“Our kids need us to do better than the average parent”

Aussie mums Kate Jones and Mandy Hose have turned their adorable families into a podcasting sensation that’s spreading friendship, acceptance and laughter around the world.

- SUE SMETHURST

Best friends Kate Jones and Mandy Hose crossed their fingers, took a deep breath, and did what comes naturally – they poured their hearts out. It was 2019 and the self-described “mediocre mums” boldly took to the airwaves from a humble studio set-up in Kate’s den, chatting, laughing, and at times crying over the vagaries of daily life experienced by families with additional needs kids. It was their first podcast.

“We know you’re only listening because you know us,” Kate joked at the time. “But soon we’ll be huge.” Little did she know. The pilot episode was cathartic for the mums who’d both endured a roller-coaster ride since the premature arrival of their respective twins in 2005, but neither imagined the vein they’d tap into, sharing their emotional and at times blisteringly funny tales of everyday life parenting their “amazing” kids.

Today, more than 1.5 million listeners regularly download their Too Peas in a Podcast, with a fan club spreading to every corner of the globe.

“We hoped we’d appeal to our community because no one ever really speaks about families likes ours,” Mandy says. “But we’ve ended up tapping into a much bigger world.”

In fact, such has been the success of their podcast that in 2020, pre-COVID, they staged a sell-out live show, and now Mandy and Kate have taken their story from podcast to page with the book The Invisible Life of Us.