This week we’re joined by Laura, owner of With Love and Dreams and a self-taught preservation artist. Laura turns wedding and funeral flowers, ashes, hair, clothing and breast milk into resin keepsakes and jewellery, and has become one of the people grieving families in Ireland trust with their most precious things.

She tells us how a lockdown resin kit became an award-winning business. She also shares the story of how she practised with ashes before her first real piece, and it involves the family dog, a heatwave and a lot of ashtrays. Laura talks about leaving a job where she was bullied, what it’s like to hold space for people on the worst days of their lives, the year she lost five family members in under six months, and why she won’t hand the personal side of her work to anyone else.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro: meet Laura from With Love and Dreams
01:10 What a preservation artist does
02:00 From lockdown hobby to self-taught resin artist
03:28 Her first ever ashes piece
04:35 Tyson the boxer and the great ashtray hunt
08:26 Working with grief and keeping it together for clients
11:36 Loving the work, and leaving a job over bullying
15:30 Starting out alone and finding her networking group
21:00 Creative childhood, Billie Barry and the Bugsy Malone audition
23:48 What is resin, and why it takes so long
25:42 How you choose your keepsake piece
27:18 Why flower preservation can take up to nine months
28:13 Why she’s staying a one-woman business
32:12 From the front room to her own studio
35:04 Preserving clothes, fabrics and baby shoes
36:12 Pricing and keeping it affordable
37:16 A new jewellery collaboration coming soon
38:09 The weirdest things she’s been asked to preserve
40:23 Award wins and nominations
43:45 Her hardest time in business
48:28 Her highest high: the new studio, windows and all
50:50 Did she ever see herself as an entrepreneur?
54:19 Advice for young women thinking of taking the leap
56:43 Running a business means you never switch off
58:09 Well-known clients and the order that never arrived
59:50 Alan’s dog walking and pet taxi business
01:01:50 Wrap-up

This week on How's Your Ma, we're joined by Amy Miller — Hippy Hun, one of Dublin's most recognisable DJs.

Amy takes us through her life growing up in the flats, coming out as gay, finding her identity, becoming a DJ and going from practicing on decks in the flats to playing Electric Picnic and gigs in Australia.

We also chat about how Dublin's nightlife and drug scene has changed, why Amy stepped away from DJing every weekend, becoming a mum, her relationship, her lifelong friendship with her best friend and the spiritual journey that led to the Hippy Hun we know today.

It's funny, honest, chaotic and full of Dublin stories.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Meet Amy Miller aka Hippy Hun
01:01 – Why Amy stepped away from the DJ scene
02:11 – Amy's experience on TV
03:21 – Growing up in the flats
03:42 – Coming out as gay
04:28 – Being a tomboy and fighting back
05:32 – Coming out to her friends
06:11 – Growing up with a single mum
07:21 – Looking back on childhood
08:15 – Music as Amy's escape
09:01 – How Amy started DJing
09:44 – Amy's first DJ gig
10:06 – From empty dance floors to Electric Picnic
10:59 – DJing in Australia
11:23 – Manifesting her dream gig
12:06 – How Dublin's nightlife has changed
12:52 – The changing drug scene
14:19 – Drugs, danger and modern nightlife
16:32 – Drug use in Dublin today
17:16 – Addiction and recovery
18:05 – The clubs Dublin has lost
19:17 – Where can older people go out now?
20:00 – Bringing back the old-school party
21:17 – The death of Dublin's free festivals
22:02 – Why Amy wants to DJ again
23:19 – Why she took a break from DJing
24:24 – How Amy met her partner
25:39 – When Amy finally met her
26:23 – Their first kiss
27:31 – Becoming a mum
28:23 – “She'll heal me”
29:27 – The Dublin accent
30:08 – Growing into yourself
31:13 – Amy's lifelong best friend
32:14 – Hangovers aren't what they used to be
33:19 – Can you still enjoy a night out without drinking?
34:19 – Finding her own style
35:34 – How Amy became Hippy Hun
35:58 – Spirituality, 11:11 & her nanny
36:18 – Tattoos, dreads and finding herself
37:18 – Learning not to care what people think
38:04 – Hormones, motherhood & mental health
40:24 – Life as a mum
41:49 – Advice for new mums
42:28 – The reality of parenthood
43:51 – Balancing family and work
45:41 – What does the future look like?
46:22 – Manifestation, faith & karma
48:07 – Getting back behind the decks
48:44 – Travel plans & family holidays
49:25 – Amy's dream of owning a mobile home
50:20 – Childhood holiday memories
51:41 – Stories from growing up in Dublin

How's Your Ma brings real people into the room for honest, funny and sometimes chaotic conversations about life.

If you enjoyed the episode, like, subscribe and share.

#HowsYourMa #AmyMiller #HippyHun #IrishPodcast #Dublin #DublinDJ #ElectricPicnic #IrishDJ #Motherhood #LGBTQ

In this powerful episode of How's Your Ma, we sit down with Callie and her mum Bella as they openly share their experiences with addiction, alcohol, drugs, homelessness, toxic relationships and recovery.

Their stories are deeply connected, but both women had to find their own way out of addiction. Bella speaks about years of alcohol addiction, how it affected her family and the moment she finally realised she needed help. Callie shares her experience with addiction, abusive relationships, homelessness and becoming a mother while struggling with substance abuse.

Most importantly, they talk about what happened after recovery — rebuilding their lives, rebuilding their relationship with each other, and breaking the cycle for the next generation.

This is an incredibly honest conversation about addiction, family, trauma, recovery and finding yourself again.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Introduction: Meet Callie & Bella
01:11 – Callie opens up about addiction
02:29 – Drinking from a young age
04:07 – Callie's addiction gets worse
05:34 – Becoming a young mother
08:47 – Bella's story begins
10:35 – Moving to Tallaght and starting a family
11:45 – Bella's relationship with alcohol
13:07 – “I wanted to die”
14:35 – The moment everything started to change
16:17 – The friend who was one year sober
18:19 – Bella decides to go to AA
20:47 – When drinking became antisocial
22:15 – Trying to hide addiction from the kids
23:42 – Trying to control drinking
25:14 – Drinking, money and addiction
26:05 – Callie's journey into recovery
27:44 – Addiction, pregnancy and motherhood
28:30 – Homelessness and drinking
30:00 – Living in a family hub
31:35 – Choosing sobriety
32:22 – Toxic relationships and abuse
34:08 – Leaving addiction and rebuilding her life
34:47 – Two years sober and a new relationship
35:30 – Mother and daughter finally reconnect
36:29 – Breaking the family cycle
39:00 – Addiction affects the whole family
40:13 – When drinking takes over your life
41:12 – The financial impact of addiction
43:17 – Losing friends and finding new ones
45:08 – Getting professional help
47:18 – Finding yourself in recovery
48:30 – New friendships and healthy relationships
49:13 – The importance of sponsors
50:37 – What does the future look like?
51:01 – Discovering a new passion
53:06 – Finding a career later in life
55:21 – Callie's future after recovery
57:19 – “What if I can?”
57:46 – Breaking the cycle
58:13 – Final thoughts & seven years of recovery

How's Your Ma brings real people into the room to tell their stories, in their own words.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to like, subscribe and share the podcast.

#HowsYourMa #AddictionRecovery #Recovery #Sobriety #IrishPodcast #MentalHealth #Addiction #Family #MotherAndDaughter