FACE IT. SHIFT. GROW. REPEAT.

Episode Twenty

“I Absolutely Despised Motherhood” with Hana Catlett

I will never forget the first time I heard Hana say, "I hated being a mom and I hated being a wife," while she was standing next to her husband Will (who is one of my best friends) and thinking to myself, "Holy sh*t this is uncomfortable."

In this episode of The Shift, I sit down with my friend and one of my former coaches, Hana Catlett, brand archietect, wife, and mother of two. Hana's transparency around being a mom shocked me from the moment I first heard her say she hated it, and hate seems to be an understatement. Her words now: absolutely despised.

In this episode, she gets real about motherhood, the parts most women don't say out loud. We get into why modern motherhood is basically engineered for isolation, and what got lost when we stopped raising kids in villages.

Mother or not, this one's a gut-punch. Listen in.

For Ben, that moment came seven years ago. What started as smoking too much weed in high school turned into countless blackouts in college, and eventually a lifestyle fueled by cocaine, women, and escape. At a certain point, he realized his life had become unmanageable with a capital U.

But, what began as a decision to get sober turned into something much deeper: confronting not only the addictions, but the habits and patterns that had been holding him back for years. And when Ben made the decision to change, he went all in. That’s the New Yorker in him.

He went to meetings, read books, worked with mentors, and went to retreats focused on emotional release. He committed himself to rebuilding his life from the inside out.

Along the way, Ben developed a relationship with a power greater than himself, and in doing so discovered his true purpose: helping others on their own path.

Then about a year ago, a friend said something that stuck with him:

“Ben, you need to start a podcast.”

The seed was planted and from it grew The Shift — a podcast about what happens when we stop avoiding the things that hold us back and start facing them head-on. While themes like sobriety and faith will come up, The Shift isn’t a sobriety podcast or a religious one. The Shift is an open, inclusive space for anyone and everyone.

Through Ben’s shifts, and his guests who have experienced shifts of their own, the goal is simple: to help listeners who might be struggling with something realize they’re not alone, and to share insights and strategies that they can put to work in their own lives.

Sometimes life reaches a point where you realize things have gotten out of control—when ignoring it is no longer an option.