You’re Not Meant to Mother Alone: The Power of Showing Up in Friendship | Ashlee Gadd (EP442)
Minimalist Moms Podcast | Purposeful Life & Parenting Tips
Diane Boden
4.7 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Motherhood was never meant to be a solo sport. In this episode, Diane sits down with Ashlee Gadd - founder of Coffee + Crumbs and editor of You’re in Good Company - to talk about redefining hospitality and building deep, meaningful friendships in the midst of busy mom life. Together, they explore why real community doesn’t require Pinterest-perfect dinners, but simple, consistent acts of showing up - often imperfectly. Ashlee shares how food becomes a vehicle for connection, why adult friendship can feel so hard, and how moms can create sacred, memorable moments without adding pressure to their plates. If you’ve been craving deeper connection or wondering how to cultivate community in this season, this conversation will remind you that you are not alone - and you are the “secret sauce.”
Links Discussed in This Episode |
- Checkout the podcast storefront for recommendations from Diane.
- Diane's Resource: Previous Episode: Friendship Fails and Finding Your People with Kristen Strong
- Book: The Life Council: 10 Friends Every Woman Needs
- Previous Episode: Create Anyway: Pursuing Creativity in Motherhood | Ashlee Gadd (EP259)
- Ashlee's Beneficial Resource: Voxer
- Ashlee Can't Stop Talking About: The Great Sex Rescue
- Connect with Ashlee:
- Website (Coffee & Crumbs)
- Website (Ashlee)
- Instagram (Coffee & Crumbs)
- Instagram (Ashlee)
- Book: You're In Good Company: The Gift of Friendship, Motherhood, and Showing Up
About Ashlee |
Ashlee Gadd is a mother, writer, photographer, and founder of Coffee + Crumbs. She is the editor and contributor of You’re In Good Company and the author of Create Anyway. She has spent the last ten years helping mothers harness their creative talents into powerful storytelling at Coffee + Crumbs - a beautiful online space where motherhood and art intersect.
Episode Sponsors |
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm so excited to call women back to just the embodied act of being present with one another, |
| 0:05.9 | with connecting face to face and being in shared spaces with one another. |
| 0:10.5 | It is not too late for you. |
| 0:12.0 | And I think that's a really common misconception that a lot of women tell themselves, |
| 0:16.8 | you know, they think if they reach a certain age and they don't have this tight-knit group of friends, |
| 0:21.1 | it's just too late for them. Like, the ship has sailed, why even bother trying? You can text someone, |
| 0:26.2 | you can invite someone somewhere. And when in doubt, go first. That's the truest thing I know. |
| 0:31.1 | But this idea of we have to model for our children the behaviors and the lifestyle that we want |
| 0:37.2 | them to emulate. So if we want our kids to |
| 0:39.6 | have good friendship, if we want our kids to fight for community, if we want our kids to |
| 0:43.4 | embrace hospitality as a way of living, we have to show them what that looks like. |
| 0:48.5 | This is Diane Bowden and you're listening to the minimalist moms podcast. |
| 0:52.6 | Motherhood was never meant to be a solo sport. |
| 0:55.5 | In today's episode, I sit down with author and founder of Coffee and Crumbs, Ashley Gadd, |
| 1:00.5 | to talk about redefining hospitality and building deep, meaningful friendships in the midst |
| 1:05.4 | of busy mom life. |
| 1:06.9 | Together we explore why real community doesn't require Pinterest perfect dinners, but simple, consistent |
| 1:12.5 | acts of showing up often imperfectly. |
| 1:15.9 | Ashley shares how food becomes a vehicle for connection, why adult friendship can feel so hard, |
| 1:21.1 | and how moms can create sacred, memorable moments without adding pressure to their plates. |
| 1:26.2 | But quickly before we get there, I want to share |
| 1:28.0 | a minimalist resource with all of you. I want to share a previous episode that actually aired during |
... |
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