All Figured Out with Andrea Barr: Figuring Out Work, Life and Parenting

🛍️ USE CODE ALLFIGUREDOUT20 TO GET 20% OFF AT marisdae.com

Sam Rayner spent over a decade climbing the corporate marketing ladder — AG Hair, Lululemon, an MBA, a job offer from a massive global conglomerate she turned down on gut instinct alone.

Then life did what life does: both her parents died of cancer within a short window of each other and she went through multiple failed rounds of IVF.

Somewhere along the way, her mom’s words became her mantra — “you need to live life harder”, which led Sam to build Better Basics and now her new brand, Maris Dae, a marine-hydration skincare line built around a proprietary seaweed extract sourced and processed entirely in BC.

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Intro
(03:48) Corporate girly Sam — her marketing career
(05:44) Turning down a massive global job offer on gut instinct alone
(09:37) "My break will be maternity leave" — and when that plan didn't pan out
(13:53) Her mom's dying words: "you need to live life harder"
(15:50) How she was able to have her two kids
(20:03) Losing both parents to cancer — and what that taught her about control
(20:55) Where the idea for Better Basics came from
(25:14) Growing Better Basics for three years
(25:53) "We were basically bleeding cash"
(26:44) Investor pitches, and doing it all in her third trimester
(30:13) Calling it a pause — and selling out in 30 days
(31:54) Teaching product design and brand strategy at SFU
(36:26) The 35 customer interviews that led to Maris Dae
(38:27) Finding a seaweed farmer and building the Maris Element
(44:57) Inside the body wash + body serum
(50:57) What's next: gut-health supplements and a gentler kids' formula
(54:04) Competitors, community, and why she's not trying to own the whole shelf
(58:00) Her advice for living life harder
(1:01:05) Where to find Maris Dae

KEY TAKEAWAY
Closing something isn't the same as failing at it. Sam built Better Basics with everything she had, and when it stopped making sense, she shared with her community, gave herself a deadline and called it a pause instead of an ending. And her fertility journey took some extra love as well. A failure means the book is closed, but a pause means the door stays cracked open ready for a different path life will take.

About Sam Rayner
Samantha Rayner is the Founder and CEO of Maris Dae, a science-backed skin and gut health brand powered by BC sea algae.
After two decades in beauty and wellness brand leadership, she partnered with a biochemist and naturopathic doctor to develop the Maris Element, an exclusive extract of Mazzaella Japonica and bull kelp sourced from Vancouver Island. Maris Dae's debut body care line launched in May 2026 and sold out twice. Rayner is a second-time founder, Business in Vancouver 40 Under 40 honoree, and Techstars alum who previously founded Better Basics and led teams at Saje, lululemon, and AG Care.

Connect with Sam
Website | https://marisdae.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/maris.dae/

About Andrea Barr, host of All Figured Out:
Andrea is a certified career and life coach for parents. Through her coaching, she supports parents in finding better work-life rhythms so they can continue to grow personally and professionally without sacrificing family time.

Connect with Andrea
Website | ⁠https://www.andreabarr.com/⁠
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredoutandrea | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredout.podcast

Listen to All Figured Out
💚 Spotify | https://tinyurl.com/afo-spotify
💜 Apple Podcasts | https://tinyurl.com/afo-apple
🖤YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@allfiguredoutandrea

Courtney Thomas, founder of the Bodhi Effect sits down with Andrea for a vulnerable conversation — the kind we love here at All Figured Out!
Courtney tells the full, unfiltered origin story of The Bodhi Effect: miscarriages, a yoga studio built and run on almost no sleep alongside a full-time corporate job, and a name that came from a goosebump-inducing story.
From there, she and Andrea get into what intuition actually is, how to tell it apart from anxiety and intrusive thoughts, why "I'm just not an intuitive person" doesn't hold up, and why Courtney’s own Oura Ring ended up in the garbage.
Courtney also introduces her new Flow Writing Collection — a journal and oracle card deck built from a practice she's been leading in her community since 2021.

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Intro
(03:45) Vulnerability vs. trauma dumping — how Courtney tells the difference
(06:21) Who Courtney was before The Bodhi Effect
(07:44) Five miscarriages, a busy schedule, and the studio that came out of grief
(09:46) Where the name "Bodhi" actually came from
(12:22) How she knew it was time to close the studio
(20:31) What intuition actually is, in Courtney's own definition
(22:00) Intuition vs. intrusive thoughts and anxiety — how to tell them apart
(24:05) Andrea's own "full body yes" — the moment she decided to start this podcast
(27:34) "How's that working out for you?" — for the people who say they're not intuitive
(29:21) Andrea's Aritzia story: the shame of not having "the data"
(33:28) Why hyper-measurement and hyper-optimization are quietly breaking us
(45:21) Choosing a candle over ice cream — sitting with hard feelings instead of numbing out
(53:26) What flow writing actually is, and the new Flow Writing Collection
(59:43) Making wellness accessible
(1:02:31) Rapid fire questions
(1:06:55) What Courtney is still trying to figure out

KEY TAKEAWAY
Your intuition and your anxiety can feel like the same volume, but they're not the same voice. Intuition comes in fast, calm, and unforced — anxiety negotiates. The more you measure, track, and optimize, the harder that signal gets to hear.

About Courtney Thomas
Based in British Columbia, Courtney Thomas is an intuitive Mindfulness Coach with over ten years of experience. She specializes in guiding individuals back to their highest selves through personalized coaching, transformative workshops, courses, and retreats. Courtney skillfully combines diverse practices to unlock human potential and inspire a renewed sense of purpose. Her mission is for everyone to experience the full, authentic expression of themselves, lighting up the world with their unique presence.

Connect with Courtney Thomas
Get the Flow Deck | https://www.thebodhieffect.com/flowdeck
Website | https://www.thebodhieffect.com/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/thebodhieffect/

About Andrea Barr, host of All Figured Out:
Andrea is a certified career and life coach for parents. Through her coaching, she supports parents in finding better work-life rhythms so they can continue to grow personally and professionally without sacrificing family time.

Connect with Andrea
Website | ⁠https://www.andreabarr.com/⁠
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredoutandrea | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredout.podcast

Listen to All Figured Out
💚 Spotify | https://tinyurl.com/afo-spotify
💜 Apple Podcasts | https://tinyurl.com/afo-apple
🖤YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@allfiguredoutandrea

Ten years ago, while working in leadership development at Aritzia, she hired a speaking coach because — despite getting great feedback — she wrote in her journal that she felt like she'd "lost her voice." That coaching relationship ended without ever quite clicking. It took almost a decade, and 150 episode of doing the actual thing, for the lesson to actually land: the ums, ahs, and pauses she wanted to fix, are the actual things that make her sound human, specially in 2026, when we’re second-guessing every audio, and video is AI-made or human-made. Andrea gets into the full speaking coach story, why paying for something is what really cements the intention, her client’s pottery goal as a case study in “doing the thing”, and the podcast’s own milestone numbers after four years!
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Intro
(01:51) The story starts at Aritzia in front of a room of 100 people
(03:54) Losing confidence and losing my own voice
(04:53) Hiring a speaking coach
(07:14) The TED Talk lessons and why people like to hear humans
(09:17) 150 episodes of practice and finally getting compliments on vocabulary
(10:53) The real lesson: Pay the money, do the thing
(11:35) The strawberry bowl case study
(13:42) Podcast’s milestones: Four years, two kids, top 3% podcast
(16:01) A love letter to my listeners 💜
KEY TAKEAWAY
The investment is what makes the intention real, anyone can write a goal on a piece of paper, but not everyone is willing to put money behind it. You don’t need to have “all figured out” (pun intended), just keep showing up for it, on purpose, every week.
About Andrea Barr, host of All Figured Out:
Andrea is a certified career and life coach for parents. Through her coaching, she supports parents in finding better work-life rhythms so they can continue to grow personally and professionally without sacrificing family time.
Connect with Andrea
Website | ⁠https://www.andreabarr.com/⁠
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredoutandrea | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredout.podcast
Listen to All Figured Out
💚 Spotify | https://tinyurl.com/afo-spotify
💜 Apple Podcasts | https://tinyurl.com/afo-apple
🖤YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@allfiguredoutandrea

This is YAP number two — Andrea's back with her YAP co-host (and childhood pal) Lauren Naderi for round two of the unstructured, “whatever's-actually-on-our-mind” format. This time they gave it some shape: four categories, all starting with F — fun, fashion, feel good, and forensics.
Inside: a TikTok dance so hard Andrea can't get through it in her garage, a Keds mystery nobody will take credit for, the exact line that might change how you get dressed tomorrow, frictionless home organization systems, and the shopping-app scandal they can't stop talking about.
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Intro
(02:21) The four categories: fun, fashion, feeling good, forensics
(04:58) For fun: the Puerto Rico dance trend that's harder than it looks
(08:27) For fun: bringing back magazine subscriptions
(13:59) For fashion: the pull-on pants midsummer check-in (and how to manage the wrinkles)
(17:40) For fashion: the great Keds mystery — and are Keds actually making a comeback?
(24:11) Dolce Vita sale sandals, personal style, and why saving your "good" clothes for later doesn't work
(31:26) Dress for the day you wanna have
(32:14) For feeling good: frictionless home organization and direct storage
(41:06) For forensics: the TikToker who quit breastfeeding — and why neither host thinks she needs to apologize
(48:37) For forensics: the Phia scandal — cookie stuffing, and affiliate fraud
(55:27) What Lauren and Andrea are each figuring out this week

KEY TAKEAWAY
Not everything comes down to having a five-year plan, sometimes all it takes is a frictionless junk drawer, letting go of that “should” that never really made sense, or even wearing the good underwear on a random Tuesday! Dress, organize and show up for the day you actually want to have — not the one you think you're supposed to have.
ABOUT LAUREN NADERI
Lauren Naderi is the All Figured Out resident taste maker! She’s also an interior designer, brand strategist, and multi-passionate entrepreneur based in Toronto. She has a background in advertising and holistic nutrition, went back to corporate after having her daughter, left again, and eventually went all in on interior design. She works with clients on spaces that feel intentional — not just beautiful. She is also, as of this episode, the co-host of our yap format. Mom to an almost-four-year-old. Recently moved her family into a 900 sq ft condo and has zero regrets. Will take five pairs of pants to the tailor in a single trip, and shopping is her true hobby!

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/laurennaderi

About Andrea Barr, host of All Figured Out:
Andrea is a certified career and life coach for parents. Through her coaching, she supports parents in finding better work-life rhythms so they can continue to grow personally and professionally without sacrificing family time.

Connect with Andrea
Website | ⁠https://www.andreabarr.com/⁠
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredoutandrea | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredout.podcast

Listen to All Figured Out
💚 Spotify | https://tinyurl.com/afo-spotify
💜 Apple Podcasts | https://tinyurl.com/afo-apple
🖤YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@allfiguredoutandrea

📣 BOOK A STRATEGY SESSION → https://calendly.com/andreabarrcoaching/strategy-session and step into your power of leadership.
🚨 $50 OFF when you use code: AFO at checkout!

This episode is a follow-up on the FOMO you feel once you become a parent. In this episode Andrea talks about what happens to your visibility once you’re a parent, and what’s in your control when it comes to still being seen, still growing, and not getting passed over.
In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Intro
(02:15) Why working parents lose visibility at work
(03:41) The "yeses" you used to say without thinking — and why they disappear once you're a parent
(04:49) The gendered layer: invisible work, and who gets credit for it
(06:56) Andrea's own example: in the flow, then "back on the clock as mom"
(08:21) Handing over the reins at work — does it need 120%, or is 100% okay?
(09:46) The reframe: stepping into a new era of leadership
(11:17) You're a better professional because you're a parent now
(12:12) Why the best leaders are the least hands-on

KEY TAKEAWAY
Once you became a parent, you became more efficient, more experienced, and better equipped to lead. Step into the leadership you're already living at home, and let it show up at work too.

About Andrea Barr, host of All Figured Out:
Andrea is a certified career and life coach for parents. Through her coaching, she supports parents in finding better work-life rhythms so they can continue to grow personally and professionally without sacrificing family time.

Connect with Andrea
Website | ⁠https://www.andreabarr.com/⁠
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredoutandrea | https://www.instagram.com/allfiguredout.podcast

Listen to All Figured Out
💚 Spotify | https://tinyurl.com/afo-spotify
💜 Apple Podcasts | https://tinyurl.com/afo-apple
🖤YouTube | https://www.youtube.com/@allfiguredoutandrea