THE GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER PODCAST
When Community Sparks Creativity:
‘The Mum Who Found Her Sparkle’
March 2024
The Mum Who Found Her Sparkle; Motherhood; Matrescence; Maternal Wellbeing; Perinatal Wellbeing; Maternal Mental Health; Creativity
with authors Jessie Ann Elliot and Mary Sotiropoulos
In this episode, you’ll hear from Jessie Ann Elliot and Mary Sotiropoulos who share their personal journeys through early motherhood and postpartum in building community, finding their power, and collaborating together to birth a book into the world. Jessie and Mary met through a mother-membership I facilitated called Liberated Motherhood. They share their experience of connecting with the work of the sociology of motherhood early on in their mothering journeys, and the passion they each developed in making the world a better place for mothers. Together, they started a kickstarter, and raised over $8,000 to create the children’s book, "The Mom Who Found Her Sparkle”, a testament to their shared experiences encapsulating a mother’s quest to rediscover purpose, identity, and joy. The inclusion of prompts and activities within the book encourages families to engage in meaningful discussions about what brings them joy and makes them feel alive. In this episode, we explore embodiment, presence, connection, and creativity.
Meet Jess and Mary
Authors of the children's picture book
'The Mum Who Found Her Sparkle’
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Jessie lives with her husband Mitch, and her children Finley and Ester (who she likes to call her little world changers) just outside of Maitland in the Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia.
In between pockets of time parenting, Jess loves to write, create videos, digital art, take photos and read. She is also a Local Government professional with nearly 15 years experience in Community Planning, development and engagement.
After Jessie experienced the loss of her Dad to suicide in 2009, and her own experiences of mental ill health (including Postnatal Depression and Anxiety after the birth of her son in 2019); she has been determined to share her hard in order to contribute to reducing the stigma around mental ill health; as well as challenge the perfect mother myth.
Motherhood helped her finally access her creativity in ways she thought weren’t available to her in this lifetime. And credits it as not just something to access to bring to life something tangible, but as a way to get to know ourselves and manage stress.
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Mary lives with her husband Bill and her beautiful ‘small but mighty’ daughter, Anastasia, in the regional town of Goulburn, NSW.
She is a trained Primary School Teacher with almost 10 years experience in the mainstream system, both in Australia and London with lots of time spent in Special Needs settings. After becoming a Mother 3 years ago, Mary’s priorities have shifted to start supporting families in their Unschooling journey recognising the immense benefits of natural learning and learning through life principles.
Originally a Sydney girl, Mary and her husband moved out of the city for a quieter and slower life almost 5 years ago. Although when Motherhood came knocking, it came thick and fast. Mary often describes the process as being hit by a truck and it took a long time to recalibrate and feel an ease in her Motherhood experience.
She experienced severe bouts of anxiety and grappled with intense anger and rage with a very vocal daughter who didn’t think sleep was very important. Mary was adamant her experience could be better though and started intentionally prioritising her joy and pleasure, putting herself first and rejecting the notion that a Mother must sacrifice all of herself to be a good mum.
In a perfect culmination of their lifetime of joys and challenges, Jessie and Mary have penned their first Children’s Picture Book ‘The Mum Who Found Her Sparkle’. A beautiful book all about a Mother who goes on an adventure to find her lost Sparkle. It represents both women and their desire for Motherhood to be a more joyous and Sparkly experience for all mamas and is the culmination of the powerful web of community Jessie and Mary have been cultivating for some time.
— Jessie Ann Elliot and Mary Sotiropoulos in conversation with Sophie Brock, Ep #105 The Good Enough Mother Podcast
“For me, it's like I'm coming full circle, and I get to share that wisdom now. Whereas at the beginning, I was not in a place to be sharing any wisdom. I needed to soak it all in, I needed to understand it and integrate it for myself and channel that however I wanted to. But now to then be actually helping other people around me. That's incredibly fulfilling.”
The Mum Who Found Her Sparkle
by Jessie Ann Elliott (Author), Mary Sotiropoulos (Author)
Embark on a heart-warming adventure with Mum, Oscar, and Te in 'The Mum Who Found Her Sparkle.' Whilst on the surface Mum appeared fine, her family knew better. This enchanting picture book takes readers on a captivating journey to recover Mum's lost Sparkle. As you explore this delightful story together, you'll discover that it's not only a tale for your little ones but also a beautiful reminder to you, Mama, of your true and extraordinary self. Matrescence, the profound transition into Motherhood, is tenderly explored in this book. Be inspired to rediscover the Sparkle within you in this uplifting and heartfelt story designed to be enjoyed by every member of the family.
