Women in the Middle®: Loving Life After 50 - Midlife Coach Podcast

Today we're talking about why our sibling relationships might be the longest and least understood relationships of our lives and why that's so important. My guest today is Catherine Carr, an award-winning documentary maker, presenter, and podcast producer with over twenty years in audio, including work for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service through her own company, Pocket Productions. She's the mid...

You can, but do you want to? Women over 50 are often incredibly capable. You know how to handle things, solve problems, take care of people and get stuff done. But after decades of being the woman who can , it's easy to stop asking a completely different question: "Do I actually still want to?" In this episode, we explore the difference between capability and desire and also why something doesn't...

Today's guest did something unexpected when she chose to leave her judgeship and follow a new direction in poetry. Her name is Jacqueline St. Joan. Jackie is a retired lawyer, judge, and law professor, as well as an early feminist activist, community organizer, memoirist and novelist whose path to the bench was anything but planned. She started her career as a secretary, went to law school at 28 a...

Being intentional about the kind of daughter you want to be with your aging parents is important. While we're busy noticing our own aging, our parents are aging too, and that realization tends to sneak up on us.  This episode moves past the logistics of caregiving (appointments, prescriptions, forms) and into the relationship underneath it. We need to ask ourselves an important question and it's n...

In this episode, you'll learn from Fredrik Härén, "The Creativity Explorer," a Swedish creativity expert who has spent 25 years traveling to 75 countries interviewing people to learn as much as he can about human creativity. Fredrik is the author of ten books, including "The Idea Book," which was included in "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time," and he has been invited to speak more than 2000...

Are you really older and wiser? Research suggests that wisdom doesn't automatically increase just because we get older. Age gives us experience, but experience and wisdom aren't the same thing. Wisdom grows when we pay attention to our experiences, reflect on what they're showing us, and allow what we learn to influence how we understand, trust, and lead ourselves. And this matters so much in midl...

Today we're talking to a guest who helps professionals with personal alcohol concerns create a new relationship with alcohol withalcohol moderation coaching as an alternative to abstinence-only treatment. My guest today is Michele D. Perron. Michelle was originally a guest on  Ep 134  of my sister podcast, the Women in the Middle Entrepreneurs, which is about the reality of running your business a...

For decades, I told myself I was creative. But not  really  creative. I could do lettering and calligraphy. But I couldn't draw or paint. So being creative became something I did on the side of my life instead of something I let myself really own. In this episode, I'm tracing that belief all the way back through a bathroom valance I made just because I wanted to, a plain Ikea table turned into a c...

My guest, Katie Beecher, MS, LPC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Medical and Emotional Intuitive with over thirty-five years of experience. She blends clinical training with intuitive readings to help clients get to the root of what's really going on in their lives, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Katie is featured in over 200 media outlets including Goop, Kourtney Kardashian's...

Nine years ago, Suzy hit record on the very first episode of Women in the Middle. She began the show sitting in a cold cedar closet surrounded by clothes from the 90s and had no idea what she was actually starting. You'll hear a real, behind the scenes look back that includes what it takes to create over 468 episodes. You'll also hear about what nine years of showing up every single week actually...

If you or someone you love has ever faced a cancer diagnosis, you know how overwhelming it can feel to try to understand your options, organize your care, and advocate for yourself while everything in your life is upended. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, an oncologist with over 25 years of experience treating women with breast and gynecological cancers, including time...

Someone booked a Next Chapter Direction Session recently, and told me, like so many women do, that she just needed clarity to finally feel better. I sent her a voice note before we even talked, because I wanted her to hear something first: What if you're right on track? And what if this, before the clarity, before the answer, could be a joyful part of your journey? That question is the heart of th...

It's my birthday month and I'm turning 63. And instead of dreading it, I'm genuinely grateful for it. In this episode, I'm sharing three gifts of getting older that don't get talked about enough. I don't mean the greeting card version; I'm talking about the real ones. The kind you can only notice when you've actually lived long enough to see them. If you're a woman in your 50s or 60s who's startin...

Today's episode is about midlife shifts and ultimately saying goodbye an animal rescue in midlife. My guest is Amy Castro. Amy is a professional speaker, communication expert, and proud U.S. Air Force veteran who served during the Gulf War. For more than 25 years, she's helped people communicate with confidence, set healthy boundaries, and speak up without backing down. But her most powerful reinv...

You don't need a reason to want what you want. You don't need to earn it, justify it, or prove that it solves a problem or serves someone else. You are allowed to want something just because it makes you happy, just because it brings you joy, just because it's yours. That sounds simple. But after more than a decade of coaching midlife women, Suzy knows it's one of the hardest things to actually pr...

Most of us know what a fork in the road feels like. You've got a heavy decision to make. There are at least two possible paths. And when you're at the fork, you know it's time to choose which way to go and that you will have to live with your choice. What can be so surprising is how often fear has been driving the decision-making over the years. Not us. Fear. Dressed up as reason, responsibility,...

Did you know you can use envy for good? Envy is one of those emotions most of us were taught to push down, feel ashamed of, and definitely not admit to out loud. But what if envy is actually one of the most useful tools you have access to right now, especially in your 50s and 60s, especially when you're trying to figure out what you actually want? In this episode, I'm making the case for "Envy for...

This episode is about how a family crisis can lead to an "empty nest joyride" and insights into your passion to be a writer. Sometimes you can be surprised by the amount of insight gained from a difficult period in your life. Your empty nest phase can be surprisingly mighty. My guest today is Linda Hanstra. Linda is someone who went from being a working mother with four busy kids who felt like she...

Over five years ago, I introduced a concept that has been at the heart of the Women in the Middle show ever since: being the Queen of Your Brain Domain. For women over 50 who want to stop living on autopilot and start living with more intention, that original episode was about learning to watch your thoughts, think on purpose, and take responsibility for your feelings and results. That foundation...

Are you ready to discover how you can use your past to inspire your customized retirement? The pre-retirement phase of your life often takes years. Join us today to be a fly on the wall for a conversation about starting to think about what you want your retired life to look like. My guest is Suzanne Albanese. Suzanne came from a large family in rural Virginia. She went to college at Virginia Tech,...

This episode is about when you feel stuck in midlife even though everything looks fine. If you've been feeling stuck, unclear, or just slightly off lately…today's show will help you understand why. Feeling this way at this time in your life is common. But, what many women don't realize, especially when you're over 50 is this: It's probably not a clarity problem.  Learn more HERE

Midlife transitions can be challenging. Have you ever felt like your life looks fine… but something feels off? If so, you're not alone. In this episode, we're talking about what a midlife transition after 50 really is and why it often shows up in subtle, confusing ways. For many women, this stage isn't about a dramatic crisis. It's about a quiet shift in awareness. You start noticing how you feel,...

Today you'll discover insight into how writing a book can instigate insight into your own reinvention, especially when it's about midlife women. My guest today is Jennifer Oko. Jennifer Oko is the author of four books of fiction and nonfiction. Her memoir Lying Together: My Russian Affair was twice named an "Editor's Choice" by The New York Times Book Review. Her novels include Gloss, a satire of...

Am I too old to get out of a kayak? This was the question I asked when getting out of a kayak suddenly became difficult; it sparked an unexpected realization about aging, mindset, and decision-making. Ask yourself, what happens for you when something you always loved suddenly gets harder? Do you give it up or do you typically get curious about how to make it work? After an awkward (and hilarious)...

Today you'll discover an intergenerational friendship between two women 76 and 105 years old, that got better with age. Walking and talking with your 100+ year old friend is not something you might think was even possible.  But it's their reality and my guest wrote a book about it. My guest is Merilyn Simonds.  She's the younger half of this intergenerational friendship.   Merilyn is also an inter...