Shirley You Can Too

Being Strong is Overrated. Just Because I Can Carry it all doesn’t mean I want to

Have you been the strong one for so long that no one thinks to ask how you are really doing? In Episode 16 of ShirleyYouCanToo, Shirley gets real about the weight of always holding it together and why she is rethinking what strength actually means.

She talks about the messages many of us grew up with around emotions, the sneaky ways we avoid feeling, and what it could look like to give ourselves and each other more permission to be human.

Watch to find out:

• Why being called strong is not always a compliment
• How busyness and distraction can keep us disconnected from ourselves
• The questions that can help you check in with what you actually feel

If this episode speaks to you, like the video, subscribe for new episodes, and share it with someone who is always there for everyone else.

Subscribe to ShirleyYouCan Too for new conversations about growth, healing, and living fully.

#beingstrong #emotionalwellness #podcast #selfcare #shirleyyoucantoo

Sometimes Plan B Has Bagels | Lessons from Mt. Shasta on Pivoting, Staying Curious & Feeling Alive

Welcome back to the Shirley You Can Too podcast. In "Sometimes Plan B Has Bagels," Shirley takes you along on a weekend getaway to Mt. Shasta with her bestie Ida. What started as a simple trip to hike, eat, and relax turned into a set of small but powerful reminders about how to live with more ease, more curiosity, and more joy.

If you have ever felt stuck when things did not go your way, hesitated to try something because someone else said it was not worth it, or kept putting off the things that make you feel alive, this episode is for you.

Watch to the end, because the final message might change how you plan your week.

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New episodes every week.

Shirley You Can Too. Because surely you can too.

Title: Who the Hell Am I Underneath All This?

Have you ever wondered who you are underneath all the roles you play for everyone else? In this episode of the Shirley You Can Too podcast, Shirley shares the question she keeps coming back to, the three words shaping her season, and the one she decided to change.

It's honest, a little messy, and full of things you may want to hear right now.

Like this video, leave a comment telling me what role you play the most, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Tags: shirley you can too, self discovery, personal growth, women over 50, midlife, boundaries, live your best life, podcas

Living in the Messy Middle: Where All The Good Stuff Actually Happens

You don't need to earn the swimsuit before you get in the pool.

In this episode, Shirley talks about something she's actively practicing: showing up anyway, not when it's perfect, not when she's "ready," but as she is, messy and all. A recent trip didn't go the way she'd envisioned, and what happened next says a lot about the stories we tell ourselves about who's "allowed" to participate.

If you're waiting for permission to start something, a podcast, a trip, a goal, a version of your life, this episode is for you.

Like, subscribe, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

#podcast #mindset #selfgrowth #confidence #realtalk

For the first time, I came home from an all inclusive vacation feeling like I actually experienced the vacation instead of recovering from it, and I had to talk about it.

In this episode of Shirley You Can Too: All-Inclusive, Alcohol-Free & Finally Free, I open up about what it was really like going back to one of my favorite resorts, and what shifted for me this time. It's honest, it's personal, and it might change the way you think about "unlimited" anything.

If you've ever thought "I don't know if I'll ever have peace with food or alcohol," this episode is for you.

Like, subscribe, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

How We Built an Unbreakable Mother-Son Bond | The Jaylen Series - Part 1

My son Jay is my first ever podcast guest. For years people have asked how we've stayed this close, and in this episode we finally get into it, together.

What we cover:

• Growing up with two sets of parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles
• The courtside Lakers moment he still brings up
• What he wishes we'd understood about him as a kid
• What finally makes sense to him now that he's an adult
• How honesty, not perfection, built our bond
  

This is part one of an ongoing series diving deeper into our story.

Subscribe so you don't miss what's next.

If Shirley can do it, surely you can too.

#ShirleyYouCanToo #MotherSonRelationship #CoParenting

In this episode of Shirley You Can Too, Shirley talks about the comparison game and why it can be a real peace killer. She shares a time when she thought designer bags and shoes would make her happy, and how she learned that collecting things didn't bring true long-term joy.

She also opens up about a parenting season when her son wasn't in honors or AP classes, and how she had to check herself and remember his journey was his own. Shirley breaks down why Facebook can feel more like "Fakebook," how social media only shows pieces of people's lives, and why that can be especially misleading for young people. She closes with a reminder to stay in gratitude, protect your peace, honor your lane, and never forget that being you is enough.

Timestamps and key topics covered:
00:00 Welcome and today's topic: the comparison game
00:20 Why comparison can be a peace killer
01:03 What does having it all together even mean?
01:11 The designer bag lesson
01:31 Nobody has it all together
01:43 Your own zone of genius
02:07 A parenting comparison lesson
02:56 Facebook vs "Fakebook"
03:49 Staying grounded in truth, gratitude, and purpose
04:19 Final reminder: protect your peace, honor your lane

Like, subscribe, and share if this episode resonated with you.

#comparisonkills #protectyourpeace #gratitudeoverguilt #beingyouisenough #shirleyyoucantoo

How do you really feel? Not the "I'm fine" answer. The real one.

For years, Shirley wore masks. Smiling on the outside, at war on the inside. She was taught: don't cry, don't talk about it, just keep the peace.

Sound familiar?

In episode 9 of Shirley You Can Too, Shirley gets brutally honest about growing up without the tools to communicate, why swallowing your truth doesn't actually keep the peace, it just delays the explosion, and how unspoken emotions can quietly show up in the most destructive ways.

This isn't about blame. It's about awareness. And it's an invitation, to you, to finally ask yourself the one question that changes everything: how do you feel?

🎧 New episode is live now. Link in bio.

It's never too late to take the masks off.

#emotionalintelligence #mentalhealthmatters #speakyourtruth #healingjourney #podcastepisode

What have you ruled out in your life, not because you tried it, but because someone else did and told you it was terrible?

Welcome to Episode 08 of Shirley You Can Too... F Around and Find Out: Don't Believe The Hype. It's time to find out for yourself. In this episode, Shirley unpacks "borrowed fear": the beliefs, warnings, and limitations we inherit from other people's experiences and mistake for our own.

Drawing on 35 years in health, fitness, dental, and coaching, Shirley shares a simple five-question framework to help you separate real wisdom from secondhand fear, so you can make your own informed choices instead of living someone else's story.

Episode Chapters
00:00 Introduction: Borrowed Fear
02:26 Why We Adopt Other People's Limits
04:42 When the Warning Is Actually Valid
07:09 The Stories We Collect For "Why We Can't"
09:34 Letting Go of Inherited Stories

You only get one life. Stop renting it out to somebody else's fear.
Listen now, then go find out for yourself.

What if the people who've shaped you most weren't wearing different hats at all, but doing the exact same job the whole time?

On tonight's episode of Shirley You Can Too, "Same Person, Same Mission: Your Gym Instructor, Your Hygienist, Your Coach," Shirley talks about the question she's been asked more times than she can count:

"What do you actually do for a living?"

She never has a clean one line answer, and in this episode she finally explains why. Over 35 years, Shirley has worked as a dental hygienist, a fitness instructor, a teacher, a coach, a mentor, and now an integration and rebirth doula.

Different rooms, different titles, but as she unpacks in this episode, always the same mission underneath: helping people feel safe enough to change.

Episode Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction: the question Shirley never has a clean answer for
00:30 - 35 years, many titles: dental hygiene, fitness, teaching, coaching
00:57 - Dental trauma and creating safety in the chair
01:28 - Life as a fitness instructor and living in separate worlds
01:56 - The whole person: body, mind, emotions, and the stories we carry
02:25 - Decades of holding space, from dental chairs to fitness classes
02:54 - Integration and rebirth doula work: the same thing at its core
03:25 - Why Shirley pushes back on the "psychedelic doula" label
03:52 - Looking back: how each career prepared her for the next
04:22 - What coaching taught her about truly listening
04:50 - The simplest answer: what Shirley actually does
05:19 - The thread that never changed in 35 years
05:48 - Closing thoughts and thank you

At the end of the day, Shirley's story isn't about having five different careers. It's about one mission that never changed, no matter what room she was standing in. If there's one thing to take from this episode, it's this: transformation isn't reserved for people with the perfect title or the perfect plan. It's available to anyone willing to feel safe enough to try.

If Shirley can do it after 35 years of searching for the words, you can too.