We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Prom. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

Naming my business was something that held me back for years! It’s so exciting to have an idea for a business but then sitting down and thinking of how people will find you, what they’ll think of your business’ name, and so forth is so daunting! Not to mention, thinking of some great names and then realizing they’re taken!

The name for my business came to me one evening while I was in bed trying to drift off to sleep. I knew I wanted to start a blog and I wanted to be authentic with my audience but I just couldn’t think of what to call it. The song, The Way it Really Is by Lisa Loeb, came to me. I’ve been a fan of hers from when I was a teenager and this song just kept repeating in my head even though I hadn’t listened to it for years!

I took that as a sign, wrote it down, and the next day researched if I could use it or not. Turns out, I could!! I quickly bought the domain name and the rest is history!

It has been a few years since I named my blog and I still am so incredibly happy with it. I truly do love the freedom of being able to tell it The Way it Really Is and being authentic with my audience, and myself!!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

From an early age, my goal in life has been to use my experiences to help others.

Early on this led to my friends coming to me to help them through difficulties in life, which led to me wanting to become a psychologist to help more people, especially children. When my first child was 1 year old, I left my career as a school psychologist to stay home with him. I loved spending time with him but felt lost and though I didn’t have a greater life purpose, especially after I had my twins two years later. I knew I needed to do something outside of ‘just’ being a mom and get back to my goal of helping others.

I have always been an avid writer and lifelong learner, which led me to starting a mom blog. I kept seeing all of these picture perfect personas on social media and I wanted to show life The Way it Really Is. This not only became the name of my blog but also my mantra moving forward.

This is what sets me apart from other bloggers or influencers who only show the filtered and perfect version of their lives, which can be harmful to others as we compare ourselves to them and feel we aren’t good enough. I show the real story of motherhood and provide hope to moms, especially those who are struggling, like most of us are.

I help moms, especially moms of twins, navigate through motherhood, as difficult, rewarding, and messy as it is. I show my true self, as imperfect as I am, to help other moms see that they aren’t the only ones struggling and that they are doing a great job. I share about all facets of my life from parenting, twin parenting, mental health, navigating an autoimmune disease and food allergies, and so much more, in hopes of helping others through sharing my life experiences with them.

I help moms through my blog posts and my new printables shop featuring twin pregnancy journals, MoDi twin pregnancy journals (extra appointments to keep track of!!), planners, activity sheets, and so much more! In the same online shop I also have a lot of high quality, fun shirts and accessories for moms, twin moms, dads, twin dads, and kids, especially twins!!

I’m so thankful to be able to have the opportunity to help moms through what I do from the comfort of my home while I also care for my children, run our busy household, and teach my kids.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I made huge pivots from having a career as a school psychologist to become a stay at home mom and later an entrepreneur.

I worked hard to attain my Master of Science Degree in School Psychology and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology (between a Masters Degree and a Doctorate). It was very odd for me to go through all of that intense education, spend all that money on tuition, attain my degrees, attain my status as a respected school psychologist not only within the districts in which I worked but also as a board member on the MN School Psychologist’s Association, and then leave it all behind.

Many things led to me deciding to leave the field after 7 years of being a school psychologist. I won’t get into them here as they’re irrelevant but after leaving my career I soon realized that all of my self worth, self-esteem, and confidence came from being a school psychologist. When I left the field, I left a huge part of my self behind as well, and that’s something that took me years to grapple with.

Even though leaving the field of school psychology was completely my own decision, I still felt like I had failed myself somehow by not doing what I had set out to do years prior. Even though I helped hundreds of children throughout my 7 years in the field, I still felt like I hadn’t done enough. I felt I wasn’t being my authentic self by leaving the career I had worked so hard for, yet also knew that it was something that I no longer wanted to do and that if I were to stay in it, I’d be even more inauthentic!!

It was a tough decision but ultimately the right one, as I sit here 6 years after leaving my career, happier and less stressed than I’ve ever been. I’ve been able to spend time with my children while they’re young, teach them, watch them grow, and build a business of my own.

Since starting my business, I’ve rediscovered my self worth, self-esteem, and confidence.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is that no one wants to hear what I have to say.

This isn’t something that I was taught outright but something that I often felt growing up as a depressed teenager and finding it hard to connect with others. The blog posts in which I am the most authentic and dig the deepest are the ones that get the most views and resonate with others.

Honestly, it’s exhausting and time consuming to write the really deep posts about being a survivor of domestic violence, becoming sober, postpartum depression, my mom’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis when she was just 59 and how much she is no longer herself, and how I’m not a perfect parent. However, it’s those posts in which I feel the most authentic with my audience and with myself. I feel it shows others that they too can get through hard things and come out on the other side.

I also feel it shows that not only does everyone have a story to tell but that others do indeed want to hear it. I feel like we’re all told to keep the tough things inside, to not show our true selves for fear of being judged. This way of thinking is detrimental to our health, mentally and physically, and to others who want to get close to us or who look up to us, like our children.

I’m not saying the random stranger on the street needs to know all your medical diagnoses but there is surely something to be said about being authentic with others and true to yourself that is incredibly freeing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thewayitreallyis.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewayitreallyismomblog/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWayitReallyIsMomBlog
• Store: https://shop.thewayitreallyis.com/