I'm Just Trying...

and what that means

These days I think we’re all just trying. Trying to show up. Trying to pay attention. Trying to be good humans. I’m just trying…

Hey, it’s me…in my kitchen

Recently on an episode of BURNT, I shared that I’ve been putting on mascara and lip gloss because I’m just trying. I’m trying to show up in the way I best know how and some days it’s a struggle. There’s a lot going on in regular life and then add on every single headline that is coming at us nonstop. It’s more than a lot. And yet here I am, showing up anyway. Because what’s the alternative?

So let me tell you what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and why I brought everyone together under one “roof” per se.

The Merge

I’ve had three Substacks. THE Podcast Matchmaker, California Moms For Good, and OG Wine Moms. If you’re reading this, you came from one of them. I decided three publications was too many for one human who is, as previously established, just trying. Rather than spread myself thin across three different corners of the internet, I wanted to build one real home where all of it lives together. I understand if that’s not what you signed up for and I understand if you choose to unsubscribe. But please hear me out on what this new home actually is.

Who I Am and Why Any of This Matters

I own a podcast PR agency, The MLG Collective®. I’ve written a book. I host four podcasts. I’m a mom of two, stepmom of two, and a wife. I’m on the PTA board. I’ve spent the last year getting more involved in politics than I ever expected to. I wear a lot of hats and most days I’m holding them all on my head at once while walking into the wind.

But the thing that connects all of it, the thing I keep coming back to, is curiosity. I am endlessly curious about people, about the world, about why things are the way they are and how they got there. And what I keep seeing, what genuinely irks me, is how many people don’t care about something until it personally affects them. By then it’s often too late to do much about it.

I want to change that. Not by lecturing. Not by yelling into the void. But by staying curious and inviting you to do the same.

Curiosity is the antidote to not giving a damn.

If we got a little more curious about each other’s lives, about the headlines we scroll past, about the people whose experiences look nothing like ours, we might just hate each other a little less. We might actually show up for each other. That’s what I’m just trying to do every single day.

What You Can Expect Here

This newsletter is called I’m Just Trying and it’s where all of it lives now. The politics. The books. The podcasts. The stories of people doing remarkable things that nobody is talking about. The headlines you need to care about before they land on your doorstep. The occasional dispatch from a woman with mascara on who is doing her best…from her kitchen.

This month I launched Kitchen Briefs, a three minutes or less breakdown of the headlines I believe you need to care about. They’re on all of my social media accounts and as a podcast. I’m still hosting/cohosting 3 podcasts, because they’re part of this same conversation I’ve been having with the world for years now.

Kitchen Briefs

Read The Damn Book

Beyond The Campaign

BURNT

One more thing I want to encourage here is something I believe in deeply. Get off the internet and connect with real humans. I’ve been hosting book club and I want to see more of them everywhere. Not because books are magic, although they are, but because sitting in a room with people who think differently than you, sharing a meal, having a real conversation, that’s where curiosity actually happens. That’s where caring grows. I’ll be sharing resources and encouragement here to help you build that kind of community wherever you are, because we need each other in real life more than we need another scroll session.

A Note on Who’s Here

What you see here, the daily Kitchen Briefs, this newsletter, the research, the showing up every single day, is done by one person. Me. I scour headlines at least twice a day. I fact check. I dig. I show up even when it’s hard, even when people point out a mispronounced word, even when I’m told I’m just repeating democratic talking points. I do it anyway because I believe it matters.

I’m not a journalist. I’m not a reporter. I’m a curious person who cares deeply and refuses to look away. And I do all of this for free because I believe you deserve access to it. And because I want more people to care.

If this newsletter has made you think, made you care, or made you feel less alone in giving a damn, I’d love your support. A paid subscription is $5 a month or $50 a year. That’s it. No guilt, no pressure. But if you’ve been meaning to, now is a great time. The best way to tell me to keep going is to become a paid subscriber.

If you’re not in a position to do that, keep reading anyway. Staying curious and showing up is enough.

I’m glad you’re here. Let’s just try together.

With lip gloss on,