The Right-Sized Life with Amy Schmidt

Sometimes life takes a turn you never would have chosen, and you find yourself trying to figure out how to move forward when nothing feels the same. For Cheryl Colleluori, that moment came when her 19-year-old son, Nick, was diagnosed with cancer. During his 14 months of treatment, Nick saw how much families were struggling with the emotional and financial toll of cancer, and he created the HEADst...

Karen Sandone joins me today to share the deeply personal story of caring for her husband Anthony after his younger onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and what it has meant for their marriage, their family, and her own identity. This conversation is for anyone navigating dementia caregiving, grieving a partner who is still physically present, or trying to understand how to support someone living this re...

Parenting adult kids asks us to trade control for connection and learn how to love in a way that fits who they are now. I share the mindset shifts that help me move from managing my kids’ lives to being invited into the lives they are building.  • noticing when the parenting “job description” changes  • shifting from manager to mentor with trust and restraint  • asking questions that connect rathe...

What if moving forward after loss doesn’t mean moving on? When you’re grieving, it can be hard to know how to take the next step, especially when the world seems to expect you to eventually return to “normal.” In this conversation, Kate Doerge shares how losing her daughter, Penny, along with the earlier losses of her parents, changed the way she thinks about grief, healing, and what it means to c...

This weeks Right-Sized Reflection solocast is going deep. We discuss how to stop treating wellness like a race back to our younger selves, and start building the strength, energy, and resilience to live the life ahead. I share a simple question that right-sizes everything, from beauty and skincare to relationships, home, and the space we give our future selves.  • asking “Does this still fit?” as...

It’s easy to feel like you’re constantly getting new rules about what to eat, how much to eat, and what your body should look like, especially as you move through midlife and your body begins to change. But what if the answer isn’t another diet or set of restrictions, but learning to listen to and nourish your body instead? That’s exactly what I wanted to explore with registered dietitian and wome...

We share the story of a turquoise necklace and the moment a mother hands her daughter more than jewelry. We use that moment to walk through a legacy filter that helps us choose what to keep, what to release, and what love asks us to pass on.  • Telling the backstory of the turquoise necklace and why it matters  • Naming legacy as patterns, stories, and unspoken rules  • Facing the overwhelm of sor...

What if the same approach you use to declutter your home could help you create more space in the rest of your life, too? Shira Gill, a globally recognized organizing expert and bestselling author, has built her career around helping people clear the clutter, but her newest book, LifeStyled , expands that idea far beyond closets and kitchen drawers. We talk about how to take a more intentional look...

Self-care has quietly become another job many of us feel like we’re failing at. If you’ve ever turned “take care of yourself” into a punishing checklist, this solo cast is for you. I’m Amy, and I’m talking about self-care for midlife women in a way that’s less about adding more routines and more about creating a right size life that fits the season you’re in right now. We walk through five shifts...

Have you ever stayed quiet because bringing something up felt harder than just letting it go? Between busy schedules, phones, family responsibilities, and years of falling into familiar patterns, it can be surprisingly easy to become disconnected from the people closest to you without realizing it. I sat down with licensed marriage and family therapist Colette Jane Fehr to talk about why avoiding...

Your kids grow up and move out, the house gets quieter, and suddenly the question is not “What’s next for them?” It is “What fits me now?” I’m sharing a personal right-sized reflection sparked by a Motown costume party, an unexpectedly tender empty nest summer, and a big realisation: the space that opens up in midlife can either get filled with more obligations or it can become the place where you...

It's easy to feel like midlife arrived and your body suddenly started playing by a completely different set of rules. The habits that used to work no longer seem to make a difference, there's endless advice telling you what to do, and it can leave you wondering where to even begin. I sat down with women's health specialist and clinical nutritionist Linda Stephens to cut through the...

Your calendar can look perfectly reasonable and still leave you wiped out by Friday. We dig into the real reason: a planner tracks time, but it does not measure emotional load, mental stress, or the subtle drain of always being “on.” When we start asking “Do I have the energy?” instead of only “Do I have the time?” the whole game changes, especially for anyone navigating midlife, recovery, or a se...

Life can feel full long before it's actually full. We tell ourselves there's no time for the things that matter, wear "busy" like a badge of honor, and assume our schedules are the problem. In this conversation, I'm joined by bestselling author and time management expert Laura Vanderkam to explore a different perspective: what if the story you've been telling yourself...

Making Room for Love: How Family Grows When We Expand Our Hearts Amy shares a heartfelt reflection on how making room in our hearts and homes can lead to deeper connections and new beginnings, inspired by her daughter's wedding weekend. Making space in our hearts and homes The significance of family traditions and new beginnings The role of love and hospitality in building connections Lessons...

The fastest way to turn grief into chaos is to ignore the question nobody wants to ask: what happens to all the things we collect over a lifetime? I’m joined by Roger Schrenk, founder of DontMakeAnEstateMistake.com , who has spent 30+ years helping families navigate downsizing, estate liquidation, inherited belongings, and the overwhelm that hits when a big house needs to be emptied fast. We dig i...

Your calendar can look totally reasonable and still leave you running on empty. That’s the tension we dig into today: the quiet exhaustion that doesn’t come from “too much to do,” but from giving your energy in the wrong directions, often by habit. I share the moment that forced me to face it, the resistance I felt, and what happened when I finally gave a clear, grounded no instead of another auto...

There’s a moment in caregiving that almost nobody says out loud, yet so many families recognize instantly. That’s where my conversation with filmmaker Anthony Lucero begins and where his movie The Paper Bag Plan goes with honesty, tenderness, and a steady respect for dignity. If you’re caring for aging parents, supporting a loved one with a disability, or quietly wondering what the future holds fo...

A brave decision can still feel terrifying once the noise stops. If you’ve ever said yes to a big change then found yourself staring at the ceiling at 2 a.m., replaying every detail and wondering whether you made a mistake, you’re not alone. I’m Amy Schmidt, and I’m sharing a very real chapter from my own life: we sold our family home, moved to Florida to build a more intentional “right-sized” sea...

A 14-inch closet, three kids, and a 750 square foot apartment in New York City sounds like a recipe for constant chaos, yet Tyler Moore (Tidy Dad) uses it as proof that simplicity can create real calm. We sit down with Tyler to talk about decluttering and home organization as something deeper than neat shelves: a way to reduce overwhelm, protect mental health, and build a life that feels spacious...

That pile on the shelf isn’t just clutter, it’s a backlog of decisions. We share a simple tool we call the Fearless Edit, built for real life when you’re busy, overwhelmed, or in the middle of change. It starts with a timer, one small space, and one honest question that cuts through guilt and “someday” thinking: does this support the life I’m living right now?  We tell a personal story about sorti...

Something shifts after the big midlife leap. You make the brave move, you do the hard thing, you prove you still have it and then you come up for air and realize the real question is quieter: does this still fit? That question is why Fearlessly Facing Fifty and Beyond is evolving into The Right Size Life. The show is not ending. The mission is not changing. I’m still authentically Amy. But the con...

You can do everything “right” and still wake up exhausted, headachy, and foggy and it might not be menopause at all. We’re pulling back the curtain on obstructive sleep apnea in women over 50, a condition that’s massively underdiagnosed because many women don’t fit the stereotype of loud snoring and obvious pauses in breathing. I’m joined by my personal physician, Dr. Cannon , a dentist with deep...

Dive into the refreshing world of midlife fiction with bestselling UK novelist Jane Costello as she reveals the creative journey behind her latest romantic comedy, "It's Getting Hot in Here." With candor and humor, Jane shares how she's boldly reimagining the rom-com genre with a 47-year-old protagonist navigating perimenopause, teenage children, and unexpected romantic stirrin...

Michele Cuffe's powerful insights on extending not just lifespan but healthspan will transform how you think about aging. Drawing from evolutionary biology and modern research, she reveals why Europeans can indulge in bread and wine without weight gain while Americans struggle despite "healthy" habits - it's not just what we eat, but how we live. Stress represents the silent ep...