Gillian’s Story

In today’s episode, I’m bringing you a Journey to Simplicity. I’m chatting with Dr. Gillian Goddard, a physician living outside of New York City with her husband and four kids. Although Gillian’s life may feel anything but simple, she and her family have made strides towards finding the balance and rhythm that works for their family.







Show Notes/Links:



* 2019: Holiday Guide (NEW)* 2019: These Are a Few of MY Favorite Things (NEW)* Simple Families Toy Gift List 2018* Simple Families Toy Gift List 2017



Photo by Alison Sheehy



Full Episode Transcription



Denaye: Hello and welcome to episode 181. Today I am sharing a journey to simplicity. This is Gillian’s story. If you’re new to the podcast, you might be new to this series as well. I love to share stories from the Simple Families community of people who are striving to make big life changes to slow down and simplify things within their own families. 



Moving into 2020, I really want to spend next year focused on you. Simple Families is plural. It’s not just one simple family, it’s not just my family, I want to feature more of you. So whether it be your quotes and your photos on Instagram, your stories on the podcast, I’d like to make your voices heard loud and clear. Since I started Simple Families at the end of 2016, I have seen the community grow so much and I have absolutely enjoyed watching you all learn from and teach one another. So I’m going to be making more space for it. If you have a story to tell or a little anecdote or a big win, feel free to email me (denaye@simplefamilies.com). And I’m also going to be featuring this Journey to Simplicity series once a month. So if you want your story and your family featured, send me that in an email as well. 



A couple of months ago, an Instagram friend reached out and told me that I have not yet featured any full-time working moms who work out of the home. I featured stay-at-home moms, I featured work-at-home moms, but not yet any work-out-of-the-home moms. So I put out a call to get some candidates and I got an overwhelming response, so many that it was hard to pick from. So as a result, I decided to do two. Today I’m sharing my chat with Gillian from New York, and next month I’m going to be sharing my chat with Marie from South Carolina. So let me tell you a little bit about Gillian. 



Gillian is a full-time working physician. Her husband is a full-time corporate lawyer. They have four kids, three of which were born while Gillian was in medical school and doing her residency. So after I heard that, I was like, “I want to hear what your life looks like, Gillian, because that’s a lot. That is a really full plate, managing two busy careers along with four growing children.” Not to mention that Gillian and her husband work in New York city and live just outside. I think that there’s something substantial about living in a busy city or working in a busy city that your baseline cortisol levels are just high.

Whenever I’m in a busy city, I feel like I’m on high alert and I’m sure that probably fades off the l...