AND/BOTH Podcast - Real Conversations, Shared Experiences, and the Community You've Been Missing

What do you get when you mix startup experience, mother-of-a-newborn energy, and a deeply broken system for working parents?
You get Recess.

Amy Kiska is the co-founder and CEO of Recess, a platform parents are calling “the Booking.com of kids’ activities.” In this episode, she joins Ashley to talk about building a tech company while parenting a newborn, the invisible mental load of managing care coverage, and the bold decision to solve a problem most people don't recognize until they’re drowning in it.

Amy shares what it took to launch Recess, including fundraising 10 days postpartum, and how she’s designing a business that helps families and providers thrive.

This conversation covers:
The truth about camp registration (and why it feels like the Hunger Games)
How Recess supports both parents and activity providers
The underestimated power of mom-founders
Building a company without pretending you’re doing it alone
And why some of the best ideas are born in the bath 🛁

Connect with Amy:
Website: hello-recess.com
Social media @hellorecess on Instagram and TikTok

Connect with Ashley:
Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com
Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/
Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822
Instagram: @mydovetail.app
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

What if fertility and reproductive health were treated like skincare or mental health, something we talked about before it became a crisis?
In this episode of AND/BOTH, Ashley sits down with Sam Diamond, co‑founder of Bird & Be, to talk about building a clinically‑backed fertility company in the middle of a global pandemic, and why proactive, inclusive fertility care matters more than ever.

Sam shares the deeply personal experiences that shaped Bird & Be’s mission, including miscarriage, fertility treatment, and the gaps she saw in education, access, and support for both women and men. Together, Ashley and Sam explore why fertility conversations are still too reactive, how male fertility remains stigmatized, and what it looks like to build a company rooted in science, ethics, and care.

They also talk about:
Launching a startup during COVID — and why at‑home testing was harder than expected
Why male fertility must be part of every fertility conversation
The shift from “cute” branding to clarity as Bird & Be entered retail
What it took to land Bird & Be in Ulta — and why placement mattered
How early education and testing can shorten or even prevent long fertility journeys
Why women are not “small men” — and how research still fails women’s bodies
Blending motherhood and entrepreneurship without pretending it’s balanced

This is a conversation about health, agency, science, and building systems that actually support people, not just sell to them.

Connect with Sam:
Bird&Be site: https://birdandbe.com/

Connect with Ashley:
Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com
Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/
Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822
Instagram: @mydovetail.app
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

This week on AND/BOTH, I’m joined by Nomiki Petrolla, founder of Theanna and a mother of four who is reshaping what early-stage entrepreneurship can look like for women in tech.
Nomiki has spent 15 years in the tech world, sitting beside founders, engineers, and venture-backed teams, often as the only woman in the room. That experience eventually led her to build Theanna: a platform designed to support women tech founders from idea to launch.
In this episode, we talk about:
Why women are turning to entrepreneurship not out of ambition alone, but out of a desire for agency
The realities of building a startup with four young kids
How AI is completely changing what’s possible for early-stage founders
Why venture capital isn’t the only — or even the most aligned — path for most entrepreneurs
The difference between building your first business for money and your later ones for meaning
How motherhood sharpens clarity, decision-making, and boundaries
What Nomiki is noticing about the next wave of women building tech
Sustainable entrepreneurship vs. the unicorn mythology we’ve all absorbed

It’s a conversation about choosing your own path, understanding your season, and building something that fits your actual life, not a version of life you’re supposed to pretend you have.
Connect with Nomiki:
Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn: @nomikipetrolla
Theanna: @theannaio

Connect with Ashley:
Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com
Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/
Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822
Instagram: @mydovetail.app
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

In this solo episode, I’m taking a moment to pause, look back on Season 9, and share what’s coming as we head into a new year and our tenth season of the AND/BOTH podcast.
This season brought so many meaningful conversations on the mental load, the realities of modern motherhood, how we build community, what comfort and safety look like in hard seasons, and the ways we try (and often fail) to carry less than we’re used to. We also continued our roundtable series, with thoughtful, deeply resonant conversations about grief and holiday burnout that so many of you reached out about.

I talk through:
The themes that kept surfacing across episodes
What these conversations revealed about burnout, expectations, and the pace we’re all trying to keep
The “colander list” moment with my friend Meg and why it hit me squarely in the chest
What it’s been like to grow a tech company, run a podcast, and raise four kids during a very full season
Why we’re taking a short break before Season 10
What you can expect when we return in the new year

And I share an invitation: if you’ve listened to the show and haven’t yet heard your version of motherhood reflected, I would love to bring more voices and stories into the mix. You can submit a guest interest form at andbothpodcast.com.

We’ll be back in January with Season 10—rested, reset, and ready for the next chapter.

Wishing you a holiday season with at least one hot coffee, a moment of actual rest, and something small that fills your cup.

Connect with Ashley:
Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com
Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/
Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822
Instagram: @mydovetail.app
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/

This week on AND/BOTH, I’m joined by Lauryn Warnick, CEO and founder of Villain Branding. Lauryn shares how she went from film school to tech startups to leading a verbal-first brand consultancy—and how the business has grown and shifted alongside marriage, motherhood, and the many seasons real life brings.
We talk about:
Building a business that doesn’t pretend life at home is paused
Why B2B storytelling has more impact (and heart) than most people expect
Working with a spouse and figuring out routines that actually work
The pressure of being the primary income earner while raising young kids
Moving away from “balance” and toward navigating what each season asks of you
The Disney moment that unexpectedly reframed flexibility, boundaries, and perspective

This episode is full of the conversations that don’t always make it into the highlight reel—how we work, how we parent, and how we keep adjusting the picture as life keeps changing.

Connect with Lauryn:
Website: www.villainbranding.com
LinkedIn: Lauryn Warnick

Connect with Ashley:
Website: https://www.ashleyblackington.com
Podcast website: https://www.andbothpodcast.com/
Dovetail® App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dovetail-app/id6744341822
Instagram: @mydovetail.app
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyblackington/