 I'm an everyday woman, woman, woman, I'm living my life, life, living day by day. This book, Mommy's Group, was all a stir the other day, wondering if stay-at-home moms are wasting their education. Stacy, I'm going to check in with you because you're a career woman now, but there was a time you were staying at home, correct? Yes, but it wasn't by choice. I actually got laid off when I was eight months pregnant and so I had to stay home. But to your question, there's nothing wrong with staying home if that's your choice, educated or not. And I don't think education goes to waste, particularly if you're a mom, so to your question. Absolutely, and I think it depends on your family situation as well, because in my particular case, my background in education really helped me advocate for my children. So by staying at home, I could provide my experience and education to help them in school and get the best services they possibly could need. Oh, what do you think of it? No, I'm a, if you don't use it, you lose it. And also, if you, education is wasted if it's not applied. Does that translate into? Can you apply it to your children? Education is designed to be well-rounded so it can make you very organized, it can make you make good use of your time, be accountable for things. Let me ask you this Madison, do you mean having adult conversation? Because that can support, I mean if you're educated, you have a degree and all day long you're looking at Sesame Street. That's one thing. But if you're having intellectual dialogue, that's another. What's your point? Which one is it? Well, it's kind of, it's a little bit of both, because I do think that if you're, yes, education all around, if you get educated, that's absolutely fabulous. However, it's what goes into mothers once they become stay-at-home moms, because it's not always by choice. Sometimes it's about having family, and family dictates what direction you're going to go. But don't you feel like you're losing yourself with your children? But then, are there other people who will look at themselves? Well, I'm asking you because I'm curious, I don't mean to offend anyone, especially somebody that's watching. But I know probably everybody, I don't have children, so everybody's probably going to hate me at this moment right now. But I am so anti, I feel like it is a waste. Well, I mean I, yes, I can see your point of view, and I understand that. And at some point I think a lot of times mothers feel that way. They feel like they've become lost in their children. But you know what, I have a lot of friends who work in the industry, and they lose themselves in their career. You know, all of a sudden they move along, and they don't have any family, they don't have, you know, they don't have a good network around them, because they were too busy working. Well, I think too, if you use your education and your expertise, you've got the internet. The kids go to bed, they take naps. You know, you have, they have play dates. You can go blog, you can stay informed, you can use another medium. You may not go in the direction you wanted to, but you got to stay. Because I think that, you've touched a nerve there. I think society, it's accepted to be locked to lose yourself in your career. But to say that you're taken away from your children, you know, that's when you get those fighting words. And I go, speaking to that education point, because as parents we're supposed to be end all, to be all for our children. You know what, Madison, on that, at some point we have to show them forward progression. Exactly, and to show them education is important. And how you use it may change, but it's still there. Well, I guess I'm alone on this, because I'm not a parent. I don't have children. But all I do know is that if, I mean, with children, I wouldn't be able to do half the things I do. Well, that is the truth of having children. That is the truth. But it just changes. And the other point is, whatever your talents and your background is, it changes. You can morph it into something else and include your family. But I'm pro at not having children right now. Well, there's some good time for everything. There's some good things, like when you get to that point where you want children to get there, I just don't want to lose myself. I understand that. It's just, what I was thinking, when I said that earlier, what I meant is, there are a lot of women who grow out. They're very highly educated. And then they have their families, and then they feel like they have to let go of themselves and raise their families. And I agree that the focus shifts. But that doesn't mean that you let go of your education. It doesn't mean that you let go of who you are and what moved you forward. There are ways to stay connected to what it is that... How many of you actually, how many people do you know that when you got a college education, that are actually doing what they got their degree from? Absolutely. Things change all the time. You can always refresh your skills. You can keep your skills updated at all times. Just because you're not using it at that moment, what you went to school for, doesn't mean you can't use it later or transition it into something else. But the most important thing is stay current. See, what happens is when we stay at home or mother stay at home, and then we lose whatever our skill set. So I would tell every woman, if you're going to do that, stay current. Stay abreast. Study your craft. And I would hate for somebody to not get an education because they had the preconceived notion that it wasn't worth it and wasn't a good thing. We have so much to talk about in this conversation. So don't go away. When we come back, we'll have more discussion on it. Coming up next, more Every Way Woman. This is Every Way Woman, and we're getting to know our co-host, Sanita, a little bit more. So you've always been a working mom, but now you're going to take the jump outside of the home. Why? Well, you know, I have always been working from home, and that was a real challenge. But now I'm launching this brand new morning show, and it starts, I have to be at the studio at 5 a.m. That is early. It is so early. I'm not a morning person. I don't actually have a 5 a.m. girl. But you know, I adapted. I'm going to get there. But the hard part is, you know, I'm not going to be able to see my baby in the morning. You're going to be missing your mommy moments. You were there when he woke up, and now you're not going to be. You know, there, when he woke up, getting him ready, getting him off to preschool, and just, you know, it's such a special time to be able to set him up for his day, you know, talking to him in the car, getting him ready for his day. Do you have mommy guilt for this? I don't have mommy guilt because, I guess, you know, we both have taken baby steps to get to this point. You know, little by little, I started out working from home while he was there, and that was the biggest challenge, honestly. Just trying to get stuff done when he's there. It was really hard to do. Then it got a little bit easier. He started going to preschool, so I had some time to focus on work. And now that he's going to preschool, you know, it's, we've both transitioned to be able to do this. But I get to miss a big chunk of time. And you're trusting your husband to do it all. How does this affect that dynamic? That was also a huge challenge because, you know, he's already busy at work. He has long hours and all of that. And then to tell him I needed him to do more, you know. What was his reaction? First? Yeah, I might not be able to repeat it on television. Okay, that's fair. He's come along, and I really appreciate it. I, you know, I really value that he's taking this on and excited about it now because now he gets to have that time that he was missing. Are you going to miss the time for you that you had alone? I mean, now you're going to be working outside your home. That was you time. With, for myself? Yeah, for yourself. Yeah, you know, that's a challenge with moms, you know. You don't get your time for yourself, you know, because you're already trying to fit in time with your husband. That's already eliminated. So why do this? Because it's exciting. I'm so excited about this morning's show. I've been working for it for a really long time to get to this point. And it's just going to be a fun thing to do. So I'm completely ready for it. Well, we look forward to following you on your journey. Stay tuned for more Every Way Woman. When we come back, we'll be getting to know our co-hosts even more. We'll be right back. So what has it been like getting your family on board with this transition, especially your husband? Well, you know, it was really hard because it was going to add to his, his day and his stress level. And at first he was just, he was like, no, I don't want to do this. But he's really come on board. But the thing is, for most moms, the challenge is I'm going to have to do the prep work to get him ready so that it's as smooth and seamless as possible. So you're still actually doing it all just beforehand? Exactly. And making it as easy so he doesn't, you know, get stressed out and complain about it. Do you just not trust him to do that part? It's not the trust. He's really, he can do it. But you know, with moms, we always have to take on more because we don't complain. No. And your way is the right way, right? No, no. And most of the time, most of the time, I know you can do that. We'll be right back getting to know more of every way woman. Stay tuned. Stay with us. We'll be right back. And we are back with my co-host, Jeslyn, who is known for her signature salads. What are we making today? Yes, ma'am. We're making my favorite. It's a strawberry spinach salad. Strawberries are good year-round here in California. So lucky us. I brought my chef's hat. But you don't need to be a chef to make a good salad, which is the best part. So we're going to start with the spinach. If you could chop that for me. Okay, how do I chop it though? Just, I mean, give it a good chop. Chop it about into four, the whole pile. Interesting. I prefer to have salad, any kind of greens, chopped. Even do this in a restaurant. You can ask them to do it in the back. I never chop salad. It's the best. You get more of the extra bits in the bite. And that way you also don't have that weird like stem hanging out of your mouth. I'm not a rabbit. I'm guilty for that. I just want to get a few greens. Is this okay? That is perfect. Okay. All in the salad. Okay. The great thing about salads too is that the recipe doesn't have to be exact. So these are my favorite ingredients for the salad. But you can add a little of this and that as you prefer. Okay. So next we're going to add some couscous. Couscous. I've never had that with you once. I introduced Anna to couscous. She thought it was super exotic, but it's as easy as rice. All you have to do is take one cup couscous. To one and a half cups of water. You're going to cover it. Let it simmer 5-10 minutes and you've got it. I just keep it right in my fridge already ready to go. So I can just add a little bit of this. You can also add quinoa or something like that. How much do you put? You know, as much as you like. I don't want my salad to be too grainy. Okay. So I would probably put half a cup and leave the other half cup in the fridge for yourself. Got it. Then I like to add some red pepper. You want to go ahead and do that. With the red pepper we already have it diced up. Because I like to have some big chunks of red pepper in there. Interesting. Okay. And look how colorful it makes the salad. It does. I mean really. Who wants to eat beige? Is there a specific amount? No. As much as you want. I would probably say like a quarter cup red pepper. Maybe two. Then we're going to go to the chopped onion. Now red onion is tricky because everybody's going to tell you they don't like onion. And nobody wants a big bite of onion. Especially before a day. So do we put a little bit or a lot? Put it all in there because we're going to disguise it. So then just give this a good toss when we're done with it. And nobody will even know the red onions in there. It's completely disguised. So for protein I like to add nuts. You could add chicken if you want. But I add slivered almonds. You want to just add maybe not all of those. Just a little bit. Also gives it a little crunch. What kind of onion is that? It's not an onion. That's an almond girl. So then I add some dried cranberries. You can add if you need trail mix or whatever dry food you have in your house. Put them all in there. And my last but not least the strawberries. The best part of the salad. Strawberries with onions and red peppers. I know. Who knew, right? So put it as much as you want on there. Because you really want a strawberry in every single bite, right? Oh god, these are good. Okay. They're so good. And then just a little dash of black pepper. Your favorite fat-free balsamic vinaigrette. Little olive oil. Whatever dressing you prefer. Genius. Who knew it would be that easy to get. Jesslyn's recipe on everywaywoman.com. Stay tuned as we get to know more about Every Way Woman. So have a good week right here. It's so good. In every way. Yeah. Yeah. I'm living my life. Living day by day. You break a sweat. We have more coming your way. That'll get you pumped up with Every Way Woman. A lot of you asked us what is circuit training and if I can do it at home. So we brought in our fitness expert, Lisa Snow, all the way from San Diego. That tells us all about circuit training and how we can do it at home. Yep. All right. So a lot of people do want to know what circuit training is. I sure do. And really what it is, is it's a set of exercises that you do. And what's important to know is that you're going to be timed while doing it. You're going to have your heart rate. It's high intensity training. And you're going to be going through different workouts and you can repeat it or you can change on each one. Okay. So if you're at home, do you need a watch or can you just set a like kitchen timer that you need? Really anything that keeps time. You can look at your clock and watch the second hand just go around. Doesn't really. Okay. And so just make sure you know how much time you're doing it. Because a lot of times I like to do a minute on. Rest for 30 seconds. Go to the next for a minute and keep going on. Okay. So what's a good circuit at home that you can do? So for this, we have our Bosu and we have our dumbbells. And we also, I'm going to give you a body weight exercise that we're going to do. Okay. So with the Bosu, what we're going to do is we're going to start with one foot on, you're going to replace, keep your core tight. And you're going to be doing this for 30 seconds. And you don't think I'm going to hurt myself on this, right? I do not. Okay. You have faith in me. I like that. Okay. So I'm going to time you in three, two, one and go. Okay. All right. Keep it going. Keep it going. Keep the core tight. And just make sure. It's tight. Good job. So we're going to in five, four, three, two, one and rest. Oh, good. I like that. And then you're going to come right here. You're not resting for that long because we're going to go right into thrusters in three, two, one. Pick up the dumbbells and thrust and stand up and extend. Like this. Yep. Keep going. Okay. Faster. Yeah. Keep your heart rate up. Let's go. Okay. I'm going. That's it. And make sure even though you're still going fast and you're trying to keep going through the motions, make sure the form is correct because you don't want to hurt yourself. Yeah. What are good things to remember with form because it's a lot of movement going on. Yes. With squats, you have to make sure your bottom is backing down and make sure your knees don't surpass your toes. In three, two, one and rest. Yep. Okay. Next thing. Workout. Yep. We're done, right? Nope. We're hitting the core next. You're going to be in plank and you're going to bring your knee to your elbow each time. And then I'm going to tell you to go faster and you're going to add a hop. All right. In three, two, one and go. There we go. And see with the surga, you hit all different kinds of parts of your body so you get to do a full body workout. There it is. I'd love to talk, but this is quite hard. And pick it up in three, two, one at a hop. Let's go. There it is. Keep it going. I'm going. And three, two, one and rest. Be sure you stand up and get your heart rate going. It sure is. You're good. All right. I'm good. I'm good. So what you would do with that is, again, it's important to keep the time and constantly, really, you're moving. But the rest is important. Don't let your heart rate come to a complete stop, but the heart rate slows down a little bit. And how much of a rest between each one? If you're going for a minute, you can do 15 to 30 seconds in between. And how long should you keep doing this? Repeating. I would do three rounds. Three rounds. Something like this, yeah. Oh, my gosh. And in between each round, once you complete one circuit, you give yourself a little more of a rest. So if you give yourself 30 seconds in between each exercise, you give yourself a minute and then do it all over again. Now my question in doing something like this at home. Yeah. I might, you know, go to the couch because no one's looking. Yes. How do you prevent yourself from taking too long of a rest? The time. You really, it's so important to really stopwatch. You can get anywhere you go and just really be committed to keeping the time because anytime that you are tired and you want to give up, just look down and see how much more time you have left. And if you already got that far, you can make it that much farther. Okay. So what are things like once you've got this down, you know, there's only so many times you can keep going back and forth. How do you add new things in? Well, when you look up, you can look up all different kinds of exercises for each piece of equipment. Everything has so many things you can do. So really I encourage people to see and try different things that they've never tried before. So if you already used your feet on the Bosu, you can turn it over and you can do pushups. So why do pushups like this versus just getting on the ground? The Bosu challenges you a lot because it isn't as stable as the ground. So it makes you use your full body instead of just your arms. Go for it. Because, oh my gosh. And up. Yep. Okay, that's definitely a challenge. Okay. Yeah, that's good stuff. So it's different. It gives you variety and it gives, it lets you have fun with it because really you're at home, you're the one inventing what you want to do and you can get really creative with a circuit. Oh yes, you certainly can. But you know, I just love this because it's such a fun way to keep your workout moving. So thanks, Lisa, for bringing this. You're welcome. And you have no excuses to do a circuit at home. Everyway Woman celebrates tomorrow's stars and today we have Chicago's very own award-winning stand-up comedian, the queen of love. My very funny girl. So tell me, what is it like to be a woman in the man's world of comedy? Okay, well it's challenging. It is. How is it challenging? It's challenging because like men have an expectation of what they think women should say. And shouldn't say? Yeah, and shouldn't say. We're always looked at as a sex symbol no matter what. Anyway, so when they see us, they want us to talk about, you know, sex, they want us to talk about chauvinistic stuff, they want us to talk about bolder things. And like if you don't do that, then you're looked at differently. So are you looked at differently? I am. Actually, because guys when they see me perform for one, the first thing is that they think that I, they never think I'm the comedian. They think that I am the girlfriend to the comedian that I'm sitting next to. Because you are sexy. And then you do have it going on. Well, women should be sexy, right? All the time. So you don't feel like you have to play down your pretty? At times I do. Honestly I want to say I do because it's weird because like the women that are like, I don't want to say less attractive, but the women that are very, like the overweight women, the less attractive women, then they're looked at differently. They're looked at like more serious about the craft. Oh, those unions. Right. And then when women that are more attractive, then they're looked at as like, oh, they're just trying to get into show business. They don't even care about comedy. So it's really challenging because I have to prove that I'm actually a comedian. I do the work. I do open mics. I study. I write. You know what I mean? I do it. I am. And you know, so that's the only way to get respect. So do you think that you've really found your niche in being funny in comedy? You know, I think that slowly but surely is becoming more vivid to me. Yes. Is this your way of expressing yourself? Yes. Definitely. How so? I kind of look at it as like my Sasha Fierce. You know how Beyonce is like, she hit the Beyonce and then like the Sasha Fierce. It's like what everybody expects you to be. You've got your little alter ego going on. Right. And so like this is my chance to be like, you know, who I am inside without caring what people think. Well, let's see your Sasha Fierce. Take it away. Thank you. Okay. So like I said before, I don't know if you guys know I'm from Chicago and I actually, I just got back from a wedding. I came home. I'm just going to say it like this. Like I feel like some traditions just need to die. Like whoever said catching a bouquet at a wedding means you're next to get married. Y'all, that's a lie. I've caught like 13 bouquets. You see this? Nothing. You know what? What's worse is that I feel like weddings give you a false sense of romance, like especially for women. So we have to be careful what type of man we take with us to a wedding. I slipped up. Like I slipped up. Like I took a dude just because he was fine. But he was a sandwich specialist at Jersey Mike's. Y'all laughing. Don't trip. He had a side hustle because y'all know how women, how we love those hustlers. He sold t-shirts out of his cousin car because his car was in transition or something like that. That's what he said. But anyways, like I said, you have to be careful at a wedding because you will get caught up in the hype. You got the flower girl tossing the flowers down. You have the ring bear presenting the ring. Then all the bridesmaids look good because they got on the same color, no matter how big they are. Then all the groomsmen, all the groomsmen, these brothers look good because they have on suits. Let me tell you something about a suit on a man. A suit on a man is an instant upgrade. It'll take you from coach to first class immediately. You could be homeless with no teeth. But if you got a suit on, I might listen to what you have to say is what I'm saying. So like I said, I met this wedding with this fool. He has a suit on, so I automatically forget his flaws. And then now they are exchanging vows. And the bride is saying, oh, baby, I prayed for you. And God sent me my king. And the groom is saying, well, baby, when I met you, I was a boy. And because of you, I'm a man. Y'all, I'm getting so caught up in a hype. I'm looking at this fool thinking about having his babies. Y'all, I got so caught up. I helped him sell t-shirts at the reception. It was like, OK, one for 15. OK, OK, OK, two for 20, two for 20. I started introducing him as my fiancee. Auntie Lara, I want you to meet my fiancee, Jay. Oh, no, I don't know his last name. Just the letter J, not J-A-Y or J-A-E. Last names don't always matter, do they? Not at all. Not at all. Thank you so much for being with us today on Every Way Woman. We look forward to having you back today. OK, very nice to meet you. Thank you. Absolutely. Every Way Woman gives back to our community to find out how you two can donate and match our gifts of undergarments to needy children. Find more information on everywaywoman.com. Thanks for getting to know Every Way Woman. This has been an Every Way Woman production. I'm an everyday woman, woman, woman In every way, yeah, yeah I'm living my life, life, life Living day by day Are you an every way woman?