Balancing Motherhood & Ambition: Kanika Chadda Gupta on Finding Her Mom Sense
In this episode of Mom to MORE®, host Sharon Macey welcomes Kanika Chadda Gupta — former CNN anchor, award-winning podcast host, and mom of three (including twins). Known as the “Media Mom of Multiples,” Kanika blends motherhood and media on her own terms as the creator of That’s Total Mom Sense, a top-rated parenting podcast featuring guests like Chelsea Clinton, Kelly Rowland, America Ferrera, and Bobbi Brown.
Kanika’s dream since childhood was to be both a television anchor and a mom. After years in broadcast journalism, she pivoted to digital media and podcasting to prioritize family while pursuing purpose. She shares candidly about raising three kids under three, finding her rhythm, and setting boundaries that protect both career and home life.
Tune in as Sharon and Kanika talk about the power of “mom sense” (that built-in intuition), pushing past fear, and how motherhood sharpens leadership skills. Kanika offers practical tips for pitching partnerships, managing time with intention, and embracing pivots without losing yourself. It’s an inspiring conversation about legacy, reinvention, and cherishing the small moments.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:54] Meet Kanika Chadda Gupta
[05:02] From childhood dream to CNN anchor
[06:48] Life with three kids under three
[08:54] Creating non-negotiable boundaries for work and family
[10:10] The shower epiphany that sparked That’s Total Mom Sense
[14:44] Pitching and winning brand partnerships with Meta and Lexus
[18:24] Overcoming fears and finding confidence in reinvention
[24:39] Memorable podcast interviews with Chelsea Clinton and Kelly Rowland
[28:59] Mom skills that became leadership skills
[32:37] Legacy, priorities, and Kanika’s “more”
Meet my guest Kanika Chadda Gupta:
Website: https://kanikachaddagupta.com/
Instagram: @kanikachaddagupta
Podcast: That’s Total Mom Sense (available wherever you listen to podcasts)
Looking for More? Follow @momtomore on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. @Sharon Macey on LinkedIn.
Get your freebie: 6 Ways To Reinvent Yourself Beyond Motherhood at momtomore.com
Keep an eye out for episode #45 of the Mom to MORE® podcast where Sharon revisits a past episode of the pod with guest Alison Bruhn, cofounder of The Style That Binds Us. Coming soon - you won’t want to miss it ♥
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Sharon Macey (01:35)
Welcome back to a new episode of Mom to More.
Today I am so excited to introduce you to Kanika Chattagupta, AKA Media Mom of Multiples. Perhaps you already know who she is. She's a former CNN anchor, a podcast host, and a mom of three, including twins. Big job. What drew me to Kanika's story is she is what I would call the intentional hybrid mom. She is not a full-time stay-at-home mom, but she's not a full-time working mom either.
She somehow manages to effortlessly balance the roles of dedicated mom and focus professional. And we're going to chat about how she does that and the boundaries that that requires. Kanika is all about helping moms embrace their purpose and model that for the next generation. She hosts the top rated parenting podcast, That's Total Mom Sense, where she's interviewed incredible guests like Chelsea Clinton, Kelly Rowland, America Ferrera, Bobby Brown.
diving into their life lessons, leadership and legacy.
Her show has partnered with major organizations like the March of Dimes, Metta, Lexus, and even the White House. And it's the official podcast partner of Mom 2.0, where we met. She's been named one of the 100 Women to Know in America by No Magazine and JPMorgan Chase.
and her work has been featured in Forbes, as well as on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. So welcome, Kanaka. I am so thrilled you're with me today.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (03:02)
Thank you, Sharon. This is a joy. Thanks so much for having me.
Sharon Macey (03:05)
Thank you.
And we must give a shout out to mom 2.0 where we met what a phenomenal organization.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (03:11)
Absolutely. Mom too has been around for 17 years now. Yes. And the founding team, Laura, Carrie, John and Marla are just amazing. So we love you guys.
Sharon Macey (03:15)
17, yeah, long time.
We
love you. Big shout out to you guys. All right. So what I love about you, Kanika, is that you are clearly a mom who is doing this on your own terms, which I think is really inspiring because I contrast that with when my kids were younger and I didn't have those options. I was either working in the home or I was working outside of the home. So why was it important for you to create this distinct work life model?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (03:49)
Yes, and for that I'd love to take us back to ⁓ when I was a seven-year-old Kanaka. I remember watching the news. We always had the news on at home. ⁓ My immigrant parents from India just loved it. They loved Peter Jennings. And I grew up just idolizing Connie Chung, ⁓ Oprah, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters. And I thought when I grow up,
I want to be a television anchor and a mom. And those are my two goals. And I realized, you after I had done my master's in broadcast journalism, and, you know, that took me to my first job, CNN International, and I did that for many years, I realized that breaking news is not really conducive to breastfeeding. And so I just thought I'm going to have to
Sharon Macey (04:41)
That's so true. True.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (04:47)
pivot somehow and allow my family life to be prioritized. And I know everyone is going to make their own choice. And for me, and at this juncture in time and our landscape that is media, I thought I should take all of my skills in production and reporting and delve into new media and all things digital. And so that's what prompted it for me. And I started a digital marketing firm.
And then after I had my three kids in 18 months, which was a whole other story we can get into. Yes. Yes. After that. So the twins, the plus the one that's when I launched my podcast. That's total nonsense. And so it's funny how when we trace it all the way back to our inner child, ⁓ you realize that the big dreams that you had back then, you will go to any lab.
Sharon Macey (05:20)
There's a whole other story. my gosh, can't imagine.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (05:43)
to make that materialize in your dog.
Sharon Macey (05:46)
And you did, you were able to manifest it so many years later. I love how you connected that. Thank you for that. That's really wonderful. Okay, so you're a mom raising young kids, running a household, doing laundry, volunteering at the kids school, but you're also a mom entrepreneur. How do you manage the mental load, which is significant, of running a successful podcast and growing a brand at the same time?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (05:50)
Yeah.
Yes, well, I'll have to say that in my opinion, the biggest make or break decision in your life is the partner you choose. And I absolutely, and we not only cheerlead each other and challenge each other, we are a team. You know, we have this like, kind of code word to each other that we're the 96 bulls.
Sharon Macey (06:24)
That's so true. They have to be supportive. Yes.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (06:43)
And so when we are at our best, yeah, neither of us is even from the Midwest. I'm from Maryland and he's from New Jersey. But it's just, you know, the phenomenon that was ⁓ Michael Jordan and all of that. It was just like, we want to be as solid as the NDSS schools. ⁓ And so there are times where, of course, we go off track. But I think that that has allowed me to have the...
Sharon Macey (06:43)
Okay.
Chicago Bulls, okay, okay.
Okay.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (07:11)
flexibility and freedom that I have in my career and my home life ⁓ is having a partner like him. So it starts there. And then ⁓ it is all about time management after that. think realizing what your priorities are and knowing that, you know, these are my non-negotiables when it comes to my kids and when it comes to my work. And I started doing that not when they were first born, because I was still living under a rock.
I mean, just to paint a picture, I had the twins and I nursed them for a year. And so that was like a whole freak show with like two kids in my lap and a really big pillow that wrapped around them and they were in football holes and it was crazy. And then I got pregnant when they were nine months. so, yes, Irish triplets. Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. It's exactly that. So then I...
Sharon Macey (07:50)
Right, yeah.
So kind of Irish twins. Yeah. Irish triplets. Yeah. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (08:08)
had the newborn and they were older, they were 18 months, know, so kind of just like pitter pattering around and we had ⁓ different colored bottles. know, Suhana had the lavender, Krish had the blue and Shrey had the white ones. And then we had different size diapers. So from the newborn to, you know, size three,
Sharon Macey (08:29)
my god.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (08:30)
And so I was just totally overwhelmed, you know, and I just thought, okay, I, have to recalibrate when it's time. And I want to say that I got the wind in my sails again, when the kids were like,
four and three. That's when I was like, okay, we kind of have a rhythm and then it only got easier as they entered elementary school and onwards. And now they're in second grade or actually rising third graders and a second grader. So yeah, we've gone through all of that,
Sharon Macey (08:47)
Okay, okay.
So sweet, yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (09:03)
I learned a ton. But once I got to...
this sweet spot. So moms, allow yourself that pause and that grace because there's no such thing as a snapback, not for your body, not for your routine, none of it. Like, accept that it's a small blip in time in the long scheme of things and ⁓ the sacrifices that you do make where it's not an ideal, whatever it may be, like the FOMO that you're having, you should just let that.
you're meant to be doing exactly what you're doing. Once I got through that, then I found my groove again and was like, so now I have my podcast and I'm going to bulk record and I have the campaigns that I'm doing and the partnerships I'm doing and the deliverables around that. But I also, I'm going to make sure that one of my non-negotiables is that my hours are from nine to three.
Sharon Macey (09:36)
Exactly.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (10:06)
2.30, three o'clock is pickup.
And that helped because from three onwards, I was in complete mom mode. It's like I turned into a pumpkin and now it's after school and we are going to baseball.
Sharon Macey (10:15)
Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (10:21)
eating dinner, doing homework, about time, bedtime, all of that. And so, yeah, it feels at first like, you know, am I going to be shortchanging myself by not taking opportunities? But in the end, when you have the power to lean into, this is what I prioritize in my life and I'm making my decisions around that, no one can tell you.
Sharon Macey (10:46)
Exactly.
And I feel that as women, sometimes we don't give ourselves that grace that we should and that we deserve.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (10:52)
Yes, absolutely.
Sharon Macey (10:54)
Yeah. So I ran across a quote of yours, which really resonated with me. And you said, remember that you have a superpower, your mom sense and dad sense. It's your built in sixth sense and intuition that guide you on the right path. You can do hard things and you are doing great. And I think that's fabulous. So What was your aha moment to start the podcast? in this intuition space and
What hard things are you most proud of pushing through?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (11:26)
Ooh, excellent questions. Okay, so Mom Sense came to me was ⁓ when I was in that fog after I had my third. And it's funny, it was in the shower. You know, after you're pumping, The best ideas happen in the shower. So I was just you know, standing in the steam for a while and like, just ideas were coming to me. And I thought I have to start this show and
Sharon Macey (11:37)
Mm-hmm.
Best. Yes, The best ideas happen in the shower. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (11:55)
I want it predicated on our inner knowing because everybody has that. And somehow it was motherhood that helped me channel it even more. And I just knew. I knew what I needed in a given moment. I knew what the kids needed. Even though we're like deciphering cries, I'd be like, he's hungry. He needs to be changed. Yes.
Sharon Macey (12:19)
amazing how we know that, right? It's really amazing. The guys
are like, whatever, but we're like, no, that's that cry. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (12:23)
what's going on here? Yes, exactly.
And so I thought this is really a superpower. And I want to just make sure that I channel that in like all facets of my life, because then I'm going to be so self-assured and I'll just go full speed ahead. And so I thought mom sense, nonsense. And it just, came to me that's total mom sense. I wanted to be, you know, kind of just.
Sharon Macey (12:46)
Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (12:51)
whimsical and fun and I love puns. My kids and I at the dinner table are always sharing puns with each other,
So that's how it came to me. And then I wanted everyone to know that, we all have this in our voice. And the last thing I want, especially for parents is for outsiders, you know, it could be, you know, a doctor in a white coat or a nanny or a friend.
saying, I think you should do it this way. Just you tune all that out and know that you have the answers inside you. And one way to really hone that in is if you're a writer, journal, wake up and do morning pages. If you read the artist's way, you could wake up and do a brain dump and you'll find that it's like, oh wow, I actually intuitively know how may solve this problem.
Or when you sit in silence and meditate, that's another one where you're just like, my gosh, do, do. And I think it's helped me a
Sharon Macey (13:53)
And that's something you do, right? You meditate regularly. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (13:58)
it is so rejuvenating.
Sharon Macey (14:01)
So the hard time
is figuring out when you have the time to actually do that, right? Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (14:05)
Exactly.
That,
whenever you can take time to just sit in silence and you wanna journal after or just sit with your thoughts, it does give you the clarity that you need.
Sharon Macey (14:15)
I like that. Thank you for that. You just gave me some ideas there.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (14:17)
Mm-hmm.
Sharon Macey (14:19)
So circle back to what hard things are you most proud of pushing through?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (14:22)
Yes, okay, I'll give you a few on the professional and the personal front. So professionally, I am really glad that a few of my latest campaigns, you mentioned Meta and Lexis, were really because I took a chance and did the pitch. And I'm so glad it worked out. ⁓ With Meta, I have worked with the team, the head of...
Brand partnerships Carly and global safety Nicole for you know, like a few years now and I knew that they wanted to really push Instagram teen accounts but reach parents and Teach them how to use parental controls because it is the wild wild west out there and you cannot just give your kid a phone and be like download whatever you want like
And so you really do need to create the guardrails.
And I said, I would love to co-host this with another common friend of ours, Samantha Danielle.
Yes, yes. Samantha, we love you.
Sharon Macey (15:23)
Danielle, yes. Shout out to Samantha, we love you. ⁓
Kanika Chadda Gupta (15:28)
And we just put our heads together and we said, we should do something with this because not only from our perspectives, I'm the child of immigrants, I immigrated myself with my parents, I was two, of South Asians. And she being a single black mom to her three kids, that's two perspectives we don't hear from all the time. So, you know, starting there. And then after that jump off point was like, you know, I have three kids in elementary school.
she has one in college and two in high school now. So yeah, I said there's a diversity there too, where, you know, I should care about it when I have toddlers and what the impact of social media is and social she because her kids actually have friends. And so we just created a series called Parenting in the Digital Age and ⁓ pitched it and on a Zoom and everyone loved it. And they were like,
Sharon Macey (16:01)
to in high school. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (16:25)
let's go through all the red tape and make it happen.
Sharon Macey (16:28)
I love that.
parents really need to know what their kids are getting into. And I even interviewed an internet security spec in your specialist as well. And she's like, no, no, no, Parents need to be involved. And that that's so critical.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (16:40)
Yes,
absolutely, absolutely. And I mean, and see them, you know, for who they are and what they're interested in. I feel like kids, especially teenagers can get very dismissive, like, my God, you're not going to understand. But, you know, like not only download the apps that they're using and say like, walk me through this and let's do this together, but play video games with them too. You know, do the things that they like to do because that's
kind of like their love language and that's how they relate to people.
So that series was a hard thing and it came to fruition. thing for Lexis. I met the team at a Diwali party and thought like, you know, I love how you guys are sponsoring this Diwali party. Do you do more cultural events? And so we got conversation started and then we did a whole series for AAPI with, you know,
thought leaders that were moms that are in fashion, fitness and food. And that aired on the podcast and it fully sponsored by Lethless. So yeah.
Sharon Macey (17:45)
And you know what I love
about this lesson, Conoco, what you just said is you never know until you try and you put yourself out there. And this is a great lesson for moms who are going through that reinvention process, like figure out what are they gonna do? Try it, right? You have nothing to lose. The worst thing they can do is say, not right now, not for us, thanks, but no thanks. But so what? You've learned something from doing that.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (17:51)
Exactly.
100%.
Yes, yes,
100%. And I think I'm kind of relentless. feel like a no isn't a no. It's a maybe, yeah, it's a not now. It's the, you know, what is the no for? Is it the budget? Is it the format? Is it, you know, the content that's gonna be created and that's not the platform that they want it on, you know? So.
Sharon Macey (18:15)
Not now. Yeah. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (18:32)
Find out what the holes are and what your brands or whoever you're trying to partner with, what their objective is, and say, I can fill that gap for you. And I can reach this audience for you. And if you're solving a problem for them, then the no is like, actually, yes. Yeah.
Sharon Macey (18:53)
that's great. Thank you for that.
Hey, Connika, hang with me for a few minutes moments. We're going to take a quick break. And when we come back, we are going to be talking about our good friends, fear and doubt, and also diving more into your podcast. So don't go away.
Welcome back. We are back with Kanika Chattagupta. Okay, Kanika. Many moms feel hesitant or intimidated by change.
And from my perspective, this is where our baby steps come in, right? So we have the nimbleness to pivot and change without too much time or financial commitment initially. So with that in mind, what fears, hesitations and challenges did you?
encounter during your shift from media professional to mom entrepreneur? And how did you navigate those?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (20:46)
Yes, I think my biggest fear was becoming irrelevant. You know, I just thought when I was on TV, I was somebody. And you see the byline and the, it's called a CG, the character generator is the name that shows up right underneath whichever talking head. And I thought I need that, you know, and for those of you who are in media.
you know, your byline if you come from print or, you know, or a writer. It's that really identified me. And I thought,
television anchor turned podcaster, are people going to buy it? Are people going to follow me?
just, thought like, I don't know if I'm going to be able to build an audience from scratch without being on a network at a specific time of the day.
I'm glad that I pushed through because again, I'm living life on my terms and I want your audience members to do that too. You are not your job. And there is a lovely Ted speaker and she's a Gen Z-er. want to say her name is think Sinead Bovell. ⁓ it's just a lovely sound bite that I came across on Instagram that you were sharing.
And she said, we need to stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up because that's so fluid and will change. And I mean, with AI taking over everything, maybe a lot of the jobs that they're thinking of won't exist in 20 years. So there's that practicality. But moreover, it's what are you curious about and what do you want to learn? And what do you want to be good at? What do you want to excel at?
Sharon Macey (22:12)
Interesting.
Yes.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (22:33)
because it's those skills, whether it's hard skills or soft skills, that you're going to take to every position, many roles that don't even exist. You know, I mean, now, like every single company has a social media manager. Like that wasn't a thing, you know, 10 years ago
Sharon Macey (22:44)
Mm-hmm.
I love that reframe.
Cause you realize, Especially as a mom, you, we have a very nonlinear career trajectory, right? And so, and I'm willing to bet, I'm going to ask you a question. If someone said to you 10 years ago, Hey, in 10 years, you're going to be doing this like, you know, top rated podcast and all these important partnerships you, you would have said...
Kanika Chadda Gupta (23:02)
Yes.
Yeah.
I wouldn't believe it. Not at all. would be like,
how did I break away from traditional media? There's a charted path that I was meant to follow.
Sharon Macey (23:30)
All right, so let's talk about your podcast. That's Total Mom Sense. It is all about trusting our mom sense, as we talked about earlier. How has tapping into your own intuition changed your approach to parenting and life decisions?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (23:31)
Okay.
I use it every day. I feel like it's my North Star. And anytime that I have a doubt around something, I'm like, I need to take my own advice and my guest's advice. Exactly. And everyone has these moments, you know, whether it was Chelsea Clinton, or I just had Sahil Blum on, he wrote a beautiful book called The Five Types of Wealth. ⁓ Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project.
Sharon Macey (23:58)
Listen to yourself, right?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (24:13)
I'm asking all of them, like, tell me about your intuitive moments when you really sit with yourself and are like, you know, what is my karma, which is your life purpose and calling? That's my Dharma in this world.
So it's nice to hear people's And then you could just tie it into your own life. And for me, I I use my mom said it mom sent many junctures. One that sits out was when my daughter was having a hard time. ⁓
and she would just cry in class and she had a really, really fun time. And it was a new school,
And so
I spoke to the principal and the administrators because they were just like, we're worried about her. Like it's taking her a long time to get situated. And my mom since went off and I thought, okay, you know, usually
She's good, but she's definitely my big dealer and half child, much like I am.
And I'm always like, it's just you and me, we're all the way through on the show in this house of five. And I did magical mama time. And so that is something that we coined, which is just one on one.
with one of your kids.
I thought I have to create these moments with my daughter with all with all my kids so that she feels seen and she feels secure.
because it comes from, you know, attachment. And she just felt unsafe and secure in this new environment. And the more safety she got for me outside of the school, she was good. So we did that for a few weekends in a row. had like long periods of magical moments.
Sharon Macey (25:57)
You knew innately what your child needed and you did it. And she is now better for that. So lesson to everyone out there. And we know that, but
Kanika Chadda Gupta (26:00)
Yeah. Yeah. Yes.
Sharon Macey (26:06)
sometimes we don't trust our intuition, we should trust our intuition.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (26:08)
Exactly!
Sharon Macey (26:11)
So
as we talked about earlier, you have interviewed some fabulously influential and intriguing women. Which interview impacted you the most and why?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (26:21)
Ooh, it's so hard to pick one. I know, I know they're all good and you learn something from everyone.
Sharon Macey (26:23)
I know there's so many and they're all good. I know.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (26:28)
Yes, yes. Okay, I'll share. But I'll make them brief. Chelsea Clinton, was just that was like a pinching moment for me because I grew up outside DC. And we're around the same age. And when she was first daughter, I just always wondered,
what her life is like. She lives in a fishbowl. ⁓ And, you know, and she's still so, ⁓ you know, humble and straight arrow, you know, like there was she didn't go off the deep end. She she was the daughter who did all the right things. ⁓ And so meeting her in person and then ⁓ having her share about being a mom to three ⁓ after, you know, being an only child, it was like
its own reckoning. She has a book called Welcome to the Big Kids Club, where she talks about ⁓ who's preparing her older kids for the baby sibling on the way. And she was like, I never knew what that was. But ⁓ it's interesting how, you you start solving problems for others to your life experience. And she has a lot of great books for tweens. ⁓ One is It's Your World Start Now. And she's helping like, you know, 12 and 13 year olds
Sharon Macey (27:27)
Hmm.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (27:46)
⁓ learn about building community and, you know, even in a small way, they can fight climate change and global warming and,
discrimination and inequities that we see in society.
Yeah. Yes, yes.
Sharon Macey (28:00)
Yes, and our kids should feel empowered to do that. Just because they're
12 doesn't mean they can't do whatever it is the heck that they want to do if something speaks to them. And we need to support that and yeah, and lift that up. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (28:10)
Exactly, Exactly,
exactly. Kelly Rowland and I spoke about, of course, the black maternal health crisis for March of Dimes. We really wanted to shed awareness on that because of, you know, just the fatalities and lives of families affected. And then we spoke about her family life. She was raised by us and her mom. And she had an estranged father her whole life.
when she was first in Destiny's Child as a teenager, she said her dad would show up and security would turn him away. Like he'd go to different tour stops. And she was like, I have nothing to do with him. You know, my mom Doris despised him and he was just kind of like, I don't want him anymore. When her mom passed away and she had two sons at this point, she reconciled with her dad. And there was...
It was just so special because it's almost like this deep seated ⁓ void and almost like animosity that was once there had all fallen away. And she said, yeah, even though she lost that her kids lost one grandparent, they gained another. And yeah, so I learned forgiveness from her.
Sharon Macey (29:19)
Interesting.
So interesting, yeah.
that's beautiful. Thank you for that.
You know, I want to circle back for a moment to mom skills. Talk to me about some of the mom skills that you're using for your business that really started when you had kids.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (29:41)
Mm-hmm.
Yes. Well, I am an empath to my core. I think I'm like all about just feeling intuition. My Myers-Briggs results, I'm an ENFJ, so F stands for feeler. So that's just who I am. And I feel like as a leader and as I'm running my ship with all my different team members,
Sharon Macey (29:59)
Okay.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (30:11)
You know, I have my sound engineer and podcast editor and, you know, assistance who are uploading the show and my manager and my marketing coordinator. I am truly attuned to what their needs are in the moment. And, I think that's important because yes, there are deliverables and deadlines, but if you have someone, um, at the top who is, um, it's like a dictator and it's just not fun to work with.
nobody really wants to, you know, execute on your vision with you. They're kind of like, I'm out of here. Yes, exactly. Exactly. So I love to just be like, what would you like to work on and how's it going? And, and I get to know them on a deeper level. How's the family? So, ⁓ there's that. And I think, ⁓ the other thing is, the prioritizing and being on top of.
Sharon Macey (30:45)
Sure. Why would they want to make you happy if you're making Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (31:07)
deadlines when things are due because we have such a truncated schedule as busy parents. And so if things are really not meeting the timelines, like everything, it's just like a house of cards. So I am really vigilant about that. Like this has to air at this time. These analytics need to be submitted at this time. it's, yeah. So you have to have that system in place.
You know, we have our Google folder, so Google Drive, spreadsheets, you know, you want to use Asana, Trello, Slack, whatever it is, make sure you have that in place because just like kids have a nap time and meal times and you're vigilant with their schedules, you should do the same with your work.
Sharon Macey (31:43)
Mm-hmm.
yeah.
You're running a small empire and you're the CEO of your family. So it all goes together.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (31:54)
Yes. Yes.
Sharon Macey (31:56)
you and I have something in common, which we talked about briefly at mom 2.0. Dance, dance. Yeah. And I want to ask you, how was the recital with your daughter?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (32:01)
Mm-hmm. Yes! ⁓ my goodness.
I love that you remember that. It was phenomenal. It really, it took me back to when I was like a 16 year old Kanaka and I had performed a solo piece in the discipline that I learned. It's a form of Indian classical dance. It's called Kuchipuri and it's from the south of India and it's a traditional style where even our costumes and jewelry
and flowers in our hair and bells on our ankles. It's just all so ornate. Yeah. And ⁓ it's really paying homage to the temple dancers of thousands of years ago. So it's amazing to see my daughter learning it at age eight. And she knew, she said, I want to do what you and she calls my sister Masi. It's the Indian term for aunt.
Sharon Macey (32:40)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (33:01)
She said, I want to learn the dance that you and Moxie learned. And I was like, OK. So yeah.
Sharon Macey (33:05)
And also that you have this
really special thing you're doing with your daughter. That's awesome.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (33:09)
Yes,
yes. And even her teacher and I, did a duet. So she was impressed too. She was like, okay, I'm in my 20s. And, you know, I'm teaching. She also, you know, works in fundraising at a university. this is her like extra job. She's like, I can imagine that you're in your 40s and you have three kids and you just perform the same thing I It was like, well, we can do like you said earlier, we can do the hard things. Yes.
Sharon Macey (33:35)
It's like, yes, we can. Yeah.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (33:38)
Yes,
and you just, you push yourself. Could I have done this at, you know, 36 when I was postpartum? No, no, I was not in that shape to do it, nor the motivation. So yeah, even as I'm getting older, I hate the word aging, I do feel a lot more comfortable in this day, have to say. And so get back to things you loved as a kid, do it.
Sharon Macey (33:58)
I love that. I love that.
Absolutely.
mean, I I returned to dance in my 50s. So sky's the limit ladies. Sky's the limit. Yeah, for sure. For sure.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (34:04)
my God, good awesome. I love it. Yes.
Sharon Macey (34:10)
Kanika, you often talk about creating legacy and impact and that really resonates with me. What kind of legacy do you hope your work will leave for your kids?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (34:18)
You know, I hope that they see that I believe in sacrifice and family and I really just, you know, reorganize my life and my career to make way for them, which is, you know, I've prayed for them for a long, time. And so to have this party of five that we have, it's what I've always wanted.
So I want them to acknowledge that like, you can create these refrains and quibbits that actually are more aligned with your Dharma in the end. And, you know, don't feel like you're going against the grain and not doing what everybody does. it actually leads to a happier life and a more fulfilled life if that's what you want. So there's that. And then I think
The biggest legacy for parents, would say the biggest like marker of success in my opinion is when you raise adult children who can't wait to spend time with
I want to do that. Right now it's like you always tell us what to do. you know, there's like moaning and groaning. But you know, when they're 25, I want them to be like, I can't wait to send the day.
Sharon Macey (35:36)
I get that. And you know what? Our kids are grown and flown and they still love spending time with us. We love spending time with them. And now it's flipped. After all these years of us teaching our kids things, I am now learning from them. And I love that because they all have fresh perspectives, strong perspectives, and I've got a boy and two girls. And it's just fascinating to see sort of how the tables have turned and
Kanika Chadda Gupta (35:39)
Yes, I love that.
Yes.
Sharon Macey (36:03)
Sometimes they're very protective of us and they take on like that parenting role sometimes. It's just so interesting when they get older.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (36:10)
That's amazing. I am so ready for that shift because then you can just feel like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it'll be fun because that is one relationship I have to say, the parent and child. It evolves and it flips. That's so cool. We don't really have any other relationship in life like that.
Sharon Macey (36:13)
A few more years.
No, and it's so precious. So you will get there, my friend. You will get there. Unfortunately, our time is drawing to a close because we could talk all day. And I have a question that I ask all of the amazing moms. I have the privilege of interviewing. And so since this is the Mom to More podcast, Kanika Chargupta, what is your more?
Kanika Chadda Gupta (36:35)
Mm-hmm. Thank you. Thank
Yeah.
My more is more fun, more levity, more special small moments that you're going to look back on when you're 90.
Sharon Macey (37:11)
Thank you for that. ⁓ Tell all of our listeners where they can find you online and folks, everything is going to be in the show notes.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (37:11)
Yeah.
Thank you, Sharon.
So you can find me on Instagram. My handle is at Kanika Chaddagupta and wherever you get your podcasts, the show is That's Total Mom Sense.
and you can even visit my website, that's TotalMomSense.com.
Sharon Macey (37:37)
There you go. Thank you for that. I'm so glad we got this together. This has been such a joyful conversation. Just like you said, you learned from all of your guests, I've learned from you. So thank you for that. I'm really grateful for your time.
Kanika Chadda Gupta (37:39)
Yeah.
⁓
thank you, Sharon. You're such a sweetheart and I appreciate you and I love that we get to be friends and be on this journey together. I'm so proud of you.