"Surviving is not the same as settling. And rebuilding is not the same as starting from nothing."

What do you do when everything falls apart at once — your marriage, your business, and the identity you spent a decade building?

You pick through the wreckage. You find what's worth keeping. And if you're lucky, you find a way to make something new.

Welcome to Thrifting Sparks — the podcast about rebuilding your life one piece at a time. Hosted by Cara Kapler, luxury makeup and lash artist based in Edmonton, Alberta. This show is for anyone who's ever had to start over, grieve something they didn't expect to lose, or wondered if there's still something left of themselves under all the rubble. Cheaper than therapy. Warmer than a cardigan.

In this episode, Cara shares the story she's never fully told: a decade of marriage, burnout, and a business betrayal that changed everything. She gets into what it actually feels like to lose your partner and your business partner at the same time — and how thrifting, of all things, became a form of emotional survival.

In this episode:
→ Why Thrifting Sparks exists — and what it's really about
→ The decade that changed everything: marriage, burnout, and a business betrayal
→ Navigating divorce, grief, and losing your entire support system at once
→ How thrifting became emotional survival — and why it inspired this podcast
→ Thrift or Trash: unsolicited ex updates and why the digital age makes breakups so much harder
→ The one thing most people forget to do when someone they love is hurting
→ This week's Spark: what it means to rebuild without starting from nothing

This week's Spark:
"Surviving is not the same as settling. And rebuilding is not the same as starting from nothing. Everything you've lost, every version of yourself you've had to let go of — that's not a gap in your story. That IS the story."

———

New episodes drop bimonthly. Follow along and share this with someone who's in the middle of their own rebuild — they need to hear this.

🎙️ Follow the Podcast: @thriftingsparks
💄 Follow for Makeup & Personal Life: @mskapler
🌐 mrskapler.com to book a service!

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🔗 Links & Resources:

• Follow Thrifting Sparks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thriftingsparks/
• Subscribe & leave a review on Apple Podcasts:
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thrifting-sparks/id1891592389
• Listen on Spotify:
  https://open.spotify.com/show/3IvoxSnxFyfXT0dPE0rVyB?si=_w_lQcL-TtOMkI3RTF-88Q
• Watch on YouTube:
  https://www.youtube.com/@thriftingsparks

Episode Title: Behind the Scenes: How I Created the Thrifting Sparks Podcast (And the Fear I Had to Face First)

Have you ever had a dream that felt bigger than your confidence? That's exactly where Thrifting Sparks began.

In this very first behind-the-scenes episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on what it actually looked like to create this podcast — the excitement, the self-doubt, the creative blocks, and the one piece of advice from an artist friend that completely changed how I thought about making things.

We talk a lot about thrifting as a form of resistance — choosing authenticity over capitalism, intention over impulse. But building something from scratch? That requires that same energy turned inward. This episode is about learning to create without the weight of perfection.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• The real roadblocks I faced when starting Thrifting Sparks
• Why I almost didn't press record — and what finally made me do it
• The advice from an artist friend that released all the pressure
• How the philosophy of thrifting — slow, intentional, and authentic — applies to creative work
• What's coming next for this podcast and this community

If you've been holding back on something because it doesn't feel "ready" yet — this one's for you.

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Follow Thrifting Sparks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thriftingsparks/
• Subscribe & leave a review on Apple Podcasts:
  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thrifting-sparks/id1891592389
• Listen on Spotify:
  https://open.spotify.com/show/3IvoxSnxFyfXT0dPE0rVyB?si=_w_lQcL-TtOMkI3RTF-88Q
• Watch on YouTube:
  https://www.youtube.com/@thriftingsparks