ABOUT THIS PODCAST 🔗
Parenthood doesn't come with instructions, and neither does building a company. Melissa and Esther are figuring out both on opposite sides of the world, as friends and founders of award-winning kids’ media brand Pok Pok.
Since 2021, running Pok Pok has been a front-row seat to the inner world of parents: the real wins that don’t make it to Instagram, as well as the unspoken fears and questions that everyone is waiting for someone else to say first.
Parenting, apparently, is a space to come together and take the pressure off parenthood by celebrating the fact that there is no “right” way of doing it. Each episode is a reminder that you’re not supposed to have all the answers, but that the way to get closer to them is by getting curious.
Whether Melissa and Esther are sharing their own “WTF” moments, reflecting in real time, or passing the mic to guests from the community, you’re invited to come get curious about your own parenting journey. We may not have a manual for this thing, but we do have the creative freedom to make our own along the way.
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Update frequency:
weekly
Average audio length:
40 minutes
Guest interviews
Has sponsors
English
United States
43 episodes
since Nov. 25, 2025
episodic
IN THIS PODCAST 🔗
LATEST EPISODE 🔗
What if motherhood doesn’t diminish creativity, but gives it new urgency, meaning and material?
Brooklyn painter Madeline Donahue joins Melissa and Esther to explore how becoming a mother helped her find her artistic voice in her mid-30s, and why the everyday realities of caregiving deserve to be t…
SEARCH PAST EPISODES
Search past episodes of Parenting, apparently.
PREVIOUS EPISODES 🔗
What happens when adults stop playing, and what does that mean for parents? In this episode of Parenting, Apparently, Melissa chats with Katina Bajaj, a creative health scientist and co-founder of Daydreamers, a company helping adults bring creativity, play, and wonder back into their lives.
They e…
Before you have kids, you picture the parent you’ll be and the kid you’ll have. But what happens when kids grow into humans that don’t match the ones we daydreamed about while pregnant?
In this episode of Parenting, apparently, Melissa and Esther talk about parenting expectations vs. reality—from f…
This week it's just Melissa and Esther — no guest, just the two of them, picking up a thread left over from last week's conversation about ambition: what were they actually chasing when they started Pok Pok, and is it still what they want?
Is founder guilt just parent guilt with a business attached…
In this episode of "Parenting, apparently," Esther and Melissa sit down with Amil Niazi — whose viral essays and national bestselling memoir have made her one of today's most talked-about parenting thinkers. The conversation grows out of the premise behind Amil's book, Life After Ambition, and her …
Melissa and Esther welcome back pediatric occupational therapist Laura Petix (the pod’s first return guest!) who arrives with a new book: The Sensory Code, out October 6.
They start where her book does, with the nervous system budget. Everyone wakes up with a certain amount in the tank, and every o…
In this episode of “Parenting, apparently,” Esther and Melissa rethink what school really offers kids. From exploring the differences between the Belgian and Canadian education systems to imagining what they would change as school principals, they dig into homework, academic pressure, and what kids…
It’s back-to-school season, and Melissa’s son is starting kindergarten for the first time, while Esther is six years in with her two boys. Together, they chat about the practical and emotional realities of getting the family ready for a new school year.
Melissa shares how she’s preparing for the tr…
In this episode of “Parenting, apparently”, Melissa and Esther unpack the “motherhood penalty”: the bias mothers can face in hiring, pay, promotions, and how their boundaries are perceived at work.
The conversation was inspired by a recent interview Melissa had with a candidate for a role at Pok Po…
Melissa and Esther were 90s kids with very different upbringings. Growing up in Canada and Belgium, they compare notes on their millennial childhoods—from peanut butter lunch rules and being latch-key kids to weekend chores, screen time, and the freedom they each had growing up.
Now that they’re pa…
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Pok Pok, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
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SEARCH PAST EPISODES
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