← Living Your Legacy
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- [00:00]
Jill Moishek
I was, you know, making six figures in a male dominated field. I was able to use my voice like things were good.
- [00:06]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [00:07]
Jill Moishek
Then five days before I was expecting to return to work, I was advised I no longer had a job to go back to. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was embarrassed, ashamed, you know, scared of the next steps, all of these things. But I had one clear thought, which was that this was the universe maybe telling me that I needed to take a different path. So I sat down with my laptop and then it was like I just couldn't stop writing these mom poems.
- [00:30]
Narrator
Jill Moishek, also known as Mom Said Duck, is a multi talented poet, comedian and entertainer who transforms the chaos of motherhood into poetry, laughter and connection.
- [00:40]
Podcast Host
You know, obviously there's not many people maybe doing this in the way you're doing it. Right.
- [00:45]
Jill Moishek
I think it gives moms an opportunity to be entertained as opposed to be the entertainment for once.
- [00:51]
Podcast Host
And in terms of helping and impacting the world, do you see it through this brand and moms, is that the passion and the focus?
- [00:57]
Jill Moishek
100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah, It's. And what I, what I love about it is that it's timeless. And so.
- [01:07]
Podcast Host
It spans the globe like a super high cold Internet. Elvis.
- [01:11]
Podcast Intro Voice
Brandon, today Apple is going to reinvent the phone. It's not over until I win. The Living youg Legacy podcast. For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary. The impossible. Oh, that is sensational. Jordan, open Chicago with the lead. You said Paul is the fastest man on the planet. You can live your dream.
- [01:46]
Podcast Host
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Legacy Maker. Sat here with Jill today and fascinating story. Started writing a few poems for moms, so turned it into a major brand. Has her own show now. She's on radio, tv, tons of podcasts and the brand's taken off. So I'm excited to dive into it. Welcome to the show.
- [02:04]
Jill Moishek
Thank you so much for having me. I'm honored to be here.
- [02:06]
Podcast Host
Yeah. So let's start. You know, people write poems, people do art, they write some stories, post it on Facebook, and that's normally the end of it. You know, it's a passion project. How have you turned it into a brand? What's the story?
- [02:18]
Jill Moishek
Well, it's funny that you say that because someone once said to me, jill, only you would pursue something like this. And I was like, what do you mean? And they're like the only people. The only person that people take less seriously than a stay at home mom, which is what I was, is an amateur poet.
- [02:31]
Podcast Host
There you go. At least if you start here, you can only go up.
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Narrator
Right?
- [02:35]
Jill Moishek
That's it. And you know what? That's actually been a really, like. It's almost like I've used that as leverage. Whereas, like, people, you know, like, nobody's expecting me to do anything with this. Right. So anything I do do is like, you know, it's awesome.
- [02:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah. Okay, and tell us, try and summarize the story. So, you know, you started writing a poem. Tell us how that expanded and what the brand is now.
- [02:59]
Jill Moishek
Yeah, yeah. So I actually was. I worked in Labor Relations and HR for 10 years. I was climbing the corporate ladder. I went on maternity leave for our youngest. While I was on maternity leave, I was just feeling good. I kind of had that white picket fence kind of a life. I was, you know, making six figures in a male dominated field. I was able to use my voice like things were good.
- [03:21]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [03:22]
Jill Moishek
And then five days before I was expecting to return to work, I was advised I no longer had a job to go back to. And so it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was embarrassed, ashamed, you know, scared of the next steps, all of these things. But I had one clear thought, which was that this was the universe maybe telling me that I needed to take a different path. And so. And I think it knew, you know, that I wouldn't do it myself. I wouldn't quit because I'd probably be doing that now. Exactly. Yeah. I was making money. And that's kind of like I was like proud of myself that I was able to contribute to my family financially. And my husband's an architect and I was the breadwinner, so I was like doing well, you know, like, financially speaking, I was kind of at the top of my game. And so I was just feeling good. And then. So when this happened, it was like, you know, the wind got knocked out of me and I. And I. All of these, you know, emotions and stuff came over me. But I had this one clear thought which was that, you know, I could maybe use it as a way to get out of what I was doing and find something that I enjoyed, you know, deep down. But what was worse is that I didn't have any interests, any passions, any, you know, like, I had no other hobbies, no other skill set. Like, I didn't know what to do or how to. How to change my life.
- [04:28]
Podcast Host
So it's like a reset almost.
- [04:30]
Jill Moishek
Yeah, yeah. But like, but like a sad. Like I was so sad. Like, I cried for five days straight. I sobbed. I couldn't leave my House even. And I'm a really social person, so that was a big deal for me. And so in kind of, in this, I had a year to sort of figure out what I needed to do. My, the company that turfed me gave me a sweet severance package to go away. And I had one year to sort of figure out my next step. And in that year of, you know, kind of just plowing through as a stay at home mom again, my mom came over to my house, she gave me a book that I had written when I was 10 years old called what's good for a 10 year old. And what's really interesting about that in and of itself is that my mom never kept anything from my childhood. And my parents still live in the same house that I was born and raised in. And my mom has spring cleaned that house a thousand times over. Because her thing is cleanliness. She loves to clean. And so the fact that this book sort of appeared out of nowhere, I didn't remember it. My mom, my dad, nobody remembered this book. No one. You know, it just sort of came out, you know, out of nowhere. And so she came to my house and was like so proud she had kept something from my childhood. Cause I always teased her. And my husband's mom, my mother in law kept so many curated beautiful things, right? And so I was like, what the hell, you know. So she came over and she was like thrilled that she had like kept this book that I had written. And so I remember reading it that day, like over and over and it was a rhyming book and it was like so good and I just couldn't believe it. And I was like so proud of like my little self. Like I was like proud of like little Jill, you know. And so I kept locking myself in rooms that day. Like, you know, my kids were little, they're like tugging at me and all that stuff. And I was kind of just finding ways to like just read the book again. I just kept reading and reading and I was just so thrilled with my little self. And so I finally had a good realization this time. And that is so I had kind of always coined the term as an adult that I don't have a creative bone in my body. I'd always said that about myself and music, art, whatever. I just, I was like, nah, it's not for me. I don't have a creative bone in my body. And then so this book made me realize that I did maybe in fact have a creative bone in my body. I had just maybe lost it somewhere along the way.
- [06:32]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [06:32]
Jill Moishek
And so the very next morning, my. Our son came to. He was a little toddler at the time as a little blankie and a soother. And he came into our bedroom and, you know, came to my bedside. They always come to mom's side of the bed. And so I pulled him in bed with us, and as he was falling back to sleep and between my husband and I started massaging his toes. And as I was massaging his toes, I thought, I wonder if I can make a little poem about his body in my head. So as I was massaging his toes, I did it in just a few minutes. I made this entire little rhyme about his body in my head, and I thought, well, that was pretty good. So I grabbed my phone from my nightstand, jotted it down, and then when my husband woke up, I was like, brad, listen to this poem that I just wrote. What do you think? He's like, ah, yeah, it was cute. And that's all I needed to say. That was enough validation for me. I read that poem to, like, anybody who had listened. Friends, family, strangers, you know, anybody who had listened to the poem. And so after that sort of dopamine hit wore off. I have adhd, so after that wore off, I was like, okay, I'm going to try this again. So I sat down with my laptop, and then it was like, I just couldn't stop writing these mom poems. And so, yeah, it's now, you know, there's so much in between that.
- [07:36]
Podcast Host
But so how long ago was that?
- [07:38]
Jill Moishek
So that would have been probably two or three years ago. I ended up meeting up with a creative coach, per my husband's recommendation. And so they advised that I should be starting a website and a newsletter and all these kinds of things. And so that's what I did. I realized over the course of time my favorite thing about my poems was saying them, not writing them.
- [07:58]
Podcast Host
Okay.
- [07:59]
Jill Moishek
And so I started a podcast. You can listen to my poems anywhere. You listen to podcasts. But it was, you know, through that I realized, okay, there's still something missing. And I kind of. I finally figured it out, and it was people, moms, Moms were missing. I needed that energy from other humans, from other moms. And so I thought, okay, I'm gonna. I'm gonna have a stand woman comedy slash poetry show and see what happens.
- [08:20]
Podcast Host
It's kind of crazy because, I mean, a lot of creatives are the opposite. They don't like, you know, they like to create it and then put it out there versus being on a stage and doing It. Right. And it's also crazy that, you know, you. You thought you had no creativity, and you kind of put that hat on yourself for most. Most your life. Right? And then one book, just, like, from your youth, changed everything, you know, so it's really cool. And, you know, obviously you had the year to really dive deep into it, right? So that was great. You had that year to kind of figure it out and figure out what you wanted to do. So that's where you're at now. How do you see the brand expanding?
- [08:56]
Jill Moishek
I have seen so much rejection and ghosting for the first four years of Mom Said Duck, and I understand now that's kind of part of how it goes. You have to sort of, you know, you have to figure it out first, and then people will sort of trust you and buy in. And so it wasn't until I created this show called Mom's Night out with Mom Said Duck that everything started to click. Everybody started to say yes. It was a resounding yes. It was. How can I help? How can I help more? My audience through my newsletter and through Instagram and stuff. It was almost like they were ready for it, too, for me to do this standup thing. And, yeah, it was just kind of an overwhelming response that was too hard to say that this wasn't something now. And so everybody was ready for it as much as I was. So it was just a really cool feeling finally, after having put in all of that work, to finally know and feel that what I was doing was right. I've only had two shows. I have two shows coming up in 2025 as well. My first two shows in 2024. The first one was on the Friday of Mother's Day weekend, which is four years to the day that I started Mom Said Duck, and it sold out in less than 24 hours. My second show, I doubled the capacity. It sold out in just over 24 hours. My next show that I have coming up, I just announced it. It's not until May, but I just announced it to kind of create a buzz and all that kind of stuff. And somebody reached out to me just last night, sent me a DM and said, I want to buy half the tickets. So it's kind of like I have so much momentum now. It feels like I'm in the right spot. I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
- [10:30]
Podcast Host
Yeah. So you're gonna have a few hundred people, right? Do you see this as, like, a thousand people? Two thousand.
- [10:37]
Jill Moishek
You know what? I did the math Rudy, There are about 2 billion moms in the world. That's who I want to reach. That's why I'm here today.
- [10:42]
Podcast Host
That's why I'm at so big shows. You could getting the podcast bigger and how do you see the brand grow and what else over the next 10 years?
- [10:50]
Jill Moishek
My husband actually just asked me this, like, if you could be. If you could turn this into anything.
- [10:55]
Podcast Host
Yeah, yeah.
- [10:55]
Jill Moishek
What would it be? And I said, I see my poems being a Netflix series, each one having its own episode. I see myself standing on a stage in an auditorium filled with, you know, I don't know, however many. A hundred thousand people or something like that. You know, Kevin Hart or an Amy Schumer or something like that. So my brand is very. It's very different. So it's not. I've kind of struggled with that in the sense that I don't really fit into the poet role. I don't really fit into the comedian role. It's motivational as well, because I tell my story, you know, at the beginning of my show. So it's its own entity. It's its own thing. And so I have struggled in terms of where do I fit in, whose blueprint can I look to to try to follow that? And in some ways I can, but in other ways, it's. I very much am forging my own path here. But as much as that's scares me, it excites me because it tells me that it's not saturated.
- [11:50]
Podcast Host
Yeah. And just for, I guess, to catch people up if they're listening. They're probably fascinated by your story, like I am, and the growth and how it all came about. Just clarify for them, like, obviously it's moms that are listening, but. But what are they getting from it? Right. Like, can you just talk about, like, what makes you unique? Why are people listening? Yeah.
- [12:10]
Jill Moishek
Yeah. So I take the mundane mom things that happen all the time. So making lunches and doing dishes and the issues of grandparents and, you know, a lot of things that moms don't talk about.
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Podcast Host
The frustrating parts.
- [12:23]
Jill Moishek
The frustrating parts. And I try to turn them into cheeky, fun, funny things. And so what I'm hoping is that people. People see that sort of warmth and lightheartedness about it. I have a lot of, you know, I'm incredibly vulnerable. I've always been a vulnerable person. I don't mind you laughing at my expense, so to speak. And so I think it gives moms an opportunity to be entertained as opposed to be the entertainment for once.
- [12:47]
Podcast Host
Well, I think it's great too, because I think there's, in the last 10 years or whatever, I see a lot of people speaking about how moms now feel they have to put on this brave face and everything's okay. And Ryan. And so I think it's great because there's, you know, the more you can help make it light hearted and, you know, make it clear it's not always okay, but that's part of the journey. Just like in business, right? Almost entrepreneurs, it's all sunshine and rainbows, but really we all know it never is. Right. A bunch of BS behind the doors. So I think it's kind of the same. So, you know, obviously there's not many people maybe doing this in the way you're doing it. Right. So what, what if someone's listening now and they want to dive into your world where. What's the best place they start? Right?
- [13:33]
Jill Moishek
Yeah. So I have, I have something called Fresh Palm Friday. And so every Single Friday at 10:00am I've been doing it for 5 years now. I send, it's free, it's fun. And I send a new poem to moms to start their weekend off with a giggle. So I would say sign up for my, my free and fun newsletter.
- [13:51]
Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [13:51]
Jill Moishek
And then that's where you get sort of the insider scoop. You know, my, my tickets to my shows. I'll always, you know, sell them to my, my newsletter subscribers first and that kind of thing. So, yeah, so definitely my newsletter, Instagram. I'm super, you know, active on Instagram, a little bit on TikTok, my website for sure. Everything's on my website. So yeah, I'm, I'm out there.
- [14:12]
Podcast Host
And what about the podcast? Like, what are they, what can they listen to on the podcast?
- [14:16]
Jill Moishek
Yeah, so my, the podcast is different in the sense that it, each podcast episode is its own poem. So they're only like three minute episodes of each of each thing. It's, it's not. It definitely has some growth there. Like a lot of people have been like, why don't you do a podcast where like, you're sitting with someone and you know, you're talking that kind of thing. So it hasn't gone there. I've focused almost all of my energy in the past 12 months on the live shows. It's not only what lights me up, but it's also the biggest impact. Like when I'm standing up there, I can feel the energy because I hear mom sniffling. Because some of my poems are sweet too. So I hear them sniffling, I hear them pulling A Kleenex for the funny ones. They're literally belly laughing. They're hooting, hollering, screaming, clapping. I got standing ovations. I've had lineups of moms waiting to talk to me after the show. Just. And it, like, that's so overwhelming for me. Right. In like, the most humble way, because it's like, okay, like, this is. This is something, you know.
- [15:16]
Podcast Host
Yeah. And I can. I mean, yeah, I can see a few thousand people. Big, bigger stage. Like, it creates even more of that atmosphere. Right. Like. Like a stage show. Right. A London show or New York, you know. You know, show. So love that. Next question then. So we talked a lot about the brand, obviously, how you got into this, but let's talk a little about the legacy, the long term side. Right. What do you want to be known for long term?
- [15:41]
Jill Moishek
I want to be known long term as someone who is resilient and someone who doesn't take life too seriously. I think that even if you live to be 100 years old, you know, you only have. You don't know what the hell is going on until you're about 20 and you start kind of falling apart around, you know, 80, 90, so you really only have those, like, you know, that core set of years. And so I want to take that and just live the biggest life I can possibly live.
- [16:07]
Podcast Host
And in terms of helping and impact in the world, do you see it through this brand of moms? Is that the passion and the focus?
- [16:13]
Jill Moishek
100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's. And what I. What I love about it is that it's timeless. And so one of the best compliments I ever received was from my husband's grandmother, who's recently passed, but she was 96, and she read one of my poems and she looked up at me and she said, jill, you brought me right back. And so I love that because it's like a lot of, you know, if you. My poems are trendy in the sense that I, you know, I. The words that I use in my speech and stuff like that. I say that in there, but, like, the core message can reach moms across.
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Podcast Host
Yeah.
- [16:43]
Jill Moishek
You know.
- [16:43]
Podcast Host
Yeah. And it's like something like Lord of the Rings. It'll be around genera. You know, no one's ever not going to probably be a mom and resonate. Right. Even in 100 years, the kid's always going to have diapers or whatever, Right?
- [16:55]
Jill Moishek
Exactly. They're always. They're always going to. Yeah. They're always going to throw tantrums, you know, like. Like there's always going to be toddlers around. There's, you know, so I have. Women are always going to be pregnant. So I. And it's funny because I go through life now and I see on these, you know, these mom accounts that have millions of followers and they'll be talking about like this mom topic, mom guilt or pregnancy or toddlers or whatever it is. And I always think to myself, I have a poem for that. I have a poem for that.
- [17:19]
Podcast Host
Yeah, yeah.
- [17:20]
Jill Moishek
Poem for that. I have a poem for that.
- [17:21]
Podcast Host
It's so good because, yeah, there's like, there's a lot of big influencers, right, teaching that stuff or growing their accounts, talking about that stuff. But you've like got this cool niche way of doing it that probably no one else is doing or very few. So that's really. And that's great because people want to have it maybe more fun or, you know, more impactful in the way you're delivering it than just someone face to camera speaking. So it's really cool. So, last question then. People are fascinated by it. They want to send it someone. They want to find you. What, what. First question. What will they get from your full episode and what else will they learn from that? And then where do they go from there to find you?
- [17:59]
Jill Moishek
Yeah, so the full episode. I mean, we dig in, we get into the wees about everything. So you'll hear my story kind of, you know, a little bit more. More deep. I think that sort of the takeaway, you know, is that there are so many synchronicities in my story. And I think that that applies though, to everyone. I think that if you listen to the nudges from the universe, you know, for example, me getting that book from my mom and then just trying, what the hell, I'm gonna try to make this little poem. So I think. And now it's turned into me sitting with you in Miami. You know, I gotta own episode on a TV show. It's amazing, right? So had I not followed all of these little nudges from the universe, I don't think that I would be where I am right now.
- [18:38]
Podcast Host
Love it. And where do that. Where's the best place to start? Where do they sign up to the newsletter? What?
- [18:42]
Jill Moishek
So yeah, so my Website mom said, duck.com, instagram, my link in bio, you know, any of those places.
- [18:49]
Podcast Host
For sure. Love it. Well, I love what you're doing. Guys. Go check out the site and obviously listen to at least one poem and of course check out the full episodes of see the full story. As always, keep working hard, Change lives, make an impact and build a legacy. I'll see you guys soon. Take care.