The Mama Bear by Chairman Mom

“How does it feel to have real money in the bank?” our long-time board member and investor Tim Connors asked last week starting our board meeting. 

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s sunk in,” I said. “But I imagine it’ll feel great when it does.” 

I know most of you know this, but Chairman Mom had pretty explosive growth last year, thanks to YOU. As a result we’ve got a pile of money in the bank and need to scale up our marketing operations. We’re not hiring a ton of folks because we really really love our small, cozy, all-A-player, non-hustle-culture, super-mission-driven team.  Read more...

When I am not tearing down the patriarchy, fighting for trans youth, or dreaming up awesome new courses, I am spending all my time lately thinking about FOOD. 

There’s the endless food we had to keep making for everyone when we were trapped at home, the emotional push-and-pull of overpriced takeout to support restaurants, and now the pent-up desire to get out and eat, maybe pulling against wanting to hold onto our simpler time together around a table in the kitchen. 

There’s also travel eating. There’s also the return of family meals.  Read more...

Are you feeling not so Hot Girl Summer and 2020 is just in the rearview mirror, time to party? 

Do you have a lot of unresolved emotions about WTF just happened and annoyed that your boss, the media, your friends are ready to move on already?

We are launching a tight four-week explosion of a course just for you: “Rage Rehab: From Nope to Hope in Four Weeks,” starring Catherine Connors and special guests. We pre-sold this to alums of the Sisterhood course as that one was wrapping up, and IT ONLY HAS FIVE SLOTS LEFT.  Read more...

Inspired a bit by Sian Bumsted, I am gonna try for a summer of daily Peloton. I have two Pelotons and don’t use either one enough. And like her daily yoga practice, it doesn’t always have to be a 45-minute ride. It can be a five minute meditation, or ten minute ab workout. I’ll keep you posted on my progress. I will be stunned if I actually keep it up, but hey, I’ve done hard things before. 

I started yesterday with my fav, Cody Rigsby, and his latest “xoxo Cody” ride, in which he pauses midway to answer fan questions on life and love. It was a Hot Girl Summer theme, and omg, he gave me my new mantra.  Read more...

Today’s intro is from Lamar Ok, an educator and PhD candidate in urban education.

Pride. A word that is defined differently by many. 

Pride is not always easy to have or something I hold onto every day. Like my gender identity, Pride for me is fluid. There are days when I wake up with more pride and days where I wake up with less pride. There are mornings when I wake up, and I am anxious, fearing for what the day might be. There are days when I wake up extra vigilant about being who I am. There are days when I wake up and feel I am not enough. There are days when I wake up and wonder if it is true that God doesn’t love people like me. There are days when I wake up and I wonder what it would be like if I just fit the norm, if I had just loved the body I was born with.  Read more...

As I’ve written before, we aren’t hosting many free Zoom events for the rest of the summer. We’ve been with thousands of you several times a week via Zoom during the last year and a half. And we’ve loved every minute of it. But now, with the ability to be back in the real world, we are only inviting you to something if we think it will uniquely serve you at this very unique moment in time. 

That caused us to shuffle up our July course offerings….and we’re excited about what we’ve got in store.  Read more...

If your kid was teasing a trans kid at school, would you even know? 

Yesterday on our drive to Palm Springs, Eli asked me, “Why are some kids so mean to trans kids? Why do we bother them so much?” 

I didn’t have a great answer, aside from the usual explanations of what drives bullying. But I can guarantee you one thing: A lot of it would be solved if cisgender parents did an ounce of education at home. 

Here’s how a lot of people are born and it’s really important to accept them. ESPECIALLY if you don’t have any transgender people in your life. Living in a place like San Francisco doesn’t automatically make your kids pro-trans.  Read more...

What does Pride mean to me?

It means safety, kindness, human evolution, celebration, and knowing that regardless of their sexual orientation or gender, ALL humans are valid, seen, and loved.

Of course, this is not the way of the whole world…yet. But it is an amazing step. 

I can remember a story shared by one of my university professors who was teaching feminism. She talked about her experience as a young lesbian, and how the only represenation she saw in the media of people who were like her were either vampires, murderers, or characters who were murdered. I can remember thinking about how harmful it is for people not to see themselves represented in positive ways. When an individual is able to see themselves represented in positive ways, it sends the message that they are valid, seen, and can create a beautiful life for themselves. It also removes the shame and inspires courage and celebration that even if you are a minority, there is a beautiful path you can carve out for yourself and create a life that allows you to be able to live authentically.  Read more...

All transgender kids are beautiful. And sadly all transgender kids go through sh*t from the world being scared or threatened of that beauty. Even in places like San Francisco. Even in supportive homes. Even with the best medical and mental health team on the planet. Our world is full of gender binary razor wire these kids can’t help but run into. 

But every trans kid’s experience is also different. Certainly this is the case when it comes to race. 

In some ways, trans girls have it “easier” because the bathrooms that align with their gender are more private. One thing, though, I’ve always been frustrated by is how much easier it is for trans boys to dress like “boys” without social blowback. Being a “tomboy” is a socially acceptable thing. Charming movies have been made about it. The opposite isn’t.  Read more...

All month long we’re amplifying the voices from the LGBTQIA community. Today’s intro is from Dr. Michelle Garrido, a family medicine doctor.

My wife and I got married two days before our son was born. We forfeited the fanfare of a wedding, an event we both had fantasized about, for a quick, unwitnessed, $90 courthouse nuptial. Instead of thinking and rethinking our birth plan, we were scouring the internet, reading horror stories about other queer couples who were mistreated by hospital staff postpartum just for being queer. So yes, just like our non-queer peers, we had anxieties over having a healthy baby and an uncomplicated birth. On top of that, though, were the fears about how a couple without the traditional “mom” and “dad” components might be treated in a hospital setting. Read more...