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In a world where AI is ever-present, information never stops, and external opinions flood our feeds, it’s easy to lose touch with the one voice that truly knows: your own.
Return to Intuition is a podcast for conscious leaders, working parents, creatives, and seekers who are ready to pause the noise and tune back in. Hosted by Erin McMahon—marketing executive, mother of two, and intuitive seeker—this show explores how reconnecting with your inner voice can transform the way you lead, parent, create, and live.
Each episode offers grounded insight, personal reflection, and meaningful conversations with founders, intuitive leaders, and thoughtful creators navigating growth, ambition, and soul-aligned choices in a fast-changing world.
Let’s face the future knowing our greatest guide is within—and talk to each other about how to use the world around us to build the best every day and an even better future.
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;27;20
Unknown
Hello, this is Erin with Seek the Magic. I have been podcasting in a little bit, so I think my last one was about getting in a routine and clearly I have not gotten into a routine with everything going on in the world. First of all, this is my recording after the presidential election, in which I was very excited for Kamala Harris to get elected.
00;00;27;20 - 00;00;51;25
Unknown
I bought Madam President Sweatshirt for me and my daughter, which I thought had said elect Madame President, and it just said Madame President. And once I got it, I was like, that's unfortunate because I don't want to wear that before the election. So anyway, the election didn't turn out as I had hoped, and that I hoped we would have a first female president.
00;00;52;00 - 00;01;27;09
Unknown
And, I have admired Kamala Harris for a while since she was district attorney in San Francisco. When I lived in San Francisco, I think I may have seen her once or twice in passing, but certainly she was not at the prominent level that she rose to very quickly. I am disappointed in the results of the election, because I was hoping for a compassionate administration that did not make it okay to say negative things about different groups of people.
00;01;27;09 - 00;02;20;16
Unknown
So I am disappointed that we have a president that condones hate. And I think because of the prominence of that in our culture, which I don't think is immune to either side. Both sides have hate at the moment that we still need to promote a culture of kindness and caring regard list, who is leading our country. So in the in the wake of the results that didn't go quite how I wanted them to, I was reminded that even though the leadership may not be exactly what we want, we still have to work together and that doesn't mean that my values are going to change in terms of promoting kindness, promoting care, appreciating people for
00;02;20;16 - 00;02;42;04
Unknown
the goodness that they have. And that that's really what I want to teach my kids. What I want to make sure I show my community, and it gets me a little bit emotional thinking about it just because, I don't want my kids and I don't think any kid should grow up in a world of hate.
00;02;42;04 - 00;03;09;26
Unknown
So, you know, regardless of what you think and what your politics are, I don't think that that should be the environment that we should set up for the current space and for the future. So, in this respect, I, I would say seeking the magic first and foremost is seeking the best in people. And, you know, the the true spirit in people and that that's the most important thing.
00;03;09;26 - 00;03;39;01
Unknown
And that's where we can find the magic is when we when we seek out those people and we connect with those people. And I think that's the most really the most important thing. And however you can do that and or the community can do that and connect with each other and share what you love and share what is exciting to you and connect with others who can share what's exciting for them too, and pursue the best.
00;03;39;01 - 00;04;08;08
Unknown
I think that is the most important thing to keep going, no matter what is happening or what other society expectations exist. It's interesting, I just went through, parent teacher conferences or not parent teacher conferences, but just like talking about the progress of one of my kids and he, the teacher goes, your son says, I think a lot instead of just it is or this is the way it is.
00;04;08;10 - 00;04;45;14
Unknown
And I said, okay. And as I'm doing this podcast now, I realize I say, I think a lot. So maybe my child is just copying what I say. But also the thought came to mind is that that's like a figure of speech. Is that okay that he says, I think in order to, and maybe that I say, I think in order to discuss that something or have a pause as my mind is processing or somebody's mind is processing, it's definitely a filler word when it comes to the way I'm saying it.
00;04;45;14 - 00;05;13;12
Unknown
But when a three year old is saying it, I wonder if it is him mentally processing how to answer and or inviting another person's opinion or thought, or is it really a speech impediment or, you know, something like that? I mean, I don't I don't think is a speech impediment necessarily, but I'm also not a therapist. So this will have to be investigated further.
00;05;13;14 - 00;05;43;20
Unknown
Currently we, have our kids go to a daycare that's very caring, and my child has moved up from a classroom that's 1 to 4 to 1 to 7, which is, you know, typical as they go from age 2 to 3. But I think it's been an adjustment for him and dealing with more people in the classroom and more responsibilities and investing in or understanding more processes.
00;05;43;22 - 00;06;26;18
Unknown
And, you know, the way things are done. And I take this moment to say, how important is it that a person, either a child or an adult is, you know, conforming to some certain societal expectation about how things are done versus how they want to do it? And some of this philosophy comes from listening to the whole Brain Child book by The Seagull, which I love, and I'm in the middle of right now, and part of it is parents leading children, as opposed to classroom setting in which it's it's not possible for the teacher to necessarily work on a one on where the child, but it is asking the child to lead and then and
00;06;26;18 - 00;07;05;11
Unknown
then guiding them. And I think at this moment, the teachers think that there's a gap in between the leading and asking my son to do things by himself in the way that they instruct. So, when I when I hear that, I understand that there there needs to be some things that are worked on. But in, you know, studying human development and also what makes people unique as they grow up, it is important to let them discover ways to do things by themselves and to not necessarily do things the prescribed way.
00;07;05;11 - 00;07;32;25
Unknown
So this is an interesting moment as a parent, because it's one of many choices that I'll have to make about how, you know, I help my child find their own way versus a, predicted way. And I, my child, is not always the best in following directions and doing things in a classroom setting according to how everybody else does them.
00;07;33;02 - 00;08;06;08
Unknown
And you know, how much of that do we want and how much of him doing his own thing do we want? I personally, as an adult, appreciate people who are, you know, doing things in a way that that makes them the most comfortable. But I obviously know that that is acceptable in some, some parts of society. And also, you know, other things you do, you need to do as the as society is expecting and that there's a gray area in between, you know, one and the other.
00;08;06;08 - 00;08;31;27
Unknown
And I don't necessarily want the expectations of public school industrial education to be placed and on my child and inhibit some of the things that will make him uniquely him and make him him his best self. But I also don't want to not guide him in a way that will not lead him to be able to engage in society.
00;08;32;00 - 00;09;03;16
Unknown
So this is all very rambling. And, if anybody has any suggestions about how to navigate this, especially starting at an early age with their kids, I'd love to hear, because I certainly know that I have a a unique, creative child who is very observant, is certainly shy, is sensitive to noises, likes to see what other people are doing, and may not, you know, know what to do when he's in a crowd of people.
00;09;03;16 - 00;09;25;25
Unknown
He wants to take in a lot of information, and quite honestly, he gets that from me and he gets that from his dad. I distinctly remember as a child, when I was in kindergarten or first grade, moved from new Jersey to England, and I remember the weather being crummy in England. And I absolutely just loved to read so much.
00;09;25;25 - 00;09;48;25
Unknown
And so I want to go to the library instead of the playground, which, you know, that especially in the 90s, was like, what? What are you doing? You need you need to be on the playground and, you know, engaging with other kids. And I just wanted to be inside and read. And I had friends that I still have all the way from 1991 to now.
00;09;48;25 - 00;10;12;14
Unknown
So it's not like I didn't have friends at the school, but, I wanted to read. So remembering that just, you know, pure desire of not necessarily shyness, although I was shy and later that that came out. But just like I'd rather do stuff by myself and I want that to be okay. So we'll be thinking about this for a while and also want to read the right things.
00;10;12;14 - 00;10;44;13
Unknown
And I know in the, spiritual community and in modern day, you know, psychology, there's tons of analysis and thoughts and opinions about how we should raise our kids. And gosh, the deluge that is just starting to come. But the most important thing is I want my children to lead their most fulfilled lives and be able to engage with other people and learn and discover new things and feel like they can be their best selves.
00;10;44;13 - 00;11;09;07
Unknown
And I sometimes that is going in the direction of what, you know, nurtures are saying. And then sometimes it is looking at what are the different options of how we're raising our kids and what what is the best one for us? Is it to let them be them, their best selves, even if that is different than the expectation of the norm?
00;11;09;07 - 00;11;32;06
Unknown
Or is it better for us to pull along and help them adjust? We had the beginning of this when my son started walking, or really delayed in his start of walking, which you know, is typically plus or minus a year. But I know based on a lot of the mom groups, I mean that kids definitely walk later than a year.
00;11;32;06 - 00;11;55;22
Unknown
And for Lucas, he was not interested in walking. He was just like, I'm crawling. I'm fine. You know, some of his classmates walked. Yes. But yeah, no one at home did see, you know. Well, his parents are walking, but no other children at home to see that they were, you know, walking as well. And he was just hesitant to walk independently without, you know, holding hands or anything like that, you know, like to hold on to things.
00;11;55;22 - 00;12;25;27
Unknown
So his personality from a very young age has been to be sure about things and assess the situation and fairly risk averse. So that is what I've observed with my second child, who is a little less than two years younger than Lucas. She is also did not walk by a year, but was seeing Lucas and so certainly wanted to walk, was practicing walking a lot and you know ultimately started a little bit earlier.
00;12;25;27 - 00;12;52;04
Unknown
Have read some things about how girls are sometimes faster to develop. Also have read and talk to other mothers about how second children generally and also pediatricians, it is said, you know, second children tend to develop faster because they see their older sibling doing something. And that certainly was the case for us. So TBD on whether slower development is a concern.
00;12;52;04 - 00;13;14;24
Unknown
And again, I, I don't want to push my son too much if he is developing in his own time. I don't want to push him too much to do things. He's not ready for it. But at the same time I, I, I want him to feel safe, to explore and feel safe to feel. And I want to create that environment at home, because that's the place where he's going to be the most comfortable.
00;13;14;24 - 00;13;50;26
Unknown
And then, you know, if he is not as comfortable in social environments, how how can we help him get there? So those are some of the things that I'm thinking about. And I know this sort of started with a what happened with the election and, you know, transition into, child development. But I think the thing that my currently something I say to my, to the through line is, number one, let's create, environments that people feel safe in and feel they can be their best selves and that, you know, I think that starts at home.
00;13;50;29 - 00;14;28;18
Unknown
And even if we don't see that in the public space from leaders, whether that be at work or in government or in classrooms, make sure that those examples are present. One thing that Kamala Harris said in her resignation or her final speech before she ended her campaign was, there's no way to see the light without the darkness. And that's important to remember that we can always show examples of light, and that's probably one of the most important things that we can do on the planet.
00;14;28;20 - 00;14;55;20
Unknown
And you know, every aspect of our lives. And it's not always easy. We won't always be able to do it. It's a muscle. It's an everyday thing. It's like going to the gym and it is not always easy to remember. But if we keep that consistent drumbeat, then it will help us lead our best lives and will also help our children lead their best lives.
00;14;55;20 - 00;15;16;05
Unknown
So let's figure out how we can show the light and also help our children show their light to. And that's the that's the seek the magic for today. Let's find ways to show the light and help others in our family, our community in the world to show their best light to. And I hope you can see the magic in your day to day.
00;15;16;07 - 00;15;16;28
Unknown
Thank you.