All Who Wander with Anne Taylor Hartzell

What happens when you're between chapters? When life is changing, what's next is still unclear, and you're in that messy middle?  

In this episode of All Who Wander, I sit down with Zibby Owens, author, host of Totally Booked with Zibby, publisher, and owner of Zibby's Bookshop in Santa Monica.

Zibby has turned her lifelong love of books into a community that brings authors, writers, and readers together through her podcast, bookshop, events, and retreats around the country.

Her latest book, Between Chapters, shares 40 honest, funny, and personal essays about motherhood, mistakes, and navigating life's messy middle.

We talk about finding your way through big life changes, divorce, sending kids off to college, how Zibby went from interviewing authors in her living room in COVID, to building a publishing company and bookshop and retreats to help support and share more author stories.

If you're wondering what's next for you, Zibby's book will remind you: Sometimes the stories in-the messy between chapters are where we learn the most and we are not alone. 

Follow Zibby @zibbyowens on Instagram

Totally Booked with Zibby Podcast

To learn more about Zibby Media

Zibby's Substack

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

When was the last time you spent an entire day doing exactly what you wanted to do?

I had an evening event in Los Angeles, so instead of fighting traffic, I decided to make a day of it. A coffee shop, a little people-watching, lunch at The Grove, and an evening connecting with incredible women at The Female Quotient's Ascend event.

Sounds fun, right? So why was I nervous about planning a day just for me?

In this short solo episode of All Who Wander, I'm sharing three reminders from my day in LA:

- Make room for yourself, even if it's just an afternoon.
- Get in the room and invest in conversations with people who inspire you.
- Share what you're learning along the way. Your experiences and stories can help others and build trust.

I'm also taking you behind the scenes of something new I'm building: Trusted Voices with Anne, a program to help leaders and employees share their expertise and stories, plus a new six-week cohort launching in January. 

Learn more about the Trusted Voices program.

Sign up for the Trusted Voices Cohort waitlist here.

And I've got a little something cooking for the holidays to help you and the people you love choose more adventure.

Your next brave step: What's one conversation, experience, or little adventure you could make room for this week?

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

What happens when you spend two years searching for answers about why you don't feel like yourself, and every doctor says it's just part of getting older?

For Kimberly Snyder, the answer finally came from a menopause specialist. Within six weeks, she started to feel like herself again. Then she paid it forward. As she puts it, "I took my pause and took action." Pause to Action now brings science-backed education to women in midlife.

My own search, after a move to a new community, ended the same way: with an amazing doctor who helped me with my own symptoms and changed everything. That doctor introduced me to Kimberly, and I recognized my own story in this community she is building. I suspect if you are in this season (or have a spouse/friend/mom or sister that is) you will too.

We talk about the self-doubt that comes with building something new, raising daughters who'll know more than we did, and why choosing adventure over fear is harder, and matters more, when you just don't feel like yourself.

Kimberly's message for every woman in this season: you're not alone, there are answers, and give yourself grace.

Kimberly on Instagram and TikTok: @pausetoaction
Learn more: pausetoaction.org

This episode is not a substitute for medical advice. Please contact your physician

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

Behind the Scenes with Anne is my new solo series in between guest episodes: just you and me, sharing the real behind-the-scenes in the middle of building what's next and choosing adventure.

In this first episode: what I believe with my whole heart, my vision for a community where we choose adventure over fear in work and life, exactly what I'm building to get there, and how we build what's next. It starts with one conversation, one brave move at a time. And the three questions I'm asking myself in this season that can help you take your next brave step. 

Take the free Choose Adventure Mindset™ Assessment (3 minutes) to find your next brave step: https://www.annetaylorhartzell.com/assessment

If someone came to mind while listening, send them this episode.

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

What happens when you sell your house, pack up your kids, and move halfway around the world for your biggest adventure yet, and then war breaks out in the region ten days after you arrive?

That’s what happened to Chief Communications Officer Jennifer George when her family moved from California to the UAE. With flights being canceled, Jenn took her two children on the flight she could get out, to Thailand. What she expected to be a week away became six weeks traveling through Southeast Asia. In a hotel room in Cambodia, trying to make sense of the chaos around her, she opened her laptop and started writing The CCO Dispatch, a newsletter that helps leaders make sense of what’s happening in the world and communicate through it.

Jenn calls herself a “master chaos coordinator,” and she’s spent 25+ years helping founders and organizations communicate through change, including roles at Headspace, Shutterfly, and The Wonderful Company. Adventure has shaped her own path, too, from getting her first passport to volunteer in Kenya to earning an MBA while living in China.

Jenn joins Anne to talk about navigating uncertainty with her family and building trust with teams when you don’t have all the answers. As she puts it, everyone wants a map for what comes next, especially with AI changing work. What leaders can offer is a sense of north: who we are, what we stand for, and what we’ll protect even when the trail changes. And when the whole journey feels overwhelming, Jenn carries a lesson from ultra-running: focus on the mile you’re in.

Jenn on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jennegeorge 

Subscribe to Jenn's The CCO Dispatch, a daily read on the stories shaping what your board, investors, and regulators will believe next. Written for CCOs and the people who brief them. 

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

In improv, “Yes, and” is the simple rule that keeps the story moving. It can help us keep moving when life happens, too.

Dr. Rachel Goldman PhD, clinical psychologist, NYU professor, mom, and author of When Life Happens, joins Anne to share how flexible thinking has shaped her life and career.

Rachel began college studying dance science, but witnessing young women struggle with disordered eating changed the direction of her studies. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology and later left her hospital career to build a clinical practice that gave her greater flexibility as she started her family.

Along the way, Rachel grew a platform that has led to opportunities with Oprah, The Mel Robbins Podcast, and national broadcasts and on stages as a trusted mental health expert.

Rachel teaches you how to use the power of “Yes, and,” build a resilience toolkit before you need it, and make choices that fit the life you are living now. She also reminds us that choosing adventure can be as simple as putting on your running shoes or having an impromptu dance party in the kitchen.

Follow Dr. Rachel Goldman at @drrachelnyc and learn more about When Life Happens at whenlifehappensbook.com.

A quick note: This conversation is for education and inspiration and isn’t a substitute for therapy, psychological care, or medical advice. If you need support, please reach out to a qualified healthcare professional.

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

The bravest step may be the one that brings you back to yourself. Nikki Vargas, bestselling author of Call You When I Land and Associate Editorial Director at Travel + Leisure, shares how staying true to herself has shaped her travel adventures, career, and biggest life decisions. Nikki takes us from her early days in advertising to traveling the world and building a career as a writer and editor. She also shares how making a difficult decision gave her the biggest gift, the importance of community, and how travel can transform who we are and how we see the world.

If you have ever wondered whether the life you are building still feels like your own and how to adjust course, this conversation is for you.

Follow Nikki on Instagram at @niknakvargas and learn more at nikkivargas.com.

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

After a successful career in advertising in New York City and then nearly 20 years as a full time stay-at-home mom, Sharon began asking what she wanted her next chapter to look like after her kids grew up. That question led her to rediscover her passion for dance and create a podcast platform dedicated to moms building their next chapters.

In this conversation, we talk about why you may never feel fully ready, the hidden résumé every mother carries from raising a family, and how small steps can help you begin before you have the entire plan.

In this episode:

• Recognizing the valuable skills motherhood gives you
• Why an empty nest does not mean an empty purpose
• Taking small steps before you feel ready
• Listening to the nudges that keep calling you
• Rediscovering the passions and ambitions you set aside 

If you are wondering what comes next, or questioning whether you have what it takes, this conversation is for you.

Follow Sharon and Mom To MORE® on Instagram at @momtomore and learn more at momtomore.com.

📖 Get the book:All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Join me over on Substack for The Second Half of the Trip

Enjoying All Who Wander? A rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify helps other women building their next chapter find the show.

Connect with Anne:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

One of the most important things I have learned in every season of change is that no one builds their next chapter alone.

In the Choose Adventure Mindset™, I call this building your Adventure Crew — the people who support you, challenge you, encourage you, and remind you who you are when you forget.

This is the fifth step in the Choose Adventure Mindset™, a five-step framework for navigating change.

Watch the series on YouTube.

In this episode, we talk about:

Links & Resources:

📖 Get the book: All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Subscribe to the Choose Adventure newsletter and join a community of others choosing adventure.

Connect with Anne:
Website: annetaylorhartzell.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell

Most people think confidence comes first and then you take the step. But what I have seen, over and over again, is that confidence comes from taking the step.

In the Choose Adventure Mindset™, I call this Trust + Momentum. You take a step, then another step, and over time you build momentum. And when you’re in motion, you start to notice the small synchronicities that remind you that you are moving in the right direction.

This is the fourth step in the Choose Adventure Mindset™, a five-step framework for navigating change.

Watch the full series on YouTube. 

In this episode, we talk about:

Links & Resources:

📖 Get the book: All Who Wander: A Guide to Finding Your Path in Seasons of Change

🎤 Book Anne to speak at your next event: annetaylorhartzell.com/speaking

💌 Subscribe to the Choose Adventure newsletter and join a community of others choosing adventure.

Connect with Anne:
Website: annetaylorhartzell.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/annetaylorhartzell
Instagram: @annetaylorhartzell