Amy Miller (Hippy Hun) | Episode 25

This week we’re joined by Laura, owner of With Love and Dreams and a self-taught preservation artist. Laura turns wedding and funeral flowers, ashes, hair, clothing and breast milk into resin keepsakes and jewellery, and has become one of the people grieving families in Ireland trust with their most precious things. She tells us how a lockdown resin kit became an award-winning business. She also shares the story of how she practised with ashes before her first real piece, and it involves the family dog, a heatwave and a lot of ashtrays. Laura talks about leaving a job where she was bullied, what it’s like to hold space for people on the worst days of their lives, the year she lost five family members in under six months, and why she won’t hand the personal side of her work to anyone else. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro: meet Laura from With Love and Dreams 01:10 What a preservation artist does 02:00 From lockdown hobby to self-taught resin artist 03:28 Her first ever ashes piece 04:35 Tyson the boxer and the great ashtray hunt 08:26 Working with grief and keeping it together for clients 11:36 Loving the work, and leaving a job over bullying 15:30 Starting out alone and finding her networking group 21:00 Creative childhood, Billie Barry and the Bugsy Malone audition 23:48 What is resin, and why it takes so long 25:42 How you choose your keepsake piece 27:18 Why flower preservation can take up to nine months 28:13 Why she’s staying a one-woman business 32:12 From the front room to her own studio 35:04 Preserving clothes, fabrics and baby shoes 36:12 Pricing and keeping it affordable 37:16 A new jewellery collaboration coming soon 38:09 The weirdest things she’s been asked to preserve 40:23 Award wins and nominations 43:45 Her hardest time in business 48:28 Her highest high: the new studio, windows and all 50:50 Did she ever see herself as an entrepreneur? 54:19 Advice for young women thinking of taking the leap 56:43 Running a business means you never switch off 58:09 Well-known clients and the order that never arrived 59:50 Alan’s dog walking and pet taxi business 01:01:50 Wrap-up

In this powerful episode of How's Your Ma, we sit down with Callie and her mum Bella as they openly share their experiences with addiction, alcohol, drugs, homelessness, toxic relationships and recovery. Their stories are deeply connected, but both women had to find their own way out of addiction. Bella speaks about years of alcohol addiction, how it affected her family and the moment she finally realised she needed help. Callie shares her experience with addiction, abusive relationships, homelessness and becoming a mother while struggling with substance abuse. Most importantly, they talk about what happened after recovery — rebuilding their lives, rebuilding their relationship with each other, and breaking the cycle for the next generation. This is an incredibly honest conversation about addiction, family, trauma, recovery and finding yourself again. CHAPTERS 00:00 – Introduction: Meet Callie & Bella 01:11 – Callie opens up about addiction 02:29 – Drinking from a young age 04:07 – Callie's addiction gets worse 05:34 – Becoming a young mother 08:47 – Bella's story begins 10:35 – Moving to Tallaght and starting a family 11:45 – Bella's relationship with alcohol 13:07 – “I wanted to die” 14:35 – The moment everything started to change 16:17 – The friend who was one year sober 18:19 – Bella decides to go to AA 20:47 – When drinking became antisocial 22:15 – Trying to hide addiction from the kids 23:42 – Trying to control drinking 25:14 – Drinking, money and addiction 26:05 – Callie's journey into recovery 27:44 – Addiction, pregnancy and motherhood 28:30 – Homelessness and drinking 30:00 – Living in a family hub 31:35 – Choosing sobriety 32:22 – Toxic relationships and abuse 34:08 – Leaving addiction and rebuilding her life 34:47 – Two years sober and a new relationship 35:30 – Mother and daughter finally reconnect 36:29 – Breaking the family cycle 39:00 – Addiction affects the whole family 40:13 – When drinking takes over your life 41:12 – The financial impact of addiction 43:17 – Losing friends and finding new ones 45:08 – Getting professional help 47:18 – Finding yourself in recovery 48:30 – New friendships and healthy relationships 49:13 – The importance of sponsors 50:37 – What does the future look like? 51:01 – Discovering a new passion 53:06 – Finding a career later in life 55:21 – Callie's future after recovery 57:19 – “What if I can?” 57:46 – Breaking the cycle 58:13 – Final thoughts & seven years of recovery How's Your Ma brings real people into the room to tell their stories, in their own words. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast. #HowsYourMa #AddictionRecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #IrishPodcast #MentalHealth #Addiction #Family #MotherAndDaughter

In Episode 23 of How's Your Ma?, we’re joined by Emma and Bala, two social workers originally from India who now live and work in Dublin. They share their experiences of moving to Ireland, finding their feet in a completely different country, building friendships, dealing with the cost of living and working in social care. We also get into their lives back in India, growing up in close-knit families and communities, education, migration, arranged marriage and how their experiences growing up shaped the people they are today. Emma and Bala also talk about the kindness they've experienced since arriving in Ireland, the importance of paying that kindness forward, and what the future might look like for them. A fascinating conversation about family, culture, migration, social work and finding your place in a new country. Timestamps: 00:00 – Meet Emma & Bala 01:04 – Finding their feet in Ireland 02:12 – Growing up in India and moving abroad 03:42 – Emma's journey to Ireland 05:19 – Why Dublin? 06:31 – Experiences of kindness and discrimination 08:16 – The challenges of starting over in Ireland 09:04 – Similarities between Irish and Indian culture 09:51 – Bala's arranged marriage 11:12 – How arranged marriage works today 13:20 – Meeting a potential partner 15:14 – Finding the right person 17:25 – The "Tinder" of arranged marriage 18:12 – What happens on a matrimonial website? 19:12 – What they looked for in a partner 21:00 – Bala's husband and the journey to marriage 23:09 – Long-distance relationships and communication 24:37 – Studying social work in India 25:17 – Getting social work qualifications recognised in Ireland 27:22 – Education in India 30:08 – Learning through practical experience 31:23 – Growing up speaking different languages 33:21 – Migration and the "brain drain" 34:09 – Why professionals leave India 37:09 – Why there are Indians all over the world 38:14 – Sending money home and supporting family 38:59 – The reality of the cost of living in Dublin 40:41 – What they love about social work 41:39 – Why Emma became a social worker 42:57 – Bala's experience of receiving help growing up 44:02 – Paying kindness forward 46:08 – The impact of social work 47:29 – The challenges of social work in Ireland 48:11 – What does the future hold? 49:04 – Could they settle in Ireland? 50:14 – Growing up in big Indian families 52:19 – Life skills learned from living abroad 52:45 – Breaking generational patterns 53:23 – Gender expectations growing up 55:03 – Challenging traditional expectations 56:26 – Family, community and the importance of kindness 57:12 – The legacy of people who helped them 59:05 – Family back home in India 01:00:36 – The importance of family 01:02:41 – Final thoughts

This week on the How’s Your Ma Podcast, Leanne and Orla are joined by Jack Swift for a very open and honest chat about growing up, finding confidence, social media, self-expression, friendships and learning to be comfortable with who you are. Jack talks about his experience growing up in Dublin, dealing with bullying, coming out, becoming known on TikTok and the reality of putting your life online. They also chat about confidence, accepting compliments, relationships, doing things on your own and why you shouldn’t feel pressured to have your life figured out by a certain age. There’s plenty of laughs along the way too, including some very honest conversations about fashion, cinema, dating and what the future might look like. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Welcome to How’s Your Ma Podcast 01:40 - Jack’s upbringing and family 03:27 - Bullying, coming out and finding himself 05:20 - Family support and dealing with online comments 06:00 - Discrimination and being judged for sexuality 08:44 - Finding confidence through fashion and self-expression 12:08 - Learning from mistakes and growing through your 20s 14:54 - The reality of putting your life on social media 16:58 - Mental health, online criticism and alcohol 21:00 - Jack Swift the person vs Jack Swift the online character 23:34 - Family, education and the importance of kindness 25:36 - Success, jealousy and confidence 27:27 - Harassment, safety and being yourself in public 30:09 - Pride, LGBTQ+ spaces and why they matter 32:22 - Being yourself without needing everyone’s approval 35:21 - How Jack Swift started on TikTok 36:37 - Confidence and learning to acknowledge your achievements 38:10 - You don’t have to please everyone 39:20 - Apologising less and building self-confidence 41:40 - Learning to accept a compliment 45:01 - Your 20s, growing up and doing things in your own time 48:28 - Being your own role model 49:08 - Coming out, friendships and losing people along the way 51:29 - Friendships, relationships and compromise 52:03 - Learning to enjoy your own company 54:42 - Going to the cinema alone and favourite films 57:12 - What does the future hold for Jack? 57:40 - Dating and keeping parts of life private 59:26 - Fashion and possible plans for the future 1:00:00 - Jack reaches 100,000+ TikTok followers 1:01:11 - Learning to be kinder to yourself 1:02:09 - Outro Thanks for watching How’s Your Ma Podcast ❤️ Make sure to like, comment and subscribe for more from Leanne, Orla and their guests. #HowsYourMa #JackSwift #Podcast #IrishPodcast #Ireland #TikTok

This week, Orla and Leanne sit down for a very personal conversation about women, family, motherhood, resilience and the people who shape us throughout our lives. From reflecting on the incredible achievements of Katie Taylor and what it means to be a strong female role model, to recognising the everyday women quietly holding families together, they talk about strength in all its different forms. They also open up about raising children, friendships changing throughout life, making sacrifices for family, supporting young men, financial struggles, racism, difficult experiences from the past and finally reaching a point where you can start doing things for yourself. At the heart of the conversation is a simple message - everyone has a story, and sometimes hearing somebody else’s can remind you that you’re not alone ❤️ **Content note:** This episode includes discussion of domestic abuse, racism, physical assault, homelessness, financial hardship and mental health. Timecodes [00:00] – Sponsor message: Kitchens by Act Fast [01:17] – Reflecting on the women who have shared their stories [02:03] – Katie Taylor, history and female role models [05:12] – Celebrating the everyday “powerhouse” woman [07:25] – Friendship, support and finding your people [13:46] – The lessons we pass on to our children [16:00] – Fear, growth and believing you can do more [18:06] – School friendships and reconnecting later in life [19:00] – Why sharing people’s stories matters [24:10] – The strong women in Leanne’s family [27:21] – Raising young men and keeping children safe [28:19] – Men’s mental health and changing roles at home [32:12] – Family, siblings and looking after one another [34:31] – Orla shares her experience of a racist assault [40:24] – Family support after difficult experiences [43:53] – Being strong when life gives you no choice [44:10] – Motherhood, childcare and stepping away from work [49:10] – Money, sacrifice and building a more comfortable life [51:00] – Finally allowing yourself to enjoy life [52:19] – Orla reflects on homelessness and financial hardship [53:20] – How difficult experiences can build resilience [55:20] – Women supporting women [58:08] – How the idea for the podcast began [59:14] – Why hearing other people’s stories matters [59:35] – Final thoughts and thanks to Kitchens by Act Fast