Episodes

💬 message Denise What if it was never about the food? Betsy Brenner didn't receive her eating disorder diagnosis until her 40s. She was a mother of three, a high school tennis coach, a woman who — by every visible measure — had it together. And she was quietly disappearing, not just physically, but from herself. What she eventually learned: the behaviours were never the problem. They were the symptom. What lived underneath was decades of internalized emotion, unspoken grief, profound anx...

💬 message Denise You've stood at the mirror and felt it — that quiet moment when what used to work simply doesn't anymore. And somewhere in that moment, you wondered if something was wrong with you. Nothing is wrong with you. No one ever taught you how to work with the skin you're in now. Gabriela Soares is a professional makeup artist and hairstylist with over 20 years of experience working with women across every age, skin type, and life stage. As a beauty content creator her work has ...

💬 message Denise A gentle heads up: Chad's honesty doesn't always come wrapped in pretty language — and that's exactly what makes it land. Some mild profanity ahead. The truth, as always, is worth it. You've done the work. And still — something keeps showing up the same way. Chad Taylor didn't choose to become a psychotherapist. Life chose it for him. Twenty-five years in recovery, a plumbing business, criminal charges, and a series of moments that cracked him wide open — that's what bui...

💬 message Denise How many times has your body known — long before your mind was willing to admit it — that this wasn't the love that was meant for you? Sara-Ann Rosen is a dating coach for audacious women who refuse to settle. With a background in law and counselling, she approached dating like a research scientist — gathering data not just on others but on her own patterns. That journey became the foundation for Decoding Dating Dilemmas, through which she has supported over 500 women in releasi...

💬 message Denise A gentle reminder — Dana shares her personal journey through a blood cancer diagnosis and stem cell transplant. Her story is powerful and it is hers. If anything she shares stirs something in you about your own health, please reach out to your healthcare provider. What happens when someone who has spent decades inside the healthcare system suddenly becomes the patient? Dana Sherwin — healthcare executive, consultant, and almost seven-year survivor of a stem cell transplant for a...

💬 message Denise Sylvie Beljanski was living a fast paced life as a lawyer in New York when everything shifted. Her father was a groundbreaking biologist who discovered natural plant extracts to support the body through cancer. When his life's work was suddenly targeted and destroyed by the government, Sylvie refused to stand by. She stepped completely out of her comfort zone, walked away from her legal career, and dedicated the next 30 years to making sure his research survived and flourished. ...

💬 message Denise Terri Hanson Mead spent decades navigating predominantly male fields, but what really captured my heart is how she redefines midlife. Terri is a commercially rated helicopter pilot, an author, an investor, and a coach who helps women go from living on autopilot to taking intentional control of their lives. When she hit her forties, she did not experience a crisis; instead, she hit a wall of burnout and realized that the narrative about women shrinking as they age is completely b...

💬 message Denise Ernest Ellender, who people call the Black Belt Trauma Coach, is a former clinical psychologist who realized that sometimes we need more than just talk....we need to train our hearts and bodies like a martial artist would. We dove deep into the idea that we don't have to let our past trauma be the boss of our future. Ernest shares about the "trauma lies" we tell ourselves just to survive childhood and how those stories follow us into midlife until we choose to replace them with ...

💬 message Denise Lili Udell Fiore grew up watching her father, a hospital chaplain, provide compassionate care, but she really earned her stripes during twelve years of navigating dementia and medical advocacy for her own family. She’s here to remind us that planning for the hard stuff isn't morbid. It’s actually one of the most profound ways we can love our families and protect our own peace of mind. We really get into the heart of the "sandwich generation" reality. Lili shares some incredibly ...

Kerie Logan is a human consciousness guide and hypnotherapist who has spent 25 years helping people untangle all the messy parts of being human. We dive into something so many of us carry: that heavy, constant hum of anxiety. But Kerie looks at it through such a beautiful, different lens. She explains how the stuff we’re struggling with...whether it's fear, hyper-vigilance, or just feeling totally stuck...isn't actually who we are. It’s often just a "set point" or generational energy we've absor...

Sairan Aqwari has the most incredible perspective on why we need to stop looking at midlife as some sort of waiting room for retirement. Sairan moved from Iraq to the United States and literally rebuilt her entire life and career from the ground up. She spent over 30 years as a heavy-hitter in the engineering world, and then, right in the middle of her doctoral program, she realized her soul was pulling her toward something else. She actually put her PhD "in the freezer" to follow a path of coac...

Helen spent nearly thirty years in the high-stakes world of commercial leadership and accounting, even spending sixteen years at KPMG. She was the person who actually avoided sales at all costs, only to realize she was naturally incredible at it because she did it differently. She did it humanly. When she hit 45, life decided to shift the gears for her. Between the clarity of a family road trip and a sudden battle with early-stage breast cancer, Helen took the leap to stop doing things the "corp...

Cheryl Holling is a total powerhouse in the world of podcasting and voiceover work, but what really struck me during our chat was her incredible heart and the way she’s navigating life at 65 with so much grace and curiosity. We really dive into the beauty of the "un-linear" path. Cheryl’s been in the industry for four decades, yet she’s still out here launching new projects like The Voice Kitchen and 19 Stories from Fear to Hope . She opens up about the legacy of her parents, the deep importance...

Ever feel like you’re talking, but not necessarily being heard? Brad Walsh, a speaker, photographer, and "soul visibility guide," has spent the last six years listening to the stories of over 800 women. He shares the incredible shift that happens when a man stops trying to "fix" and starts truly listening to understand the things that often go unsaid. We’re chatting about: Heart-Led Listening: Brad breaks down his "HEAR" method for holding space and listening with empathy r...

How many of us have spent years just "powering through" because we thought that was the only way to be successful. Shelley Martinez is a licensed psychotherapist and what she calls an "anxiety alchemist." She spent decades dealing with that invisible, high-functioning anxiety - the kind where you look totally composed and "together" on the outside while your internal world feels like it’s on fire. We really dive into why we've normalized being stuck in survival mode and h...

Running on fumes? Today we’re diving into something Rochel Lawson calls the "Duck Syndrome," that exhausting state where we look perfectly calm and collected on the surface while our feet are paddling like crazy underneath just to stay afloat. Rochelle is a total powerhouse - a registered nurse, Ayurvedic healer, and a CEO who has spent decades leading in high-pressure, male-dominated industries. She isn’t just speaking from a textbook; she’s lived the stress, felt the physical toll it...

Heike Yates has been working with women and their bodies for forty years. She’s seen every trend come and go, but her approach is so much deeper than just fitness. We talked about how midlife isn't this scary "crisis" we’ve been told to fear. Instead, it’s actually this incredible course correction. It’s that moment where we finally get to stop dimming our light and start asking ourselves what we actually need to feel good. She was so vulnerable about her own journey too. Heike shared what it wa...

Have you ever felt that little knot in your stomach when it comes to money - maybe you avoid the bank app or just feel like "numbers aren't your thing"? Suzette Wheeler is basically the finance whisperer we all needed years ago. She has over 30 years of experience, but she talks about money in a way that actually makes sense for our real lives. We get into the heavy stuff that midlife can throw at us, like navigating finances after a divorce or losing a spouse, but we also talk about the simple,...

Heidi Solomon-Orlick spent decades as a top performer in a high-stakes, male-dominated world, only to face a massive life shift at 60. After losing both of her parents within days of each other, she didn't just sit back. She paused, looked in the mirror, and decided the back half of her life was going to be about legacy and lifting others up. Heidi is the founder of Girls Who Sell, and she is on a mission to show young women that sales isn't about the "used car" stereotypes we see in movies. It’...

Caroline Elliott spent over twenty years in ski rescue and mountain rescue units, literally working on the front lines of avalanche response with her dog, Fjord. Imagine being in a situation where the stakes are life or death and every second counts. That is where she learned what it truly means to lead and communicate when the pressure is on. We did a deep dive into how those high stakes moments in the mountains actually reveal who we are. Caroline shares how she is now taking all that intense ...

Alina has spent nearly two decades in the wellness and aesthetics world, but she isn't interested in the "anti-aging" noise we’ve been fed forever. She’s actually pioneering this beautiful concept called "thoughtful aging." It’s all about moving away from making choices because we feel "not enough" and instead choosing things because we actually want them. She’s a grandmother, a CEO, and a total powerhouse who believes that our 60s are actually meant to be our happiest years. We r...

Andy Semotiuk spent over forty years as an immigration attorney, but this isn't a dry talk about paperwork and legalities. Andy is a true expert in the art of transition and opening doors that people didn't even realize were there for them. In this episode of Thrive After 45™, we dive into the deeper, human side of starting over. Andy shares some incredible perspectives on why we choose to move, whether we are being pushed by a "hurricane" in our lives or pulled by a dream of something better...

Dr. Samaha is one of those people who just radiates light. She’s a former academic who decided to retire early at 53 to follow a mission that was pulling at her heart. She’s navigated over 30 years of transitions, some by choice and many by chance, including relocating from Lebanon to Canada and moving through everything from divorce to empty nesting. She’s truly a "momentum master" who figured out how to stop just surviving change and start actually loving the life she was designing. We really ...

After over 25 years with her partner, Kimberly’s world was completely upended by a divorce she never saw coming. She describes that season as "temporary insanity," and honestly... Who hasn't felt that way when life pulls the rug out from under you? But instead of letting that be the end of her story, she used that rock bottom as a launchpad. Kimberly took her 20 years of experience as a therapist and her own lived heartbreak to become a certified divorce coach. She founded Blossom Coaching becau...