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If you’ve ever worried that becoming a parent means losing the adventurous parts of yourself — the four-hour rides, the spontaneous ski days, the “let’s just see how far we can go” energy — this conversation is the antidote.
Julie mountain biked through both of her pregnancies, and she’s built a community of thousands of moms proving you don’t have to shrink your world after kids.
Julie Bacon is the founder of Mothership Collective, a fast-growing community helping moms stay connected to the outdoors, adventure, creativity, and themselves through motherhood.
A lifelong mountain lover, marketer, and mom of soon-to-be two, Julie’s building a movement that reminds moms they don’t have to shrink their worlds after kids. Angie recorded this conversation just weeks before Julie’s second child was due.
Julie and Angie talked about:
- What moms are missing in traditional outdoor communities
- The viral climbing-wall photo that drew hundreds of critical comments a day
- How pregnant athletes can modify: flat pedals, aggressive hydration, and a daily body check-in
- Tearing her abs backcountry snowboarding during her second pregnancy
- The hardest parts of the first year of motherhood
- Building the Mothership: a viral reel, a 10,000-member Facebook group, and 150+ Rally the Village events across North America in one month
- What outdoor brands get wrong when talking to moms and why honesty beats polish
- Her ten-year dream: a Burning Man-style family campout, disco balls and all
- Her pep talk for new moms: you don’t have to wait, and you can start small
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Check out these resources:
- 🌐 Mothership Collective
- 📱 Mothership Collective on Instagram
- ➡️ The Cairn Project on IG
- ✨ The Cairn Project’s newsletter
- 🥾 Become a Trailblazer
- 📅 Summit Scholarship Foundation
Like this episode? Leave a 5-star rating and review on your podcast app!
You can help us close the gender gap outdoors and beyond:
- Become a Trailblazer. Your Adventure Fundraiser makes wilderness experiences possible for girls and women.
- Check out the Summit Scholarship Foundation.
- Send this episode to a mom you know — or somebody who’s kid-curious.
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Follow on Spotify | Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Amazon | Pocket Casts | iHeartRadio | other platforms
Can you stay an outdoor athlete and become a mom? In this episode of the See Her Outside Podcast, Julie Bacon — founder of Mothership Collective — shares what it’s really like to mountain bike through two pregnancies, from the Juliana athlete blog that served as her permission slip to the daily body check-ins and gear modifications that keep pregnant athletes riding safely. Julie biked the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route from Mexico to Canada before her first pregnancy, and she brings that same resilience to outdoor motherhood.
The conversation digs into the judgment active pregnant women face — including a viral photo of a pregnant climber that drew hundreds of critical comments a day once it left the outdoor community — and why the criticism misses the point: experienced athletes modify their sports in deeply responsible ways, from switching to flat pedals to choosing gravel over downhill based on how their bodies feel that day.
Julie also tells the story of building Mothership Collective, a community for women and moms who want to stay connected to the outdoors, adventure, creativity, and themselves through motherhood. What started as a late-night branding deck during burnout became a viral movement: a 5,000-member private Facebook group, statewide WhatsApp chats, a weekly storytelling blog, and Rally the Village — a campaign in which 135 community-hosted events brought over 2,000 women together across North America in a single month, from cold plunges to baby-wearing dance parties.
Whether you’re a new mom in the trenches, a pregnant athlete tired of strangers’ opinions, or a kid-curious adventurer wondering if parenthood means giving up the life you love, this episode offers an honest, joyful answer: parenting is easier outside, your kid’s childhood is also your parenthood, and you don’t have to wait to come back to yourself. Listen to See Her Outside, stories from women who adventure, wherever you get your podcasts.
