The Motherly Podcast

15 Oct 2026 09:00

"It Almost Destroyed Me": Actress, Daniella Monet Gets Honest About Her First Year of Motherhood

Victorious star Daniella Monet always planned to have six kids. Then her first was born, and motherhood felt bigger, darker, and lonelier than she ever imagined.

Daniella opens up to host Liz Tenety about postpartum anxiety, an emergency C-section after planning an unmedicated birth, the unexpected challenges of breastfeeding, and a second pregnancy just six months after her first, in the middle of a pandemic.

Now she's reprising Trina Vega and executive producing Hollywood Arts, out this October on Netflix. They talk about why she'd rather her kids watch scripted TV than fall down the YouTube rabbit hole, how she teaches them to listen to their bodies (Oreos included), and why "balance" doesn't exist for working moms.

In this episode:

00:00 Intro

02:17 The biggest lie about becoming a mom

03:19 Postpartum anxiety, breastfeeding, and feeling tethered

13:30 From child actor to Trina Vega

21:48 Hollywood Arts

24:07 90s nostalgia and the screen-time struggle

31:03 Teaching kids to listen to their bodies

42:12 Presence over balance, letting go of guilt, and her marriage

45:57 Rapid fire

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