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Kyle: Hey, co-authors. I'm excited to introduce my guest today, Dr. Whitney Casares, who's a private practice pediatrician, a two-time American Academy of Pediatrics author and spokesperson, and a mom of two young girls in Portland, Oregon.
She's the author of five books, including three that are published through the American Academy of Pediatrics: My One-of-a-Kind Body, The New Baby Blueprint, and The Working Mom Blueprint. Her latest book, Raising Body-Confident Kids, just came out, and she's here today to talk about what it means to write, publish, and speak as a public scholar.
So Whitney, thank you so much for being here.
Whitney: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to have this conversation. I love to talk about kind of like the book-writing process and about the business of it, all that stuff. It's fun.
Kyle: Well, that's awesome, 'cause I know that that's what a lot of people are here to learn about.
You know, a lot of them are doctoral students or maybe, early career professionals who are looking to see what it means to be a published scholar and to do the type of public advocacy that you're doing. So tell us a little bit about yourself. How'd you start off in this? What really kind of catalyzed you to do this part of your career? Because I think for, at least for myself, whenever I think of, you know, pediatric folks, I don't think of them doing a lot of speaking and a lot of writing.
I think of them as the person that I met whenever I was six years old, and they helped me with my tummy aches.
Whitney: Yes, for sure. Well, definitely that's the bread and butter of pediatrics. But there is a subset of us who are really interested in doing stuff that's kind of beyond the walls of the clinic, and I've always been that person.
I wrote my entrance exam to, or my entrance essay to the Stanford pediatrics residency program by saying, "I'm an out-of-the-box thinker, and my plan is to use Stanford to launch my out-of-the-box career." So this is who I am at my core. always been a writer. I was actually a journalism major, and I started out by writing articles for the school health paper in college.
And I would write essays. I thought that I might be able to use my medical career to be, like, the next Sanjay Gupta. You know, just be the talking head on CNN- Yeah ... or whatever. That was my goal. And then I quickly realized, oh, there's only two of those people in the whole country that actually get paid enough to make that a living.
And even those people a lot of times don't get paid a ton to be on the actual show. And then I didn't know really, what I wanted to write about once I got into my career. I've cared a ton about public health for a long time.
I have a maternal child health degree from Berkeley. But I was like, "Well, but what specifically?" And then I had my own daughter, my first daughter, and I was like, "Oh, this is what it is." I keep on having these conversations with moms when they come into the clinic And they wanted to talk about their work-life balance.
They wanted to talk about what it's like emotionally to raise kids. And I had a kid who was really not easy. She ended up having autism, but at the time, of course, we didn't know it. And so I was drawn to these conversations, but I knew, of course, I only had 15 minutes for the visit, and also it's my job to make sure this kid is safe and healthy, not really to gab with the mom forever.
And so I ended up starting, to write blogs. And I wrote blogs that were about what are the things your pediatrician really wishes that you knew? What are the things that are the most important when you have a newborn? How do you actually get yourself some rest in a way that actually works, not just what all the books say?
And then those blogs turned into a book with the American Academy of Pediatrics. It turned into another book about working moms. And then I just kind of, I followed where my life was going and where I felt like people were asking questions, and what the need was with my patients-
So that's how it started, and now I write books for a living. I spend a lot of time on Instagram being kind of the black sheep of the American Academy of Pediatrics. If you ever look at my stuff, it's all you know, I swear on there.
I talk about these are the things that, you know, no other pediatrician will tell you, but I will. And I'm not trying to be, like, a wellness woo influencer. I'm more like, here's how to translate the science into real life.
Kyle: I think that what, one of the things that you said that really stands out to me is you know, as an academic, we're trained to look for what we call the gap in the literature, right? We read all the stuff, and we try to figure out, "Well, what's, what hasn't been said yet?"
But I think that the way that you're coming at this is more audience-centered, right? Yeah. What is the need that people have, and how can I fulfill that need? So talk a little bit about that. How did you come to have that sort of perspective in your writing?
Whitney: Yeah. Well, I think it's both, right? Because what the audience needs is the thing that no one has said yet.
Or people are saying it in way too binary of a way. That's what I find a lot, that people are saying it in this cookie cutter, like it's either this way or it's that way. And I'm so much about nuance, I think just- Mm-hmm ... because of what my kids have taught me, that I like to then be kind of the squeaky wheel and go, "Well, yes, and you know, what about this factor?"
Or, "You made that too black and white. No, I don't think so." So, yeah, I think it can be both, because if you just write about or talk about the things that are interesting to you but nobody else cares about it- Mm-hmm ... even if it's a gap in the literature, it's not gonna make a huge difference.
Yeah. I mean, I can't tell you the number of times that I have actually researched things for my books and said, "Oh, there's no answer on that," and I jot it down, "Oh, this
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is a book idea for- 10 years from now." But I always wanna keep my finger on the pulse of what are people paying attention to, and that's actually why I like social media, because you get instant feedback.
Kyle: Whenever, as an academic writer, we might look at, the download rates or the citation counts of something as to the importance or the impact that we're having with our work. But yeah, that sort of immediate feedback that you get from social media and from the publics that you're trying to outreach, I think is a different type of metric.
So as you've been writing over the course of your career, how has that sort of instantaneous feedback changed you in the stuff that you're writing?
Whitney: Yeah. Well, I mean, you have to be careful because the way that social media works is the algorithm loves fear, it loves big statements- Yeah
it loves controversy. And so it's pretty easy to create content like that if you want to, that's fear-mongering or that really pushes buttons. And I know a post that has swear words in it will get more attention. I think what it does is it makes you either one of two things. It either makes you someone who is basically swayed constantly by public opinion, and so you change yourself in order to fit that mold or fit what people wanna see, or it helps you to really have to turn inward constantly to go, "Does this feel like I'm in the pocket?
Does this feel right? Does this feel aligned with the messages that I wanna give?" Even if nobody likes it. I put out content constantly that I'll get three likes on, four likes on, but I don't care because I still know that it's important content to put out, and I can't constantly be putting out stuff that is gonna catch people's attention. That stuff's- great, it keeps the lights on, but it can't be the core message. I have to keep going with the core message, and my core message is a lot about evidence-based medicine, it's about wellness for kids, it's about making sure that we're talking about health equity for our most disadvantaged patients.
I really, really am into calling out privilege- and talking about, " Listen, you are saying that your life could be easier as a parent because, if you just do X, Y, Z, because you have a lot of money and you have a lot of help." And the rest of us don't have that, and so quit it. That's not helpful.
Anybody can do anything easily if they have a lot of money. Like- Yeah, yeah ... I'll be like, ugh. Well, and I think that's one of the things that you really navigate especially in your work when you're talking with, maybe new mothers or mothers just in general about sort of pressures that they have, especially if they're having a career.
Kyle: And I know that for myself, you know, watching people that were in my cohort either have kids while they were in their doctoral programs or, right whenever they started their careers, like having to navigate that, having an academic career, doing the conferences, doing the publications, doing the teaching, and also being a mom.
Like there's so much going on there. So I remember, I think, in one of your books, you talk about how you had this idea, I think it was from Oprah, that was like, "If I just have this like positive attitude- Yeah ... then like I can work through the mom stuff." And then that doesn't really- Didn't really work out.
Whitney: Right. So what are some things that you've been finding for women who are in this space, or young parents that are in this space that trying to navigate all this stuff?
Yes. Yeah, I don't believe in laws of attraction. I don't believe in the idea that you can just put out positivity into the world.
I do know, and it is true, that if you're constantly feeling negative, you're gonna have a more negative time, right? . There are days that I wake up and I'm in a bad mood, and then I find myself going, "Oh, that person was a jerk. Oh, that person was a jerk.
And then I go, "Oh, I think I'm just in a bad mood. Maybe I'm the common
Kyle: denominator here ... I
Whitney: think I'm the problem," right? So that's true, for sure. I actually created an entire framework, and the reason that I did that is because my oldest daughter was such a well of need- Mm-hmm
I felt like if I wasn't careful, I could let myself be pulled in all kinds of directions all the time, like an octopus, with their arms outstretched, and I would never actually get to anything that mattered to me. My focus and my attention would constantly be drawn elsewhere. And so I developed this framework, and it's visual.
So the way it's designed is there's a circle, and within the circle are pieces of pie, and those are all the things that are the most important to you, that you wanna spend your time, your energy, your attention on. And then outside the circle, are all the other things that have to get done, but that shouldn't define you.
So these are things like, in my world, laundry, the dishes, the PTA meeting that somebody wants me to be a part of mentoring someone that I don't feel passionate about mentoring writing long emails, things like that, right? Mm-hmm. So the goal is to make it so that you are pushing your circle out as much as possible, and that those things on the outside are diminished as much as possible so that you just have more room.
And then in the very center is you, yourself, your awareness of kind of who you are, what you need spending time doing stuff that you love. For me, that's listening to music. It's going to Coachella. It is, going outside and taking a walk with my dog. It's reading a book. Things like that, right?
That keep you so that when you're not feeling good, when you are that angry person that I've been sometimes, that you can be like, "Whoa, hold on. This isn't me. What's going on? Things are out of alignment. I need to come back." And, the tricks that I use that are kind of on the outside of that circle, they aren't rocket science.
They're all just evidence-based practices- that you can take. For
example, half-assing something that should not be given your full effort. You know? An email should be as short as possible. If it could be a text message, it shouldn't be an email. If it , could be a email, it shouldn't be a phone call.
I'm all about how do you create efficiency, but also, what are things that I can give to other people, ? Mm-hmm. And if it's not my own partner, sometimes it is, sometimes it can't be, he has work, too. Are there other people that I can call on? Or are there other services, like Instacart, for example, that I use to get my groceries for me?
Kyle: Mm-hmm.
Whitney: And then in kind of the lower-left corner of the square are all the things that are the contaminators. So these are things to just say no to, things that clutter up your life, clutter up your schedule. So this is for me, someone wants me to, you know, bring cookies to a bake sale for the school.
I'm like, "No, sorry, I contribute in a lot of other ways."
Kyle: Mm-hmm.
Whitney: And then finally, up top is the heartstrings, and these are the boundaries. The things that you care about, but if they leach all of your energy out of you in a way that's not intentional, then it will drag you down. And the best example I have of this is my dad.
My dad has Parkinson's, and I love my dad. He's my hero, and also, it's really emotionally draining to spend multiple days on end. So I have to schedule my time to be with my dad and be with my parents at times where I know I can give my full attention, and that I even have an hour afterward to kind of decompress-
because it's so difficult, to kind of give that energy and to interact. So that's kind of the framework and the way that I do it. And I, again, it's like anti-woo. It's very what are the actual things you do to make it so your life is easier? You just have more bandwidth.
Kyle: So, one of the things that I would say is, I had...
Whenever I was going through my, doctoral program- Read the things, listened to the YouTubes. Podcasts really weren't a thing yet. But did all the things that were like, " Here's how you can be better at time management, protect your energy," whatever it was, during the time.
And I was like, "Oh man, that's cool, but it just feels like, A, I don't have any money 'cause I'm living on a graduate stipend." And then everything about my career is really dictated to me by my committee, by my advisor, by my instructors. So you just kinda feel like you're in a very vulnerable place at that part of your career.
So what would be some advice that you can give to someone who's at that point in their career? What are some ways they can get some control over their life?
Whitney: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've been in that spot too, right? That's how residency is. And medical school and- college a lot.
You're just at the whim of other people. Part of it is just putting your head down and saying "This too shall pass," but holy hell, it's difficult,
Yes, it's stressful. There is some reality to that. That's what I tell people when they come in with their kids with colds. "I'm so sorry, I don't have a solution for this." That's the way it is when you have a newborn, and that's definitely the way that it is when you're in any type of doctoral or graduate school program.
I think the big thing in that season is eliminating stuff that doesn't matter to you. So what can you do, even if it's cheap? Is it easier to buy the cup of ramen noodles and it's all packaged together in a package, versus you have to do something and cook it on a stove and have a pot that you get out?
What are the things that just dumb it down as- ... much as possible? And then I would just think about for yourself, if you're a doctoral student and listening to this what's one thing you could take away? You don't have to take away everything or make everything easier, but just start with one thing.
And then what's one thing you could add in its place that would give you some joy? This can be you take five minutes in your car or before you go into your class, and instead of scrolling on your phone on social media, which we all know we think it's gonna give us joy, but it doesn't. Stop and just close your eyes and listen to that favorite Bieber song.
Yeah ... what is the one thing you can add back? And, and that's a great starting place because then you start to remember "Oh- it, this feels, oh, I c- I can change my perspective pretty easily. I can change things. That happens for me every single time I go outside and take a walk.
Every single time I go, "Oh, the sky's not falling." In fact, it's a beautiful day, and I was stressing out about things that are very temporary, and it's gonna be fine. So it's all about micro changes, I would say, in that season of life. And then also it's about a little bit of radical acceptance around this is a tough time.
It's meant to be tough. That's why hardly any people do it, and kind of giving yourself some compassion that you're not alone, and that you're feeling about it being tough is totally valid.
Kyle: Yeah, no, I think that's great advice. I think for a lot of folks that are... You know, they go into their doctoral programs.
Up and to that point, they've probably been very academically successful.
Whitney: Mm-hmm.
Kyle: And so, you know, this might be the first time that you've ever really struggled with content, struggled with your writing, struggled with whatever it is, and so that can give you a lot of anxiety, a lot of identity crisis around that.
And I think that you're right this idea of just, like, accepting that and then engaging in these little micro practices of self-care I think are really important. 'Cause can't tell you how many times I was just like, "Oh, man, I gotta do all the things," figure everything out, so that way I can feel good again.
It's like, well, no, maybe just maybe, uh, maybe the ramen's okay every once in a while. '
Whitney: Cause there's trade-offs and benefits to everything. I don't want people
having ramen every single night, right? But, if it's a matter of you being totally stressed out or you having the ramen, just have the ramen.
That's just the choice for your health today.
Kyle: Yep. So as you have been growing in your career then, what would be some advice that you would give to someone who's wanting to chart a similar path as you? Do this public scholarship, have an impact on people, especially if they're, themselves mothers or, have other types of parental or children responsibilities that they might have?
Whitney: I think the big thing is, you have to remember that not every place that you put your effort is gonna be fruitful, but sometimes there's a bit of a scattershot that happens in the very beginning. So as you're trying to figure out your lane of I'm gonna be a speaker, , at conferences I'm gonna be a keynote speaker. That's what I thought. I thought, "I'm gonna go into this. I'm gonna be a keynote speaker.
Maybe it's gonna be that you are connected with a brand. Maybe a brand or a company is gonna pay you to be a consultant based off what your thought leadership is that you've put together. That felt very beneath me, honestly. Mm-hmm. When I started out, I felt like I'm an academic. I have evidence-based information.
I'm talking about medicine. I'm talking about parenting. I don't wanna have, Earth's Best whatever sponsoring me to do this. But the reality was actually when I attached myself to groups that had a lot of evidence behind them as well and that were trying to do good things and were intentional, it made it so that then I didn't have to worry about money as much, and I was able to actually do more of the good work that I wanted to do- Mm-hmm
Now, I would say the one thing is if you ever get yourself attached to a brand or even to a company that's hired you as a consultant, the biggest, like, internal struggle is continuing to stay real to yourself, right?
Kyle: Mm.
Whitney: So I think every day as I'm putting up stuff on social media like, "Oh, I hope, the brands I work with don't hate this.
I hope this company that hired me to speak at this conference doesn't say, 'Forget it, we don't want her to come.'" But I know I have to stay true to who I am.
Kyle: Right.
Whitney: And as long as I'm not being so flippant that I'm being mean to somebody or saying something that's irresponsible, then it's fine.
Me and my style, that's ultimately gonna sell. I would say, the third kind of avenue in terms of scattershotting in the beginning is things like maybe you are trying to sell the books themselves for, profit, or you're trying to have it be that it's at major universities.
I've done that too. My experience is that the books themselves are more of a launching point- as opposed to a money maker, that really it's gonna be about them giving you exposure and allowing you to network in the places that you wanna network.
So I have used my books to go to conferences and go to different meetings within the conferences and
make so many different connections with like-minded individuals that now I'm part of that network, and then now these people recommend the book, and then eventually it sells or eventually gets bigger.
But it's not because there were tons of reviews about something. It's not because it became a best seller. We're all kind of sold this dream, I think, as authors, even as academic authors. I'm sure this is, true for you as well. Oh, this will be the thing that's like the one, the one-hit wonder.
It's gonna be like the amazing thing that goes viral. Eh, the odds of that are, like, less so. It's better to build, I mean, I wanna say a brand, but a brand I know feels kinda weird if you're talking about academics, but it is a brand. It's like your personal brand of thought leadership. Who you are and what you stand for, and then in the beginning, allow yourself to scattershot some and see what's the place where when you're putting in your effort, you're actually getting big returns.
Kyle: Yeah. Well, so, let's say that I'm an early career academic. You know, I'm not really well known yet. What's my first sort of step to doing this type of work? Like, where do I need to start putting my energy so that way I can get to this place?
Whitney: Yeah, I think it really depends on your goal. You know, if your goal is to, move up the ranks of academia, and you wanna have it be that you end up being...
I think you told me when we first met you're a full professor?
Kyle: Mm-hmm.
Whitney: Is that the name of it?
Kyle: Yeah.
Whitney: Okay. So yeah if that's your goal, okay, then you're gonna want to write as much as possible so you can establish yourself as you're a thought leader in this space. And then honestly, I think the very first step is you go to as many conferences as possible to meet other people that are like-minded that you have connections with so that they will start to share your work-
as well in their work, and so that you become better known in those circles. I- Yeah ... I'm not as much in the academic realm of, you know, I'm not a professor anywhere or anything like that at this point. But knowing what I know now about how networking works and how that builds your credibility- Mm-hmm
that's what I would do. Here's an example from my world. So yesterday I had a meeting with this gal. She works for a group called Girlology. And Girlology is kind of like a puberty period kind of group, and they educate- Mm-hmm ... young women about their body changing. And we share a publisher.
And so for a long time I had thought, "Oh, of course, my book is for 7 to 12-year-olds. This book is for 12 and up kinda kids," And it even shares the same illustrator for both of the books. It should be that we are very connected, but no one had connected us. I had emailed, I had written, I had done all types of things to try to connect with these people.
No response. So I'm part of these expert panels where I go on and I am a speaker, and I'm speaking to parents directly.
And I talked to the leader of this panel organizer and said, "Hey, would you ask these people if they would also be on the panel? ' Cause I would really like to meet them." So then we get on the panel together.
I'm sharing my expertise. They're sharing their expertise. All of a sudden, now we're peers. I email afterward and say, "Hey, can we connect? I would love to do some collaborating together." And as of today they said, "Oh yeah, we're putting your book in our newsletter. , We wanna put videos on our website.
Would you do the same for us? Here's a connection with Girl Up," which is an organization that does stuff on body image. "The Girl Scouts would love to meet with you." Right? So it's all about how do I find kind of an inroad- to these people that I know are maybe a step above me or alongside me.
And not getting frustrated or discouraged if- Mm-hmm ... the first way you do it doesn't work. Yeah. Sometimes you have to get really creative in order to make that connection, and that's true even in the academic world.
Kyle: I was about to say, if there's one thing that academia's known for, it's rejection.
Rejection from- Yes. ... journals, rejection from book proposals. Like we are- Yes ... we're used to
Whitney: it. Yes. Yes. So yeah. But don't be scared by the rejection networking. But I, I do think networking is the number one thing to do, and I think the easiest way to do that is conferences.
Kyle: Yeah.
Whitney: Or to find a platform where other people who are doing the same type of work as you are doing are- Yeah
and then to connect with them that way.
Kyle: Well, and I really like the advice that you had in there of finding people who are at or maybe just a little bit above- where you're at right now, right? If I were to, email, cold call someone who is at the very top of my field right now or the top of the things that I want to be doing, they probably wouldn't give me the time of day 'cause they don't know me.
Right. But I have, so working my way up there and identifying what those levels are, I think, is a really important step that you've pointed out. I, I really like that.
Whitney: Yes. You want the person who works with the person- Yeah ... that you wanna meet with, right? I did that also to get on The Good Inside podcast.
Mm-hmm. I reached out to a person who I know works there, and she's not the main gal- Mm-hmm ... but she's very connected to the main gal, so I just met with her, you know? I mean- Right ... the, the, the, the VPs of things, the presidents of things, the top academia things, usually they're too busy, and-
Kyle: Right ...
Whitney: only gonna have an ear to the people that they already work with.
Kyle: Well, talk to us a little bit about your new book that you just came out with.
Whitney: So the book is called Raising Body Confident Kids, and the book is for moms, and it's about, how do we untangle all of the diet culture influences that we've had since we were very little girls in an effort to do better for our own kids?
Now, it is possible as a parent to just kind of, grit your teeth and tell your kids that they're beautiful and, try to not say anything mean about their bodies as they grow up. But I know from the psychology literature and from human development literature that our kids can sense when we feel a certain way about our bodies.
And so this book is really trying to get a little deeper on, why do you feel the way you do when you look in the mirror? What message did you receive from your mom or from America's Next Top Model or from The Biggest Loser? What are the messages that we've been given about how much we are in control of our own bodies, right?
There's a whole thing in diet culture around willpower that says- Mm-hmm ... basically if you just exercise more and eat less- then you'll be a certain size. Th- that could not be further from the truth. There are so many different factors. So, trying to give also moms some grace and some- Mm-hmm
basic biological understanding around this. And so that's the first section. The second section is, okay, now how do we impart more truth and more balance to our kids?
Kyle: Hm.
Whitney: And then the third section is, how do we help our kids in a world that's very complicated? So, how do we deal with Sephora kids culture, which is all about wearing tons of makeup and having tons of skincare?
What about the coach at school or the bully that talks to my kid? How do I deal with social media? What should I do with my kids as they're on the internet to help protect them?
Kyle: So whenever you were writing this book then you know, you've written... This is not your first book, right? You've written, I think, five at this point. So tell us a little bit about your habits, your rituals, tips, tricks, things that you do to get a book out there.
Whitney: Oh, yes. Okay, I love this topic. So, I have, very specific things that I do. So whenever I am writing something that is factual, prescriptive, data-driven I do that on an airplane. Mm-hmm. I travel a lot for work, and I love that I'm, in my seat and there's nowhere I can go and I'm kind of trapped, and I just focus down.
Yep. So when the internet goes out on an airplane, I am so pissed. I can't handle it. I need the internet on an airplane. Either that or in a hotel room, but basically just free of distraction.
Kyle: Mm-hmm.
Whitney: When I am writing something that's storytelling, I wanna be in a coffee shop, preferably with a boozy, like, coffee drink.
I need to be in my emotions, and I need other people around me. I have been known to have tears streaming down my face- ... as I write in a coffee shop. So that's one of my biggest things. Also when I'm in a writing season, I lean really heavily into movement. I do a lot of yoga during those times, and I do a lot of strength training during those times.
Not like... I'm not a buff, like, bodybuilder, but I'm talking about my 20 pound weights in my basement. But just because I find that that kind
of gets my energy moving a little bit in my body, and it gets me out of my mind a little bit- and allows me just to then "Oh, okay.
Ooh, now I'm ready." It's like you get that little release, so then you're ready to get to working. Yeah. So those are the big things, and then I always have certain people that I trust that I send my writing to before I ever even send it back to my publisher because- you know, I feel like the writing game is very much a hurry up and wait.
You write stuff and you write it, and then you send it to the publisher and they take forever to get it back to you. But then once you're supposed to send your edits back in for the final thing, it's... Okay, you better hurry up. You have one weekend- to do this. So I really wanna present the best version of what I can present in the first draft that I'm sending to my publisher.
That said, my first draft of what I create is never my best draft, right? I'm constantly like, I just wanna get it out on paper, let my thoughts out, and then I go back and I edit, edit, edit. And then I send to people that are my trusted kind of confidants, depending on what the topic is that I'm writing.
I have some storyteller people, and I have some facts people. And then I'm ready to present it to the editor. So that's the way that I work. I'm very much about the place that I am where I'm working, and then I have definitely a style of how I do it.
Kyle: I think that those are all really good practices, right?
I really like the exercise one because I think that- A lot of times people underestimate just how hard it is on your body- to sit for three, four, five, six hours at a time day in and day out. And so, you know, breaking that up a little bit with walking, weights- whatever it might be, I think that that's really good because it's gonna make sure that you're way healthier doing all of this work.
Whitney: Yeah, totally. The other thing I would say I do, there are certain parts that are harder for me. So, if I'm writing a section and I'm trying to piece data together and make it so it feels really cohesive and that it still sounds good, that's something that I can do well, but it takes a lot more energy for me to do.
So I a lot of times will write other stuff first and then kind of leave a space for that- and then come back to it at the end, because it feels less daunting if I'm mixing it into the stuff that I've already written. So that's a tip, too, that I would give for early writers is that helps you from having kind of like a writing block or from going like, "Oh, I can't do this," or procrastinating on it.
Because you already then are continuing to do some work. And then closer to the end when you go, "Okay, I'm under pressure, I gotta, I gotta attack this part," then you can do it 'cause you know- Yeah ... okay, you gotta do it or else the book's not gonna happen.
Kyle: No, I, , I actually, I do the same thing, and I think that one of the things that's kind of the key ingredient to that is that you as the writer kind of have to know where you're gonna go with the writing, right?
Yeah. I know where I'm gonna go. I've reached this spot where I need to find more evidence, or I need to consult someone. Well, I can't just stop my writing. I need to keep moving on, so I'm gonna make a note to myself, work on this little spot, come back to this, and then I'm just gonna keep going.
So that way I don't lose that momentum. I think that's great advice. So whenever you were working on your most recent book then, you know, you're doing all of this stuff what do you want to be the sort of overall impact that you hope that readers have whenever they come away from your book?
Whitney: Always want for all of my books it to be that people feel seen. I want them to feel like they're not alone. Because I think in a lot of the topics that I write about, people go, "Oh, I'm the only one," or, "I'm the only one who feels it this deeply. I'm the weird one out there."
I think I want that for people because I feel that sometimes in my own family of oh, our family is the weird one, 'cause, you know, we have the autistic kid. My husband has ADHD. So I want people to feel seen and kind of, accepted in the spot that they are.
And then I want them to feel like they have a starting place. I always want them to feel like, " I have a starting place," and that kind of like the journey's never done and that's okay on all the books I write. So even in the newborn one, I mean, of course the journey's done. At some point, your newborn grows up.
But the journey of parenting is never done. So I always wanna leave people with this message of it's okay. As long as you really focused on the things that matter the most and you were intentional, then in the end, , it's going to work out the way that it will, and you don't have control over everything.
Kyle: I, I love that. I think that, you know, especially again as I reflect back on the type of writer that I was whenever I was early career and, or a doctoral student, I felt like so much of my writing was animated by, " I need to prove to people that I'm smart."
Whitney: Right. Right? And I think that this shift that you're talking about, it's, making sure that a person doesn't feel alone. It's audience-centered. It's about what, what can I give to the, to my reader? And I think it's just, it's a more generous space, but it's also a place where you find your purpose as a writer, right?
Kyle: Yeah. It helps you work through those harder ideas because it's not just about you and it's not just about being smart. It's about helping other people with the work that we're doing.
Whitney: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
Kyle: Yeah. Well, I so much appreciate getting to talk to you today, and I'm excited for your books.
So, folks, if you are interested, again her most recent book, again, is, Raising Body Confident Kids. It's just come out. Make sure to get it. The information for that and for, Whitney's website is gonna be in the podcast description, so make sure to look at that. And Whitney, thank you again so much for being here.
I appreciate you.
Whitney: Thank you so much. Take care.