What if the hardest parts of your life became the fuel for your purpose?
In this episode of Women Getting Visible, host Christina Vidovich sits down with Maria Leonard Olsen—attorney, podcaster, author of six books (with a seventh on the way), TEDx speaker, journalist, and mentor to women in recovery—to talk about healing, visibility, and turning trauma into a force for good. Maria shares how divorce, sobriety, empty‑nesting at 50, and confronting childhood sexual abuse and rape led her to stop hiding, start speaking, and build a multi‑platform presence that now includes a popular podcast, multiple books, and national TV appearances.
Maria opens up about how processing trauma in rehab helped her stop “holding a beach ball underwater,” why writing and speaking about her story has been deeply healing, and how her book 50 After 50 and TEDx talk created space for other women to say “me too” in their own ways. She also talks about being featured on CBS Sunday Morning for her bucket‑list work, visiting 70+ countries, and using her visibility to advocate for women in midlife, survivors of sexual violence, women in sobriety, and female authors.
Memorable moments:
The moment Maria decided to stop denying her uniqueness as a brown, Filipina‑American girl in a white Catholic school—and how “otherness” shaped her visibility journey.
How writing and speaking about childhood sexual abuse, rape, divorce, and addiction became a path to healing and a lifeline for other women who felt they had to stay silent.
What she’s learned about publishing (traditional, hybrid, self‑publishing), book marketing, and honoring your bandwidth instead of comparing your output to others.
Why collaboration, boundaries, and self‑care (including saying “no” as a complete sentence) are essential to sustainable visibility in midlife and beyond.
How her son Chris Olsen’s journey as a 20M‑follower creator and his collaborations with Meghan Trainor reinforced lessons about resilience, online criticism, and partnership.
Listen if you are a midlife woman carrying visible or invisible trauma who wants to use your story to help others without losing yourself in the process.
Follow Women Getting Visible for weekly conversations that help women own their voice, story, and stage, and share this episode with a woman who needs to hear that her hardest experiences can become part of her legacy—not the end of her story.
Episode 4 – Christina Vidovich & Maria Leonard Olsen
Women Getting Visible 2026©
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