Divorce Happens

In this episode, Olivia Howell shares how to prepare for the difficult conversations that arise during divorce — from setting intentions to maintaining safety to using grounded, neutral scripts. Learn how to stay calm, clear, and empowered when you need to talk to your partner about hard topics. This five-minute episode offers actionable tools and emotional support for anyone navigating the early...

In this episode, Olivia Howell explains what divorce coaching actually is — and why it can be one of the most transformative forms of support during a separation. Learn the difference between a divorce coach, therapist, and lawyer, and understand how coaching helps with emotional clarity, communication, decision-making, and rebuilding your confidence. This five-minute solo episode is perfect for a...

In this episode, Olivia Howell explains how to build an emotional support team during divorce — one of the most important and overlooked parts of the process. Learn who should be on your team (and who shouldn’t), how to choose the right people, and why emotional scaffolding is essential long before the legal process begins. This five-minute episode offers clarity and comfort for anyone navigating...

In this heartfelt episode, Olivia Howell explores one of the most common — and least discussed — emotional experiences around divorce: feeling stuck between staying and leaving. Olivia explains why it’s normal to not want a divorce while also feeling unable to continue in your current marriage. This five-minute episode offers compassionate insight into ambivalence, unmet needs, emotional exhaustio...

In this short, powerful episode, Olivia Howell breaks down emotional labor — the invisible, often unnoticed work that holds many marriages together. Olivia explains how emotional labor becomes uneven, how it contributes to burnout and resentment, and why emotional labor imbalance is one of the most common experiences people identify before divorce. This five-minute solo episode is perfect for anyo...

In this short solo episode, Olivia Howell breaks down the emotional experience known as the pre-divorce fog — the confusing, disorienting phase so many people enter before they’re ready to acknowledge the possibility of divorce. Olivia explains the early emotional signs, including mental looping, exhaustion, drifting thoughts, inconsistency, quiet detachment, and guilt. This five-minute episode of...

In this short solo episode, Olivia Howell explores one of the most common experiences in the early stages of divorce: the quiet moment you realize something has to change. Olivia shares the subtle emotional signs many people notice before they ever say the word ‘divorce’ out loud — from the whisper of internal discomfort to the shift from seeking solutions to seeking relief. This episode is design...

Dating after divorce can feel like learning a new language while you’re still grieving the old one—especially when you’re a single parent trying to protect your kids and your own heart at the same time. In this episode of Divorce Happens , host Olivia Howell sits down with relationship coach and former clinical psychologist Dr. Susan Trotter to talk honestly about what it really looks like to date...

The holidays have a way of illuminating the quiet corners of divorce—the empty seats at the table, the sudden stillness of a home, the grief that sweeps in when traditions no longer fit in the same way. In this deeply empathetic episode of Divorce Happens , host Olivia Howell sits down with psychotherapist and divorce coach Stephanie DiLorio to explore what it really feels like to move through div...

The moment divorce begins to whisper into your life—quietly, insistently—it becomes nearly impossible to ignore the question at the center of it all: Can I trust myself? In this deeply moving episode of Divorce Happens , Olivia sits down with Rachael Needham , writer, coach, and author of Blueprints for Divorce , who brings clarity, compassion, and profound inner steadiness to one of the most diso...

You can almost hear the breath women hold when they whisper the question: “Am I going to be judged for my finances?” It’s the fear that keeps so many of us silent—afraid to ask, afraid to look too closely, afraid of what it might mean. In this deeply grounding conversation, Olivia sits down with Rhonda Noordyk , a nationally recognized financial divorce advocate and founder of the Women’s Financia...

In this episode of Divorce Happens , Olivia sits down with Robyn Gaillard , a mind-body connection wellness educator and clinician, to talk about what it really means to survive divorce when it’s not just a legal process, but a full-body, full-spirit earthquake. Together, they unpack the legal challenges of going back to court, the heartbreak of being misunderstood by the system, and the quiet ter...

What if the most radical divorce advice you ever receive is this: stay angry —at least for a while? In this episode of Divorce Happens , Olivia sits down with Fresh Starts Expert and certified ADR pre-mediation coach Lyerly Spongberg , founder of Step Up with Lyerly , to talk about the relationship between anger, healing, emotions, and personal growth in divorce. Drawing on her training as a divor...

When you’re in the thick of it, divorce can feel like being dropped into a maze with no map—just a stack of forms, a pounding heart, and the vague instruction to “call a lawyer.” In this episode of Divorce Happens , Olivia sits down with Meghan O’Malley , a lawyer, mediator, and divorce coach who has spent years inside the legal system…and then intentionally stepped outside of it to help people do...

The moment you begin preparing for divorce often feels like standing in front of a mountain you never asked to climb—papers everywhere, decisions waiting for you, and a nervous system that can barely keep up. In this episode of Divorce Happens , we sit down with Rhonda Noordyk , a certified divorce financial analyst, financial divorce advocate, and longtime Fresh Starts Expert who has helped thous...

The first step of divorce is rarely a legal one—it’s a heartbeat, a whisper, a quiet “I think I need help.” In this episode of Divorce Happens , host Olivia Howell sits down with divorce and life transition coach Lisa Lisser to unpack the overwhelm of the divorce process and why having a guide matters. Lisa shares how divorce coaching offers clarity , emotional support , and a practical map when y...

You don’t plan for the moment you realize the marriage is over—you arrive there, breath held, heart loud, and somehow still responsible for packing lunches and paying bills. In this intimate conversation, actress, creator, and OG blogger Eva Amurri —now a remarried mom of three and the force behind The Westport Project —joins Olivia to talk about divorce recovery as a living practice: calling it b...

When you’re facing divorce, the numbers can feel scarier than the heartbreak. In this powerful episode of Divorce Happens , host Olivia Howell sits down with Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and financial advisor Donna S. Cates , a woman on a mission to make sure no one signs on the dotted line without truly understanding what they’re agreeing to. With decades of experience helping women in tra...

Transitions between two homes can feel like fault lines for children of divorce—every Sunday night drop-off or Friday afternoon pickup carrying the weight of change. In this episode of Divorce Happens , host Olivia Howell sits down with child development expert Dr. Joanna Hulton to explore how parents can ease the turbulence of co-parenting transitions and help children feel secure in both homes....

The first thing Samantha Boss tells us is that she did everything “wrong” the first time. It’s disarming and honest, the kind of confession that lets your shoulders drop. In this conversation, the Alabama-based divorce strategist—once a teacher, briefly a mediator, and now a high-conflict divorce coach with a fierce TikTok community—walks us through the moment her own life cracked open. She planne...

The end of a marriage is never just paperwork—it’s an unraveling of identity, home, and history. In this deeply candid episode, we sit down with Kate Anthony, renowned divorce coach and host of The Divorce Survival Guide Podcast , to talk about what it really means to move through divorce with clarity and courage. Kate has spent over a decade guiding thousands of women through one of life’s most p...

After divorce, many entrepreneurs find themselves unsure how to lead again—how to rebuild not just a business, but a sense of self. In this episode of Divorce Happens , we sit down with Chedva “Vivi” Ludmir , a business strategist, speaker, and Fresh Starts Expert who helps founders move from reactive survival mode into intentional, empowered leadership. Known for her work with women and service-b...

The first days of divorce can feel like standing at the edge of a cliff—heart racing, mind spinning, and unsure where to step next. In this episode of Divorce Happens , we sit down with Meghan O’Malley , divorce coach, mediator, JD, and Fresh Starts Expert, who specializes in helping people find clarity, confidence, and calm at the very beginning of their divorce journey. With a background in law...

Asking for help during divorce can feel impossible—especially when the world expects you to carry it all alone. In this powerful episode of Divorce Happens , we sit down with Lisa Lisser , a certified divorce and co-parenting coach and Fresh Starts Expert, to talk about what it really means to find the courage to ask for support. With compassion, clarity, and years of experience guiding clients th...

When you’re standing at the crossroads of divorce, one of the most overwhelming questions is whether the process will be uncontested—or turn into a lengthy, contested battle. In this episode of Divorce Happens , we sit down with Renee Turner, a respected family law attorney and Fresh Starts Expert, to explore the reality of uncontested divorce and what it takes for this path to truly work. Drawing...