Something doesn’t have to be broken for you to realize it may be time to do things differently. What happens when your career, routines, or life still work — but you’ve changed?

We get comfortable with our careers, routines, relationships, and even the way we see ourselves. But when was the last time you stopped to ask whether the decisions you made years ago still make sense for who you are today?

Twenty-four years after being fired from the Phoenix Coyotes, I found myself revisiting my career in a way I never expected. It all started when I tried to save a little money on a GoDaddy renewal and accidentally crashed my entire Kricun Media website.

What began as a frustrating and expensive mistake turned into an opportunity to revisit years of work, recognize how much I've grown, and rethink how I want to use my experience moving forward.

In this episode, we're talking about the cost of getting too comfortable, how our past experiences can limit what we believe is possible, and why personal growth doesn't have to mean starting over.

I'm also sharing how an old money mantra has taken on new meaning for me, and why the freedom to make choices, create, and contribute matters more to me now than ever.

Here's something to think about as you listen: What in your life have you stopped questioning simply because it's familiar? And what might become possible if you gave yourself permission to look at it differently?

You don't have to wait for something to fall apart before you decide to make a change.

Mentioned in this episode

Fired and Finally Free

If you haven't heard the story behind my unexpected departure from the Phoenix Coyotes and how it changed the direction of my life, you can listen to my very first episode of Love From the Inside Out here:

Listen to Fired and Finally Free.

Explore the new Kricun Media website

The unexpected website crash gave me an opportunity to revisit more than three decades of work and create a new website that better reflects who I am and the experience I bring to my clients today.

If you're looking for an experienced partner in strategic communications, public relations, marketing, or corporate and nonprofit event strategy, I'd love to connect. I bring 30+ years of industry experience to help organizations strengthen their message, increase visibility, and tell their stories through strategic communications, marketing counsel, and thoughtfully executed events.

Explore my work and let's start a conversation:

Visit KricunMedia.com

Let's stay connected

If this conversation resonated with you, share it with someone who might be ready to take another look at what's possible in her own life.

And I'd love to hear from you: What's one thing you've been doing on autopilot that might deserve a fresh look?

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

When someone dies, what happens to the life they lived?

My Aunt Essie passed away recently, and her death brought me back to something I’ve felt deeply since losing my parents: I don’t want the people I love to simply become part of the past. Their stories, personalities, beliefs, humor, music, relationships and the ways they shaped us still matter.

In this episode, I talk about grief, memory and what it means to keep a loved one’s memory alive after loss. I share a photograph I found of Aunt Essie as a little girl standing in a flower garden, what her glass-half-full approach to living with MS taught me about perspective, the 40 years she shared with her husband Jim, and why Elton John’s Crocodile Rock will always bring her back to me.

I also explore the small ways we can preserve the people we love: telling family stories, saving photographs and videos, writing down names and memories, explaining why certain objects matter, and keeping the little details alive that might otherwise disappear with time.

Because remembering someone doesn’t always have to feel sad. Sometimes it’s a photograph. Sometimes it’s a story that still makes you laugh. Sometimes it’s a song that comes on unexpectedly and, for a moment, brings that person right back.

If you’ve lost a parent, family member or someone you love, or you’ve found yourself thinking more about family history, grief, legacy and preserving memories as you get older, I think you’ll understand this one.

In this episode:

• Why keeping loved ones’ memories alive matters so much to me
• What losing my parents taught me about memory and legacy
• Remembering the whole person, not only the end of their life
• Simple ways to preserve family stories, photographs and memories
• How music and everyday objects can reconnect us with people we’ve lost
• The perspective my Aunt Essie carried throughout her life

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

What do you already know inside that you keep looking outside yourself to confirm?

In this episode, Susan explores why we can know exactly what we want and still wait for more proof, permission or certainty before we act. Inspired by Cathy Heller’s idea of “main character energy,” this conversation is about what it means to participate fully in your own life instead of waiting on the sidelines for something else to happen first.

Susan shares the story of wanting to start this podcast for years, taking a podcasting course twice, and still finding ways to talk herself out of moving forward. She also shares a much more current example: deciding to reach out to Peloton instructor Jess King with an invitation to be a guest on the podcast rather than waiting until she had enough evidence that the answer might be yes.

The episode also explores Cathy Heller’s VCR framework — Vision, Choices, Results — and the difference between making decisions from the part of you that is trying to stay safe and the quieter part that already knows what feels true.

Then, after hearing Cathy speak about identity and choice, Susan found herself hearing a similar message from a completely different direction in an episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast featuring Dr. Cassandra Vieten.

Dr. Vieten’s future-self exercise offered a different way to think about becoming the woman you want to be. Instead of focusing primarily on what your future life looks like — the house, the career, the accomplishments — what happens when you focus on how that future version of you feels?

And what if your future self isn’t simply someone you’re supposed to become someday, but someone you can start consulting today?

This episode explores:

• Why waiting for certainty can keep you circling the same decision
• How fear can disguise itself as perfectly logical thinking
• Cathy Heller’s Vision, Choices, Results framework
• What “main character energy” can actually look like in real life
• Brené Brown’s idea about the emotional cost of unused creativity
• How negative self-talk can make it even harder to move forward
• A different way to approach future-self visualization
• Why self-trust grows through experience rather than reassurance
• How to recognize when you already know the answer but keep looking outside yourself for confirmation
• The one question that can help you decide what your next move really is

You don’t need to know how the whole story ends. You may simply need to get quiet enough to hear what you already know — and decide what part of the plot is actually yours to move forward.

Mentioned in This Episode

The Mel Robbins Podcast with Dr. Cassandra Vieten, PhD
World-Leading Psychologist: How to Manifest Anything & Create the Life You Want 

Among many things, Dr. Vieten discusses The Next You, future-self work, imagination and how thinking about the person you are becoming can influence the choices you make today.

Cathy Heller
Author of Abundant Ever After and host of Everything Is Energy

Brené Brown — Why Design Matters with Debbie Millman
Includes Brené’s discussion of creativity and what can happen when it goes unused.

Notes From the Inside Out

If these are the kinds of conversations you like thinking about after an episode ends, join Susan for Notes From the Inside Out — more of what she’s thinking about, practicing and noticing between episodes, along with ideas that may help you hear yourself a little more clearly in your own life.

Sign up here!

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

What if your personal style — and even the way you think about fashion — has less to do with clothes and more to do with confidence, identity and how fully you're allowing yourself to be seen?

In this deeply personal conversation, style and self-expression coach Maren Swenson shares how her own journey of questioning expectations, rebuilding self-trust and learning to express herself more freely completely changed the way she sees personal style. We talk about body image, confidence, the stories hiding in our closets, dressing for approval versus dressing for ourselves, and why what we wear can become a surprisingly powerful tool for self-expression and self-love.

Maren also shares one of my favorite ideas from the conversation: style can be “self-love in 3D.”

And this episode goes far beyond clothes. It's about what happens when we stop waiting for permission, stop shrinking to make other people comfortable and begin showing up more fully as ourselves.

In this conversation:

• Why personal style is connected to confidence, identity and self-expression
• The stories behind the clothes we buy — and the ones we never wear
• How body changes can affect the way we see and express ourselves
• Why so many women dress from practicality, approval or expectation rather than desire
• What it means to shop with an “unlimited mindset budget”
• Why your first response to an outfit may tell you more than the thoughts that come afterward
• How to reconnect with your personal style without buying anything new
• Why women often feel responsible for other people's reactions
• The difference between thinking about the woman you want to become and actually beginning to live as her
• Why, as Maren says, “you can't be her unless you go be her”

About Maren Swenson

Maren Swenson is the founder of Wild Serenity and a style and self-expression coach who helps women stop hiding and start feeling at home in their own skin.

Through personal coaching, retreats and group experiences, Maren teaches women to use style as a tool for self-expression, body connection and confidence. Her work goes far beyond what to wear. It's about helping women reclaim the parts of themselves they've buried under years of “shoulds” and show up more fully as who they are.

Connect with Maren:

Website: https://marenswenson.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findwildserenity/

Free Style Quiz: https://marenswenson.com/style-quiz

Maren also has a few spots remaining for her upcoming Unapologetic Tour in Las Vegas, an immersive experience designed to help women put this work into practice through style, coaching, connection and real-life experiences. If this one fills, she's planning another experience for early next year.

If this conversation made you think of a woman in your life, share this episode with her. I have a feeling it's one you'll want to talk about afterward.

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

Do you ever feel like you’re not doing enough — even when you’re doing a lot? Or like you should be further along by now in your career, health, relationships, finances or life?

In this episode of Love From the Inside Out, Susan explores the connection between enoughness, perfectionism, self-worth and self-compassion — and asks a question that may change the way you think about all of it:

When did you start believing there was a test… and whose test is it?

The conversation was sparked by an email from self-compassion researcher Dr. Kristin Neff about the ENOUGH movement and its simple bracelet designed to remind us that our worth isn’t something we have to earn.

That message brought Susan back to something she learned much earlier in life. Growing up with a perfectionist mother, she eventually created her own mantra — “There is beauty in imperfection.” Years later, during an online program with Brené Brown, she wrote another reminder on the palm of her hand: “I am imperfect and I am enough.”

Now, more than a decade later, the word enough has found its way back into her life.

Susan also shares an idea from bestselling author Nir Eyal and his daughter Jasmine about why “enough” can become a constantly moving target when we attach it to the next achievement, number, job or milestone.

Because there’s a big difference between:

I want more.

and

I’m not enough until I have more.

This episode is an invitation to notice the standards you may be measuring yourself against without ever consciously choosing them — and to ask whether they still belong in your life.

Maybe enoughness isn’t about giving up ambition or deciding you never want anything to change.

Maybe it’s learning how to keep growing without making who you are today wrong.

In this episode, Susan explores why perfectionism can create a false sense of control, how inherited expectations quietly become our own rules, why reaching the next milestone often doesn’t create the feeling we expected, and what it might look like to define “enough” from the inside out.

You’ll also hear a simple question Susan has been practicing at the end of the day:

What if this is enough for today?

And one to carry with you long after the episode ends:

What do I know inside that I keep looking outside myself to confirm?

Join the ENOUGH movement

Susan recently became an ambassador for the ENOUGH movement after discovering it through Kristin Neff. If you’d like to learn more or order an ENOUGH bracelet of your own, you can find it here.

Disclosure: Susan may receive a small commission if you purchase through this link, at no additional cost to you.

Notes From the Inside Out

Want to continue the conversation between episodes?

Sign up for Susan’s newsletter, Notes From the Inside Out, at this link.

Mentioned in this episode

Kristin Neff, PhD — self-compassion researcher and author

ENOUGH
[INSERT YOUR ENOUGH AMBASSADOR LINK]

Brené Brown

Nir Eyal

If this episode made you think of someone who is always wondering whether she’s doing enough, send it to her. 

Sometimes we need someone else to remind us of what we already know:

You are enough.

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

What if you’re not “uncreative” at all? What if you’ve simply gotten disconnected from that part of yourself?

In this episode of Love From the Inside Out, I’m talking with expressive artist and creativity empowerment guide Kristen Fagan and intuitive mentor and yoga teacher Kerry Burki about creativity as something much bigger than being able to paint, draw, or make something beautiful.

We talk about why so many of us gradually lose touch with our creativity as life gets fuller, what perfectionism and our inner critic have to do with it, and what can happen when we give ourselves permission to create simply because it feels good.

Kristen and Kerry also share how creativity, movement, mindfulness, and intuition can work together to bring us back into the present moment and reconnect us with ourselves.

And yes, I share my own experience of being the person who freezes when someone puts a blank piece of paper in front of me and says, “Create something.” As it turns out, what gets triggered in those moments can have very little to do with the art itself.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why women often lose touch with creativity as life gets busier
• Why “I’m not creative” may not actually be true
• How perfectionism and our inner critic can shut down creativity before we even begin
• What changes when we stop creating for an outcome and start creating for the experience
• Creativity as a form of self-care
• How movement, mindfulness, and getting into our bodies can quiet some of the noise in our heads
• The freedom of knowing you can paint over it, change direction, or simply start again
• How creating can help us rediscover what we actually like, want, and feel drawn to
• Why creativity extends far beyond painting and drawing
• Simple ways to start reconnecting with your creative self without turning it into another thing on your to-do list
• Kristen’s belief that we are all artists of our lives

About Kristen Fagan

Kristen Fagan is an Expressive Artist and Creativity Empowerment Guide who helps women reclaim their creativity, inner calm, and confidence through art, mindfulness, and immersive creative wellbeing experiences.

Her intuitive, layered approach gives perfection a chance to step aside so there’s more room for play, curiosity, self-expression, and self-discovery. Kristen holds a BA in Visual Communication, is a certified creativity coach, co-facilitator of Create More Community, and co-creator of the Tend & Create Retreat.

Her core belief is simple: Life is yours to create.

Connect with Kristen:

Website: kristenfagan.com

Instagram: @kristenfagan

YouTube: Kristen Fagan Art

Monthly Membership, Soul Painting Journeys & Online Courses: Make Art with Kristen

About Kerry Burki

Kerry Burki is an Intuitive Mentor, E-RYT 200 yoga teacher, author, and Divine Resonance Magic Practitioner who helps women reconnect with themselves through mindfulness, movement, creativity, intuition, and intentional self-care.

Through her books, workshops, and immersive experiences, Kerry creates spaces where women can slow down, listen inward, and reconnect with what feels alive and meaningful in their lives. Her work is rooted in the belief that we don’t always need to fix ourselves. Sometimes we need space to pause, feel, create, and hear what our next chapter is asking of us.

Kerry is also the co-creator of the Tend & Create Retreat.

Connect with Kerry:

Website: kerryburki.com

Instagram: @kerry_burki

Book: Tend to Your Vibration

Discover & Paint Your Animal Guide Online Class
Kristen and Kerry also created the online Discover & Paint Your Animal Guide class that came up during our conversation. It’s available to join from anywhere.

Tend & Create: Full Moon & Feathers Retreat

Kristen and Kerry’s next Tend & Create Retreat takes place September 25–27, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The retreat brings together creativity, gentle movement, yoga, mindfulness, reflection, community, and practices centered around releasing what is no longer yours to carry.

And you do not have to live in Arizona to attend. Women travel from around the country for their retreats, and attendees can choose to stay at the retreat hotel or make their own lodging arrangements.

Learn more and register here:

Tend & Create: Full Moon & Feathers Retreat

Stay connected with Love From the Inside Out

If this conversation gave you something to think about, share it with someone who might need the reminder that her creative self hasn’t disappeared. She may just need a little space to find her way back to it.

And you can stay connected with Love From the Inside Out and sign up here for Notes From the Inside Out.

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

Have you ever pushed down something you were feeling because you didn’t have the time, energy, or emotional bandwidth to deal with it?

Maybe you told yourself it wasn’t a big deal. Maybe you knew that facing it would require a difficult conversation, a boundary, or a decision you weren’t ready to make. So you kept going and hoped the feeling would eventually disappear.

But what happens when it doesn’t?

In this episode, Susan explores emotional congestion and the cost of repeatedly ignoring what you feel, overriding what you know, and abandoning yourself when something becomes uncomfortable.

The idea had been on her mind after revisiting a personal growth program she completed earlier this year. Then, during a challenging Jess King Peloton ride, the message showed up again in a completely different way.

The ride was low impact, but the resistance and cadence stayed steady for long stretches. Instead of pushing hard for a few seconds and getting relief, Susan had to remain in the discomfort long enough for her body to adapt. That experience became a powerful parallel for emotional fitness and what can happen when we stay present long enough for a difficult feeling to begin to shift.

Susan also shares what coherence means to her: feeling grounded, connected to her heart, and aligned in her mind, body, emotions, and energy. She reflects on how years of overriding her intuition and ignoring red flags affected her sense of balance, and why she believes prolonged stress and unexpressed emotion can become part of what the body is carrying.

You’ll also hear a simple but powerful analogy about being the pot rather than the boiling water, along with practical ways to check in with yourself through 4-7-8 breathing, music, movement, rest, and asking what your body actually needs.

This episode is not about getting stuck in difficult emotions or allowing them to take over. It is about recognizing what is there, giving it a path through, and learning how to stay with yourself instead of automatically pushing it away.

Join Susan’s new monthly newsletter, Notes From the Inside Out, for personal reflections, practices, and reminders to help you come back to yourself. Sign up at this link: lovefromtheinsideout.co.

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

How do you know when it’s time to let go of something you still love?

After an arborist told Susan and her husband that the enormous ficus tree outside their home could no longer be safely preserved, Susan’s emotional response caught her completely off guard. The tree was still standing, but suddenly she was seeing it differently and imagining what their home, and her life inside it, would feel like without it.

In this deeply personal solo episode, Susan reflects on anticipatory grief, the difficult space between knowing and accepting, and what it means to care for something when holding on may no longer be the most responsible choice.

She also explores how the same question can surface in other parts of our lives, including our relationships, our work, our changing bodies and the versions of ourselves we may have outgrown.

This episode is an honest reflection on change, stewardship and the time it can take for our hearts to catch up with what our minds may already understand.

In this episode:

• Why grief can begin before something is actually gone
• The emotional difference between understanding a decision and feeling ready for it
• How ordinary parts of our lives quietly become part of what home means to us
• The difference between caring for something and holding on because we fear what comes next
• Why letting go does not erase the love, meaning or memories connected to what we are losing
• How to remain present with what is still here while acknowledging that it may soon change

Stay connected

Subscribe to Notes From the Inside Out for personal reflections, podcast updates and encouragement for navigating midlife from the inside out: https://love-from-the-inside-out.kit.com/473b24caee

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

Your home may look beautiful, but does it still support the life you’re living now—and the person you’re becoming?

In the first conversation episode of Love From the Inside Out, Susan sits down with Kim Costa, a Top 5% REALTOR®, author, speaker and creator of the Wheel House Method™, to explore the often-overlooked connection between our homes, our identities and the changes we experience in midlife.

Years ago, Kim was living in a picture-perfect farmhouse when a serious horseback-riding accident left her with a broken back and the possibility that she might never walk again. During her recovery, she won an essay contest for The Oprah Winfrey Show—but when producers asked to film her story at her home, she turned down the opportunity.

That decision eventually helped Kim recognize a much deeper truth: she had created a life that looked wonderful from the outside but didn’t reflect who she really was.

In this conversation, Kim shares how that realization led her to reinvent her life, change careers and develop a new way of helping people determine whether their homes still fit their needs, values and vision for the future.

Susan and Kim also talk about the emotional side of our living environments, what happens when couples need different things from the same space, and why a home can sometimes keep us connected to roles or identities we have outgrown.

This episode is not simply about moving, renovating or decorating. It is an invitation to consider whether your surroundings support the way you want to live now.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• How Kim’s life-changing injury became a wake-up call
• Why she said no to an opportunity with The Oprah Winfrey Show
• The difference between a beautiful home and a home that truly fits your life
• How life transitions, including empty nesting, career changes and divorce, can change what we need from our homes
• Why each person in a household needs space to be who they are
• How your home can support your interests, relationships, creativity and well-being
• The connection between people-pleasing, guilt and living a life that does not feel like your own
• Why midlife can be an opportunity to reconsider what you want next
• How small changes can begin moving you back into alignment
• Kim’s advice to pause, take inventory and choose one area in which to begin

About Kim Costa

Kim Costa is a Top 5% REALTOR®, author, speaker, host and creator of the Wheel House Method™. With more than 30 years of experience across residential construction, design, real estate and lifestyle alignment, Kim helps homeowners—especially women in midlife and major life transitions—decide whether to stay, go, renovate or reimagine the home they already have.

Through her book, Live in Your Wheel House, Kim encourages readers to look beyond square footage and resale value and ask a more meaningful question: Does this home support who I am becoming?

Connect with Kim

Website:
https://lifestylefoundations.com/

Learn more about Live in Your Wheel House:
https://liveinyourwheelhousebook.com/

Join Kim’s Wheel House Workshop Series:
https://lifestylefoundations.com/virtual-workshop/

Kim is also launching a virtual workshop series this fall based on her Wheel House framework. The six-session experience invites women to take an honest look at the different areas of their lives and explore what may be ready for more support, clarity, or change.

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/kim.e.costa/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/kimecostarealtor

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimecosta

Join Notes From the Inside Out

Join Susan’s monthly newsletter, Notes From the Inside Out, for personal reflections, thoughtful reminders and ideas to help you keep finding your way back to yourself in midlife.

It’s where our conversations continue between episodes—one thoughtful note at a time.

Join at this link.

Stay connected with the podcast

Follow or subscribe to Love From the Inside Out so you don’t miss what’s next.

And if this conversation made you look at your home—or your life—a little differently, share it with a friend who may need to hear it too.

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.

One year ago, on International Self-Care Day, I launched Love From the Inside Out with one simple promise: to release one episode every week for an entire year.

In this one-year anniversary episode, I'm reflecting on what a year of showing up has taught me about self-trust, consistency, perfectionism, confidence, and why so many women in midlife struggle to recognize how far they've come.

I had no idea where that commitment would lead.

I didn't know if anyone would listen. I didn't know what I was doing. I just knew there was something I wanted to create, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could follow through.

One year later, after more than 50 episodes, listeners in 65 countries and territories and 481 cities worldwide, and as I wrap up this season of the podcast, I've realized the greatest thing I built wasn't a podcast.

It was trust in myself.

But this episode isn't really about podcasting.

It's about something I think so many women in midlife struggle with: moving from one accomplishment to the next without ever stopping long enough to recognize how far we've come.

I also reflect on the incredible kindness of this community—from thoughtful messages and reviews to cards, gifts, and conversations that have reminded me there's a real person on the other side of every episode. Your encouragement has not only kept me going, it's helped shape the direction of this podcast.

If you've been second-guessing yourself, waiting until you feel "ready," wondering why nothing you accomplish ever feels like enough, or constantly moving on to the next goal without stopping to acknowledge your progress, I hope this conversation reminds you that the evidence of who you're becoming is already there—you may just need to slow down long enough to see it.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How to trust yourself by recognizing how far you've come
• Why self-trust is built by keeping promises to yourself
• The surprising relationship between consistency and confidence
• Why so many women rush past their own growth
• Why we rarely feel like we've done enough—even after accomplishing something meaningful
• How perfectionism keeps us from acknowledging our progress
• One of the most overlooked forms of self-care
• Learning to celebrate yourself without waiting for someone else's approval
• Why honoring your growth isn't selfish—it's necessary
• Lessons from one year of Love From the Inside Out
• A look ahead at what's coming next for the podcast

Also in this episode:

• Celebrating one year of Love From the Inside Out
• More than 50 episodes published
• Listeners in 65 countries and territories and 481 cities worldwide
• The beginning of Season 3—with the first conversation episode of Love From the Inside Out

If this episode resonates with you, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a message on Instagram or Facebook and tell me one promise you've kept to yourself recently—or one way you've grown that you haven't stopped to acknowledge yet. I'd genuinely love to hear your story.

And if you've been listening this past year, thank you. Whether you've listened to one episode or all of them, left a review, shared the podcast with a friend, sent a thoughtful message, or simply invited me into your walks, workouts, or morning coffee, I don't take a single minute of your time for granted. You've helped shape this community more than you know.

Keep Listening

If today's conversation resonated with you, you may also enjoy Why Choosing Yourself Feels So Uncomfortable, where I explore why keeping promises to yourself can feel so difficult—and how self-trust is built one small choice at a time.

🎧 Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2369290/episodes/19434060

If today's episode spoke to you, I think you'll love Notes From the Inside Out. It's where our conversations continue between episodes—one thoughtful note at a time.

Once a month, I'll send you a personal note with reflections, practical insights, encouragement, and a few things I'm loving or learning as I navigate this season of life alongside you. My hope is that each note helps you trust yourself a little more and reminds you that you're not doing this alone.

✨ Sign up for Notes From the Inside Out HERE.

I'd truly love to meet you there.

Because you're not disappearing.

You're recognizing the woman you've been becoming all along.

Text Susan about this episode

🎧 Connect & Get More:
• Instagram: @susan.kricun
• Drop in my DMs and share your story or ask a question.
• Sign up for my newsletter for free resources and updates.

🎶 Music Credit:
“Seize the Day” by Andrey Rossi, via #Uppbeat (uppbeat.io/t/andrey-rossi/seize-the-day)

✨ Support the Show:
• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you listen
• Share this episode with a friend who could use a little more love—right where it matters most.

📚 Susan’s Favorite Books + Tools
• This link leads you to a curated list of books and tools I genuinely love and use.
• Some links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

🎙️ Be a Guest on the Show. Fill out this form.

© 2025–present Susan Kricun.  Love From the Inside Out® is a registered trademark of Kricun Media, LLC.

All rights reserved. All opinions are my own. This podcast is educational, not medical or legal advice.