Announcing: Equal-ish
A new podcast all about how to be in a relationship while parenting and working
Equal-ish – as in “not quite equal,” because we all know equal is unrealistic. But close to equal as possible – so, sort of equal; aka doing our best.
I am SO EXCITED to tell you all about this project that has been in the works since February.
WHAT? Equal-ish is the only podcast that is specifically and explicitly dedicated to helping couples find household balance while working and parenting.
WHO? My co-host is Rachel Childs, founder of Parents that Work, and I know you’ll love her. She has corporate experience helping parents navigate work, and she has experience coaching individual couples. Plus, she is a wife and a mom, so she gets it. AND we put together an exciting group of guests for our first series.
WHEN? Final date to be determined, but we are launching soon! I’ll announce here when the first batch is live.
WHY? I am excited for this project for so many reasons, including:
I have been a guest on many pods since Equal Partners came out. And they’re all super fun – and challenging, because they force me to project my material through the lens of that particular pod. But I’ve always wanted to talk about this topic on my own terms, and I’ve craved a regular conversation about all the nuance, all the sub-topics, all the nitty gritty about being in a relationship, while working and parenting. So, when Rachel approached me with this idea in February, I was all in.
Rachel is British, and based in the UK. And I really love the dynamic that brings. We have guests from both sides of the pond, and I like that our dual-country perspective forces us to think about partnership beyond our own national policies.
Do you ever finish listening to a podcast and think, “that was interesting – but what does that mean for me?” I definitely do! Every other episode of Equal-ish is an interview with an expert – to talk about theory and research and share examples. And every other episode is a “coaching edit,” where Rachel and I chat just the two of us about those expert conversations, extracting practical, real-life ideas that we can all try at home. Because we don’t want to chat about equal partnership in theory – we want to actually find ways to help people change their behavior.
Here’s a photo of Rachel and me the first day we recorded; we were so nervous!
Neither of us knew the first thing about podcasting software… talk about flying the plane while building it! But we’re quick learners – and we had some great podcasting friends who helped. Special thanks to Meredith for Real and Blair Hodges for their time walking me through the steps. Brian Page was also a huge help.
We bounced names around for months before we settled on this one. The hardest part was picking a name that worked with our theme and wasn’t already a podcast. This was harder than we anticipated. Do you know how many podcasts are out there? A LOT. It is estimated that there are about half a million podcasts that are actively posting new content. But we love the name Equal-ish; it just feels right.
I am slightly embarrassed to say how long it took us to come up with our logo tile…. Have you ever spent hours mulling over pantone colors? Talk about something that can suck you in! When I say we went through dozens of versions – I mean DOZENS. But I really like the final cut. And thanks to Evan who spent hours on Canva, trying out various fonts.
Drum roll please… here is our first U.S. reveal!
Hope you like it, too! (And if you don’t – just lie to me and tell me it’s beautiful.)
If you’re curious… we have an amazing line up of guests for our debut pod season. I’ll give you the full run-down in September, but our early conversations include:
Marvyn Harrison, founder of Dope Black Dads, talks about how he challenged gender norms at work and in his community to be a better father.
We get into the weeds of maternal gatekeeping with Dr. Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan, Professor at THE Ohio State University.
We talk to influencer Zach Watson about what he is doing, day by day, to be more equal-ish in his relationship.
We define couple’s therapy vs couple’s coaching (and talk about when you might seek out one or the other) with Dr. Sarah Fishburn-Roberts.
Overall, I am as excited about putting this podcast out into the world as I was about my book. I am having conversations about equal-ish partnerships that I have not had before; I am learning with every recording. Also - this topic is evolving and changing, and it is fun to have a project that can change with it.
I am grateful to have met Rachel – and grateful for the opportunity to create Equal-ish for all of us. I can’t wait to launch next month. Stay tuned! And if you know anyone who might be interested in Equal-ish, please share this with them.
This newsletter arrives (just about) every Wednesday afternoon. This is in honor of my dad, who used to call Wednesdays “hump day.” He’d say - You’ve got the majority of the week behind you Katie, you’re already close the the weekend. So, when this hits your inbox - even if you don’t read it - think to yourself… congratulations! You made it over the hump, and you’re closing in on the weekend.
This sounds awesome! Can't wait to listen.
fantastic! can't wait!