What happens when you're a Five and a mom?

This week’s episode is a special podcast takeover by Enneagram experts Sam E. Greenberg, PhD and Melissa Kircher—both Fives and both moms. They swap stories, laugh about their quirks, and get painfully honest about the challenges and strengths of navigating motherhood as a Five. Whether you’re a Five parent yourself or trying to understand one, this conversation pulls back the curtain on what it’s really like to raise kids as a deeply introspective, energy-conscious, intellectually driven Five.

IN THIS EPISODE:

🔹 Default Parent Syndrome – Why being a Five mom often means being the default parent—and how that impacts your energy, identity, and sanity.
🔹 Sensory Overload & Rage – The lesser-known side of Fives: what happens when you can’t escape and everything’s too much.
🔹 Guilt, Shame, and Nontraditional Roles – From not cooking to setting hard boundaries, the tension between how we parent and how we think we “should.”
🔹 What Fives Bring to the Table – The gifts of deep listening, strong memories, curiosity, and the refusal to parent based on trends.
🔹 Partner Dynamics – Navigating life with assertive kids and extroverted spouses, and learning to advocate for your needs.
🔹 Community & Complexity – Why finding parenting community can be hard for Fives—and why it’s still worth it.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

🌀 Sam’s work: https://enneagramsexpert.com/
🌱 Melissa’s coaching: https://enneagrampaths.com/
📩 Join the weekly newsletter: https://enneagramfive.com/newsletter
💬 Join the community: https://enneagramfive.com/community
🗒 Full transcript and show notes: https://enneagramfive.com/49

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

📢 Are you a Five mom, or parenting with one? What parts of this conversation resonated with you? Come share your thoughts in the community!

The Newsletter Built for Fives

🔹 Get weekly insights tailored for your overactive mind.
🔹 Practical strategies to stop overthinking and start engaging.
🔹 Growth, connection, and energy management—without the fluff.

👉 Sign up free at enneagramfive.com/newsletter.

***

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE:

➡️ #27: Subtypes

***

CONNECT:

📷 Connect on Instagram
🧵 Connect on Threads
💼 Connect on LinkedIn
📹 Subscribe on YouTube

***

SAY THANKS:

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

Some rabbit holes are deeper than others, and as Fives we often fall in headfirst.

In this episode, we explore the obsessive way Fives pursue information: how it starts, what fuels it, and what happens when it spirals out of control. We share personal stories of late-night research binges, conspiracy rabbit holes, and the paradox of being both empowered and paralyzed by too much knowledge. We also look at what pulls us out—how connection, embodiment, and purpose help break the loop.

IN THIS EPISODE:

🔹 Obsession as a Coping Mechanism – How fear, curiosity, or meaning-seeking can launch Fives into obsessive research.
🔹 Personal Rabbit Holes – From sharks and UFOs to ancient civilizations and gorilla sexuality, we share some of our most intense information obsessions.
🔹 Productivity vs. Paralysis – When does research become a tool for action—and when is it just a distraction?
🔹 The Cost of Obsession – How our informational fixations can isolate us, disrupt relationships, and interfere with real life.
🔹 Recovery Tactics – What helps us stop the spiral: embodiment, social anchors, and learning to trust gut feelings.
🔹 Using Our Powers for Good – The surprising ways our research has helped others and even landed us jobs.
🔹 Knowing When to Stop – Why learning to pause is just as important as learning to dig deep.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

📩 Join the weekly newsletter: enneagramfive.com/newsletter
💬 Join the community: enneagramfive.com/community
🗒️ Full transcript and show notes: enneagramfive.com/48

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

📢 What’s your favorite informational rabbit hole you’ve gone down? Did it help or hurt? Share your story in the community!

The Newsletter Built for Fives

🔹 Get weekly insights tailored for your overactive mind.
🔹 Practical strategies to stop overthinking and start engaging.
🔹 Growth, connection, and energy management—without the fluff.

👉 Sign up free at enneagramfive.com/newsletter.

***

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE:

➡️ #27: Subtypes

***

CONNECT:

📷 Connect on Instagram
🧵 Connect on Threads
💼 Connect on LinkedIn
📹 Subscribe on YouTube

***

SAY THANKS:

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify

We Fives often pride ourselves on intellect, but emotional intelligence is a whole different skill set.

In this episode, Sam E. Greenberg, PhD. joins us to explore what emotional intelligence actually means, why it's challenging for Fives, and how our relationships have pushed us to grow. We share real-life stories about misreading emotions, struggling to stay in our bodies, and the surprising benefits we've discovered from learning to feel more deeply.

We also dig into the shadow side of emotional intelligence, the ways different types approach emotions, and practical advice for Fives who want to build this vital skill.

IN THIS EPISODE:

🔹 Defining Emotional Intelligence – What it really means and why it's not just about understanding feelings intellectually.
🔹 Relationships as Teachers – How close relationships with Fours, Twos, and Sixes have accelerated our emotional growth (sometimes painfully).
🔹 Emotional Blind Spots – Real stories about misreading cues, confusing neutrality with happiness, and accidentally sending the wrong signals.
🔹 Building Emotional Intelligence – Why somatic work, creativity, and tolerating discomfort are critical for Fives—and what’s helped us the most.
🔹 Emotional Manipulation – How emotionally intelligent people can sometimes use their skills for manipulation, and how to spot it.
🔹 Moving from Intellectualizing to Feeling – Why staying in our bodies instead of our heads opens a deeper, richer emotional world.

LINKS & RESOURCES:

📩 Join the weekly newsletter: enneagramfive.com/newsletter
💬 Join the community: enneagramfive.com/community
🗒️ Full transcript and show notes: enneagramfive.com/47

JOIN THE CONVERSATION:

📢 How has emotional intelligence shown up in your life as a Five? Have you found ways to grow it? Share your stories in the community!

The Newsletter Built for Fives

🔹 Get weekly insights tailored for your overactive mind.
🔹 Practical strategies to stop overthinking and start engaging.
🔹 Growth, connection, and energy management—without the fluff.

👉 Sign up free at enneagramfive.com/newsletter.

***

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE:

➡️ #27: Subtypes

***

CONNECT:

📷 Connect on Instagram
🧵 Connect on Threads
💼 Connect on LinkedIn
📹 Subscribe on YouTube

***

SAY THANKS:

💜 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
🟢 Leave a rating on Spotify