Hosts Sophia and Casey interview Katie Shepherd, a Brooklyn-based writer and podcast producer originally from North Carolina, about her first year of motherhood with her son, Dean. Katie describes always assuming she’d have kids, getting pregnant quickly at 36, pushing back on the “geriatric pregnancy” label, and needing a doctor with a more humane communication style.

She shares how her overachiever expectations clashed with the relentless “fail, pivot” reality of parenting, alongside a difficult pregnancy and a preeclampsia diagnosis that led to a three-day induction, a failed epidural, and ultimately a C-section a month early. Katie reflects on bringing Dean home without nearby family support, navigating task-sharing and guilt when she returned to work while her husband provided more childcare, and experiencing postpartum depression marked by intrusive fears and insomnia helped by therapy and medication. She reflects on unexpected joys, evolving partnership, and motherhood as an expansion of self.

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In this episode of My First Year, hosts Sophia and Shareen interview Washington native MacKenzie Kermoade, an international environmental governance professional and musician (Mack Marcel) living in Copenhagen.

MacKenzie traces her path from a nature-centered childhood near Seattle to studying environmental policy and global climate law, ultimately leading to her role as coordinating officer at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. She describes falling in love with Daniel, whom she met when he was a Danish exchange student at her high school. She also recounts the family reunification process that brought her to Denmark in March 2022, and how COVID-era job uncertainty and Brexit shaped their decision to move. MacKenzie shares first impressions of Denmark’s cleanliness, biking culture, safety, and social insularity, plus challenges learning Danish and adapting to norms like janteloven and collectivism. She found community through Copenhagen’s open-mic scene, forming the Mack Marcel project and completing a debut EP, while reflecting on homesickness, identity, and the importance of approaching life abroad with humility and curiosity.

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🎙️ A Special Encore Episode — And We Need Your Vote!

We’re revisiting one of the most moving conversations from My First Year as a Father.

SOPHIA and A.C. Valdez sit down with acclaimed novelist and essayist Thomas Greene for an intimate conversation about fatherhood and unimaginable loss. Thomas reflects on becoming a father to his daughters, Sarah and Jane, how caring for Sarah and creating bedtime stories helped him become a “dad,” and Jane’s premature birth and six months in the NICU. He also speaks candidly about grief and how losing a child shaped his family, his writing, and his understanding of fatherhood.

This is a conversation about fatherhood, storytelling, caregiving, grief, resilience, and the relationships that remain with us through every chapter of life.

🏆 My First Year as a Father is a 2026 Signal Awards Finalist in the Family & Child-Raising category!

If this conversation—or the stories we share throughout the series—has meant something to you, we would be grateful for your vote.

🗳️ Vote for My First Year as a Father here:
https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2026/individual-episodes/genre/family-child-raising

Voting only takes a moment, and every vote helps more people discover these honest conversations about what the first year of fatherhood really feels like.

🌐Follow the series wherever you listen to podcasts and join our growing community at sophiamedia.co.

▶️ www.youtube.com/@MyFirstYearSeries

❤️ Subscribe for more conversations about life's biggest transitions.

Email info@sophiamedia.co and share your own transformative first year with us.