Meredith Masony
Meredith Masony is the founder of That’s Inappropriate, an inclusive community for moms that she launched in 2014 after a health scare. She’s written multiple books on the absurdity of motherhood; the aptly titled Ask Me What’s for Dinner One More Time is a must-read. She describes her Take it or Leave It podcast as an “advice-ish” podcast for parents. And you can now catch her in person in a city near you, with her Mental Loadcomedy tour.
We spoke to the busy mom of three about the inspiration for That’s Inappropriate, what she looks for in a mom friend, and more.
Can you please share a bit more about how That’s Inappropriate first started?
In 2004 I ended up being diagnosed with an esophageal tumor. It was the scariest thing I had ever dealt with. I had three kids under 8 and I really thought this was going to be the end for me. The tumor ended up not being cancer and I was given a second chance at life.
I decided that I was going to chase my dreams no matter what. In October of 2004 I wrote my first blog. It took about a year and a half to get up the nerve to try stand up, which was my dream as a child…that, and being an anchor on 20/20 like my childhood idol Barbara Walters.
I always loved to talk to people and make people laugh by talking about the inappropriate parts of life. When I became a Mother it felt like life got really inappropriate. Every time I would talk to someone about something my kid did or said, they would reply with, “Oh, that’s inappropriate.” When in reality, it was normal and most if not all kids were doing these things. I knew in 2016 that I could reach more Moms by making videos and going live to connect with the audience, so I turned my blog into a Vlog and then I started doing stand up.
So far I’ve published two books, I have a podcast with my amazing hilarious friend Tiffany Jenkins, I did a 76 city tour MY NAME IS NOT MOM, I’ve launched a parenting website Filter Free Parents, somehow gathered almost 4 million people across my social platforms, opened a laundromat with my husband (laundry is a passion of mine) and now I am touring solo with “The Mental Load.” I’m not exactly sure I answered the question lol.
OMG – that’s a lot of amazing projects. Why do you think your brand resonates so much?
I think that people want to talk about the uncomfortable parts of their lives. They want to laugh and cry and live in the grey. Life isn’t black and white and talking about the space in-between is so important. That’s where we live. That’s where we parent. That’s where our marriage is.
What does the Mental Load mean to you?
So much of Motherhood is an invisible heavy load. The worry, the stress, the schedules, all of that plus the millions of things we do each day to keep the ship running are exhausting and of course joyful at the same time. If I don’t joke about these things I might just die. But seriously, the mental load never leaves us once we have our first child, so we may as well laugh about it. Life is pretty funny.
How do you think motherhood has really changed since our moms were moms?
We now have access to almost everything all of the time. We can track our kids in real time. We can track them on the web, while they drive, when they come home from school via the doorbell cameras. We seem to always be on alert.
Don’t get me wrong I love having access to all of this tech and information, but my parents had no idea where I was 95% of the time. I think there was some bliss in the ignorance of what we were doing and where we were going.
What makes a great mom friend to you – and any advice on finding your people?
The best Mom friends are those who will truly take you as you are. They know that you will flake out at times, they know you will miss things or show up late. They know that you might need help and won’t actually ask for it, they know how hard it is to be a Mom.
I truly love the community I have on social media and I say all the time that 99% of my friends are my internet friends and they are now my closest best friends. We travel together! We are doing our second community cruise in October and I can’t wait to see all of my internet friends!
Anything else you’d like to share? How can people see your show?
I have 30 upcoming shows in 2023 and I will be booking out 2024 soon! I hope to see all of my internet friends at my comedy shows. I love laughing with my ladies!
Find a show near you: www.meredithmasony.com/tour