Momtalk Maryland
The go-to podcast for Maryland moms looking to stay connected, inspired, and in the know about everything happening in their community—from must-visit spots to real conversations on motherhood, business, and local life.
🔹 A mix of local insights, business spotlights, foodie finds, and honest mom-life convos
🔹 Fun, engaging, and community-driven, for moms — who love Maryland, parenting, and local businesses
🔹 Short, digestible episodes (20-40 mins) so busy moms can listen on-the-go
Episodes
48 episodes
Fresh at the Curb: Clean Bins Without the Effort
Your trash bin isn’t just “a little gross” it can be the dirtiest thing you touch all week. I’m sitting down with Josh Levy from MD Clean to talk about what really happens inside trash and recycling bins during a Maryland summer, why the smell ...
Columbia Community Care: The Heart Behind the Mission
A mile-long line for groceries can change how you see your own town. After COVID shut down schools, Erika watched fear ripple through students and families in Howard County, Maryland and she decided to act. What begins as a quick Facebook call ...
Massage Meets Community: The Tocar Spa Story
A brutal winter, nonstop school pivots, and the kind of stress that sneaks into your shoulders and never leaves, that’s where this conversation starts. Then it opens into something bigger: what it really takes to build a wellness business that ...
Why Not Me: Turning Hand Sanitizer into a Moment Just for You
An art degree. The Peace Corps. Tech sales. Google AI. Then a luxury refillable hand sanitizer brand designed for moms who want a tiny daily escape. Livia’s story is the kind of career pivot that makes you rethink what “qualified” even means an...
Type B Plus: Done Beats Perfect
Perfection is expensive and most moms are already paying too much. I’m Claire Duarte, founder of The Columbia Mom, and I’m pulling back the curtain on a personality mix I call “type B plus”: I’m go-with-the-flow at heart, I love a little sponta...
From Military Spouse To Pro Organizer: Building Tidy Milso And Systems That Stick
Ever feel like your home is working against you? We bring in Katherine of Tidy Milso to show how smart, simple systems can turn chaos into calm without chasing a Pinterest-perfect aesthetic. Her story begins during her husband’s basic training,...
Squeezed With Purpose: A Brand Rooted In Real Ingredients
What does it take to build a community-rooted juice bar without losing yourself along the way? We sit down with Petra, the force behind Fruitful, to trace a story that begins in a great-grandmother’s garden and grows into a Columbia spot known ...
Coffee as Daily Self-Care: 10 Minutes to Pause. Sip. Savor
What if your morning coffee did more than wake you up—what if it helped you feel grounded, steady, and clear? We sit with Toni, founder of Me Time Coffee and 20-year military veteran, to explore how a daily cup can become a true self-care ritua...
Diary of a Small Business Owner: Behind the Chaos & Creativity
Ever feel like your best-laid plans got buried under snow days and two-hour delays? Claire opens the door on a week where parenting, weather, and work collided, and uses that chaos as a real-world lens on creativity, marketing, and small busine...
Lightening the Load: Motherhood, Community, and Connection
Some loads don’t show up on a calendar, but they still weigh on our minds and our mornings. Claire gets real about the invisible load of motherhood and why the strongest way to carry it is together, not alone. From early days in Facebook mom gr...
Finding Our Way: A Mom’s Journey Through Therapy, School Choices, and a Breakthrough at Brain Balance
A tiny cap, a hallway of cheers, and a mom who couldn’t stop crying—this is the story behind 60 sessions that changed the way our son learns, focuses, and feels about himself. We walk you through the hard parts most parents don’t post about: th...
Reintroducing Claire: Goals, Grit, And Growth In 2026
New year energy doesn’t have to feel like a sprint. Claire opens the studio for a candid reset: a quick reintroduction, the origin story of Columbia Mom, and a practical path to growth that skips brittle resolutions in favor of steady, quartere...
Layers and Lessons: From Duck Duck Goose to Reinvention
What if the smartest move isn’t to push harder, but to taste and adjust? We sit down with Chef Ashish Alfred—known for Duck Duck Goose, his wellness advocacy, and recent turns on Bar Rescue—for a candid conversation about timing, reinvention, a...
From Wreaths To The Super Bowl: A Mom-Built Brand Finds Its Voice
What if hustle wasn’t a badge of burnout but a promise to show up with heart, speed, and boundaries? We sit down with our friend Monica Blakely of Passion for Ezra to trace an all‑too‑relatable path: from rolling ribbon on the floor to dressing...
Build Bone, Build Nerve, Build Self: The Real Case For Women’s Strength
A rainy parking lot, a few resistance bands, and a coach who chose education over ego—that’s where this story of sustainable strength begins. Claire sits down with Niko, owner of Odyssey Strength and Conditioning in Howard County, to unpack how...
Grant’s Leap: Brain Balance And Beyond
A quiet shift can change everything. When a child moves from scanning the room for cues to confidently telling his own story, you feel it at home, at school, and in your gut as a parent. We sit down with Beth Snow, director of Brain Balance in ...
Train For Your 95-Year-Old Self: Build The Life She’ll Thank You For
Ready to feel strong in the gym and steadier in life? Claire sits down with Lisa, a physical therapist and women’s health coach, to unpack how lifting changes everything—from your confidence and bone density to the way you recover from stress a...
Building With Grit and Grace: Turning Your Ideas Into Reality
What does it take to run a construction company with heart, clarity, and serious build quality—while raising a daughter and changing the face of a male-dominated industry? We invited Nina Orlando to pull back the curtain on her journey from her...
From Surviving To Thriving: How Parents Can Support Neurodiverse Growth
The hardest part of parenting a neurodiverse kid isn’t always the diagnosis; it’s the in-between—when your child “gets by,” but daily life still feels uphill. We invited Beth Snow, a lifelong educator and director at Brain Balance, to unpack a ...
Calm in the Chaos: Finding Clarity When Everything Feels Loud
What if the same playbook that steadies a press room could calm your kitchen at 6 p.m.? Claire sits down with Beth Levine—veteran Capitol Hill communicator turned Maryland mom—to unpack how crisis communications, audience research, and storycra...
Serving Our Veterans Through Music: A Tune for Every Tale
A silent room filled with veterans in wheelchairs, a first note from an old wartime song, and suddenly everything changes—eyes brighten, stories spill out, and the past feels close enough to touch. We sit down with Kassie from Voices of Vets to...
What’s Your Why?: Purpose-Built Coaching That Transforms Young Athletes
What if the missing piece in your child’s sports performance isn’t another drill, but a mindset shift? We sit down with Andrew Simpson, founder of Player's Fitness & Performance, to explore how small group coaching, intentional mentorship, ...
Empowered from the Core: Pelvic Health for Every Stage of Life
What if pregnancy wasn’t a moment to “bounce back” from, but a nine-month tissue trauma that deserves smart, athletic rehab? That single shift changes everything. We invited Katie from Rehab 2 Perform to unpack pelvic health with clarity and ze...
Beyond the Logo: Branding That Drives Action
Most sites look pretty until you ask them to do something. We sat down with Maria, a Maryland-born designer and agency owner with roots in art, photography, and action sports, to unpack how story-led branding and user-first websites turn browse...
The Power of Advocacy and Action: One Mom’s Breast Cancer Story
A clogged duct that wouldn’t clear. A waitlist that stretched into weeks. And a gut feeling that wouldn’t let go. When our friend Kelly—a 37-year-old mom of three and ER nurse—pressed for answers, the diagnosis came fast and loud: stage three, ...