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The Bad Mom Podcast is where raw parenting stories meet real solutions for raising resilient kids in today’s anxious, digital world. Hosted by humanitarian and Just Like My Child Foundation founder, Vivian Glyck, each episode blends unfiltered conversations, expert insights, and lived experiences to help parents swap guilt for grit—and discover how imperfect parenting can still support and encourage strong, thriving humans.
Hi. It's Vivian Glick, and welcome back to part two of my deeply personal conversation with Lisa Nichols. If you join us for part one, you know how powerful and emotional this dialogue has been As mothers, as women, as leaders, and as humans trying to raise the next generation while still healing ourselves. In this episode, Lisa takes us even deeper, giving us not just her story, but her step by step guidance on how to create safety, connection, and resilience with our kids and within ourselves. We talk about what emotional safety actually looks like, how to ask your child the one question that can transform your relationship, and how to start letting go lovingly so our kids can grow into who they are meant to be, not who we need them to be.
Vivian Glyck:So if you've ever thought, am I doing this right? This episode is for you. Let's dive back in. They say it's your fault, but the system is what's broken. This is the Bad Mom Podcast, Parenting the Anxious Generation.
Vivian Glyck:Real talk for parents fighting for their kids in a world built to break them, where we're left trying to parent the anxious generation with our hands tied behind our backs. Your kid isn't broken, they're under attack. Welcome to the Bad Mom Podcast, parenting the anxious generation with Vivian Glick. This is the resistance. So I wanna ask you this question about inside the the coursework of motivating teen spirit.
Vivian Glyck:You help teens just design a vision for their life that excites them. Right? Gotta have a dream. Gotta have the vision.
Lisa Nichols:Yeah. First, I help them identify how they feel. That's the first thing is how do you feel about this right now? I help them find the dot on the kiosk in the mall that says, you are here. I love that.
Lisa Nichols:Because in order to navigate to anywhere, any goal, any intention, we all have to identify our own unique dot. So the first thing we help them to see is that they're not a carbon copy version of anyone else. They have their own dot. So that's the first thing. And then we map what does that feel like and what do you want, and then we begin to go get it.
Vivian Glyck:I think that's so important because kids come from every kind of background. But like what you and I were just talking about is they are not the projection of what we want for them. Right? Yeah. And so like where are they?
Vivian Glyck:You know, what do they love? What do they want for their life? What's their vision for where they wanna go? That is just so important. What's one exercise or prompt parents could borrow and do at home even around the dinner table?
Vivian Glyck:And then maybe you could tell us like, one ritual. Because I agree with you. Rituals are so important, and we didn't even talk about the ravages of technology. But Yeah. We know that's what's underlying all of this.
Vivian Glyck:Yeah. How can we bring ritual back to the family so that just by being, we're grounding our family and our kids, and those things that we know we call on decades later to make us feel sane and in the world.
Lisa Nichols:Yeah. Number one, I would say don't don't sleep on the safe space agreements. Those three agreements to create a safe space, those are great for Friday night, Saturday night popcorn and safe space conversations. Mhmm. They're really great for let's let me see you.
Lisa Nichols:Everyone wants to be seen, heard, and honored, and a safe space allows you to see. So that's number one. You talked about what can you do around the dinner table. The other thing is so we're really high on experiential interactive learning. You're gonna love it.
Lisa Nichols:And we do this thing where our teens love it because it's a physical demonstration, But we pour a liquid in a glass and say, this is all the things you came with. You came with creativity, you came with kindness, you came with and then on top of it, I'm doing the very fast version, we pour oil. And on top of the oil so let's say the bottom is fresh pressed juice. Fresh, organic, it's who you came from. And then the next level is oil.
Lisa Nichols:And the oil is everything that people dump on you, their opinions, their perceptions, their judgments. And then on top of that, we put glitter, and we say this is the mask that we wear. And just that visual, having that visual around, you'll see the teens will begin to say, if someone says something negative, says, please don't put oil on me. Or if they are operating from their their original uniqueness, say, oh, you're operating from the real thing. So there's the real thing, the oil, and the mask.
Lisa Nichols:Showing them that physical distinction just has been so life changing. That's a really great visual to show them now when you come to the camp, and you'll see young adults who actually learned it when they were 15, they're gonna teach it now. And so having that kind of space now the last thing I wanna invite you to consider, something I started doing with Jelani when he was about eight, and every six months I would say, Jelani, how do you rate our relationship on a scale from one to 10? One being nonexistent, 10 being it's amazing and blissful, and one being it I felt like we don't have one. And Jelani would give it a rating.
Lisa Nichols:The first time he did it, I just knew I was gonna get like a nine, nine and a half. He gave me a seven, and I was devastated. Here's the agreement. You cannot show any emotion when they give you the rating, or else if they make you cry, if they make you mad, then giving you the rating is not safe, because they don't wanna make you mad and they don't wanna hurt you. So you have to hold it all in and ask this very critical question.
Vivian Glyck:Are you
Lisa Nichols:ready for it? This is the critical question. What would take it from a seven to a 10? And that's all you focus on for the next six months. So I asked Jelani that question every six months for about nine years.
Lisa Nichols:And the first time I asked him, he gave me a seven, he says, mommy he was about eight years old. He goes, mommy, when you go away on those far, far trips where your phone doesn't work, I wanna go with you. That's all he asked. So I put him on distance learning, and I took him on the road with me whenever I went international. I asked him the same question again when he was 18.
Lisa Nichols:You appreciate this. He's 19. He's a student at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Institute in Pasadena. He came home for a weekend, and we're sitting on the couch, and we're watching Law and Order marathon together. I love it.
Lisa Nichols:And he made me one of his gourmet salads that he had learned how to make at Le Cordon Bleu. And I said, Jelani, on a scale from one he goes, mom, please don't tell me you're gonna ask me this again. So on a scale from one is in how would you rate our relationship? He said a nine and a half. I said, what would take it from a nine and a half to a 10?
Lisa Nichols:He goes, mom, we're sitting on the couch watching a marathon, eating salads together on a Saturday. It really is a 10, but it feels too weird to say it. But I would say ask your children that rating. Have the courage to ask them the rating and then listen to the response. That is so beautiful.
Lisa Nichols:So how can we learn more about motivating the teen spirit? What would kind of be your guidance for parents to check out? Yeah. Yeah. So I'm excited.
Lisa Nichols:You can go to motivatingtheteenspirit.com, or if you wanna look me up, Lisa Nichols, you can go to my website, and then one of the options is motivating the teen spirit. It is my first love. Go to that page and register. Get on our waiting list. We'll tell you then about our online virtual meet it ups.
Lisa Nichols:We have rich dynamic conversations with teens all over the world. We normally have teens come from about 12 different countries. If it's on your heart to donate, donate. We're a five zero one c three. We did something unique a year ago.
Lisa Nichols:We removed all costs to attend our camps. So our summer camp is like any other summer camp, costs about $2,200 a teen. If you have a teen and your teen could benefit from emotional intelligence and some EQ, register them. We don't turn any teen away, and no teen pays. We live a 100% off donations.
Lisa Nichols:So send your baby or send your send your resources to support our babies, either one, send do both. We have a lot of parents who can't believe it's free. So they send their child and they donate Right. Sleeping bags or they donate you know? So, yeah, like, give us your babies and come to the graduation.
Lisa Nichols:I tell parents, come to the graduation, embrace yourself. It's like Christmas in August, Christmas in July. You won't believe it happened. Something happens when a body of teens get together and they move emotionally safely together. It's something that we, as parents, can't provide our children.
Lisa Nichols:We're not their siblings. We're not their friends. We're not their same age. We're their parents. But what we can do is put them in the environment to get emotional intelligence.
Vivian Glyck:One more question. So say I am a struggling mom. Part of my issue is my self confidence or knowing kind of reestablishing my own identity because it's just been so sucked into all of their And love. Trouble, etcetera. I know you have a lot of resources.
Vivian Glyck:What would you recommend as kind of a first step where somebody could put their toe into your work?
Lisa Nichols:Yeah. I know that woman very well. Me too. And I wrap my arms around you. And I would say on that same website, Motivating the Masses, go to programs and choose either no matter what, I think that's my favorite, no matter what, or the program Abundance Now.
Lisa Nichols:And both are around filling up your cup first and then serving from your overflow. Putting yourself at the front of your very long line of people to serve. Putting yourself first. And so no matter what our abundance now, I recorded each one. I give you an action step at the end of each little short video because action is what's gonna move you.
Lisa Nichols:Not thinking, not listening. Actually, action. So I'm real big on small, palatable moves, bite size moves Yeah. That if I do enough of them consistently, I can catch
Vivian Glyck:my breath. If I do And put yourself first.
Lisa Nichols:And put yourself first. Serve others from your overflow.
Vivian Glyck:Well, this has been amazing. I'm so honored that you've joined us. I think we've got some real gems in here that we can really empower struggling parents. You and I both know this pain of wanting to do everything Yeah. And not having the tools.
Vivian Glyck:Yeah. That's and then feeling like a bad mom and Yeah. Parenting in the anxious generation. So thank you so much, Lisa. I will look forward to bad mom part two.
Lisa Nichols:You're welcome. You're welcome. I love you, sis. Thank you for what you do, and thank you for the hope that you're bringing to moms. Whether we signed up for with intention or God just gave us a child, we found ourselves as mothers wanting to do the very best.
Lisa Nichols:And I often joke no one gave me instructions with this child.
Vivian Glyck:The hardest job in the world doesn't come with an instruction manual.
Lisa Nichols:Right. So thank you for giving guidance, and more importantly, thank you for being a safe space in the community for moms to talk freely and honestly.
Vivian Glyck:Yeah. Thank you so much. You're not a bad mom. You're not a bad parent. You're a badass in a broken system.
Vivian Glyck:Keep fighting. We've got your back. This is the unlearning. It's the undoing. It's the uprising.
Vivian Glyck:Bad parents unite because they'd rather you stay silent.