Middle Age Mess

Rick DellaRatta started in music when he was 5 years old, dancing in the living room with his grandma. He upped his piano game a little later when he was playing with Dizzy Gillespie and headlining jazz festivals in front of 9,000 people. Then, while watching 9/11 unfold less than a mile from his house, he started Jazz for Peace, an organization committed to using music to promote peace, love and understanding around the world. Hear Rick's story and some wildly improvisational jazz on the latest episode of Middle Age Mess.

Jana Barrett grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, having no idea what the rest of the world held for her until Communism fell in 1989. After meeting her husband in London, she left for New Zealand where she became the first female Tacfit instructor in the country. She now trains middle age messes around the world using the ancient techniques employed in the Tacfit program while looking out over the harbor in spectacular Wellington, NZ.

Nanette Murphy didn't look at the demise of her 20-year marriage as an end, but, rather, as the beginning to an amazing new chapter in her life. She spent several years learning about the intricacies of the process and practically created a new profession - Divorce Coach! After educating herself, writing books and learning just about everything a non-lawyer could know, she decided to help thousands of people navigating one of the most painful journeys of their lives. Listen to one of the most useful guests ever to appear on Middle Age Mess as Nanette talks about her own fascinating experience discovering how her own trauma could serve as a springboard to helping other people get through theirs.

When Chris Donaldson goes out for a little motorcycle ride, he doesn't play around. In 1979, he rode his bike more than 10,000 miles. Ummmm, without any idea where he was going. And with a map that just, STOPPED, in Sudan. He let the wind and the sun and whatever girl he spoke to dictate his direction. Then 40 years later, just for the hell of it, he did it again. Tune into Middle Age Mess for a truly fascinating adventure story with a man who was either, admittedly, "young and dumb" or has the most unbelievable sense of wanderlust in history.

After a long career as an actor in Los Angeles, and at the age of 55, Mark Steven Porro returned home to New Jersey to take care of his ailing mother. As one of six kids, Mark became her primary caregiver for the next 2 1/2 years which turned into both a heartwarming and hilarious adventure that led to his best-selling book, "A Cup of Tea on the Commode". Mark recounts some of the stories he experienced during this moving episode of Middle Age Mess.

At 39, Allan Misner was well over 250 lbs. That was the last time, though. Over the next 8 months, Allan lost 66 lbs and capped off his weight loss journey by completing a Tough Mudder with his 21yo daughter. This tough motherfu**er went on to create a thriving 40+ fitness community and continues to share his fitness secrets with middle age messes all over the world.

Jennifer Cain Birkmose is unbelievable (albeit accessible at www.vivavalet.com). She went from navigating minefields in Bosnia to saving poor countries with the World Health Organization to (ugh!!!!) Big Pharma, and then put that all away to be an improv performer in Switzerland while she's revolutionizing the Senior Housing industry. It's quite an adventure and a simply fascinating story to hear.

David Petrovay spent more than two decades teaching and counseling blind students across the United States, although he'll tell you that these kids taught him a lot more than they learned. When he felt himself sliding into a Middle Age Mess, he transitioned into career counseling, published three books and now uses his lifetime of experiences working with some of the most inspirational children in the world to inspire and transform people's lives.

Ever stumbled into your middle age and realized you've been doing everything wrong? So did Jerry Scarlato, except he decided to do something about it. He got a divorce, started a business and committed himself to helping people in his community improve themselves by building their confidence through health and fitness with his own creation, The Good Wolf Project.

Let's talk about hitting rock bottom and then climbing back up again to the top. This week, Middle Age Mess interviews the author of Man Up, Sober Up, Ryan Penley, who discusses his descent into addiction for drugs, alcohol and anything else he could find and then his slow rise from those depths to a place where he now helps addicts across the country find their strength, too. A truly inspirational story!