Grace and Frankie star June Diane Raphael talks life lessons from Jane Fonda, women in politics and self-care

June Diane Raphael has been extremely busy lately. The Grace & Frankie star, who appears in The High Note with Tracee Ellis Ross and Dakota Johnson, is also the co-host of the podcast How Did This Get Made, founder of The Jane Club, a co-working collective for women based in LA and author of Represent: The Woman's Guide to Running for Office and Changing the World. Who else is tired just reading that?

At the moment, she's spending time with her two young sons with husband Paul Scheer as well as transforming The Jane Club into a robust digital community, The Connected Jane, during social distancing.

She's clearly still working quite a bit, which she admits has made her quite deficient when it comes to self-care.

"Let that be the headline. I've appreciated this giant slow down and yet I'm also really stressed between the kids and devoting three or four hours a day to email and just finding time to workout or put makeup on. One of the things I've been trying to do that's more mental is just really accept this is the best I can do right now and not put more pressure on myself to be another way. That's been really helpful," she told Insider.

She recently talked about how women are attempting to do self-care during this difficult time in a recent conversation with fellow actress and activist Franchesca Ramsey as part of Bumble's In Conversation series.

"It was so great to hear her perspective on self-care and what we're both doing for mental health. I've really been aware of how much care I'm giving to my children, not having any professional caretakers in my home, and how this time is disproportionately affecting women. It was a great conversation," she told Insider. "This time is moving so slowly and also so quickly. We were both in a different place in quarantine. It was such a wonderful conversation and we talked a lot about the lessons of quarantine and what a privilege it is to be able to shelter in place and to be comfortable and financially secure enough that you can."

Supporting women has been a passion of Raphael's for years and was the driving idea behind The Jane Club.

She was struggling with the juxtaposition of the same time period being women's primary earning years as well as their primary years to bear children after she had her second son and went back to work. The concept was providing a "space for you to come and enrich and relax and do whatever you need to do because we understand that mothering and parenting and caretaking are completely undervalued in this country. We are seeing this now more than ever through the crisis."

Challenging the status quo is something very familiar to Raphael as her coworker is someone who does it all the time. Jane Fonda, who plays her mother on Grace & Frankie, has made getting arrested for protests a weekly event.

Raphael participated in a protest last fall calling for the end of fossil fuel exploration and extraction and was arrested as well.

"The biggest thing that she's really taught me about is how much strength there is in vulnerability and how she is a perpetual student. An eternal student. There's no ego in wanting to learn more and wanting to do better and striving at any age. I've learned so much from watching her work and having her be a dear friend. It's been incredible to be able to witness her and all that she is. It truly seems like how I want to approach my life," Raphael told Insider.

The Jane Club has now pivoted to a fully digital experience, The Connected Jane, which though time-consuming has been rewarding. "I have been working non-stop on that transition and building that community. It's been a lifesaver because I've had this community to check in with, work out with and meditate with. I'm not just the founder, I'm also a customer. As much work as it's been I've gotten so much out of it."

And on top of all that, she found time to write a book. And this wasn't light reading but rather a guide to helping women get into politics. After the 2016 election, she was struggling and even considered leaving entertainment and The Jane Club to get into politics.

She started doing research on how to run for office and found there wasn't a concise guide for basic questions about the process. "It seemed like there was something intentional about that," she said. That research turned into Represent: The Woman's Guide to Running for Office and Changing the World with co-author Kate Black, an advisor and activist. It's essentially a checklist to help women break down the barriers to get into office.