Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
What did your girls need to know without a doubt when you were doing those hundred hour weeks? Like the one deep seated knowledge that they needed in the midst of your work and loving them and nanny.

Liza Marie Garcia:
I think that the main thing that kids need is they need to have security. They need to know that the things that they’ve relied on and know are never going to go away.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Liza Marie Garcia, thank you so much for your time, just out of Tampa, Florida.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Thank you. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I want to talk to you today about the very tricky dance of being a CEO and in the corporate business world and having children, because you have daughters. You are a CEO of book publishing, author, TV host and podcaster. You started telecasting at 27 years old and you are a single parent to daughters.

Liza Marie Garcia:
I am, yes. And I did all that because I’ve been around for a few years, so it takes a while.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Tell me about you and how you started and a bit about you.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Sure, yeah, sure. So you’re catching me actually trying to recuperate from being at family weekend at the University of Florida, which was Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Yes, it was fun, it was great. It is difficult now to get right back into Monday. But I became an empty nester, and I’m going into my second year now. So yes, I have two daughters in two different universities, and actually this year, 2026, this next semester, they’ll both graduate, this next year, with their first degree, with their undergrad. I have been a full-time working mom since the day they were born. Didn’t really plan that, you know, as we know, we think we have a plan for our life, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it happens that way. So just kind of along with that, like you said, I had started a telecommunications company. I was a startup founder at 27, brought that company to market at year 16, and in between those times is when I had my two daughters that are now in university. And I’ve been a business girl, I’ve been an entrepreneur ever since, about 25, 26 years. So it is the juggle, for sure.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Have you been a single parent that entire time?

Liza Marie Garcia:
No, so I was married 18 years and then now I’m divorced, about 11 years divorced. So had both lives and times within business.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Because when I looked at your profile on LinkedIn, I was thinking, how do you navigate all of that? Because it’s such a juggle. Can you first tell me about how you managed that, when especially I guess the kids were younger, and I think in high school they need us just as much in my opinion. How did you juggle that?

Liza Marie Garcia:
Well, it definitely is the juggle. Working women, I think, get asked or speak more of maybe than men do, as far as that, how do you balance it all? How do you find the balance of that? And I just, there isn’t a balance. I mean, our life is never balanced, so to speak. I mean, what does that mean? Does that mean we’re walking on a balancing beam and our arms are perfect and we’re going to get the perfect Olympic score? Of course not. It doesn’t mean any of that. It means that we do the best that we can, giving priority to those things that are priority for us at that particular time, and it changes. So I never really liked that balance idea. I think of it, I don’t really think of it as a juggle. I just think of it as you always need to be walking in the direction of where you want to be. And I know that sounds really simple, but it’s easy to start off in one realm even with your company. Let’s just take business for instance, because I’ve been a business owner, you know, even in business you might decide to go down a lane for maybe a new product or service, and it seems like a good idea at the beginning, it matches your values at the beginning, but as you start to go down that road you might come across obstacles that really should make you stop, turn around and just forget it. But a lot of people will fight it, and then they wonder how they got there, you know? And I’m not saying it’s always easy, but it’s definitely kind of what I’ve noticed in how I live my life, whether it’s meaningful parenting like you talk about, now it’s being plugged in and being a support for my daughters and their young lives that they’re starting, or bringing on new team members or going in different directions with your business. It’s not easy, you know. I know there’s probably people listening, they’re like, yes, amen, hallelujah, it is not easy. And so it takes deliberate action, deliberate thoughts, for sure.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I need to ask you, what do you think of Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In?

Liza Marie Garcia:
It’s so funny, because we did talk a little bit about it, or we chatted online, you and I, about that. And that book was pivotal for me when it first came out, and then I kept step with her and saw what changed with her since then. But I’ll tell you why it was pivotal for me when it first came out. As I mentioned, I had a pretty long marriage, and then I got a divorce, and unfortunately my divorce was also about three to four years because there was a lot of factors involved. One of my final family law lawyers, of many that I had, I had a team of lawyers, was pretty not good. He was the one that said, you need to read this book. And I really thought, I was like, what are you talking about, why do I need to read this book? But anyway, I read the book, and the Lean In book really gave me positive reminders of who I was and how I got there. And so it was very, very positive for me at that time when I really needed it, because if anyone’s on here that’s gone through family law litigation, it’s very difficult, you know, can’t even describe it really in some sense. I try to forget it for the most part. I, of course, watched her as she went through the death of her husband that died of cancer, I believe, and then saw the post that she said, and of course my ears, you know, she caught my attention, and I was happy when she said, you know, I realize more about the plight of being a single mom. So kind of watch her. I’ll tell you what I respect about her is that she seems to not be afraid of saying, hey, I think I got it wrong. And, you know, I’ve changed. And, you know, why can’t we just be human and admit that? Because that is just, we’re all human. We all might have thought something in our 20s. My daughter’s 20 years old, if I remember my brain at 20, are you kidding me? You know, today, and there’s nothing wrong with any of the mistakes that we made. I think what’s wrong is if we try to hide it, or, I don’t know, that’s maybe, just be yourself. So what do you think?

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I really respect, I’m with you. I really respected that she came out and apologized to say I actually didn’t consider that not everybody wants to lean in, and looking at being a single parent. Her husband died, actually was on a treadmill and he fell and he was not found early enough, and they found him dead, I think it was, they were on holidays. And so for me, when that book first came out, I had a girlfriend say, I love this book, you can do all of it. And my good friend has bipolar disorder and she couldn’t do it all. She couldn’t work and have a team of 50 people under her, and her kids were being raised by somebody else, and they gave it all up, walked away to a smaller community where she worked for FedEx for a little bit. You know, my other friend who’s a lawyer, he said, something’s got to give. And he said, for us, we were there for our kids, we were great with our jobs, like top earning lawyers in our city, and our marriage, he said, fell apart.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yes. So my opinion is something’s, you can’t have it all at once.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Like for me, I did a masters in admin, and when my kids were young I did not want to go into admin because I felt I’d put them on a platter because of the amount of work on it. So it’s just such an interesting discussion. But if I can add one more thing, what hit me is my kids are also in university. Okay, I’m good, I’m ready, maybe I want to go into administration. Do I want to be a superintendent? Not by 50 years old, that’s not going to happen because I want to retire by 60, 65. So I do fully recognize that Lean In idea of you have to take those opportunities younger, because we actually do have a time frame here. And I’m not being disparaging to my age, but the reality of the math is that by 50 I won’t be able to rise the ranks like I could have if I had started at 30. I just don’t have the time unless I want to work till I’m 80 years old.

Liza Marie Garcia:
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying at all. And when you talk about we’re under a time factor, or we only have so much time, agreed. But I look at it more in that 24-hour period. You know, there is only 24 hours in a day, and part of that time you have to get sleep, I don’t care who you are, you cannot function without the proper sleep. So now you’ve got to subtract whatever those hours look like, right? And then you’ve got the rest of the time. So yes, you can’t do everything that you need to do. Being a rockstar parent, being a rockstar boss, being a rockstar sales development person in your company bringing in revenue, being a rockstar friend, being a rockstar daughter, all that within those particular hours in the day. So you do, like I said, have to make choices based on what are you trying to achieve, that’s priority, multiple priorities in that particular time. But I think it’s funny when you say, unless I will work until I’m 80, or that there’s a 50-something time limit in the career, or certain milestones based on that, the only thing I’d say on that is, all of that is really kind of up for change potentially. People are living and working and retiring now at 70 versus 50, or now at 80 versus 60. I mean the times are changing that way and should be open to change, and I think even that position based on a stigma or not in certain industries should also be open to change, and I’ll tell you what I think they will change, and that’s based on that we’ve got Gen Z right on us. Gen Z is calling it. I mean, that is the demo, you know, millennials, nope, Gen Z. And I happen to be a parent of two of them, and they have a whole new way of looking at things in the world that I like. And so, you know, I take a little more relaxed stand on that. It could maybe be because I’m probably a little bit older than you, and just, you know, somehow it’s going to work out. Life and career will work out in some way that you focus on it is how I believe.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I’m in the public sector, so I get full pension at 60. So those numbers, I could keep working, they usually want you out by 65. So I think there is, I agree with you on industries, I think it depends maybe on the industry, because in public care, okay, you know, I think you get the boot at 65. So I have full retirement at 60 because I started teaching at 23. So but it is an interesting, it’s an everybody has to consider like what am I willing to give up and what can I actually manage doing? So what did you choose? Like when you, you started at 27 years old, talk to me about just your whole decision-making of your priorities and how you navigated that, because you and I, I was a public school teacher, it’s very different than you, CEO book publishing. You know the areas that you and I are in are different for mothering. My kids were at my elementary school, I could work two days a week, really different.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Well, that’s definitely a blessing. So, in my first book, Never Judge Coffee During a Business Meeting, and that book actually was published by a publisher, not our company, that really put me into publishing when the whole story is told. But in that book I talk about that I would always say, as I was married 10 years before kids, I will never have a nanny, I will never have a nanny, so we know what’s going to happen, I will never have a nanny. I had a full-time nanny. I had a full-time nanny for four years. I was very lucky, she was our second nanny, but I was very lucky, she was awesome, she is a great friend of ours. My daughters were her flower girls in her wedding eventually, the whole thing. So I mean, I got lucky that she loved on my daughters and grew them and was such an integral part of the family. So I will say, that was the way. And she had very strict hours where if I was in town, she would quit at 5, and then I would be with my daughters and do all that. And then, of course, I would work after they went to bed, and start the cycle. And then I did travel a lot then, because our clients were enterprise-sized national, and this was before Zoom, this was where you did get on planes, and most of my clients were on the West Coast, which is the good news. But on those days, she’d work whatever hours it needed, at overtime, to take care of them. So I’m not going to say, oh no, I’m a supermom. Well, I had to. I had to. And I would be putting in probably 100 hours a week. So you can imagine, wow, that time. I don’t know, I must have had energy, I was young, I was in my 20s and 30s.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
How old were you when you had your girls?

Liza Marie Garcia:
So I was 37 with my first daughter.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Yeah, so, you know, 10 years married and…

Liza Marie Garcia:
It did not make sense to me to stop my company because I wanted to have kids, you know. I mean we were in an amazing place, and it wasn’t that idea where you had a plan when you started a company that your exit strategy was in year five and what you were going to bring, when you were going to bring your company to market. It was a different environment. And so I held that company, brought it to market in year 16. So the girls were, you know, six by then, six and seven and a half.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
So looking back at that time, what are your emotions around that now? They’re in their 20s.

Liza Marie Garcia:
As far as, you know, I plugged myself in even when I had a nanny, and I’m proud of myself that I did. Of course I did it because you’re in love with these creatures. And so what that meant for me was my team knew that every Wednesday morning, my schedule was blocked out, because it was Wiggle Wednesday. So I blocked my calendar out, you know, we didn’t have Google Calendar, but whatever, it was Outlook probably, calendar. Blocked myself out every Wednesday to go sit on the floor, you know, in my business attire, with my legs crossed, and do Wiggle Wednesday. I would do my best. I wasn’t always able to go to everything, but I really would do my best as a business owner. I did have that flexibility sometimes, unless I was with clients, where I could go to this concert and plug into this and make the cookies for this and that. So I really did my best, of course with a little help from the nanny, but I did, I did my best. And again, I also love business, and I loved my clients, and I loved my team. I loved what I was doing, and I felt it was purposeful. And it wasn’t, you know, there was happiness being a mom, and also happiness in running my company.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
What do your girls have to say about it?

Liza Marie Garcia:
So it’s fun on that. So, they’re just awesome. I mean, it’s really fun to be around that age group, first of all. So, because they have, in fact I just posted today on LinkedIn this morning about, you’ve got the whole world right there waiting for them, and all that life that is great will bring to them, hopefully. But so it’s funny, because one of them totally loves business, she’s a data science gal, but she already knows that she wants to be in business, she’s very strong in business, my older one. And then the younger one, she actually wants to go into law, but she’s like, I do not want to be an entrepreneur, I do not want to be a business owner. So, they both have seen the journey, and it’s fun.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Well, you hit the jackpot with your nanny, because what you’re describing is this beautiful relationship that your girls had growing up with somebody that they were connected with, secure attachment. The fact that they were in her wedding speaks volumes for what they had.

Liza Marie Garcia:
You’re 100% right, we hit the jackpot. We just went and visited her, she’s in Seattle, and her husband, her second husband, and their two kids, and we spent just a day, and she just loved them, and they loved her. And my second daughter, I mean, she met us at the hospital, so she had her from birth to birth. So yeah, definitely, she was a huge difference. And not everybody has that. It’s hard to find a good nanny.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
So I want to ask you about this whole thing of taking things for ourselves as women with children. I speak because I did a PhD, I put my career on hold for me, it was, my career was last. So I thought I’d be a great administrator, didn’t want to do it. I was two days a week, I was four days a week, until they were done, I was in elementary school. I wanted to be in high school. And then the kids were out of high school, or, no, sorry, they were like grade 10, 11, and I wanted to start my PhD, and I thought, this is my time, like I’ve put this off, and it looked like I could, I had an easier position at the time that I could take it on. So my intentions were this isn’t going to affect the kids too much, but my daughter has been very candid with me about me being busy when she needed me the most.

Liza Marie Garcia:
It’s a dagger. It’s a dagger, right?

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
It was a dagger, and it came up about a year after it, and she watched me. I did 12-hour days, but we’d go travel for a month. So I was preparing, but it was one of those things where I was like, this is my time now, I want to do this, and I can do this still being present for my husband and children. My husband and I talked about it. It was not supposed to be as busy as I thought it would be. Who knew? Like for anybody thinking of doing a PhD, brace yourself. And just her response later, what do you think about, how old was she when she said that?

Liza Marie Garcia:
Probably 18, and I was working on it when she was about probably 14 to 18, roughly.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
15 to 18.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yeah, I mean, so first of all, so again, my daughters are 19 and almost, she’ll be 21 in February, so they’re right in that age group. And the thing about that age group, and I don’t care if they’re the best, sweetest, kind-hearted, smart, mature girls in the world, in that age group it is all about them, you know. It is, they can’t help it, it is all about a teenage thing, right? And it’s a young thing, and that’s a good thing, right? People put down ego and all of that, too much ego or wrong-directed ego is not good, but enough of it, use it for the good, is a great thing, and it’s why people are successful and people aren’t successful. But what my point is there is that I would get complaint after complaint and criticism after criticism from my daughters when it would be that I might be picking them up and I might be on a call with a client, or I might say we have to go somewhere when we were on a trip because of something to do with work. But I always tell them, what time is it? And they hate it when I say that, because now they know. Basically, I’m saying, what time is it? And I make them tell me, is it 8:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday? Because those are standard hours and they know that, that’s standard business hours, does your mom work that? And they like roll their eyes because they know I work probably 5 to 9, seven days a week. But just to remind them that, look, this is how I’m accomplishing what I’m accomplishing while we’re still together, and you can be patient about my 30 minutes on a Zoom call while I’m with you, and you don’t need to hear it. But even now, they will complain a bit, and I just have to say, what time is it? And then they’re just like, oh, she’s right.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
The other thing too, you’re raising girls that are watching you stand up and fly. Your girls are watching you.

Liza Marie Garcia:
And for my kids, like they’re in university, they’re 19 and 21, and they watched me, and I’ll bring it up like, you saw me, you saw me sit, you saw me have to, like it was the grind and I hated it and you just do it. So there is that, you can’t negate the modelling. I’m always like, my kids are first, but I’m holding on to that they observed me bust my butt for four years.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
No, they are, and that’s meaningful, and then they see that you went to get your PhD, as you did, and that, I mean it is not what we say, it is what we do, and it is how I move through this world is how my daughters think, it’s how they believe to act through this world as well, because they see me. So it is all about who we are as parents and how we live. Tell me about the moments of connection with your girls, like what specifically, you mentioned Wiggle Day, what did you do in those moments to have those times with them when it wasn’t work day?

Liza Marie Garcia:
Well, can I talk about right now something I do, I’ve shared, and sometimes I’ve had to fight about it, and there’s even a monetary penalty because of it. I’ll tell you it’s called Couch Meeting. So it started in middle school, and so what we would do is on Sunday nights at 8 o’clock it would be Couch Meeting, and we basically just get on the couch, and I always had a calendar, because of course you handle your motherhood just like you do your business, right, so we have a family calendar whiteboard, and on Couch Meeting we take a look at the week ahead, and we’d say, okay, you’ve got dance, you’ve got tennis, you’ve got whatever you got, who’s doing what and how’s this going to work out, right? So we’d have a couch, we need to get us for the week. Well, we’ve kept that. So, Couch Meeting, when my first daughter went away to Pittsburgh for university, was that she would Zoom us, my younger daughter and I at home. And now it’s that we’re all FaceTiming, a Couch Meeting. And it’s been, always 8:00 on Sunday. So, last night, of course, my older one, about quarter to 8, says, can we be 8:30 or 9? Yes, we can be 8:30. But it’s every week. And I kind of thought maybe it should be more than once a week, but they’re busy girls, and we’re all busy, but it’s just that way to, what’s going on in your week, and then how can I help you in this week coming up is what I’ll be asking. I’m praying for them, what’s the big struggle, what is the fun thing that happened, just the conversation. And I’m really happy that we’ve kept it going, especially since I really had no idea how busy, these kids are in university, from one of them’s in a sorority to friends to game night to now getting ready to graduate, and they’re in regular school and work study, both my girls are in work study, so I just, life moves fast.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
It is different, I’ve noticed the bigger shift to university in terms of, in high school, I’m a teacher, I have always said they need you maybe more in high school because of what they have to go through. And holy smokes, 14-year-old girls, hold on to your boots, they need you more. But in university, they need me, but they need me for a bit, and then they’re off on their own. And in high school I found that too, like they needed me, and then they’re off.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yeah, but even so, we still have our connection moments in university, but they want to be adults, so they’re off.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
They’re off. Yeah, I mean, I was talking about how I knew that I needed to boot the eaglets out of the nest, and when they went to college, that was that time, but I didn’t want to, but I knew I needed to.

Liza Marie Garcia:
And so then you do it, and then you wonder why they’re off. Well, they’re off, they are, they’re trying to figure out their new life and who they are now for the first time in their lives.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Yeah, without being 24/7 with their mom and all the things taken care of for them, they didn’t realize that because now they’re not, and they have to figure that out for themselves. I mean, again, it’s an exciting time for sure.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Oh, it’s breaking my heart.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Yeah, I know, my daughter’s off for the first year, she’s in another city that’s a 4-hour trip away, which, you can’t complain, and it’s…

Liza Marie Garcia:
Oh, the dagger.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Yes, it’s hard, it’s another dagger, us moms take a lot of daggers through our lives, that’s for sure. Tell me, what were non-negotiable items in your life as you were CEO and raising your girls? Or anything like that, could be a broader question, what was non-negotiable for you?

Liza Marie Garcia:
I’ll tell you what’s non-negotiable, period, all day long, in every relationship and company and all that, is untruthfulness, is being a liar. And it is something that, even with my daughters, there’s no such thing as a white lie, there’s no reason, this is where it comes with my daughters, a daughter will say something like, well, I’ll just say… and I’ll ask, why would you say that? It’s an out and out lie. You don’t need to lie. Why don’t you say what the truth is? Or why don’t you not say anything if you feel that way, just state the fact. And the problem is, as intelligent people know, there’s no such thing as one lie, and there’s no such thing as a little dishonesty, that then eventually, like we were talking about a little before, the cream rises to the top, the truth comes out. And so then, am I on this show with you saying I have never lied? Of course not. I have lied. Of course I have misrepresented. Of course I have. I have said things I regret. The difference now in my life is if I do something like that, typically I immediately feel like dog crap and feel awful, and then try to make amends, meaning I’m going to own up to it. And I’ve done that. I think, something years ago, when I told a client something that was a lie, I immediately hung up and called my partner and said, I don’t know why I said this, it’s not true. And it just, so I’m not saying it because I’m the perfect person, but that is definitely, in any relationship, it’s going to make your relationship fail if you have a level of dishonesty.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Well, also what that does to your kids. I was doing an interview with Steve Phillip, who’s also on LinkedIn, and it hit me like a ton of bricks when we were talking about being authentic with your children, vulnerable, authentic, I’m having a bad day, I’m not okay. But that’s what you’re talking about is honesty. And we are in this never-enough culture, Jennifer Wallace wrote the book about the toxicity of this achievement culture. But when we then come to the table, when we’re authentic and honest, whether we made a mistake or we’re not doing great, whatever it is, we’re showing our kids it’s okay to not be perfect. Like that is so powerful, to send that messaging, that our kids see it, in this culture of toxic achievement.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yeah, no, 100%. And even, we’ve gone to a point with my daughters and I in our relationship where I might say something like, I just saw, as I said, I was just away at family weekend with my daughter at university, and I will say, look, I’m just telling you right now, I haven’t eaten any food, I’ve only had half the coffee normal, I’m a little bit on edge, just not wanting to be short, but I am coming from that place, just so they know. And then I think also, when I do that, it helps them recognize that characteristic in themselves. And then it’s our job as a parent, to know from where they’re coming from, when they might act the way, or might say something we don’t like, is kind of, remember, oh, she did say she stayed up all night, she’s had no sleep. So, again, it’s just, we’re human beings that have our own issues, and are doing the best we can. And I think people get hung up on so much, they get hung up on the way people speak to them, or what they say, or what they look like, or where they live. It’s like, why do we get hung up on any of that? Because if we all have the same end goal, so if we’re working in a company, we all have the same end goal, let’s get caught up on that, let’s start looking at that, and then just give each other a little bit of grace and patience and understanding, because we’re all on the same team. And I’ll say that even as our family team, we’re all on the same team, why don’t you be kinder to your sister, we’re on the family team. It seems, I know it seems simpler than it is in life, but I try to focus.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
But this connection, you’re talking about connection, you’re talking about authentic connection and secure attachment with relationships.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yes.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Before we get into my three wrap-up questions I always do, here’s my last big question, that actually could be like a two-hour long discussion, so we’re gonna do it in five minutes or less. How does your faith come into your career and your mothering? Because I know it is deep for you.

Liza Marie Garcia:
It is deep, that’s…

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
And you were very vocal about being a committed Christian. I’m just curious to know how your faith comes into this, because we’re so linked with our faith.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Well, we are. And my belief is, God is there whether you acknowledge him, know him, listen to him, even care about him, he’s always there, and he’s always been there in my life. I didn’t do really any of those things until I relocated from Seattle to Tampa. So I’ve been on this now 11-year journey while I’ve been here, where God has made himself very apparent in my life, and I have reciprocated by getting to know his character more. So, once you know that, once you recognize his voice, once you let him speak to you, once you see how he guides your life in every area, from business, to professional relationships, to family relationships, to motherhood, once you see that and feel that and experience it, there’s no going back. So that is why I am a faith-based professional, I will always raise my hand and say I love Jesus, 100%. And that wasn’t me 11 years ago, it wasn’t. I really, actually, in my first company, I really believed that church and business were separate, and that was a part of you, but it wasn’t you. Now I believe the exact opposite.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Foundational for you.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yes, foundational.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I always do three wrap-up questions to take us back to our first goal of just exploring this, how we can be, especially corporate world and working world as moms. I want to know, if I were to go on the street and find your daughters, what would they say about you as their mother?

Liza Marie Garcia:
You’re going to make me cry here.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I cry all the time, if it makes you feel better, I often cry in podcasts. Go ahead, crying’s therapeutic.

Liza Marie Garcia:
I have had some opportunity to overhear or hear a little bit, and they say things like, she’s really hardworking, and they say that they know that I love them a ton, and they know that. And the other part is they know I’ve sacrificed a lot for them. And sometimes now, that they’re the age they are, I’m like reminding them, twenty-six thousand dollars, that’s my last bill for my oldest daughter this year, in like nine months, wow, think about the better car I could have, but now I kind of push it in a little bit more. But I think that’s what they would say. And they also know I love God, in fact one of them will say, or they’ll probably say, at least, always, you’re religious, you’re religious, which I don’t love that word, but they’ll say that.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Do you know, I was talking to a really great psychologist who said he’s never seen a family where, when the kids are unconditionally loved and rooted in that love, that things could go awry, even if they’re struggling as teenagers, those relationships stay solid, just because of that love that comes from the parent. If it’s a parent that is loving and leaning into their kids, that is their connection priority.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Trying not to cry here, but, no. Next question.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Next question. Okay, what is the one thing that you wish all working mothers could embrace within this chasm of having a career and having children?

Liza Marie Garcia:
So the one thing to tell these working moms, I would definitely tell all working moms to do, is to go into your calendar and do the blockout that is your time every week. I don’t know, depending on their ages, if they’re small and there’s a lot of them, we all know you can’t do it daily, I mean maybe you can, I hope you can, but at minimum, go in and block out whatever that time is, your Thursday mornings, or four hours, or whatever it is for you. Plan for childcare, whatever you need to do, don’t let that go by, because it will. And you do need to feed yourself, in all the different areas, and I probably didn’t do that enough for myself, and now I understand that, and I encourage even my daughters, you’ve got to get your physical time, you’ve got to have this time. And we know what feeds us and what sustains us, and what happens when those things aren’t there, it’s a recipe for disaster. This is really cliche, but it’s still really poignant, you’ve got to put that oxygen mask on you first.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Yes, that’s right, they say it all the time, don’t they, on an airplane.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yep, they do, and that’s exactly right, it’s fundamental.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Yeah. Here’s my last wrap-up question, Liza. What did your girls need to know without a doubt when you were doing those hundred hour weeks, like the one deep seated knowledge that they needed, in the midst of your work and loving them, and nanny, and all of that, that time period?

Liza Marie Garcia:
I think, not just those years, but in general, I mean, I think that the main thing that kids need is they need to have security. They need to know that the things that they’ve relied on and know are never going to go away. Sometimes that’s the house, sometimes that’s the parents, that’s why divorce is so difficult, now that I’m on this side of it. But, so it was good that they had the routine that they had, even though I wasn’t always there, they had a routine that was a lot of their life for many, many years. So, and even now, I think it’s just security of knowing that mom’s a text away for the money that they need, I just got a text, Mom, I need $60, of course you do, right now, you know, just the security that the security of support in their life, the security of 24/7, no problem. Even if there’s times where our kids are driving us crazy, but we’re still there, we still love them, we’ll still do anything for them. So I think security, I totally reiterate that.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I absolutely agree, because I feel our times are really uncertain for our youth, between what’s going on politically around the world, wars around the world, climate change, I’ll stop there, because it’s just all depressing. So to have that security, and knowing they’ve got that solid foundation.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yeah, with parents, then they have someone on their team.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
They have the parents in, and I was saying, in the cheering section, right?

Liza Marie Garcia:
In the cheering section, yeah, all the time, that’s what I feel like it’s my job. I’ve said that to my kids, I said, I am your number one cheerleader here, I know you can do this, I know you can do this, I’m your cheerleader here.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Okay, so Liza Marie Garcia, where can we find you online?

Liza Marie Garcia:
Well, thanks for asking. So, of course, I have LizaMarieGarcia.com, like most people do. Our company then has been publishing books, we’re just now nine years and a month, starting October, CEO Book Publishing, so cebookpublishing.com. Just really everywhere, mainly with my site, you’ll find me. And LinkedIn, yes, that’s my main platform, Liza Marie Garcia on LinkedIn.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
Liza, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate this. Very fun to talk about motherhood again. We need to be talking about it more.

Liza Marie Garcia:
Yeah, I agree. Agree. You need to write a book, we’ll publish it for you.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson:
I know you’ve written other books like that. Thanks for listening. Now you can do your part and share this with a mom you know that needs to hear about how we can navigate this chasm of the working world and still being loving, engaged, leaned-in parents to our children. You can click like on the little link below and subscribe for more videos to help you learn how to get on your child’s turf. I will see you next time.