240. Being Crunchy Without Going Crazy | Emily of Really Very Crunchy

Summary

Podcast Summary: Simple Farmhouse Life Ep. 240

Title: Being Crunchy Without Going Crazy | Emily of Really Very Crunchy
Date: June 4, 2024
Host: Lisa Bass
Guest: Emily Morrow ("Really Very Crunchy")

---

Overview

In this episode, Lisa Bass sits down with Emily Morrow—creator of the viral "Really Very Crunchy" social media brand—for a candid, comedic, and practical discussion about how to live a crunchy/natural lifestyle without letting it take over your personality (or your mental health). The conversation covers finding balance among the pressures of modern "crunchy" standards, how to set personal priorities, social and family dynamics, and how humor can help moms embrace imperfection. Emily shares her backstory, the origins of her content, and offers reassurance, practical tips, and a behind-the-scenes look at her creative process.

---

Main Theme

Balancing Crunchy/Natural Living With Realism, Sanity, and Relationships

Emily and Lisa dig into how the modern Internet-driven wellness world can push moms into an overwhelming, perfectionistic mindset. Through personal anecdotes and lots of humor, they emphasize prioritizing joy, relationships, and reasonable habits over obsessively clean living.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Emily’s "Really Very Crunchy" Origin Story

Timestamps: [02:45]–[07:00]

• Platform Origin: Emily's husband noticed the humor in her crunchy lifestyle and encouraged her to turn it into content—he even posted their early videos and managed the account to maintain an air of mystery.
• Viral Moment: Their 8th TikTok video, "Crunchy mom at a birthday party," went viral, sparking curiosity: Is she poking fun or really that crunchy?
• Quote:
  • “I’m really not as insane as my character. I am definitely a crunchy mom, but not, you know, totally inflexible like my character.” — Emily [02:45]

2. The Pressures and Pitfalls of Perfect Crunchy Living

Timestamps: [07:09]–[14:47]

• Relentless New Information: Emily describes the constant influx of "toxicity" warnings and “never-ending” research, leading to decision fatigue and stress.
• Letting Go: Both agree you can’t sweat every single detail (e.g., composition of floss or spandex in leggings).
• Quote:
  • “You can't hyper focus on everything or you'll drive yourself crazy.” — Emily [08:24]

3. Finding Your Own 80/20 “Crunchy” Balance

Timestamps: [10:02]–[13:49]

• Emily’s 20%: Occasional non-crunchy treats, flexible with “rules," focusing more on the “big rocks” (whole home-cooked food, avoiding dye, etc.).
• The “what’s your 20?” question is relative; everyone’s boundaries and compromises look different.
• Quote:
  • “For someone else, your 20 is going to be different based on how crunchy you are, right?” — Emily [11:43]

4. Crunchy Living and Relationships / Social Situations

Timestamps: [24:08]–[29:17]

• Book Inspiration: Emily shares feeling judged for “not knowing enough” as a young mom, inspiring her to write Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner's Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life Without Adding Them to Your Personality.
• Relational Priorities: Not letting crunchy living harm relationships (family, friends, social events, etc.).
• Dealing with Grandparents & Social Settings: Honest, kind communication + being flexible unless a true allergy is involved.
• Quote:
  • "You just have to get your priorities straight… I never wanted to be that person where I made someone feel so small, especially when they're doing a kind gesture." — Emily [24:48]

5. Non-Negotiables and Reasonable Flexibility

Timestamps: [29:17]–[31:23]

• Emily avoids food dyes and excessive screen time due to direct (especially behavioral) effects on her kids, but is otherwise flexible, embracing experiences and the occasional treat.

6. Influence, Perception, and Online Authenticity

Timestamps: [31:41]–[38:19]

• Getting Recognized: Yes, it’s awkward to be “caught” at a less-than-crunchy restaurant, but most people don’t judge; everyone bends sometimes.
• Creativity, Scripting, and Teamwork: Emily and her husband script and edit their viral short-form comedy, with Emily adding real “crunchy” details.
• Quote:
  • “We definitely script almost all of our videos... We want to say the exact thing that we're hoping.” — Emily [36:21]

7. The Mental Weight of Content Creation

Timestamps: [39:07]–[44:49]

• Brand deals are necessary for full-time content creators; online criticism about “selling out” is common but, as Emily notes, “it’s comedy,” and supportive audience members are the core.
• Both Lisa and Emily touch on the challenge of fielding negative or misinterpreted feedback, and the importance of setting boundaries for mental health.

8. Encouraging a Playful, Less-Structured Childhood

Timestamps: [49:23]–[53:49]

• Emily’s (soon to be published) children’s book focuses on nurturing independent play; she credits her sons’ creativity and physicality to low screen time and plenty of unstructured outdoor play.
• Both hosts reflect on the pressure moms feel about constantly entertaining their kids, observing that such pressure is unnecessary for healthy development.
• Quote:
  • “They just go outside and spend a lot of their days out there playing, coming up with their own games… It's really convenient in motherhood that they can entertain themselves.” — Emily [50:11]

9. Internet Fame, Controversy, and Community

Timestamps: [54:27]–[63:15]

• Hot-button issues (e.g., formula vs. breastfeeding) can spark intense reactions; Emily finds humor and positive engagement help tame backlash.
• Both hosts discuss the challenge of “living up” to follower expectations, the stress of negative comments, and the need to focus on gratitude for the supportive community.

---

Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On Overwhelm:
  • “When you do try to fix everything… you're just frantic and you can't, you cannot win.” — Emily [07:09]
• Perspective on Priorities:
  • "To me, [relationships] are so much more important than the food we consume… you just have to get your priorities straight." — Emily [31:31]/[24:48]
• Food for Thought:
  • “There’s something too, with like, picking the vegetable, being grateful for it… your mind believing that even if it isn’t perfect, but almost not knowing, in a lot of ways, can be better.” — Lisa [18:43]
• On Content Creation Criticism:
  • “If you're super offended by it, then you probably don't understand that it's comedy.” — Emily [40:44]
• On Raising Crunchy Kids:
  • “Let them play, use their imagination. They're gonna learn so much that way and build so many skills...” — Emily [51:12]

---

Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• Emily’s Story & Going Viral: [02:45]–[07:00]
• Crunchy Pressure & Perfectionism: [07:09]–[14:47]
• Finding Your "20%" (Balance): [10:02]–[13:49]
• Crunchy Living & Relationships: [24:08]–[29:17]
• Non-Negotiables Discussion: [29:17]–[31:23]
• Social Situations & Authenticity: [31:41]–[38:19]
• Content Creation & Criticism: [39:07]–[44:49]
• Play and Motherhood: [49:23]–[53:49]
• Internet Fame & Handling Negativity: [54:27]–[63:15]
• Where to Find Emily: [64:13]

---

Where to Find Emily / Resources

• All platforms: @ReallyVeryCrunchy
  • reallyverycrunchy.com
  • Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Podcast: "Really Very Crunchy"
  • Book: Really Very Crunchy: A Beginner’s Guide to Removing Toxins from Your Life Without Adding Them to Your Personality

---

Final Takeaway

This episode offers validation and relief to anyone feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to be the “perfect” crunchy mom. Both Lisa and Emily agree: prioritize your family, relationships, and your sanity first. Adopt what helps, laugh at what you can, and let go of the need to do everything “right.” The crunchy lifestyle is a journey—one best undertaken with flexibility, humor, and grace for yourself and others.

Transcript

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Support for this podcast comes from Progressive, America's number one motorcycle insurer. Did you know? Riders who switch and save with Progressive save nearly $200 per year. That's a whole new pair of riding gloves and more. Quote Today, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates national averaged 12 month savings of $197 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between October 2024 and September 2025. Potential savings will vary

[Emily Morrow]

in the crunchy community. Sometimes we get so fixated on making the right choices that we don't think about relationships and how we communicate with other people, family dynamics and relationships. To me that is so much more important than the food we consume. You just have to get your priorities straight and I think that gets out of balance whenever you're trying to be perfect because not everybody has the same priorities.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

My name is Lisa, mother of eight and creator of the blog and YouTube channel Farmhouse on Boone. Join me as I share with you my love for creating a handmade home from scratch cooking and a little mom and entrepreneur life along the way. Welcome back to the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast. If you are a crunchy mom or you consider yourself in the health world in any way on the Internet, you have probably heard of my guest Emily Morrow from really Very Crunchy. She shares hilarious TikToks and Instagram reels and YouTube shorts that she and her husband create their genius. They are so funny, very relatable, especially if you like that self deprecating humor which she claims she loves. And I obviously like it too because I think it's so funny. She is actually crunchy in real life and so she just released a book that talks about getting toxins and all of that out of your life, but without, as she says, making it part of your personality. Because we all know that sometimes these things can go to extremes. It can be overwhelming, it can be depressing and difficult to try to figure out. In what ways am I going to damage my children's future health? What things can I let go? What things are things I simply must do? We're going to talk about all of this in today's interview. Emily, welcome to the podcast. I know so many people on here are going to be very excited to see you on here as you are the creator behind the wildly popular Instagram. I know you're on YouTube too, and then I'm pretty sure you're probably on TikTok. But I'm not like a person who gets on TikTok very much, but really very crunchy. So for those of you who don't know. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, of course. So my platform is called really Very Crunchy. Like you said. It was basically born out of my husband's observations of me trying to live my life as a crunchy mom. And he was like, okay, you are crazy and hilarious, and we should put this out there for the world, because I feel like you could really help a lot of people feel seen and make a lot of people laugh. Yeah. So I'm really not as insane as my character. I am definitely a crunchy mom, but not, you know, totally inflexible like my character. But I'm a mom of two boys. I homeschool. I mean, I say I pretty much fit the.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

The mold of what you stereotype, if you will.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. The stereotypes of the crunchy mom. Walking around, gardening, wearing linen, enjoying the outside, barefoot, you know, all the things. Cooking as much food as I possibly can.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. I was listening to you on another podcast, and I heard a little bit about the story of actually starting your account, and that surprised me a lot because as the outside observer, I would have assumed that you came up with the idea, but really, your husband came up with the idea, and he even managed the account for quite a while before the questions got above his head. So that's interesting. Tell us a little bit about that. I know you already mentioned that he. It was his idea, but, like, he literally created the videos and you were just the character for a while, I'm assuming.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, we started on TikTok, only. I'm also not a person who's really on TikTok. I don't have it on my phone. I've never had it on my phone. And so he was just posting there. And by our eighth video, our account exploded, and we were just getting hundreds of thousands of followers really quickly.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

And so people would be commenting on videos and asking questions, but I didn't have the app. Yeah, he was just, like, using emojis to reply, and it sort of drove this, like, mystery behind. Who is she? And is she really crunchy?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Is she crunchy or is she making fun of us? Because that's something I wasn't sure at first, and I also didn't. I can't remember what. Which one I saw, but. What was your first viral one? Maybe that's what I saw, too. It was a while ago.

[Emily Morrow]

Crunchy mom at a birthday party was the very first viral one.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I can't remember if that's the one I saw first, but yeah, yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

I mean, yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

So there was a Lot of mystery around it. Like, I, it's. It was all very funny, very relatable, but then also like, I can't tell which side she's on.

[Emily Morrow]

Mm. Well, it's because I'm. I love self deprecating humor. I. My husband and I are both very dry. And so I think even in real life, sometimes my friends don't know what is reality.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right, right, right.

[Emily Morrow]

They don't know when I'm joking because I'll just say stuff with a totally straight face, you know, so it's been interesting. And I don't even really know that my account has made me crunchier than I was. Like, I used to wear blue jeans.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Like now people bring out stuff to you. Wait a minute, you don't wear blue jeans now. I know that I'm nowhere near the crunchy of like the modern crunchy. And I think that's because I have had children for 15 and a half years and I was crunchy then. And there's this process that happens over time where you kind of learn the things you can get away with without a whole lot of. And of course there could be problems down the road that I'm not accounting for now. But you can only be so intense for so long and I'm on the other side.

[Emily Morrow]

I agree. So I don't wear blue jeans in my skits anymore. I do wear them in real life, but not. Yeah, not as regularly. And I have like gotten rid of blue jeans that weren't all cotton. You know, I have purge my closet synthetic fibers and stuff like that. But I never, I mean, even in my early videos, I was probably wearing sweaters that were acrylic, even though I knew natural fibers were.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

This is a whole new level for me. I could see why your husband was like this. This is gold. This is gold everything.

[Emily Morrow]

And when you do try to like fix everything, it becomes. I mean, you're just frantic and you can't, you cannot win.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

And there's always new information. Like, for example, one of the most recent things, I wear frownies. They're like a forehead tape.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. I, I have some. I never put them on, but I have them. Like, I've had them for like three months and so I probably never gonna do it.

[Emily Morrow]

Try if you. Yeah. I mean, your forehead looks great.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

But I mean, I definitely have. Everybody in my family has frown lines from like 22, so it's not. I don't really care, to be honest, because I'm. I'm gonna always have them. But I'm like, well, I mean, I'd like to reduce it a little, if possible. I'm not gonna do Botox, obviously, so.

[Emily Morrow]

But anyways, that's how I am. Something happened, I started getting.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

Well, I don't want to say anything bad about fronies, but because I use them. I use them. I still use them. But people have been commenting, sending me messages like, well, frownies just freeze your forehead and there's not enough flow, there's not enough movement. And yeah, we need to know the specific ingredients. And I know that they use like a vegetable starch for their glue.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Okay.

[Emily Morrow]

Like, is it organic vegetables? Probably not. And I know, but like, you can't hyper focus on everything or you'll drive yourself crazy.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

See, that's why I gave up a long time ago. I gave up probably around the best time because it has definitely with the Internet, gotten it way more intense. Like back in my day when I first started on crunchy, if you just made your food from scratch, like you took ingredients and made something that was like, good, like, of course, raw milk. We've been doing that since my daughter was a baby. Or weaning, all of that. But, like, just from scratch stuff was enough. And I didn't even know half of the things that we see today that I'm like, oh, my word, if I had to worry about all of this, I know I don't know what I would do.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

So of course there's the balance of, like, what's mentally this doing to me.

[Emily Morrow]

I know. Yeah, exactly. And I feel like there have been like, ebb and flow of my platform where I feel, okay, I'm becoming that character. I'm becoming that frantic stress.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Because you hear about stuff. People send you stuff because of who you are. You find out everything.

[Emily Morrow]

Everything. People send it all to me. And it's, you know, I appreciate it because it does drive some content ideas. But then also I do care. So I am taking in that information and adjusting my life accordingly or deciding, is this worth me making changes over, you know.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, like the priorities? How do you. How do you prioritize the information and decide what is actually going to be a big enough deal for you to change behavior versus just let that one slide?

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, yeah. Like, for me, I'm letting the frowny slide. I'm wearing the frownies. I'm not getting Botox. I'm, you know, it still is.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Frownies is definitely gotta be a better option than Botox.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. So. And that was one thing. I got your list of questions, like potential topics, and one of them said, what's your 80 20? Or what's your 20 if you're living an 8020 lifestyle.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

And so I was trying to think, like, what is my 20? I know in previous podcasts I've been telling people, like, sometimes we go to Culver's, but my mom just gave me a countertop ice cream maker and I made. Or we made custard for Mother's Day. And I'll never rely on Culver's custard ever again. Like, homemade custard.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I am curious, though. Like, side note. Cause I do want to hear the rest of your 20. What's the recipe? Do you put egg yolks in it? Because I've been needing to use up a lot more eggs. And we. We don't always put eggs in it, but I'm like, we probably should.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, you should. And heavy cream. I mean, just. I'll have to. I'll send it to you. Or, I don't know, you could post in the show.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

That'd be great. They're gonna ask, though. So we'll put it in the show notes.

[Emily Morrow]

It was a chocolate. And it was so good. It was so good.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, yeah, we. We make ice cream. I mean, I'm gonna say I don't think I'm exaggerating three or four times a week, but we don't always put egg yolks in it. My daughter thinks it's not as good, but I'm like, we have a ton of eggs. And I think, yeah. So I wanna. I wanna hear your recipe. So anyways, back to your 20.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. So totally. I was like, well, I've been working out wearing leggings. They have 3% spandex in them. Is that a 20% thing? Not really. For someone else, your 20 is going to be different based on how crunchy you are, Right?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Like, that wouldn't even cross my mind.

[Emily Morrow]

I, like, I. I'll occasionally let my kids have like, a Yum Earth lollipop. That to me, is a 20. But to someone else, that's like, we're

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

living in different worlds, Emily.

[Emily Morrow]

Or I buy, you know, like, I

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

buy Yum Earth would be like, in the 80s.

[Emily Morrow]

Well, that's what I was thinking. I use disposable floss. Yeah. But it's like PFA free and, you know, BPA free.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And I would not have known to count that stuff.

[Emily Morrow]

But it is disposable. So I think, you know, it's just. It's hard. It's a weird question because I feel like it just totally depends on your life.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, it's very.

[Emily Morrow]

I. My husband went and got donuts from a local donut shop on Mother's Day, and I totally like legit regular donuts. You know, I think, I guess like the 20 is having the freedom to make a choice in the moment without stressing over it, right? Yeah. Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I think what happens to me over the years, and this just could be because I'm lazy or stressed or I don't know. But I always kind of, after initially getting worked up about stuff, I always notice that it doesn't ultimately, like when I count, like these minute, minute things seem to make that big of a difference to our life, our energy. And then of course, you throw in the people, you know, like, oh, well, my grandpa was 96 and you know, they did this so that you do that. Not that that means it's good. But I'm all. Ultimately, I'm trying to think, like, what will worrying about this little tiny thing gain me? But then you wonder if our world is entirely different than grandpa's was. Like, he was just crunchy because that was all that was available. And so you don't want to overcompensate for that totally.

[Emily Morrow]

And I think, I really think if you're making changes, the important thing is that you don't do it out of stress. You just make changes or choose a healthier lifestyle because you want to. And if it is causing you stress, then you need to step back. But when you're deciding to clean up your diet, you can easily make choices as they make sense for your family without it becomes becoming something that you're obsessing over.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

And I think, you know, I think that's the key. Back in the day, they're just like eating whole foods more, you know, and

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

yeah, even the bad foods weren't as bad as they are now because they just didn't have those ingredients. And a lot of the things that you mentioned, I don't know when Spandex came around, I don't know. But what was in the clothing before a certain year, you know, so maybe we do have more to worry about.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Ever notice how life's best stories don't happen in your living room? They happen on the open road, out on the water, or parked under the stars. At Progressive, they get that you want to focus on the experience, not worry about the what ifs. That's why they offer quality insurance designed for your ride, whether That's a boat, RV or motorcycle. Adventure with confidence. Visit progressive.com and see how easy it is to protect your favorite way to get away. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in dc. Prices vary based on how you buy,

[Emily Morrow]

wherever you go, whatever they get into, from chill time to everyday adventures. Protecting your dog from parasites with Cridellio Quattro. For full safety information, side effects and

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

warnings, visit credelioquattrolabel.com consult your vet or call 1-888-545-5973.

[Emily Morrow]

Ask your vet for Cordelio Cuatro and

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

visit quattro dog.com I was listening to your recent podcast, or maybe somewhat recent, and you guys were talking about analysis paralysis. And because of all the information with the Internet and all the different choices and options we have for literally everything, something like you guys were talking about raised beds, and then what materials are we going to use? What are we going to fill them with? And it turns into this massive thing that should have been pretty straightforward several years ago. So, yeah, how do you find that balance? And what did you decide on the raised beds?

[Emily Morrow]

I know I said in that podcast, I was like, I'm making my decision tonight. And what I decided was, I'm actually not buying anymore. I am going to. That was sort of a, A cop out. A cop out. Yeah, yeah, I know. I was like, well, I'm not going to make that decision right now. I'm going to go another year without expanding. I have been planting more in the ground, so I just tilled some more spots and we'll okay, you know, hand weed, I guess.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

This year. But yeah, I mean, that's how it used to be done. And I, I, I didn't feel like I had enough that I was planting to justify buying more. I could have planted more, I guess, but, you know, I, yeah, I didn't.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, no, I, I know it's, it's hard because there are a lot, there's a lot of information. Budget is always a concern. And to find the best option, especially when there are so many, can be really challenging. And I think a lot of us struggle with analysis paralysis on so many things. And when you really break down all the tiny things that you probably get sent in your inbox because you're really very crunchy, it ends up like those things you were mentioning about the compost. I have to say, it didn't cross my mind at all. Like, we just fill ours with compost from the local nursery. Like, it did not occur to me that there could be. And of course, we make our compost, too. So it's a mixture like, we originally filled them with compost from the nursery, and then every year, we top it off with the compost baking all year. But, like, even that, I mean, if the food you put in, it's not 100% organic, like, I don't know, you know, it's a lot.

[Emily Morrow]

So hard. It's. Yeah, it's almost impossible. And you. You just can't sweat that stuff. Do what you want, you know? Like, my mom is using that compost from the city, and she listened to my podcast, but she hasn't said anything. But I told my dad, like, don't mention it to her. He was like, yeah, because our yard and our gardens are full.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Full of that.

[Emily Morrow]

And I'm still going to eat vegetables that she grows. It's going to be okay, you know, and probably her vegetables, freshly picked right there, even if they're grown in that compost, are going to be way more nutritious and healthy than the organic stuff that I can get at the grocery store.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, there's. You know, there's something, too, with like, picking the vegetable, being grateful for it, seeing it as a healthy thing, and your mind believing that even if it isn't perfect, but almost not knowing, in a lot of ways can be better. Like, I'm just thinking about my husband's grandma. She's still alive. She thinks that, like, a diet of canned green beans and canned carrots is like a good meal to her. That would be better than having meat or eggs. You know, she's. She's in her 90s or. Well, no, she's almost 90. But she. Back in her day, fat was bad, so of course she puts margarine on it or butter was bad. She doesn't know the new information. And so when she sits down to this meal, she feels like, yes, I am fueling my body. I am making a wise decision, because I know that that's why she eats canned vegetables for dinner. She thinks it's a good thing to do, and she wants to nourish her body. Well, and I'm wondering if even just the thought. Thought has carried her through, like, has nourished her, because she. She sits down and she's really, like, believing she's doing something good. And there's all the good, positive, you know, attributes.

[Emily Morrow]

I can totally see that.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

I mean, I. I think there's something to that for sure. My husband's grandmother is still alive. She's in her mid-90s, and she microwaves Styrofoam and.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, yeah, sure, she microwaves.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. You can see the Styrofoam melted, like, going. And I'm like, you really, Ann, you shouldn't do that. And she's like, well, I'm 90 something. Yeah, you're not.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I pass with, like, almost everybody else does, so I must be doing a pretty good job.

[Emily Morrow]

To me, I'm like, yeah, but they didn't have Styrofoam when you were my.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. Like, you haven't been. You haven't been accumulating that for 95 years. Like, yes. In the last last couple years. Maybe your body can handle that, but what if we're doing that for every meal? Yeah. I think that's why it's a good conversation to have, because we do want to fall back on those anomalies, those people who outlived what they should have. And then also we forget that they just didn't have a lot of that available. Like, even GMO crops. I'm pretty sure that started in the 80s. So we're. I. I'm. I was born in the 80s, so I'm a test case, I guess, for this because, you know, we don't really know.

[Emily Morrow]

I know. Yeah. And just, like, all the soy and all the hydrogenated vegetable oils.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, I had soy formula. That's what I was raised on. My whole first year, I spit up all the regular formula, and so they gave me soy formula. But even that, like, that's, like, now knowing about, like, the hormonal aspects of soy, I feel like I would have thought now, like, oh, well, then I probably messed up my fertility and all this stuff. And like, I have children, so even that, like, I was raised for my whole first year on soy. That's all I consumed, and I'm fine. And so I try to remember that. Like, it's not saying we should do that. I'm. I'm crunchy, too. Like, I definitely take care to. To source the raw milk and all this stuff. And, you know, our parents did not know. They didn't have that information. So you do with what you can, but also, like, if a few things, you know, are not. What, Ideal.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

It can be. It can be okay.

[Emily Morrow]

Definitely. I totally agree. Actually, there's a girl in my forest friends group, and her husband is not on board with expensive crunchy. He's cool with her, like, buying fruits and then using the fruit, like, dehydrating her own fruit to make snacks for their kids, you know, like, he's on board with making healthy choices, but not on, like, spending a ton of money because you can Totally do that. Whenever you go down the crunchy path.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes, yes.

[Emily Morrow]

But I like, I don't think they buy organic food, but I'm looking at her kids. They're like the picture of health.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

Never really sick because she's cooking her food from scratch. Even if she's not using all organic everything, you know, she's still making those healthy choices. So it does. It makes me wonder how important those things are rather than, like, focusing on, is it organic? Is it perfect? Is it just do with what you can.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes, yes, I know what you're saying.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Because we, in my early motherhood, we would not have been able to afford to do expensive crunchy just from scratch. Basic ingredients, mostly not organic, you know, at that time, with what we could. Local farms when possible. But even that. What kind of grain were they feeding the cows? I don't know. I didn't look into that. I don't know.

[Emily Morrow]

Where's the end? Where's the end?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. And that's what your book is about. So you just released a book in March on. It's called really very Crunchy, A beginner's guide to removing toxins from your life without adding them to your personality. And I love the picture on the front. We got it. My husband and I both just thought it was so funny. Oh, yeah, there you go. Yeah, right here. If you're watching the YouTube version, you can just tell it's a comedy. But also, you do share your story with all of this and how to find that balance. And I think so many especially young moms, I feel like, are trying to find.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, I. Well, as a young mom, I felt very judged in several situations. I start my book by telling this story about how I gave this girl some soap as a gift, and she pulled it out and she was like, this is actually so toxic. And I thought it was a cleaner hand soap. And in that moment, I just felt so belittled and like, how can I make the wrong choice on soap? And I never wanted to be that person where I made someone feel so. So small, especially when they're doing a kind gesture, you know?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

And so I can. In the crunchy community, sometimes we get so fixated on making the right choices that we don't think about relationships and how we communicate with other people and how that, you know, our family dynamics and relationships, to me, that is so much more important than, like, the food we consume or, you know, it's. You just have to get your priorities straight. And I think that gets out of balance whenever you're trying to be perfect because not everybody has the same priorities.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

I felt like there was a need for this book. And also the health space can be so heavy. So bringing comedy into it and relatability just makes it an easier pill to swallow. Not to use pills as a. Probably not the best.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Wait, now, are we talking about pharmaceuticals, Emily? Yes. And I think one of the most challenging things that I've encountered, and a lot of people ask me about too, are those social situations where, you know, it's kind of a niche to be crunchy. And most people are going about their life not worrying about a lot of things. And so you go to the birthday party, you go to your, the grandma's house, your kid's grandma's house, and they're offered something and you have to decide, is this social interaction more important? Like, are we going to stop going to this? Because I have been there earlier in my motherhood where I thought, okay, every time I go here, they give them this. So therefore we can't do this anymore. That relationship. Burning that bridge would have been worse for my kids health probably even than allowing them to just have it. And so it's, it's tricky. And I totally understand what you're saying with it being that being One of the bigger challenges is that one of the questions you get a lot from people is how to navigate those relationship, you know, relationships that revolve around food and.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. And I think, I think this, the important thing is to be vulnerable and open with those that you love in a calm moment, a neutral moment. Not like right when they're trying to give your kid something that you don't approve of.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

But if you kind of lay the groundwork, set your expectations, and then if they need help following through, like I used to buy treats for my parents that they could give my kids.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right? Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

And then they learned kind of what I'm okay with. They still kind of mess up sometimes, quote, unquote mess up. Yeah. Right. Because they're just not even thinking about it. They're not reading every single ingredient. And that's okay, but unless there's a true allergy, obviously. But I think, yes, that's our family that loves us. They want to do what we want. You know, if someone loves you and as long as you're kind and you have this open communication.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

Then it should be just like any issue that you have to approach. You just make your wishes known in a kind and calm way and then hopefully they'll respect that. And if they don't respect that, then maybe they just need help respecting that because I don't think they're trying to. To make the wrong choices.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Most aren't. I will say there I have heard stories and scenarios where some people enjoy taking somebody who they think's annoyingly crunchy and then sabotaging that. That does happen. But I think for the most part I agree with you. In most normal families you can set your expectations, you can communicate that. And then also you can, if you care, you can bring the food, bring the snacks, bring the treats. And that's usually a good way, you know, to navigate that. If that's a priority to you.

[Emily Morrow]

But it doesn't have to be a priority. If you are okay with grandparents can feed your kids whatever, then that's fine. You don't have to obsess over it. Especially if it's not all the time. You know, you can either choose to make it a priority or not and then communicate your expectations. Just like you were saying. Yeah, yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I'm curious, what are some of your non negotiables? Do you have like some set things that we will not partake in this or is that kind of just on a case by case basis?

[Emily Morrow]

Definitely dies. We just don't do dies. Because my older son, I've actually, I've let him have dyes and he. It's a crazy transformation. It's not like a physical allergy. He doesn't get a rash or anything or have any symptoms like that. He just goes crazy. His behavior is almost an immediate switch, like 30 minutes after consuming dyes. And I learned it probably when he was about three or four. And so since then it's just like, no, it's not worth it to me. It takes several days for him to get back to how he normally is.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

And then also excessive screen time. That's something we avoid. Our kids watch something on Friday afternoon and that's pretty much all the screen time we do in our family. But again, my older son, he has this personality where if he gets too much then he and like becomes obsessive over it. And I have one like, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not worth it. Yeah. So yeah, other than that, we're pretty flexible and open and I want my kids to enjoy experiences with their peers. Like going to the trampoline park. I think about the stuff that's on trampolines and oh, we go too.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And I hadn't thought of that. But yeah, you're right.

[Emily Morrow]

And all the, I don't know, the. Not just the physical Risk. But all the chemical makeup and whatever. But my kids have been invited to parties there and we go and they have fun and it's great, you know?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

So no. I mean, very few non negotiables.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Very few. Like, this is a hard and fast. We won't do this. I heard on. You were on Abby's podcast and Miss for Mama, and she was talking about. I think you guys were on the subject of getting recognized out in public, especially getting recognized in places that aren't crunchy.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Tell us about a bit about that. Like, do you ever. You're out. Out to eat with your family, maybe you're on a trip or something like that. And of course, you know, you're not going to find high quality options. Does that. Is that something that's kind of weird being really very crunchy? Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

But my husband always tells.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Or grocery shopping.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, I know. Even just grocery shopping, people have, like, walked up to me with my cart and I'm like scanning my cart, like, is everything good in here? Well, everything is good because I really am only buying good stuff. So.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

But my husband's always like, emily, if you're doing something and someone sees you, like, for example, I mentioned going to Culver's anytime we go, which isn't that often. I am always recognized and someone wants to take their picture with me.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

But there they.

[Emily Morrow]

That's what he says. He's always like, nobody's thinking about it. You're the only one thinking about it. They're here enjoying it. So just.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

They're there.

[Emily Morrow]

They're so. Not that you'll find me there anymore.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I think it's so funny.

[Emily Morrow]

My countertop ice cream maker.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

So, yeah, that's what you needed Culver's for. There was this, you know, Jim Gaffigan, he's a comedian, but there was. He did a skit about McDonald. I think it was Jim Gaffigan. But anyways, it was like, we. We, like, McDonald's is the bad one. Like, if you. You said Culver's, but if you would have said McDonald's, we would have been like, wait, like Culver's. Culver's. You know, Chick Fil A. Those are all kind of fine, but like, McDonald's. And Jim Gaffigan was joking about that.

[Emily Morrow]

He was.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

He said something like, oh, I'm just here picking up a hooker.

[Emily Morrow]

Like.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Like, basically, if somebody sees him, they're like, I'm not here to eat, I'm

[Emily Morrow]

just picking up hooker.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

It was just so funny because. What's with that? Too. Like, you realize Chick Fil A.

[Emily Morrow]

Like, I just need to tell all

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

of you right now that if you think Chick Fil a is better and I'm not above it. Like, if we're traveling, we literally just got back from a trip Sunday night. And, like, we know when we go to McDonald's we can get breakfast burritos. We get like, 20 of them and a couple of oatmeals for a few of the kids. It's just really easy, really fast. And it works. Like, when we're out and about. Like, if we're on vacation and there's nowhere to eat breakfast, but, like, for whatever reason, there's this shit, shame and cloud over McDonald's. But, like, chick Fil a is, like, healthy. It's not any better. Right? I mean, how could it be?

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, I. I actually got recognized. We went to Nashville a few weeks ago, and we went through the Chick Fil a drive through, which to me is even worse. Like, even less crunchy to go through the drive through because they have all the, like, extra bags and all the things, you know, like, just. And there's so much plastics. So much waste.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. So much waste.

[Emily Morrow]

But the person in front of us recognized us.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, no.

[Emily Morrow]

And I, like, I ducked my head down. Yeah. I was like, I don't want them, like, taking a picture of me here.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And then you're going to put you on. Slash. Really? Very crunchy. Not so much.

[Emily Morrow]

I know, But I, like. I'm fully aware that it is not a healthy option, but that's okay. Occasionally.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, yeah. No, I'm not above Chick Fil A. I just think it's funny that people think it's better than McDonald's.

[Emily Morrow]

People think it's healthier.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Like, I like Chick Fil A too, and I love how fast they are. So if there's, like, a moment where we need. Well, usually my first choice is Jimmy John's because I can order it on the app, grab the bag. It's, like, the fastest thing ever. But second choice would be Chick Fil A because they are so fast they can get you through there. So I'm not. I just think it's funny that, like, moms who are against McDonald's or Chick Fil A.

[Emily Morrow]

It's really funny. I know. It's somehow. Somehow they posed it.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

They have.

[Emily Morrow]

Somebody was a genius marketer.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

There.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. Absolutely. Yeah. I've just always thought that was so funny because any fast food restaurant doesn't have that same. Like, the McDonald's is the ultimate. If you go there, then you've given up on life. Okay, tell us a bit about your process for creating all of your reels and your TikToks can. Cause they are. Some of them. I'm just like, how do they come up with this? Like, where do you get the idea? Do you script it all? Like, how does that work?

[Emily Morrow]

Sure. A lot of times I'm living my life, just living. And then something just strikes me, like, this is hilarious. This is. This could make such a funny reel. So then I'll take it to my husband, and I'm like, how can we amp this up? You know, we do definitely script almost all of our videos. We find that to engage people and to hold their attention, things have to be pretty quick. And if you stumble.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

On.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

On Instagram and TikTok, at least like, not on. In my world, I do YouTube. It's a whole different thing. But, yeah, on those platforms, it's like, you got to get them in there.

[Emily Morrow]

Our short form. Yeah. So even on YouTube, for us, we're pretty much right now in the short form game, I guess. So, yeah. We have, like, one minute to get out what we want to say the

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

message in an entertaining way.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. The jokes have to be sort of seamless, and we want to say the exact thing that we're hoping, you know, so.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. It just helps for us to script it out. And then we also do a lot of comedy with our filming, like the facial expressions and the zooms and Jason looking right at the camera.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

Office. The office style.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes, yes.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Documentary. Like.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, yeah. We try to write it sort of like. You know, if you ever watch those shows before an episode, they would have like a one or two minute little intro to the episode that doesn't actually go with the episode. Like a cold open is what they call it.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Kind of like the Office. They do.

[Emily Morrow]

And so that's how we view our videos. Like a little cold open that we have to write.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Okay.

[Emily Morrow]

So we. A lot of times we'll just bounce ideas back and forth, and that's really how we make the best videos. A lot of times I'll have a concept, he'll script it out, and then I'll give it to me, and then I'll infuse it with more crunchiness.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right. The crunchiness aspects that you only know.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, he'll leave blanks. He's like, say crunchy thing here. Say crunchy thing here. And then right when we're filming him, I film him and he films me, and then he Edits them. He's such a wizard with editing. So it's totally like he is way more involved than people would think than it appears.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, well, that's. There's so much behind the scenes people would never know because all. Also you guys do this full time, correct?

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, this is a full time job.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I'm. I'm also a full time content creator. My husband's been home for six years now and whenever you only see what the content creator puts out, like you just see the final product, you don't see anything behind it that looks pretty darn easy. Like what do you guys do with all your time? I know that's not true, but people might.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, it does. It takes a lot of time and even just engaging with your audience takes time. Yeah, all that stuff, emails, messages, but then also coming up with the content. You know, we work with some brands because that's a big part of our income is getting brand deals which then people give you flack about.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

Because you sold out. But really it's just like how do you want it? It feels a little frustrating at times because I want people to enjoy our content and I want to be entertaining. But in order for us to create the quality that we create, we have to do brand deals so that we can.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. Because full time to do all this. And Instagram and TikTok and YouTube shorts don't have the creator fun. I mean they, they do on YouTube, but to get the amount of views you have to get to make any money versus like the long form videos.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

You're not making money through ads. So in order to make money to be able to support all of this content creation which again people, it looks so easy once it's all done. It looks like you and your husband just had a conversation like it just happened.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And if somebody doesn't know the behind the scenes, it seems like, well what. Why would you need to support with that? But obviously I understand. And it's also really challenging as a content creator to not always defend yourself. I struggle with this because I see certain comments and I'm like, if you only knew. But then I. But I just like I've tried to realize over time that it just, it doesn't get received well anyways and so there's just always going to be some misunderstanding. Has that been a challenge for you to just deal with the negativity that could be out there and just let it go and not think about it and not have to constantly defend your position?

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. Well, I think for Me, one thing that I can always fall back on is it's comedy. If you're super offended by it, then you probably don't understand that it's comedy.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, true, true.

[Emily Morrow]

So that kind of helps me. Like, I was asked to write an email for Proverbs 31 Ministries. They send out, like a daily Bible study. And I wrote a little devotional for them. And one of the comments on my devotional that I sent out in this email was as soon as I saw her picture at the top, I could not receive this message. She is so judgmental, yada, yada, yada, yada.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And it was so she's not understanding it clearly.

[Emily Morrow]

You don't get the joke then, and that's fine.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, you didn't get the joke.

[Emily Morrow]

Or maybe. Maybe you don't like comedy. Or maybe it touched on a sensitive topic. And sometimes I feel like when we feel offended, that could be like a nudging of, do I need to make a change? Is there a reason that I don't feel good about this decision? If you're not confident in the choices you're making, you know. But yeah, also it's comedy, so most likely.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Well, and that helps for you to have a bit of a wall. Like yours doesn't feel as personal because it's not your life. It's a character that you're the face of, which does make the whole creator relationship with the followers maybe slightly different than what it would be for somebody like me, where it's more tied to my actual self. Now, to an extent, there is a character in my videos because I'm not showing everything. Like people always say on my videos, well, where are the kids? And I'm like, listen, there is a couple hours per day during a nap in the afternoon where I can film. And so if I film a little bit each day, then it appears to you that I never have kids around when I just filmed, you know, and so I struggle. I struggle with, like, constantly wanting to explain myself because I just get so tired of, you know, seeing the same comments. And I'm like, you just don't know the behind the scenes. But how has that been for you, finding the balance of, like, the feedback from the audience?

[Emily Morrow]

Well, I think it's kind of weird because originally, whenever we put out our videos, it was only for entertainment, but because I clearly have studied things and have made choices in my life. There are. I have personal opinions in my real life. So people want more education from me, and that's sort of where my book was born. I'M like, okay, you want some like real information about how I do things, then I write this book and it's still infused with comedy, but it is sort of more personal. And.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, and then the podcast.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, and the podcast, definitely you get to see like a full hour long conversation about who I really am and my feelings on things. So, yeah, it's kind of weird to balance where is it satire now and where is it real?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

But yeah, I think like, generally if somebody's watching my stories, they know that it's more real and more me on Instagram. And then reels are more scripted and I think you can kind of tell the difference. You can see how I'm talking and the cuts and everything. So, yeah, I, it's been kind of weird, but I, it works out. And I've made a lot of really great friends and great relationships through content.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Overall, very positive.

[Emily Morrow]

Oh yeah. And I'm so grateful.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

My husband has always, his dream always has been to work for himself and I think that has, is sort of what was driving him to create this platform is he could become his own boss. And that has happened only because people show up for my videos and comment and like, and are so generous.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Absolutely.

[Emily Morrow]

So, yeah, I'm really grateful for the opportunity and it's been wonderful for us. A huge blessing, but definitely weird. A weird blessing.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Yeah. And you've had a very fast rise to fame, if you will, because you started this in 2020 or 21.

[Emily Morrow]

22.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

22. Wow. See, I'm a dinosaur. Like I started my business, I started this whole online thing in the end of 15. And so for me it's been a very gradual thing. Whereas, you know, you came in hot with just blowing up and so it's probably been a little bit of a shock to the system. Right. Like, you know, now you're out and about and people recognize you.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Well, but we have, I will say this, we've been creating, we've been content creators, just not quote, unquote, famous ones for 15 years. We started in 2010. So that's how we've honed our skills and we failed a lot for a very long time. So it, it wasn't just totally instant. This just hit, you know, we finally found something that stuck.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. Gotcha. Well, and that's encouraging too for people who want to do something like this because a lot of people would love to turn a business like this into their family's full time business and they might have been plugging away to not see you as an instant success, I think is a bit encouraging because you've had to figure out before all of this, like, yes, now you landed the thing that gains the audience and the viewers, but you had to learn how to storytell, you had to learn how to use a camera, edit. There's been a lot of behind the scenes that people don't see. Again, with not understanding what all goes beneath this very tiny thing that you end up seeing as a finished product.

[Emily Morrow]

So are you recognized a lot out and about?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I am, yes. I don't, I don't know if it'd be as much as you, but I mean, pretty, pretty regularly.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. Do they come up and they're like, are you, Is that how most people start?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, typically. Typically, yeah. Yes. We, we are out of, we're in Virginia. We went to Colonial Williamsburg last week and I met so many people there. It kind of, you can kind of tell when it's going to be. And I'm sure you're this way too, when you're more likely to see people that recognize you based on sort of the location. Like, there's certain areas, I'm like, oh, there's going to be people here because there's homeschool moms, there's maybe it's like a farmer's market or somewhere healthier. That's where you're, you know, that you'll run into somebody. But yeah, I, I definitely do run into people all the time, but it's been, it's been more of a progression over the years for me because it hasn't been viral growth so much as just like very steady growth.

[Emily Morrow]

Slow and steady. Yeah, yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

But yes, also, yes, it's an interesting world, isn't it?

[Emily Morrow]

But it's so cool because I know, especially you, you provide so much inspiration and so much help for moms who want to nourish their families. Well, who wants to live a cleaner, less, you know, more non toxic lifestyle?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, like the how, the how to. Yeah, the practical application.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. That is so nice and helpful and wonderful. And I'm sure you've changed countless lives through sharing your content. See, I don't know that I've changed any lives other than making people more stressed out.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, I'm sure. No, no, no, I am sure you have, especially with your book too. That's like you said, that's such a valuable resource that shares the story behind what they see. And then also the podcast is fairly recent, correct? Like you're fairly new on two weeks in.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, just two weeks in.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, Okay. I think I saw you had, like, eight or 10 episodes, so I wasn't sure how long that had been going.

[Emily Morrow]

We. We posted several. All at once. Yeah. And now we're just doing one, so.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Okay. Yeah. Oh. Every time I have somebody on here that they and their husband work together, I always, like, want to know more about the dynamics, because that's something that's pretty unique. I mean, it's becoming more common because with the Internet, that just. There is the opportunity for that. But, yeah, I'm always curious to hear it. Sounds like you guys share a lot of the whole thing. And then you have your. Your Instagram, your TikTok, your book. Are you working on in your podcast, Are you working on any other, like, products or offerings?

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, we. Well, I'm about to come out with a children's book, which I'm really excited.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, okay.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, it's about inspiring independent play and infusing your daily rhythms with independent play. That is one thing about my children, and I think it's because of their lack of screen time. They are so good at playing, I think.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah, that's definitely lack of screen time.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. Maybe just because they've been bored, I don't know. But they.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And you give them. Do you give your kids a lot of freedom, too? Like. Yeah, just unstructured. Just have at it, kind of. Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. They. We live in an area where it's safe for them to go out on their own, and they've been going.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And that matters.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, it does matter. So they just go outside and spend a lot of their days out there playing, coming up with their own games and whatever. You know, it's. It's really convenient in motherhood that they can entertain themselves. Obviously, there's fighting.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

And sometimes I think, like, for a lot of moms, that idea is almost too good to be true. Like, you think you have to entertain your kids at all times, or you're doing something wrong, you're not building the relationship properly if you aren't sitting on the floor always playing with them. And that's something that I've noticed is a more recent thing that moms think needs to be done. And so to hear that they can, it's almost too good to be true. Like, wait, you can do stuff whenever your kids are just playing? That's something that I think a lot of moms need to hear.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, definitely. I was a little nervous when you were going to start talking about my homeschooling philosophy, because, I mean, I do homeschool. My kids are really Young six and four.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh. So, yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

Very early in the journey. Yeah. But a lot of my philosophy is let them play. Let them play, use their imagination. They're gonna learn so much that way and build so many skills, like problem solving and even physical skills. Like, I have a few friends who are more structured and don't get their kids out. And I can see, like, my kids physical ability is much greater.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Okay, so we noticed this too.

[Emily Morrow]

Really?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes, yes. My husband has pointed this out. He was like, yeah, I don't want to like, yeah, share too much, but he's just like, what, What. What's the deal with some kids? Like, you know, because ours are like, rough and tumble. Like, they, you know, they can climb to the top. They can, you know, and I. I think you're right. I think it's. It's having that unstructured time.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. To just be and to develop. And we're not always gonna think of the best activities for our kids.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Right.

[Emily Morrow]

Because we are adults. Like, we're out of it. You know, I can't always get my brain there to, like, get into the imaginative state that they're able.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I absolutely cannot. Yeah, yeah. Some moms are better at that. And. And I think dads are pretty good at it.

[Emily Morrow]

Oh, yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

But like, my brain, I'm way too serious, and that's just how I am now. And. And my kids have noticed because my one son was like, oh, man, that'd be so fun. I was like, listen, you can do that when you're an adult. You can. You can do that thing. Like, whatever it was, it was something that, like, he really can't do. And he's like, yeah, but when I'm an adult, I won't want to, because adults don't know how to have fun. And I was like, oh, sorry, buddy. Like, it's kind of true. And I. I'm not saying I don't have fun, but, like, I mostly am just serious. Like, I got dinner to make, you know, and. Yeah, yeah, like, kids know how to have fun. And he was like, I guess I won't want to do that when I'm an adult.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, I mean, I. I feel like I'm pretty goofy and I do have, you know, moments of craziness with my kids, but even in my 30s, as I get, you know, older. I'm 35, I would say when I was like, 31, even I was more able to quickly get into, like, this state of playing and silliness as I get older, the harder it is. Like, sometimes I Even feel annoyed about it. Like, I don't really want to be playing right now. I have other things I need to do, you know.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Well, that's just it. Like, as my family has grown, if I'm not in here making food or, you know, tidying up or whatever, you know, there's just. I. There is a certain amount of time every day that I. I have to do that. And I. And I, you know, we, like, I do have fun. But I think he knew that I wouldn't want to do like that reckless thing. I don't even remember what it was. Yeah, but it was something. I was like, no, you can't do that. And then he was like, yeah, I guess no adult would want to do it either. Pretty much.

[Emily Morrow]

No, I feel you. I know exactly what you mean. Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I. I am curious.

[Emily Morrow]

I've been.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

What I wanted to ask you, like, are there certain types of content that you know is gonna resonate with people or that you know is going to cause controversy? Like, I'm sure by now you have that pretty gauge. Like, if I put this out, this is the kind of reaction I'm gonna get. What seems to be the hot thing?

[Emily Morrow]

Are you trying to get me in trouble here?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I guess so.

[Emily Morrow]

One of the hottest. Like, I try to steer away from it just because we've done one or two videos about it. Mentioning formula feeding is just so.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, I could see that. I've learned that. That's controversial too. Yeah. Triggering. Yep.

[Emily Morrow]

And then I was kind of starting content post Covid, so I missed all of that hot debate.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

You are one lucky girl.

[Emily Morrow]

Let me just tell you.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

I know it's time to be alive. I know.

[Emily Morrow]

I'm glad that I wasn't in the game then.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes. You did not share things you shouldn't have and whatnot. Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

But there are still things about like, well, visits and things like that.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Okay. That stuff is hot.

[Emily Morrow]

We just don't really talk about much.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I don't. I try to avoid all that too.

[Emily Morrow]

So there. And my husband, he thinks like, I am far less controversial than he is because he likes to stir the pot. He's like, that is what makes it funny. If you don't have any conflict. Yeah. Then it's not funny.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Some people can deal with that. I. I'm too much of a people pleaser. I know that for a fact. So when I know people are upset with me, I cannot stand it. But like my sister, it does not. She's also a full time content creator with her husband. She kind of just thinks some of the comments are funny and she genuinely does. Whereas I'm like, ha.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, funny.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

But like, I kind of hate that. Like, I, I can't just brush it off. And so I am definitely way too much of a people pleaser sometimes for the Internet.

[Emily Morrow]

I was, I was really like, I would just spiral over these people's opinions of me and just like, right. Lose sleep over some of the comments that I would get in the early days. But I've gotten so many terrible comments, so many horrible messages. Yeah. And now I guess I'm just sort of numb to it because it's like, well, you don't have to consume my content. If you don't like it, then you don't have to. I'm not forcing you to watch my videos. I totally love and appreciate those who do watch them and enjoy them. If you're not one of those people, that is fine. There are a lot of different content creators out there that you can go find your, you know, whatever floats your boat. So, yeah, I used to be. And I still do hate the, like when people, you know, go off on me, whatever they're saying. But I don't read as many comments on all the platforms that I used to. I pretty much read them on Instagram and a lot of times I'll just read them the day that I post it. So I miss it when my video goes out to the broader audience.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes, that's always a problem. Like whenever it's not your people and it starts getting pushed with some virality, that's when you see the uglies come out. Because I also think it's sometimes people who are scrolling too, too much on their phone get suggested it and they are so living in the world of the Internet that their brains, like, they're just hateful people because they're so unhappy. And so then once they get a hold of it, it doesn't matter what you said, you did it wrong. That's. Yeah.

[Emily Morrow]

There was this one video that I posted where I said it was sort of a meme video, which we don't do many of those. But I have like, I use cocoa powder for dry shampoo and. And so like I have chocolate dripping down my head in the video. And then I use activated charcoal sometimes for makeup. So like, I have it smudged under my eyes and then I use elderberries for lipstick even. And so I had like an elderberry stuck in my teeth. And one of the comments was like, how are you making fun of people with gaps in their teeth? You're so mean. Whatever, whatever. And I was like, oh, that's just an elderberry in my teeth. It's not. I think someone with gap. My son has a huge gap in his teeth. And I love it. Like, it is so adorable to me. So it's just so funny how sometimes things aren't perceived the way you're trying to make them. But that comment got, like, so much love from me. Responding like, oh, no, that's not what I meant at all. Has, like, way more likes and comments than her initial dig at me, you know, so sometimes it is valuable to defend yourself a little bit.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Well, especially if you were taken totally wrong. And I, I think that is one of the hardest things about putting things out on the Internet is you intended one thing and then it was taken another way. And you, you almost can't even watch how all the stuff. If you're putting out a lot of content, you can't constantly be watching how everything's going to be taken. And so it's hard whenever people do misunderstand it. And I'm with you, too. The positivity far outweighs the negativity. But somehow our brains tend to remember, I guess because we know that they're all good, all those positive people. They're good, they don't need my help. They're good, they're happy. But then it's like the ones who aren't, it's like, well, we got to make you happy. You can't be hanging out over there all upset at me.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, I agree. Have you had any major, like, have you made the news or, you know, been in any big mainstream?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

See, I try to really not watch. Like, I, I know there's like, gossip, things, like, crazy, and people have tried to send in me and I'm like, listen, I my ear. Like, I am not going to pay attention to that. I have had people email me, like, what they said about you, I'm sure isn't right. And I'm like, it probably isn't, but I don't need you to tell me about it because I really don't want to know. So I try to stay very, very out of it because I am such a people pleaser that I will lose sleep over it. Like, I can't, I cannot take that. Like, I can't take people thinking something about me that isn't true.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

So I don't know.

[Emily Morrow]

You're so lovable, Lisa. Why would anybody hate you?

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Because it's the Internet, you know, you're so lovable. Emily. But do you have people? Yeah, it's.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Oh, man. It can be. It can be. Yes, it's. It is. It's such a blessing. And I always try to remember this is what I do for my job. This is such a privilege and opportunity, a blessing. And, yeah, trying to not worry about all of that because it is such a good opportunity, but, yeah, it can be. It can be a challenge, that's for sure.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah. Yeah, it is. But like you said, huge blessing.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes.

[Emily Morrow]

Wonderful opportunity. And it's kind of funny because whenever you are a content creator, you get way more praise than anyone else at their job.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Like, and to be honest, sometimes that's overwhelming, though. Like, do you sometimes feel like people. They say they'll say such nice things about me that I'm also, like, you

[Emily Morrow]

know, like, not that that's too much.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Like, just so you know, I'm like, completely regular mom, you know, I don't deserve any of that. And that can even be uncomfortable because it's like a standard you feel like you have to live up to, you know, like, yeah, got to keep making that next really good real. And heaven forbid the next one isn't as funny as the one prior. Have you felt that pressure at all?

[Emily Morrow]

Oh, yeah. And I totally look at likes, and I'm to the point now since my platform has grown. I mean, I have almost half a million on Instagram. I'm mostly just talking about Instagram, but, like, if I don't get 10,000 likes on a reel, I'm like, this was a fail.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yeah. Even though that would have been such a good performance a year ago.

[Emily Morrow]

I know, but now. Yes. Yes.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Have you heard of the gap in the gain theory? Or the gap in the gain? There's a book called that, and it's basically looking at where you've come and not always, like, having to strive for that next. I think it's the gap in the gain. Have you heard of that?

[Emily Morrow]

I haven't, but I want to look

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

it up for you to. Yeah, add that to your list because it's. I mean, I don't think it was about content creators, but it definitely applies because you're always. Can find yourself in that trap of I now have everything I wanted, and yet I'm still trying to push and grow and fall into that.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

That trap. Which is what you don't want to do.

[Emily Morrow]

That sounds really interesting, Elle.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Well, I am super excited to binge listen to all of your podcast episodes. I did not realize it was that new, but I have not listened to all the episodes yet. So I'm looking forward to that. Tell us about your podcast, your book, and where everybody can follow up and find you.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, we have made it so easy to find us because everything is under the same name. Really Very Crunchy. It's the name of my book. It's the name. The name of Our Instagram, Facebook, YouTube podcast is the really Very crunchy podcast. So whatever you're interested in, just search. Really Very Crunchy. You can find our short form on all the social media platforms. And like, if you want to find the book, you can search that wherever you buy books. Yeah, should be pretty easy to find. We also have a website, reallyverycrunchy.com so all of the information would be there as well.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Cool. Yeah, that does make it easy. Just Google it and then find your preferred method of listening or watching or whatever or both. Because sometimes you're in the mood for some high quality content that would be all of your short form. And then sometimes you want to listen to something while you're doing laundry. And I'm really enjoying it. I think it's. It's very. It. It really was cracking me up, to be honest, because your husband kind of eggs you on a little bit with some of the things that maybe he finds a bit ridiculous, and it's pretty entertaining. Thank you so much for joining me.

[Emily Morrow]

Yeah, thanks for asking me to be on. I really appreciate this. I've been a longtime follower and fan of yours, so it's really cool to get to talk to you in person.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Yes, same. All right, well, I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I know I did. I think I could talk to Emily for a lot longer. Really enjoyed the conversation. You can go check out all of the of her offerings, her book, her podcast. I can't wait to binge listen to the podcast because what I've heard so far is very funny, very good. All right, well, thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Simple Farmhouse Life podcast.

[Podcast Sponsor/Ad Voice]

Warning. If you're using a sportsbook to bet on the finals, you're getting robbed. Delete that app and join the millions using Polymarket. Polymarket is a prediction market, not a sports book. You trade against other fans, not the house. That means more money for you and less for greedy sportsbooks. It's available in all 50 states. Polymarket your go to prediction market for basketball's biggest state page. Download Polymarket in the App Store and use promo code block to unlock $50 free for your first trade. Download and use code Block Trading.

[Emily Morrow]

Not available in all jurisdictions, check local regulations before trading.

[Lisa (Host of Simple Farmhouse Life Podcast)]

Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply.