Full Episode Transcript

Dr. Ashley Blackington (00:01.122)

All right, welcome back to the in both podcasts. I am here today with Christina Campbell Godfrey of Godfrey Social PR. And I am really excited to hear many, many things. I have many questions, but I would love for you to first introduce yourself and.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (00:19.509)

Thank you so much. Well, I'm Christina Godfrey. It's funny, I don't really put my middle name in there much, but I see it's up on the screen. Yeah, so I am a mom of three. I have three boys. I have a 19-year-old who's almost 20. I have a 17-year-old, it's the birthday today, and a 12-year-old, and they are all into basketball and are tall and I'm the only woman in the house and it's except for the dog.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (00:53.334)

I'm sorry.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (01:15.685)

So it's a little um can get to be a little much but uh yeah I run my own PR firm. I started it back in 1997 which is like eons ago and started off in video games and then children's education and then segued into baby and kid products once I became a mom. And it just really kind of took off from there. And that's kind of, that's our niche, but we're, we also have brands in lifestyle and wellness and, you know, other areas, but we're kind of known for baby kids, although I don't have babies anymore. So now, now I'm more into wellness and that kind of stuff.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (01:33.986)

So a whole spectrum.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (01:44.014)

I love it. It's, yeah, it's one of those things I always wonder about, like people that own like, um, children's like toy stores. Like when you, if you start a toy store when your kids are really little and then they get older and you're like, Oh wait, I don't like need these things anymore. Do I still sell? Okay. I guess this is what I'm doing. So it's cool that you're, you have a, a skillset and a business that can transition alongside of you. I love that.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (01:50.867)

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I realized too that we because we're known for the space of, you know, baby and kid products and we've wrapped some of the you know, best brands out there that it, it definitely is something you want to keep. You want to keep your name your niche. But you can also, you know, expanded it. We're really promoting products to a lot of women and a lot of moms, but you know, as you know, we're not just moms, you know, we're buying things for ourselves. And so we're really reaching the same woman just in different ways, different stages.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (02:45.806)

Yeah. And I know I saw on your I was looking at your website, you repped Aiden and Anais for their for their whole time that until they were bought, right or acquired. That's one of my favorite baby brands of all time.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (02:55.314)

Right, right. I know, I had been gifted at my baby shower, a box of swaddles when they had just launched and they were the best things I had ever used. And that was for my second son, so that was 17 years ago. And I reached out to the brand and they said, oh my gosh, we had just hired a PR person who was with us just for a couple months and then they ended up leaving because they got an in-house job and so we're looking for someone so I started with them and stayed with them through the whole thing. And it was just an incredible experience.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (03:42.218)

Yeah. Oh my God. I love it. I give a box of swaddles to every person who's having their first baby. It's like a standard. And then and then those bibs my brother-in-law just had his first baby, his wife did a couple of months ago, and they had registered for like all these different kinds of things. And I was like, this is the one kind of bib. They are expensive. However, I still have, I have bibs that went through all four of my kids.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (03:49.897)

Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (04:10.262)

So it's like, if you find something that works.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (04:10.577)

I know they, yeah, and they get better when you wash them. I still have my kids, you know, blankies that they, you know, the swaddles and the little, they were like the little squares of the swaddles. And I have those blankets all over my house still.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (04:18.539)

Yep. I love it. That's awesome. So your boys are, are they, they're home? Are all three of them at home now?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (04:37.597)

Well, so my oldest is he graduated from high school two years ago, but he's pursuing a career in basketball. So he is holding out for a D1 offer. So he went to he played for a junior college and they just finished. He was playing for East L.A. And so we're hoping some offers come through. So he's home right now, but we're hoping he will be on his way in a few months. So it's kind of a different path, you know.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (04:52.078)

Yeah. I mean, so you guys. Yeah, you guys aren't like “we like basketball.” You guys are like “we live basketball.”

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (05:07.721)

We do, which is funny because I was not into sports growing up. My whole family, like I have two brothers and they were athletic. And I just, I went to aerobics, you know, I go for walks with my friends, hikes. I wasn't, I never played a sport. I wasn't into it. And my kids just don't, they don't understand. They keep saying, well, what sport did you play in high school? No, I did not. But the fact that I got three basketball players is kind of funny.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (05:46.688)

Yeah.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (05:47.037)

My husband's athletic, you know, and my whole family, but no. I wanted to read and knit and do artsy things and yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (05:52.374)

But it's just you're... We just put a basketball hoop out in front of our house because my older son has been using one of those basketball hoops on his door that he has, like those little ones. And I live in New England and we have the solid wood doors. So every time he's like slamming the ball in the door, I was like, I think it's time to put a real basketball hoop outside.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (06:07.822)

Oh yeah. Well, I'll tell you, we have one of those, and all my kids use them, and it's on my pantry door, and it's the most irritating thing, but they love it. And it's, so you're not gonna get rid of that, just put the one outside. For some reason, they think that is so fun. I can't even, I'm like, come on, dinner's ready, and they have to keep shooting until they make it, and then they fight over it, and it's like the best toy ever invented, I think.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (06:21.706)

And it'll be there forever, right? Like they'll all grow up and they'll all leave home and you'll be like, I can't get rid of it, although every time they like slam the ball on it, you're like, I wish I got rid of that.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (06:50.098)

Oh yeah. I know. You know, it's funny. I have yet to actually try to shoot a basket into it. Maybe I'll have to do that. Yeah. I'll be sitting there. I'll be drinking my wine and shooting hoops. How old are your kids?

Dr. Ashley Blackington (07:04.798)

That'd be good. They're gonna be, they're gonna come home one day and you'll be, you'll have like been training. I love it. My kids are 11, 9, we just had some birthdays and then I have a couple more coming up this week. So 11, 9, 6, and 4.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (07:24.741)

Oh, geez. Do you have a girl in there?

Dr. Ashley Blackington (07:37.898)

Yeah, so there I have girl, boy, girl, boy. Yeah, so they're the girls, they're each the girls are five years apart and the boys are five years apart. So it's kind of a, it's a good mix. It's good blend. Everyone can stand. Everyone can walk without assistance. There's no more crawling all of that. So it's a, we're moving into a new transition. It is, it is amazing.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (07:49.265)

Yeah, it's amazing, isn't it? You're like, how did I survive when you were running around after these little people that were always about to, you know, endanger themselves? Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (08:00.446)

Yeah, impale themselves. That's what I am just like, I just need you to be alive and you just keep doing everything possible to not.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (08:04.733)

Yeah. I know. I know they want to stick like knives in the outlets. They want to go head over first on the couch.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (08:14.306)

I love it. And so when I so I have everybody fill out a form because I just love to it makes it easier for me to like organize things. And one of the things that you wrote on there was about not getting swept up in the martyrdom of motherhood and that piece. And so that was one of the big questions that I wanted to ask about and how what that looks like for you and what that looked like for you when your kids were younger because they are

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (08:40.917)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (08:48.002)

They are on the older kid side of the spectrum. So what does that, what did that journey look like for you?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (08:55.189)

You know, I don't think anyone really knows what kind of a mom they're gonna be before they have kids. You know, you think you know, you're gonna be this amazing mother and you're gonna make all their food and you're gonna read stories to them and they're gonna go to bed on time and all of that. And then my first son was super challenging for me. I mean, for the first year he was an angel. And then all hell breaks loose and the tantrums were just off the charts and I was so out of like my depth and so everything I thought it was going to be it wasn't you know I tried to sit and read a book with him and he'd throw it across the room you know he didn't want to do any of the things like he shattered every you know every fantasy I'd had in my mind about what it was going to be like and at the time I, you know, I had my own business and so I had to pay a lot of attention to that as well. And, you know, I realized that about three months after I had him that I had to get some help into the house to help me with him so that I could work. And, you know, one thing leads to another and I have another child and I, I really, my, my business really needed my attention. And so I feel like I kind of leaned into hiring a nanny. And I feel like I was always there for all the... As a mom, there's just things you can't not do, right?

Dr. Ashley Blackington (10:29.77)

Right.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (10:43.773)

There's just, you're the one, I put them in the middle of the night or whatever's happening, you're making them dinner, you're bathing them, putting them to bed. But during the day, I always felt when they were young that I didn't need to be the one at the at the park pushing them on the swing. Like I could have my nanny doing that. I needed to focus on my career because that was the time that I really needed to build it and grow. And so then our third child was sort of a, like I really wanted a girl badly and my husband was fine with two boys and I finally kind of let it go and then I got pregnant. So it was kind of a surprise.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (11:04.494)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (11:13.833)

And it didn't really make any sense because our lives were so busy and crazy as it was. But, you know, here comes chance. And so I had, you know, I had full time help. My business was super busy. So life was just like full on at that time. And I realized that I had to start, you know, at that I had him when I was 41. So when you have a child in your in your 40s there's a big difference between having a child in your 30s. And I had been living on adrenaline, just pushing myself to work and take care of these kids and just live this really full life. My husband and I are very social. We have lots of friends. We're going out to dinners. And so just, we have on paper a lot of balance, but internally I feel that I was just burning the candle at all ends.

And so I think as I got into my forties, I started really understanding and paying attention to myself and trying to unravel a lot of the stress and damage I probably did to myself internally as far as my cortisol and that. So now things are different because I have teenagers. And I'm really actually grateful when I look back that I put so much effort into my business when they were younger and had the help then. And now I'm kind of on the other side of it where I have a lot of help in my business and I'm more available to my children now who are teenagers.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (12:55.446)

Yeah.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (13:04.761)

And if you think they're hard when they're little, I mean, teenagers are a whole different ball of wax. I mean, you've really got to be. You're not trying to keep them from killing themselves every day, but what you're trying to keep... The problems get bigger, I'll just say.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (13:04.974)

You're gonna be in it. Yeah, I was just reading this article not that long ago about, you know, maternity leave and paternity leave. And now there's this notion of like a leave for teenagers. So parents that when their kids move into their teenage years, parents are taking leave or they're downshifting for those years because of that because of like having to drive and having to, you know, wanting to like be there because of all of the you know, the terrible things you hear about on social media. I mean, you don't have to hear about it. Like social media is generally pretty terrible. And things like that. And it's like wanting to be in that space when they're in that space. And so I think that like what you what your path really matches kind of what they were saying about, you know, you're not like you don't have to necessarily be the one that is like changing a diaper, but they want you to be the one when they're talking about they're like terrible day at school kind of thing.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (13:44.833)

Yeah, I mean, and to be honest, back to what I said, I didn't know what kind of mother I was gonna be. I realized, and this is gonna sound terrible, but I love babies. Like I was really good at the zero to one. Yeah, when they didn't really go anywhere and do anything and everything was a little more predictable, you were on a schedule.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (14:24.967)

Mm-hmm. They're like floppy kid.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (14:41.801)

But once they start running around and throwing tantrums that was just a really hard time for me, because I always had so many things I wanted to get done in a day with work. And I've tried to prioritize working out and keeping up with my friends. So I've never been the person that just throws myself all into one thing. I have to fill all my buckets. And so that would just stress me out so much if I was just wasting- in my mind, I was feeling like, oh my gosh, I'm wasting time on this, like, temper tantrum for an hour here when, you know, frankly, my kids were way, way better behaved with their nannies than they were with me. You know, they wouldn't pull that stuff on the nanny. So I would, you know, think, you know what, they're, they're actually having a better experience with the nanny at that age because she has patience. Like this is her job. She's pushing them on the swing for an hour. I would be pushing for like, you know, three minutes, like, okay, we got to go, things to do. You know, so I felt, yeah, I just, I would look at mothers who could do that and think, oh my gosh, like, I'm kind of envious of that, but it just wasn't me.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (15:45.547)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (16:09.625)

You know, I just, I just had a hard time and I, you know, and I look back and I don't actually regret anything because what's the point anyway, it's kind of a waste of time to regret but you know, I do see pictures of them when they were little and I think oh, you know I mean, I'm sure you do that too and you look at their little faces and you go Oh my gosh, like where is that little person, you know, and you miss all those Mo, you know you miss all the special moments, but I had all those moments, you know

Dr. Ashley Blackington (16:17.934)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (16:27.754)

Right, but I think it's important too to like not, like you can't overstate that like that, like you can see the thing, right? Like you're being sold the picture, essentially, you're being sold the picture. And like, when I become a mom, I'm gonna do this, this and this, like, you know, the birds are gonna land on the windowsill while I pull out a warm pie and like all this stuff. And then they're born and you're like, okay somebody left this chapter out of the what to expect when you're expecting because I feel like I got bait and switched and I don't love this, this part of the journey. Like, I have friends that are like newborn, it's terrible because they are like, I need to sleep, I cannot sleep, I cannot function, this is awful. But then they thrive when their kids are older, you know, when they are running around and doing that because that aligns with them.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (17:00.692)

Right.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (17:22.174)

And I think that the, that idea of like, you have to love every single minute of it, every single stage, every single age, or you're like doing it wrong is such garbage.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (17:34.773)

Oh, God. I think back to when I was, you know, my parents and the way they raised me, and they were not helicopter parents. You know, my mom was most loving mother. I mean, I felt nothing but love from my parents, but they weren't coddling us the way, you know, parents go overboard today. They were, you know, we were, it was just different back then.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (17:46.029)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (18:02.653)

And so I didn't feel any less loved. And I think that we're in a lot of ways doing our kids a disservice by being so overly perfect in everything that we do. That's just not life. That's not reality.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (18:18.53)

Yeah, yeah. And what is that? The idea that like, you're supposed to always be perfect. You're supposed to always be checking all the boxes in every category. Otherwise, like, it's so black and white and life is just not black and white. You know, things are...

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (18:32.317)

No, I mean, you're going to kill yourself trying to be that way. Honestly, it's very unhealthy. And kids are resilient, and they're going to figure it out. In fact, the less you do for them, the better off they are, because they have to figure it out. My 19-year-old now is every day, because he's home from his junior college, and he'll say, well, what am I having for lunch? I don't know, and I don't care. Figure it out. I'm not. Yeah. I'm not doing this. Sorry. Like I've got something, I've got something better to do.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (18:35.511)

Uh huh. You need to feed yourself. So when your oldest was a baby then, you were only a few years into having your own firm and getting that up and running. That is a grind. So did you go from, what's the idea to stay the course that you did, right? To build that up and then have it transition that way?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (19:20.281)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (19:36.49)

you end up bringing more people on or did it just sort of like, was the goal always to keep the career going so that you could get to this stage or was it, I want to have my own business and I want to do this and I want to see where it goes. Do you know what I mean?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (19:51.313)

Yeah, now that I look back, yeah, I didn't have a plan in that way. What I liked about what I did and how I, you know, working for myself was that I could be at home because I liked being at home with my kids but having a nanny there, which I think is probably harder on the kids because they see their mom, but then they're like, oh, there's my mommy, but she's not actually engaging with me.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (20:24.611)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (20:25.589)

But for me, I wanted to be near them. I do feel for mothers who have kids and have to leave the home and go to an office and be gone from eight to five or six at night and then come home and have to do dinner and all that. And how do you grocery shop? And it's a lot. I liked that I could manage my own time and that during the day I could run to the grocery store there was a doctor appointment for my kid, I would take them. I had the flexibility of being able to be there whenever I needed and have control over my schedule. So that's really all I thought about it. I never wanted, in my mind, I had one person that helped me, but I did most of all the work and I only had enough. I had maybe five or six clients that was manageable for me to do on my own and just have kind of an assistant. But then it did just start growing and I've been through a few different iterations of it. I did have a business partner for a time and that was great while that lasted. And then she moved on and then I went back to just me and then, you know, I've had six or seven people working for me at one time. I've, you know, I've gone through a bunch of different.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (21:27.31)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (21:51.113)

You know, but a lot of different growth, you know, experiences. And now I'm in, it's almost like not that I planned it, but I'm finally in this place where I feel like, ah, this is what it all led to. Like I have someone that works for me that I love that really runs the business. Day to day I'm overseeing everything I bring in the business, but she's you know, doing all the client relations, media relations, and then she has people working under her and she's amazing. She's just super smart, no drama. So it's almost like too good to be true. I'm gonna knock on some wood.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (22:37.578)

That sounds very lovely.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (22:50.337)

Yeah. Yeah, so I actually have a life outside of my job, you know, and my kids. I am able to make great money, but half of my day is doing things that I want to do. I just came back from going for a walk with my friend. I can go to lunch with people. So, yeah, so you eventually... But whenever I think, oh gosh, this doesn't even feel right. I'm making money, but yet I'm... Then I think, no, I earned this. Yeah, I got...

Dr. Ashley Blackington (23:03.022)

Sounds absolutely lovely. Ha ha ha. Yeah, you worked for it.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (23:19.133)

I was doing all the hard work. I did grind away and stress and, you know, I had all of those moments and for years and years, and now I'm kind of able to take on the role that I've always wanted to, which is more of like strategic and higher up and so.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (23:40.81)

Yeah, I like that. So yeah, the idea of like, you know, this is the place that you're at and it's the place that you got yourself to. So it's not just like all things are like lining up, like there is that piece. And I think too, like what you were saying before about having it look like everything is super balanced on paper, but the behind the scenes, I always, I...

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (23:50.258)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (24:06.526)

Every once in a while I find this meme and I put it up on social media whenever I see it, it shows up in my feed. But it's the idea of like the duck floating on the water and it's like the top of the water is the duck very calm and looking around and then underneath it's like these frantic legs paddling along. And it's like that is entrepreneurship at its best if there's a mascot out there for that.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (24:24.38)

Right.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (24:32.285)

Yeah, and not even just being a parent too. That's kind of, you're always, I mean, I think, and we have a podcast that, I don't know if you've listened to it, but it's called Stages of She and it's me in my 50s, and then a woman lives in her 40s and Sarah who works for me in her 30s. And the reason we started it is because we thought it's so interesting to hear everyone's perspective about different topics in life and I really do feel in my 50s like I have so much more wisdom about things than I did in my 30s and even in my 40s and so you really you know it's scary to turn 50 and be in your 50s but it really is true when they say you know the 50s I think could be the best because you really don't care anymore about fit, you know, you really just come into your own. You just start really trusting yourself and saying, wait a second, I've already been through all of these things. And you have history to go back on and see patterns. And you're able to really like figure out what's really important and what's a bunch of noise and fluff. And so I'm really liking this part of it, you know.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (25:34.166)

Yeah. You really...

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (25:59.445)

The aging part isn't so fun, but.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (26:03.114)

I was gonna say you really get that cortisol way down. It's not, it's no longer like a fight or flight that you just sort of live in with new babies and kids, young kids. It's getting a chance to like take a step back and look at the bigger picture in a lot of ways.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (26:06.313)

Yeah, and do you probably find too when you have, I mean, you have four kids, don't you feel so differently by the time you have your third and fourth? I mean, you look at life so differently than you did when you just had your, your first, you realize what's important and what's not.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (26:29.774)

Mm hmm. Yeah, when I went in. Yeah, I went into the hospital to have my last baby, like three days before the pandemic. And I remember the poor labor and delivery nurse that was in there. Of course, this is my fourth baby. And I'm like, this is going to be fine. It's going to be fine. Like, I've done this before. I mean, fine. It's it's awful. But then it's done. Right. And.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (26:41.864)

Thanks. Yeah, right.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (26:54.906)

And, but I didn't know that like the woman who had come in before me was like a, like she was in and delivered a baby in 15 minutes. And so like everyone was still kind of like all freaked out about that happening. And, um, I went in and they were like, Oh, you are eight centimeters dilated. And I was like, excuse me, like, what is happening here? And then all of a sudden, you know, like everything's being dropped and like all of this, and I was like, Oh, I guess this is different. And then fast forward, you know,

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (27:13.333)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (27:23.138)

48 hours later, I'm leaving and I'm like, this is gonna be fine. Like I've already look at all these other people I've kept alive. It's gonna be great. And I went home and then the world shut down and I was like, Oh, this is new and different.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (27:37.493)

Everything's been different. It was probably kind of the ideal time though, to be shutting down, having a new baby, right? Cause you're just like, oh, there's nothing for me to do except, you know, take care of this baby.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (27:44.483)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I was like, yeah, the world is on maternity leave with me except, except I get to hold the baby and everyone else is like, Oh my God, everything is crazy. Have you, that was a wild time.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (27:52.349)

Yeah. Yeah, that was.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (28:13.402)

I am really glad that time I enjoyed parts of that time, but I am really glad that time is in the review mirror for sure. So as things have gone on, like your business has gone through different iterations, have you noticed trends in terms of like what people gravitate towards when it comes to like baby and family space or like how, how things evolve over or have things evolved over time?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (28:36.185)

Yeah, I mean, so, you know, back in the day when I had little babies and Aiden and A was, you know, a brand new company, they were sort of on the forefront of, you know, before them, your options were pale, yellow, blue and pink, and Winnie the Pooh. So Reagan, the founder of the company, she really, I think, kind of introduced this idea that you could have baby products that were sort of fashionable and pretty and things you wanted to see in your home. So things really started changing from that point forward where everything became more sophisticated and a lot of brands came out with really expensive strollers and it became more of a lifestyle fashion, you know, statement rather than us just clogging our houses up with a bunch of ugly, you know, like

Dr. Ashley Blackington (29:28.206)

plastic?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (29:34.977)

Plastic, weird looking baby stuff. So that obviously has, you know, just keeps evolving over time. Now, not so much in, I mean, yes, there's always new technology, you know, the products today are, they're always getting better and better. But I think what the sort of the trend that I'm seeing is more about how women are looked at not just like as a mom, like, oh, you're a mom. Even, you know, in when we're pitching products to editors, people are covering baby products in places where we didn't used to see that anymore. There used to be a ton of parenting magazines. Now there are really hardly any parenting magazines, but you'll see parenting products covered in Vogue and, you know, more, you know, lifestyle, online lifestyle sites.

So it's like incorporating women as, you're part of you as mom, but you're still a cool, fashionable woman who's into healthy eating and yoga and whatever and likes to read. And so I like that, that you're not just stuck in this mom bucket, right? After you have a baby.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (30:50.678)

Yeah, you're not in the like, you were here and then you had a baby and now you have to go hide in your house for like the next 18 years.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (31:02.101)

Right, and read parenting magazines and forget about your in-style magazine or whatever. It's not even out anymore. But yeah, so I think it's becoming just more mainstream, like a way of life. Dads are more involved. It's more of a family as well.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (31:05.942)

Yeah, it's nice too, because then you have people that are like, I wonder if people, the idea of like, because it was so black and white, and when it came to like advertising and products and things like that now, now when everything sort of exists on a spectrum or on a gray scale, where people that would think, oh, I don't want to do that, or that's not for me. Now, there's more opportunity. People feel like there's more opportunity to like, still own that piece of yourself because you see it in a place where it's accepted, right? It's like if you see it on the paper, like yes, you can still read Vogue and identify with some of those parts and you can still find this, and this. And like, you know, your, maybe your fashion statement moves from you to like the products that you buy for your child, which are crazy.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (32:16.917)

Mm-hmm. Well, yeah, we work with a lot of influencers in the parenting space. And these influencers are usually very beautiful, fashionable women who are traveling to these amazing places, and they're bringing their kids around. I mean, it all looks perfect, but we know it's not.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (32:39.51)

Hehehehe.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (32:46.173)

But that's kind of the image that is being portrayed out there is, you know living this fabulous life with our kids in tow and they're all in their cute outfits and we're jet setting around.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (32:51.834)

Yeah. I feel like the next iteration of that or like the net. Yeah. The next step on the evolution of it is like when people really start to put the real piece out there, right? Like it's like right now, everything is very polished and everything is very like color coordinated. Like what happens when you get to that third baby and the things that you used for the first and second, like they don't hold up and now you've got mismatched things and now it's like, you know, all the things that, I mean, I made all the baby food for my oldest and my third, I didn't even have the baby food thing anymore. I was like, we, I don't have time for that. I, it's just not, it's not in my repertoire. I'm just wondering, my third ate out of the dog dish. It did not choke. But I just wonder like, when is that going to be the next thing that comes down the line where people really start? Because there's that, that move in social media towards like,

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (33:30.301)

Yeah, they're like, they eat off the floor.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (33:49.91)

This is my real self and will we get to that stage?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (33:54.085)

I hope, I've always been tell it like it is. I don't candy coat anything. I've just, I'm an open book and I've never, you know, I'm a positive person and I like to, I know that in life you can look at something one way or you can look at it in another way and what's the way that's gonna make you feel better. So I always gravitate toward the better feeling thought. But I also think that women need to be honest and real about what life is like on a day-to-day basis, because it's only then that we can realize that, wow, I'm not alone. I'm not the only one here who's struggling or living this life that feels chaotic or depressing sometimes, when you know that everybody's feeling this way, everybody's experiencing this. It's very comforting in a sense, and you feel like even, I read a ton of, uh self you know help empowerment books personal growth uh business growth books and you realize that everybody has some imposter syndrome every nobody really knows what they're doing that the people that become successful are the ones that just go for it and figure it out along the way but when we see people that are very successful we think “oh my gosh they must be so much smarter than I am,” and they're not. They just actually just started to do something and they had a bigger dream for themselves, one that we maybe haven't imagined.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (35:27.17)

Yeah, I follow Leila Hormozi on her podcast. And she, so she and her husband, they, they had this business have this business called Gym Launch. And I am not like of the fitness realm. I just heard I heard her as a guest on another podcast. And so they, they built this, this brand to $100 million valuation and now they're building, they have something called acquisition.com and it's a billion dollar there. Their aim is to build it into a billion dollar portfolio and it's the two of them together. And she is very much like one of those people that's like, I have imposter syndrome. Like she was 20, I think it's like 27, 20 years old and had a hundred million dollar net worth. And she was like, I'm scared every day. I get up every day and I'm scared. And she has like, you know, she posts at least a couple of times a week podcasts. They're short, they're like 15 or 20 minutes, but she talks about like business stuff and you know, a lot of it has to do with like mindset around imposter syndrome and stuff. And she's like, I'm scared. I hit go, I start talking, I like post it and then walk away. And she's like, I just, if I didn't, I would just get stuck. Like I'd be hiding in the corner in my room, like not doing anything.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (36:58.174)

Right, and it's so easy to do that. It's just think about the podcast that you're doing and you know, the podcast that I have, we started it just be just kind of for fun to see what it would be like, and we could have thought about it forever and just not have done it just like you and your podcast, but you just start, you don't know where it's going to go. You don't know if it's going to end up being a huge podcast. You just, you almost can't even think about it. You just have to do it.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (37:17.653)

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (37:30.289)

And you will make mistakes. You will, you know, nobody's great. Even, I don't know if you listen to Ed Mylett, but he's somebody I listen to all the time. And he says, you know, and he has like one of the number one podcasts in the world. So he says, but he says his first, you know, his first season, he said, it was terrible. You know, I mean, you just keep going and that's how you learn and you get better. And people don't become successful overnight. We think they do because once we know who they are,

Dr. Ashley Blackington (37:51.313)

You just keep going.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (37:59.657)

Then we think, oh my gosh, you know, they became successful overnight, but no, they were grinding away, making mistakes, probably being terrible at what they did for a long time until all of a sudden it picked up traction. And he always says, you know, people that quit are usually like one step away for, you know, like the big break. People quit before, like when they've just about had enough and they think, oh, like I should just stop this, they're usually like one phone call away or one episode away from getting to the next level.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (38:38.95)

Mm-hmm. That's what I mean. I definitely my the planning for this podcast was years and it wasn't necessarily Years because it was like a fear of it I mean, there's definitely that idea of like, okay, we have a microphone I talk will anyone care is anyone in tune in and then I started putting out there that yes you know accepting guests and things like that and Just try to sort of like I hope I have three people like maybe I'll do a once a month whatever and it was just dozens of people who were like, I want to talk about this. And so it's that idea like, just, you know, why not? Like what's the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen is I just talk to myself.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (39:20.597)

Well, and you're getting to interview and talk to other people and probably learning a lot from other people. And to me, I spent a lot of time wondering, what's my purpose in life? How do we know? What are we supposed to do here? What is this all about? What does it mean? Why? And I have kind of come to the realization that I think my purpose is to connect with other women.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (39:39.662)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (39:49.437)

Like it doesn't always even have to be something so huge. You know, we don't have to be the next Oprah Winfrey, but I feel the most fulfilled and lit up when I am connecting with other women and speaking, you know, my, you know, truth. And hopefully helping other people to not be so hard on themselves, to not take everything so seriously, to...

Dr. Ashley Blackington (40:14.262)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (40:18.801)

And I don't know if I had only had one child that I'd be the person I am today. I would maybe be much more uptight and stressing about that one kid and making sure I did everything perfectly. But I think there's something about having, for me, three boys. Yeah, you just, you really have to let go of so much that you created in your mind is what the perfect parent would be and just get down to the basics.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (40:34.53)

Yeah, and I think that's where like all of the all of the talk about imposter syndrome and feeling like paralyzed by not knowing what to do next is parallels with parenthood in the biggest way. You know that you can you can have absolutely no idea what you're doing. I mean think about like how many people every day leave the hospital with their first baby and they're like why do you let me leave? Like why whose idea was this? I signed this paperwork and like I bring this human home with me?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (41:12.713)

I know.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (41:18.71)

You know, and it's, that's what you have to do. You just have to like some things you're bad at some things you're not. Some things you figure it out as you go. And it's the same. It's the same evolution. Yeah. There is a, like a life that is dependent on you, not totally screwing it up. So you can't just like pack it in like a podcast, but it's just that idea of like mistakes are good.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (41:36.545)

But yeah, but you, my mom used to always say to me just, do you love your children? Of course I love my children. Okay, well that's all that really matters. Because when you're coming from a place of love, you're doing the best that you can do and you don't have to do everything perfectly. And you don't have to, you know, obviously you have to feed them and clothe them and, you know, take care of them in that way. But you don't have to make every single, you know, basketball game, you know, I see parents who just kill themselves to be at every single thing and I say I go to most but you know what if there's a basketball game and there's a Like a fun function like someone's birthday lunch or even an amazing workout class that I really want to go to I'm gonna say I'm gonna do the thing for me first.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (42:12.395)

Yeah.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (42:32.593)

Unless it's a big basketball game. It's likeI don't need to be at every single basketball game from age kindergarten until they're 20. The kids don't care. It's me. You know, parents, I think, put so much pressure on themselves thinking they're doing it for the kid. They're not. They're doing it for themselves because they don't want to miss out or because they feel guilty. So, if you take away the guilt, yeah, take away the guilt. I always say the first thing you feel when you have a baby.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (42:37.37)

Right. Mm-hmm. And where does that guilt?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (43:00.769)

There's two emotions. One is a love you never knew before. And the second is guilt. Like the minute the baby comes up, even maybe when you're pregnant, you feel guilty. Like, oh my god, I'm not doing enough. I'm not doing it right. Oh, I'm not being, you know, breastfeeding is hard, or my milk's not coming in, or they're crying. What did I do wrong? And you just have to realize that guilt is just such a, like a silly wasted, you know, emotion because you're only doing it to yourself. Right?

Dr. Ashley Blackington (43:31.871)

Yeah, it's not like your kids, your kids, I mean, I don't think generally your kids are like taking attendance, you know, of every single time. And that's the measure. Like we put so many milestone, or not milestone, that's not the right word, but we put so many like markers on ourselves that like, that may end to like maybe some of that stuff comes from us and our experience. Like, if I always wanted my parent to show up for this, and they didn't.

It's that idea of like, what would have worked for me? Maybe that's not the thing that my kid cares about. So it's figuring out, cause some of, I mean, one of my kids would feel very differently about missing a performance. One of my kids will feel very differently about not getting picked up from school. You know, they all have their own thing.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (44:04.352)

Right. Exactly. Right. Right, so it is. You have to differentiate what is your own stuff and your own trauma and what do they care about. And I usually will ask my kid, hey, I'm thinking, I have this other thing I kind of want to do, but if it's really important for me to beat your game, then I'll beat the game. I can tell in a second how they're going to feel like, oh, I don't care. Go to your thing. I'm like, OK, good. But if they say, well, then I'm at the game. You know?

Dr. Ashley Blackington (44:31.915)

Yeah.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (44:55.337)

But I don't know, I think the guilty thing is just funny too because as you get into the teenage years, they really, these kids are very smart and intuitive and they know how to, they know the things that are going to really like get to you. So they will throw things in your face but they don't even really care about it, it's just a complete manipulation, you know? So watch out for that.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (45:12.81)

Mm-hmm. I like the idea of asking them too, like because that really, especially, you know, when you get stuck in your own head about something and you're like, oh, I have to do this, all of this, yada, but you're putting, you're asking them like what works for you and what feels good for you. So then they don't in turn around and do this someday when they have kids where they're like, well, my mom came to every single one of my basketball games ever.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (45:27.786)

Exactly. Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (45:53.93)

So I am doing it right only if I repeat this pattern versus I don't want to go to this or I have another thing that conflicts with this. Do you care if I go or not? And then it becomes that conversation where you're showing your kids like advocate for what you want. And if we can make it work together, then let's do that.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (46:05.899)

Right. And you know that, I mean, I think girls are different than boys. I think because I have a lot of friends with daughters, and they will, you know, their daughters seem a little more sensitive, or they're more emotional, but they tell their moms more. Where boys are, they like grunt at you. You know, they don't. So I can tell, though, by their body language, and just in their look or reaction to me.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (46:30.924)

Mm-hmm. Hehehe.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (46:38.505)

Like, oh, shoot, I better go to that game. Or sometimes the opposite though, I feel like sometimes my husband and I will go to all these games and my son will say, you know what, sometimes I actually feel stressed when you guys are at the game, because my husband's very into it and can be intense. So sometimes we're going and doing all these things and maybe they don't even really want us there. We're just doing it again because we think it's the right thing to do.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (46:40.878)

Hahaha. Yeah but also good on them for being able to say and to like feeling comfortable to say, not this one. I wanna do this one on my own and knowing what feels good and what doesn't feel good for them.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (47:11.582)

Right. And as a parent, not to have your feelings hurt. You know, you can't take things personally. You know, I remember the first time my oldest son told me he hated me. And I was so upset and I had a therapist at the time. And she's like, she said, congratulations. That means that he feels comfortable enough with you that he can tell you how he's, you know, feeling. And it's not that he hates you, it's that he's so upset. He's trying to think of the meanest thing he can say. And he knows that he can say that to you and you're gonna love him no matter what, you know? And yeah, but you know what? Now it's so funny having three boys. It's like, I know they're not talking amongst each other, but they all say the same things at about the same age. It's like a program, an inner program. So with my second and third, it's almost like I'm trying not to laugh on the inside. I'm like, oh yeah, I've heard this before.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (47:53.473)

And you're like, but still. I'm going to go to bed. Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (48:18.333)

I know exactly what this is. Yeah, I've heard this and they try to, you know, really get to you and you just. It's very nice, though, to when you once you don't take it personal, you're like, oh, OK, this is just part of the whole the whole, you know, growing up process and what they need to do to separate themselves from you. And you're allowed, you know, you're supposed to let them. Let them do that.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (48:19.37)

And so as they get older and you're moving towards having one, maybe two, not very long from now off on their own, like what does that transition, how do you think that transition looks for you?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (49:04.585)

You know, I don't know. I always have felt like when it was really crazy, I just would think, oh, god, I can't imagine being sad when they go away because this is so hard. And you know, but now that I have two that drive themselves, I'm starting to see, oh, wow, like my 17-year-old really doesn't need me at all except for making a doctor appointment or making sure I have food in the refrigerator. He manages his whole life, his schedule is, you know. And my little guy is pretty independent, and so I pick him up from school, but there isn't.

So I've really been leaning into my own life again. So I feel like by the time they're gone, I'm very grateful that I've kept up with all my women relationships. I have lots of friends. I have lots of activities that I do outside of my children. And my husband and I have, as I mentioned earlier, we have a lot of friends. We go places with them on the weekends. We have dinner plans all the time. So we've really.. Like, it's going to be sad, obviously, because it's a piece of you that's leaving. But it's not like all of a sudden I'm going to be shocked. Like, what am I going to do with myself? I think I'm slowly kind of preparing for that. And maybe that's because I'm a little bit older as a mom. Because by the time Jens leaves, I'll be 60 years old. But it's scary to think about.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (50:35.81)

But you're also like, you have, you're not waiting until your youngest leaves before you start your company. You know, like you're like right now, you're not sitting there thinking like, Oh, someday I'm going to launch this. And someday I'm going to do this because you kept that, that through line for all those years going.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (50:49.098)

Right. And I want my boys to see a mother who has their own life. They know that they ask me now. It's funny. My older, too, ask me a lot about my business. They're always asking me questions. How many clients do you have now? And what kind of revenue do you make? And what do you? They're trying to, in their minds, figure out, what do I want to do when I'm older? And so they are very interested in.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (51:10.71)

Mm-hmm.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (51:32.605)

what I do and I think they're like proud of me. They're proud that they have a mom who's got a career and I think it's really good for them to see like a woman living their own lives and not just, you know, sitting around living through them and doting on them constantly.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (51:50.99)

Mm-hmm. Right. Not going to the basketball game because that's the thing. That's the event of the week.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (51:58.877)

Yeah, and I've been to like six basketball games this week. So when I say, I mean, it's like, if I'm not going to a basketball game, it's because I've already been to like seven of them. You know? Exactly. When you have three kids that play basketball and it's basketball season, there is a game, one or two every day. So, it's not like once a week, I won basketball game and I don't go.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (52:03.711)

haha. Because you've just left a basketball game. Ugh. That is intense.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (52:26.037)

It's like non-stop and then there's football and you know so I go to the football games and you could be doing that.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (52:33.011)

I'm on the treadmill, the like sports treadmill season to season. Love it.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (52:38.789)

Yes, yes, but you know, it's good for boys to be busy in sports. So we keep them.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (52:46.318)

Keeps keep them going. Keep them tired. Keep them tired and fed.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (52:48.981)

Keep them out of trouble, especially when teenagers. It's like the best thing ever. They have to play a high school sport. You have to insist on it. Yeah, because they have practice after school. They're like training, they get into their bodies. They want to go to the gym. It really builds like a healthy mindset.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (52:56.062)

Keep them occupied.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (53:09.006)

I think too also the important part is like learning how to schedule your own stuff. Like you said two of them they do their own schedule and all of that stuff. It's like you learn that in you learn that from participating in sports because if you don't have that structure of having to be ready for something then you are constantly like okay I've got a what do I do now you know in that idle time.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (53:19.434)

Right. Yeah, no, idle time. What is it? Idle time, idle minds. It's not a good thing. Yeah. No.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (53:41.018)

Idle hands. Yeah, it's not good. Too much too much time on your hands. Well, I really appreciate you coming on today. It was it was really lovely and amazing to hear another mom say you've got to keep yourself on the map.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (54:04.808)

Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (54:10.182)

And I think that it's really important for people that have, you know, new babies, young babies, all the way up through to really have as many to hear as many stories as possible about people that continue to say, you know, no, I, this is what I wanted to do as well. And, and figuring out how to, how to make that work. And it's going to look different for everyone, but I really appreciate you sharing your story and your perspective today.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (54:27.065)

Yeah, I think, you know, to anyone listening, if they did have small babies, my last piece of advice would be Keep your girlfriends like sacred, you know, always keep up with those friendships, but don't get sucked into the mommy cliques at school Find I have found maybe one or two really good friends out of each sort of kids, you know Friend group. I never got involved in like big mom groups that were going to dinners and lunches. And I find those can be a lot of energy and a lot of pettiness. But I kind of would find my people and then you really just make the most of those relationships because women, the ones that you can really be real with and just tell it like it is, they're gonna be like your lifeline.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (55:25.13)

Yeah, I think I cannot echo that enough. You know, you've got to, I always say to my kids, like, I would rather you had one person who knew you for you and one person who's going to show up for you and one person that you're going to show up for than having a hundred friends or acquaintances because it's that, like that being seen and being held for exactly who you are that's more important than how many phone numbers are in your phone.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (55:34.816)

Right. And when they're young, it's hard for them to really understand that. And they go through all these phases, you know, they might have a best friend one year. And then the next, you know, year, it's a different best friend. But as we get older, you know. Relationships take work and they take they take nurturing, but a real friend isn't someone that should feel like work, right? When a when a relationship feels like work then that's your red flag. Yeah.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (56:06.083)

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, flying high, waving in the air. Well, if I have listeners on here that are from all sorts of ages and stages, but if there is somebody on here who is looking for PR help, can you let everyone know where they can find you and how to get in touch with you and all of that?

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (56:44.559)

Yeah, that's great. We are so we're godfreesocialpr.com and we are on Instagram, godfreesocialpr. We have a podcast, Ages of She, and yeah, we're pretty easy to find. And yeah, we'll have to have you on our podcast.

Dr. Ashley Blackington (57:08.434)

I love it. Yeah, I love it. It sounds amazing. I am there for all of those stages. I will put all of the contact info in the show notes. So thank you again for coming on and enjoy all the basketball.

Kristina Campbell Godfrey (57:25.515)

Yeah, I know. I got one this afternoon.