The Sage Stage Podcast

Season 2 is here! And after a whole year of The Sage Stage, we've learned a thing or two about what it takes to stop playing small. Here's the thing: you don't have to be completely healed, perfectly confident or free of every insecurity to start living a bigger life. In this episode, we're talking about the lessons we've learned while pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone...

🎂 One year later, we're still here. What the hell?! 😂 A year ago, Chandra Pepper and Jane Watson made a promise to stick with their new podcast for one year. They did it. And now they're celebrating the first birthday of The Sage Stage with a conversation about everything they've learned, everything that's changed, and why they're only just getting started. In this special an...

Wrinkles. Botox. Collagen masks. The mysterious promise of the under-eye stick. And the question of why women are expected to fight aging like it's a personal failure. 😂 This week on The Sage Stage, Chandra and Jane are getting into skincare, anti-aging products, Botox, dermal fillers, beauty standards and the pressure women face to look younger. Jane brings her experience working in the medi...

What if your life didn't turn out wrong? What if it just turned out differently than you expected? Chandra and Jane are building something new in their 50s—and, honestly, it's a lot of work. 😂 As The Sage Stage approaches its first anniversary, they're reflecting on the highs, the frustrations, the self-doubt, the dreams that haven't quite come true, and the uncomfortable reality...

Are we still allowed to feel sexy after 50? And who, exactly, is making these rules anyway? 😂 Episode 54 starts with Chandra wondering whether she can wear a wedding dress for her second wedding at 57. Then Jane puts on a blazer and realizes she's been quietly asking herself a completely different version of the same question: Am I still worthy of being that woman? And suddenly we're talk...

What if some of the things we say about ourselves are actually keeping us small? This week on The Sage Stage, we're catching ourselves in the act. “I don't know what I'm doing.” “I can't do it.” “I'm in so much pain.” “No, no, I've got it.” Sound familiar? We talk about overcommitting, learning when to say no, getting older and having less capacity for chaos, decision fatig...

Okay… this episode went places. We started by talking about sex, menopause and why apparently the ideal time for sex after 50 is no longer necessarily “whenever.” Then we talked about childhood, trauma, therapy, energy work, soul retrieval, marriage, aging, hobbies, creativity, clothing, double standards, restaurant etiquette… …and somehow ended up having The Great Hat Debate of 2026. 😂 But under...

The Weekly Win: Don't Should All Over Me! 😂 Sometimes your Weekly Win is surviving a three-day rave. Sometimes it's starting a creative project before the last possible second. And sometimes it's realizing that the things that used to completely derail you... don't anymore. This week on The Sage Stage Weekly Win , we're talking about healthy habits, procrastination, creativity...

We have a guest!!! 🎉 The Sage Stage has officially entered the big leagues. 😂 And our very first guest is Sarah Kinlin — professional speaker, author, leadership nerd, mom, and someone who knows a thing or two about making a massive career pivot. Sarah spent years climbing the corporate ladder until she reached the point where she realized… She didn't actually want to be at the top. So she d...

We had our FIRST GUEST on The Sage Stage! 🎉 And naturally, two days before recording, Jane sent Chandra a message saying, "I don't think we should do this. I don't think we're ready." Sound familiar? Apparently, this is becoming a tradition. Every time The Sage Stage reaches a major milestone, one of us gets nervous and announces that we're absolutely, positively NOT REA...

How much of your life did you spend being “nice” when what you really needed was a fucking boundary? This week, we’re talking about the boundaries we wish we'd set years earlier — and the uncomfortable realization that sometimes “nurturing” can turn into letting people take advantage of you. We talk people-pleasing, self-worth, learning to walk away, rage bait, being called toxic for protectin...

The Weekly Win: We're Becoming More Better Grown Ups 😂 What counts as a win? Throwing an epic surprise 60th birthday party without putting the whole thing on a credit card? WIN. Hosting a dinner party without going into panic stations? WIN. Sending your grown child off on a four-month adventure in Europe and resisting the urge to completely lose your shit when his flight gets diverted? HUGE W...

Okay, maybe not dangerous dangerous. But we're definitely getting to the age where we're less interested in pleasing everyone, explaining ourselves, or pretending we're okay with things we're absolutely not okay with. In this episode, Chandra and Jane talk about friendship in midlife, why maintaining relationships takes actual effort these days, the joys and horrors of birth contro...

The Weekly Win: Debt Paid Off, HRT & Saying YES to the Life You Want. Sometimes a Weekly Win is tiny. And sometimes it's PAYING OFF A CREDIT CARD YOU'VE CARRIED A BALANCE ON FOR YEARS. This week on The Sage Stage, we're celebrating some BIG little wins. Chandra finally paid off a huge chunk of her credit card debt after years of carrying a balance—because a trip with her daughters...

Something feels different about this episode. Maybe it's because we didn't really have a plan. Maybe that's the point. Episode 47 starts with a 3 a.m. fire alarm and somehow winds its way through menopause, laundry, grocery shopping, chocolate, wine, mind reading, travel, perfect health, being judgy, gummies, bass players and dancing. Yep. We went there. 😂 This is one of those convers...

What if being a good host didn't mean exhausting yourself trying to make everything perfect? This week on The Sage Stage Weekly Win, we're talking about letting go of the perfect hostess , learning to stop "polishing the cat," and realizing that sometimes the best way to welcome people into your home is simply to let them become part of your real life. Jane is hosting family from...

What happens when you stop fighting your feelings and actually get curious about them? No, really we want to know! Jane is back from a spiritual retreat in the south of France—and she has stories. Ancient sacred sites. Meditation. Baptism. Cliff jumping. Energy work. Rage. Tears. Laughter. And, of course, a few completely unexpected detours. 😂 But underneath all the stories, something much deeper...

The Weekly Win: The Needle Is Moving! Sometimes your Weekly Win is a huge breakthrough. Sometimes it's finding a venue for your first workshop. Sometimes it's moving an entire apartment's worth of furniture up three flights of stairs. And sometimes... your adult child actually LOVES the gift you guessed they'd like. 😂 This week on The Sage Stage Weekly Win , we're celebrating...

We started talking about eyebrows. Then we talked about makeup. Then feminism happened. Then childhood programming. Then Barbie dolls got violent. So… basically, another day at The Sage Stage. 😂 In Episode 45, Chandra and Jane explore the things we learn as girls that can quietly follow us into adulthood—from how we're expected to look and behave to why so many women struggle to ask for help,...

Why is it that the tasks we procrastinate on for months only take 90 minutes once we finally do them? This week, Jane celebrates conquering two dreaded admin tasks that had been sitting on her to-do list for six months, while Chandra shares a huge milestone for The Sage Stage —one of our social media videos unexpectedly reached over 160,000 views! From paperwork and procrastination to celebrating...

This week on The Sage Stage , what starts as a hilarious conversation about body counts (the other kind! 😂), thrift stores, and expensive jeans quickly turns into something much deeper. Somewhere between the laughter, Chandra and Jane find themselves asking a surprisingly vulnerable question: What if we're afraid to slow down because we believe we'll accomplish... nothing? Together they u...

The Weekly Win: One Year Later | The Pivot Year, Starting a Podcast & Trusting the Process One year ago, we opened The Pivot Year and read Day One together. This week, we're reading Day 365 ... and realizing just how much can change when you keep showing up, even when the progress feels invisible. In this heartfelt Weekly Win, we reflect on the first year of The Sage Stage Podcast , the le...

What if the thing you thought would make you happy… never actually did? In this episode of The Sage Stage, Chandra and Jane dive into a powerful question: “I finally realized happiness wasn’t…” And the answers surprised us. From trying to make everyone else happy, chasing the perfect life, dreaming about success, navigating motherhood, career sacrifices, money, independence, and the pressure women...

How many years have you spent trying to be enough? In this episode of The Sage Stage , Chandra and Jane dive into one of the biggest questions of midlife: What happens when we stop chasing everyone else's definition of success and finally start listening to ourselves? Jane shares the emotional decision to step back from pursuing acting after years of auditions and rejection, while Chandra refl...

A car gets hit. A stranger changes a life. A conversation about intuition turns into a deep dive about angels, spirituality, past lives, and learning to trust yourself. In this episode of The Sage Stage, Chandra and Jane explore what happens when we stop living in fear, stop waiting for proof, and start listening to that little voice inside that says, “Pay attention.” From unexpected kindness and...