me to share all the things that we were doing, and I just found it so tedious to tell my mom the things that we were doing, and my aunt and my friends. [00:02:40] I was a newish mom at the time, and a friend of mine said, Why don't you start a blog? And I'm like, What is that? Laura: [00:02:47] And she's like a blog is really just like a website, but instead of sending everybody an email with things that you're doing, or your mom, she's like you can just put it out there. It's called a blog post and you can put the pictures in the post and you basically say shared this story for everyone to read. Laura: [00:03:04] So you don't have to customize an email to your mom and your aunt and your friends. And I was like wow that's brilliant. Right? Because moms didn't have a lot of time. So actually if you go to my blog, years ago, I still have old blog posts where the pictures are a tiny tiny tiny. Laura: [00:03:21] And you know this was before DSLR cameras and stuff, so I started really just by sharing what I was doing with my family, and my mom wanted to know the recipes that were working for me, and the things that I was trying. So I started putting all that on the internet and on my blog. Laura: [00:03:43] And I found out that at the time, you know nine years ago, eight years ago, you know there was no Pinterest, it was Facebook, and it was really in its infancy. People weren't sharing and consuming content like they are now. Laura: [00:03:56] So the posts that I shared recipes that my kids enjoyed, or school lunches, or you know the things that were working. It really resonated with people and people started coming to me as a resource. Laura: [00:04:08] So it really started shifting towards the documenting of my life into a place where I could just I realized that I had this creativity with food. And I could help other people make fresh meals possible for their family. Jillian: [00:04:23] So you started this just for your family and then were other people coming to your blog? Were you surprised? Laura: [00:04:30] Yeah I mean, we had the early Google you know I was one of the few people that shared a healthy school lunches. Laura: [00:04:36] And my school lunch idea was, you know, and I am super practical by nature so of course like when I wrote something or created something it was all about, OK it's not just a recipe but it was like, "How do you pack it so it doesn't get soggy in a lunchbox?" "How do you store it for later?" "How do you prep ahead?" Laura: [00:04:55] So I would answer all those questions even how to boil an egg, you know. I think that's sort of what defined my type of content. And then started creating later on, more strategically but really being a helpful resource of how to make it happen when you're a really busy parent. Jillian: [00:05:17] How many kids do you have? Laura: [00:05:19] So I have three kids. Currently they are 6, 10 and almost 12. Jillian: [00:05:23] OK got it. So you were solving your own problem and then sharing about it. Laura: [00:05:28] Exactly. And what happens when you do that is you actually really connect with people that are like-minded. I don't try to appeal to the masses. I try to appeal to people that are going through what I was going through and and still am in the world of parenting. Laura: [00:05:46] And that's really how I realized and I connected with people and then we know as we've evolved I really created a whole business of sharing my ideas with momables, cookbooks, video, like all that stuff. At the the end of the day I really love connecting with this community that I built over email. Solving a food problem for other mothers as a way to start a business Jillian: [00:06:11] OK. So you start emailing, you start blogging about food and about being a mom and how to kind of solve the food issue. As a mom with kids. Laura: [00:06:24] Picky eaters. Jillian: [00:06:25] I have a picky eater so I so relate. You know, literally I will still to this day go, "I don't know what to make you because you are a picky eater." Jillian: [00:06:37] So then how did you start to think about this as a business, like you ultimately make most of your money via meal plans. Laura: [00:06:49] Right. So yes. So I started thinking about scaling what I knew. So if you don't know me very well. You're listening. My background is really on strategic like strategy global economics. Laura: [00:07:04] I think about scaling and you know if you were a blogger and you're listening you know that you start very passionately about something and then, it's almost like your life and your time gets consumed with creating and promoting your content. Laura: [00:07:20] And then you begin to think about, "my time is worth something" right and I need to figure out how to make money out of this. Laura: [00:07:31] And ad revenue was really in its infancy and I didn't really have like millions of page views at the time that would really make a significant impact in the revenue that I was bringing in. So I had to think about it I was like, "How can it create something that solves the problem that my community has that I can be authentic relatable helpful and make money." Jillian: [00:08:01] Love it. Solving what moms should pack for lunch [00:08:02] So that's where the meal plans were originally born and my original meal plans were just school lunches. I solved the what to pack for lunch. Jillian: [00:08:13] I need you. Okay. And then, so you started you created let's say a prototype or a template or something, and you started putting it out on your blog and saying, hey guys if you want to buy this? Laura: [00:08:28] Yup, I learned really quickly that if you don't ask no one will buy. But I also had to learn how to create the ask. Laura: [00:08:42] I knew that on social media people would share my content. So I started creating content around the meal planning and solving problems. I started creating content that would attract the kind of customer that was seeking. Laura: [00:08:57] So this is a really early say 2012-2013 before I think I might have just gotten a Facebook page at the time and it would be definitely before Instagram and Pinterest. So I knew that it was up to me to think about content in a way that people would share it. Why building a relationship with your community is key Laura: [00:09:19] But then I thought okay it's great that people share it but I can't put a Facebook post that says, "Hey buy my plans!" People are like "that's spammy." You know so I knew that building a relationship with people was key. Laura: [00:09:33] So about a year earlier I started really studying online marketing and I realized that bloggers or content creators. I wouldn't even say bloggers, like really content creators of all walks and niches, they really weren't focusing on email strategy. Laura: [00:09:53] They were just like in the days when we had RSS feeds, Feedly, you know. People felt that their content was so good that people would just come to their blog, or maybe subscribe to their feed. But I just thought gosh, that is just such a passive way of like, "Oh if you like it, grab it grab the feed." Laura: [00:10:23] But the reality is that the readers at the time, like they weren't so educated in how to do all that right. And I knew that there was one thing that would never go away. That's email. The importance of email marketing in starting a business Laura: [00:10:34] I wake up in the morning at 5:00 a.m. or 5:30 I check my email. I sort my inbox. I mean I've been doing that for years so I knew that my customer avatar or people that I wanted to attract really primarily gather their information sorted their inboxes subscribe to things you know. Laura: [00:10:53] And I remember people telling me like OK so you're capturing their email and now what? And I'm like oh my gosh, that's my opportunity to build a relationship with these people via email every single week via newsletter. Laura: [00:11:07] So that's, you met me four years ago. You know probably a few years in speaking about how to create that newsletter that people would want to open and read. So I had already been doing that for about four years. Laura: [00:11:21] I've been sending out a newsletter on Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. Central for the last seven years now. Jillian: [00:11:30] Yes. In fact you opened my eyes to email marketing, email funnels and I was blown away when you talked about it, because it was so intentional. And it was so not spammy. It was going to provide value. Jillian: [00:11:47] And if you like it buy my product. If you don't just come along for the ride. Laura: [00:11:52] Totally and that's what you want. You know you want to build a relationship that people see you as a resource a trustworthy person. Your customers need to see you as a resource Laura: [00:12:03] And sometimes they're not buyers. I have customers who I've had on my list for like five or six years when they just had babies and they wanted to eat healthier themselves, and now their kids five years later are going to school and now they're buying my meal plans. Laura: [00:12:16] Right. So it's really not about that instant sale. I would rather have a community of engaged people that are like-minded. That also finds the rest of my content that I produce that it's free helpful and they're going to share that online with their network and therefore attract other parents who might be at the right time to purchase my meal plans or any of my other programs. Jillian: [00:12:42] So in your newsletter what do you write every week? Laura: [00:12:47] So in my newsletter I write a personal story about my life. The person that I am, what happened that week, my traveling, How did I pull it together to jump on a plane and still left my family with food. You know it's basically an email from me to a friend. Laura: [00:13:10] And I literally write an email I know it goes out to thousands of people but I imagine that I'm just writing to one person. Jillian: [00:13:34] Oooh. yes. And do you always put a recipe in your newsletter? Laura: [00:13:43] So I do it a bit differently now that I used to but my newsletter is built around the new content of the week. So whatever items were published Monday through Friday that week go in my newsletter. Jillian: [00:13:56] Okay. And one thing we haven't touched on is you create amazing video. Laura: [00:14:01] I love video production. Jillian: [00:14:05] Yeah, and like you have your own studio that you built. And you like you have this amazing process where you like have a team come in and shoot a bunch of video a bunch of recipes, and this is how you also work with brands. Right. Which is you'll create video for brands. Jillian: [00:14:22] We'll come back to to your newsletter and to your email strategy. But could you just quickly talk about that. Like how many videos a week are you making? Laura: [00:14:30] So my newsletter includes no only blog posts but it also includes video content that I release every week. Laura: [00:14:36] So I've made a commitment to release a new video every single week. I've been doing that for three years. So since Fall 2014 I believe. Jillian: [00:14:52] And are these always recipes? Laura: [00:14:54] They are mostly recipes. So what happens is that I taught myself how to cook and you know I feel like cooking is something that anyone can do. If you have a good process and recipe. Laura: [00:15:07] So back in 2014 I realized that video was the direction that people were consuming content. This is really early on and of course look at where we are today. Having a video production process to make lots of video content Laura: [00:15:22] And so I had never been in front of a camera in my life and I competed on Food Network that year. Jillian: [00:15:30] In what? Laura: [00:15:32] And won! Jillian: [00:15:34] What show? Laura: [00:15:35] Oh it was called Rewrapped. So it was a show at the time recreating recipes. You know you just showed up and you had to recreate a popular snack item or something from the grocery store. Right. Jillian: [00:15:48] OK. What did you recreate? Laura: [00:15:55] I recreated this old snack called cheese wise/wise cheese. I can't even remember the name of this thing. But it's like these cheesy waffle things. Laura: [00:16:05] And you know what's interesting about that is that it's not even winning or creative, I honestly learned that I could create on my feet and I was really good at it. Laura: [00:16:21] And then that I could do video and I had never been in front of a video camera in my life. I was never the person. I'm not like my kids who have grown up with like mom holding the phone. So it just taught me that I could do it. Laura: [00:16:34] And I was very raw, not very good. Some days I want to take down my old videos on YouTube but you know we all have to start somewhere and it just helps you polish your craft. Laura: [00:16:50] So I started doing video and now I create. I released one video a week sometimes two sometimes they're sponsored sometimes they are not sponsored. Most of the time they're not. Laura: [00:17:04] And I do anything from cooking to the lifestyle of living a fresh lifestyle. You know what that looks like. A lot of it is meal prep is really the things that interest my audience. Laura: [00:17:22] But I don't shoot every week. I do one video production day or two a month and we produce six to seven videos per day to be up to 10. But it's crazy. So 6 to 7 is like a good number. Jillian: [00:17:35] And how big is your team when they come in and work with you to create all these videos. Laura: [00:17:40] Yeah it really depends on the project. It used to be one video person. Sometimes two cameras. We now have technology that really has helped cut that down. So now it's one video guy and myself. So it's a two man team. Laura: [00:17:59] And then I have a part time assistant that will be here on video day just to you know swap the food, pick up, basically transition from one video to the next while I'm producing the video with the video guy. So extremely barebones. Jillian: [00:18:26] OK how long does it take to shoot one video? Laura: [00:18:29] On average about an hour ish. It really depends on the recipe. Sometimes we have like the banana bread it's like 50 minutes in the oven. So what I do is I just put that banana bread in the oven and move on to the next video and then I come back to it. Laura: [00:18:42] But I pre-produce everything, so the key is in the production part of it. In your organization. I don't just go like, "I think I'll shoot a video today." Laura: [00:18:52] We've really been planning, video day is an investment in my brand because it costs money, a lot. So I also have pre-production days so I outline a script, I read the piece through and through. I know exactly what we're doing. I measure some ingredients you know. Laura: [00:19:12] So a lot of this is really streamlined. Jillian: [00:19:16] Yes. And then who's editing the video? Laura: [00:19:19] The production company my production notes are basically, as my guys call it, like editing on paper. So I edit on paper and then they do all the editing on the computer. How to promote video to your audience Jillian: [00:19:35] And then this ultimately lives on YouTube? Is that right? Laura: [00:19:41] Yes, on YouTube. Jillian: [00:19:41] And then you will repurpose this on your blog and then send this content out in your newsletter? Laura: [00:19:47] Yes. So I create video, the long form, like that three to five minute videos or whatever they get embedded on a blog post and then the post gets promoted in my newsletter. Jillian: [00:20:03] Got it. Laura: [00:20:04] As well as on site online on social media. But my driver of traffic is my newsletter for sure. Jillian: [00:20:12] Wow. So you monetize working with brands, and selling meal plans, and cookbooks. Laura: [00:20:22] Yes although my cookbooks are published by a traditional publisher so if anybody knows, I mean, after the first 10,000 copies I probably make a dollar per book. Being a cookbook author Laura: [00:20:35] Cookbook authors, they really don't make a lot. But I like my cookbooks because they're all my favorite things in one place. And it's nice to have. Jillian: [00:20:44] And also they give you credibility. Laura: [00:20:46] Yes. So. Yes. Thank you. I'm I not a traditional chef or trained cook. I am self-taught in every aspect so I felt like a cookbook would provide me with credibility over an area like family food. Laura: [00:21:05] And now I'm releasing my fourth cookbook in August and it's called the Taco Tuesday Cookbook. Because I love tacos. And so again it's all my favorite things in one place. Jillian: [00:21:18] So you are, like what you've done so well is created a brand around a lifestyle, but you're also, I would say relatable that you recognize this isn't perfect. Jillian: [00:21:35] Like you can aspire to this perfect lifestyle but like you're not living it. You're trying to live it. Laura: [00:21:41] Oh no, it's so messy. I mean it's so messy. And that's one thing that you have to sort of accept. If you go on my Instagram feed. It's not planned. It's not all the same filter. How to find your own style Laura: [00:22:00] I don't do the things, maybe that's why I don't grow as fast? I don't know. But like I don't do those things. I do me, and I do me really well because no one else can do me. Laura: [00:22:14] And I think that's something that when people start out yes, you have to mimic what other people are doing. But you have to do you in all things of your own your life because it's the only way that you're going to be able to stick with it long enough to A. see success, whatever that may mean to you and B.actually monetize. Laura: [00:22:34] You know, you've got to be you. Jillian: [00:22:37] I agree. I absolutely agree. And I think that you are really good at that. I mean you just said it. But it's true. I feel like I know you based on your newsletters. Jillian: [00:22:49] I mean I know you in real life but you're not that different. Laura: [00:22:54] Yeah, I just I want people to read my newsletter and go, "Oh thank God she had a shitty week last week," or you know or she didn't keep it together. She went to Chick Fil A this week. Laura: [00:23:09] You know, I try to kind of talk about the "How does she do it" in my newsletters. Because people wonder, like how do you run a full time business? How did you get there? You know I'm going to be talking more about that. Laura: [00:23:23] But like how do you cook? I cook every night of the week unless we're up at my parents eating dinner or are my in-laws. We have family meal every night and that's a priority for me. How to relate to people in their struggles Laura: [00:23:37] So I also work really hard to relate to people who are who have struggles that I may not be struggling but I can acknowledge that they're struggling in that area. Laura: [00:23:49] So I'm 100 percent honest like, you know what, Jillian, I know what really helps is to pay attention to your life when you can make your life the best life for you, as opposed to live your life through what other people are doing online and try to mimic in their life. Laura: [00:24:08] Because I honestly don't have time to keep up with the Joneses. You know I don't really care what big bloggers doing and what this other blogger is doing. Laura: [00:24:16] You know a lot of times people come to me and they're like, "Did you see all the bloggers copying what you doing?" and I'm like you know what, good for them they're doing them. You know, they're doing their thing. Laura: [00:24:24] Like I know what I have is really special to me and to my community. And so I do me. Jillian: [00:24:33] I love that. Jillian: [00:24:35] That's the end of Part One. Isn't Laura great? In part two of the show we go into how she sells her meal plans using her email list. It's really good. Grow your Instagram followers, Pinterest followers, YouTube subscribers, Facebook followers and email list with the MiloTree pop-up Jillian: [00:24:46] Please come back and if you're trying to grow your social media followers and your email list definitely check out MiloTree.com. It's the app we built. Jillian: [00:24:59] It's growing our social media followers on Catch My Party like crazy. Definitely try it out. [00:25:03] You get 30 days free. You install it on your site. We have a WordPress plugin. We are GDP compliant. We are Google friendly. We are non-invasive but noticeable. [00:25:15] It will really work. So try it out. You have any questions. Just reach out to me and we'll be back next week with part 2. Sign up for MiloTree now and get your first 30 DAYS FREE!

IN THIS EPISODE: Laura Fuentes is not only the Founder and CEO of the extremely popular Momables.com website, she is also a passionate mom, super awesome chef and most of all, an incredible person. Her passion for making food simple and easy helps almost anyone learn how to make delicious meals in the kitchen. Listen in for some great inspiration, super helpful cooking tips and some of Laura's secret shortcuts to make cooking in the kitchen easier for busy parents just like us! PODCAST SPONSORS: Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee No jitters, no crash, no stomach issues...just medicinal mushrooms mixed with coffee that tastes AMAZING and literally heals your body, lowers stress and gives you a natural boost of energy from the inside out. I only partner with brands that I LOVE and I drink Four Sigmatic's Mushroom Coffee Mix every single day. Visit https://us.foursigmatic.com/?discount=leangreendad# for more information on this incredible product and for 15% off your purchase with no discount code required. *visit between February 8-12, 2017 for up to 50% off on top of your 15% discount! That's potentially 65% off! Give it a shot today and start your morning off #onshrooms! Clean Green Protein Lean Green DAD® is proud to partner with Clean Machine® to sell Clean Green Protein™, the first product with the new plant Super Green – LENTEIN™. LENTEIN™ is an award-winning Non-GMO whole plant protein from the Lemna family that is one of the World’s Most Complete Foods – A Super Protein, Super Green and Super Omega, All in One Plant! Simply one of the most important advances in plant-based nutrition – EVER! To buy, visit www.leangreendad.com/shop and use code LEANGREEN20 for 20% off your order at checkout. 

We're coming back atcha with another great episode! We're talking to Laura Fuentes, the CEO of Fuentes Media, Founder of MOMables, and a Lifestyle Entrepreneur. She's the Author of 3 cookbooks, Executive Producer of video campaigns, makes television appearances, has competed (and won!) on Food Network, and often partners with brands in digital campaigns in both English and Spanish. With her background in Global Economics, MBA in Business Development, and 7 successful years growing her online businesses, Laura helps other entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses in LauraFuentes.co. We also dive into some of the heavier things that have been happening in the last few weeks including the Bill Cosby mistrial and the Philando Castile verdict. As well as touching on that superb Teen Vogue article, How to Masturbate If You Have a Vagina. Lastly, we're honoring Valerie Castile and all the other mothers who have tragically lost children to police brutality. We touch on the importance and power of her rage, but this article from Very Smart Brothas sums up what we're feeling perfectly.  

Are you spending too much on groceries? Do you have no idea about how much you should be spending? In today's podcast, we chat about how to figure out a good budget benchmark for our families (or ourselves.) Then I share a few tips on how to instantly slash your budget!   Some things discussed in this episode: 6-Week Budget Friendly Dinner Meal Plan ($50/week, 5 Meals) USDA Table with Food Budget / Spending Guidelines All other Meal Plans    

Mom entrepreneurs fill one of the hardest roles on the planet. Laura Fuentes founder of Momables.com and food and lifestyle brand LauraFuentes.com knows the struggle of balancing home and work intimately.Big brands hire her - brands like Sabra Hummus, Nestle, Bobs Red Mill, and many more. As well, her brands reach over 700,000 unique visitors per month. Momables helps parents feed their children great tasting healthy foods without spending an eternity in the kitchen or breaking the bank. Her sites also provide weekly recipe plans, cookbooks like “The Best Homemade Kids Snacks on the Planet,” and she even offers a done for you meal delivery service. She runs all of this while raising 3 kids. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: [0:23] Jeremy’s introduction to Laura Fuentes, founder of Momables.com [1:30] The decision to homeschool her children and the challenge it has been. [4:20] How running the business impacts Laura’s children. [10:05] What forced Laura to implement clear boundaries between work and home? [13:36] Current projects Laura is working on. [19:50] The decision to implement subscriptions for weekly meal plans and recipes. [27:46] The most rewarding clients Laura has worked with. [32:10] The first hires and building a team. [36:01] The places Laura has her social media assistants focus their efforts. [42:23] The decision to hire her husband. [47:50] The point at which Laura knew her blogging would become a business. [49:35] What makes the popular content process so effective? [54:35] Content creation ideas that didn’t work at all. [59:03] Foods parents believe is healthy/fresh but really isn’t. [1:02:04] The controversial posts and why they become noticed. [1:05:40] The “done for you” options Laura has created. [1:08:49] How Laura discovered the importance of a consistent content cycle. [1:11:15] The biggest challenges Laura has faced in her journey. [1:13:30] The common denominator in Laura’s lowest points in business. [1:19:19] One of Laura’s proudest moments in business. In this episode… Successful mom entrepreneurs are a rare breed. They have to be skilled at balancing the needs of kids with the needs of a growing business. Laura Fuentes isn’t perfect at that balance - by her own admission - but she’s a great example of keeping her priorities straight and ensuring that her kids don’t suffer because of her business. She shares her story on this amazing episode of Inspired Insider. No matter what you think of mom entrepreneurs you have to admit that the skills it takes to balance home and work successfully are quite impressive. Laura Fuentes has made a name for herself in the online food blogging space and is hired by many popular brands. But in spite of those demands she refuses to let her homelife suffer, leaving her laptop at work and refusing to do business after 4PM. Find out how she’s done it, on this episode. What’s the best you can imagine when it comes to a successful business AND a successful home life? Go ahead, dream a little. It’s those dreams that motivate entrepreneurs who are also moms to fight for balance and a wise perspective in the midst of business demands. On this episode, Laura Fuentes shares how Momables.com and LauraFuentes.com have become successful while at the same time her family has thrived. You won’t want to miss these insights. When it comes time in the life of your business to hire a team, it will look different depending on where you are in your business lifecycle and what kind of business you want to run. For Laura Fuentes, it was important that she was able to continue doing the things she loved to do but could also keep her priority of a quality family life on the front burner. She shares how she’s navigated that team-building phase of her brands on this episode. How do you build a huge content brand that gets thousands of views and downloads every week? Laura Fuentes says that it’s all about great content consistently distributed. She says there are no magic formulas, only small steps every day toward an end goal. It’s those small steps that add up to big things. You can hear how the queen of mom entrepreneurs does it, on this episode of Inspired Insider. Resources Mentioned on this episode www.Momables.com www.LauraFuentes.com BaseCamp DropBox iCalendar Sponsor for this episode O sponsor today is www.Rise25.com where entrepreneurs of 6,7, and 8 figure businesses come together live and in person every few months to solve their biggest business challenges through this high-level Mastermind group. Each member leaves each week with lifelong friendships and actionable steps to take their business to the next level. Check out Rise25.com - a group run by myself and cofounder John Corcoran. Rise 25 is application only.  

Being stressed out over cookbooks is a big part of what Laura Fuentes has experienced in her business journey. She is the founder of Momables.com and food and lifestyle brand LauraFuentes.com where big brands like Sabra Hummus, Nestle, Bobs Red Mill and many more hire her to reach over 700,000 unique visitors per month. Momables helps parents feed their children great tasting healthy foods without spending an eternity in the kitchen or breaking the bank. They provide weekly recipe plans, cookbooks like The Best Homemade Kid’s Snacks on the Planet,  and even partnered with a done for you meal delivery service.  Laura runs all of this while raising 3 kids. Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: [0:23] Jeremy’s introduction to Laura Fuentes and this episode. [1:26] Laura’s lowest point and how she pushed through. [5:30] The techniques Laura uses to cope with the stress. [7:15] The proudest moments Laura has experienced. [8:13] Mentors and colleagues Laura gets help from. In this episode… Being stressed out is never fun, no matter the reason. The stress is one of the things Laura Fuentes hates most about publishing cookbooks and recipe ideas. It’s not that she dislikes the resources she provides or the way it helps families. She really loves what she’s able to do to help busy families. What she hates is the pressure and detail that goes into each product and that it keeps her from doing the things she feels she’s really good at. Laura Fuentes loves to do video editing and production and is very eager to establish herself and her brand by creating the systems and hiring the people that will enable her to quit being stressed over the business and do the things she loves to do. On this episode Laura shares her journey and the lowest and highest points she’s experienced in building a company that is trusted by major brands and moms alike. You’re going to enjoy hearing Laura tell about what it’s taken to build a successful business while still being mom to 3 kids at home. Resources Mentioned on this episode www.Momables.com www.LauraFuentes.com www.SocialTriggers.com

If you are struggling to prep lunches ahead of time and wonder how does one “get it all done,” this podcast is for you. Today Laura will answer questions submitted by MOMables community members that are related to lunch packing. You’ll also hear lots of helpful tips for packing your kids lunches.   Laura talks about how she manages to prepare lunches, meal plan, and grocery shop with her hectic schedule.  She discusses’ some of her kids’ favorite lunches as well as her favorite go-to office lunches.  Laura’s containers can be found here.  Her Classic and Grain Free meal plans can be found here.  Co-hosted with Kelly Favret. 

If you’ve been wondering about the health benefits of essential oils this podcast is for you! I have friends who use them regularly to relieve all sorts of pains and aches and for the overall well being of their families. Just recently, I took my middle son (the one with a gluten sensitivity) to a natural medicine physician and he was prescribed an herbal supplement and essential oil 8 week protocol. I’m excited to discuss essential oils further today because quite frankly, I don’t know that much about them and I realize this is something I need to learn more about to help my son. Today our guest is, Stefanie Bridges.  She has been in the health and fitness industry for over 23 years and has a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education and Athletic Training. Stefanie is a personal trainer and holds 3 different certifications through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, and Dot FIT. As a personal trainer her sessions combine nutrition strategy with physical fitness training. Stefanie’s goal is to not only motivate her clients but also to educate them in all aspects of health and wellness. She uses doTERRA’s essential oils to compliment her trainings. Stefanie lives in Wesley Chapel with her husband and two children. She enjoys training for her annual half marathon, travels with her family, and loves outdoor activities. Her personal training sessions and educational classes are a reflection of her enthusiasm for life! Stefanie is also a MOMables community member and I’m delighted to have her here today to teach us more about Aroma therapy. In the show notes, you’ll find helpful links. Helpful links of items discussed: ·       Apple Fritter Muffins ·       MOMables Meal Plan   doTERRA Oils: ·       Baking soda + 2 drops Oregano Oil - Form a paste and clean grout. ·       Family Physician Kit ·       Purify Blend – add a couple of drops to the wash ·       Lavender Oil – calming effects, as “first aid” on bee stings, bug bites, scrapes and burns, relief of anxiety and stress. ·       Lemon Oil – mood lifter, degreaser, cold sore relief, neutralize odors, cooking, cleaner, furniture polish. ·       Pepper Oil – digestive issues (gas, colic, heartburn, indigestion), allergies, open sinuses and airways, cool down body temperature (fevers), motion sickness, nausea, vomiting, mouthwash. ·       Melaleuca Oil – cuts, rashes, sunburns, skin conditions, acne, athlete’s foot, bronchitis, scalp issues, dandruff, earaches. ·       Frankincense Oil – focus energy, minimize distractions, and improve concentration. ·       Breathe Blend – respitatory support, combact airborne bacteria and viruses, stop snoring, asthma symptoms. High altitude airplane pressure and nasty germs in recirculated air. ·       OnGuard Blend – Natural immune defense, helps kill bacteria, mold, and viruses. For daily use. ·       Introductory Kit: Lavender + Lemon + Peppermint Oils For more information about the oils you can e-mail Stefanie here summerstefanie@gmail.com. Stephanie will extend a 10% MOMables Member discount to your aroma therapy order. Also, here is her doTERRA and Facebook page.

In today's show, Kelly Favret interviews Laura to answer some of the frequently-asked questions from MOMables community members. Together, they cover lunch-packing tips, cooking tips, feeding picky eaters, and more.    Some of the topics covered in this podcast: Struggling with the transition to homemade foods When a two-year-old is hard to feed How to handle food-related celebrations when a child has a food allergy What to do when your child has food allergies or restrictions at school / how to deal with teachers Feeding/swallowing issues at 18 months My Munchbug The Chew Mama How do you know if a child is turning picky? Making nut flour from whole nuts Measuring butter and coconut oil - liquid vs. solid Nutiva Coconut Oil (Amazon) How do you measure "flours?" At which stores does Laura grocery shop? MOMables Amazon Store with Laura's favorite containers & products Is there such a thing as eating too many nuts?

In today's show, Kelly Favret interviews Laura to answer some of the frequently-asked questions from MOMables community members. Together, they cover lunch-packing tips, cooking tips, feeding picky eaters, and more.    Some of the topics covered in this podcast: Struggling with the transition to homemade foods When a two-year-old is hard to feed How to handle food-related celebrations when a child has a food allergy What to do when your child has food allergies or restrictions at school / how to deal with teachers Feeding/swallowing issues at 18 months My Munchbug The Chew Mama How do you know if a child is turning picky? Making nut flour from whole nuts Measuring butter and coconut oil - liquid vs. solid Nutiva Coconut Oil (Amazon) How do you measure "flours?" At which stores does Laura grocery shop? MOMables Amazon Store with Laura's favorite containers & products Is there such a thing as eating too many nuts?

Today, Laura interviews Monica Bravo of Bravo for Paleo. Monica, one of our MOMables interns, tells us what it was like to make the decision to eat healthier as a teenager when it often was not socially acceptable. I love her tips on food preparation and her insights on what parents can do to teach their kids to eat healthier and love their bodies.

Laura Fuentes is the Founder and CEO of MOMables, where she helps parents make fresh school lunches and food their kids love. In the last two years, Laura has grown her community to more than 50,000 parents, and the website receives over one million page views per month.    What made Laura start MOMables? How did the idea come about? And what kind of person launches a company while six-months pregnant with her third child? One very determined woman who wants to help parents feed their kids better!   In this episode, you will hear Laura's history and food journey, how the idea of MOMables came about, and how she manages to make real food happen with three kids and no nanny-entourage. She opens up about her personal life and how it inspired her to embark upon a mission to feed her kids (and yours) better.   She is a big picture strategist, visionary, public speaker, cookbook author, spokesperson, and social media enthusiast. In 2014, Laura competed in Food Network’s Rewrapped and won!   Laura contributes her recipes and expertise to several online publications as well as numerous print magazines. She writes her own column in the Huffington Post.   You can watch Laura in the kitchen on MOMables' YouTube channel.You can personally connect with Laura on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. And you can follow MOMables on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.    In her spare time, she keeps up her personal blog, SuperGlueMom, where she shares her family’s favorite recipes and short stories on how she manages to keep it together as a working mom - she even tells about the time her kids superglued her hair!