Late Bloomer Living Podcast

What if the voice telling you you're too old isn't really yours?

Cat and I have a confession. The word "self-care" makes us both cringe a little. That phrase is pushed in our faces so often that it's starting to feel like one more thing on the to-do list. So in this replay of our Salty Sisters livestream, we call it "the S word" instead, and we talk about what taking care of yourself looks like in midlife. It's not all bubble baths and spa days.

Some context: As I was planning this episode, the calendar gave me three gifts on one day. It was National Rice Krispie Treat Day, the day before National Talk Like a Pirate Day, and smack in the middle of Self-Care Awareness Month. So yes, I eat a Rice Krispie Treat on camera. Yes, we read self-care affirmations in pirate voices. And no, neither of us can do a convincing pirate. Cat does every accent except that one.

Under all the "yarrr," though, it turns into one of our most honest conversations. Cat opens up about a hard year and the things that got her through it, from ugly crying to hiding in her car in the garage playing phone games so she wouldn't snap at anyone she loved. We talk about how hard it is to take care of yourself when you're caring for someone else, and why an hour of help is worth asking for. (And please don't spend that hour at the grocery store.)

In this episode:

It's messy, it's sticky, and it's a reminder that laughing with a friend counts as self-care.

🌻 If you're feeling inspired, I'd love for you to share your thoughts about this episode on social media and tag me @latebloomerliving.

Valerie Thurston never planned to write a book when she was 78, but after the death of her husband 17 years ago, a story stayed with her until she finally gave herself permission to write it.

In this episode, Valerie joins Yvonne and Cat to talk about grief, legacy, self-publishing, and her novel Food Poisoning: A Family Saga of Love, Betrayal, and the Fight for Legacy.

This is a grounded, heartfelt conversation for anyone carrying a story, a loss, or a second chapter that has been waiting to be lived.

Nobody's ready. I'm still not ready to do half the things I do.

I'm Yvonne Marchese, and this week my Salty Sister Cat Corchado and I get into where confidence actually comes from, which is not where most of us keep looking for it. Confidence is the receipt. It's not the ticket that gets you in.

Cat learned an entire business late in life by pushing buttons until something worked. I sat on the idea for this podcast for two years before I pressed record, and the reasons I gave people were not the real reason.

A few things that came up:

Somewhere in the middle of all this we accidentally named a segment. "Have you fallen down on your diaper lately?" 😜

So what's the thing you're still waiting to feel ready for...

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Season 7 of Late Bloomer Living is the Salty Sisters season. Every Wednesday you're hearing the audio from Friday's live show on YouTube, where you can jump in with questions while it's happening. Come find us at 3pm Eastern on the Late Bloomer Living channel.

Cat's free 11-Minute Challenge runs October 5–9. Sign up at smallspacepilates.com.

Six years. 281 episodes. And today I'm shaking it up like a snow globe.

**And hit the subscribe button while you're there!

If you've ever caught yourself thinking "I'm too old for that" — this one's for you.

After six years of hosting a podcast about ageism, I still catch myself having ageist thoughts. About myself. And I think that's worth talking about honestly — because the truth is, none of us chose these beliefs. We absorbed them. Long before we were old enough to question them, we were being taught what aging was supposed to look like, what older women were supposed to want, and when it was time to stop trying.

And when we don't question that programming? We shrink. We talk ourselves out of things before we even try. We make ourselves smaller — not because we have to, but because nobody ever told us we didn't have to.

In this Season 6 finale, I'm getting honest about the ageist thoughts I still catch myself having, why that's not something to be ashamed of, and what it actually takes to start changing the beliefs that are quietly limiting you.

Season 7 launches September 2nd

At what age are women officially supposed to stop starting new things?

According to Trish Appello, never.

At 55, Trish gave herself permission to do the thing she'd always wanted — and what followed was background work on Orange Is the New Black, a film producing certificate from UCLA at 62, and eventually creating The EffYou 50s, a comedy series about four women who decide the rules of midlife simply don't apply to them anymore.

In this conversation, we talk about what it actually looks like to start before you feel ready, how she built her way into the film industry one scrappy step at a time, and why she says her age isn't a liability — it's a superpower. If you've ever caught yourself asking "who do I think I am?" — this one's for you.

🌻 If you’re feeling inspired, I’d love for you to share your thoughts about this episode on social media and tag me @latebloomerliving.

🌻Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode! 

🌻 Need a little more FUN in your life? Come to The PLAYshop!  Sign up for the waitlist and get in on the fun! 🛼 💥

You can also join the Late Bloomer Living Community for more fun and inspiration as we navigate midlife together. Find out more at https://www.latebloomerliving.com/

When was the last time something changed in your life and you just... moved on? Didn't name it, didn't sit with it, just kept going? That's worth a second look.

Kathy Mela spent 45 years in the NICU before becoming The Grief Navigator. Her take on grief will probably surprise you. Because she's not just talking about loss through death. She's talking about the grief of an empty nest, a career that ends, an identity you outgrow, a version of yourself you quietly left behind.

In this conversation, Kathy breaks down why so many of us are walking around with unnamed grief and what it actually looks like to move through it. 

We get into the difference between sorrow and grief, why anger and disconnection are often grief in disguise, and a framework for navigating any life transition with more self-compassion and less self-judgment.

What if the questions you're asking right now are actually working against you?

Six years into this podcast, I thought I had a pretty good handle on the power of curiosity. And then Larry Robertson showed up in my inbox — through our mutual friend Lynn Borton of the Choose to Be Curious podcast — and I realized I'd only scratched the surface.

Larry is an innovation advisor, Fulbright Scholar, and author of four award-winning books. His latest, Great Question: The Art of the Ask and Getting More of What You Really Want, is the result of years of research and interviews with some of the world's most original thinkers. His central argument: asking great questions might be the most underrated human skill we have. And most of us stopped practicing it a long time ago.

In this conversation we talk about why jumping straight to "why" can actually shut down your thinking, what intellectual humility really is and why it matters more than we think, the specific trap that midlife sets for our curiosity, the difference between reinvention, rewiring, and renewal, and the one question Larry returns to every time he's navigating uncertainty.

I also made an on air confession….  After six years of hosting a podcast about aging playfully, I still catch myself having ageist thoughts. Turns out that's not something to be ashamed of. It's just proof that the question never really ends.

Larry Robertson's book is available now. Find him at lrspeaks.com.

You look capable. You hold it all together. But somewhere along the way, you started leaving yourself behind — one small retreat at a time.

Vera Knight calls it the half-second exit. And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

After a burnout and a cancer diagnosis cracked her open, Vera stopped managing her life from a distance and started actually living it. Now she helps high-functioning women find their way back to themselves — and in this conversation, she'll help you find yours.