Ep 114: Fierce Love, Grief and Showing Up Anyway with Tricia Creason-Valencia

I’m honored to share this special Mother’s Day episode with my friend Tricia Creason-Valencia, recorded live in the UnMuted Studio at PowerHouse, the creative event space Tricia co-founded in San Jose.

Tricia and I first came into each other's lives while collaborating on the Autism Storytelling Project. Then, she said yes to spending a full day together for a new offering I was piloting called Spark Your EPIC Life in a Day. On a Milestone Hike, during lunch and then coaching in my garden afterwards, Tricia reflected on what she was grieving in the aftermath of Covid, made commitments to herself that could pave a way forward, and named out loud big dreams to become a speaker and find a creative room of her own to pursue her artistic expression.

Her bio today blends the powerful pieces of her past with the dreams she has now realized. She is an Emmy-nominated director, producer, and motivational speaker whose documentary films have won multiple awards and screened at film festivals and on public television nationally. She holds an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State and a BA in Social Sciences from UC Berkeley, and has taught filmmaking at Santa Clara University, UC Santa Cruz, San Francisco State, and high schools. She co-founded PowerHouse, a podcast and media production studio and event space for women+ creatives in San Jose. And she is the 2026 Creative Ambassador for the City of San José, currently producing a city-wide multimedia project called "I am/We Are: Our Stories Connect Us." 

As a loving daughter and the mother of two children who came to her through adoption, she has lived through some of the hardest chapters that mothering and caregiving can bring. The day we recorded, Tricia almost canceled. She was carrying a profound anticipatory grief because her mother, Barbara, who had dementia, was in hospice. But we decided together to show up anyway and be with whatever came into the room.

Her mom has since passed away, and in a voice note she sent me recently, Tricia said of our coming together that it was "A testimony to all the things that we have on our hearts and on our minds as mamas who are being pulled by our babies and our families and our mothers, and yet we show up, and we stay in conversation with each other. If this podcast is a testimony to staying in it, then I am proud of us."

I am proud of us too. When we recorded the conversation, I had been going through some hard things in my own parenting journey that were asking the same of me. And what Tricia shared in this conversation gave me language and perspectives I needed that day... radical acceptance, slow hope, and fierce love. That last one she traces all the way back to her mom, and it's woven through everything she does.

Topics Discussed in this Episode:

• The full circle moment of recording inside Powerhouse, the "room of her own" Tricia first named in her Spark Your EPIC Life day before the space even existed

• Navigating motherhood when your children's reality doesn't match the one you imagined

• Radical acceptance as the practice of stopping the push against what is, without saying it's okay

• Slow hope, borrowed from the climate movement, and the friends who text you to point out how far you've come

• The concept of "other mothering" and how it shows up in Tricia's teaching and community work

• Using art as a tool for mental health  for yourself and for others

• What it took to invest in PowerHouse, and why she stopped saying "paid fairly" and started saying "paid abundantly"

• Her son calling her a visionary, and what it meant to be seen by him after everything

• The fierce love Tricia inherited from her mother Barbara, the three different ways Barbara responded to "I love you, Mom" in her final weeks, and the truth that we come from love

This Episode is Dedicated by April Adams Pertuis

April Adams Pertuis helps leaders and entrepreneurs turn their Story into a strategic advantage—driving deeper connection, stronger relationships, and greater visibility.

As the Founder and CEO of LIGHTbeamers, April is a storytelling and visibility expert who equips audiences with the tools to communicate with clarity, build engaged communities, and create meaningful opportunities. Through her keynotes, she shows leaders how to move beyond simply delivering a message—and instead use their voice to influence, connect, and lead at a higher level.

A former television journalist and producer, April has evolved into a sought-after thought leader in visibility and women’s leadership. She has helped thousands of women build brand authority through strategic speaking, podcasting, and publishing—turning their stories into platforms for growth and impact.

Her work is grounded in a powerful belief: everybody has a story—and when it’s shared with intention, it becomes a force for connection, influence, and opportunity.

Free download on learning to tell your story: Your Story Formula  www.lightbeamers.com/formula

About Tricia Creason-Valencia 

Tricia Creason-Valencia is a dynamic force in the world of filmmaking, education & community building. Through the art of storytelling, Tricia weaves her own raw narrative of mothering, making movies, resilience and rediscovery. She believes, deep in her soul, that truth-telling fosters empathy and connection, serving as a catalyst for social change.

As an Emmy-Nominated Director/Producer, Motivational Speaker and Co-Founder of PowerHouse, a creative workspace for women+ entrepreneurs, Tricia pioneers the way for women, people of color and youth to amplify their voices and claim their power through creative expression. Tricia’s films have won numerous awards - including “Best Documentary” for Stable Life at the prestigious Cinequest Film Festival - and have inspired dialogue and action through screenings at film festivals and on public television nationally.

Tricia has taught Digital Filmmaking and Film Studies at Santa Clara University, U.C. Santa Cruz, San Francisco State University and with grassroots community organizations. She is a passionate mentor to the next generation of storytellers. She holds a BA in Social Science from U.C. Berkeley and earned her MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University.

With over 20 years of experience in mothering and media production, she intertwines personal growth with professional success and has evolved from an optimistic, young adoptive mama & filmmaker to a seasoned advocate, motivational speaker and media producer who finds meaning in the chaos of creation.

Connect with Tricia Creason-Valencia

• Instagram | www.instagram.com/flacafilms

• Website | www.tricia-speaks.com

• PowerHouse Website | powerhouse-sj.com

• LinkedIn | www.linkedin.com/in/flacafilms

 

This Episode’s Challenge:

Go on a quest to cultivate joy. Start by simply noticing — when do you feel content, connected, open? Once you can see where joy shows up, you can begin to intentionally create more of it. It doesn't have to be loud. It can be saying it out loud in the moment, taking a photo, making something, or telling the people you're with: I'm really happy to be here. Joy and grief coexist. Joy is the fuel that keeps us going through the hard stuff.

Related Episodes: 

• Signal Award-winning Ep 102: Milestone Hike Revisited: A Mother Son Neurodiversity Journey recorded at PowerHouse

Resources Mentioned: 

• Parenting Outside the Lines: Forget the Rules, Tap into Your Wisdom, and Connect with Your Child by Meghan Leahy

• Spark Your E.P.I.C. Life Coaching Series and other coaching offerings at julielneale.com. Schedule a discovery call with Julie here to explore more

• Autism Storytelling Project | www.autismstorytellingproject.com
  
  

Mom’s First American Motherhood Documentary Screening in S.F. Bay Area

This summer, the organization Mom's First will release a groundbreaking documentary about American Motherhood, with screenings across the country. Mother’s Quest will  co-host a screening here in the San Francisco Bay Area, alongside Heather Anderson from The Mamahood and with Tricia Creason-Valencia of PowerHouse San Jose. I'll also be recording a podcast conversation with Mom's First founder Reshma Saujani, releasing the episode ahead of the screening. Stay tuned for all of these good things, and follow this link to sign up for the details. 

Mother’s Quest is a podcast for moms who are ready to live a truly E.P.I.C. life.

Join in for intimate conversations with a diverse group of inspiring mothers as they share how they are living an E.P.I.C. life, Engaging mindfully with their children (E), Passionately and Purposefully making a difference beyond their family (P), Investing in themselves (I), and Connecting to a strong support network (C).

In celebration of passing our 100th episode, we invite you to help us spread the word by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Help us reach 100 + reviews to honor 100 + episodes of the Mother’s Quest Podcast!

You can also support the podcast by making a contribution. Join our community of mothers to light the way and sustain you on your quest at www.facebook.com/groups/mothersquest