Moms get worked up in podcast

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/02/2021 (2039 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three Brandon moms have pulled back the curtain in a new podcast to reveal what motherhood is actually about.

Trina Bandura, Mandy Wark and Anna Dumas launched “Worked Up Moms: Pouring the Hard Tea” on Jan. 20 and have continued releasing a new episode every Wednesday, which they record the week before.

In their podcast trailer, Dumas cuts to the quick of it by declaring they would talk about “what moms are feeling and not saying.”

Peppered with adult language, she explained it’s all about having an outlet.

“We need a b—-ing-friendly zone,” she said. “We need a place to call our kids a–h—s without being judged by the Karens on the street when we yell at them. Truly, this podcast will make us better parents.”

The seed was planted during a group chat between the three women, during which they found themselves laughing at their own jokes and figured others might enjoy listening in on them.

“We just ran with it,” Dumas said by phone recently.

“It all happened a little faster than we thought it would,” Bandura said, adding they’ve already lined up an impressive schedule of local guests — most of them moms, though they also plan to broaden their perspective by speaking with people who don’t have children.

Each episode starts with the three women taking a tequila shot with cinnamon and orange. This sets the tone for a loose, candid conversation over the course of the 45 minutes or so that follow.

“We kind of feed off each other and it’s just about a bunch of random stories about what we’ve dealt with in our lives,” Dumas said.

“You don’t hear people in the mainstream talking about these things,” Wark said. “They’re just raw — raw mom conversations; non-filtered.”

The underlying message is the same as people have been repeating ad nauseam throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — that we’re “all in this together.”

There’s a familiar struggle in everyone’s story, Dumas said, even among those who appear successful.

“We’re all struggling and nobody has an easy-peasy lifestyle,” she said. “We’re not alone.”

Given the three podcasters’ shared work ethic, it’s unsurprising to learn they’ve already racked up more than 1,000 listeners and have plans to sell merchandise and create a website among other goals.

They already have a Facebook page, and their podcast is currently available on both Spotify and SoundCloud.

Although their work ethics are similarly ambitious, each member of the trio brings unique qualities and perspectives to the podcast.

“We kind of have a little bit of everything for everybody, which is why I think everyone can relate to us so much,” Bandura said.

The following is a brief rundown on each personality:

TRINA BANDURA

Trina Bandura is a Realtor with two girls, aged 17 and seven.

She’s a single mom who works “probably way too much.”

Low interest rates have created a buyer’s market, which has made her day job much busier than usual, which she said plays into her need to keep active.

The age discrepancy between her kids helps, she said, as the elder girl can take care of her younger sister when mom’s at work.

“I have a job where I don’t always have a lot of notice when I have to leave,” she said, adding she’s also thankful to have family in town who can help out.

Whenever anyone puts anything creative and honest out there, there’s always the fear people will criticize it, she said — something that’s become even more prominent in the age of social media.

But she said the reaction to the first few episodes has been surprisingly positive.

“They just thought it was super relatable and funny, so we try to keep it light.”

 

MANDY WARK

Mandy Wark is a photographer who has five kids ranging in age from four to 20 she has raised with her husband, who works full-time.

She normally works full-time, too, but during level red restrictions, she found her job deemed non-essential, which has been problematic as a great deal of her identity is tied to her job.

“I thrive in chaos,” she said. “Now that I’m not busy, I don’t know how to function. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

She went on medication to help deal with the sudden change and has made a concerted effort to wake up every day and choose to look at the positives.

Things have improved since hitting a low early in level red, but it’s still a work in progress.

“Just because you’re doing well doesn’t mean you’re not struggling,” she said. “Everyone is struggling in their own way.”

 

ANNA DUMAS

Anna Dumas is an office manager at an accounting firm and has two kids — a boy, 3, and a girl, 5, she is raising with her husband.

One of her main challenges is finding enough time in the day to get everything done she wants to accomplish.

“It’s hard if you’re thinking about work and constantly wanting to work and take on other things,” she said, adding she frequently takes on side jobs that continually fill out her days.

She has to remind herself to take a break every once in a while.

“It’s also about my and my husband’s mental health and making sure we take care of ourselves as well,” she said.

Although the podcast is another thing added to her schedule, she said it’s “more of a passion project.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB