Maternal Health Advocacy & Supporting Moms Worldwide with Angelina Spicer

In this inspiring episode of the Passionistas Project, sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington sit down with Angelina Spicer, a stand-up comedian, writer, mother, and activist. The episode delves into Angelina's journey from a childhood dream of acting to a career in comedy, and ultimately to her role as an advocate for maternal health. With humor and honesty, Angelina shares her experiences with postpartum depression and anxiety, the founding of her global nonprofit 'Spicy Mom,' and the support from her mother that has been pivotal along the way. This episode highlights themes of courage, authenticity, and the messy, beautiful journey of living life unapologetically. Listen in to hear how Angelina's determination and passion have impacted her career and her vision for the future of maternal mental health support.

Listen the full episode HERE.

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ON THIS EPISODE

[00:00] Introduction to the Passionistas Project

[00:34] Meet Angelina: Comedian, Activist, and Mom

[01:23] Angelina's Journey to Maternal Health Advocacy

[02:30] From Childhood Dreams to Acting Career

[04:21] Supportive Family and Early Influences

[11:04] The Impact of Howard University

[13:12] Breaking into Hollywood

[15:22] Big Breaks: Conan and Kimmel

[19:30] Navigating the Male-Dominated World of Standup Comedy

[21:43] Women in Comedy: Changing Perceptions

[22:34] Comedy as a Bridge to Mental Health Conversations

[24:13] Marriage, Motherhood, and Career Transitions

[26:52] Struggles with Postpartum Depression

[31:40] Creating Spicy Moms: A Movement for Maternal Support

[38:42] Global Expansion and Future Goals

[39:59] Dreams for the Future

[43:18] Join the Passionistas Project Sisterhood

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Passionistas: Hi, we're sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington, founders of the Passionistas Project, where we believe that every woman deserves to be seen, heard, and celebrated. Our mission is simple but powerful to give women a platform to tell their unfiltered stories, the stories that inspire challenge, and break the silence around what really means to follow your Passionistas.

On each episode, we have conversations about courage, authenticity, and the messy, beautiful journey of living life unapologetically. Today we're talking with Angelina Spicer, a standup comedian, writer, mom and activist who uses humor to ignite real conversations about maternal health. With over 100 million viral views and performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and Conan, she's also the founder of Spicy Mom.

A global nonprofit supporting vulnerable mothers in the first 48 hours postpartum. Her advocacy has earned recognition from President Biden, vice President Harris and Yale School of Medicine. So we are so excited to have this conversation today with Angelina Spicer. Welcome.

Angelina: Thank you. What an introduction.I feel very accomplished hearing

Passionistas: You are very accomplished. We didn't make any of it up.

Angelina: No, you didn't. Um, and if you would've told me when I started this journey. Nearly 10 years ago, uh, when my daughter Ava was born, that Yale School of Medicine and the White House would invite me anywhere to, uh, to talk about my birth journey or anything about my myself, I would've told you, you are wild.

You are crazy. And you must be talking about someone else. Um, so I, I, I, I love to hear it because it's a part of me. Yeah. Still does not believe that we have made so many strides in achieving the, um, the unthinkable, which is to normalize the conversations around postpartum depression and anxiety. But we're doing it.

Passionistas: Would you say that is what you are most passionate about, meaning advocacy for women with postpartum depression?

Angelina: Yes, I am most, most passionate about that. Um, and of course as the Passionistas, I have to start with my passion. My passion was not always, um, maternal health advocacy. In fact, it was acting that had been my dream since I was.

Maybe five years old. When I first started acting classes in New York City, um, it, I was always passionate about, you know, musical theater. Theater itself. I actually studied theater. I got my BFA from Howard University in acting and moved to Los Angeles. That's what brought me here to pursue a career in, uh, in acting.

And that led me to do sketch Comedy. Which actually started my online career as a content creator, creating crazy characters and sketches, uh, and then later doing standup Comedy. And at each juncture it was like, wow, I've unlocked a new level of passion or a new, yeah, a new level of passion for performing.

Uh, and then when I had my daughter, I was like, what? Who, who am I? What do I do now? Um. Do I even do what I think I've been doing my whole life? Am I really the person that I thought I was? Um, everything just flipped itself. Upside, upside down. And that's when my, my passion for helping, supporting, um, and more importantly delivering resources to all moms regardless of socioeconomic status, area code, zip code, country code.

That's when I discovered my passion for really supporting moms after they have their babies.

Passionistas: You are a powerhouse. I wanna go back to 5-year-old Angelina and find out what sparked that passion for entertaining. And what was your childhood like? What was your family supportive of all of that?

Angelina: I was actually born to a teen mother.

My mom was, uh, 16 years old when I was born. Um, and we didn't have access to. Nearly a third of what I have access to now. Um, but my mom has always been. Beyond supportive of every dream, every goal, every wish that my heart ever desired. Um, and she had been supportive ever since. I remember watching the Cosby Show.

Which is funny 'cause I have a joke about the Cosby Show, about how Brooklyn's all gentrified now and everybody who goes to Brooklyn, you know, they only know about the, the Cosby Show version of Brooklyn. Uh, but yeah, I, I, I grew up there and my mom was, I was watching the Cosby Show and my mom was like, oh, you wanna do that The next week She literally marched me into, into an agency and into acting classes in Manhattan, and I was off.

To the races. Um, and she has supported me through every iteration of my. Career as a performer from putting me in, uh, a specialized high school for performing arts to, uh, having to like drive me to set as a working teenage actor. Um, I bought my first car with my acting money when I was a teenager. I was very proud of that.

Um. Yeah, so 5-year-old Angelina was, was just like a sponge of accents and characters and funny faces, and was always the person at every family gathering, whether there were three people in the room or 300 people in the room, that was always urged, like, go, go, go do that thing. Do that thing. Do your aunt, you know, you know, I was like an an impressionist.

At like eight years old, I didn't know what impressions were. I didn't, uh, but I just knew that, uh, I loved Tracy Oman. I knew that I, I loved, um, Gary Shambling. You know, I'm probably dating myself. That's okay. But those were the sort of, um, before I knew what Sketch Comedy, standup Comedy, bef ore I knew anything about Comedy, I knew that I liked what those people did and that my family would urge me.To share the gifts that I had that resembled that.

Passionistas: Do you remember the first time you realized you were funny and that you, that power of making people laugh?

Angelina: Yes, I do. I do. My aunt, my Aunt Maxine, was the butt of the joke. Um, and I was always pushed to do an impression of Aunt Maxine. So yes, I was eight years old in my living room on Van Buren Street in Brooklyn, and my, there was the first time 15 people in a room laughed at anything I did or said. And I was like, okay, here we're your girl is.

Passionistas: Oh my God. Uh, one of the things I love about your mom, 'cause I've never met her, but I've seen her on social media now. Um, you know, she, you did a world tour, which we'll talk about in a little bit, but she went with you is is support of, of course, from the way you describe her. But there's a video of the two of you, I think you're like eating some food in Belgium or something, and.

You literally are next to each other. You can't see each other, but you both take a bite or you know, I think that's what, and the expressions on your faces are exactly the same. It's like a mirror image of each other and you don't know it 'cause you're not even paying attention to the other person. But it's like, oh, these two are insane.

Angelina: Two peas in a pod. Yes, we truly are. I'm so happy you, you saw that my mom, yeah. She has been fortunate to, to be able to, to take time away from work and her own personal life to join me. Uh, because a lot of the work that we do with Spicy Moms and with the tour is led by just me. People see the lime green, they see the tour bus, they see the international stops, they see the partnerships with the US embassies around the world, and it looks like there's a machine behind Spicy Moms.

But the truth is, is that it's Angelina Spicer and sometimes her mom that is leading this work. So I, I rely heavily on my mom. My mom is a business woman. She's launched and sold. Over five companies. She worked on Wall Street for years. She has the MBA in marketing. Uh, she is the left side to my right side, the right side of my brain.

So together we are a dynamic, uh, duo. But yes, my mom travels with me and it's, it's amazing because when she was, she had me so young as a teenage mom in Brooklyn. She did not, again, have access to many of the things that I have access to now. But I remember when I was about nine, it was about 10 years old in Brooklyn.

Um, my mom heard about this group that was a group of alumni from Howard University who organized trips for young students to go back to Africa, and my mom saved her little coins. Within and within about three weeks I was on a plane going to Dara Salaam, Tanzania, and Mombasa, Kenya. And every summer my mom wanted me to see more than just Brooklyn and wanted me to have a deeper connection to Africa and to be exposed to life for just young girls outside of the us.

But she had never been. In fact, my mom had never traveled outside of the country until she traveled with me and spicy moms. So I'm very proud, uh, that I am able to invite her along the journey with me and to share these moments with her. The next goal is to be able to retire my mom. I wanna be able to retire her and bring her on full time to spicy moms so that she can have an official role in an official salary.

Uh, a retired lady salary 'cause I, you know, I can't pay that much, but so, but yes, my mom is a huge, critical part of spicy Moms.

Passionistas: I love that full circle moment, right?

Angelina: Truly.

Passionistas: Yeah. So you mentioned Howard University. Tell us what drew you there and how your time there influenced your journey.

Angelina: Oh my gosh, what drew me there?

It's Howard, it's it's HU you know, it's, it's, it's, it's the, the most magical place to grow up and to feel included, to feel important, to really chase your dreams, to really clarify your dreams. Uh, what drew me to Howard University was my cousin Keisha. She was, I, I'm an only child. I don't have older siblings or any siblings for that matter.

My cousin Keisha, she was a dancer, honey, uh, for the Howard University football. Uh, she was a part of the marching band as an ULA LA dancer. And so my first visit to any college was Howard as my cousin's guest. And I was like, oh my gosh. And I came for homecoming. And now if you don't know about the legendary Howard University homecoming, that has appeared in many, um, rappers.

I mean, once anything is in a rap song, it's immediately like. Culture. Culture cachet. Okay, so Howard has been in many documentaries, rapper songs, all the things, ambassadors come back. Uh, but I went for Howard Homecoming and I was like, this is where I'm gonna be. I went to Howard. I studied acting. Uh, Debbie Allen and Felicia Rashad were very integral in the department and how it was structured.

Um, Felicia Rashad is actually currently the dean of the, um, of the College of Fine Arts. And looking to them as sort of the guidepost of hustle, grit, and creating your own way really did instill in me that, you know, I had what it take, I had what it took to be successful and, um, that there were many who had come before me and blazed the trail.

Uh, and I, I felt, I felt ready. Ready. I moved to Los Angeles the day after graduation from Howard. Ready.

Passionistas: So what happened when you got here? What was it like actually getting into Hollywood?

Angelina: Thank you for asking. Folks. Always only wanna hear about the depression, the postpartum depression. What was the psych ward like?

Oh, did you eat well? Oh, what kind of drugs did they give you? In the psych ward? Oh, postpartum, depre. I'm like, honey, there is more to me than just sadness and anxiety. Okay. When I moved to Los Angeles, I moved with a mentor, which I was. Which grounded me and also my mom. My mom felt like, okay, there's some layer of protection.

Uh, and the a, the, the mentor that I had actually graduated from Howard, she paid for my first head shots. She was a working actress on a television series at the time. So she definitely kept me in the mix, kept me working, uh, and kept me. Sort of involved in what the industry was like. Uh, through her, I forged a relationship with, uh, Vincent, so who was her manager at the time, and also Halle Berry's manager, as well as Taraji p Henson's manager.

Um, and I made a conscious choice that my first year. Out of Howard that I would not act, I would learn the business, and I made a decision to learn what breakdowns are, who the casting directors are, what a talent agency in Hollywood actually does. What are the levels of talent agencies. Also, I was an assistant in the office, so.

There. I, I, I formed coalitions and cohorts of other assistants at agencies, at management companies. And from that experience of just grounding myself not working, um, I have relationships to this day from that, um, from that work that Vincent allowed me to do at his office. So, um, it, I didn't feel scared. I felt protected.

I felt. Prepared. I felt well connected too at the, at the beginning of, of my acting career, um, because I had done that, that structured sort of learning time.

Passionistas: Tell us about a couple of those big breaks, Conan Kimmel, like how did those help, you know, help teach you about finding your voice and your place in the entertainment world?

Angelina: Thank you for asking. Every question you ask is like. There is more to Angelina Spicer than postpartum depression. Thank you. Um, those big breaks. Conan was my first big break. Um, I had been schlepping at the Hollywood Improv, the Comedy store, the com, I mean, every hole in the wall where there was a mic and two people in the audience.

At least two. That was my quota. Um, I was getting up and doing standup. I was doing standup. Um. And I was also doing Sketch. I had landed a, um, a Disney YouTube series called Take 180. I went into audition for a public audition. They had been, this was not even a private one that I self submitted for, for, uh, an impressionist of Tyra Banks.

I will not do the impression today.

Passionistas: Oh. I was like,

Angelina: every time I tell people I used, used to do impressions, they're like, please just do Tyra. Please, please. I'm like, those days are over.

Passionistas: When we meet for coffee, I'm gonna need

Angelina: to, when we meet for coffee. Plus it's on YouTube so you can search it. Angelina Spicer, the Tyra Banks, it'll pop right up.

Uh, and I booked that immediately after leaving the room. They had been looking for Tyra Banks and they found her and me at the time I was working at a. At a brokerage firm. Uh, during the mornings I had a job working just from six to 12 every day, and I had that audition at like 1230. I booked it, and that gig lasted eight years.

I was a regular on that show. From that first audition, I played everything from Miss Pacman to Nicki Minaj, Tyra Banks, Beyonce. I was like, I don't even look like Beyonce, but I can dance. You know, I can sing when it's supposed to be funny. I'm not trying to be Katy Perry or Beyonce herself, honey, but I can carry a tune and I can shake a tail feather.

Um, so that job lasted a very long time. Um. And the writers at Conan saw my work on YouTube on Take 180. And, um, that is how I booked my first sketch on Conan, Mrs. Butterworth. Um, and I was excited to play a syrup bottle. I was excited to, to be on the Warner Brothers lot. That was the first time that I had ever been invited to Warner, even.

It was a straight booking. I didn't have to audition, I didn't have to meet with the casting director, meet with the writers, meet with anybody. It was just like, Hey, are you available on this day? Comfort, you know, wardrobe and et cetera. Uh, and then the Conan gig lasted seven years. So I was on Conan playing all kinds of characters like the syrup bottle, Mrs.

Butterworth. Um, I played, I did like three sketches of Mrs. Butterworth. I also played Snow Black. Instead of Snow White, there was Snow Black. It was me. Um, a bunch of, I performed with Jeff Goldblum on Conan. Um, he's so fine. I just had to say that that man is fine. I'm a married woman, but, Ooh. Jeff Goldblum.

So that is how I got my big break. Conan solidified me as not only as a, as a, a real sketch performer, but also got me so much cachet from my Comedy peers. They're like, oh my, I was like the first one in my, of my peer group. To get a regular gig on Conan and then I, there were so many comedians who worked on the show, both as Conan Standin, um, the stage managers.

There were, a lot of them were comedians who I worked with at the club. So it was nice that I was able to get to see them. Both at the club and both on set. So that was my first big break. Those two.

Passionistas: Standup is a notoriously male dominated world and not always easy for women to navigate. So how has your experience been and has it changed over the years for you?

Angelina: Thank you for asking that. It, it, it, it, what it shows me is your level of understanding of, of the business, um, but also the journey of women in the entertainment industry, namely performers. Um, standup Comedy is still in Los Angeles, is still very male dominated. Um, when I first started there was always only one woman on the lineup.

If you scan the lineups at all the clubs, you're pretty much gonna still see only one woman. The difference, the difference is, is that, um, I have found and stand up, that women look out for each other. So if one woman has done, you know, a a, you know, Matt Rife show at the Improv, just as an example, they'll make sure that the next go round.

There's a line of us like, okay, I did it. Okay, bring the next one in. She's coming up behind me. This is who you should work with. Right? Um, so that has changed. That part of it has changed. Women are taking more ownership of our role in, in the advancement of women in Comedy and, and, uh, and entertainment or are forcibly bringing our people with me.

Also, a lot of the clubs are much more open to women run shows. I will say many of the clubs, um, I for the last six years have been the resident host for Pretty Funny Women, which is the longest running all female Comedy show in Los Angeles. It's been around for 35 years. I have not been there that long, uh, but I would be because they're amazing.

And, um, I've been the resident host there. And the clubs allow me to bring my daughter with me on days when she's not, you know, when my husband's working or we ships are passing, they allow me to bring my daughter with me. I breastfed in the green room. I've done PTA meetings in the green room. Right. Um, now granted those are on the all women shows.

I don't know what I, what it would be like in a room full of dudes in the green room with my boob out. Trying to pump, but hey, I would try it. Um, so if things are changing, uh, we, we are allowed to produce more shows now also. So, um, I love that I get to be the, the resident host of the pretty funny women's show in, in San Diego here, in here in la, also in San Francisco.

So it's, it, it is just a real honor and privilege. And then my daughter, when she comes to see the shows. She's, she only knows women comedians. She doesn't know any dudes who do Comedy. So her perception, the younger generation's perception is being influenced by, um, by the, the growing number of women producers in Comedy and also performers.

Passionistas: All right, so now we do have to ask about the other stuff.

Angelina: I thought we were gonna start

Passionistas: there. Bridge here. When did you realize that Comedy was gonna become a bridge between entertainment and then some of these deeper conversations about mental health and more?

Angelina: I knew when the audience laughed the first time I told a broken vagina joke.

I knew like, okay, I'm onto something here. Um, I knew that Comedy would be the bridge when after shows men would come up to me, mostly drunk, but men would, dudes would come up and share their darkest moments with me about after they had their first child, and men would share and still do. About their own mother's experiences about being a perfectionist and having anxiety, but not really knowing what it was.

I've had men overshare with me about what their, uh, partners, lady parts looked like. The nipple looked like, I mean, you, you name it. Um, that's when I knew that, listen, if, if I can get men who have come to the club, to the Comedy club, sit. Shoot the shit, have a good time, have a glass of whiskey. If I leave and leave the stage.

And that man is coming up to me and sharing his deepest, darkest moments or the moments of his, his loved ones who've been impacted by this. I'm like, I'm doing this. Something's working. Something's working.

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Passionistas: So you mentioned Ava, who, uh, we've also seen on social media and is adorable. Um, talk about. Your personal life and the transition into marriage and motherhood, and not only how that impacted your career, but kind of that path you took as a, as a mother when you became a mother.

Angelina: I always wanted to be a mom. I always, it was always a priority to me. Um, but because my mom was a teen mother. And most of my childhood was going to college and graduate school with my mom and study groups and libraries and work. I knew that I wanted to make a choice with whom I had a child and the timing of when I had a child, I knew that that was important to me because I saw the opposite.

Um, and. I was, I was up for SNL, I was on track to be on SNL. I had done all the Hollywood incubators at CBS and uh, A, B, C, all of the diversity Comedy tracks. And when I didn't. I was not invited to test for Saturday Night Live. You know, the last audition before you either book it or not. Uh, when I didn't get that opportunity, I told my husband, I was like, I guess it's time to get pregnant.

And before the tea left my mouth. I was pregnant, I was ready. So it was like, okay, we're here. Right. Um, and we were both in shock because it happened so quickly. I had never been pregnant before. Uh, so I didn't know. I didn't, this is, I'm trying to tear, I'm like, I spent my whole life trying not to get pregnant the moment I decided to get pregnant.

I'm like, dang, it happened that quick. So, um, it was great though. My pregnancy was fine. Um, marriage was always the, my anchor in Hollywood. I always tell people that, that I was the married Comedy friend. That would stay out till one in the morning, two in the morning. 'cause we, comedians, we work late hours, but I always went home to my man.

I always went home to, you know, love and warmth and, uh, provision. I, I, that has always been a part of my, my success. I say as, as a performer is, is being married. Um, so when we got pregnant it was, we were like, okay, I guess we're doing this and. My pregnancy was fine. Everything was great until around 30 weeks, and I was, I was marked high risk, and, um, the doctors were not kind to me.

They, I, I felt threatened. I felt like the fact that I was high risk was my fault, when in fact my daughter just was growth restricted and wasn't getting the proper nutrition while she was in utero and. She was finally born, and it turned out she had a natural knot in her cord, a natural, like a noose. Her cord had like, and it was wrapped around and it was the, the natural knot was at the base of her placenta, so she really wasn't able to get anything.

Um, so that's kind of what started the, the, the feelings of anxiety, which I'd never had before. And the depression, which I had had before. Um, I'm a comedian. Everybody's depressed in the Comedy club, you know. Um, so yeah, it just, it got worse. It got worse when I got home. We weren't sleeping. I started to hate my husband.

I was like, Lord, nobody told me my vagina was hurt. Would hurt. And I wanna run away and hate you. Like nobody told me that. Um. But yeah, it, it, it, it, it turned out okay because thankfully I had a therapist who recommended that I check myself into a psychiatric facility, which I did willingly and happily, because all along, for eight long months, I had been searching for.

A way to climb out of the depression and a way to sort of balance the anxiety of, of just the intrusive thoughts and everything. So, um, yeah, it worked out. It worked out. I was hospitalized and in the hospital I was like, this is it. I am not going to let another mom within the sound of my voice or another woman, whether she's had a child or not, think about it considering it.

Doing all the things to get a baby, but doesn't want one, she's gonna know what this is, right? Because people just make it feel like it's just something women do. Oh, oh yeah, I had a baby. Oh, she had the baby. The baby. What about her? She might feel like a shell of herself. She might feel lost. I felt like my old self died.

I felt. Confined and on edge and not in control. And ah, it was awful. It was awful. Um, but it helped to know that there was a name for it. I didn't know that what I was experiencing was. Clinical postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety. It took being diagnosed, being in the hospital, being accepting medication, accepting more support, accepting help.

The, all of those things helped me sort of rediscover myself. Um, and I'm, I'm grateful. I'm grateful for the opportunity because a lot of women. For many circumstances don't have access to get the help that they even want rather than need. But like women are crying out, I get at least a dozen dms per week asking What about my psych ward experience?

Specifically how I was admitted, what made me go, what it was like. Women are curious. People are curious, like how do they actually treat postpartum depression and anxiety at a psych unit? Do they treat it? Were you afraid? Who paid for it? Who watched your other children? Uh, you know, who supported you? How did you pay your bills while you were away in the, in the psych unit, right?

There's a lot of. There's a lot of mystery around, around what the solutions to, um, postpartum depression and anxiety treatment look like. Um, but I think prevention is the best measure and prevention by way of education and by reaching the masses and changing the, the social norms of how we talk about.

Depression, anxiety, and motherhood. We need to approach it with a very realistic point of view, and that includes storytelling. I don't know my mom's birth story. Most women that I meet, they don't know their mother's birth stories, right? So even starting small that way.

Passionistas: You have this thought in your head, I don't want another woman to go through this.

So how does that turn into Spicy Moms and a global movement with 10,000 volunteers worldwide?

Angelina: It started by taking the first step. Honestly, it started by being frustrated when my advocacy would attract. Moms and families, not only moms, but families, caregivers, partners, when they reach out for support and I not have the ability to support them with where they are.

Um, that frustrated me because I had volunteered for so many organizations. You name the organization. I had put in the time marching up and down the halls of Congress, doing home visits, meeting on Zoom with the governors of this and that, and advocating for policy change and when it, but when it came time to actually deploy support to an actual mom, I was handed lists, papers, files.

To sift through, and I'm like, wait a minute there, like, do you just not have a concept of what this family or this person is dealing with? We are the experts in this. We know what this, what this mom is feeling like, and for her or her family to reach out to ask for guidance, support, resources, and you hand them a list.

I, I, I, honestly, I'm not a violent person, but, uh, baby, I'm from Brooklyn. I was ready to square up, like, wait a minute. Okay. They took me to go to a psych ward. Okay. A psych ward to be able to tell my story, share with other moms. And you mean to tell me that you're a researcher, a doctor. Or a a, a passionate advocate.

And the best you can do for a mom, a stranger who has reached out to you for support, the best you can do is hand her a piece of paper and tell her to go and help herself.

Square up, squabble up. What does Kendrick say? Squabble up, uh, squabble up. No, I, it, it, it infu the thought of it. Yeah. You can tell Pastor Easter, I get real passionate about it. I, I, I, I get furious at the thought of someone conjuring up the courage to reach out to a stranger to ask for help because she does not know what to do with this new baby.

And you literally give her the runaround. You give her Google phone numbers of people that you don't know if they exist, if they're around, if they're still in practice. Unacceptable. Unacceptable. So spicy Moms was created out of the need to deploy tangible. Resources to all moms of all socioeconomic status.

We don't only focus on moms who are, you know, uh, economically challenged or in financial straits. We support moms who just don't know what the hell they're experiencing. Right. We can all relate to that. Like what is this? What is, okay? What is this blood? Or what is this lump? Or what is, what is this? And sadly, we don't have the social support to be able to ask each other.

That's where the stigma comes in. But it's, but when. The medical professionals, when the researchers, when the actual organizations that say that they help and support families through this time are not in the business of actually delivering tangible resources, that's when I was like, we've gotta do something.

So we start with our postpartum care kits, the spicy moms postpartum care kits, they come in a bright lime green bla bag. Lime green tote bag, that's our color. And they have everything that hospitals know we need, but don't give us. Okay? And that includes stool softeners. Any mama or anybody who's ever had any kind of surgery and needed an epidural knows that that first bowel movement is like rocks.

Okay? So you need some colac, you need something to soften that thing out. Okay? So in our postpartum care kits, we've got our, um, our stool softeners. We've got hemorrhoid cream. We've got tux, we've got adult diapers. If the hospital or somebody else tells, tell, had told me to use one more pad that irritated my stitches, and I was like, just gimme the granny panty diapers.

Okay. Just, just, just, just uhuh and you freeze them. So, right. So, and within those postpartum care kits, uh, we have nutritional items for mom. Uh, a few items for baby, but the kits are solely focused on moms. Mental health. We have journals, you know, water bottles and nutritional foods and things like that, um, in the postpartum care kits.

And also we partner with hospitals and research institutions to provide the science that backs it up, that what is postpartum depression, not as defined by a comedian. But as defined by the experts, right? Who do we call? What is the National, not suicide hotline, but mental health hotline? Who are the local providers?

We do home visits. We go and hold babies so that moms can take a shower so that mom can walk around the, the building. You know, like I, I, I remember my, my daughter came to a home visit with me last year with a mom in downtown Los Angeles, um, who. I met six years prior to her having her baby, and she reached out 24 hours after she gave birth, and I had, I hadn't seen her in years, hadn't heard from her.

She said, I just had the baby yesterday. I need you. What is this? How? I don't know what I'm doing. I'm scared. Anytime someone reaches out and says they're afraid, I become afraid for them. And their own mental health. So it, it's, it's been a journey, but that is how Spicy Moms came about. We're looking, we're excited to.

Partner with more brands. We've partnered with Pampers, we've partnered with, um, um, nutrition companies. You know, I have a TikTok, so the TikTok people will send me stuff for the moms. But we, we, we definitely make sure that moms have tangible resources and educational tools in those postpartum care kits 'cause that's a critical piece to their success as a new mom.

Passionistas: So if someone is struggling, how do they. Get access to all of this.

Angelina: They DM the Spicy Moms account. We make it super easy, no Berriez to reach us. We have, uh, we have a team of volunteers that manage our, um, our, our social media dms and every DM gets to meet through our volunteers.

And regardless of where mom is in the US we have volunteers across the country that will literally. Bring Homecooked meals, those postpartum care kits now abroad. We just have, we've just started our work in, uh, Ghana as of last year, and we've expanded to, um, a regional hub there. Uh, and we have, we partner with churches, we partner with the maternity wards and members of Parliament to give those moms resources there.

We're expanding our reach in Belgium, in Paris, and um, next year we'll be expanding our reach to South Africa also.

Passionistas: Wow. Absolutely incredible. You are such a powerhouse. Uh, we don't wanna end this conversation because we could talk to you. We haven't even asked a third of the questions we had prepared to ask you, so we'll need to do a part two.

Okay. But we just wanna ask one last question, which is, what is your dream for yourself? It's actually two parts. What is your dream for yourself and what is your dream for women?

[

Angelina: My dream for myself is to continue to lean into the flow of where the creator is taking me. I've been the queen of the pivot, and at every moment in my career, I've always leaned into the, yes, I started consistently performing standup Comedy because I continued to get booked.

I was like, I'm just gonna keep going as a comic until the clubs, the clubs start telling me no. But it was yes after, yes, after, yes. And that's how I started advocating, um, and helping pass legislation and meeting with Congress and later being honored by President Biden. Um, so I, I, my, my, my hope, my goal for myself is to continue to lean into where the yeses are coming from.

To not be distracted by the nose because those are inevitable. My wish for moms or women, not, not just moms, you know, all of us, all of us identifying as women, is that the funding shows up. My, my wish is that the funding shows up for research in women's health, uh, and specifically for maternal mental health Funding has been a huge barrier for us scaling for spicy moms to be able to scale, to even be able to many times.

Provide resources to moms, which is why we rely so heavily on our volunteer community to provide meals and diapers for babies, but also maternity clothes for some moms who don't have access and, and all kinds of, uh, of resource tangible resources for those moms. So my, my hope, my wish, my goal is that the world sees the benefit of investing in women's health.

So that. Women are included in, in, in, uh, in research and in support. I, I, I know wholeheartedly that our communities worldwide and our children will be so much better prepared for the world if their moms and the women who are around them are supported with optimal, optimal care.

Passionistas: And we lied. I have one last question. I wanna know, what's your dream for Ava?

Angelina: Thank you for asking. I know I'm dramatic. What is my dream for Ava

is that she is confident beyond measure. My goal for Ava is to be confident, to be able to walk into any room and know herself, know her value, and to know that even if and when she makes mistakes. That she still deserves to be there. Everywhere she is, she deserves it. That's my wish and my hope and dream for Ava.

Passionistas: Thanks for listening to the Passionistas Project Podcast. As real life sisters, best friends and business partners, we know how rare it is to have a built-in support system. But we also know that so many women activists, solopreneurs, and purpose-driven people are out there doing it alone and wishing they had a community like ours.

That's exactly why we created the Passionistas Project Sisterhood. A space where support, trust, and authenticity come first. When you join, you become part of our extended family. You'll get the tools you need to grow your business, develop personally, and create real social impact. You'll also learn from our power Passionistas leaders, change makers, and experts who share their wisdom on everything from letting go of perfectionism to embracing community and stepping fully into your purpose.

Whether it's through online meetups, chat spaces, Passionistas tv, and the Passionistas Podcast Network are our exclusive workshop series. You'll be surrounded by like-minded women and gender non-conforming folks who are just as passionate as you are about living with purpose and making a difference.

Visit the Passionistas project.com to join our free membership and become part of this growing global sisterhood of passionate change makers. We'll be back next time with another inspiring Passionista who's breaking down the Berriez and defining success on her own terms.

Until then, stay passionate.