Jackie Leonard of Motherscope

Ep 8 with Jackie Leonard

Jackie Leonard is a storyteller, teacher, and community builder dedicated to empowering the voice of all women, because she believes this is the way to create a better world. With an MFA in Creative Writing and a writing group of her own, Write Beside Her, Jackie is deeply invested in telling her story in her own words and helping other women do the same.

When Jackie became a mom, she realized there was nowhere to go to read stories that resonated with her real-life experience, so she created a new magazine called Motherscope. The third issue, Radical Mama, just came out and my mom, sister, and I are lucky enough to have our photography and writing featured on its pages.

Today, Jackie and I talk about the importance of women’s voices, how the pandemic has served her writing practice, and behind-the-scenes into the making of Radical Mama. And now, your Leader of Hope for the week, Jackie Leonard!

Key Takeaways

Jackie talks about her intention is to show up wherever she is.
Jackie and I talk about the perfection mentality and how this past year has taught Jackie how to let go a bit.
We talk about the the release of Radical Mama issue of Motherscope.
We share our memories of the last event we were at together right before the lockdown.
We talk about all the different ‘modes’ of production.
Jackie discusses the “Covid Diaries” featured on Motherscope.
If we really have a good handle on what our true voice is, we can always bring ourselves back to a place of worth and value.
Jackie shares how everything she’s done is about making the world a better place and how she can't just do a job for the sake of earning a paycheck. She always has to see a way it helped benefit the world.
Jackie talks about how veryone has a motherhood story. We are all somehow connected to motherhood.
We talk about how bringing women together, we're healing one another, and creating these spaces where we can help each other out... it just takes an internet connection and some dedicated time.
Everyone can tell a story. As long as you're literate, there is something and no one can tell you otherwise.
Jackie talks about how we need to be our own advocates. We need to be able to remind ourselves that we are valuable, worthy, the lives we're living have meaning. It's not always obvious when you're in it.
Jackie discusses how she has written more this past year than ever and how she needed to be able to remind herself that even without doing anything she expected to do this year, there is still something to create, there is still something she can pull from.
Jackie talks about the goal of Motherscope; creating a space where if you want to step up and be seen and heard, you can.
The important thing about stepping into our voice: it's a time for women to feel like they can empower themselves. It's not just a benefit, it's a responsibility.
To be a Leader of Hope is about living a life where you keep going forward. It's about the 1% thing I can do that's ahead of what I'm doing now.
We are never going to arrive at perfection; we can still create something really beautiful, impactful, and meaningful even from this place.