Motherhood is a journey filled with joy, challenges and countless responsibilities, and moms often juggle work and family with little time to devote to themselves. This is where Elevate Moms, a Franklin-based collective of counselors and coaches, comes in. This group of licensed counselors and certified coaches, all mothers themselves, is dedicated to helping women find balance and harmony through all seasons of life.
Kim Anderson, a therapist, family coach and the founder of Elevate Moms, explains how she formed a village to support women through motherhood. She was teaching elementary school when she realized that, although education is important, her heart was with her students’ families. With a desire to help families thrive, she became a certified professional life coach, then a licensed therapist.
“Early on, I had a client who was a successful businesswoman,” says Kim, “and she would come to my office looking completely put together. Then as we talked, she would slump into my couch and feel weighed down by this belief that women can do and have it all. The hard thing is, we have the capability to do it all but we simply don’t have time for everything.”
Kim heard the same story shared repeatedly: women feeling overwhelmed, at loose ends or pressured to do more, be more, and care for others without understanding how to care for themselves. “It’s this heaviness I kept seeing, and the problem is, if mom isn’t thriving, the rest of the family won’t thrive. If women don’t take care of themselves mentally and physically, they can’t really love their families well.”
Kim understands the delicate balance of managing a home, marriage, career and family. Her husband Dave was frequently away when their two children, now 23 and 20, were young. He served five deployments for the United States Navy ranging from three months at sea to twelve months in Iraq. “It wasn’t easy and we learned along the way,” she says.
The couple met in California, where Kim partly grew up, and lived in San Diego and Corpus Christi until Dave retired from the Navy. In 2012 they visited Franklin and, like many of us, they fell in love with the area and relocated to raise their family. Dave is now a pilot for Federal Express.
“Every parent’s journey is unique and as moms come to see us, one of the first things we ponder together is, ‘What are you placed on this earth to do? What are you created for?’ We believe God has created each of us for a purpose and our job is to help you find that purpose, meeting you where you are.”
So much of the messaging women receive is about generating hustle. Women are prone to compare themselves to others, feeling pressure to keep up with what they perceive to be required. “But we’re not trying to create performance,” says Kim. “We’re trying to find out what you need to feel settled and content. We all travel through different seasons and sometimes, what will serve you best will be to read a book this weekend, or think about how best to nourish your body, or set aside time to spend with people you love.”
She shares a story about traveling to Italy with Dave to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They spent a day in southern Italy getting lost and felt they wasted time, so the next day they hired a driver, Claudio, to show them around. “We were driving through the old streets of Sardinia and Claudio stopped to talk to his neighbors. I thought, ‘We’re paying him!’ Then we meandered
through a market and I thought, ‘We only have two hours to see this whole town, let’s go!’ Next we stopped at a cafe and Claudio said, ‘Would you like some coffee?’ We said, ‘Sure,’ so the barista took her time making coffee and pouring it into ceramic cups. I thought, ‘We don’t have time to sit down,’ and I asked her, ‘Do you have a to-go cup?’ She and Claudio both laughed and he said, “Everything with you Americans has to be rushed. Just enjoy the coffee!’ We sat and enjoyed the coffee, and it led to a beautiful conversation that turned out to be a highlight of our trip."
“I learned a great lesson that day," she says. "We don’t always have to perform. We also don’t have to buy the bigger house or the newer car. Our kids don’t have to go to a prestigious college. Thinking we need these things is causing anxiety disorders that makes it hard to be present for our families. Instead, ‘just enjoy the coffee.’”
Elevate Moms helps moms determine their healthiest personal and family journeys. Coaches help clients build habits that facilitate better communication, leading to relationship success. The Elevate Moms Connection Group incorporates a “link arms” approach for moms to help each other move from feeling overwhelmed to feeling empowered. Clients can also meet with counselors and coaches to develop “family systems” that make home life less chaotic. They can achieve peace-of-mind through space organization and financial management coaching, nutrition and health coaching, or by working with a “purpose coach” to discover what their next phase of motherhood, such as becoming an empty nester, can be. Additionally, Elevate Moms offers Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, a proven method to process past traumas and reduce emotional distress, allowing moms to move forward with confidence and clarity. ElevateMoms.com