EPISODE 8: Girl, Moira said no naked pictures would be a shame! What if the fastest way to find your voice is to stop waiting for permission? In this deeply personal episode of Messy Girl Tea, the host traces a journey from self-doubt and camera-shyness to reclaiming beauty, confidence, and the right to tell your own story. What starts as a conversation about starting a podcast becomes something bigger: a reckoning with age, visibility, femininity, and the stories women are taught to accept about themselves. After a candid exchange with a younger man, a wedding selfie experiment, and a surprising confidence boost sparked by Schitt's Creek, the episode unfolds into a powerful reflection on what changes when you finally see yourself differently.You’ll hear how a simple request for a photo turns into a turning point, why lingerie becomes less about being desired and more about feeling alive at home, and how gaslighting can slowly erase a person’s sense of self until something - or someone - helps bring it back. You’ll discover:

• Why the podcast is shifting into a more intentional "tea" era
• How the idea of being "ordinary" can actually make room for extraordinary choices
• Why separating lighter, personal conversations from more serious social commentary is important
• What "taking back the narrative" looks like in real life, not just in theory
• Why nostalgia for the 70s and 80s deserves a much harder look than social media usually gives it

This episode also sets up what Messy Girl Tea is becoming: a space for women to talk honestly about aging, reinvention, confidence, relationships, and the messy middle of figuring out who you are now. It’s funny, vulnerable, and quietly radical in the way it insists that women do not need to shrink, apologize, or wait to feel beautiful.Essential listening if you’ve ever wondered whether it’s too late to reinvent yourself, speak up, dress how you want, or decide that your own perspective is the one that matters most.

Episode 7: The Girl and the Adventure! What if the thing you think you “can’t do” just needs a different door in? Messy Girl Ep 7 gets brutally honest about protecting creative work, building a podcast with almost no subscribers, and why the safest path is often the one that keeps you stuck. With a candid behind-the-scenes look at the realities of podcasting—from scrapping a bad episode to the confusion of running duplicate Spotify listings, to the surprisingly complicated world of copyright, trademarks, and proving your work is actually yours, think about how it works. If you’re creating anything online, this part alone is worth the listen. You’ll also hear a warning about content theft, reaction videos, and the uncomfortable truth that bots and copycats can misuse your work faster than you think. The episode pulls back the curtain on what it means to make something personal, publish it, and then protect it without losing your voice. Then the conversation shifts into the heart of the episode: learning to snowboard at 62. After years of failed attempts, lessons from her patient daughter, and one humiliating on-mountain disaster, she finds an unexpected solution in an indoor snowboard training facility in San Francisco—and it changes everything. Ryan, the instructor who helps unlock it, becomes part of a larger point about repetition, conditioning, and finding a method that fits your body instead of forcing yourself into someone else’s. You’ll discover:

• Why “slow and steady” can beat natural athleticism every time
• How indoor training made snowboarding finally click after years of frustration
• What triathlons taught her about proving something once, then moving on
• Why community matters when you’re trying something new later in life
• How to know when you’re being honest with yourself versus too hard on yourself

This episode is also a love letter to supportive people—daughters, friends, and the friend who reminds her that no one is forcing her to post anything before it’s ready. It’s about follow-through, creative courage, and the quiet power of doing hard things on your own terms. Essential listening if you’re starting something new, rebuilding confidence, or wondering whether you’re too old to learn the thing you still secretly want.

@FriendlyAtheist1 (Episode I referenced here):

https://youtu.be/KMdHLO5eQck?si=dTJbxAMagH0m0p3v 

Adventurous Sports - Ryan

https://www.instagram.com/adventuroussportssf/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet 

https://adventurous.com/ 

Why the number on the scale is the least interesting number. What if the "bad news" in your body scan is actually proof you're getting stronger? A DEXA scan, a knee that was once told "buy a cane," and six years of stubborn self-advocacy reveal why the most important health data is the stuff doctors and society keep glossing over.

What started as a way to measure progress after under-eating and body image struggles turned into a powerful check-in on muscle, visceral fat, skeletal health, and what real improvement actually looks like.

• Why a B-minus becoming a B to B-plus matters more than the scale
• What visceral fat is and why it is the number to pay attention to
• Why a small muscle decrease is not always bad news
• How to read health data without taking it personally

• Why starting with a baseline can change how you train, eat, and recover

Episode 5 is where the setup starts to feel real: the recording schedule is finally clicking, the platform connections are working, and the show is starting to move from experiment to repeatable process. But the biggest turn comes when the conversation shifts from podcast logistics to the kind of messy, necessary topic this show was made for. I wasn’t sure whether to post it or not because I am struggling with allergies and don’t want to be annoying. But it is also the first real messy one and I am trying to document the journey. 

We talk about women in male-dominated spaces, especially sports. Drawing from the Holly Rowe and Arch Manning moment, the conversation becomes about more than one awkward comment it’s about how women are still expected to absorb disrespect, why apologies without accountability change nothing, and what it means when men don’t challenge other men in public. The episode also weaves in my long, complicated relationship with football, including former favorite players, the choices that followed disappointment, and the one player I still respect. If you care about women speaking plainly, building something imperfectly, or navigating the tension between what you love and what you won’t excuse, this episode lands exactly where the show says it will: messy, honest, and unafraid to say the uncomfortable part out loud. Perfect for listeners who want a behind-the-scenes look at podcast building and a frank, feminist take on sports culture, accountability, and the understanding it hasn’t change and not sure it will.

Things we talked about that might be interesting: 

@SportsGossipShow

@PabloTorreFindsOut

@RichEisenShow

@FirstThingsFirst

Episode 4: Suki is rethinking everything from the word “retirement” to the stories women tell themselves about age, style, and what they’re still allowed to wear, do, and want. On episode four of Messy Girl Tea, she shares the real-time process of building the podcast from scratch, from getting onto Spotify and Apple to figuring out what actually works behind the scenes. But the bigger conversation is about identity: how we gatekeep ourselves, why “too old for that” is usually a lie, and what it looks like to choose vibrancy on purpose.You’ll hear:

• Why Spotify was the easy part and Apple turned into a puzzle
• The difference between loading platforms directly and using a hosting dashboard
• How a simple interaction sparked a bigger conversation about age, confidence, and self-imposed limits
• The meaning behind “brewing under the moonlight” and why Suki rejects the word retirement
• How hair, lashes, makeup, clothes, and confidence all become part of the same story
• Why finding your tribe matters more than waiting for one to appear

Suki also teases what’s coming next, including the origin story of the podcast, the book she’s writing, and the mysterious “Cop Boy” people keep asking about. Along the way, she makes a case for showing up as the kind of person you want around you, because support starts with the way you support yourself.Perfect for listeners who love honest, funny, slightly chaotic reflections on reinvention, women’s identity, and starting something new before you feel fully ready.

Episode 3: Retirement Is Not the End

What if “retirement” is the wrong word for the next 30 years of your life? As a Messy Girl the idea that getting older means slowing down, shrinking your world, or simply waiting out the rest of your time sounds horrible. This episode is for anyone who is wondering how to treat life after all the work you have already done. I talk about the messy reality of building a podcast from scratch. I watch my videos and confront the voice, gestures, awkward pauses, and self-criticism that come with putting yourself in public. Supportive feedback from family and friends leads to a more complicated question: how do you tell your own stories honestly without exposing someone else’s?

* Turning personal experiences into stories while respecting other people’s privacy
* Choosing how much editing keeps a conversation natural instead of overly rehearsed
* Learning the mechanics of YouTube, social media, Riverside, and audience growth one step at a time
* Why sending videos directly to friends does not create the same kind of engagement as being discovered organically
* Finding creative inspiration in other women who are building entirely new lives on their own terms

Then we talk about the word “retirement.” And we talk about Gen X expectations, ageism in the workplace, Social Security, expensive health insurance, the financial pressure facing people in their sixties, and the impossible gap between living longer and having enough money to do it well. But this is not a retirement-planning lecture. It is a challenge to the assumption that older women should become invisible, quiet, or grateful simply to exist. What does it mean to live with purpose when you expected to be gone by 50? How do you stop letting “too old,” “too late,” or “nobody wants to hear from me” define your choices? And what should we call this next chapter if “retirement” sounds more like defeat than freedom?

My Messy Girl Tea podcast is still finding its voice, its audience, and perhaps a better name for the last 30 years of life. If you are reinventing yourself, questioning the traditional script, or trying to become the creative person you always wanted to be, this honest and unpolished conversation may interest you. I am figuring out as I go.

Episode 2: Inspired by The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and its surprising Paris storyline, this episode is for anyone who has been told, directly or indirectly, that putting themselves first is selfish. You have done your time. You do not owe everyone your continued sacrifice. And you may have more choice than you were ever taught to believe.

If you’re someone who has spent decades keeping everyone else together, this is an honest conversation about recognizing your “Paris moment”.

Pour yourself tea and listen to my first truly messy conversation Messy Girl Tea is having about endings, identity, courage, and the moment you decide not to go back.

Episode 1: None of The DragonSlayer Generation expected to still be alive in our 60s much less have another 30 years left. No one knows what to do with us. We are feral at best.