LadyGang - Special Needs Supermom Emily Loftiss and The Power Of Yet

Episode Date: June 24, 2026

Emily Loftiss thought she knew what motherhood would look like... until her son Dalton was diagnosed with autism at 2.5 years old. In this deeply honest conversation, Emily shares the emotional journey of raising a nonverbal autistic child, the hardest moments after his diagnosis, how she and her husband have navigated the unknown together, and why she refuses to give up hope. She also opens up about finding joy in the middle of heartbreak, celebrating every small victory, and the advice every parent, whether raising a neurotypical or neurodivergent child, needs to hear. Thank you for supporting our sponsors!BabyGang is presented by Better Help. Sign up and get 10% off at https://BetterHelp.com/BABYGANGSkylight Frames: Go to https://MySkylight.com/BABYGANG for $30 off your 15-inch Calendar.HERS: Ready to reach your goals? Visit https://forhers.com/babygang to get personalized, affordable care that gets you.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to the Baby Gang. I am your host, Becca Tobin, and thank you to our presenting sponsor, BetterHelp. You guys, what I just went through over the last, I don't know, four hours? You know I told you about how I was receiving breast milk from the wonderful Sarah, and I have a freezer full of breast milk, like liquid gold, invaluable, All the things. I was out running errands and I was in a Walgreens picking up some pictures that I printed for Father's Day and suddenly the lights go out and everything turns off. Total power outage. I'm like, oh, that's weird. So I leave, I go home and I get home and I realize, hmm, my garage door isn't opening. That means we've also lost power. I call my neighbor. She confirms no power. I think to myself, that's okay. I can go run more errands. I can go whatever. Then I think, oh my God, oh my God, if the power's out, the freezer turns off. And if the freezer turns off, that frozen breast milk is going to be ruined. I frantically, oh, oh, this is even better. Not better, worse. I can't open my garage door because of the power being out. And I don't have a key to my house. So I can't even get into my house to save, to rescue the breast milk and take it to another friend's house who has power. So I call Zach and he's like, it's fine. Just keep the freezer closed. I'm like, well, little does he know that I can't even open at the moment. But keep it closed. It can be good for up to several hours. You're fine. so then I'm like okay well when is this power coming back on we're not told we're getting no

information it's the weirdest thing ever so I'm like okay I'm gonna go I'm gonna have some lunch I'm gonna run some more errands and I'm just gonna keep checking in to see if the power's back on so you have the powers back on hours go by hours and hours and I'm thinking am I gonna break a window am I gonna call locksmith I finally get back to my house power's still out I'm in the driveway and I'm about to call the locksmith and suddenly the garage door opens I run out of my car like it's about to explode because I've got to get into this house. I've got to check on the freezer. I've got to check on the breast milk. Thankfully, the freezer's back on. The breast milk is still frozen. But holy shit, you guys, let this be a lesson to you. Don't be a dumb dumb. Be prepared

for your power going out. I don't know why I was not walking around with a house key to my house. I was just walking around with my freaking car keys. Why don't I have a house key on them? I'll never know. Now I do. But wow, I'm a dumbass. But that was my day. That was my morning. I'm happy to be here with you. And I'm so happy for you to meet my beautiful friend, Emily Loftus. She is inspirational. She's fabulous. She is a mother to a gorgeous little boy named Dalton. She is an autism mama, and she crushes it. I cannot wait for you to hear what we're about to talk about. Our guest today is a former Rockette TV host, entrepreneur, style expert, and professional joy chaser. As the founder of Everyday Glam, she has made a career out of helping women look and

feel their best, but her favorite role is being an autism super mama to her gorgeous six-year-old son, Dalton. Whether she's talking fashion, motherhood, entrepreneurship, or finding light in life's messiest moments. She brings honesty, humor, and a little sparkle to everything she does. Please welcome the one and only, my friend of 21 years, Emily Loftus. Hello. Hi, hi, hi. That was a great intro, Ms. Host. Look at you. Thank you. Well, I went on your website, and I stole some things from there and sprinkled in a little bit of whatever, but I'm glad you approved. Don't look at my website, everyone. You can look at Iconics. My personal one,

we're working on her. You know what I mean? When you're busy, you're busy. It doesn't matter. You're a mom. Nobody needs you to be doing everything at 100%. Agreed. I had a friend back in the day. They're like, if your website is up to date, it means you're not busy. Oh, that's a really good point. I know. That made me feel better. I'm actually going to let that spill over into if Instagram is quiet. Like if I haven't posted in a couple of days, it means I'm busy. She's busy. She's busy. She's busy. Let her live her life. Come on. Well, for anybody who's not following you on Instagram, I think that what you put out into

the world is really special. You're very authentically you. I've known you obviously for a gajillion years. You have always been the person that under every circumstance, you are finding the joy, you're wearing the clothes that make you happy, the bright colors, always looking for the silver lining. And I think that it has actually been such a beautiful thing to watch you go through probably one of the hardest things you've gone through in your entire life. And I want you to tell me a little bit about, I know it took you a really long time to open up about your struggles. It was happening behind closed doors for many, many years.

Why was that? And what was it that made you ready to start sharing your son's diagnosis and just sort of how you were, the reality of your life at that point? So, Dalton is six. We figured it out around two, got his diagnosis at two and a half.

It was Cinco de Mayo. I was like, well, we're going to go and do our diagnosis and then we're going to get margs and cheese dip. I planned that on purpose. So I did not share until two years ago in August. It would be two years. So we had already gone behind closed doors for over like two and a half years

going through all of this. Honestly, it was just getting too hard to hide. He was about to wear leg braces, SMOs, because he's a toe walker. People on Instagram would be like, oh my God, he's a dancer like you. And I'm like, mm-hmm. He's getting older.

people are messaging me being like, I want to hear his voice, which is like, who texts a mother? I want to hear your child talk. It's like also- Mind your business. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Like maybe we're doing this for a reason. Okay. Maybe I'm playing some joyful music. Enjoy the story, guys. Like you don't have to know everything. So it was just kind of getting hard to quote unquote hide. And Jay was really adamant that he wanted to share way before me, which is shocking. You would think it'd be opposite, but it was just, I knew when the doors were open. The doors are open and you can never close them. And my past, I've had a really wild past of my dad took his life when I was 14.

I had terrible infertility issues. I had Bell's palsy. Now everything with autism. So like when people reach out to me, it's like two different things. It's either like, oh my gosh, I love all your fun colors you wear. I love how you sell things. Your family's so fun. I love your life to, oh my gosh, I'm in the depths of depression. Nobody knows I just had a miscarriage and they're telling me very deep and dark, serious things. And I have to be cognizant because I could just be playing around on my phone, literally drinking a margarita. I'm like, and someone tells me something very serious about them. So I was just like, oh my God, this is going to be another layer to add to the mix. And if you know me and if you don't know me, I'm a force. I'm a beast.

If it gets in my brain, I'm going to do it. I'm going to conquer it. I'm going to crush it. And then I'm still going to go to like lunch with you afterwards. It's nothing about other people. It's just about me. I will just hit goals that I want to hit. And I just was like, oh, gosh.

But when it's about your child, it is crippling. And every, I don't care what people say, this and that thing that I live by every single day and truly just live in my bubble of joy, not toxic joy. We can talk about that in a bit. But it was just like, holy moly, this is not something about me because if it was about me, I could deal with it and I could handle it and I can handle it well and better than 99% of the rest of the world. But when it's about your son that you worked so hard to get and it's just your brain just is on overload all the time of like, what about this? What about this? Are we going to have to worry about like when he's 18?

Other people are thinking about college funds. We're thinking about, is he going to live with us? I'm like, is he going to live in a tiny house? Is he going to live downstairs? Are we going to have a job? Are we going to drive? or we're going to be speaking, like our brains are just constant. So then to have anyone on social media would be like, did you try putting silver on his heels? I'm like, I don't have the

capacity for that. Oh my God. The unsolicited internet experts. Is. Unbelievable. Shocking. Shocking. I just knew that when, you know, the can of worms was open, it was going to be open. Everyone has been so kind. I have 100% amount of negativity was probably 1.5. I mean, it's been all wonderful. And he is a little angel on earth. And when you see him, his smile is so infectious. He is such a lover.

I mean, he just wants to just, he'll just come up to you and just like touch your face. And someone's like, did he just stare into my soul? I'm like, he did. He did. And they don't have, like these sweet babies don't have these like, jealousy and envy and all the things that you might be in a fight with your girlfriend,

your sister, or your mother-in-law about, they don't have these qualities. They are pure light and joy. And we have to protect them. You know, we have to protect them. So if it had been about me, I would have already shared with the world. But it was about him, and I wanted him to be able to tell his story. And then when years are kind of going by, I'm like, okay, this is gonna be longer than I expected. So I think it's, I think it's time. Yeah. And you've done a really beautiful job of still, like I was saying, you really do marry the two worlds of you being this fabulous, happy, joyful person. And also you're really honest about the day to day. So what exactly is the diagnosis? Just so moving forward, we can kind of talk about what you do deal with. And

before we started recording, you told me just people are very nitpicky when it comes to you as a mother talking about your son, your own son, and his diagnosis. So what do you say when people ask? When someone asks, I say, we are autistic nonverbal. Now, you can go a whole different rabbit hole of non-speaking, nonverbal. Some people say nonverbal means zero sounds, and then non-speaking means not words. To me, it's the same thing. You know what I mean? So he might go, but is he calling for me? Or he'll just get in a cycle and he'll be like, I, I, I, I go, I go. I'm like, oh, we're going? Where are we going? So we have little like bursts that jump out, but it's not the intention that we want. So we have a global delay and we also have apraxia. And so like,

what does that word mean that word means that your brain and your mouth do not connect so he knows what's going on so you cannot i cannot be in the car talking about him like he knows what's happening and he's just over here listening to what mom was talking about so a praxie we have to find a praxia specialist which is like only like one in atlanta and we are trying to get these words out because of the global delay yeah we want to be like to go to then do our vowels It's M-A-M-E-M-A, whatever. And he will do M a million times in the car on the way there. And then he won't be able to find it.

We always say he can't be able to find it in the moment. So we're like, it's okay. Go get on the swing. So he'll swing. And then I don't know where he'll be like, M-A-M-A-M-A. And we're like, there it is. Now, listen, before, it was two minutes. It was a solid two minutes where I'd be like, do you want pretzels?

And he would just stare at me. And I would stare back. And you're supposed to just keep the gaze. and you're just like, do you know how long two minutes is? Wow. And you just don't give it to him because like that's not what's happening. I'm telling you the gap is closing, clap is closing.

I mean, we still have the global delay in apraxia when he's trying or he just can't find it that day. We'll get in the car and on the way from here to the car, he will hit it. And I'm like, God, that was 15 seconds. So do we have the sound? Do we have it right then and there? No, but man, is that gap closing?

Like, hell yeah, that's exciting. So, again, you just have to look for the wins. But there's a laundry list. There's a laundry list of all the different things. And I try not to think about all of that. You know, again, I'm just like, this is my child. Every therapist has told me he's bright. We just have to get in there.

We have to get in there. And it is my job to figure out the therapist, figure out the OT, PT, speech, this, that. I moved him from this last school. Move him over here. This isn't serving us anymore. This was great for a while. Okay. But now we don't see any more progress.

you're out, you're in. It is a constant like Tetris of me figuring out what is the best thing for my child so that we can get into that brain. Yeah. And do they tell you like what you can anticipate? Are they able to even give you? No one can tell you anything. That is the number one thing they will tell you. They will not tell you a thing because they do not want to promise you something that can't come true. Right. Right. So that's what's so ugh. And then I'm very, you know, Jay, my husband, is very black and white, okay? I'm anything but. So he wants to be like, when is potty training supposed to be done? And I'm like, when it's done. I don't know the answer to that. No one knows the answer to that. He's like, okay, what happens when we're 18? I'm

like, I don't know. Babe, I don't know. So that is very hard for him because he's very granular. He wants a number. He's a numbers guy. He wants to know exactly. And it's just, number one, you've never been around kids and they're going to do what they're going to do. Like, when he wasn't walking, I'm like, well, I'll walk one day. You know what I mean? Like, you just kind of have to be like, you don't have to throw your hands in the air. You're just like, well, he's going to walk at some point and we're going to get there. And then we're going to move on to the next thing. And then you can just like brush that off the list. But it is what it is. But no one, especially doctors, they don't really like bring hope. They don't really, they're not hope dealers. There's

this cute girl on the internet. It's like her, um, peace, love, autism. And we're going to work together at some point. I watch her from afar. You know what I mean? Because I also know, you know me, if I reach out, then I'm doing a full collaboration. And I don't know if I'm in there in that right state of mind. You're diving in. I'm diving in. I'm, you know. So anyway, I have to stalk over here. I'm stalking over here. But she has this necklace that says YET. Y-E-T. And so when someone comes to me, they're like, is he speaking? I'm like, we're not speaking yet. Yeah. We haven't gotten there yet. But it means that is hope. I need hope. I need hope. Yeah. So if you are going to bring anything but hope and joy into this house, I'm just not interested.

You know what's so crazy is I screenshotted from your Instagram account this. I cried, of course, just cried. But it's, let me see, it's pictures of you holding Dalton. and it says, four years ago, I stood outside our old house, took this photo and prayed over this boy. You don't cry. Listen, I'm trying to like lock it down and not cry. Okay. Oh, prayed over this boy with everything I had four years since his autism evaluation. I had no idea what was coming. I had no idea who I was about to become. To the version of me standing in that driveway, I wish I could reach back and hold her, tell her she will be stronger than she has ever had to be.

Wish I could tell her the word yet will change everything. It's true. And you just cannot. I've been really good my whole life when it comes to career and things, not looking what other people are doing. I always just say put my eyes out on my own paper and I just do what I do. But it's the same with parenting. It's the same.

It doesn't matter if you have special needs, typical kids. Like just because this kid is over here doing math and this and excelling in this sport, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. we're gonna all get there but oh I was broken yeah when we got the diagnosis also why I'm so emotional is like seeing you go through this and like you know it's just such a beautiful message that you like if I could tell that woman that version of me that was entering this this whole situation and I think that you you're such a you're such a warrior and you are always like

I remember when you first came out with everything you you talked about how your full-time job was making sure the therapies the screenings the filling out paperwork insurance like submitting it was just but it is it is beautiful when you do open up to I look like I'm doing all these things. And I have this all together. But there are days that are really hard. And the way you share that is really special. And it's important for every mom to see, everyone, like you're saying. And we are in such a weird comparison society, especially with children. And it's like, do more, do more, do more. Why don't we do less? Do less. Do less. It's the summertime. Let that kid go swim in. And if you can't go to this T-ball camp, he's four. I think

You're going to be okay. He'll be fine. Calm down. He'll be fine. Calm down. I just saw something on the internet that said something like being like a type B mom is called like a good enough theory. And you're like, you know what?

It's good enough. For sure. It's good enough. Not everyone is going to be a scientist. Not everyone's going to be a lawyer. Not everyone's going to be – I mean, we've been in the top of our fields in multiple fields. And if someone's like, I want to go into dance professionally, I'm like, should you?

Are you good at something else? because she's rough. It's rough out there. You know, it's rough out there. It's so funny. I live in Texas now and the pressure that's put on these little boys to become professional athletes

when they have like the makings of none of it, none of it. Okay, calm down, calm down. I'm like, you guys need to just take a nap, take a breather and soak in your little human for some other, celebrate him for some other things. It's just, it's so wild to me. And this is why it is so refreshing when you do talk to any kind of special needs parent, because it's like you were not nowhere on our radar. It's not a radar. And it's and the way you celebrate Dalton and the way that you just even just talked about how he's such a light.

parents of typical children do not do that enough because they're so wrapped up in the competitive keeping up and the milestones and the this and the that and it's just it's very it's very refreshing I know it's not easy and so it is it is a special gift that you are given with these little with these little children well and I've had to correct myself so like our joke back in the day was I was a professional dancer Jay was a basketball player got a full ride in college. So we're like, we're going to have a little Olympian. Like, that was always a joke. And then we get Dalton, and he's actually an insane swimmer. And we were supposed to go to swim thing this morning, and his tummy was upset. So you're welcome, parents. I was trying not to

have an accident in the pool. That's responsible. We already have enough stuff going on. We also don't need that. So I was like, we'll go to next week. But anyway, so I'm like, okay, this will be great. He can play with typical kids, you know, try to go in between the lines. I don't know if he's going to do it. But then also, I'll just stop and say, you know what? Or maybe he just loves to swim. Yeah. And maybe we just swim every day. And maybe there is no swim team. And maybe there is no Special Olympics swim. I don't know. Right. I don't know. I do not know. My goal is to make sure my kid is happy and healthy and loved. Yeah. Yeah. That is it. You're nailing it. And I'm nailing that.

You're nailing it. I am nailing that. No question. Okay. So I also want to talk about Jay, your wonderful husband. A lot of people talk about the stress and strain that can happen with marriage, just in parenting in general. So what has the journey been like for you guys? I'm sure there's been a drifting away, coming apart.

And I'm sure you have very different opinions at times of like how to deal with and handle certain challenges. Jay Cronington and I are pretty much opposite on everything in the universe. You are. It's shocking. It's shocking. But also, I'd be floating up to oblivion, so we have to have someone to come, like, bring me back down. Yes.

But that's why I have Kelty. Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't really need it from both of them, but fine. True. So what was crazy is that when I told the inner circle about this, you know, like a year or two years before everybody else, the first question was not, how am I doing? It was, how did Jay take it? every single person. How did Jay take it? So it was Christmas time. I'm like hosting Christmas

dinner. And I'm just running around and thinking about all the things that really don't matter, like napkin rings and frivolous things that you think at the moment are just the most important thing in the world. And my mom is a therapist. My sister's a speech pathologist. My aunt is a babies can't wait. And so they're watching Dalton and they're like, huh, I know nothing. I'm a first some parent. I have no idea what I'm doing. Just trying my best to do Christmas. And my mom clocks it, comes back to the house who lives like two hours away. She comes back like a week or two later, and it was the intention to tell me. That she saw something. And so obviously there was a conversation I had behind my back, and then it was like,

mom's going to tell Emily. So I think she was going to do it at a later date, at a later time. I was in her bedroom late at night. We're chatting about something. And then she said it, and I just fell apart. Because as soon as she said it out loud, I was like, that's it. What did she say? When I tell you, I don't even know. I don't know. I truly blacked out. I truly, I hadn't even known that anything was shifting. But as soon as like something with like truth comes in front of you, I was like, oh my gosh. And then I had to pull myself together and go to the other room and tell Jay. And that was one of the worst, hardest experiences. And I remember the very first words out of his mouth was, like, he just looked down and was like, okay, what do

we need to do? And it was like, right from the jump, in it with me, we've always said Team Carlington. I didn't change my last name, but I am Team Carlington. Sorry, Jay. I was too fabulous. And I was too old when we got married. Yeah, come on. I was 33. It's not going to happen. So he's just been with me every step of the way. And I'm so grateful. Now, are there times that Jay wears me out? Yes. But he is so in it.

He is talking to the therapist. We're having the meetings. I will go and meet with people and set up calls and come back. He's like, okay, what did they say? Let's talk about this. He's the first person always to be like, it's time to pivot. I am very loyal. And I'm like, oh, we could say a little bit longer.

He's like, nope. So he knows he has to say it for me to think about it, for me to mull it over to be like, oh, damn it. Okay. He's right. So he's right. And he'll drop your ass in two seconds. And me, I'm like, oh, oh, you know. He's not afraid. And how old was Dalton at this point? When your mom... So fun fact with autism, it always comes right around two years old. Right around two years old, there'll be a shift. And I'm not talking about vaccinations or any of that. I'm not talking about that. I'm just saying clockwork, clockwork around two years old, there's a shift. And if you actually take the veil off and look around people

in your family, you're like, huh, I could spot autism a million miles away now. I can spot on the spectrum, like nobody's business. I can be walking through Walmart. I'm like, yep, yep. Yeah. Oh, yep, yep. And most people don't know. It's not my job. It's not my job to go and, you know, tap on my shoulder and be like, hey, lady, this is why this is happening or this. Again, you learn things. And if someone ever wants to ask me a question, I'm happy to share it. But I am also not a doctor and it is not my job to diagnose your family. But if you think about, oh, this cousin was always a little awkward or this person could never do eye contact. Oh, my God, they're valedictorian or they're, you know, all these different things. And I will say

this. Just a blanket statement. People love a, you know, a baby Einstein who's like brilliant and a savant. Oh, we will take that autism all day long. But if they have behavior issues, and I have many friends whose kids have major behavior issues and they bite and they hit and they push, and it's really hard. They don't go to vacations. They don't go to restaurants. Like, It is, I have a friend who, they had to get divorced. The mom was teeny, teeny, tiny. The son grew really quickly and could physically hurt her. So she had to move out of the house.

They had to get a mani to come in to, you know, kind of like safeguard. And then the dad at one point was like sleeping with a helmet on because out of nowhere, he would get angry about something and like pound on his head. I'm talking about like really terrible things that we can't wrap our head around. And I have multiple friends in multiple places who have gone through this

or they're trying this medication and their behavior just go through the roof. And it's not them. It's their little bodies and their little brains can't catch up and they're fighting and hitting and doing all these things. And then they get to, you know,

they're sent home from school and it's not behavior. They don't mean to have these behaviors. It's just like their body is just like, they can't regulate and they don't know what's going on. So I'm like, people do not love kid with behavior issues

and they do not love a non-speaking child. All right. And when I left the school last year, for multiple reasons, I was just deeply upset. And I remember calling this private school, and we're on the phone. It's for kids with behaviors and all the things. And at the end of my whole conversation, she's like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. She's like, come, I'm going to walk in this space. She's like, oh, wait, what?

She's like, he's on verbal. She's like, oh, wait, I'll take those. What? And I'm like, it was the first time they had just started kindergarten, so they felt like they didn't have the right teachers in place to deal with that. And I'm telling you, last May, I was in the deepest, darkest hole, like the same deep hole of when I found out about Dalton, where I'm just like, nobody wants my child. Right. And I just was just scutted is the only word I can say. Have you found somewhere that you love for him now? Yes. I'm going to tell you,

I'm a prayer. I am a prayer. And it will, you know, I shower and pray. I drive and pray. I will pray over somebody somewhere. Listen, I will just—my business partner, Charla, she will pray all over you all day long. She doesn't care where we are. We could be at Burger King, and she'll get loud and pray. She doesn't care. So anyway, she's the best. But I found a different school, and the teacher and the parapro are just angels.

And we get them for three years, kindergarten versus second. Wow. And so I was worried, like, oh, no, he's in kindergarten. and he's going to be with second graders. But the homework comes home, and I'm like, damn, he's doing this? This is hard. But again, he knows what's going on. And of the kids of seven kids, one girl and three kids, nonverbal,

all on different talking devices. It's like, these teachers. And guess what? Over here, they're doing potty training. They're taking the kid to the potty every 30 minutes. These are angels. These are, wow. They're the same to me on this earth as nurses.

and like labor and delivery nurses where you're like, wait, this is your job to like take care of these like weeping moms who don't know what they're doing. And we're like, we're freaking out. What do you mean jaundice? Like you're just like out of your mind crazy.

That's what these teachers are. And that's what like ABA therapy, for you to go into this field, you have a heart like anyone else. Like it is truly a God-given, like this is a service that you felt like you was like being called into ministry. Like this is like unreal to me.

Yeah. A calling, a calling. You could have such a cushy job at a bank and you're going to go and maybe get hit or pushed around or this and that, or have to deal with like these speaking devices. And it's a lot. And so, yes, we have found the school. I'm so grateful. And, you know, again, I, we could start going, oh my God, we're going into first grade. We only got two more years. What are we going to do in two years? Right. You don't know. It makes you stop on your tracks. and for me, who always wants to play into the next thing and ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, like, I can't. I can do what I can do right now,

and then he's going to show us what he's going to show us. Maybe we could be in a bridge class, which is in between, you know, like, the autism unit, the AU, we're in the autism unit, and then, you know, like, these classes over here. I was like, he can't sit down for that long, you know. But maybe in second grade, we will. I just, we don't know.

We don't know. We don't know. what is advice you would give to a mother in the beginning of this journey so there are two types of parents i think it is the researcher and the mom tribe and either you are on the internet you're on the deep dark web late at night and you're looking things up you're checking this out And if research brings you clarity and calmness, keep doing your thing, girl. You keep reading. You keep podcasting.

You keep doing whatever you need to do. I am a mom tribe. I will go to the mothers who've walked this before me to be like, what did you do? Who's the doctor you go to? Did this work out for you? And I don't want to go on the internet because that's where the crazies live. Crazies. The crazies live.

So I would rather come over here. And it's also, I always tell other moms, it doesn't matter what type of kid you have. It's like the ones who are still like three to four years where you are. You know what I mean? Because I'm like, newborn sleep. No, I remember newborn sleep. Like because we had very bad sleep issues in this house.

I will always remember it. And I will always sympathize and empathize like with these mamas that are dealing with it. And I could be like, just you wait, just you wait. I hate the just you wait thing. But I would say, yeah, the just you wait is like. It's like, no, shut up. Yeah.

You don't know. It's so darling. yet it's so special. Just You Wait is like go to hell. You know, like that's the difference. But for the new mom, her family's going through this. Find your people. Find your people that are going to love you through it. It's just like if you were going through a divorce or you're going through a death in the family, like who are the people that are going to love you, that are going to show up and they say, what can I do for you? You're going to say nothing, but you don't really mean it because you can't verbalize actually what you need. I actually just need to go take a nap.

Or the person who's just going to bring food to your house, who's going to say, you know what, I'll watch Salt and you could take a two-hour nap. Find your people that are going to love you through all of it. Yeah, that's good. The friends. It's the friends. And if you need to get off the internet, get off the internet. If you need to find your mom vibe.

And I have other people that are like, oh my gosh, you should. I mean, the amount of times people have told me to get on Facebook groups is depressing as hell to me. I do not like it. It is the opposite of joyous. It is like bitching and complaining. And for me, it's not it. Right.

It's not it. And I've had many people say, don't you want to start an autism mom community? I do not. Yeah, that's very honest. And that's you have to protect your energy and protect your peace, as cheesy as that sounds. You don't need to be taking care of a bunch of other people when you're taking care of your family. And the people that do it, good on you. But I agree.

You do not need to be doing. That's not what I'm supposed to do. I don't know what, and it's just like, ready? I'm going to sound like, not boastful, but just like, knowing just like me. I know I'm meant for greatness. Always known it. I've always known I've had a calling. I didn't know what, where, how.

And I was like, oh, it's dance. And then I was like, oh, it's TV hosting. And then when all this happened, I'm like, is it special needs? Like, what? This was not what I would have chosen. But you don't get to choose. You don't get to choose. I don't get to choose how he communicates with me.

Is it ACC device? Is it spelling? Is it this? If the boy is going to communicate with me, I will take it all. I will take it all gladly. So it's just I know when I'm ready, I will do something that is going to help this community. But I also have to take care of my own house. You know what I mean?

Like I have to be in a better place. Do I still want to host TV shows? Yes. I miss TV so bad. I cannot be flying around QVC like I used to. I just can't do it. But the time will come and the right thing is going to happen. Will we even have TV when it's time? I mean, maybe it'll just be live stream. Maybe I'll just do my own QVC in my own house. I don't know. Who knows? I did this vision board, you know,

positive quotes and vision boards for a thing. I've been doing this for decades. You have. You have. Thank you. Who I am as a human. So I have this little one that I did with my friend, Amy. and I just, and then I always, at the back of my vision board, I always do like secret things just to me. And this one says, I trust the phases of my life and then divine timing.

And that's it. Like, yeah, yeah. Just, this is the chapter. You can't do it all. And when I do something, I'm gonna do it well. And where I'm supposed to be right now is being the best mom, the best wife. And I like being a great friend.

It's really important to me. I am an Enneagram 2. I am a helper. People think I'm an enthusiast because I'm like Diet Coke, orange, cats. Yes, I'm an enthusiast, but I'm a helper to my core, and I love helping others. And I do have to protect myself because my role in my friends' lives is I check on them, I check on them, I check on them, I check on everybody. And it's rare that people would check on me, but this has now flipped the script where

people check in on me, which is weird. because I'm not used to that. It's usually me checking out other people. Yeah. Well, I feel like you are already doing what, like you're saying, you're going to find out what, find what the thing is, the, you know, something in this space, but you're doing it. Like what you provide for people, I know to you, it's sometimes you don't even realize who's seeing it, who needs to see it. What you're putting out there is really special, very important. I think Like it's, I send it to anybody. I send your profile to anybody who's walking this walk

because I really do feel like you have a beautiful balance of, you're really, like I've said, you're so honest, but you're so hopeful. And that is, I- Key, it's key. It's key. And it is a lesson.

It is a, it just, and also just whether, whatever you're dealing with, it is so important to have people like you who are living out loud and showing, not just telling, showing us how you get through life and how you still find the joy in all of it. Last summer, you posted something about being at a pool with Dalton and there were other kids around playing. And I can't remember what it was specifically, but it was kind of like, I wish that other mothers knew to teach their kids this when you are dealing with an atypical individual. I distinctly remember it because I was nervous.

When I get... I don't get nervous ever. I don't get nervous. If it's something about Dalton and I get nervous, that means I know I'm on the right path. So like when I posted two years ago and I'm like, oh, I'm sick about it and I'm losing sleep, that means I'm supposed to do it. Yeah. Because I'm unshakable. So when this happened at the pool, I thought about it for like two days. I was like, I don't like to tell people how to parent. You know what I mean? I'm over here in the corner being like, oh, I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it. But I'm like, but I'm coming from a good place. So I know I'm supposed to share. So I'm like, here's the deal. These kids were playing, they were throwing the ball. Okay. And then we have this like this

weird little area at the community pool where he's not supposed to be in it. But at this point, I've just told all the lifeguards, he's going to play in it. Okay. It's going to be fine. I got my eye on him. He's good. But anyway, so he's right here, kind of like on this rocky ledge and they're throwing the ball. And so they see Dalton and then they instantly move. And I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And I was like, hi guys. I'm like, do y'all know Dalton?

And they're like, no. And I'm like, well, he's nonverbal, he's autistic, but I'm like, he loves when you play near him. It's actually called parallel play. So right now he thinks all of you are playing. So if you wouldn't mind just like hanging out right here and like, don't move the ball away and like, just keep playing.

That afternoon he smiled and he was like, he thought he was the third person playing. Oh, sweet. So like, that's the stuff that like, we don't know. We don't know that. And like, I've had to become an expert and learn all these words that you don't normally know. And this year at the pool, he's gotten to be such a good swimmer. I was like, okay. I talked to my friend Allie, who lives in the neighborhood. She owns an ABA company. And so I was like, hey, it's on the HOA. Better you than me. But I'm like, hey, I think I'm going to make a video talking to the moms about how they can play with Dalton. She's like, why don't we make a graphic?

I was like, okay. So we worked on this graphic together and it's so cute with his little red hair. And it's like, this is how you can interact with Dalton at the pool. And I haven't posted anywhere on social media, but we can. But it was just like,

hey, if you're playing over here, he wants to play with you. Hey, if you're really tall, come down like eye level. Then he can really see you. Like if you're talking to him up here, he has no idea what's going on. So he was like, come down low.

And I'm like, don't try to give him a pound, but we love a high five. I'm like, this doesn't make sense. But boys love to pound. And he just looks at me like, Yeah. So it's just like a little tidbit. And so now I know I'm supposed to make one for every day because normally we go to church at 11 o'clock, blah, blah, blah. And for some reason, I was like, let's go to the nine o'clock one. So I zoom in, I'm about to drop them off. And I look around and

I'm like, oh, we don't know any of these people. And I'm like, damn it. I wish I had made this not for swimming, just for regular life. And so I love when someone tries to tell me about my own child. The guy comes up and he's like, you're supposed to put his name tag right there. And I'm like, he won't wear it. He's like, oh, watch me do it. He tries to pat him on his back and Dawn's like, hands it back to him. I'm like, I know. So, but again, I'm like, okay, the more I can help other people where I don't have to get annoyed by having the same conversation and it opens the doors. And let me tell you what. So I was, once again, I was nervous about putting this out in the community pool, got all these great comments. And then here comes the final day of school and

There's popsicles in the pool time. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is going to be pure chaos. Are we going to go to this or are we going to go to this? I'm like, okay, we're going to go to it. We're going to go to it. We're going to see what happens. And again, he was so happy. And I watched three boys and one little girl randomly walk by him and say, hi, Dalton.

And before, they all would have ignored him. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing. You know, that actually does remind me. That's what I wanted you to talk about, too, is when you went and stayed at Kelty's house, our friend's house in la and you sent ahead of time the the page of how to interact what he likes what he doesn't like and i think it is so amazing and i and so helpful for any mom because it's you

know every kid is so different and every kid's different you can't assume one kid's gonna like one thing and one kid's gonna like the other but it's like as soon as you communicate like with those kids, as soon as you gave them that information or their mom shared that information, it's like such a beautiful thing to see that people just want to help you and engage with Dalton. It's really beautiful. There's only, I mean, when we moved in this neighborhood two years ago, there was, my mom was like helping me unpack. She's in another room. And I was, again, that was another reason why I shared is that we're putting on leg braces and I moved to a new neighborhood. It was 200 houses. And I was like, I have to open with this. And the first

three girls came to my house, like literally, I'd been living here 12 hours. They brought me like flowers and wine. And they're like, hi. And they're like, hi, my name. And they say everything. And they're like, tell me about your, we heard you had a son too. And I had a second to pause. And I was like, yep. And we were nonverbal autistic. And the girl Allie goes, oh my God, I have an ABA clinic. I was like, oh my gosh, like the very first person that I met. And I just had to tell people because I'm like, if something crazy happens, we have locks on every door, outside and inside, it's for a knock, y'all aren't getting to this house.

But if you happen to see this little redhead child running around outside, there is a problem. If you don't see a parent, something has happened and I need for safety reasons for you to know. Yeah. Like my neighbor across the street has a gigantic jump jump. And so there's been two times he's run out of the house. Oh. And I hear the ring alarm, and I run downstairs. He's across the street.

Oh, my gosh. So the whole community knows if you see this kid and you don't see one of us running after him, alert. You know what I mean? So that was another reason that I think, like, we looked for a house for almost five years, and then it was finally time, and then I was like, oh, my God, it's all coming at the same time.

But it's because that's how it was supposed to happen, you know? Yeah, yeah. But it's kind of like having your partner, your husband, or your boyfriend or whatever, like, we can't expect for people to know what we're thinking. Right. So I can't be like, no one understands me. No one understands Dalton. I can give you the tools, to the best of my knowledge, to help everybody. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. I know. If you feel like posting it or sharing it, I really think—

I will. I'll do it with this. We'll do it with this. Yes. We'll do it. We'll share it because it really is—it's awesome. And his little cartoon of himself, I just can't. I cannot. I know. And of course, my business brain's like, oh my gosh, are we supposed to come out with a manual and I got guide everything? And once again, my crazy brain says, Emily, sometimes it's just a flyer. Right. Not everything is a new business. Sometimes it's just a flyer. Sometimes it's just a flyer. Sometimes it's just a post-it. Right. Well. But when your brain goes like that, you can't help it. That's who you are. I know. You're a Virgo. You're a Virgo Enneagram too, which is like very intense.

I know. I will love you hard. In a good way, in all the best ways. I will love you so hard. But I will say, what's funny with parenting, I think motherhood has softened you. And I think autism has hardened me. Yeah, you're right. But, you know, I don't know if it's hardened you so much as it has given you a strength that you never had to tap into or hadn't had to.

And boundaries. I'm never at boundaries. I never had any. Like you mentioned, your father took his life when you were 14. You would think that that would start the avalanche, understandably, of more of a victim mentality, more of a being swallowed by grief, and then to have your fertility struggles. It was how many years and how many surgeries? like gajillion uh yeah multiple years multiple surgeries multiple miscarriages yeah and then we and then we have him and then i have bell's palsy half my face is frozen so then we're

i'm terrified that that's never going to come back and then we go straight into covid so it was just hard everything was just hard hard hard hard hard and then we finally in a good place we now live atlanta we're somewhat driving this is from our families oh my gosh we have a house we're homeowners, autism. And it's just like, and it's just not like, oh, this is going to be easy. It's like, no, we need special, special, special. It's like hard. And I don't know why I'm wired this way. I really do wake up on the right side of the bed. I really do wake up trying to look for the good in the world. And depression has jumped me. A lot of people in my family are on medication. I, maybe God knew that I was going to have way too much to handle and that we also can't give

that to her. So we're going to, we're going to take that. But yeah, I still go down and I still go down hard. I just, I don't know. I think I've just always been an old soul and I see the writing on the wall and I'm like, I can either be a really miserable, like a miserable human and just make excuses for everything in my life, or you only get to do this once and I want to do it well and I I tell Jay I need for him to protect my joy. Like I, and I kind of mean it with my friends too. If it's something that I don't need to know about, if it's about someone's car wreck

and someone was eight months pregnant, like I don't need to know that. I don't need to add that to my plate of hard. Yeah. And there's a girl on our iconic team, we call her Heather AI, but she like, she's Mrs. Claude basically. And she was helping me with my Emily voice

when you're posting on social media. And she's like, you are the opposite. of toxic positivity she's like you've earned your joy yes and I was like oh I was like no one's ever said that to me but I'm like that actually makes sense when someone's complaining about things that are really trivial I just I'm like yeah and it's also so easy to be touting positivity and joy and happiness when you've had a pretty charmed life yeah I mean I don't trust anyone who's happy who hasn't experienced some hell. Yeah.

Earned your joy. That is such a good term and it is so accurate. Because it's not like everything's rainbows and unicorns. No. And I'm the first to be like, guys, I haven't slept in six years.

I truly haven't slept. That's why I have to be highly caffeinated. And when we drink a lot of alcohol, don't come for me, people. At some point, we will turn down the alcohol. But right now, Jay and I, we need it.

Yeah. And when we get that glass of wine. so you're always giving advice what's the best advice you have received lately

ooh go to therapy I know I go to take him to therapy all day long but therapy for the brain and she said to me

what are three things that bring you joy figure them out and put them on the calendar so my three things are I like

being in person with my friends I love a zoom I love a FaceTime but if I can sit and have lunch with you if I can be in a you know, like cuddle up with you on the couch talking. I need to physically touch people. I'm

a toucher. I want to touch you. I want to be drinking wine, you know, cuddled up. So quality time with my people. Next is water. I need a pool. I need an ocean. I need a lake. I need to be near water. It just tells you to calm down and just float and just kind of just makes the crazy go away. And then the third one is I like going to the movies. And I never get to go to the movies anymore, and I did not get to see Wicked 2 in the movies because I was waiting for friends, and then no one's schedule's aligned, so then I didn't get to see it, and now Double Wears Prada 2. I'm going, damn it, and I will wear an outfit, and I don't care if I'm by myself. I will have popcorn and Diet Coke, and I will live my best life, but I've already told Jay, I'm like,

you've been in New York doing work. Next week, I'm going to Double Wears Prada, okay? That's great. I need to see the fashion. I don't want to go out on a negative note, But I do want to know, what is the thing you wish you would never receive? A phrase, a DM, a message. What's the thing you never want to hear or read again? Well, we will end on a positive note. I'm going to swing it back. We'll come back.

We'll come back. We'll come back to her. We'll circle back. You know, we're going to circle back. We're going to land the ship. Land the ship? Land the plane. There we go.

Land the plane. Dock the ship, land the plane. Okay. Okay. This phrase boils my soul. And it's just, I mean, it's a phrase that people hear all the time. But when you say it to me, I will go ballistic. Do not tell me you can do hard things. Oh, God. Oh, God. I can do hard things. I am the queen of doing hard things. And I'm going to do it with a smile on my face. To me, it is so belittling. It is.

And it sounds like, oh, you can fold that laundry. No, girl, I'm going through real serious things. Just do not, like hard things feels like I can go get my oil change. No. No. No. I was built for this. I was built to still have a career, still have a great marriage. I mean, when I just went to LA, they were all like, I can't believe how great you look.

I'm like, guys, I have to take care of myself. I can actually never die because we have to take care of this child. You know what I mean? Like, that is it. I have to be around forever. I'm like, give me NAD. I took my NAD shot. I'm like, we have to be around forever.

That's why I work out. It's not to be vain. It's because I have to lift that heavy child every once in a while. When he's acting crazy and running across the street to the trampoline, I have to grab him with one arm while doing something else. Like, I have to be an athlete so I can live the best version of myself. That also is another phrase when someone tries to tell me, maybe I should consider, like, not working.

What? I'm like, I already left a thriving career. Yeah. Yeah. Because this was more important. I was driving in two hours a day for therapies. Yeah. So do not talk to me about work because I'm a better human. I'm a better mother, and you do you. If you want to be a stay-at-home mom, I love it. Get it, girl. Some people

are meant for that. I am not a sourdough. What do you think of Emily Loftus? You're not thinking like, she's gardening. I'm killing everything. Like, you know what I mean? No, I'm probably in an antique store running around in a caftan, you know what I mean, just trying to be ridiculous and finding the little pockets like like i have a rhinestone yeah orange stanley everybody could see this it is a orange rhinestone stanley cup but like you know what i mean like just nothing makes sense i just want holding a giant vase a white lotus like lotus vase oh my god i know my whole pink room i don't know that is really like it really is you're you are you have been consistent in thank you you have you have held on to the things within your identity

that are important to you and it's such a lesson for every woman like it's if if this is your identity you don't have to sacrifice it because it it other people are and from afar i didn't become a mom till 39 and a half and i just remember people's like you know social media instagram i have friends all over the country so you don't get to see them all the time and their entire life, everything's mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom. And I'm like, this might have been their purpose. And they're so happy. They're joyful. But like, I have goals. I have things that I want to hit. I am an entrepreneur. I have things that I want to put out on the universe. And I know God made me this way for a reason. I'm not supposed to like quiet my spirit. I'm not supposed to quiet

my go-getter, you know, mode. I thought back in the day that God like chose the Mother Teresa's and these sweet patients. No, he picks the beast. You're a beast. I will burn your house down if you mess with my kid. So that was why I was chosen. Yeah. That was the purpose. So when I am ready, are we going to write a book? Probably not. You know, I don't read. I don't have time to read. I don't have time to read. You could have a ghostwriter. Don't send me a book. I'm probably not going to read it, but I'm going to really think about it. I do think, I mean, this is just us spitballing. I mean, welcome to our workshop. You know what I feel like right now, how Kelty does success coaching? Can look at somebody and be like, this is what your calling

is. Hello, I do that with Iconic. I do that with Iconic. Exactly. Okay, let me tell you what Iconic this really quick. So that was the Emily Lawson.com. So it's women that it's like they're branding. So lots of times they're like outside of what they look like or their website and everything they're doing and their colors and everything. I mean, you're like, what is happening? You are a brilliant CFO. You're brilliant. I mean, we've done, someone makes mahjong sets. I mean, we've done everything you can imagine, like wild. You're a nurse, you're this, you're that, but everything else seems like a cluttered mess. And then our team swoops in and we do amazing photo shoots, video shoots. I do a sit down interview with you with two cameras set up like

Oprah. And then we, if you want to talk on stages, if you want to do a Ted talk, if you want to be talking about autism on big stages, we film you doing that. I mean, and I get to be my creative self and my whole life, I knew I was not supposed to have a normal job. I'm just not supposed to happen. And I've always had these huge ideas and no one could ever rise to my crazy ideas. and charla we're gonna say right c-h-a-r-l-a charla we've been friends for seven years and when we started this she's like if you're gonna we're gonna be partners you've said my name right so um she just called me out of nowhere and was just like i have an idea and i was just in the middle of all this stuff going on with the schooling and things and i just felt like oh my

god i'm not fabulous anymore and you know i i'm not going on camera i'm not doing this i feel so loss as a mother and what's happening in this season of my life. And she looked at me and she was like, nah, I know who you are. You're the most fabulous and you have the best eye and I cannot do this without you. And so we started Iconic and it's exploded. And what's the best part of all of it is I get to be the creative director. I get to do the personal styling. I do it all from my computer. And then two days a month, we go on set and I get to be on set and I'm calling the shots and we're chatting, we're doing fun. And we're like, we're hype girling you up. We're telling how great you look and it's just music is playing and it's just so joyful. And I get to be a present

mom, wife, friend, all those things and still do a career that I'm more successful in this financially than I ever have been. Yeah. I think because it's aligned. It's aligned. It's not me running up a mountain sliding down, running up a mountain sliding down. It's just like when you actually find the things where you're aligned and that's why I'm not going to push whatever I'm supposed to do in the special needs space because one day it's gonna I'm gonna be like got it yeah got it and then I'll run towards it faster than anybody but sometimes I'm just supposed to like sit and simmer and that's hard for me but sometimes I'm just supposed to what does it trust your phase what is the back trust the phases of your life there you go yeah it's

very cool what you're doing it's taking these it's like personal branding for these women and you're such a you've always been such a cheerleader i'm pretty sure you ran my lines with me for my glee audition i did i did i mean if all the people that you chose to be i think you're like you know i'm like no judgment i'm like yes oh my god you crushed it yes do it again no you sang um i did before he cheats i kissed a girl i kissed a girl no oh oh yeah i did for something? Yes, yes, yes. For one of the rounds. Well. No, I know you were saying some Carrie Underwood and I was like, do it again. I love that. Like I'm directing, like do it again, but like more. No, yes. Because I will always cheer on my people. And it's true. Like some

people act like they're cheering on and they're talking on the side. No. When my people excel, the joy that I bring is like they are my children. I am so truly, honestly thrilled when my friends are crushing it and doing well. Well, I just think you're wonderful. Now, this is a kind of lovely thought to like end it on. I don't remember my dreams. I'm just not that person. I mean, God, my junior, senior year of high school,

there was a teacher who would come and like interpret dreams. I'm like, why don't I remember my dreams? I've prayed and asked for my dad to come to me and like, he will not come to me. He will not come to me. And the amount of times that Dalton has come to my friends during dreams speaking. Whoa.

And, I mean, probably 20 to 25 times. Different people in my life. And so I'm like, it's going to happen. Yeah. It's going to happen. Yeah. And I just love hearing it from other people. I'm like, maybe I don't hear it or see it because that's not the way that I get things.

But, yeah, I mean— And do you have examples? Do you have examples of kids who went from nonverbal that you can kind of— Yes. I have two different kids off the top of my head. One of them, he started talking around five-ish, and the other one was at seven. So we're right in the middle. But what I see in him is, like, every day the veil is going—more veils are coming off. And, like, he's, like, in the room.

And she's always like, what does in the room mean? In the room means— Yeah, engaged. He is clocking everything. Yes, he knows what's happening. He knows when I'm going to come over here, he's like, I'm going to be mischievous. And I'm like, I love when he does something mischievous

because I'm like, that's what normal toddlers do. You know what I mean? That's what kids do. He's like, oh, she's gone. I'm going to go try to run up that crazy thing at the pool and slide down, which is not a slide. So yeah, we're going to get there. You will.

Because we believe in yet. We believe in hope and we believe in the power of yet. the power of yet, the power of yet. And if there's anything that you want to go up to a mom or something, you know what I love to hear? You can tell me I'm fabulous. You can tell me I'm beautiful. You can tell me I'm kind. You can tell me all these things, which I love and appreciate. But if you tell me I'm a good mom, that's it. If I'm wrangling him at the grocery store and doing all the things and someone will just stop me and be like, you're doing a great job, mom. That's when I almost burst into tears. It's that random acts of kindness of random people clocking that

You were going through it, and you had 14 back, like all these different things. It was someone says that to you. Or when they meet Dalton or they don't know anything, yes, does he have beautiful red hair? The prettiest color you've ever seen. But I like when I haven't seen someone in a while, they go, what's the win with Dalton right now? What's going on? Like, what's something great that's happened? And I can be like, and it's not that open-ended, I was Dalton.

Right, yeah. Because that is so heavy and so hard, and I don't even want to open that door. and my mom gave me a great tip. This must have been maybe like a year ago. I was like, mom, they always mean it. This is after I shared, it felt so heavy. And I'm like, people mean it out of the kindness of their heart, but I don't want to get into everything.

And she's like, you don't need to get into everything. She's like, you have your elevator pitch. And you go, oh, isn't he darling? Yes, we are in swim class right now and we are just loving summer, done. She's like, you answer it, you answer it, you keep moving on. She's like, when your dad passed away,

She's like, we're in a tiny town, and everyone asked me the same question 55 times a day. So I didn't want to cry. I didn't want to get emotional. So I had my elevator pitch, boom, and that was the best piece of advice because you're right, random guy who's fixing my car. You don't need to know everything that's going on with me right now. You don't need to know all that. That's for the inner circle.

And when someone's like, how's it going? I'm like, we're doing great. We're working hard. We're so happy. And he's a little fish. Done. And I think anything I think like for people to just have like more awareness of of knowing that if you want to share with them, you will share with them. And if you don't take a hint, it's a it's the same thing. Read the room. It's the same thing with Instagram. Just because you are sharing and you're volunteering information and you're putting yourself in the vulnerable position, that does not mean the gates are open. that means you are privileged to hear this this today but that does not mean that i owe you a

response to whatever the thing is that you're going to text me because the bandwidth that you have at that time may just be to get the thing out there but not to have to be the person receiving what comes on the other other side of it so i think it's a good lesson for anybody who's engaging on social media just tread lightly just if it's not if it's not something positive don't do it don't say it shut your mouth yeah it's not going to uplift this person yeah keep your mouth shut yeah shut up as my mom says as my mom says she's like the worst thing that ever happened to society was Twitter. Not everyone needs to know what you're thinking. Amen. Amen. Oh, my goodness. I, like I said, I adore you. I'm so proud of you with Iconic when I see you on set just doing your

freaking stupid. I'm just being stupid. Your batmas and your feather boas. And I'm like, you're so in your element. Can people work with you virtually? Like if they don't live in Atlanta? So if we do an iconic shoot, you're going to fly to Atlanta or Dallas. We also do VIP days, and we can go to you. We're doing a two-day—get ready for this—two-day VIP day in Indiana, and it's like farmland. And I'm like, do we have gators to ride around on? And they were like, we each have one. You know I'm going to be in that pink jumpsuit.

Wow. Wow. With tractors? The content's coming. I can't even stand it. Who even knows? I'm doing wheelies. But I also do styling from afar.

I mean, that's what's so easy right now. I have a whole rush package that I'm doing because everyone kept asking me. I haven't even announced it yet. But like all these moms were like, she don't know what to wear. And so I offer that where I can pull all these outfits for you

and I give you the board virtually. And it's evergreen, so you can buy it later. And yeah, there's a million ways to work with us. Well, how do they find you? Instagram, ban on my existence, but Instagram and then Iconic Brand Experience. And I will be doing emilyloftus.com. We're going to get there.

But my poor assistant keeps doing everyone else's websites because I keep getting her work. So one day we'll get back to mine. One day. One day. It'll be when it's meant to be. But thank you for being here. Instagram at emilyloftus?

Yes. Okay. Yes. Well, thanks for coming. Thanks for giving some really sage advice. I'm sure you're helping a lot of parents out there. And that's what we do this for. Well, this is the first time I've done a podcast talking about Dalton.

I want you to know that's how much I love you, that it has to be the right person, the right time, like the phases of life where I, because when someone would say special needs mother, I would just burst into tears. And so I had to be at a better place to even share and kind of even separate, you know? Well, I'm sorry for crying when reading your Instagram. It's just hard to know someone for 21 years and see all the phases and just how you have just become this, like you said, you're a beast. You're a beast. I'm a beast.

All right. Appreciate you. Love you. Love you. Bye.