Divorce Decision-Making: How to Move Past Indecision and Find Clarity - Guest Jackie Pilossoph In this week on UnDoing We, Mardi Winder-Adams sits down with Jackie Pilossoph, founder of Divorced Girl Smiling, to explore some of the central misconceptions and opportunities surrounding divorce. Jackie discusses the concept of building a “divorce team,” highlighting that while hiring multiple professionals might seem costly at first, it can actually save both money and stress in the long run.

She explains how assembling a group that includes not just an attorney, but also a mediator, financial advisor, real estate agent, and mortgage specialist, allows for well-rounded guidance. Each expert brings a different perspective, ensuring that decisions are made with insight into legal, financial, and practical matters—rather than relying on a single source for everything. The conversation also turns to the surprising benefits that can come from divorce, particularly for women.

Jackie shares stories of growth, independence, and newfound confidence that emerge after navigating the initial pain and challenges. She acknowledges the fears many women face, such as returning to work or managing a household alone, and reassures listeners by sharing personal experiences and those of others who discovered strengths they didn’t know they had. Practical tips, like the importance of finding a trustworthy handyman or seeking affordable education to boost career prospects, are sprinkled throughout their discussion.

Throughout the episode, both Mardi and Jackie approach divorce as not merely an end, but a possible turning point for positive change. The conversation is honest yet encouraging, offering listeners reassurance and practical wisdom as they consider their own paths forward. Jackie Pilossoph is the founder of Divorced Girl Smiling, the company that connects people facing divorce with trusted, vetted divorce professionals. Divorced Girl Smiling (DGS) is also a podcast, website and mobile app.

Pilossoph, who holds a Masters Degree in Broadcast journalism was a TV reporter, as well as a Chicago Tribune columnist. Her weekly column, LOVE ESSENTIALLY was syndicated all over the U.S. Pilossoph was also a Huffington Post divorce blogger.

To connect with Jackie: Website: divorcedgirlsmiling.com IG: https://www.instagram.com/divorced_girl_smiling/

The Importance Of Financial Knowledge During Divorce — Don’t navigate divorce blindfolded! Join Victoria Kirilloff, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA®), as she shares crucial insights into managing money matters during divorce. From protecting your financial future to avoiding costly mistakes, Victoria breaks it all down. She’s joined by Host Mardi Winder-Adams, CDC® Divorce Coach and high-conflict transition expert, for an empowering episode of UnDoing We on NEWStreamingNetwork.com.

More about Mardi: Mardi Winder-Adams is a certified divorce transition and high-conflict divorce coach, with experience as a domestic violence client advocate and behavioral consultant for schools. She is a credentialed mediator with over 30 years of experience in helping people navigate conflict, manage the challenges of divorce, and focus on creating positive transitions, even at very stressful times in life. Mardi is the best-selling author of From I Do to I’m Done and The Other Side of Divorce. She speaks internationally on conflict resolution, divorce, communication, and developing emotional intelligence and resilience. 

Connect with Mardi:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.divorcecoach4women.com/ 

More about Victoria: Victoria Kirilloff, CDFA®, NCPM®, CDS®, was at a crossroads in a decade-long, financially entangled relationship that had turned toxic. To find her way out, she leveraged her background in financial analysis, creating the first Global Settlement Proposal and divorce report. This helped her and her partner reach a peaceful separation, sparking an idea: she could help others navigate divorce with financial clarity and empowerment.

Victoria went on to found Divorce Analytics, a firm dedicated to making the financial side of divorce transparent and productive. By focusing on financial facts, she transforms divorce from a destructive process into one of empowerment. Victoria has also released a 9-part Divorce Planning Kit, available at DivorceAnalytics.com/shop. Along with her many financial licenses, she’s a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®, Certified Divorce Specialist®, and Nationally Certified Professional Mediator®. 

To connect with Victoria:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.divorceanalytics.com

In this episode, Mardi Winder-Adams sits down with Lisa Johnson, co-founder of Been There, Got Out, to discuss the complex and often hidden world of legal abuse in high-conflict divorces. Lisa shares her personal journey of navigating post-divorce legal battles, not over custody, but over financial issues, and highlights the crucial role her attorney and an airtight parenting plan played in protecting her children. The conversation delves into the reality that a significant minority of divorce cases (approximately 15-20%) become highly conflicted and can drag on for years, often due to one party abusing the legal system. Lisa explains the concept of legal abuse, where the legal system is weaponized as a tool for control, harassment, and intimidation, either through repeated frivolous litigation or refusal to comply with court orders.

She shares how this ongoing cycle can be emotionally and financially draining, and even traumatic, for those on the receiving end. The episode also explores the responsibilities and opportunities for the legal profession to address legal abuse, including how some attorneys and organizations are beginning to take action against unethical practices. Lisa expands on the importance of having court orders with clear deadlines and consequences and emphasizes seeking out professionals, attorneys, mediators, divorce coaches, and others, who are trained to handle high-conflict situations to minimize the need for court intervention. 

More about Mardi: Mardi Winder-Adams is a certified divorce transition and high-conflict divorce coach, with experience as a domestic violence client advocate and behavioral consultant for schools. She is a credentialed mediator with over 30 years of experience in helping people navigate conflict, manage the challenges of divorce, and focus on creating positive transitions, even at very stressful times in life. Mardi is the best-selling author of From I Do to I’m Done and The Other Side of Divorce. She speaks internationally on conflict resolution, divorce, communication, and developing emotional intelligence and resilience. 

Connect with Mardi:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.divorcecoach4women.com/ 

About the Guest Lisa Johnson is the co-founder of Been There Got Out, a high conflict divorce coach and certified domestic violence advocate who has successfully represented herself through scores of court appearances. Her case, published in the Connecticut Law Journal, is being used as a legal precedent. Her live testimony helped pass Jennifers’ Law in Connecticut, the third state in America to expand its legal definition of domestic violence to include “coercive control.” She and her partner, Chris, the male half of Been There Got Out, coach people in high-conflict relationships, divorce, custody battles, and co-parenting hell so they have the chance of the best outcome in family court and beyond. They also offer a weekly Legal Abuse Support Group for those dealing with narcissistic opponents in legal matters. 

Their book, "Been There Got Out: Toxic Relationships, High-Conflict Divorce, and How to Stay Sane Under Insane Circumstances'' was released in March 2023. 

To get Lisa’s gift: https://beentheregotout.com/legal-abuse-tips/

To connect with Lisa: Website: https://BeenThereGotOut.com

This episode of Undoing We explores the often-overlooked world of divorce decision making, focusing on why reaching clarity in this life-changing process is so difficult yet so important. Host Mardi Winder-Adams is joined by Mike Fink, who brings warmth and expertise to a discussion about the emotional and psychological hurdles that slow the decision to stay or leave a marriage. Mike explains that indecision during divorce is more than just uncertainty. It can affect productivity, self-esteem, and both mental and physical health, particularly for women who are already in transition. Tune in to learn why the primal parts of our brain are built to keep us in familiar, even if uncomfortable, situations, making divorce decision making an uphill battle against our own instincts.

Mike introduces his practical system for gaining clarity, using tools like value mapping to help people clearly identify and rank their most important needs in a relationship. Through determining essential values, he offers a way for those facing divorce to assess whether a partnership is truly sustainable in the long term. 

The episode offers strategies that are easy to picture and apply, helping you go beyond talk therapy to connect with their deeper instincts. With real stories and step-by-step advice, this conversation is an invitation for anyone struggling with divorce decision making to move forward with confidence, aligning choices with what matters most and ultimately finding a sense of peace. 

About the Guest Mike Fink is a clarity and decision-making expert, coach, and innovator. With a Master of Science in Psychology from Yale, he helps women considering divorce who are stuck in indecision, fearing they’ll make a mistake they’ll regret. During the first part of his career in personal development, spanning more than two decades, 

Mike’s programs helped more than 110,000 people across 157 countries achieve life-changing goals. Following a painful turning point, he created The Decoding Grid™, a revolutionary process for high-stakes decision-making. Since 2021, he has dedicated himself to helping women get absolute Clarity & Certainty about their marriage in 30 days or less. Mike is the author of Divorce Decision Decoded: The Revolutionary Guide for Women to Get Clarity & Certainty in 30 Days. Originally from Europe, he has lived in five countries, including the U.S., before settling in Canada. His English accent, a unique blend, is often perceived as French. 

To get Mike’s gift: https://www.getabsoluteclarity.com/

To connect with Mike: Website: https://www.getabsoluteclarity.com/ 

More about Mardi: Mardi Winder-Adams is a certified divorce transition and high-conflict divorce coach, with experience as a domestic violence client advocate and behavioral consultant for schools. She is a credentialed mediator with over 30 years of experience in helping people navigate conflict, manage the challenges of divorce, and focus on creating positive transitions, even at very stressful times in life. 

Mardi is the best-selling author of From I Do to I’m Done and The Other Side of Divorce. She speaks internationally on conflict resolution, divorce, communication, and developing emotional intelligence and resilience. 

Connect with Mardi: Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.divorcecoach4women.com/

Many people experience anger on a daily basis, but few of us are educated on how to not just manage the emotion, but to actually eliminate it from our lives. Unfortunately, as my guest Dr. Mort Orman highlights, anger and stress can create short and long term health issues. The episodes focuses on the importance of getting rid of longstanding anger issues to improve our mental and physical health. Dr. Orman and host Mardi Winder-Adams discuss the reality of anger in divorce and the benefits of moving beyond anger to find a healthy way to live and leg go of the negative impact of this emotion. Tune in on NEWStreamingNetwork.com for practical tips and empowering insights.

More about Mardi: Mardi Winder-Adams is a certified divorce transition and high-conflict divorce coach, with experience as a domestic violence client advocate and behavioral consultant for schools. She is a credentialed mediator with over 30 years of experience in helping people navigate conflict, manage the challenges of divorce, and focus on creating positive transitions, even at very stressful times in life.

Mardi is the best-selling author of From I Do to I’m Done and The Other Side of Divorce. She speaks internationally on conflict resolution, divorce, communication, and developing emotional intelligence and resilience.

Connect with Mardi:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.divorcecoach4women.com/

About the Guest Dr. Mort Orman, M.D. is an internal medicine physician with 40 years of success as an anger elimination and stress elimination expert. He is creator of the “I Can’t Believe I’m Not Angry Anymore” anger relief program, a 10-session program that has proven to be extremely effective for helping people overcome longstanding anger issues, including anger issues related to divorce. Dr. Orman has led more than 100 anger and stress elimination workshops for doctors, nurses, lawyers, business owners, entrepreneurs, other professionals, and even the F.B.I. He has also been the official sponsor of National Stress Awareness Month in the U.S. every April since 1992.

To connect with Dr. Mort: Website: http://docorman.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/docorman LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/docorman

Downsizing after divorce is a popular choice, particularly for those going through a gray divorce and no longer caring for children in the home. Making the decision to change locations and even moving from a house to a condo can be a very positive experience. Mardi Winder-Adams and Real Estate Advisor Esha Desai have a conversation about the pros and cons of condo living, and the often-overlooked upsides for singles and those who want to travel. Esha also shares insight into what to look for when buying a condo, and why it is important to work with an experienced real estate professional throughout the process. Tune in on NEWStreamingNetwork.com for practical tips and empowering insights.

More about Mardi: Mardi Winder-Adams is a certified divorce transition and high-conflict divorce coach, with experience as a domestic violence client advocate and behavioral consultant for schools. She is a credentialed mediator with over 30 years of experience in helping people navigate conflict, manage the challenges of divorce, and focus on creating positive transitions, even at very stressful times in life. Mardi is the best-selling author of From I Do to I’m Done and The Other Side of Divorce. She speaks internationally on conflict resolution, divorce, communication, and developing emotional intelligence and resilience.

Connect with Mardi:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.divorcecoach4women.com/

More about Esha:
Esha Desai is known as "Real Estate Matchmaker" - Leverage my Knowledge & Expertise to Get What You Want. She follows 3 Core Principles: Efficient, Honest, and Committed to YOUR Success. Esha is not an ordinary realtor, as her clients attest. As an ex-management consultant, she is driven by her need to leverage knowledge, expertise, and resources to help you make the right decision for you and your family. Her clients often become her friends. “It would be my honor to be your guide, advisor, and concierge—committed to partnering with you to buy, sell, invest, or rent a luxury home in the greater Miami/Ft Lauderdale area.”

To connect with Esha:
Phone: 305-772-0007
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esha-k-desaiy-b3a8531a5/ IG:https://www.instagram.com/miamirealtoresha/

This episode features Mardi Winder-Adams and Michael Cohen discussing the role of the mediator and mediation in the divorce process. Michael and Mardi are both trained mediators with years of experience in helping individuals settle all aspects of their divorce, including financial issues and coparenting plans. The discussion includes the benefits of mediation, how mediation can help reduce the costs of divorce, and how mediators can help in creating effective ways to communicate, even when it may be difficult. This episode offers insight and practical tips and strategies for anyone going through divorce who is interested in using mediation.

More about Mardi: Mardi Winder-Adams is a certified divorce transition and high-conflict divorce coach, with experience as a domestic violence client advocate and behavioral consultant for schools. She is a credentialed mediator with over 30 years of experience in helping people navigate conflict, manage the challenges of divorce, and focus on creating positive transitions, even at very stressful times in life. Mardi is the best-selling author of From I Do to I’m Done and The Other Side of Divorce. She speaks internationally on conflict resolution, divorce, communication, and developing emotional intelligence and resilience.

Connect with Mardi:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.divorcecoach4women.com/

More about Michael: Michael Cohen is a passionate divorce mediator who cares about his clients and their families, and who is driven to help them divorce in the healthiest way possible to preserve their ability to co-parent effectively and minimize the impact of their divorce on their children. Michael guides his clients toward healthy financial decisions, and leads his clients through a collaborative process to help them create the healthiest parenting plan for them and their children. Michael earned his CPA while at the University of Illinois, and his Divorce Mediation Certification at Northwestern University. Michael is divorced and has three children, who are the inspiration for the work that he does for others.

Connect with Michael:
Website:https://michaelsmediation.com