The Stepmom Side Podcast

Feeling unsupported by your husband or partner can make blended family life feel incredibly lonely.

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia talks about why partner support is one of the biggest predictors of stepmom satisfaction and blended family success.

Many stepmoms don't necessarily need perfection from their partners. They need partnership. They need to feel heard, valued, and like they're part of a team.

Key takeaways:

✔️ Why partner support matters so much in blended families
✔️ Why feeling unsupported creates anxiety, resentment, and loneliness
✔️ W...

Do you feel resentful as a stepmom and then immediately guilty for feeling that way? You're not alone.

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia dives into one of the most common but least talked about experiences in blended families: stepmom resentment.

The truth is, resentment usually isn't about the kids. It's often the result of carrying too much emotional responsibility for too long. From managing everyone's feelings to carrying the mental load and constantly putting your own needs last, many stepmoms become overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, and disconnected from themselves.

Feeling like an outsider in your own home as a stepmom? You're not alone. In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia explores why so many stepmoms struggle with belonging in blended families. She shares why outsider syndrome happens, the common traps stepmoms fall into, and practical ways to stop trying to earn your place and start feeling more secure in your role.

Key takeaways:

Do you ever feel like you're constantly trying to prove yourself as a stepmom?

If only you could just be more patient, more understanding, more involved, or more helpful, then maybe you'd finally feel accepted in your blended family?

In this episode, Alicia dives into a struggle many stepmoms silently carry: the belief that they have to earn their place in their own home. Whether you're dealing with outsider syndrome, people-pleasing, perfectionism, or feeling invisible in your stepfamily, this episode will help you understand why belonging cannot be earned through sacrifice and exhaustion.

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What should a stepmom do when her stepkids are disrespectful?

Few things trigger a stepmom faster than being ignored, talked back to, rolled eyes at, or treated like she doesn't matter. When you're already questioning your role in the family, disrespect from a stepchild can feel deeply personal—and it can quickly create resentment, frustration, and conflict in your marriage.

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia dives into one of the most common challenges stepmoms face: dealing with disrespectful stepkids. She explains why disrespect from stepkids often hurts more than people realize, ho...

Does setting boundaries make you immediately feel guilty?

Do you finally decide to say no, ask for space, or stop carrying everyone else's emotions… and then immediately wonder if you're being selfish?

You're not alone.

In this episode, Alicia is diving into why boundaries can feel so uncomfortable—especially for stepmoms who are used to people pleasing, over-functioning, and carrying the emotional weight of everyone around them.

If you've ever felt responsible for keeping the peace, fixing everyone's feelings, or making sure nobody is disappointed, this episode will help you understand why...

Are you constantly chasing peace in your blended family… but secretly defining peace as “everything going perfectly”?

In this episode, Alicia dives into one of the biggest mindset traps high-achieving stepmoms fall into: believing that peace and perfection are the same thing. From overthinking conversations to trying to control transition days, co-parenting dynamics, schedules, emotions, and everyone else’s reactions, many stepmoms end up emotionally exhausted trying to create a version of family life that simply doesn’t exist.

If you’ve ever thought:

Summer break sounds fun… until your house turns into chaos, the routines disappear, and you feel like you’re running a summer camp you never signed up for.

In this episode, Alicia breaks down how stepmoms can create structure, maintain control, and protect their sanity during summer break—without turning into the “strict” or overwhelmed one in the house.

If you’re already dreading the lack of routine, constant transitions between homes, and the mental load of managing it all… this episode is your game plan.

You’ll learn how to create a flexible daily s...

Alicia dives into one of the most confusing and emotionally triggering experiences for stepmoms: why stepchildren suddenly act distant, avoidant, or completely different when their other parent is around.

If you’ve ever felt ignored at pickup, brushed off in public, or like your relationship disappears the moment their other parent enters the picture… you are not imagining it. And more importantly—it’s not rejection.

This episode breaks down the concept of loyalty binds in stepfamily dynamics and explains why children may feel torn between showing love to their stepmom and protecting their re...

Stepmother’s Day—did you even know it existed?

In this episode of, Alicia dives into the emotional complexity of Stepmother’s Day—a holiday created in 2000 a nine year old to honor her stepmom. While the intention behind the day is meaningful, the reality for many stepmoms is… complicated.

Alicia unpacks the mixed emotions stepmoms experience around Stepmother’s Day and challenges stepmoms to rethink how they approach this day. Instead of waiting for others to get it right, Alicia encourages listeners to take ownership of what Stepmother’s Day means to them—whether that’s celebrati...

Mother’s Day can be one of the most confusing—and painful—holidays for stepmoms.

You show up. You support your partner. You help raise kids who aren’t biologically yours. You carry emotional labor, household responsibilities, and the invisible weight of stepfamily dynamics…

…and then Mother’s Day rolls around and you feel completely overlooked.

In this episode, Alicia dives into the emotional reality of Mother’s Day for stepmoms—especially those who are childfree or childless. If you’ve ever felt forgotten, awkward, resentful, or unsure of your place on this holiday, you are not...

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia is joined by Monica Tanner to talk about how to reignite connection and intimacy in blended families, why stepfamily myths can damage marriages, and what couples can do to create a stronger, healthier relationship.

They dive into one of the most controversial but important ideas in blended family life: why the couple relationship has to be the priority. Monica explains what that actually looks like in real life, how to support your partner without making it a competition with the kids, and why children benefit from seeing a...

Trigger warning: miscarriage 

Infertility is hard. Being a stepmom is hard. Put the two together? Yeah… it’s a whole different level that no one really prepares you for.

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia sits down with Kristen Skiles to have an honest, emotional, and empowering conversation about infertility as a stepmom—including the heartbreak of a failed IUI cycle.

They dive into the layered experience of wanting a baby while already being a parent figure, the guilt that can come with that, and the identity shifts that ha...

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia talks with Sol Kennedy, founder of the Best Interest co-parenting app, about high-conflict co-parenting, family court, co-parent communication, and how AI can help parents reduce conflict.

Sol shares how his own divorce and co-parenting experience led him to create an app that acts like a buffer between toxic messages and reactive responses. They talk about why the family court system can feel emotionally brutal, how co-parenting apps are usually built for documentation instead of actual peace, and why so many parents and stepparents feel completely drained by ongoing...

In this episode, Alicia explores why stepmoms often feel like the least supported person in their own home. She breaks down the emotional and mental load stepmoms carry, the role of over-functioning, and how relationship dynamics with partners can unintentionally reinforce feelings of isolation.

Stepmoms will gain insight into why this pattern happens and learn actionable strategies for communicating their needs, setting boundaries, and creating more support within their relationship.

This episode is for stepmoms who feel overwhelmed, unseen, and exhausted from holding everything together—and are ready to feel more supported and in control.

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia wraps up the Role Clarity Series by exploring what happens when expectations in blended families exceed a stepmom’s emotional and mental capacity. 

Many stepmoms feel pressure to overextend themselves in order to keep the peace, avoid conflict, or prove they are a “good” stepmom. This episode helps listeners identify expectations they may be carrying unconsciously, evaluate whether those expectations are sustainable, and begin honoring their own capacity without guilt. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, or resentful in your stepmom role, this episode will help you r...

Alicia continues the Role Clarity Series by discussing how stepmoms can communicate their role to their partner without creating conflict or defensiveness. Many stepmoms struggle to speak up about their needs because they fear being seen as difficult or causing tension in their relationship. 

This episode explores the emotional fears that keep stepmoms silent and offers a simple conversation framework to help them express their needs with clarity and confidence. If you’ve ever felt unsupported, overwhelmed, or unsure how to talk to your partner about your role in the family, this episode provides practical tools to sta...

Alicia helps stepmoms define their role intentionally instead of defaulting into expectations placed on them in blended families. Many stepmoms feel confused about where they fit and end up over-giving to keep the peace. 

This episode guides listeners through clarifying their role, understanding the emotional cost of self-erasure, and choosing a way of showing up that fits their values and capacity. If you’re struggling to find your place as a stepmom, this episode will help you create clarity and confidence in your role.

Join The Stepmom Side Community to define your stepmom role with sup...

Alicia explores why stepmoms feel exhausted when they carry responsibility without real authority in blended families. Many stepmoms take on emotional and logistical labor without having equal decision-making power, which leads to burnout and resentment. 

This episode helps stepmoms identify where they are over-functioning, name the grief that often goes unspoken, and take one small step toward a more sustainable role. If you feel depleted, unseen, or resentful in your stepmom role, this episode will help you understand why and what to do next.

Resources mentioned:

Define Your Role As A S...

In this episode of The Stepmom Side Podcast, Alicia teaches stepmoms how to create a personal Trigger Protocol to handle emotionally charged moments without spiraling or snapping. 

If you often react in the heat of the moment and then regret what you said or did, this episode gives you a simple, practical plan you can use when your nervous system is activated. You’ll learn how to choose a pause phrase, an exit strategy, and one nervous system regulation tool so you can respond more calmly in blended family situations. 

This episode is perfect for step...

If you’ve ever said, “I understand why this happened, so I shouldn’t still feel upset,” this episode is for you.

Alicia explores why so many stepmoms intellectualize their emotions instead of processing them — and how that pattern quietly leads to resentment, burnout, and emotional shutdown.

Stepmoms are often praised for being mature, understanding, and “handling things well,” but that praise can come at a cost. When feelings are constantly explained away instead of felt, they don’t disappear — they get stored.

This episode breaks down the difference between intellectualizing emotions and actually...