Ways we are people first, mothers also

Spring classifieds are here!! werk

A couple times a year I ask my paid subscribers if they work on something they’d like to promote. Today is one of those days when you learn more about why I say We are people who happen to be mothers. Check out just some of the things your fellow readers sell, write, do, are talented at, and believe in.

Below, loosely organized according to the type of services rendered, find something to buy, someone to hire, something to read, or a project you want to support. If you are not a paid subscriber (or missed the call to get into this issue) yet want to promote YOUR project/business/wares, go ahead and mention it in the comments. Don’t forget to include a link!

Finally, if you end up hiring a witch, moving some merch, or getting patronized because of this issue, please let me know! I love to hear about this network doing the damn thing.

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Witches who help writers

If you’re a writer-witch who wants to sweep the dust off your practice and make some progress on a draft, join me for a workshop! 6 weeks, online, starts April 26. I’m a longtime evil witch (and a new-ish mother) who understands the reality of constantly “getting back to writing.” Use the code EVILWITCHCRAFT666 for $75 off.

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I’m an editor, and I help individuals and organizations produce terrific writing. I offer a bunch of different editorial services, mostly geared toward academics and nonprofits. But I can also edit email newsletters, blog posts, promo copy, you name it. I’d love to work with other witches on their passion or professional projects!

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I’m a children’s book writer and editor. I work with clients like Chronicle Books and Storey Publishing, and I help writers turn their ideas into books. You can learn more about manuscript critiques and creative coaching at my website. I would love to work with you at any stage of the writing process. I also write about creativity and motherhood and host 4,000 Ideas: The Oliver Burkeman Book Club for Creatives at my Substack Nebula Notebook.

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Write that non-fiction book you always wanted to with a ghostwriter! Whether you’re a thought leader with a bold message or a first-time author with an idea that won’t quit, I’m here to help you bring your book to life. I’ve developed a proven, collaborative process that removes the stress and guesswork so you can focus on what you know best while I shape it into a compelling, publish-ready book. I’ve worked with real estate and finance professionals, nutrition and life coaches, entrepreneurs and lawyers, and cybersecurity and marketing experts. Let’s make it happen for you, too.

Witches here to help/entertain your kids

We are The Northshore Math Team. We tutor K-12 math content in a joy-filled and enthusiastic way. We both have over 15 years of teaching and tutoring experience and are well-versed in all of the math curricula out there. We support your child when they need extra support, and we give your child enrichment when they need a challenge. We meet with students over Zoom (yes, non-local too), in person in your house, or at an Evanston/Wilmette area public library. We offer 50- and 30-minute sessions and summer intensives as well as 1-1 or group sessions (if you know a group of kids at the same level as your child, save some money and book a small group session). We are amazing at building relationships and making math fun and interesting, all while filling in learning gaps and building confidence and stamina. GO MATH!

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I have a new picture book out! (Fairy Walk, from Candlewick Press) and am booking in-person and virtual school visits for the summer and next school year! I love talking to grown ups about books too:) Also sending the occasional newsletter through Substack should anyone like to keep in touch...

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For music lovers with kids: I’m the Punk Scientist, the audio witch offering relief from mind-numbing kid music. As a British-American mother, music curator, and podcast producer (I’ve worked with Louis Vuitton, Nike, Fred Again.., SZA etc.), I conjure all-ages playlists for fellow witches who’d rather gargle glass than hear that Pokemon theme one. more. time. My free zine delivers playlists so you don’t miss out on great music and culture, plus science-backed audio spells to make life with tiny chaos agents less evil. Subscribe at punkscientist.com and get the Record Store Day 2025 recap dropping soon, because motherhood deserves a (much) better soundtrack. Your kids will never thank you, but your soul (and sanity) will.

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Board books adapting verbatim Shakespeare into a story for babies and their parents! With gorgeous illustrations and a track record of being absolutely beloved of toddlers, Behowl the Moon and The Wild Waves Whist are a great gift for word-and-art-loving new parents. The brand-new witch who’s losing it because the meter in Giraffes Can’t Dance is messed up? Send her this. Available with free shipping from Jeff Bezos’s Mighty River of Commercepalooza and also direct, $10 each or $19 for the set.

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Want to raise a reader? Can we read? is your weekly guide to children’s books that supports and inspires you to create a culture of reading in your home. Let me save you time, energy, and guesswork in finding excellent books so you have more bandwidth for what really matters: reading together.

Witches To Hire

I untangle data knots and transform chaotic information into actual useful stuff people can do something with. Whether you’re a nonprofit trying to show funders your impact without selling your soul, a business leader wondering why your expensive “culture transformation” isn’t transforming anything, or a person who breaks out in hives when they hear the word “metrics” but still needs to prove your work matters, I’m your data witch. I’m offering 1:1 consultations to all readers for $150 (half off!). I will guide you through 90 minutes of strategy to help you begin the untangling process. Afterward, you’ll receive a report outlining what we discussed, clear next steps, and resources so you can make progress toward your goals with a data-informed strategy backing you up. Book here.

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Any witches work in Higher Ed? I am the Director of a Center for Teaching and Learning for an SLAC and am looking to expand my side gig of research, consulting, and paid workshops related to teaching and faculty experience. I can design and conduct focus groups, do quantitative or qualitative analysis, or lead workshops on pretty much anything related to teaching, like when/how to respond to current events in the classroom. Another popular one is about cheating as a social issue. I don’t like to talk about AI, but I will in exchange for money. I can also review teaching philosophy statements for people on the job market—lately I’m helping visitors at my institution figure out how to adapt “DEI” language in their statements in a way that feels honest and ethical. You can find me here, and I’d be happy to share examples of past work so you can get to know me better.

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I’m the founder of an all-woman PR agency called Quarter Horse. Like our namesake, we’re fast, grounded, and in it for the long haul with our clients. Our media relations and editorial content services help founders and mission-driven businesses share the stories that matter most to the real people on their donor lists, recruiting rosters, and investor registries. If you’ve got a story to tell, we’re here to make it run! Find me on Linkedin, or reach out directly: nicole@qh-pr.com

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Presentations shouldn’t be painful! I specialize in corporate training that transforms how teams communicate while also offering presentation design and public speaking coaching. Whether your team needs a workshop on better slide design, you need coaching for an upcoming presentation, or you want to outsource that pitch deck entirely, I’ll help you communicate with impact. Past clients range from startup founders to executives presenting to boards. Let me handle the training and visual storytelling while you focus on what matters. Check out my services here.

Witches Who Make Things You Can Buy

GREET AS YOU’VE NEVER GREETED BEFORE, with Edith’s Greeting Cards! Nice paper, cool designs, what more could you want!?

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Mimi offers heirloom-quality knit bundles for newborns up to 3 months. Ethically crafted in Brazil with intention and care, they are a wonderful gift to expecting parents. It’s truly a labor of love and took so much planning. I’m working with amazing artisans in Brazil and so proud of the results. (The idea has been brewing in my mind for 10 years, since I was first pregnant and was told over and over here in the US that I didn’t need to take special baby clothes to the hospital. I remember thinking “I waited decades to meet this baby that I’m spending 36 weeks making from scratch in my belly and you think I won’t be bothered to get some special clothes for when we finally meet?)”

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I am a graphic designer and if you need any design work please let me know BUT IN THE MEANTIME if you need a protest poster, I’m having my Oprah moment- you get a protest poster, you get a protest poster! Here is my “America is for... Every Religion, Every Culture, Every Color, Every Gender, Every Ability, EVERYONE!” poster. Download and paper your towns with it.

Witches to watch/listen to

Season 2 of CHICKS premieres today on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. Meg, our feminist garbanzo bean, is back for more fun - including pole dancing, hosting her own talk show, and rapping about her hangovers. @chicks_webseries on all platforms.

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Follow the Mother Of It All podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and subscribe on Substack for bonus content or to support our work with a paid subscription. Sarah Wheeler (of Momspreading!) and Miranda Rake are witches who created this podcast to fill in the gaps they saw in the motherhood conversation. A few reviewers have kindly said stuff like, “I always feel like I’m right in the conversation with these two smart, funny women. They manage to explore complex ideas and bring on guests that expand the discussion in ways I don’t expect. So much gets covered and uncovered, and I feel they speak directly to my experience. Consistently insightful and entertaining, it’s absolutely worth a listen!”

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I am a musician/writer/teacher, and my recently released third studio album, After the Light, was written through the bumpy transition into parenthood (birth trauma! covid trauma! Tr*mp trauma! what-happened-to-my-life-and-identity trauma!) with my first child and recorded while pregnant with my second. It is about the ambivalence of motherhood, despair and possibility, making space for rage while feeling impotent, and the joy that is only possible when grief is also welcomed. And it’s not preachy, I promise! You can stream the album on all the services (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Youtube Music, Tidal, and more!) and if you’re interested in an inside look at the recording process or getting your hands on a physical copy of the album, you can do that here. These can be really lonely feelings to sit with, so reach out to tell me how it lands and what you’re going through at rachel@rachelrynick.com

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This is Claire Z. again for a second—you can also hear me yap more about parenting etc. on the podcast Not Right Now.

Witches Building Community

I’m the PTA president at the only public school in the US to host a shelter onsite and the first Spanish-immersion school in San Francisco: Buena Vista Horace Mann K-8. In you live in San Francisco, come to Valencia between 23rd and 24th on Saturday, April 26, 12-5 p.m., and wander around drinking a beer or a cocktail, eating delicious food from home cooks, listening to live music and watching dance performances, and watch the lucha libre matches, with luchadores all the way from Mexico! There will be a big Kids’ Zone area with a live mural project, giant bubbles, rainbow bubble shooters, face painting, and an obstacle course, plus multiple raffles with cool stuff like fancy sunglasses and a big fancy chef’s knife.

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Jourdan Sales and I will host grief share and support events via Zoom. All calls will last an hour and a half, and registration is required. Please email ericareid@gmail.com and let me know which call(s) you would like to join. More info will be provided after registration.

Sunday, May 11th
Motherless Day Support
11am Pacific/ 1pm Central

Sunday, June 15th
Fatherless Day Support
11am Pacific/ 1pm Central

The calls are open to anyone who has lost, has a strained relationship with, or is estranged from a parent or is losing a parent due to a memory disease. These are free, but donations will be accepted to help provide community care for those who don’t have the means.

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I’m an artist and writer looking to connect with more parents who are writing (or reading!) about living with chronic illness/disability, making art, and finding hope during late-stage capitalism. Give (Extra) Soft Animal a follow if you’re interested (it’s free!) and I’ll do the same!

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Imerman Angels is a wonderful nonprofit that helps support cancer patients and their families, friends and caregivers by connecting them to a community that has been through it, specifically through one-on-one support. It’s free & it’s personalized, “for cancer fighters, survivors, previvors and caregivers.”

Witches Here to Make You Feel Good

I’m an anti-diet, weight-inclusive personal stylist, and I write the newsletter unflatteringly. I love working with Witches who are sick of trying to follow stupid patriarchal fashion rules and just want to dress like their own version of themselves, not society’s or their mom’s. We can work together one-on-one to define your style, edit your closet, learn to shop mindfully, and I’ll be your personal shopper. I also go through the same content in my group program, Making Space, which will return in May. Check out my website, mindfulcloset.com, for more info about either.

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Virtual Pilates for Everybody! I’m Anne - an Occupational Therapist/Pilates Instructor offering virtual one on one Pilates sessions that are tailored for what ails ya. Got a bunion? Osteoporosis? Back pain? Brand new hip, knee or shoulder? All that at the same time (I hope not!!) None of that stuff? Cool! Let’s meet on Zoom and move through these challenging times. I create each session based on your specific needs and recommend exercises you can do on your own. Or not! No pressure. All you need is a yoga mat and the internet. Explain these mysteries to me when we meet and move. Hourly sessions are $75.00 or 3 for $200. Email me at: gillingham.pilates@gmail.com

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Are you tired of stressing about food, exercise, and the shape and size of your body? I help women heal their relationships with food and their bodies through 1:1 virtual coaching. As an occupational therapist turned certified intuitive eating counselor and freelance health and fitness journalist, I’ll meet you wherever you’re at so that you can spend less time worrying about being smaller and more time living the big life you were meant for. Learn more, book a free discovery call, or explore my free resources.

Witches who write things

Ya girl Businesslady is in the advice-giving game over on The Stopgap, with a new post appearing very soon. Send me work problems to puzzle through via verbosity at dearbusinesslady@gmail.com. I also have a book called Is This Working? that would be a great gift for any imminent college grads in your life (or anyone you know who’s looking to get more personal satisfaction from their career).

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Building Boys Bulletin - a weekly Substack newsletter all about boys—is NOT all about fear & everything that can go wrong. (Unlike a certain Netflix show...I’m talking ’bout you, Adolescence!) Written by a mom of 4 sons/decent humans, BBB is support, empowerment, & practical info.

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Happy on Purpose is a weekly newsletter packed with clever ideas and wise advice to infuse more joy, delight, and fun into everyday life. Featured in Cup of Jo, Culture Study, Emily Ley’s Substack, and more, each issue is filled with practical happiness strategies—from travel and parenting to marriage, midlife happiness, and friendship—plus carefully curated fashion, food, culture, and entertainment recommendations to make the most of your precious leisure time!

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Is it anxiety or intuition?! This was the question that propelled my new nonfiction book EVERYDAY INTUITION: What Psychology, Science, and Psychics Can Teach Us About Finding and Trusting Our Inner Voice. I write a Substack called Letters of Intuition where I answer readers’ vexing questions and profile everyday intuitive geniuses in our midst, and have developed a workshop to give women tools to answer the question for themselves. The book is out May 6, and if you preorder you go to heaven, it’s a fact.

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Witches dealing the oddness of life in Generation X, thinking about work and money and life and caregiving, should check out my Substack, The Whatever Years. Award-winning and free.

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My new book is The Last Parenting Book You’ll Ever Read: How We Let Our Kids Go And Embrace What’s Next. It’s aimed at parents with teens & young adults, and I know many of your kids are still a bit younger, but...it escalates quickly. The book comes out May 6, so pre-order now!

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A Wonderful Mess is a newsletter about navigating parenthood with humor, compassion, and common sense written by a mom, clinical psychologist, reader of books, and coffee lover. A Wonderful Mess is about parenthood—the state of being a parent and a lot less about parenting advice. And for any parent readers out there, a "how to read in parenthood" guide will be coming out in May.

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Provokedbysusan is a new site for women over 50 who aren’t done evolving–or being heard. We tell bold, voicey stories about love, purpose, aging, wellness, relationships, reinvention, and culture. Written by women, for women, everything we publish is driven by one core belief: our stories still matter. A writer, editor, and reinvention expert, I founded Provoked to push back on invisibility and rewrite the narrative—one hot, messy, meaningful story at a time. The comments get spicy. The questions get deep. And the community? Feisty. Subscribe. Share. Stir it up. Writers with heart, humor, and a fearless voice—especially over 50—reach out.

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I’m humor writer Julie Vick and I run the Substack Humor Me which focuses on funny stuff and writing tips. And if you (or someone you know) are a new or expecting introverted parent then check out my humorous advice book Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?)

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My newsletter Books are my Love Language reaches through the internet to press a book into your hands. Preference for stories (made up or real) that let me root for someone scrappy. A mix of fiction (most recently Little, by Edward Carey), nonfiction (next up is Eleanor and Hick: The Love Affair that Shaped a First Lady, by Susan Quinn), and the obligatory perimenopause round-up (I turn 44 in May). Occasional raves about public libraries. Come on over and tell me what you’re reading!

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Holly’s House of Stickers - free weekly newsletter about stickers. New post every Friday.

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Leave it to Leonor is a nearly nine-year old weekly newsletter - every Thursday, you’ll receive a curated newsletter of things to read, shows to watch, music and podcasts to listen to, places to go and other recommendations along with an essay on all sorts of topics.

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The Good Mother Myth uses memoir and research to unpack the shoddy science beneath our bad ideas about how to be a good mom. Catherine Newman calls it “enraging, validating, and in its own sharp way, deeply reassuring,” and Sara Petersen wrote that it "will validate you and set you free.” If you think your own ideas are mostly pretty great, but *being a mom* is kind of a scam, I think you’ll love it.

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Sue Dominus at the NYT mag has a book coming out called “The Family Dynamic: A Journey into the Mystery of Sibling Success” where she examines six families with multiple high-achieving kids to see what, if anything, they have in common. I promise it’s witchy!!! Not Tiger Mom; she likens it more to Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon. She boiled it down recently to parents giving kids a sense of their own possibility. She’s a masterful reporter and storyteller and a legit witch.

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End credits

One more thing to promote:

This newsletter, I realized the other day, is #17th in all parenting newsletters in Substack. I don’t know if you know this but I don’t market this newsletter very hard, for reasons that range between not wanting to piss people off who may find themselves in the wrong place to being lazy/busy/nervous.

So 17th place in all of Substack parentdom is pretty impressive for something I don’t advertise widely. I want to thank those of you who have spread the word, encouraged this project, ever said anything nice to me or about me, or even thought it.

If you feel like going farther and giving it a heart, or a recommend, or using this coupon that is still active til early May to become one of the paids, why not go for it? Today happens to be my birthday (for real) so if you want to say “Happy birthday ya big ol’ ball of bitch” here is a way to do that.

Of course, feel free to forward this issue to anyone looking to get some good recommendations/get inspired.

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One witchy thing

A January missive from the 7th grade moms’ group chat re: the science fair projects, which the kids started n August: