Life and Love by Design

Women over 40 often feel stuck in their relationships. My clients come to me saying that everything should be fine - they’re still in love, and they don’t want a divorce - but there’s something stagnant about their life and their relationship. These women feel stuck, and they have no idea what to do about it.  As a certified life coach, I’ve seen this time and time again. What you’re looking for h...

Anxiety can affect not only our daily lives, but our relationships, too. I’ve seen my clients’ relationships fall apart because their anxiety was getting in the way of the rest of their lives. They needed some way to treat all the stress, panic attacks, and dysregulation, but they don’t know how. That’s why we’re talking to Veruschka, to find out what your holistic options are for regulating your...

It’s time to put down the attachment-style books! I have very smart, self-aware clients who struggle to communicate well in their relationships. They’re always fighting with their partners, and it’s not because they can’t properly analyze the relationship patterns they’re seeing. It’s because they’re not feeling their feelings.  Overanalyzing and overexplaining will not fix your relationship. It’s...

Many people don’t think they have toxic relationship patterns, but they do. I see it all the time! And toxic relationship patterns can look like so many different things. For example, it can look like you two are having the same fight over and over again without ever finding a solution. Or it can be one person shutting down, and the other person constantly pursuing their partner, trying to get the...

Transformation will always be a foundational part of our lives. Even the basics are transformational; you grow up, get a degree, get a job. We sometimes take these accomplishments for granted, but all of those events transform you into the person you are today. The truly inspirational parts of your life are what you have to have courage for, to see through to the end, and this week’s guest knows a...

Have you ever wondered what the internal process of a matchmaker is? You see one on TV, call up one with great reviews, and you hope and pray that they can get you married within a year. But getting you married is not necessarily their job. So what is their job? We invited a professional matchmaker onto the podcast to find out.  Arlene Washburn is an Ethical Matchmaking Advocate, industry educator...

At one point or another, couples are going to struggle with intimacy. Either their schedules don’t align, their spark fizzled out, or they just mentally can’t get there. So there are plenty of reasons you can be struggling with intimacy.  But recently, the problem amongst my coaching clients is that they can’t bounce back into being a sexy wife after becoming a mom.  My clients beat themselves up...

Walking on eggshells is a very common part of life. It happens when we feel like we have to choose our words carefully or like we have to manage our tone to prevent an argument. It feels like one wrong word could blow up the entire conversation or even the entire relationship. If you’ve ever found yourself in this situation, I want you to know that you have options. And this episode is not just fo...

This episode has mentions of suicide. If you are not in a space to listen to today's topic, we understand, and we’ll see you next time ❤️   Sometimes you can have everything you’ve ever wanted on paper, and still not be happy. It's terrifying to realize, but sometimes the material things you’ve always wanted are not what make you happy. Life is not just about our achievements. Of course, it’s grea...

Building a connection with your partner feels harder than it is. It feels like this connection is supposed to be inherently easy because the initial connection when you first got together was so easy. But reconnecting after losing that connection takes work. Not a ton of work, but work nonetheless.  Luckily, we have access to some of the greatest minds in relationship research, like John Gottman a...

Being seen is a fact of life, especially when you are intentionally designing a new life for yourself. So when you’re designing your new life, you have to take into account how you want to be seen, inside and out, and get comfortable with it. This week, we have an expert on being seen and exploring new ways to become your most authentic self.  Jennifer Bladel is an artist, photographer, and travel...

If you could control your own mind, would you stop yourself from spiraling into your darkest thoughts? For many of my clients, that’s all they want! To start the healing process and take control of their lives. Taking control of your mind and your mindset is the first step to designing your most amazing life. And with this week’s guest speaker, we’re going to learn how to master our minds so we ca...

Many women, including myself, struggle with hormonal issues. Whether it’s not getting enough sleep, brain fog, or memory loss, these issues can take over our everyday lives. And sometimes the medication we’re prescribed is just a cover-up of our symptoms, not actual solutions. So how do we get access to the solutions that will actually solve the root of our problems?  This week’s guest is Dr. Koma...

Today, I’m clearing up any misunderstandings there are about coaching. Because not everyone knows what coaching is, they don't know what they’re going to get before they book a session. Let’s start with what it's not. Coaching is not me giving you advice, and it’s not me giving you a pep talk. We’re way past that in our growth journey.  It is my job as a coach  to help you become the calme...

You do not have to sacrifice your peace this holiday season. And I know, if that angry uncle starts with you, you’re gonna say something back. But what if I told you there was a way to address the conflict without having a major blowout?  At the end of the day, all we want is to enjoy our time with our families. And having a screaming match at the dinner table is now how we want to spend our holid...

There is magic in living a multifaceted life. Your life was never meant to be one thing. We can be mothers, and at the same time, we can be actresses, models, and animal activists all in one. It is possible, as long as we design our lives with intention and learn how to make everyday magic. This week’s guest knows how to do exactly that, and we’re going to pick her brain to find out how you can de...

Storytelling is one of the great ways we protect ourselves, especially as women. If you take a look at your bloodline, you’ll probably find very powerful women who had to go through so much adversity to get to where they are today. Our families carry stories of resilience and strength, but they are rarely ever written down or acknowledged. It’s time we honor these stories, and this week’s guest is...

Sometimes we have to get to rock bottom before we make a change. My life coaching clients will sometimes come to me, telling me about the worst ways they’ve ever treated themselves, and they feel so incredibly guilty about it. They feel guilty because they didn’t trust themselves to make the right decision, and they don’t know how to find that worthiness in themselves again. Today, we’re going to...

Have you and your partner ever dealt with infidelity? I typically help my clients before it ever gets to that point. Infidelity typically happens because there is a problem in the relationship. My clients and I work together on the everyday patterns and disconnections that, if not addressed, can slowly erode a marriage over time. But my good friend and guest on this week’s podcast episode, Luke Sh...

We will all go through hot and cold phases in our marriage. It’s inevitable. Whether you're exhausted from chasing around the kids or you feel like you’re stuck in the roommate phase, there will be long stretches of time where you look around and realize the spark is gone. And on top of that, you have no idea how to get it back.  I want you to know that this is more normal than you think. Life is...

Communication is a huge part of whether or not we have happy and healthy relationships. Not only because communication is a part of our daily lives, but it also builds every kind of intimacy we have. Emotional, mental, and physical intimacy all hinge on how we speak to each other.  So when we’re out of touch with our partner, it can feel like the entire relationship is out of whack. You want to fi...

Conflict is bound to happen, whether you’ve been married for two years or twenty. It’s a fact of life. But how you deal with it will determine if you have a long and happy relationship, or you both throw in the towel prematurely.  Most people, in my opinion, tend to love their spouse and want to make it work. They just don’t know what to say or do to make it better. That’s why this week, we’re tak...

Limiting beliefs start out as a way to protect yourself, but if they never get resolved, they can evolve into an untrue story you tell yourself. For example, if you get a bad burn while cooking, you may never want to set foot into a kitchen again because cooking is dangerous. This is the story you tell yourself, and as time goes on, it limits your ability to feed yourself, develop your cooking ski...

Our values are what tell us if we’re living the life we’re truly meant to live or not. That gross, gut feeling we get when we don’t stand up for ourselves, or when we accept something we shouldn’t, means we are not aligned with our values. And if we keep living in misalignment, we start to feel like we’re living on autopilot.  That is no way to live. When we want to change our lives or even change...

I know it sounds like this huge, daunting thing, designing your entire life, so let’s start with the basics. This is your life, so this process is going to take a lot of self-reflection. When designing your life, you have to ask yourself what you do want in your life, and what you don’t.  Getting clear on what you want can be as simple as just being honest with yourself. By identifying your core v...