Middle Age Mess

Amira Nystrom is literally a miracle. At 21yo, she went into brain surgery being told by her doctor that nobody had ever survived that particular procedure. Her chances of making it through the surgery and NOT becoming a vegetable were less than 1%. Of course, she made it. She then seemingly cured her chronic Crohn's Disease by simply deciding she didn't want it anymore and living her life...

Arias Webster Berry did not exactly grow up on the mean streets since he spent much of his childhood in San Diego, California; however, to do so when both parents are incarcerated for a good portion of your youth ain't so easy. He managed to get through, mending ties with both parents over time and then migrated into the music business producing events with such stars as Janelle Monae, Ludacri...

Nicky Billou advertises himself as the World's Greatest Podcast Guest. While you could say I was "somewhat" skeptical, you know what?, he just might be. Nicky grew up in Iran, persecuted as a Christian, before his family moved to Canada. After experiencing prejudice due to his background (although let's be honest, these were Canadians so they were probably super nice about it), Nic...

Jim Flynn thought being old was gonna be tough, even before he had brain surgery. Then he stumbled onto Jeopardy, blew the game on the final question, wrote 8 books, discovered his lifelong passion and, what d'ya know, senior citizendom turned out not to be so bad after all. Jim reflects back on a crazy journey from humdrum corporate careerist to 8-time novelist, which all started when he deci...

Nisha Srivastava is one of the most uplifting, inspiring people we've had on Middle Age Mess. A 32-year practitioner of Pilates, a Holistic Lifestyle Coach and the owner of one of the first Pilates studios in the UK, Nisha uses transformative wellness insights to challenge the conventional health care system. Nisha has worked with Sting, Cirque du Soleil and Belinda Carlisle to name just a few...

Chris Abdey is a Procrastination Coach. I didn't know what a procrastination coach was until I met Chris so don't feel bad if you didn't either. Plus, Chris is Canadian so he's too nice to make me feel bad about my obvious ignorance. However, regardless of what I knew beforehand, at the end of our episode, I was pretty much ready to hire him to fix my life and the lives of everybod...

Jeff Hardy is not a doctor or a medical professional in any respect. But somehow, he figured out how to build hospitals all over the globe, some in the world's most neediest places. Springing out of his experience in the Vietnam War, he has focused the last 50 years on improving the world's health care system, both now and in the future. Along the way, he created a non-profit organization...

As a podcaster, you occasionally get to talk about what's going on in your mind and, since October 7, 2023, I've spent much time thinking about the world's perception of Israel and Jews after the horrific Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,200 people on that date. So, I invited my Israeli friend, Giddon Barad, on the show to discuss our thoughts and feelings regarding the manner in w...

Kelly Bonanno grew up in the Entertainment Capital of the World and, erego, she decided to get into the Entertainment Industry. When that got old and boring, though, she moved into a much more exciting field: Dating!!! Kelly is a Matchmaker and Dating Coach based in Southern California who believes that, if you do it right, you should never have a bad date again. Check her out at www.kellybonannon...

Some people would be interested in Dr. Beck Hoehn's long career in Hollywood as an underwater photographer. Some people would be more interested in her transition to a doctor of acupuncture treating women's fertility problems and establishing her own wellness practice (www.mightyriverwellness.com). Me? I just wanted to talk about her childhood growing up on an island with 30 people that re...

Penny McGoey is a tremendously interesting human being. First, she lives in Alaska which, let's face it, is fascinating in and of itself. She was a long-time Marine when women weren't really Marines and now she fixes marriages while she's working on her own. And oh yeah, did I mention she lives in Alaska where she fights off bears while she's trying to catch tonight's dinner. T...

Noa Schechter says that you don't have to be a born leader, you can create a leader. She has spent the past 20 years travelling around the world, meeting with CEO's, business owners, students and anybody else who's looking to improve their lives and taught them to take their personal and professional lives beyond any limits they had previously set for themselves. It's an inspiring...

Alexandra Freeman is clear - dating apps suck!! According to 99% of the free world, she's correct which is why she has gone all in on being a matchmaker for people aged 26 to whatever. She's here to tell you why the whole dating ecosystem has changed, why the apps are on the decline and how, if you just call her, she's going to set you up with the love of your life. For sure! Tonight!...

There's nothing we like better at Middle Age Mess than the story of somebody who grabbed Middle Age by the balls and changed their life. Blanca Rodriguez had a difficult childhood in Puerto Rico followed by a challenging relationship as an adult. Rather than cry about it, she decided to do something so she picked herself up off the island, moved to the United States, went back to school, start...

Wendy Alexander has a successful business coaching middle ager's about changing their lives, succeeding in their later years and just generally improving their entire world. So, naturally, we spent about 7 minutes at the end of the video talking about that. The remainder of our conversation was a fascinating trip through Wendy's childhood growing up in segregated South Africa during the Ap...

The first, and maybe craziest, aspect of Rabbi/Cantor Judy Greenfeld is that she's a Rabbi and a Cantor. There are very, very few people who are rabbis and cantors, and even fewer, if any, who are female. But R/C Judy has an even more fascinating and heartbreaking journey that led her to this very interesting position as she suffered through the tragedy of having her father murdered on the str...

Ralph Velasco caught the travel bug early, like, real early. Starting his international escapades in high school, Ralph started a career as a travel photographer, placing his pictures in major magazines and journals around the world. Not satisfied, he then started taking people along with him, setting up luxury vacations 10-12 times a year to create, possibly, the greatest job in the history of ma...

Derrick Carbon graduated from UCLA with a degree in Psychology and was living the dream with a solid career and great family until his raging alcoholism nearly took it all away. Determined not to lose everything, Derrick rebounded from his "rock bottom", stopped drinking for the last 18 years and now spends his time helping other people find the motivation to forge their own paths away fro...

Topping the scales at 380 pounds in his freshman year at college, Eric Johnson decided he had enough. Starting a workout plan, primarily to hang out with a friend he was crushing on, Eric dropped 100 pounds, came out and started living the life he had always dreamed of as a lonely kid on a Minnesota farm. He didn't stop there, though, ultimately shedding another 100 pounds to drop down to 174...

If you're middle age, and you're a mess, it's pretty likely that your back is killing you right now. Chris Janke is here to take care of it for you. Chris is a kinesiologist who has developed cutting edge programs to fix some of your worst back problems. For good. If you've been told you need invasive spinal surgery, if you've been told it's just always gonna hurt, Chris Ja...

Rick DellaRatta started in music when he was 5 years old, dancing in the living room with his grandma. He upped his piano game a little later when he was playing with Dizzy Gillespie and headlining jazz festivals in front of 9,000 people. Then, while watching 9/11 unfold less than a mile from his house, he started Jazz for Peace, an organization committed to using music to promote peace, love and...

Jana Barrett grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, having no idea what the rest of the world held for her until Communism fell in 1989. After meeting her husband in London, she left for New Zealand where she became the first female Tacfit instructor in the country. She now trains middle age messes around the world using the ancient techniques employed in the Tacfit program while looki...

Nanette Murphy didn't look at the demise of her 20-year marriage as an end, but, rather, as the beginning to an amazing new chapter in her life. She spent several years learning about the intricacies of the process and practically created a new profession - Divorce Coach! After educating herself, writing books and learning just about everything a non-lawyer could know, she decided to help thou...

When Chris Donaldson goes out for a little motorcycle ride, he doesn't play around. In 1979, he rode his bike more than 10,000 miles. Ummmm, without any idea where he was going. And with a map that just, STOPPED, in Sudan. He let the wind and the sun and whatever girl he spoke to dictate his direction. Then 40 years later, just for the hell of it, he did it again. Tune into Middle Age Mess for...

After a long career as an actor in Los Angeles, and at the age of 55, Mark Steven Porro returned home to New Jersey to take care of his ailing mother. As one of six kids, Mark became her primary caregiver for the next 2 1/2 years which turned into both a heartwarming and hilarious adventure that led to his best-selling book, "A Cup of Tea on the Commode". Mark recounts some of the stories...