Podcast · Kids & Family

AI-Empowered Mom

by Sarah Dooley · English · Kids & Family

Parenthood can be heavy. A digital world makes it heavier. But AI for families doesn't have to be complicated. Each week, AI-Empowered Mom podcast host Sarah Dooley brings parents and caregivers real, grounded conversations about reducing mental load, navigating technology and social media with ki

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 24 min
Latest: 9 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026 · 28 min

The Parental Controls You Need Now with Bark CMO Titania Jordan

You vetted the app. You checked the settings. You decided it was fine. Then one day an AI chatbot showed up inside it, and nobody sent you a note. Titania Jordan has spent close to two decades in online safety, and she is the first to say parents should not have to keep up with every feature drop. She is the chief parent officer at Bark Technologies and the author of Parental Control: A Guide to Raising Balanced Kids in the Digital Era. A parent can now ask a chatbot to walk them through every parental control setting in the house and get an answer in seconds. The same technology is being…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

S2 · E29 · 25 Sep 2026 · 20 min
Why You Can't Always Trust AI Mode with children's author Katie Eisenhart Schaeffer
Children's author Katie Eisenhart Schaeffer was at a happy hour for third grade moms when her phone buzzed. A family member had sent screenshots and a message: her brand new children's book had been ripped off. The screenshots were Google AI search results describing her book accurately and crediting an Instagram handle that was not hers. Host Sarah Dooley was standing right next to her. What happened next is the part worth hearing. Katie searched the handle and found nothing. She tried to recreate the search and could not. The result had been generated, and it never appeared again. We walk…
S2 · E28 · 11 Sep 2026 · 20 min
You Can Use AI And Be "Woo Curious" Too with AI+YOU Studio Amanda Benson
Amanda Benson spent 20 years in emerging tech running one strategy: do more, then do more than that. When AI arrived she used it the way an overachiever would. Then her body told her the strategy was finished. What came next is the framework at the center of this conversation with host Sarah Dooley . "Remember. Release. Intentionally Add." Amanda walks through what it means to remember who you were before the world told you who to be, release what stopped serving you, and add back only the support you actually chose, whether that is AI, a therapist, a teammate, or kids who finally fold their…
S2 · E27 · 4 Sep 2026 · 27 min
What Are You Truly Ambitious For? with Dr. Anne Welsh
This episode is sponsored by Ask Proxy™, a personal AI assistant for your parents' generation. Gift a free month: https://askproxy.com/gifting/ (code AIMOM) or explore Proxy for yourself: https://app.askproxy.com/purchase (code AIMOM) Do you consider yourself ambitious? In a room full of accomplished women in a program literally called Women Who Mean Business, that question turned out to be surprisingly divisive. This week, host Sarah Dooley sits down with Dr. Anne Welsh, licensed clinical psychologist, executive coach, and author of the new book Ambitious Mother, to talk about why the word…
S2 · E26 · 28 Aug 2026 · 18 min
The Tech Gender Gap with Web3 Expert Megan Murray
Think about the last time you went somewhere brand new all on your own, and had to figure everything out yourself. Now think about the last time someone said, let me take you, I'll show you around. That difference is what this episode is about. If you have been on the fence about AI, if you have never heard of Web3, if you have no idea what blockchain means, this is your invitation. This week, host Sarah Dooley sits down with Megan Murray , finance and operations strategist, founder of Leoluna Finance Collective, board member of the Austin AI Alliance , and co-founder of ATX Women in Web3 .…
S2 · E25 · 21 Aug 2026 · 25 min
What You Need to Know About AI Guardrails for Kids with @momsbuildAI founder Shreya Gulati
AI is already showing up in your kids' classrooms, and most parents don't know it. In this episode, host Sarah Dooley sits down with Shreya Gulati, founder of Moms Build AI, a community of more than 3,000 moms learning, using, and building with AI, to talk about what's actually happening with AI policy right now, where the guardrails fall short, and what parents and caregivers can do about it today. Shreya spent a decade in corporate tech building data and partnership ecosystems before becoming a mother, and now works as an angel investor and startup advisor alongside running Moms Build AI.…
S2 · E24 · 7 Aug 2026 · 29 min
The Case For Gaming With Your Kids with Health-e-Habits Executive Director Jim Festante
My daughter told me a YouTuber saves puppies for a living. She was so sure of it that we sat down and watched the video together, and it turned out to be a character, a bit, nothing close to real. That one small moment cracked open a much bigger conversation, and it is exactly why I wanted to sit down with Jim Festante. Jim is the Executive Director of Health-e-Habits and a 20-year veteran of the video game and tech industries, with a background that runs through Slate Magazine, Xbox, Microsoft, Adobe, and Meta. He is also a dad, and he built this work after his Big Brothers Big Sisters…
S2 · E23 · 31 Jul 2026 · 21 min
AI Systems in Real Life with CEO Katie Blouin
Katie Blouin built an inventory system to keep small businesses from drowning in spreadsheets. Then she pointed that same systems thinking at her own kitchen table and built a chief of staff agent that reads school newsletters, tracks groceries, and makes sure her kids never miss crazy hat day. Sarah sits down with Katie Blouin, CEO and co-founder of Larken and founder of KLB Advisory, to talk about what happens when a founder's business systems meet a household of three kids. Katie walks through how she built her household AI agent using Claude and MCP connectors, why she still keeps…
S2 · E22 · 24 Jul 2026 · 18 min
De-Stress Your Nest with AI and Project Manager Hannah Morgan
Most families have a project manager, they just never got the job title or the paycheck. This week, Hannah Morgan, founder and CEO of Heron House Management, joins the show to talk about the mental load, where AI genuinely helps carry it, and where the real relief still has to come from people, not tools. Hannah shares how she built the first virtual house management service designed to sit between a family assistant and a full time house manager, why she is known as the pit bull of project management, and what it actually looks like when a family outsources the anticipating and planning,…
S2 · E21 · 17 Jul 2026 · 18 min
What AI Can't Do For Your Family with Danielle Matarasso, MBA
What happens when the thing you built to save you time still needs you to catch its mistakes? Danielle Matarasso found out the hard way, over a school lunch order. Host Sarah Dooley sits down with Danielle Matarasso , founder of Numeriq Advisors and writer of the newsletter AI After Carpool, to talk about the day AI ordered her son a cookie instead of lunch. It starts as a funny mix-up and turns into a real conversation about where AI can lighten the load for parents and caregivers, and where it still needs a parent's judgment. Danielle and Sarah talk about the pull that led Danielle to…
S2 · E20 · 26 Jun 2026 · 18 min
It's Not You (Your Priorities Are Just Misaligned) with Exec Courtney Cecil
There is a particular kind of exhaustion that comes from doing everything and still feeling like it is never enough. In this episode, host Sarah Dooley sits down with Courtney Cecil, founder of Working Moms Movement and host of The Life Management System podcast, to talk about why so much of the friction in family life traces back to one quiet question: what do you actually value? Courtney brings an industrial and systems engineering background to the parts of life that feel heaviest. She walks through her Three W's framework, what you value, what you prioritize, and what you spend, and…
S2 · E19 · 12 Jun 2026 · 19 min
Your Sunday Night Scaries, Solved, with Executive Coach Melissa Regan
Sunday evening used to mean a couple of hours of planning for Melissa Regan : cookbooks spread across the counter, kids' schedules stacked up, a running list of things to figure out before Monday arrived. Now that same setup takes a fraction of the time, and the hours she reclaims go straight back to her family. Melissa is an executive coach and consultant who works with leaders and sales teams on operations, communication, and business growth. She is also raising three boys at home, managing a household largely on her own during the weeks her husband travels for work. She did not come to AI…
S2 · E18 · 5 Jun 2026 · 29 min
AI as a Second Mom Brain with Hone Founder Toni Toomey
AI might already be helping you with meals, trips, reminders here and there. But what if it could do more? What if AI could hold the whole context of your life, your family's food restrictions, your career goals, your startup pitch, even your partner's job search, so you don't have to carry it all in your head? Toni Toomey is the founder of Hone , a premium postpartum apparel brand launching this September, and a full-time healthtech professional at Virgo. She recently relocated cross-country from North Idaho to San Diego with her toddler daughter, and she uses AI as her second brain across…
S2 · E17 · 29 May 2026 · 27 min
The Mom Guilt Equation (And How to Solve It) with Podcast Host JoAnn Crohn
Have you ever thought about where "mom guilt" actually comes from? JoAnn Crohn, founder of No Guilt Mom, references Dr. Jennifer Reid's "guilt equation" to help decode it: your expectations of what a good mom looks like, minus what you are actually able to do on any given day, and that gap is where your guilt lives. The fix is not to do more. It is to look carefully at where those expectations came from in the first place. JoAnn is the host of the No Guilt Mom podcast, author of The Best Mom is a Happy Mom, a former fifth grade teacher, a recovered entertainment industry assistant, and a…
S2 · E16 · 15 May 2026 · 25 min
Can AI Write Your Resume? with 3X Certified Resume Writer Emily Kapit
If you've ever stared at your resume and thought "wasn't AI supposed to be able to help me with this?" -- this episode is for you. Career strategist, career resilience expert, and triple certified master resume writer Emily Kapit of Refresh Your Step joins host Sarah Dooley to talk through the real dos and don'ts of using AI for your career documents. Emily and her team work with clients through The Kapitalize Process , a methodology covering everything from written career assets to interview strategies and negotiation tactics (and she has strong opinions about where AI belongs in that…
S2 · E15 · 8 May 2026 · 19 min
My 5 Best AI Hacks for Moms Carrying the Mental Load
Mother's Day is one of those days that arrives with a lot of assumptions. Before we get into anything else: however today is landing for you, you belong here. This episode is a gift from host Sarah Dooley to all the parents and caregivers out there carrying a mental load. Five AI habits. Real use. No tech background required. Just the things Sarah has been doing for a long time that have genuinely made a difference, shared in plain language with the hope that at least one of them makes your life a little lighter too. In this episode: A real Mother's Day acknowledgment before anything else…
S2 · E14 · 1 May 2026 · 28 min
How to Write a Book in 90 Days with Author Wanjiku Kamau
What happens when a Google Cloud layoff becomes the push you needed to finally write your book? Wanjiku Kamau did exactly that, and she did it in 90 days, with AI helping her find her voice every step of the way. Wanjiku is a tech veteran, fractional COO, AI consultant, and now a published author. Her book, "Out of the Loop, Into the Algorithm: How I Finally Made Friends with AI," came out of one of the hardest years of her life and one of the most clarifying ones, too. In this conversation, Wanjiku and Sarah break down what it actually takes to self-publish, why shame is one of the biggest…
S2 · E13 · 24 Apr 2026 · 13 min
AI vs. the Kids Activity Chaos with JustLiv Founder Nicole Hamlin
Every summer, the spreadsheets come out. Color-coded, multi-tab, shared-by-text-message calendars that somehow still miss a school closure or a registration deadline. This week on , host Sarah Dooley sits down with Nicole Hamlin , the Austin-based founder of JustLiv, a platform built to take kids' activity scheduling off the list of things parents have to manage manually. Nicole spent 17 years in IT services before founding JustLiv after hitting a wall planning her daughter Olivia's first summer outside of full-time daycare. She discovered that while plenty of directories existed, nothing…
S2 · E12 · 10 Apr 2026 · 26 min
AI, Marriage, and Family Dynamics with Therapist Catia Holm
People are forming romantic relationships with AI. A licensedtherapist is watching it happen in real sessions, with real clients. In this episode, Sarah sits down with Catia Hernandez Holm,licensed marriage and family therapist, conscious parenting coach, TEDx speaker, and founder of Bright Light Marriage and Family Therapy in Wimberley, Texas. Catia works with individuals, couples, and families every week, and AIis showing up in the room in ways that are layered, nuanced, and increasingly common. They talk about what healthy AI use actually looks like, whyhuman relationships are supposed to…
S2 · E11 · 3 Apr 2026 · 24 min
How To Use AI For Your Job Search with Career Coach Kate Crane
If you have ever applied for a job and heard nothing back,there is a good chance AI screened you out before any human saw your name. In this episode, Sarah sits down with Kate Crane, founder ofDirection Over Perfection and a former people leader at DoorDash, Flock Safety, and OpenTable. Kate has spent 10 years in tech hiring and managing teams, andnow coaches job seekers at every stage of their careers. She breaks down exactly what has changed in the hiring process, what you can do to work with it, and why human connection still wins in the end. Whether you are in a search yourself,…
S2 · E10 · 27 Mar 2026 · 14 min
5 Things Every Parent Needs To Know For National AI Literacy Day
It is National AI Literacy Day. And this morning, before host Sarah Dooley had even sat down with her coffee, her daughters were already practicing it at the breakfast table. In this solo episode, Sarah shares the five things she wants every parent and caregiver to know about AI in 2026. No guests. No interview Just a real, honest conversation about where families actually stand right now. Whether you feel behind, overwhelmed, or like AI keeps arriving before you had a chance to prepare, this episode is for you. The 5 things every parent should know about AI in 2026: AI is already in your…
S2 · E9 · 20 Mar 2026 · 21 min
Self-Care Without Shame with Peacock Parent Founder Christine Landis
What if the real problem isn't that you don't have time for yourself, but that you've never been given permission to want it? This week, host Sarah Dooley sits down with Christine Landis , creator of Peacock Parent and Proxy, for one of the most honest conversations the podcast has had about self-care, mental load, and what your time is actually worth. Christine is a founder, a parent, a partner, and a self-described recovering workaholic who sold her fintech company, stopped, got quiet for the first time in years, and built something entirely new from that experience. What came out of it is…
S2 · E8 · 13 Mar 2026 · 24 min
AI Fails and Fun Abroad: Traveling with AI and Dr. Caitlin Sutton
What happens when three adult sisters and their dad pack up their AI tools and head to Ireland to trace their roots? Spoiler: some of it is magical, some of it is genuinely terrifying, and all of it is honest. In this episode, host Sarah Dooley sits down with her sister, Dr. Caitlin Sutton, for one of the most personal and laugh-out-loud conversations the podcast has had. Caitlin is an obstetric, pediatric, and maternal fetal anesthesiologist who shows up for some of the most intense moments in families' lives. She is also a self-described non-planner who does not enjoy travel logistics and…
S2 · E7 · 6 Mar 2026 · 28 min
"I Just Got Copilot... Now What?" with AI Expert Roger Campbell II
So you have Copilot at work. But you are just not sure what to actually do with it... In this episode, Sarah sits down with Roger Campbell II, founder of Gemstack and the AI Business Foundry and one of the country's leading Microsoft Copilot adoption experts. Roger has a background that spans software engineering, coding bootcamps, and enterprise education. He spent years teaching others how to code and now helps teams and organizations actually use the AI tools they are already paying for. The conversation starts with pickleball and ends with a parenting insight neither of them expected. In…
S2 · E6 · 27 Feb 2026 · 23 min
What This AI Moment Actually Means for Your Family with Greg and Danielle Neufeld
Something big is happening right now in the world of AI, in the words of entrepreneur Matt Shumer. And if you've had that low-level hum of "I should probably be paying more attention to this," you're not alone. In this episode, host Sarah Dooley is joined by Greg and Danielle Neufeld , co-hosts of The Most Important Thing podcast and partners in life, parenting, and business. They're venture capital investors, parents of three young children, and two of the most thoughtful people I know when it comes to building intentional family culture. We had one of those conversations that felt like it…
S2 · E5 · 20 Feb 2026 · 28 min
Setting Boundaries is Love with Dr. Julie Fernandes
When was the last time someone asked what your favorite ice cream is and you actually knew the answer? In this episode, host Sarah Dooley sits down with Dr. Julie Fernandes , an occupational therapist, coach, and mom of three, to talk about what it really means to restore yourself after years of pouring into everyone else. Julie brings her OT lens to family life in the most grounding way. We talk about why your home environment shapes your mental state more than you realize, how boundaries are actually an expression of love rather than control, and why setting clear expectations for your…
S2 · E4 · 13 Feb 2026 · 30 min
AI is my Galentine with HBR and WSJ Contributor Alexandra Samuel
What if the relationship that helps you navigate parenting isn’t with another person, but with AI? In this Galentine’s Day special episode, Sarah Dooley sits down with Alexandra Samuel ,AI and workplace speaker, Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review contributor, and host of the Me + Viv podcast, to explore what it really means to build a relationship with AI. Alexandra shares her journey through what she calls “extra large parenting” as the mother of an autistic son, and how AI went from being a productivity tool to becoming Viv, her AI coach and companion. From creating…
S2 · E3 · 6 Feb 2026 · 22 min
Trust Me Mom with Podcast Host Ekaterina Konovalova
"I ended up in the hospital." Ekaterina Konovalova was spending $2,000 a month on tutors and therapists, driving her daughter to appointments five days a week, trying to be the perfect wife who cooks fresh meals and keeps a spotless house. She was managing her career, her family, and her household until she collapsed. A severe migraine. Dehydration. The hospital. That's when she and her husband made a decision: pack up, leave Austin, move to Pittsburgh for a free dyslexia school that's one of the best in the nation. By third grade, her daughter was reading at sixth grade level. This…
S2 · E2 · 30 Jan 2026 · 27 min
Bridging Cultures with AI and Aligna Founder Reddhi Patel
Reddhi Patel is a cultural architect in her bi-cultural family. She's not just planning celebrations or explaining traditions. She's translating between two worlds, bridging cultures, and carrying what she calls "the beauty and burden" of this invisible work. In this conversation, Reddhi shares the ice hockey metaphor that explains her mental load: while her partner scores the goals, she's "actively assisting from every place in the ice hockey rink" to keep household operations running. She talks about COVID, when she was nine months pregnant, her team was laid off, and her mother-in-law…
S2 · E1 · 25 Jan 2026 · 23 min
Stepfamily Solutions with AI and CEO Cameron Normand
Stepfamilies navigate a level of emotional, cognitive, and logistical complexity that most parenting advice was never designed to address. In this episode of the AI-Empowered Mom podcast, Sarah Dooley is joined by Cameron Normand , CEO of Stepfamily Solutions and host of The Stepmom Diaries podcast, for an honest, research-based conversation about what stepfamilies really need to thrive. Cameron shares her personal journey as a stepmom, why stepmothers often carry a heavier mental and emotional load, and how unclear roles, high conflict dynamics, and unrealistic expectations can lead to…

About AI-Empowered Mom

AI-Empowered Mom is a English kids & family podcast from Sarah Dooley. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Sarah Dooley
Language: English
Category: Kids & Family
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 24 min
Latest episode: 9 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1814450451
Rights: Sarah Dooley

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