Hi! Hello! Welcome!

I'm not the friend you want on speakerphone. No filter, full sarcasm, and zero interest in a polished intro (I tried recording one...felt awkward as hell, so we're skipping it).

Welcome to Open Book with Ash. In this first episode, I'm sharing why I started this podcast (hint: it involves everyone on the internet suddenly having the same grandma), what "Open Book" actually means...it's three things, and one of them might change how you think about your own life and what you can expect from me every other Thursday: real conversations, me in the thick of it with you, and stories that might just leave you feeling like it is time to loosen the grip and let some shit go.

We'll laugh. Hell, maybe even cry. But the goal is to connect.
I'm glad you're here!

Transcript

Speaker 0:00

Whatever season of life you're in, whatever chapter of your story, maybe it's the chapter where your kid's heading off to college, or the one where you're trying to find yourself again as a mom, the one where you're trying to improve your marriage, or just stop being an all-around asshole to yourself about your body or the person that you are. Gosh, we're so hard on ourselves. Am I right, ladies? Either way, it doesn't matter where you're at, because this podcast is for you. Welcome. This is Open Book with Ash, a podcast where we're gonna get into the stories we tell ourselves, whether it's about marriage, motherhood, body image, the weird shit our brain does at 2 a.m. And let's be honest, it's probably gonna be a little all over the place, kind of like my brain, but it's always gonna land somewhere with purpose. My name is Ashley Molitor, your host. I'm a mom of two, a wife, and a life coach for the ladies, and I've been in all of this stuff. In fact, I'm not coming to you from some pedestal. I'm in it with you now, and I'm gonna help you navigate life with more ease and share all the ways that when this stuff comes up for me, what I do, the tools I use, how these stories have played out in my life and how they've played out in the lives of the women that I've coached. Some days it's just gonna be a random conversation about motherhood or something that happened in my life, maybe even a conversation between Aaron and I. But the whole goal here is that this is a storytelling podcast with a side dish of teaching. And I really just hope that when you listen, you either find some sort of nugget of wisdom in the conversation we're having, or you just leave feeling seen. My plan is to just show up imperfectly. I'm gonna take you along with me as I just figure shit out, including this freaking podcast thing. And I'm gonna share with you what I'm doing along the way. My goal is to come to you like every other Thursday. I'm definitely gonna be in this like cozy spot in my office. So if you ever catch a glimpse on video, it's my little cozy corner. I've got my blanket, I've got my pillow. This is just where I feel most comfortable chatting with you guys. The only thing I really want to share for this intro episode is why I chose a podcast and why I chose the name I did. So, first I'm gonna tell you why I chose a podcast. I don't know if you're feeling what I'm feeling, but social media has just been giving me like the ick lately, and it's feeling very inauthentic and like lacking connection. So I'm definitely looking for a way to connect with women on a different level that's not just in squares in one-minute stories, right? But I think the thing that really like was eye-opening for me and kind of naturally started this progression away from social media for me was this winter when I was scrolling and I saw this one reel, and it was the exact words on every person who posted it. My grandma told me about the chair theory, and then it went on to explain what the chair theory was. You guys, I'm all for taking a trend and making it your own. I'm all for sharing a quote and giving credit where credit is due. But there is no fucking way that 20 different accounts that I saw all have the same grandma. And if you do, she was really busy and good for her. But like, come on, where is the authenticity anymore? I'm craving it. You're probably craving it. So that's just one of my goals around here, which leads me into why the name Open Book with Ash. And it's three things. One, I'm an open book. Like some people would call me an overshare. There are definitely times I leave after meeting new people, and I'm like, why did I just say that? My husband often jokes with me that I say the quiet part out loud. So you can also expect that. The second thing is books have stories, and sharing our stories out loud is how we connect, it's how we feel seen and how we get to those, like, oh shit, that's me. Like she is going through the same thing as me. It's like common human experiences. And having that moment lets us know that we're a little less alone in life. And that's definitely one of my goals around here. And the third reason I picked Open Book with Ash, and this is the big one, this is one of my favorite things to talk about. Everything in our life that we have right now is created from stories. Again, whether it's related to our relationships, um, parenting, our own bodies, it's all created from stories. And the life you want is also created from stories. These stories can move us towards the shit we want, or it can keep us stuck. And most of us have never stopped to question where these stories come from. And sometimes just hearing a story out loud, whether it's my story or a story I've walked women through as a coach, it's exactly what you need to see where maybe you've got a story in your life that's similar and you get to decide is this working for me or is this something that's just been running the show for a little too long and I'm ready to let it go. Either way, every episode, whether it's 10 minutes or 30 minutes, is going to have some level of connection through story where hopefully you can see yourself. Maybe you're gonna leave and your face is gonna hurt from laughing. Maybe one day you'll tear up a little bit. I don't know. Some days you just might be like, oh my gosh, I feel so seen today. But either way, my hope is that you feel less alone and more like you can move through your day with ease, a little bit lighter, and even start to question some of the shit that you've been telling yourself or you've been holding on to that you've never even thought to question before. Something that I want you to think about as you listen to each episode, which hopefully is more than just this intro, is always take what feels good and leave what doesn't. I think that's one of the biggest things that we're struggling with having the internet at our fingertips is we think everything's for us. And just because you hear something or you see something doesn't necessarily mean it's for you, and that's okay. Either way, I am thankful you're here and I'm glad you're taking time out of your day to spend it with me and listen to this podcast. And I'll catch you on the next episode.