Judging Meghan

Motherhood From a Different Perspective with Emmy Nominated Producer Riaz Patel

Judging Meghan

Show Notes

Two-time Emmy-nominated director/producer of TV and Broadway, Riaz Patel isn’t here because of his credentials. He’s here because of his unusual perspective: a man who has spent virtually his entire life in female-dominated worlds. He grew up surrounded by women — two sisters, countless female cousins — then spent years making television about women, for female-led networks, on female-majority teams, for female audiences. And now, as a gay dad raising two kids, he finds himself once again in a world largely populated by moms.

He comes to motherhood as an “interloper”: close enough to see it intimately, but outside enough to see it differently. He’s not here to tell women how to mother. He’s here to talk about what he’s witnessed — the expectations, the judgment, the competition, and the extraordinary pressure women put on themselves and each other.

This is a blunt, unfiltered conversation about motherhood — and one I think a lot of mothers need to hear.

Follow Riaz here: https://www.instagram.com/riazrpatel/?hl=en

I’d love to hear from you. If you have questions for me, topics you’d like discussed, or stories you want to share, please reach out through my website at judgingmeghan.com or send me a message on Instagram at @judgingmeghan. Your questions may be featured and answered in an upcoming episode. And if you’re enjoying the podcast, leaving a review really helps support the show and helps more people find these conversations.

This podcast is a place for trauma survivors as well as their friends and family. This is a safe environment to be vulnerable but it's also a place for celebration and moving forward. Let's all start to embrace who we are becoming by #mentalhealth #selfcare #self #judgingothers #judgingmeghan #suicideawareness #suicideprevention #survivor #RiazPatel #Motherhood #MotherhoodUnfiltered #MotherhoodJourney #MotherhoodRealTalk #MomLife #MomTruths #MotherhoodMatters #ThePressureOfMotherhood #MomPressure #MomJudgment #MomGuilt #MomShame #MomCompetition #Parenting #ParentingPressure #ParentingJourney #ModernMotherhood #WomenAndMotherhood #WomenSupportingWomen #WomenSupportingMothers #BreakingTheMomJudgment #NoPerfectMothers #MotherhoodWithoutJudgment #MentalHealth #SelfCompassion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More from Judging Meghan

Oct 20, 2026

This episode discusses consent, sexual assault, drugs, and other difficult topics that may be triggering for some listeners.

Oct 13, 2026

In this episode I’m joined by mental health advocate and speaker Heidi Ambrose for an honest conversation about suicide, grief, and finding hope after loss. Heidi and I first met when I was a speaker at a women's event, there we connected over our shared experiences with loss. She opens up about growing up in New York City with emotionally distant parents and feeling lonely despite having financial privilege. At just 17, Heidi lost her mother to suicide following her parents’ divorce, an experience that changed her life forever.

Oct 6, 2026

Today, you’re going to hear a revisited conversation from 2022 between my Mom and me. We talk about her experience being attacked as a young girl and how it forever impacted her life. She has experienced unimaginable loss, including losing both a child and a husband, and has had to learn how to live again after these traumatic experiences.

Sep 29, 2026

In this episode, I sit down with Lizzie Semmer, a former pre K teacher who left the classroom and started a new chapter of her life in Portugal. Lizzie shares what it was like growing up between Chicago and Manhattan Beach with a father who worked in Hollywood, and how she eventually began her own career in entertainment, working with her father. After years in the industry, she followed a calling into teaching and spent a decade working with young children before the demands and exhaustion of the post COVID classroom led her to make the difficult decision to walk away.

Sep 22, 2026

As I celebrate my sixth year of podcasting and approach my 300th episode, I’m excited to welcome angel communicator, author, speaker, and podcaster Alisha Das. During a time when the world can feel especially divided and difficult, Alisha and I have a conversation about spirituality, purpose, angels, and finding light during challenging seasons. Alisha shares her story of growing up in rural Indiana, experiencing a traumatic childhood, and encountering archangels from the age of four.

See all episodes →