Sol & Louise (00:01)
Hi everyone, Sol from Coparenting Beyond Conflict. I'm Louise, Sol's partner and podcast producer. And we are closing the season Season One. This is a recap of all the different episodes this year and looking forward to the new year and what we want to produce together. So let's get into it. Little trip down memory lane.

I started this podcast because I felt very alone in my own struggle. And as I started to have more and more conversations with experts and other co-parents, I realized that we all have very similar stories. We're all facing very similar experiences. I thought if I had a podcast where listeners

feel seen, help more of us come in what is sometimes what feels like the impossible situation, but learning how to cope with it and creating a survival kit for co-parents on how to cope with high conflict dynamics.

I produced this podcast for free. No advertising. Well, we do advertise your app, BestInterest. I'm the founder of BestInterest. And so, yeah, that is our one sponsor. Yeah, so I do it out of love and it is a labor of love for both of us. Yeah. Yeah.

Where do you want to begin in this recap?

Why don't we do the how well do know your audience quiz? Okay, let's do it. So, which single episode has the highest all time download count? That's easy. I know that one because I do see the stats. I look at them occasionally. Occasionally meaning every morning and evening I'm just kidding. Wendy's episode actually. Wendy Behary. Yeah.

What a wonderful guest. Yeah, she's an LCSW specializing in recovery for both the people dealing with narcissistic abuse in their lives as well as people with narcissistic personality disorder. It was really an honor to have her on. And I think the episode came out great. So no surprise that it's the number one.

And then which city holds the number one spot for downloads, which US city? My first guess is Sonoma, because probably most of the downloads are for my mom, I'm guessing. Sure, maybe. Yeah. No, the answer is actually Chicago, Illinois. Wow. What do you think is going on in Chicago? I thought people in the Midwest were super friendly with each other.

Maybe not so much. Yeah, maybe not. And what do you think were the top themes in terms of listeners and downloads?

Definitely the tag 'narcissism' seems to attract a lot of attention. I think mostly because it's such a painful experience. So I'm guessing that's probably the top. People are really looking for answers to this issue that they're having dealing with narcissism. Yeah, trying to make sense of the painful situation they're in. Yeah, it's narcissism and boundaries. Yeah. cool. And we know you love the word "totally",

but do you know exactly how many times you said it on air this season? Too many. I feel a little embarrassed. I don't know, maybe a dozen? Totally wrong. 36, three dozen times. Totally. Yeah, we edited some out too, so it might have been a little more. Probably way more. 36 made the cut. Okay. And which guest got you vibing the most? And by vibing, I mean...

You did say "totally" a record-breaking seven times in one episode. Do you know who it was? No idea. It was Erika Wright, Episode 8. She talked about healing codependency that really resonated with you. I mean, that was a great episode. It was. I really love Erika. She's so special. I remember how much

her advice shook up my own reality and the way I define codependency and it was really helpful. She's very unconventional in her methods. Yeah. Okay. You ready for the, "did they really say that" round? Did they really say that? Okay. Which guest compared a toxic ex to a velociraptor testing the electric fence? shoot. Was that Tannenbaum?

No, it was Stephanie McPhail. Oh, Stephanie McPhail. That's right. That's right. Yep. And then which attorney warned you to avoid lawyers who throw hand grenades into families? That was Elise. Elise. Yes, attorney Elise. Yeah. Yeah. She said to avoid people who just want to increase conflict, increase billable hours. I think that's that's pretty good advice for those of us who have a revenge streak inside of us sometimes when we're looking for attorneys.

Before it drains the bank account. Yeah, Elise's episode was really special. I love talking with attorneys that are trying to do it differently and trying to change the way that they navigate and they help their clients navigate the family court system.

And which guest referenced Dr. Spock, not the Star Trek Dr. Spock, but the parenting advice guy from the 70s to explain how well-intentioned parenting tips can sometimes go wrong. I think that may have been Greg. Yeah. Conscious Uncoupling Coach Greg. Hopefully people are leaving Dr. Spock's advice where it belongs.

Let's highlight a few of our favorite episodes and why we loved them so much. And then if somebody's just starting to listen now at this end of season bonus episode they can just pick a few of our favorites so that they get the highlights reel from the season. Totally.

Now I'm gonna be self-conscious of every time I say "totally". The great thing about running a podcast like this is that the content is evergreen. These are these are experiences that so many of us go through and the advice stays relevant.

When we started the podcast, obviously all podcasts start at one listener, yourself, and it grows from there. I was very fortunate to bring on a very special guest as my first episode, Dr. Ramani. People

listening now may not even realize that Episode One even exists. They may not have seen it didn't get the listens really, I think that it deserves. She had a lot of great points to share about narcissism and just how to cope with these difficult situations that we find ourselves in. We also had

Chris and Lisa from Been There Got Out. I love Chris and Lisa. Chris and Lisa are such a vibe. They're so great. They teach that you've to write every email as if a judge is reading it. They're just so on it with their strategic communication, the 'Puddle to Ninja' concept. They really help people get out of the deep depths of despair.

To get stronger. In this situation you can really collapse or you can take this situation and learn how to strengthen your communication, strengthen your resolve and just get better about coping. And I think that that's something that Chris and Lisa at Been There Got Out really can do. Also let's not forget Ron Gore

from Coparent Academy. He was one of your first guests and one of your early supporters really for not only this podcast, but for the BestInterest app. He's an attorney in Oklahoma does also guardian ad litem work and mediation. And he's just got such an inside view of what's going on in family court, also

best practices for co-parents, best practices for people in these high conflict situations. I've learned a lot from listening to his podcast as well. Yeah, he a great podcast called Coparent Academy.

And I loved also David Pissara, the dad's advocate. Because your demographic is majority women. Tends to be. I thought it was important to at least speak to the maybe 20 to 30 % of your audience that are men because there's not as much help for them out there in this family court /

high-conflict divorce / coparenting field. And he's got a program just for dads, I really appreciated his take that it's not just about looking good and winning in court. It's about getting to know your kid better, being more involved, not just taking a backseat to...

maybe an over-functioning co-parent, right? The more you do this work, you realize it's not about male or female. It's actually really quite a universal experience to be facing a high-conflict co-parent. So episodes like David are helpful for men, but also for women as well. I'd recommend taking a listen.

Christina McGhee was another incredible contributor to the podcast. She is so great at bringing the child's perspective. She was involved in the production of some documentaries about children's experience of divorce. I'm forgetting the name right now, but we'll include it in the show notes again.

Kids don't necessarily share or have ways to communicate effectively what their internal world is like being in a situation with two divorced parents who have a hard time getting along. And if you've been a listener for a while, one of the themes that you probably pick up on, at least in my view,

this is all really about the kids. It's about their experience. It's about improving their experience. That's the reason why named BestInterest Best Interest is because it's really about how do we protect the kids in this difficult situation? And by doing the work yourself, you can help them thrive despite the circumstances, despite the conflict. Yeah, I mean, that was your whole

motivation for building the app is that when parents have tools that help them to stay regulated and not upset each other so much that has an impact and a trickle down effect on the environment in the home, on the ways that we can be present for kids and stay regulated for them.

Just a few more to mention. We had Tamara Rowles, Episode 11. She's got a great tool that an app, Divorce Wave. If you listen to the episode, one of the themes is this idea of divorce being an opportunity for growth.

I know it has been for me and she really advocates ways for people who are going through divorce with kids how to cope with that situation. She's built an app that helps support parents in that way with meditations and videos that you can watch that'll help you along. you can listen to before you open your co-parenting app inbox.

If you're not using BestInterest and you have to read the original message, and you don't want to get triggered. She's got meditation specifically for that process. There are so many other great guests. We just can't dive into each and every episode.

If you're listening and you've gleaned something special or if you have a favorite episode, it's so meaningful for us to hear from our listeners to hear what you liked, what you didn't like. Please send in your feedback. I review every one personally, so it's very helpful. Yeah, we want to hear what you want more of. What guests do you enjoy listening to? We'll find similar guests or we'll find guests who are experts on similar or adjacent topics so that we can include them in Season 2. That would be

super helpful and of course helpful when you share the podcast with your friends and maybe post about it on social media. Yeah, as we grow our listener base, we can attract more wonderful guests to join us and share their insights and awareness. So please keep on sharing. Please keep on staying involved. Let us know if there is a specific person that you think would be a good guest. Send their name and contact details our way and we'll make sure to reach out to them to invite them.

You can head to our website, CoparentingBeyondConflict.com, and there's a survey can fill out right there, and that'll allow you to give us feedback on the episodes you've been listening to and advice year. when are we coming back, Sol, do we know? Sometime in January, I think. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So this is it for 2025. We're wishing everybody a beautiful end of the year, holiday season, New Year, which is my favorite holiday, the great reset.

The great turning the opportunity to celebrate life as humans on Earth using a Gregorian calendar. And I think we have a special announcement about 2026. think Louise will be joining for some episodes. Well, she'll be a host for some episodes. Yeah, that sounds good. All right. That sounds good to me. Great. Yeah, there's a few people that I'm dreaming of interviewing, so we'll have to see if we can get them on and then I'll be in the driver's seat for those episodes. I think that'll be great.

Take care, everyone. Bye. Happy New Year.