Carrying the Family: The Burden & Blessing of Daughtering with Dr. Allison Alford

Mar 17, 2026

Today, I’m joined by communication scholar and Baylor professor Dr. Allison Alford to shine a light on a topic that speaks directly to the heart of so many women—the often unseen work of “daughtering.” If you’re the steady anchor of your family, the go-to for remembering birthdays, managing sibling dynamics, and smoothing over tensions before anyone else even notices, this conversation is for you!

Dr. Alford is the author of Good Daughtering and brings wisdom, empathy, and refreshing clarity to the subtle yet significant roles that many professional women carry as adult daughters, and the interplay of obligation and autonomy, devotion and depletion. She offers practical strategies to lighten your load, reclaim your agency, and reshape your definition of what it means to be “enough.” You’ll discover why recognizing your "daughtering" labor is both liberating and essential.

This conversation offers a fresh perspective on modeling daughtering, so tune in for inspiration to purposely create a life with a more sustainable, joyful balance!

Show Highlights:

• What does “daughtering” mean? [05:06]
• The doing, thinking, feeling, and being work of daughters. [06:34]
• Acknowledging the blessing/burden duality of daughtering. [11:45]
• Is it love or duty that motivates daughtering work? [13:04]
• Identifying hedonic vs. eudaimonic happiness. [13:39]
• How daughtering can shift to overfunctioning and resentment. [16:21]
• Research findings on daughter and son roles in family care. [19:36]
• Redefining “enough” and embracing being a B+ daughter. [23:18]
• How to practice microdosing daughtering and agency. [26:01]
• Self-care as daughters and modeling it for the next generation. [28:44]
• Dr. Alford’s book and where to find her work or contact her. [31:46]

Connect with Allison Alford here: https://www.instagram.com/daughtering101/?hl=en

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