Episode 170: The Hole Truth- Alison Whitney and Natasha Goss On Real Postpartum

Disclaimer: Transcripts were generated automatically and may contain inaccuracies and errors.

Welcome to the kids Sleep Show podcast where we dive into the magical world of sleep and all things parenting. Join us as we embark on a journey filled with expert advice, practical tips and heartwarming stories that will transform your little ones into sleep superheroes and empower you to navigate the beautiful chaos of parenting. I’m your host, Courtney Zentz and I’m on a mission to change how the world use sleep and provide accessible sleep coaching resources for all families to build healthy sleep habits in their home, for Children and adults of all ages. As an award winning speaker, author and pediatric sleep expert. Myself and my team of consultants work intimately with families around the world to teach healthy sleep habits to Children and adults. I believe wholeheartedly that sleep is the foundation for which a happy home is built. So let’s sleep together from a podcast standpoint. I usually like to just have you both introduce yourself and then um I’ll sort of tee it off with like what is the whole truth and a little bit on your story of getting started. Then I thought we could sort of just naturally flow into like what made you want to write the movie and then have, you know, I’m blessed to be a part of the movie. Let’s talk a little bit about like, this cool opportunity if you want on like the way you funded for it and like product placement, I don’t know how much you want in it, of like a few minutes of the uniqueness in what you did to get it to fruition if you will. And then um you know, from a story standpoint, like how much of the storyline do you want to go into? Like, I’ve listened to the other interviews you’ve done with the whole truth, you know, just introducing the concept, but that was before you’ve actually shot it. Right. Right. So you want Courtney and we’re happy to talk about any and all of it, whatever. I mean, our primary audience is postpartum moms, right? But you never know who’s going to catch the, listen to it. So that’s where I’m like, I try to be thoughtful with like seo the play on our position with Postpartum, right? And just that space of like maternal mental health and there’s like such an uproar on linkedin right now with like working moms and this like the equal load hashtag you know, and stuff like that. So um I just wanted to be able to give you guys a platform to tell your story because our ideal audience are the people that you wrote this about you know what I mean? So, um I feel like that could be good and then we can tie it into because it’s going to go live next week when we’re out there. Or no, I meet you in person. I know that’s why I’m so excited. So we’ll be able to like launch it and then it goes live right now. We have it slated for 11 6. But didn’t we move that because it got rescheduled. I’ll confirm with Kelly when we wanted to go live, but I thought we were gonna, originally, we were gonna have it go live with being out there. But no, that was NA PIC, but we might be able to just have it go live next week and switch the schedule around because we’re recording it today. I feel like that’s what we talked about, but I didn’t update my calendar, my whiteboard, my trusty whiteboard. But, ok, record is good. Let me pull up my notes. Sorry. And then what time I know you have to get your little one, Alison. 1145 50. If we’re wrapped, that would be great. Ok, great. I just didn’t, I didn’t know if you had to be done at like 230. So you could get there at like 245 or 11.5 whatever. Ok. All right. I’m just gonna intro quick and then pull you guys in. It’s all recording and we’re not on video for the podcast which is good because I look like a dumpster fire today. You don’t do my workout. Um ok. Hey everyone. Courtney Zs here. Welcome to this week’s episode of the Kids Sleep Show. I am joined by two very special guests and new friends of both tiny transitions. And just personally, I want to take a minute to welcome Natasha Gos and Alison Whitney to the show and allow you each to introduce yourself and we’re going to talk today all about the amazing short film, the whole truth, but also this period of postpartum that I personally struggled a little bit with. And I think listeners are going to resonate with this episode for sure. So let me pause and introduce to you both and welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you so happy to be here. Let’s see where, all right, a little about us. Let’s see, Natasha and I met uh several years ago in acting class and uh we used to sit in the front row together and sort of like hold hands and put our claws in each other’s legs as like all those awkward moments of acting class were, were delved into. Um And from there, uh you know, we’re actors, writers, producers. I started writing a lot, um especially about my experience with postpartum depression. That was what my first pilot was about called after birth. And then I wrote another pilot and I thought, you know, Natasha and I wanted to work together. And so we came up with this idea for the whole truth. And so I, I started writing that, but we will get into that. But anyway, I am a mom. I have two young kids. I have a two year old and a five year old and a dog and a wonderful husband. We live in Los Angeles. We do. You know all the things. We started a company called Backup Plan Productions. Basically to support this type of creative endeavors. I love Tosh covered so much. Um Hi, I’m Natasha Gross and um Alison and I, yeah, exactly. We uh we bonded almost immediately and one thing led to another and it was inevitable for us to work together and partner together. So like Alison said, we started the production company and got to work. Um A lot of I just, I adore anything Alison writes because it really speaks from the heart and it really talks about things that most women don’t talk about or if they do, they’re afraid to. And I think it’s such an important uh time, especially for us to talk about what’s going on with our bodies and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly. And I think that just gets us closer. You know, Alison talks about acting class and in acting class, the first thing we do in the class we take at B GB studios is how do you feel? And you know, it’s crazy when you’re in a room full of actors. You think everyone’s doing great and then you hear nervous, scared, anxious, sad, all of these things and instantly we’re all connected. So I, in that same vein, Alison and I like to uh create projects that do the same thing. How are you feeling? Well, postpartum is awful and really hard and it doesn’t go away when your child is one years old. You know, I am, I’m also an actress and a producer and a mom. Um my son is 11 years old and we talk all the time about how I am still in postpartum. So it doesn’t end after the, the fourth trimester, it just continues and it obviously evolves um which leads us to the whole truth, which was something that a wonderful gift I got postpartum were um hemorrhoids and definitely a subject very few people talk about because it’s kind of taboo. You know, it’s, it’s kind of like a side a, a secret side effect because it can come from many different things. Anyway, I had surgery uh to remove my hemorrhoids and shared it all with Alison because she’s such a close friend and because she loves to hear my stories and as she does, she turned it into gold and that’s how the whole truth was born, which is, I think first and foremost, just one, using your creative genius and backup plan productions and the ability to share the story in this venue is beautiful because I do to your point. Think nobody talks about it. Right. I had hemorrhoids as well. And I thought, oh, my gosh, I have an, mmm, an M ma butthole. Like we’re never gonna have sex again, you know? And I’m like, what is this thing? Like, why won’t it go away? It has been a while, you know, and eventually it did do whatever it did and I didn’t have to have the surgery, but like nobody talks about this postpartum. I think as parents, you’re in this euphoria of like, I’m so blessed to have had a child. I’m so blessed to have been able to get pregnant to carry to term and you know, all the things that some people aren’t right. And I think for me, I felt bad postpartum. I did not have this like, oh, you know, everything is beautiful. Like my husband was working the day the so my son was born, it’s the end of the month. He’s the controller of a company and they have to close the books and he’s the guy that does it, you know, and, and so it wasn’t, I mean, he was there obviously in the room and, and stopped working when my son was born, but it was like he was back at work the day later, like he had to close the books. It was now the first of the month, you know, my son was born on the 28th. And uh and I just remember being like, gosh, this is not like amazing. I thought it was going to be amazing. Everybody says it should be amazing as I’m crying, you know. And um it’s crazy and I just don’t think people talk about, it’s like, how are you? It’s so elated babies hashtag postpartum. And I’m like, hashtag I got milks shooting down my nipples and I’m wearing an ice diaper and I don’t have a village. So, yeah, things are all right. Yeah. But I mean, how did it start story wise? Right. So the whole truth, let’s take a minute actually and step back because I’ve had the pleasure of now, you know, knowing you for many months. Um The idea for the whole truth was born out of postpartum, hemorrhoids, friendship and just the realities of the things that people don’t talk about. So take a step back there because you wrote this beautiful script, right? And you’re doing it. Why? Like we’re obviously trying to share on our platform here at tiny transitions and as you’re doing too like the realities of parenthood because it is not always perfect, you know, so take a step back to like you wrote this script to do what like your mission with this movie is to make people laugh. Uh because laughter is the best medicine and it is the best way to destigmatize things. Um We are storytellers at the end of the day. You know and Tosh touched, touched on this earlier, but the universality of sharing an experience, a true experience from the heart warts and all or hemorrhoids and all brings people together. And if people can laugh about it and share with their girlfriends, which does happen, you know, hopefully you have one friend or one person at the beginning of your motherhood journey that you can go to and say my nipples are cracked. I’m bleeding, I’m not sleeping. I don’t even want my husband to breathe near me, let alone touch me. Like if you have somebody, you know those female friendships of other moms that you can connect with, it’s transformative. And so I wanted to do when I was writing it, I wanted to do a deep dive on female friendships and how we say things to each other moms, especially where it’s like we’ve all been in the trenches, you know, having a newborn being exhausted. If you can get somebody on your team on your side that you don’t have to shield yourself around, you will feel better. Oh I’m sorry, go ahead. Yeah. And so that’s really the point of this story, you know, and um also in Hollywood, right? Men get to do all the bathroom humor. There’s, you know, fart jokes and penis jokes and all this stuff. And women never get to have their own bathroom humor. And so I wanted, because I grew up loving that stuff. The Farrelly brothers and, you know, Jim Carrey and they got to be so gross and so funny. And I was like, well, what’s the female take on that? You know, we, we have it, moms know it. Like my whole day is still, I have a two year old, you know, my whole day is still revolves around poop, you know, like, how can we do this as adults? And, uh, yeah, that’s really the impetus for the story. Yeah, I think it’s so important as Alison said to have those friends because otherwise you sit internally judging yourself for, as you said, Courtney not being the happiest you’ve ever been because coming for me, I had several miscarriages before I actually uh had my son and the only thing in the world I ever wanted to have a baby when I was three years old, I wanted to be an actress and a mom. Like it never went away. And then here I had this gorgeous baby boy and I’d never been more miserable. And if you don’t have the ability to talk to someone about that, there’s so much shame. There’s so much loneliness. And you know, I, I had a gift, one friend of mine, she was married before I was married and she said to me have to tell you a secret. And I said, ok, and she said after the wedding, I was on the airplane with my husband. We splurged for business class. We had our ice cream. Sundays. He fell asleep, his mouth was open. He was snoring. I was eating my ice cream and I looked over and I thought, what the hell did I do? I don’t like this man and she said I got over it quickly, but I don’t want you to be afraid if you have those feelings when you get married, when you have a baby. And I just thought that was such a strange backdoor gift because we do have those feelings. You know, they’re not tiny transitions, they’re huge transitions and it’s natural and it’s normal and there’s nothing wrong with having those feelings. It doesn’t mean you don’t love your husband, doesn’t mean you don’t love your child. You know, our hormones are racing after having a baby. So as Alison said, for us to talk about it, for us to connect on it all of a sudden, you’re not alone. You’re not a secret monster. It’s normal. Well, and I think it’s interesting because just last week at the bus stop, I have, you know, we’ve got a great group of moms at the bus stop that and there’s a couple dads there. He, they love these conversations. But the one was like, hey, you got to check out this company, right? And we were talking about dry vaginas and menopause and she’s like, no, you got to check out this company and the name of them is blanking on me right now. But I’ll link them in the comment section because I’m sure listening to this might have dry vaginas, but she is going through breast cancer. She is 42. She found very early breast cancer but needed chemo and radiation. And um and she’s doing well. Um but she’s like this medicine is killing me that she’s on, you know, to like post all the chemo and radiation. And so she got this medi medicine but she’s like, they make it for like women in menopause and stuff. And I’ll tell you the first time I had intercourse after I had my son, it was the most atrocious, painful crying, burying my face in a pillow so he could be enjoyed. But I, he didn’t know that I was like, not, you know, and I was ashamed and like, holy crap, like what is going on with this? Like this is not what I remember it feeling like. And it took me realizing that it was something with regards to lubrication and nursing that was just messing up down there. But I didn’t know I was ashamed. I’m like, oh my gosh, did they sew it back together? Too small or something? What’s going on? I know Max had a big head but I was embarrassed and I’m like, how dare I say that? How dare I talk about it? And then finally the one night my husband was like, dude, what is wrong with you? Like he, he’s like, holy crap. Like, stop, like, what? And I was like, I don’t know, it’s just, I was like, does it feel right? You know, and he’s like, uh, we’re gonna not do this right now, you know. But I didn’t speak up because I was, like, embarrassed and ashamed, you know. And I, I would say, like, the humor at the bus stop now has gotten a little bit more lax. I think they appreciate when I show up in my pajamas and don’t care because I haven’t had a chance to get myself pulled together yet. But, um, I think just in general postpartum, right? Like I had postpartum intrusive thoughts which I did not even know were a thing and I thought I was going crazy. So I, I’ve never had anxiety or depression. I was very lucky in my life. I did not know what those feelings were going into having a baby. So when I came home and all of a sudden I’m like, well, I can’t go up the stairs because if I go up the stairs and I’m in the carrier and I trip on the step and then I fall, I’m gonna squish Max’s skull and I’m like, ok, that’s not a rational thought. Like, what are you doing? You know what I mean? But it’s like their thoughts, like you can’t stop them, but I didn’t know it was called postpartum intrusive thoughts. And then it was like, I wouldn’t leave the house because what if I trip, I wouldn’t go in the kitchen because I’m like, well, what if I get a knife to cut an apple and a knife ricochets and falls down and it ricochets up and then cuts his leg off. And I’m like, what the hell? Like my whole life became this, like weird movie because of these thoughts. So then I was paralyzed. I just basically was in my living room all day and I had food and water and I wouldn’t leave my living room because I was so paralyzed of like, what if blah, blah, blah, random intrusive thing happens, you know, none of it, which ever would hopefully. But it was scary to me and I don’t think we talk about that enough right in that postpartum period. No, I still have random intrusive thoughts. Yeah. Yeah, I do too. I do too. I mean, my two year old is like, having those two year old molars come in right now and I’m not in the house, I’ll be in the grocery store and I’ll just, like, hear her cry. Like, and that was so, like, vivid. I remember trying to shower when I was a new mom, you know, and I knew the baby was sleeping and I had the monitor and I could see it through the glass door and I still, I was like, oh my God, she’s crying like those thoughts are just, like, pervasive. We are just left. I remember feeling like there was just no, no shelf underneath me. I just felt so unsupported like the earth was going to swallow me up at any moment. And, and I just, I just lived there, you know, for eight months until I had basically four medical professionals chime in and be like you are not. Well, we are going to help you. This is your body’s reaction to having a baby and you know, there are medications to help and I felt so ashamed, so embarrassed. How could I not handle this? Do all these people think I am not a good mom? I mean, it was awful. It was just so awful. And I remember calling my parents after I had gotten professional help and I was like, it felt like a coming out. I was like, look, this is what I, you know, went through, this is what’s happening and they, they were just like, what can we do? How can we help? We didn’t know. And I was like, yeah, because I was so embarrassed, I couldn’t admit to people that I wasn’t good at something like that’s such pressure that women put on each other and on themselves, you know, and the internet really doesn’t help with that. And that’s the other thing that I wanted to say about postpartum. And this is kind of where like teaming up with you, Courtney and tiny transitions, like, really, really meant something to me. Um, I don’t know. If we said this yet, but our film was fully financed by all these mom supportive brands. And uh Courtney was our first donation to that end to help finance the film and we’re so proud of that. Um But you know, you’re alone, your baby is asleep, you are not sleeping and you go on these deep dives through the internet to find answers. And what you’re looking for is for someone on the internet who has any none tons of experience to validate you. And I just would go through these dark holes of like, oh God, she has this bump. OK. Let me go to the image. Oh my God. Web MD says this oh and this pediatrician says, oh she’s dying and that means that my detergent is raw and like, and you go down these insane holes, you know, and that’s where like to me putting Courtney and tiny transitions in the film, like I gave uh Natasha’s character a line like you have to use tiny transitions. Everybody uses Courtney. She knows, you know, she knows all the stuff. And then I wanted to actually incorporate your video um about setting up a sleep sanctuary because there is wonderful information out there. But there’s also a lot, not all of it is great, you know, but as a new like knowing that I wish I, I wish I knew you when I needed, you know, that part, that initial part of my life um but putting that in the film, I hope that that really resonates with, you know, new parents. I hope that they see it and say, ok, there are answers, there is help, this will get better. Um Because honestly, it all starts with like a good night’s sleep. I mean, that’s for me when like life started to change with having a little one. Well, that’s why I always tell people I’m like, sleep is the foundation for which the house is built. Because if you try to build it on rocky terrain or grass, it’s gonna sink, it’s gonna wash away like you gotta have a solid foundation to put the walls up because otherwise, like, you’re gonna start losing pieces of it. You know, as it, you know, as the, as it’s weathered in the storm of parenting and it’s, it’s just one of those, I don’t know. It, it’s such a crucial thing. And for me, I’m very sleep driven. Like I sleep still every night. I sleep more now than I did before kids. Honestly. But I go to bed at nine o’clock every night. I’m very routine and I’m up every day at five, somewhere between five and six, but mostly five o’clock every day. Um, and I try to see that that’s the one thing that doesn’t shift in our house. Like the sleep never gets chopped off the block. Whereas I feel like we’re all so busy that it’s like, oh, well, I’ll just stay up later and get this done or I’ll get up early and get it done. And it’s like, no, I’m gonna not do this other thing today so that I can get it done because there’s only so many hours in the day. I use this amazing time tracking sheet, which if anybody wants and you’re listening to the episode, let me know. I’d be happy to share it with you, but it is a time blocking worksheet that I laminated that I actually just keep and fill out every single quarter with like, ok, here’s the million things that I have to do every single day. Where does that happen? Because I’m only in the office so many hours and there’s a lot of work that needs to get done. And so I have my little time blocker, so I started to do it this morning so I could go all right, between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. Here’s our life. Like, what are we doing in this week or month or quarter or season with sports and stuff that I have time to go? Oh, well, if I’m gonna sit at Irish dance for two hours tonight, I can write a blog post or something or I can manage, helping my kids PT A or HS A or whatever. But I mean, back to the film, like, I think to your point like asking for help controlling what you can control was a big thing for me, I couldn’t control sleep, but I could control going for a walk, which got me fresh air and also got sleep because it was in the stroller and my kids slept in the stroller. So I would do two hour walks every day where I’m like, ok, we’re going to get a two hour walk in. I would take a book, you know, sometimes something to eat. Sometimes I would just walk and listen to music at the time. You know, that was 10 years ago. So podcasts weren’t as big. But I mean, you talk about, I’m so blessed to be one of the first people to be a part of the whole truth movie, but there’s a ton of other brands and I think it’s cool to talk about each of them. That’s a part of it because they are all to your point. Like mom promoting brands and small business promoting brands and just every single one was like an overwhelming, yes, including me when I heard about what you were doing, which Jan, the founder of Top Squad um had introduced us and, and you know, it’s, it’s so cool to because I feel like the space of baby sleep is a very small world despite how many companies there are. And it was just every person I feel like that is a part of this movie is, was like a heck yes. Like we’re in sign us up. So tell us about like some of the other partners that are in it because you weave them in beautifully to the storyline, you know, and um it, it with that bit of levity in comedy too. So I’m excited to see the final, the final cut. Yeah, we were so excited to work with Mom Ford brands because, you know, there’s so, so many different ways that brands can sort of get their product out there and the traditional way of the commercials in the network TV, you know, a lot of people record and fast forward commercials and then in streaming, there are no commercials. And so how do the brands insert themselves into things that everyone with, with great visibility and uh a lot of brands in the larger films. Uh There’s like a stroller in the back that happens to be the brand that nobody talks about, but we wanted to do it differently. We really wanted to incorporate our brands into the story that Alison wove so beautifully into the script. We really wanted to incorporate them into the story as like partners because it takes, as you said, it does take a village and our brands became part of our village. So we work with obviously you tiny transitions and to squad. Uh We, our first two that came on board, we have boppy the breastfeeding pillow, we have Lance Snow, the breast pump, we have Kiko feeding and soothing for all of our cups and pacifiers and sippy cup situations. We have B BOX, which is this incredible company from Australia that is just starting to come into the US and Europe. Um and they have amazing lunch boxes and water bottles and gosh, they have the whole line and um who am I leaving out Lullaby Earth Mattress company? Um They make a beautiful product with an awesome cover. Um, again, you know, parents are always looking for something that will make their life easier. And I will tell you, I’ve been on tour with them for the past nine months and that mattress cover is so clutch. And what I don’t think people understand with something like Lullaby Earth and like choosing a mattress, like for adults and kids, you’re gonna sleep on it every night of your life. And there’s a lot of toxic stuff in mattresses and lullaby Earth is non toxic. They have none of the gross stuff that, um, is in a lot of the things people sleep on that form a cloud of chemicals, honestly, um, that are omitted off of those products. And, um, it’s such a cool product because I will tell you the first time my son pooped max. Uh, I was in the chair, I was probably pumping or just staring at the wall while my husband changed him and he had a diaper blowout and it shot across the room and my husband has a very weak stomach. I could, you know, do surgery on like a bunny rabbit outside if he needed a, you know, stitching and my husband would be like, uh he scoops cat litter and pukes. So he’s like getting this projectile poop. And he’s in the, and my husband’s like a big muscular dude and he’s in the corner of the bedroom with the poop everywhere all over the butt and the changing table, it shot into the crib and he was just like, like dry heaving. There’s a mountain of wipes. He used an entire pack of wipes just for one poop. Ok. And he’s dry heaving as he’s wiping his butt every time he wipes his butt. The cold from the wipe shot the poop again out of his butt. It was just, it was a comedy of errors for like 25 minutes and I’m just dying laughing in the chair. I’m like, I’m not helping you. I’m not, I’m not helping you. I was probably pumping at the time. But, oh my gosh, I was laughing so hard, but it’s just so funny because it’s like, all right. Well, great. Now you have poop on the walls. Poop on the diaper changing pad, poop in the mattress and you gotta clean that stuff, right? Like, so most mattresses like you gotta pull stuff off and then it’s a pain. Then you got wet the mattress. Well, guess what? You can’t use that mattress for 24 hours or mold can develop, right? It’s not like, oh, it’s just gonna be wet. No, like black mold can build up. So with Lullaby Earth, what’s cool is the cover is breathable and waterproof, which they’re the first company, you know, I’ve realized that has made this cool technology and now I’m like in it with them every weekend, like teaching people about the products because they’re just so neat. They have na pic and Lullaby Earth and they’re soft, but you just pull the cover right off. So it’s like, ok, we’re done. I used to call it double, double bagging, right? Um Had a different meaning probably in different stages of our life. But um I would say like the crib, you know, I’m like, just take this off, put it back on like double bag, the crib, you know, and now it’s like, no, I can just pull the cover right off and put a new sheet right on top of the new cover and it’s clean. I don’t have to wash the mattress ever. I don’t have to worry about any of that stuff. They’re just such a great partner, but the mattress is really cool. I mean, all the products are wonderful that are appearing, you know, and I think to your point, even the breastfeeding like Lance Snow is a great brand and I’m so happy they’re in this because breastfeeding is a huge point of, I think in my space of sleep consulting like I’m a lactation counselor as well. So I was, I certified to be AC LC. Oh, gosh, I don’t even know. Probably like, 2016 or 18. It was a while ago. Um, but there’s like team breastfeeding and then there’s team sleep. Right. And they never work together. Well, lactation counselors are like, well, you can’t sleep train because you’ll mess up nursing and then the sleep training people are like, no, you need to rip out all the feeds in the middle of the night for them to sleep through the night. And I’m like, oh my gosh, you’re both wrong. Like you can breastfeed and have a beautiful breastfeeding relationship and you can get sleep and do it with balance and grace and feed your child when they’re hungry. Not as a mechanism to go to because that’s a sleep prop, right? And you can do both successfully. You can get sleep and still have a great nursing relationship. You can pump and still have a great sleeping relationship as long as you understand what you’re doing and why, you know, so I’m just so happy that they’re a part of it because I think people immediately assume that you can’t do one and the other and that’s just not the case, but just breastfeeding in general. Like if you’re formula feeding, formula feed, if you’re breastfeeding, great, if you have to combo feed, great, feed your baby, that’s what’s important, you know, and I think there’s so much pressure to your point even on social media where it’s like, just you feel like a failure and I think it’s an internal shame that new moms feel if they can’t do it. And that sucks. Like I don’t ever ever want anybody to feel that way. That’s why, like, people ask me all the time, like, as a lactation counselor, what do you think? I’m like, that is best, you know, because there’s just so much crazy pressure and you know what milk doesn’t flow out like Betsy the cow for everyone, you know, that’s torture. I think that I so desperately needed you when I had my son because I wasn’t sleeping and I wasn’t getting any milk. So I had and, and I was depressed and I felt alone and I felt isolated. It was all of the things in one and I tried so hard to have this baby and here he was and I just wanted to put him back in, you know, so it’s, it’s really wonderful that you’re here and that you have all of this um help for new moms. And I, I it does, like we said, like we keep saying, it does take a village and all of these products, all of these companies are here for us now. And so we wanted to take everyone with us on this journey and say, hey, this is what happens when you talk about it and you’re not alone and when you have people to sort of buoy, you through it, especially your friends. Um and these companies become your friends too because you need them. You know, Courtney, you become a friend to these new moms because we need you. And I think that that is a lot of uh the story of our film. And I will say like I’m not some big well known around the world famous person. I mean, I hope one day I can share sleep with the masses, right? We’re working on some of that right now. But I was at Target at our local Target like a week ago and we were in line at the Starbucks and Target and some mom came up to me randomly. She’s like, you’re Courtney’s events from tiny transitions. And I was like, I, you know, she’s like, I follow you on Instagram. Thank you. You’ve helped me do this and this and this and I recognize you and then I recognize your kids because you post about them, you know, which I know a lot of people don’t put, you know, whatever I’m doing my best. And um you know, but it was just funny because it was one of those moments where I was like, I am making an impact, small but mighty so totally. And actually, you know, one of our other brands uh Pura, they have a hemorrhoid wipe for moms and we that was like a natural fit for us. And they also have um amazing wipes and baby diapers. Again, these are all featured in the film and they have a very environmental, you know, standpoint on things so that these things don’t just keep clogging up landfills and are un flushable and all that. Um But what they wanna do, what we’re so excited about is that um you know, where their products are sold, they want to have a QR code code that says like a scene in the whole truth on their products. So like maybe people will be in Target and they’ll be like, hi Natasha, hi Alison. You know, we, we saw the whole truth, you know, and it’s so funny and thank you and you know, we hope to be like, you know, on the red carpet for our uh film, we’re actually submitting right now very exciting uh to get us into film festivals. Um but we want to bring all of our brands with us, you know, because those products do help moms and they make us feel supported. And, you know, we want to be on the red carpet handing out, you know, pure as hemorrhoid wipes and have Courtney there giving out tips for, you know, new parents getting some sleep and you know, everybody boppy pillows. Like we, we just want, we want people to feel supported and the best way to do that is through laughter. And uh yeah, I mean, you know, it’s funny while, while both of you were talking, I was thinking about how I think, like you said, Courtney, like the breastfeeding and the sleep like it’s all or nothing. And I think that that comes from this need for control, you know, and if things are black and white, then I know how to do it, you know. And I remember when I had my daughter, my first daughter that I, I would just want to do the dish or fold the laundry because it was a task that I could do to completion that I knew how to do. And there was no gray area and there’s nobody that was going to tell me how to do it. I could just do it and trust myself and that was huge, you know. But I think with, with parenting, I’ve come to except the gray area, you know, and I think that’s sort of what you’re teaching with tiny transition. Like no, this is, this is a balance, this is a chemistry lesson, you know, of the chemistry of you and your child in that given day and here’s how we’re to do it, you know, and there will be routines that help you through. But, um, you know, I and Natasha will tell you this about me. I am very much a black and white person in terms of how I make my decisions and I move forward, you know, I don’t, um I don’t sort of live in the what ifs anymore because I don’t have time, you know, I have two kids. I got to make my decision. I want to be there for them. And those are the, you know, that’s the best way for me to move forward, not to sit around and in, in decision. Um But with that, I try to give myself and all other parents and the people in my life such grace. I mean, we’re all doing the best that we can and there is no, there’s just no right way, you know. And so that’s why, you know, storytelling is magical and it’s magical for our brands. You know, at the end of the day, people don’t buy a Veno because Jennifer Aniston looks gorgeous, like Jennifer Aniston would look gorgeous in a paper bag, you know, and with sheet marks on her cheek, like she’s just beautiful woman, but people buy it because of the vibe that an Avino commercial gives you and I could have that and look at those, you know, look at her cashmere sweaters and, you know, I want to feel that way and brands realize that by being in a film, you are connecting with an audience on a deeper level, you are making them feel something you are making them feel seen, you are making them feel understood, you are making them feel not alone. And then that’s for me where all of my storytelling comes in with laughter, you know, that, that is a reaction that your body has with or without your consent, you know, it happens, it happens and that’s really, it’s a very powerful thing. Well, I’m excited for it. So you finished filming now, right? So edits and then you finish edits and then it’s submitted like this is my first time in film, right? But it’s kind of exciting for others to hear too. So you finish the edits and then you’ve got this movie, the whole truth, right? Hole Truth. Um So you have the whole truth and then you submit it to like Sundance. Like I like it doesn’t matter what festivals but you submit it to festivals like that. That’s just the one I’ve heard of but like South by Southwest, like just different short film festivals and then they watch it, hopefully pick it up and you know, we see what happens. But I mean, when would people be able to like watch the whole truth if they wanted to see it? Like, how does that work? I think we are getting so much interest on the whole truth. They’re gonna be like, I want to Google and see this. I know it’s like, hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait. Um Yes, we are right now. Finishing our editing where we added um We’re just adding score. We got this incredible composer Gabriel Mann who the last project he worked on was Emily in Paris and he did the theme for Modern Family and so many other incredible TV shows. So we were so lucky to have him on board. So we’re in that phase now incorporating the music and doing final touches and then as you said, submitting to the festivals. So for a lot of the larger festivals, um it needs to be your world premiere. So you can’t really screen or show your film publicly until it’s premiered, quote unquote at a festival. So um they all start up uh beginning of next year and move through the year. So hopefully one of the festivals that we premiere at will be sooner than later. Um And as soon as it’s premiered somewhere, then we’re able to show it everywhere and anywhere. So um then everyone will be able to see it at. Um I’m not even sure we’ll see where it lands up where we get distribution, correct. But in the meantime, if you want to follow our journey, we’re on Instagram at the whole truth film. Uh And as Courtney said, hole the whole truth film and we keep, we’ll keep you updated with any new happenings and obviously screenings there. Yeah, definitely follow us there. There’s a lot of behind the scenes footage. Um We talk about all of our brands. We also will be joining Courtney at the Moab S event to do a big the whole truth giveaway um with all of our brands and all of our products. Um So, yeah, follow us there for behind the scenes, uh snippets and our brand stuff and all the things we’re working on as hopefully we get uh to a wonderful festival premiere and we can, you know, meet you in person. Hopefully, I know this will be great. So I’m gonna see you at Mo A’s next week, which will be exciting for anybody in the Miami area. We are gonna be at the mother of all baby showers. But um in addition to that, I’ll put all of the notes and uh links to the show in the episode notes so people can find and follow you and hopefully you edit out any wrinkles in any of my pictures on the website because I got a little bit of resting bitch face. No, it’s gorgeous face. I was joking yesterday at baseball. I’m like, if I just sit too long, I’m going to get tan lines in my wrinkles because my daughter took my glasses and I was like, oh gosh, I’ve got to manage that, but we were joking around about it. So um I’m excited to first have met you both because you’re just fabulous. And I’m so excited for the whole truth film. I’m excited to see where this journey takes you and you know, see where it all ends up and hopefully get to be on the red carpet with you ladies somewhere, somewhere fun and preferably for several days with cocktails and a massage, 100% cocktails. Seriously. The just to one point that you said about the wrinkles actually watching the edits back. I said to my husband, oh, right there, look at my chin, look at my wrinkle and he said, hey, I thought you’re telling the whole truth. So, you know what that is? Our motto, Wars and wrinkles and all the whole truth because guess what? We’re all in this together and we all have the frown lines and the wrinkle lines and the, and tummy rolls and the, you know what I mean? So red carpet or not, it’s the whole truth for all of us and that there’s this great line not to myself right on the back, but there’s this great line at the end, um where my character and Natasha’s characters are talking and I say, Nat, I think you’re the best even with your wrinkles in your puffy bee hole. And it like that’s it. That’s if you have, if you have, you know, the people in your life that are by you, that, that really is where the magic of this movie lives. Is that friendship? Well, everybody be sure to follow and I appreciate you both coming on the show today. Thank you so much and uh I’ll see you next week. We’ll see you for a cocktail at the mo Yeah. Bye bye. Yeah. One more thing before you go. Did you know that we offer the industry’s first affordable and effective self paced sleep coaching program that includes time with a pediatric sleep expert here on the tiny transitions team, it’s the industry’s first and only membership program like this that you can cancel any time. So, say goodbye to the ebooks and courses that are not helping your child sleep better and join sleep steps. Today, the most comprehensive sleep education, you need to get everyone sleeping through the night, learn more by visiting tiny transitions.com/sleepsteps