Now What

Hey Hoops & Glossers — can you believe it? 33 episodes together! This week, Melis is flying solo to reintroduce herself, reflect on what's brought us here, and celebrate YOU — the community showing up every week with messy buns, full hearts, and maybe a little midlife rage. (Same.)

👋 Get to know your host: Melis is a 53-year-old mom of three, wife, former stay-at-home burnout survivor, and current queen of "WTF is happening to my hormones?" She started "Now What?!" because one day she looked around and thought… well ,NOW WHAT?!

🌀 In this episode:

• Why this podcast was born from a midlife identity shake-up

• What it means to hit the "messy middle" of parenting, purpose, and perimenopause

• A big thank you to past guests and the magical moments they've shared

• The power of community when everything feels like too much

• Why we're done pretending and fully embracing the ragey, raw, real stuff

🚨 Plus, a lil announcement: Melis is launching her brand-new 1:1 Reset Coaching Session — a private, no-judgment zone to get unstuck and feel like you again. Spots are limited, but Hoops & Glossers get first dibs. Because you deserve it.

📣 If you've been loving the pod:

• Share it with a friend who's midlife flailing with you

• Leave a 5-star review (1-star people may exit to the left, respectfully)

• Slide into Melis' DMs with topic ideas. Nothing's off the table. NOTHING.

🎧 Press play if you need a reminder that you're not alone in this wild, sweaty, hilarious midlife ride.

Until next week… 💋 Stay messy, stay marvelous, and keep asking: Now What?!

xoxo

melis

👉 Don't forget to leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify (because you're my friend, right? RIGHT??) 👉 Tag me @motivatewithmelis and share with a friend

Grief isn't a dirty word. It's part of life — and it deserves to be talked about.

In this deeply moving episode, Melis sits down with her close friend Ashley — a wife, mom, and interior designer — who shares her story of losing her son, Alex, to cancer seven years ago. With honesty, heart, and strength, Ashley opens up about what grief really looks like, and why she's on a mission to bring these conversations into the light.

Whether you've experienced loss or want to better support someone who has, this episode is a powerful reminder that you're not alone — and you don't need to have the perfect words to be present.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Ashley's mission to normalize grief and open up real conversations about loss

• The truth about what grief looks and feels like — years later

• How to support a grieving parent (and what not to say)

• Keeping Alex's memory alive in everyday, meaningful ways

• Why talking about grief helps us all feel more human and less alone

Please listen with an open heart — and share with someone who needs to hear it.

xoxo

melis

👉 Don't forget to leave a 5-star review on Apple or Spotify (because you're my friend, right? RIGHT??) 👉 Tag me @motivatewithmelis and share with a friend

Hey Hoops & Glossers,

Grab your tissues and your tassels — we're going there. This solo episode is for all the parents hiding their ugly cries behind sunglasses and wondering why the end of the school year feels like an identity crisis wrapped in a slideshow.

In this graduation-season rollercoaster, Melis gets real (and weepy) about:

• Why you might actually be the one graduating — from carpool duty, form-signing, and snack-pack life

• The bittersweet shift from parenting chaos to "Wait… who am I now?"

• How her own "Now What?!" moment started the day her son walked across that stage

• Reclaiming your time, purpose, and passion — even if you're still figuring out what that looks like (Same.)

🎉 Bonus:

• A sneak peek at Melis' upcoming "reset" coaching offer (because it's time to put yourself back on your own to-do list)

• A very real, very unfiltered midlife pep talk from someone who's navigating it right beside you

So if you're mid-sob, mid-scroll, or mid-"WTF am I doing with my life now?" — you're in the right place.

🎧 Hit play, DM "reset," and let's graduate from putting ourselves last. Together.

xoxo

melis

🌎 Check out how we can work together → https://motivatewithmelis.com/

📸 Follow me on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/motivatewithmelis/

🖥️ Let's get connected on Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/motivatewithmelis/

📱 Follow me on Tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@motivatewithmelis

Hey hey, Hoops & Gloss crew! Today's episode is serving up real estate with a side of real life — think heart, humor, and just a sprinkle of tough love (glossed up, of course). 💄

We're hanging out with the amazing Tina Frechman — realtor, investor, and all-around boss and trust us, this chat goes way beyond open houses and "sold" signs. If you've ever felt torn between your memory-filled home and that dream of something new? This one hits home.

Here's what's on the table: ・Home = memories – Every corner tells a story, and yeah, it's emotional. ・ More than money – Happiness matters just as much as resale value. ・ Upgrade now – Don't wait to love your space. Make it magical today. ・ Downsizing? – It's not a step back, it's a glow-up with less clutter. ・ Kids returning home – Turns out, they do want to raise their kids where they grew up. ・ Letting go is real – But you're not saying goodbye to memories, just turning the page.

✨ Real talk: Your home isn't just a place — it's a whole mood. So don't wait for the "For Sale" sign to start living in the space you've always dreamed of.

Throw on your hoops, swipe on that gloss, and dive into this heartfelt convo with us. Because real estate? It's personal, babe. And that's exactly why we're talking about it.

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🌎 Check out how we can work together → https://motivatewithmelis.com/

📸 Follow me on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/motivatewithmelis/

🖥️ Let's get connected on Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/motivatewithmelis/

📱 Follow me on Tiktok → https://www.tiktok.com/@motivatewithmelis

Hoops & Glossers… if you're feeling meh, moody, or just mildly ragey, this episode is the warm hug (and possibly the estrogen patch) you didn't know you needed.

Meet Kelly Brooks Huber: mom of four (two human, two furry), businesswoman, college roommate, and—fun fact—bikini wax spirit guide. We go way back, and this convo? It's real, ridiculous, and ridiculously relatable.

We cover:

• That time both of us broke up with Lexapro (and how we knew it was time)

• Why the estrogen patch might deserve its own holiday

• Parenting adult daughters (and teenage ones who suddenly don't like you anymore 🙃)

• Midlife pivots after 25+ years in the same career

• The magic of radical female friendship—especially the ones that know your college GPA and your current HRT dosage

This one's for the women who are showing up, even if they have no idea what they're doing (spoiler alert: same). So grab your half-caff, text your bestie, and hit play—because life doesn't come with a manual, but it's a lot easier with a hype squad.

👊 If this episode made you laugh, cry, or reconsider your current meds, send it to your favorite rad woman and leave a review!

What do you get when two midlife moms trade stories about protein shakes, pelvic floors, and fighting for their identity one workout at a time? THIS episode.

Melis sits down with Skyler Burton — fellow mom, awesome human, and accountability buddy on the same fitness and mindset journey — to talk about what it really looks like to try and reclaim your energy, your confidence, and maybe even your abs (no promises) while raising kids and holding onto your sanity.

In this episode:

🏋️‍♀️ Why starting a fitness routine in midlife is about so much more than the scale 🤪 How being home with kids can leave you craving adult connection and your old self 👟 The power of finding a community (and a coach!) that sees you even when you feel invisible 🥲 The behind-the-scenes truth of showing up for yourself when motivation is MIA

"I felt like I was disappearing… and lifting weights reminded me I was still in there." – Skyler 💪

👯‍♀️ Have you ever tried to do squats with a toddler hanging on your leg? Then you're going to love this one. Share it with a friend who's also trying to find herself somewhere between the laundry and leg day.

xoxo

melis

👉 Don't forget to leave a 5-star review on Spotify (because you're my friend, right? RIGHT??) 👉 Tag me @motivatewithmelis and tell me how you're taking a break today!

Welcome to this week's from-the-bed episode, where your host Melis, wrapped in cozy PJs and channeling her inner Sara Foster, shares the wild tale of what happens when you don't listen to your body… until it shouts "STREP AND BRONCHITIS" through a megaphone.

Midlife women, it's time to ditch the guilt and reclaim rest—not as a luxury, but as a necessity (and yes, even a performance strategy if you're chasing that 53-year-old booty gain like Melis).

✨ In this episode:

• The true story of how ignoring a cough turned into an urgent care wake-up call

• What a bodybuilding butt has to do with bronchitis (spoiler: a lot)

• Why rest isn't weakness—it's muscle-building, brain-repairing magic

• How we got conned into thinking hustle = worth (and how to unsubscribe)

• The science behind why 6 hours of sleep = pulling an all-nighter (yikes!)

• A hilariously honest look at sleep, guilt, and doomscrolling Harvey from Suits

📍 Your Rest Homework: Start by going to bed just 15 minutes earlier than last night. That's it. Baby steps toward badassery.

Because, Hoops & Glossers, you can't run the world if you're running on empty.

xoxo

melis

👉 Don't forget to leave a 5-star review on Spotify (because you're my friend, right? RIGHT??) 👉 Tag me @motivatewithmelis and tell me how you're taking a break today!

Why is it that we'll move mountains to show up for everyone else... but ghost our own goals like a bad Tinder date?

In this solo pep talk, Melis gets real about the sneaky ways we slide off our own to-do lists (and what to do about it). From gym daycare confessions to the "start small" mantra, she's calling us all in—with love, laughter, and a little tough truth.

You'll hear:

• Why your calendar needs your name on it

• The real reason you keep saying "yes" to everyone but you

• And how not to sign up for a marathon when you haven't taken a walk in weeks (guilty!)

💪 Consider this your permission slip to take up space on your own schedule.

xoxo

melis

👉 Don't forget to leave a 5-star review on Spotify (because you're my friend, right? RIGHT??) 👉 Tag me @motivatewithmelis and tell me how you're spreading the love today!

One minute you're texting your mom to ask how long chicken lasts in the fridge, and the next you're coordinating her hospital discharge and Googling "signs of sepsis." Welcome to the midlife plot twist they forgot to warn us about: parenting our parents.

In this raw, real, and yes—still hilarious—episode, Melis is joined by her longtime bestie and nurse extraordinaire Nicole Jolicoeur Johnson. Together, they unpack what it's like to be full-time caregivers, full-time moms, and part-time guilt-ridden humans trying to hold it all together.

💥 Spoiler alert: there's a penis sighting in the ICU, a prairie fire in the background, and possibly a midlife commune in our future.

Listen in if you've ever:

• Felt completely alone navigating a parent's medical emergency

• Wondered how to support your kids, your parents, and yourself without losing it

• Needed permission to laugh through the chaos

Because somewhere between carpool and care facilities, we all became the grown-ups. And we're still figuring it out, one crisis (and joke) at a time.

xoxo

melis

👉 Don't forget to leave a 5-star review on Spotify (because you're my friend, right? RIGHT??) 👉 Tag me @motivatewithmelis and tell me how you're spreading the love today!

What if this chapter isn't the beginning of the end—but the part where we finally stop playing small?

Welcome back to Now What?!, the podcast that's part pep talk, part group therapy, and all about embracing midlife with grit, grace, and a heavy pour of humor. In this solo episode, Melis is serving up a much-needed reminder: this season of life is not your fade-to-black moment—it's your plot twist. 🎬

From side-eyes at the Nordstrom racks to dreaming big and doing scary things (hello, bodybuilding competition 👀), Melis dishes on what it really means to show up, stand tall, and stop shrinking—physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Whether you're training for your own comeback story or just trying to figure out what's next, this episode is your wake-up call to start now.

✨ In this episode, Melis gets real about:

• Why your AARP card doesn't define your power 💅

• Her "OMG am I really doing this?!" journey to the bodybuilding stage

• Cultural BS about women being "too much" in midlife

• Why this isn't the end, it's just the beginning

💬 QUOTE OF THE WEEK "What if this chapter isn't the beginning of the end, but the part where we stop playing small?"

📣 CALL TO ACTION

1. DM Melis on IG (@motivatewithmelis) and share that one thing you've been putting off—no matter how big or small.

2. Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple.

3. Share this episode with 3 badass friends who need to be reminded: YOU'RE NOT DONE YET.

Because let's be honest—midlife is way too weird to navigate alone. Let's go big, Glossers. 🧡

xoxo

melis