Hi Friend,

What do you do when your gut is telling you to leave a job you love and absolutely nothing about that makes logical sense?

That’s exactly where my guest this week, Melanie Stevens, found herself. Melanie spent years in human resources at a charity in the UK, in a role she genuinely enjoyed, with great colleagues and a steady, well-paid, secure position. By every practical measure, life was good. And then came what she calls “the nudge”…a quiet, persistent feeling that it was time to go, even though she had a mortgage, a career she’d worked hard to build, and every reason to stay put.

In our conversation, Melanie shares how she wrestled with that pull for about eighteen months — trying to bargain with it, reduce her hours, talk herself out of it — before she finally trusted it and left to build a spiritual teaching practice. Today, she teaches online courses to students in 94 countries.

What struck me most wasn’t the leap itself. It was what she said about what happens after you leap, and it doesn’t immediately work. When her new path didn’t bring in enough income at first, she never once thought about going back. Instead, she asked a better question: not “did I make a mistake?” but “what adjustment is being asked of me here?” That reframe — that a roadblock isn’t proof you chose wrong, but a sign something else is needed — is something I think a lot of us in transition need to hear.

We also talk about why our minds and our intuition so often pull in opposite directions, how to redefine what “abundance” actually means when you’re weighing a change, and why the scariest decisions are often the ones our whole body is quietly saying yes to. I share a bit of my own story too — leaving teaching, the guilt of “wasting” a degree, and the strange relief of finally trusting the decision even when it didn’t add up on paper.

If you’re standing at the edge of a change you can feel but can’t quite justify, this conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen to the full episode above. You can find Melanie and her free resources at melanie-stevens.com.

I’d love to hear from you! Hit reply and tell me: have you ever felt a “nudge” you couldn’t explain? Did you follow it?

— Jenny

Hey Friend,

If you’ve been here a while, you’ve probably noticed I disappeared for a bit. And if you’re new — welcome, I’m so glad you’re here! Either way, I owe you the real story, and that’s exactly what this episode is.

The truth is, I’ve started and stopped my business more times than I’d like to admit. Different names, different directions, a lot of beginning again. From the outside, it probably looked like I just couldn’t make up my mind. But something else was going on underneath, and it took me a long time to see it.

In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on all of it…fifteen years in the classroom, the burnout that finally pushed me out, the long string of businesses I started and walked away from, and the thing I eventually understood about why I kept quitting right when something started to work.

Here’s the short version of what I learned: the stopping was never really about the work. It was about getting scared and reaching for something that felt safer…which, ironically, was the very thing that kept anything from ever growing. Once I saw that pattern clearly, I couldn’t unsee it. And it changed how I’m doing things this time.

So this is me, drawing a line. This is Reinvention by Design, and it’s not changing. It’s a show about the big transitions of the second half of life — the career exits, the empty nests, the new chapters, the “who am I now?” seasons — and how women figure out what to actually do next. I’m not here as someone who has it all figured out, believe me…I haven’t. I’m here as someone walking it alongside you, who happens to be pretty good at seeing the whole picture when you’re standing too close to it.

If you’ve ever felt scattered, like you can’t stick with anything, or like you’ve reinvented yourself a dozen times and still aren’t “there” yet, then this one’s for you.

🎧 Listen to the episode above.

New episodes every week (yes, seriously every week!) And I’d genuinely love to hear from you: hit reply, or leave a comment, and tell me what transition you’re walking through right now. I read every one of them.

— Jenny

There was a time in my life when I loved my job. I was genuinely excited to show up every day and pour my heart and soul into the young children I taught. It felt like a calling, and I was lucky enough to have found it.

But something wild started to happen as I approached my 40th birthday.I began to feel… different.

At first, I blamed the changes in public education (which is a valid conversation for another day). I thought it was the school, so I transferred. I chased solutions, trying to “fix” my loss of passion.

Reinvention By Design with Jenny Cotten is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I’m a 5/1 in Human Design, so I love solving problems. I did everything that made sense in my mind:

* Transferred schools

* Got my master’s in curriculum and instruction

* Tried to reinvent my role from the outside in

But something really interesting happened.

The doors that used to open for me… didn’t.Things got harder, not easier.The resentment and exhaustion crept in. It was slow at first, then all at once.

I developed health issues.My body was inflamed. My thyroid spiraled (even with medication).I could barely walk some days.And one summer, I was so mentally and physically exhausted that I could barely get out of bed to play with my own children.

It was awful and, to be honest, embarrassing.

So when I tell you I get it — I really, truly do.

It took me eight years to finally realize:The problem wasn’t my job.

It was me.

I had changed.

I was trying to be an old version of myself in a time when she no longer fit.It’s like changing the lock on your front door and still trying to use the old key to get in.

That’s what midlife is.

🗝️ The lock has changed.You can’t expect the same key to work anymore.

Midlife Isn’t a Crisis — It’s an Awakening

This isn’t about a crisis.It’s about awakening.

A beautiful, sometimes disorienting, invitation to remember who you’re here to be, do, and become.

How do you figure that out?

That’s the deep work of midlife.And Human Design can help.

It reconnects you to the truth of who you were — before the expectations, the conditioning, the “mind-trash”.For some women, it’s a gradual process. For others, it’s instant.

For me, it took eight years.But once I said yes to what was true, things started to open.

Ready to Explore Yours?

If you’re curious what your Human Design says about your path and potential, start by downloading your free chart here:👉 www.jennycotten.com/blueprint

Then send me a DM or email.Tell me what you’re noticing, what you’re longing for, and what gifts are starting to stir.

I’d love to walk beside you.

In love & light,Jenny

✍️ About the Author

Hi, I’m Jenny — the voice behind Reinvention by Design.

I’m a Midlife Reinvention Mentor, Human Design guide, and former educator turned second-act entrepreneur. After years of trying to make an old version of myself fit into a life that no longer felt like mine, I finally answered the ache I couldn’t explain and began again.

Now, I help women in midlife rediscover who they are, what they’re here to create, and how to rise into a next chapter that finally feels true.

This space is where I share stories, tools, and truth for the women who know they’re meant for more and are brave enough to become her.

🌿 Let’s Connect

📍 Curious what your Human Design says about your next chapter?→ Get your free chart here

💬 Come say hi on Instagram or Facebook

💌 Have a question or want to share your story? Send me a note here

🫶 If this post spoke to you, I’d love it if you liked, shared, or left a comment — your words help this message reach more women who need it.

Thanks for reading Reinvention By Design with Jenny Cotten! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Hey Friend,

It’s the beginning of a new year, and everywhere you look, someone is talking about goals, resets, and becoming a “better version” of yourself.

And while there’s nothing wrong with wanting a fresh start, I’ve been noticing something quieter and heavier underneath all of that both in myself and in so many other women:

“My body doesn’t work like it used to.”

I feel more tired. More stressed. Slower to recover. Things that used to work… just don’t anymore. And there’s this confusing, sometimes scary feeling of, Why does everything feel so much harder than it used to?

For me, this didn’t happen overnight. It was a gradual realization. Little things started feeling harder. My energy wasn’t the same. My resilience wasn’t the same. And no matter how much I tried to “get back on track,” it never quite worked the way I expected it to.

And honestly? The hardest part wasn’t even the physical changes.

It was the emotional part.

That quiet, nagging voice that says, Why can’t you just get it together? Why can’t you do what you used to do?

So I did what most of us do. I tried harder. I looked for better plans, better routines, better strategies. I told myself I just needed to be more disciplined.

But all that did was make me more tired and, frankly, frustrated.

At some point, I had to admit something that was both uncomfortable and incredibly freeing:

It wasn’t that I was doing everything wrong.My body has changed and I was still trying to live like it hadn’t.

You can’t use a 35-year-old operating system in a 50-year-old body.

Midlife is a real physiological and nervous system shift. Hormones change. Stress load changes. Your body’s tolerance and recovery change. And yet most of us keep trying to solve this season of life with the same old “try harder” mindset.

This isn’t a willpower problem.It’s not a motivation problem.And it’s not because you’re broken.

It’s because the rules have changed.

Over the past year, I’ve been doing a lot of exploring in my work and on this podcast. If you’ve been here a while, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve had a wide range of conversations and guests. That was part of my own process of searching and refining.

What’s become really clear to me is this:

I’m not interested in living in the abstract. I’m not interested in ideas that sound good but don’t actually help you live in your body and your real life.

I care about grounded, practical, body-based support.

I care about what actually helps women feel better in their energy, their health, and their day-to-day lives.

That’s the direction I’m taking this work and this podcast.

Less forcing.Less fixing.More listening to the body.More understanding of how your energy and nervous system actually work.

If you’ve been feeling like you don’t recognize your body anymore… you’re not alone.

We’re not failing.We’re not behind.And we’re not broken.

We don’t need to fix ourselves. We need a different approach.

I talk about all of this more personally in this week’s podcast episode, and I hope it feels like someone finally put words to something you’ve been carrying quietly.

xo,Jenny

P.S. Let’s connect in the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/reinventionbydesign

Hey friend,

Can we just… pause for a second?Because this week is A LOT. And nobody really says that out loud.

We all sort of walk around pretending we’re fine. We’re cooking, hosting, cleaning, planning, showing up for everybody…but on the inside? We’re exhausted. Or overwhelmed. Or just trying not to cry in the grocery store aisle because that was the wrong brand of whipped cream.

You know what I mean.

Christmas week has this special mix of magic + pressure that hits women especially hard.We’re expected to be joyful, present, emotionally available, organized, calm, generous, thoughtful, and somehow still look like a supermodel in pictures.

And maybe you’re really trying, but you’re also really tired. I know I am.

So here’s what I want to say to you, from one woman to another:

You don’t have to be everything this week.You really, truly don’t.

If you’re not overflowing with cheer — that’s okay.If you’re overstimulated — also okay.If you wish the whole holiday came with a “pause” button — totally normal.If you’re carrying more mental load than anyone realizes — I see you.

You’re human.And this week asks a lot of humans, especially women.

So before you push yourself into another round of “let me make everything perfect,” I want you to ask yourself one simple question:

“What do I need this week?”

Not what the family needs.Not what people expect.Not what you always do because “that’s just your role.”

What do you need?

A nap?Some quiet?Help with cooking?A minute alone in your bedroom where nobody is allowed to knock?Permission to not hold everything together?

Whatever your answer is, it’s valid.And honestly… it might be overdue.

And while we’re here, let me take another weight off your shoulders:

You do not have to figure out your life before the new year.

Seriously.You don’t need a color-coded plan for 2026. Well, maybe you don’t NEED one, but you WANT one and that’s totally okay. You don’t need a list of goals or a word of the year or any of that.You don’t have to “finish strong.”You’re allowed to finish… gently.

Clarity comes when you’re rested, not when you pressure yourself into it.

So let this week be soft.Let it be enough.Let it be imperfect but honest.Let it be whatever your energy can hold.

And before I go, I want to tell you something we don’t hear enough:

I’m proud of you.For how you’ve carried yourself this year.For the things nobody knows about.For showing up when you didn’t feel like it.For trying — even when it felt like too much.

I’m grateful you’re here with me.And I’m excited to walk into 2026 with you. We can walk slow, steady, aligned, and on your terms. Or if you get rested and want to run into 2026 screaming, “Hell Yes!”. I’m here for that too.

Take care of yourself this week, okay?You deserve that.Happy Holidays!

With love,Jenny

A conversation with Dalia Kemble on choosing authenticity over approval

There’s a moment many women encounter, often quietly and without fanfare — the moment when doing everything “right” still doesn’t feel right.

In this episode of The Reinvention By Design Podcast, I spoke with Dalia Kemble, a life and mindset coach with a background in Psychology and Organizational Behaviour & Development. On paper, she had followed the expected path: academic achievements, the right credentials, a life that made perfect sense from the outside.

But after completing her master’s degree, she found herself asking a question that many high-achieving women keep buried:

If I’ve done everything I was supposed to… why don’t I feel at home in my own life?

That question led her on a solo trip that became something more than travel. It became a rupture in the script she had been living. She began to wonder what success truly meant to her, and why she had been living by rules she didn’t consciously choose.

Living by Expectations vs. Living by Design

Dalia shared that one of her deepest struggles wasn’t failure — it was success that didn’t feel like her.

She knew what it was like to:

* Be the “good one,” the reliable one, the one who follows the script

* Seek approval through perfection

* Silence her own desires in order to meet expectations

* Feel misunderstood, even when everyone around her believed she was doing great

Her words echoed something I’ve seen over and over again: it’s entirely possible to look like you belong while feeling deeply disconnected inside.

That’s the tension so many women live in, especially those who have learned to people-please, to overachieve, to blend in even when their soul wants to stand out.

Walking Away from the Script

What I appreciated about Dalia’s approach is that she doesn’t frame reinvention as a dramatic act of rebellion, but as a gradual reclamation. A quiet choosing of self over expectation.

She now works 1:1 with women who, like her, have checked all the boxes but still feel like the black sheep in the story of their own lives. Women who are tired of defending their choices, tired of explaining themselves, and tired of living lives that make sense to everyone but them.

Looking forward, Dalia envisions The Pink Sheep Society: a community space for women who have always felt different but are finally ready to see that as a gift, not a flaw. A space for the women who were never meant to blend in.

The Courage to Choose Yourself

This episode isn’t about running away from responsibility. It’s about recognizing the moment when responsibility to others has overshadowed responsibility to yourself.

Listening to Dalia talk about the tension between being who you’re expected to be and being who you actually are, I was reminded of something important:

Belonging doesn’t come from fitting the mold.Belonging comes from finally deciding to stop shrinking to fit it.

🎙 The full conversation with Dalia Kemble is available now on The Reinvention By Design Podcast.

Connect with Dalia Kemble

To follow Dalia’s work or explore her upcoming community space for women who are done apologizing for who they are, you can find her here:

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daliakemble/

* Resource – The Black Sheep’s Guide to Breaking the Rules & Living Without Regret: https://citytohippie.kit.com/596406f9a2

There are moments in life when fear no longer shows up as a warning. It shows up as a doorway. For some, fear becomes a barrier that keeps life small. For others, like Chelsea Goucher, it becomes the very thing that ignites a deeper awakening.

In this episode of The Reinvention By Design Podcast, I sat down with Chelsea, an intuitive coach, psychedelic facilitator, and founder of Awakening Chandra, to talk about what it really means to transmute pain into power.

Her path wasn’t carved through comfort. It was shaped by survival, by overcoming addiction, escaping abuse, and refusing to settle for a life that looked fine on the surface but felt lifeless at the soul level.

“I turned my pain into gold,” she said. “Fear became alchemy. It stopped being something I ran from and became something I moved through, and that changed everything.”

Choosing Fire Over Numbness

Chelsea shared openly about the moments fear tried to convince her to shrink, to stay quiet, to settle. Instead, she chose movement. She chose spiritual rebellion. She chose to walk toward the fire rather than away from it.

What struck me most was her relationship with fear, not as an enemy, but as a teacher.

She’s now exploring that through her newest project, The Fear Files, a seven-week guided exploration into how fear shapes our connection to sex, money, power, success, God, and self.

It’s not about erasing fear. It’s about learning to source power through it — to recognize where we’ve collapsed our energy in the name of safety, and where we are being called to rise.

Refusing Mediocrity

One thing Chelsea said stayed with me long after our conversation:

“I refuse to live a mediocre life — not because I need something grand, but because I know what it feels like to be disconnected from purpose. I won’t go back to that.”

This wasn’t ambition talking. It was aliveness.

So many women know the feeling of living on autopilot — performing versions of themselves that make other people comfortable. Chelsea’s story is a reminder that awakening doesn’t always come through light. Sometimes it comes through fire.

Fear as Alchemy

There’s something powerful about hearing a woman say, “This was painful — and I turned it into something sacred.” Chelsea is proof that fear doesn’t always mean stop. Sometimes it means pay attention. Sometimes it means there’s life on the other side of this.

🎙 The full conversation with Chelsea Goucher is available now on The Reinvention By Design Podcast.

Connect with Chelsea Goucher

To explore Chelsea’s work or inquire about 1:1 coaching, you can connect with her here:

* Website & 1:1 Coaching Inquiries: https://awakeningchandra.com/contact/

Chelsea describes her work as alchemy — turning fear into fire, pain into purpose, and awakening into a lived experience.

There’s a particular kind of frustration that many women know well…the experience of going to a doctor with a real concern and being met with a casual dismissal.

“Just take Tylenol.”“That’s normal.”“It’s probably stress. Come back if it gets worse.”

In this episode of The Reinvention By Design Podcast, I sat down with Alison Patchett, known as The Vag Hormone Naturopath, whose entire career change began with that moment — the moment she realized no one else was going to find the answers for her.

As a teenager, Alison experienced chronic headaches and was told to simply keep taking painkillers. Years later, in her 20s, her period stopped completely after coming off the contraceptive pill. Once again, she was met with shrugs and non-answers.

But instead of accepting that, she did what so many women quietly do when the healthcare system fails them: she went looking for her own answers.

From Burnout to Advocacy

Alison spent nearly 20 years in corporate and non-profit roles, witnessing firsthand how stress and burnout shape the body, especially for women. When her own health finally reached a breaking point, she made a decision — she wasn’t going to normalize suffering as a part of womanhood.

She retrained, moved into naturopathy, and built The Vag Hormone Naturopath with a clear mission:👉 to help women who feel dismissed, stuck, and tired of being told to just “manage” their symptoms.

Especially in areas that are still brushed aside as too personal, too messy, or too uncomfortable to talk about — vaginal health, perimenopause, hormones, thrush, stress, sexual health, and the emotional load women carry behind closed doors.

Having her first child at 41, while in perimenopause, further shaped her work. Her experience navigating postpartum recovery and hormonal shifts without the standard script reinforced what she already knew:

Women deserve real answers not dismissal in a prescription pad.

A Voice for the Things Women Are Told Not to Talk About

What I appreciated most in our conversation was Alison’s directness. She brings language to the unspoken, making room for women to ask questions they’ve been carrying quietly for years.

Her work is about educating, validating, and equipping women to advocate for themselves in rooms where their concerns may not be taken seriously the first time.

Because for many women, it’s not just about symptoms. It’s about being heard, taken seriously, and given full access to their own health story.

🎙 The full conversation with Alison Patchett is now live on The Reinvention By Design Podcast.

Connect with Alison Patchett — The Vag Hormone Naturopath

To learn more about Alison’s work or inquire about support around hormones, perimenopause, vaginal health, or stress-related burnout, you can connect with her here:

* Website: https://thevaghormonenaturopath.com.au

* Instagram/Facebook: @the.vag.hormone.naturopath

* Free Resource: Alison has a free guide on why over-the-counter thrush treatments often don’t work. You can email her at [email protected] or send a DM if you’d like a copy.

“I love supporting women who know something is off. They just haven’t been given the language or answers yet. That’s where we start.” – Alison

Some people talk about reinvention in big, polished phrases. Others live it quietly, steadily, in the way they respond to the real-life challenges that disrupt everything familiar.

In this episode of The Reinvention By Design Podcast, I had a conversation with Dawn Marcotte, CPRC — an author, Certified Professional Retirement Coach, autism mom, marathon runner, and someone who has had to rebuild more than once.

Dawn said something that stayed with me:“When I face a problem, I research, figure it out for myself… and then I write a book to help someone else going through the same thing.”

There’s no performance in that. No branding language. Just a grounded, practical approach to resilience: learn what you need to survive then turn around and leave a path for the next person.

A Life Built Through Starting Over

Dawn’s story isn’t one linear path of progress. It’s a life marked by multiple restarts:

* Parenting a child on the autism spectrum while navigating systems that weren’t built for families like hers.

* Losing jobs and having to find her footing again.

* Watching her husband lose his job multiple times and rebuilding as a family.

* Moving through the uncertainty of a global pandemic while still choosing forward motion.

* Becoming a Certified Professional Retirement Coach and shifting her work to help others prepare not just financially — but emotionally — for identity transition.

Most people would call that a lot. Dawn simply calls it life.

Writing as a Form of Service

What sets Dawn apart isn’t just her resilience; it’s what she does with it.

She doesn’t write from theory or from a distance. She writes from lived experience. When something knocks her down, she researches, rebuilds, and then creates something that others can use as a resource.

She isn’t trying to be a guru. She’s trying to be useful, and that intention comes through clearly in every story she shares.

A Different Conversation About Retirement

One of the most powerful parts of our conversation was Dawn’s perspective on retirement. We tend to speak about retirement in financial terms — savings, planning, investments. But Dawn works with the other side of retirement, the emotional and identity shift that can catch people off guard.

When the title goes away, when the role is no longer there — who are you now?

That’s the work Dawn is doing: helping people prepare for that moment before it arrives.

She mentioned during our conversation that any listener who reaches out and includes the name of the podcast will receive her new book at 50% off — a simple, generous gesture that reflects her desire to make support accessible.

Quiet Strength

This episode isn’t about dramatic transformation or flashy reinvention. It’s about the quiet strength of someone who keeps showing up for her life, one challenge at a time, and then makes it easier for someone else to do the same.

🎙 The full conversation with Dawn Marcotte, CPRC is now available on all podcast platforms.

Connect with Dawn Marcotte, CPRC

To learn more about Dawn’s work or explore her resources on navigating life transitions and the emotional side of retirement, you can connect with her here:

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-m-marcotte/

* Filling the Blank Page: How to Build a Retirement of Passion and Purpose - available on Amazon

There’s a moment in every woman’s life when she feels the quiet pull of something more. For some, it arrives like a whisper. For others, like a fire. And often, that moment comes not when life is wide open and carefree, but when responsibility, routine, and “shoulds” are stacked high around us.

In this week’s podcast conversation, I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Sandy Breece, founder of School Founders Academy and a woman who embodies what it looks like to answer that call, even when no one else sees the vision.

More than 30 years ago, Sandy was a teacher and a mother of a middle schooler who didn’t quite fit the traditional mold. A kinesthetic learner, her son needed movement, hands-on learning, and a school environment willing to adapt to the child, not force the child to adapt to the system.

She had a radical thought for that time: What if I just build the kind of school he needs?

When she shared that idea out loud, others dismissed it. People she respected, colleagues, friends, other educators, told her it wasn’t realistic. That it had “already been tried.” That she should be grateful for the job she already had.

But here’s the part that stopped me:

She didn’t argue. She didn’t debate. She didn’t try to convince them.She simply placed one small classified ad in the newspaper. Just a few words, unsigned:

“Are you concerned about your middle schooler? Let’s talk.”

That single act of quiet courage drew in the very thing she needed…not approval, but community.A handful of parents called her. They didn’t know her plan, but they shared her concern.That was enough.

Those parents became the first circle.The circle became a movement.And that movement became a fully functioning school called Telesis Center for Learning, Inc., which still thrives 33 years later.

Thousands of students have walked through its doors.Teachers have been transformed by it.And what began with one woman and a classified ad became a living legacy.

Sandy went on to write about her journey in the anthology “Power of Community — Courage, Compassion, & Collaboration Leads to Success” (March 2024), and now leads School Founders Academy, guiding others who feel the same pull to build something that doesn’t exist yet but should.

Dr. Sandy Breece🌐 schoolfounders.academy🔗 linkedin.com/in/dr-sandra-k-breece📌 facebook.com/schoolfoundersacademy