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, quartered goals. It’s a warm, real start to 2026 that blends creative work, parenting, and personal mental health practices without pretending any of it is neat.

We dig into why the podcast exists at all—born late in the COVID era as a way to rebuild local connection—and how an “outlet” became a purpose. Claire shares how she protects her creative zone from email rabbit holes, why therapy, lifting, and winter walks are non-negotiables, and how she balances a Type B plus brain with the structure needed to ship consistently. The theme that ties it together is simple and honest: fear rarely disappears, so we name it, and we move anyway.

You’ll hear a small family story with big meaning, a framework for setting annual themes and quarterly priorities, and the difference between white-knuckling through survival and choosing courageous action with intention. If 2025 felt heavy for your work, your family, or your wallet, this conversation offers a kinder blueprint for 2026: protect one health rhythm, block time for creation, fence admin into tight windows, and plan the quarter. No perfection, just momentum.

If you’re craving a more grounded way to step into 2026—one that makes room for fear and forward motion—this conversation will meet you right where you are.

Follow along with me beyond the episode 🎧📖✨ for things to do in Maryland, local favorites, and life in between 💛

📸 Instagram: the.columbiamom

✍️ Blog: thecolumbiamdmom.com/blog

📘 Facebook: Facebook

💼 LinkedIn: Claire Duarte

📌 Pinterest: The Columbia MD Mom

🎥 YouTube: @TheColumbiaMDMom

Chapters

• 0:00 Dusting Off The Mic
• 0:46 Why The Podcast Exists
• 2:09 From Outlet To Purpose
• 4:52 Goals Over Resolutions
• 7:35 Protecting Creative Energy
• 8:28 Feel The Fear, Do It Anyway
• 9:39 Type B Plus Structure
• 14:50 Quartered Goals For 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Hey friends, and welcome to Mom Talk Maryland. I'm your host, Claire Duarte, founder of the Columbia Mom. And this is your spot for real conversations, local love, and a whole lot of community. Whether you're folding laundry, running errands, or hiding in your car for some peace and quiet, let's dive in. Alright. Well, look, if there's one thing I know about doing this podcast, is that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, and it always does. You would believe a number of times that I've already tried recording or that I had sat down and started recording the cameras and then realized I hadn't hit record on audio. Looks like we are all systems go. Let's pray it stays that way. And this is what happens when it's my first episode of 2026. Um feel a bit rusty, I won't lie. Um I don't think I had recorded in December, really. Um December's crazy because it's our gift of ways and there is so much happening, and it's even crazier to me to think that this time last year the idea of a podcast was so far-fetched. I loved the idea of it, but conceptually, but doing it was a whole nother. And um, you know, we ended up launching the end of May, and in 2025, we've produced over 30 episodes, which is wild to me. Um so I thought today I would just do kind of like a short, sweet, like, let me reintroduce myself kind of thing. Um, because, you know, I feel like I'm coming into my fourth year in the business with the Columbia Mom, and um it's just been a wild ride, and I feel like who I was then, who I am now, um has changed and evolved so much over the years, as we all would, right? Um so uh let me just start off by saying hi. My name's Claire, owner and founder of the Columbia Mom, your host of Mom Talk Maryland. And um when I started the Columbia Mom, it was coming from a place in my life. Um obviously it was 2022, so I wouldn't say height of COVID, but kind of towards the tail end of COVID. And the way that I kind of conceptualize it now is that I was coming from a place of like wanting more, wanting more because I was feeling less, right? And as someone that is a self-proclaimed extrovert, um, and I love to go out and try things and do things, you know, being stuck in my home was obviously terrible for my mental health. That's where a large part of my mental health journey started, um, which has been tremendous for me. Um, but the Columbian mom was born at a season in my life where yes, I needed an outlet, but it was so much more than that. Like, if I just needed an outlet, I don't think I would have pursued it as heavily as I did because, you know, therapy is an outlet for me. Uh working out is an outlet for me. Um, so is journaling and things like that. And those all serve their own purpose, but the the, I don't know, the energy that I've channeled into building the Columbia Mom has been very different. And I think I just saw that there is a potential to create something that I didn't see existed. And let me just first say this too. There are no entrepreneurs in my family. Um, well, not that I know of directly. Um, you know, a lot my mom is a 40 plus year career woman, 40, 45 years. That's it's crazy. Um and um, you know, I admire all the work that my parents have done. Um, but there hasn't been like a a massive line of like, you know, these people in my family or my life that have started their own business. And so I'm saying all that to the point that like it's not like I always thought or had that courage or confidence within me. I would say it's just something I've sort of stumbled into and like pair like built my parachute on the way down kind of thing. Um they say, you know, feel the fear and do it anyways. And you know, I think a lot of people see me and assume that, oh, like you're so confident, you have it all figured out, blah, blah, blah. Um, yeah, and the truth is underneath the surface, like I I oftentimes I feel like a crazy mess, you know. Um, I I I feel like I'm two sides of the coin. I feel like I'm super confident and and know who I am, um, and then equal sides can feel just as unconfident about my abilities and things like that. And that's just that's where the therapy piece comes in, right? Um so and I feel like that's a big metaphor for my life and for everything I do with the Columbia mom. Um and so, you know, kind of circling back to why we're here, the podcast, my vision for 2026. Like, I feel like those are such wishy-washy words, and I feel like it kind of feels like sometimes a little yuck. But I made a post the other day about saying I was like, I don't do resolutions, but I do do goals. I do do vision setting or vision boards. I said vision setting, goal setting, vision boards, um, you know, manifestations, um, affirmations, um, therapy. Like that's still a regular part of my life. Um, working out, training, I do that a minimum three times a week. Um, you know, those are all big, very important things to me. Um, I also really enjoy going for walks. Obviously, the winter weather makes that challenging, but you know, it helps me for grounding, it helps me in taking pauses. Granted, I'm not always great about, you know, it's not gonna happen necessarily every day. I love getting it for the sake of like, yes, it helps me get my steps up. It also helps me, you know, especially after I had a heavy lift. If I I know that if I get more steps in, my body won't feel as sore the next day. Does help me get clarity. Um, but you know, in the same mode um as I'm very type B, but when I'm working hard to channel that type A activity, I sometimes just try to laser focus because again, as a mom, I feel like I only have so much time. And if I only have like an hour to pick up, like I don't have time to have the most balanced life. I just gotta like cram in and let's go, let's punch it, right? Um, but yeah, so um welcome to just the absolute streamline of consciousness that is my brain because I'm dumping all over the place. So today is very much that. Today is we are coming in, we are dusting off the cobwebs. Um, I mean, that's certainly what I was doing yesterday on my laptop. I was like, I am proclaiming that yesterday was uh National Circle Back Day, the first Monday of the new year, right? And um, you know, I told a friend I did, I na usually would jump in and go to my email and like let's let's clear through a lot of this. And I did send some emails, but I realized I can get very um sometimes stuck in email, not just like stuck like replying, but like sometimes I'm like, oh my god, I need to think through that answer, or it triggers like different like steps that I have to do. And the multi-step can sometimes freeze me. And I was like, I need to stay in my creative zone. Um, I just felt this pull. And so um I sort of avoided my email yesterday, which is funny because now that's my today's to-do list, and I gotta do a little bit more of that administratively. But I I paid attention to that creative need, and I ended up creating um a good amount of content for both my page and for um, you know, the Young Professionals Network. I'm on the marketing committee there and was just drafting a bunch of things and helping prep for the week. And um, and I I felt so good, and it felt really productive because, at least for me, obviously, as social media-based business, that's kind of the lifebread and um the heartbeat of what I do is creating content and specifically Instagram, you know, and I also spent some time planning out some blog content and oh my gosh, I was just, you know, a lot of times I'm going where the wind will take me, and for better, for worse, right? Um, but yeah, so today yesterday felt like a really productive day. Um, you know, now kind of feels like the the the week is starting to take off a little bit. And so, um, but I knew I wanted to get back in studio, I knew I wanted to hit record, and I don't know, I don't have any special life lessons, and I don't have any magical words of wisdoms other than, you know, just to be like, hey, like I'm here, I'm here with you, I see you, you know, we're in the thick of winter, here's the new year, here's to dusting off the cobwebs, here's to getting started, here's to feeling the fear and doing it anyway, and whatever thing that looks like to you. And you know, like I'll give you this quick little story. Brooke um is about to lose her two front teeth, which is like oh a whole nother thing, right? And the one of them, I think it's the left one, is like super wiggly, and my husband's a dentist, and um, and he's pulled two of them before, um, or several of them. Anyways, whatever. Um, because there was one that I think Brooke got out by herself, whatever. Um, and she was saying, I'm scared, and I was like, Yeah, but like you've like she's lost several teeth before. And I was like, Yeah, but I was like, it's okay to be scared. Like, you're gonna be scared, like the fear doesn't go away. And I was kind of just trying to channel that energy to her. I mean, she's seven, right? You know, um, and she's not all that afraid of shots. She's lost teeth before, she's not really all that afraid of it. She was like, Yeah, but like when I got last time, you know, I had a little tear in my eye. And I was like, that's okay. And I was like, the truth is, honey, I was like, the fear is not necessarily gonna go away. The fear is always gonna be there, you know? And it in life, it's not about making the fear go away, it's about feeling the fear and doing it anyways, and pushing through. And I think there's a difference here's what I mean by pushing through. There's one thing to white knuckle and push through, and I'm like, there's a time and a place for that. Sometimes that's just all we have to do because that's our survival mechanism. And then there's sometimes of just like I I feel so effing scared, and and I'm gonna jump my heart's rate racing out of my chest, but I know I have to do this, I know I need to do this, I should do this, blah blah blah. Um, and it's scary, it's scary as hell, right? Um and and I know my daughter was feeling scared because she's you know, she's thinking about how it's gonna feel and blah blah blah, and fearing that moment. And you know, in that moment for her, I was trying to and so no, we didn't end up she didn't end up pulling her tooth last night, and I was like, that's okay when you're ready. You know what I mean? Um so maybe that those are those are our little wisdoms today, those are our little pearls of feeling the fear, doing it anyway. Um, it's okay to start when you're ready, you know, not on somebody else's timeline. Doesn't need to be January 1st, January 5th, the Monday. I mean, I know I was making a joke of like the new year doesn't start until 9 01 on on uh Monday morning, which is like kind of true. Um but you know, I I think those things can can both exist. And like I said, and shaking off the cobwebs, like I know the new year can bring about a lot of like personal goal setting and resolutions and wanting to be healthy and blah, blah, blah. And we kind of start to have this black and white thinking. And um, I'm really glad that I spent a lot of time kind of getting rid of that for myself because you know, it allows me to have a little bit more flexibility in my own thinking and and how I see myself and how I go move through the world. Like I, you know, so when I think about like, you know, working out and going to the gym, like that's just a non-negotiable for me. It's just what I do, right? Um, much like, you know, showing up to work and sitting down and creating content and things like that. Granted, there's plenty of other areas that I need to force myself to sit through because I'm less apt at, you know, administrative things like the finance and the and the sales like side that you know, that's a whole different part of my brain that I do have to force myself to work through. And that that is harder, that's more challenging for me. Um but yeah, those those are my little two cents for you. And you know, today we're gonna keep it short and sweet because I just wanted to pop in to say hi. I'm excited for 2026. I love even years. That's what I'll definitely say. I love an even year. Um 2022 is when I started the Columbia Mom. Um, so I like that. Um, and and four is my lucky number, and I'm coming into my fourth year of business. Wow, I didn't think about that till now. That's kind of cool. That's kind of powerful. I have no idea what 2026 will bring. I do know that 2025 was a hard year in business, in the economy, in just many areas, and um personally, professionally, a lot of people were feeling it. And, you know, so 2026, people ask me, like, and I said it was like, I know what my big goals are for this year, but I admittedly I do have to think in quarters because, you know, yeah, I have those big goals, but then I need to break it down into more actionable steps because otherwise, like, what am I gonna, you know, how am I gonna reach that big thing, you know? And I do a lot better when I have some more digestible things that I can slowly work on, you know, day by day, week by week, and because I do need those reminders, because Lord knows I have a little flea brain and I'll forget, um, or I'll spend too much time creating and too much time in the creative zone and not enough time on the other side of balancing out with doing some administrative things. So um I need my own fences. That's why I say I'm a type B plus because I absolutely need the control I need the controlled chaos to feel like I have the freedom to make decisions and the flexibility to move around the cabin. But I absolutely need the spreadsheets, I need the structure, I need the organization, even if I don't always give it to myself. Um, I do try. I do try for sure. I'm the kind of person that when you come to my house, everything does look very clean because I need it to be that way. But if you open up like my drawer, it might look a little crazy, but it's out of sight, out of mind, and doesn't mean that like there are things are mostly folded in there. It's not complete chaos. Um so, anyways, that's a little peek into my brain. I know like some people are I wouldn't say surprised to hear that I'm I think they assume that I'm super type A. And I know that I give off that energy a lot because I aspire to be and I want to be, and I can be, just not all the time, because it exhausts the crap out of me. So my hat's off to you to all you type A folk that have hit the year running. I'm you know, I'm jogging shortly behind you. And on that note, I'm gonna sign off because I'm gonna go grab some lunch with a friend to catch up and keep working. Um, but here's to 2026, here's to new goals, here's to new visions, and here to jump, you know, jumping in feet first, feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Mom Talk Maryland. If you loved it, leave a review, share it with a friend, or tag me at the dot ColumbiaMom on Instagram. I'd love to hear what you think. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss an episode. Until next time, keep showing up, keep supporting local, and keep being the incredible mom, woman, and human that you are.