What’s your best piece of practical advice for a new mom?

My best piece of advice and what all the psychology research shows, is that you just have to be a good enough mom. You don't have to be a perfect mom. You don't have to attend to everything. You don't have to sign your kid up for everything. You don't have to be there for everything. I know that we want to, but sometimes that's just really not realistic. So I found a lot of solace when I really found out that you just have to be a good enough mom. Just do your best.

What do you wish your mom didn’t pass down to you?

Something that landed with her from generations and she put in my lap is being hard on herself when it came to her body. I remember seeing my mom dieting all the time and really suffering in a lot of ways because she wasn’t content with her body. I just wish that she could have come into more body acceptance. I feel like I really transcended that but it definitely got passed down and I was definitely aware of my body in a way that I don’t want for my girls. 

What is something you do want to pass down to your kids?

One of the things I really value and want to pass down to my kids is to really not be consumed by materialism. I don’t want my daughters to be caught up in the rat race of needing name brands and needing everything that everyone else seems to have. I think there's a lot better ways to spend your time and spend your money and enjoy relationships that don’t have to revolve around materialism. 

I love when I see my girls enjoy nature. That is something I really tried to instill in them. When we get out in nature our nervous systems resets and we feel better and we are in connection with the earth and if we are with people we are in connection with others.

So, do we really just turn into our moms after all?

Oh yes – here I am!

The detrimental effects of bagging on yourself is that someday your daughter is going to look in the mirror and she’s going to see you. And if you aren’t loving and appreciating yourself she might inherit that and I think that’s really dangerous. So yes we turn into our moms, for both the good and not so good. 

And yes, I’m my mom for sure and I’m glad for it. I miss her. 

Watch the sweet moment when Sierra answers this question and gets emotional, thinking of her mom:

What is something people don’t know about you?

I was a functioning hot mess for much of my teens and 20s but in the end I’m grateful that I’ve had an interesting and exciting life and I’m grateful that I'm no longer a hot mess. I’m just looking forward to continuing to age. I look forward to what’s next in my life. And if you really get to know me and I get to know you, you’ll see that I really do truly love everyone and I love to help people shine. I love to give people compliments. I like to tell people what I love about them. I do it quietly in the gym or in the grocery store. I think good thoughts for them. I live my life really wanting the best for people and really loving people.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.