Becoming Your Best Version

Marina DelVecchio, PhD, launched her memoir, Unsexed: Memoirs of a Prostitute’s Daughter after ten years of being unsexed in her marriage and getting divorced, because of trauma and mixed messages she received about sex for women. In this episode, Marina talks about writing her book to understand why she was so touch-averse, patriarchal effects on sexuality, and how trauma trickles into how we par...

Christine Fallert Kessides became a first-time novelist at age 70, when her young adult book, Magda, Standing , was published and received significant acclaim. Christine was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was interested in the fact that all her ancestors (those she could identify) were from Germany. After reviewing her family genealogy and reflecting on some of her relatives’ exp...

At age 60, Amy Goober wanted to bring something new into her life. She started her own Boston area-based business and became a successful Action Coach for women. Amy is the founder of Drive Your Life®, a dynamic group coaching program that supports women to get into the driver’s seat of their own lives using a unique five-step process to achieve their most sought-after goals. Amy’s signature progr...

Linda C. Butler is midlife reinvention coach. She is a former executive in the telecom industry, who turned her considerable talents to empowering midlife professional women to become the CEOs of their own lives. Following her own midlife transformation after being laid off at age 50, Linda leverages her MBA, corporate leadership background and neuroscience-based coaching expertise to guide women...

Should you forgive? How and under what circumstances? A deeply moving memoir by Susan Shapiro, a gifted, award-winning writer and professor, explores the nuanced topic of forgiveness in her book, The Forgiveness Tour: How to Find the Perfect Apology, which comes out in paperback on July 23. "[W]hat if the person who hurt you most refuses to apologize or express any regret? That's the ques...

Sue Camaione is the author of a new sexually charged memoir, The Practical Seductress: How I Learned to Take My Hat and Run . Sue’s memoir exposes the dangerous path to sexual equality. Filled with humor and learned wisdom as a woman in midlife, Sue exposes the double standard of desire and turns it into a “practical” how-to approach while navigating treacherous and unpredictable paths. It’s an in...

Carla Rockmore, 57, has been fashioning her own fun and designing clothes, accessories, and bags for more than 30 years. She began her foray onto the digital fashion scene during the pandemic, garnering numerous followers through her exuberant approach to styling. Things really kicked off when her audience and, later, Vogue magazine coined her the real-life Carrie Bradshaw of Sex in the City telev...

Penny Lane is a writer, wife and mother with an insatiable passion for life and books. Her latest book is Redeemed, A Memoir of a Stolen Childhood, a rise-from-the-ashes hero’s story of overcoming abuse, trauma, and unbearable odds, of being waylaid by both family and religion’s promise of love, and harnessing the resilience to find the way home. Redeemed offers a rare window into Eastern European...

Junie Moon, CEO of Midlife Love Out Loud, allowed her naked middle-aged body to be painted by an internationally renowned artist--and filmed for a documentary--which served as a metaphor for doing the work to free oneself from the stories that may hold us back from living with access to each of our own full and unique expressions. She is a Global Love mentor, best-selling author, women's empow...

Lisa Woodruff, along with 87% of Americans, believes that organization is a learnable skill. Yet less than 18% of those same Americans feel they are organized. Through Organize 365®’s courses, Lisa aims to teach Americans young and old the skill of organizing and unlocking their time for what they are uniquely created to do. Under Lisa’s direction, Organize 365 has conducted academic research, est...

Ashton Applewhite is at the forefront of the emerging movement to raise awareness of ageism and make age a criterion for diversity. An internationally recognized expert on ageism, Ashton is the author of  This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism  and a co-founder of the  Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse . She speaks widely at venues that have included the  United Nations  and delivered an...

Michelle Jacoby has successfully coached and matched hundreds of happily married couples. She is a certified matchmaker, dating and relationship coach, and the owner of DC Matchmaking, a boutique matchmaking and coaching company for commitment-minded singles in the Washington, DC area that was founded in 2009. DC Matchmaking is a discreet, upscale matchmaking company for successful commitment-mind...

Tanya Willis teaches women how to make small, sustainable shifts over time to add vibrancy to their lives. She offers a one-stop on-line membership called Vibrant Living Academy, where she teaches women all the skills she learned to embrace life to its fullest. She calls this The Olympics of Life, i.e. , being able to be functionally fit in your daily activities. "The journey to vibrant livin...

Joanne Socha is a lawyer who left her successful practice to become a luxury travel advisor, after recognizing that she had her own sorrows to heal, and that travel could facilitate her healing journey. Joanne is the founder of Travel Far & Well LLC, a boutique luxury travel design firm. A world-class traveler, she is also a speaker, coach and the author of the book/journal, The Red Bandanna T...

Mags Bell teaches people how to "master your ego, or it masters you." She is an international speaker, author and awareness expert, who works with major influencers and leaders around the world, via her LeadingME® program. She assists those top influencers and leaders to discover their own values, purpose and vision, which makes them better decision makers, leading to a less complicated...

Nagina Abdullah pivoted in her career in 2020 to become a health and weight-loss coach for women in midlife and founder of the website MasalaBody.com. After working a demanding corporate job while raising two children and going from feeling tired, sluggish, and frustrated to melting off 40 pounds in nine months by making changes in her life and eating habits, she started teaching other women how t...

After a difficult divorce, Barb Scala, who is an attorney, launched an online platform called "Bloom," along with an online radio show/podcast. She began by interviewing some famous and dynamic women and hosted events, conferences, and an online community. She also coached women in transition, especially during and after divorce, and co-authored Sanity Savers: Tips for Women to Live a Ba...

Rachel Lankester is an ageism disrupter, midlife mentor and founder of Magnificent Midlife, an online hub inspiring and supporting women 40+. She's the author of  Magnificent Midlife: Transform Your Middle Years, Menopause and Beyond , which was recommended as one of seven top books about menopause in The New York Times . She's also the host of the  ⁠Magnificent Midlife Podcast⁠ and founde...

Many adults today experience insecurity around water. Cori Myka addresses the underlying fears approximately half of adults have today about being in the water. She transforms adult non-swimmers from fearful beginners into confident achievers of their wildest aquatic aspirations. Featured on NPR and in USA Today , Cori is the founder of Calm Within Adult Swim and the creator of the Foundations of...

Sweta Sansara, a Nepalese woman, is a passionate advocate against the stigmas surrounding alcoholism, mental health, food addiction, and related issues. With 17 years of sobriety and profound personal healing, she is dedicated to sharing her journey to inspire and support others in their paths to mental wellness and holistic healing. Sweta is the first person from Nepal to join the U.S. armed forc...

Virginia (Ginnie) Isaacs Cover has worked throughout her career with children and adults with complex medical conditions and developmental disabilities. She is an advocate for those with disabilities and their families and published a widely read guidebook for those affected by X and Y chromosome variations. She explores the impact of a prenatal diagnosis on a young family in her new book, Supplem...

Chwynyn (pronounced “Quinin”) Vaughan is a proponent of slow beauty and its benefits to our all-over physical, mental and spiritual health, and to skin health in particular. She has a background in midwifery, health care and design. A deep love for botanicals has woven its way through each of these experiences, enriching every step of her path. These experiences, along with her passion for plants,...

Carlene Thissen is an American singer-songwriter, born and raised in New Jersey, and now living in Florida. Singing, piano, and guitar playing were taught to her by her dear father, mother, and cousin; but she’s also daughter of a generation with a deep desire to hand down peace and love to the "youngers": the Baby Boomers.  She experienced firsthand some of the most captivating periods...

Kim Rahir is a 60-year-old mother of three who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) ten years ago and decided to ignore her doctor's advice and muscle her way back to a happy life. She did not want to have the identity of a sick person and undergo lifelong treatment for her MS. Instead, after one year of exercising, she felt "normal" again. She continued to train and worked her...

After her daughter left for college, Allie Hill was shocked to find she felt lonely, a bit lost and a little purposeless. Allie spent months wondering what she was supposed to do with all her free time now that no one needed her 24/7 as a parent. She marveled that there were so many resources available when her daughter Izzy was a baby, but none for mothers making the transition to empty nesting,...