2.28 Dana Robb and Carolina Allen discuss the Model of Powerful Impact with Karen Ashton

Currents: the Big Ocean Women Podcast

Dana Robb and Carolina Allen discuss the Model of Powerful Impact with Karen Ashton.

“I really have a perspective that maybe a lot of people don’t have, and the longer I live, the more I understand how rich our life is when we take care of that which is most important, which is our relationships within our very own families.” - Karen Ashton

“It is so difficult for us to make the changes that [coming into motherhood] requires that sometimes we can be a little bit resentful over that kind of sacrifice. I think it’s an honest thing to openly say that. Because suddenly your life is not your own. Your body is not your own, and that’s a significant thing, and someone else is depending on you totally and absolutely for their nourishment and for every blessing that they can have. So you really need the perspective that comes from somebody really old, the old woman in the tribe, the one that’s sitting in her tent far away all by herself. She might have something really wonderful to tell you, mostly what I think she would tell you is, ‘Give some time, take some time to look at what you are really doing, and value it, because it is so glorious and so beautiful to welcome the soul, a soul from God into your home, and to watch the unfolding of a human soul is really a remarkable experience.’” - Karen Ashton

“I try to tell young women that this change from being a single woman to a kind of shared intimacy in marriage and then this shared intimacy with a child is a sacred and a holy thing. It might feel oppressive to you, but it’s such a blessing in the end.” - Karen Ashton

“I decided every morning when I got up, and you do have to decide, that I was going to love someone that day. And I think when we express our love openly to our children, it gives them wings.” - Karen Ashton

“Don’t ever give out participation awards for your children, because they know what participation awards are. What they want is for you to have noticed something beautiful and unique about them.” - Karen Ashton

“As mothers, we need to know how influential we are, and that maybe there’s somebody at home who needs to know that we are cheering for them. It’s such a powerful position to be in life, and you will give them the wings that they will carry with them, and use all of their life.” - Karen Ashton

“There have been many moments where I have healed myself by being generous to my children.” - Carolina Allen

“What is it that you would have wished someone had done for you as a child? Make sure it doesn’t go undone for your children.” - Karen Ashton

“When we talk about creating a home, it really has nothing to do with the sofas or the furniture we put in our house. A home is this feeling of safety some place, or encouragement, or praise.” - Karen Ashton

“Love is an amazing thing. The more you express it, the more you give it away, the more it grows inside the walls of your own home.” - Karen Ashton

“You’re a wise woman if you know what replenishes you yourself, what gives you back, but you’ve got to be so careful, because if you spend so much time with your friends away from home, you’re going to start feeling worse, not better.” - Karen Ashton

“We need to trust that giving up something doesn’t mean letting go, but it’s actually opening the door for something different that might even be better than what we’re currently experiencing.” - Dana Robb

“It is your intentional development of an atmosphere, that’s what a home is.” - Karen Ashton

“The little child who can call out, “Mom!” and she answers, is the richest kid on the block.” - Karen Ashton

https://www.youtube.com/@MakingHomeWithGrammie

Instagram: makinghomewithgrammie

Books by Karen Ashton:

The Christmas That Changed Everything

Growin’ Christmas

Eat Flies!

Karen Ashton was born and raised in Salt Lake City. She met her future husband, Alan, on a blind date and they were married on March 15, 1968, in the Salt Lake City Temple. Karen is the mother of 11 children and the proud grandmother of 60 grandchildren. In 1997, Karen was awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Utah Valley State College. In 1998, she was recognized with Alan by the BYU Marriott School of Management as Utahns of the Year and, in 2012, they were recognized by the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce as the Pillars of the Valley. Karen has also received the Senator Arthur B. Watkins Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cultural Arts. Karen has spent many hours serving her community and church. In 1990, Karen accepted the challenge from the Orem City Council to raise funds to build a children’s library. To help accomplish this goal, she established the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. This fundraiser made it possible for the Friends of the Orem Public Library to achieve their goal, and the children’s library was successfully completed in 1995. The Timpanogos Storytelling Festival continues to be a successful annual fund raiser. It provides additional books, a storytelling theater, and many other educational resources for children throughout the Utah County area.

In 1995, Karen and Alan founded Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah as an expression of gratitude for all that they had received through the years with WordPerfect, the company that Alan co-founded.

Despite her busy agenda, Karen makes sure that her husband and their children come first. According to Karen, family is her most important asset. Karen also enjoys quilting, knitting, photography, and working on her family history.

Whenever presented with the opportunity for adventure, Dana Robb is all in. Currently, this includes riding the local mountain biking trails with her husband, canyoneering, and climbing the hills of southern Utah. She loves to learn and explore with her six kids. She is drawn to the opportunities being involved with Big Ocean Women provides. Dana loves connecting to a global sisterhood where women’s issues are being addressed through reframing and an abundance mindset.

Carolina Allen is the founder and leader of Big Ocean Women, the international maternal feminist organization representing perspectives of faith, family, and motherhood throughout civil society. Carolina holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Utah with an emphasis in cultural religions and philosophy of science. Her inspirational and philosophical work has been presented at various international U.N. conferences. She is a native of Brazil, and a fluent trilingual. She and her husband Kawika are parents to 7 children. She is an avid soccer fan and had a brief career as a semi-professional player.