Women Mastering Midlife

If you have ever been told you are “too young” for perimenopause, dismissed with a quick prescription, or left feeling confused about hormone therapy, this conversation will help you understand why.

In this episode of Women Mastering Midlife, I sit down with women’s health nurse practitioner and menopause specialist Jackie Piasta to unpack what is really happening during perimenopause and menopause—and why so many women are not getting the care they need.

We discuss the major gaps in menopause education across healthcare, the lasting impact of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), and how misinformation continues to influence treatment decisions today. You will also learn how hormone therapy actually works, why symptoms can begin years earlier than expected, and what options are available if you have been told “everything is normal.”

If you are navigating brain fog, sleep disruption, mood changes, weight fluctuations, or simply feel like your body has changed without clear answers, this episode will help you start connecting the dots.

What We Cover in This Episode

• Why perimenopause symptoms are often missed or misdiagnosed

• The reality of hormone therapy and what the research actually shows

• The lasting impact of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study on care decisions

• Why many clinicians feel unprepared to treat menopause patients

• The difference between bioidentical and synthetic hormones

• Common symptoms of perimenopause, including brain fog, sleep disruption, and mood changes

• Why menopause care requires more time and individualized attention

• How telehealth is expanding access to menopause care

• The role of lab testing in perimenopause and menopause

• Why women are often prescribed multiple medications instead of addressing root hormonal changes

• Testosterone therapy in women and the current limitations in access and research

• The importance of self-advocacy and trusting your intuition in midlife health

About Jackie Piasta

Jackie Piasta is a women’s health nurse practitioner and nationally certified menopause practitioner with over 15 years of clinical experience. She is the founder of Monarch Health, a midlife and menopause clinic, and has educated practitioners nationwide on menopause care.

She is a recognized voice in the menopause space, known for translating complex clinical information into accessible, practical guidance for women navigating midlife.

Resources & Links

• Follow Jackie Piasta on Instagram

• Learn more about Monarch Health (telehealth available in select states)

• Explore additional menopause care providers if you are outside her service area

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Episode 100 of Women Mastering Midlife is not a highlight reel it is an honest reflection of what it truly takes to keep showing up in midlife while everything around you is changing.

In this deeply personal milestone episode, Victoria Byrd shares what was happening behind the microphone during the first 100 episodes of the podcast—from navigating perimenopause and parenting teenagers to experiencing a major life transition that reshaped everything.

Rather than celebrating with a polished recap, this episode explores the reality of building something meaningful while living through uncertainty, identity shifts, and the emotional weight that often defines midlife.

This conversation speaks directly to women who are in the middle of their own transition not at the beginning, not at the end, but in the messy, complicated, and often unseen middle.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• What it actually took to record 100 podcast episodes during a major life transition

• The intersection of perimenopause, divorce, parenting, and career reinvention

• How personal hardship changed the way conversations were held and experienced

• The shift from “performing wellness” to living it in real time

• Why midlife clarity often leads women to make different, and sometimes difficult choices

• The evolution of voice, confidence, and boundaries in midlife

• Behind-the-scenes reflections on key episodes, including:

• Trauma bonding and coercive control

• Sexual wellness, intimacy, and pelvic health

• The “messy middle” of midlife

• The concept of the “D.U.N. divorce”




• The reality of building a podcast, business, and community from the ground up

• Why midlife is about more than hormones—it is about identity, autonomy, and expansion

Key Takeaways

• Midlife is not a clean transformation it is an ongoing process of becoming

• You do not need to have everything figured out to keep moving forward

• Growth often happens quietly, through consistency rather than breakthrough moments

• Women in midlife are navigating layered responsibilities career, caregiving, health, and identity, all at once

• There is power in continuing to show up, even when life feels uncertain

What’s Next for Women Mastering Midlife

Victoria shares her vision for the next 100 episodes, including:

• More unfiltered conversations about real midlife experiences

• A deeper blend of clinical insight and lived experience

• Expanded topics: hormone therapy, sexual wellness, finances, relationships, and mental health

• Continued advocacy for women navigating healthcare systems that often overlook them

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

If you’ve been struggling with brain fog, weight gain, poor sleep, or feeling like your body has completely changed in midlife, this episode will help you understand why.

In this powerful conversation, I sit down with nurse practitioner and bestselling author Cynthia Thurlow to break down the critical connection between your gut microbiome and your hormones during perimenopause and menopause.

What most women (and even many clinicians) don’t realize is that your gut is not just about digestion. It is deeply involved in estrogen metabolism, inflammation, immune function, and even how your body responds to stress and weight changes.

With over 40 trillion microorganisms living in your gut, this system influences nearly every function in your body, especially during the menopause transition.

We dive into the concept of the estrobolome, the part of your microbiome responsible for processing estrogen, and how imbalances here can lead to worsening symptoms like:

• Brain fog

• Weight loss resistance

• Bloating and constipation

• Breast tenderness

• Skin changes

You’ll also hear why many women are unknowingly recirculating estrogen in the body and how that can amplify symptoms during perimenopause.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why the gut microbiome is central to hormone health and longevity

• The estrobolome and how your body detoxifies estrogen

• How poor gut health can worsen perimenopause symptoms

• The real reason constipation matters more than you think

• How stress, sleep, and lifestyle directly impact your gut

• Why ultra-processed foods and artificial sweeteners disrupt the microbiome

• The truth about supplements vs. food-based nutrition

• What “bio-individual” care really means in menopause treatment

• Why high-achieving women often hit a wall in perimenopause

The Lifestyle Shift Most Women Avoid (But Need)

One of the most important takeaways from this episode is this:

You cannot keep doing what worked in your 20s and 30s and expect your body to respond the same way in midlife.

Chronic stress, poor sleep, over-exercising, and under-eating create the perfect storm for hormone disruption, gut dysfunction, and metabolic resistance.

This episode walks through the foundational pillars that actually move the needle:

• Sleep quality

• Stress management

• Fiber and whole-food nutrition

• Balanced movement (not overtraining)

Connect with Cynthia Thurlow

Cynthia shares her groundbreaking work on the gut–hormone connection in her new book, offering both science-backed education and practical strategies for women and clinicians alike.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

If you’ve ever been told to “just use lubricant” or “this is normal in menopause,” this conversation will challenge everything you thought you knew about pelvic health.

In this episode of Women Mastering Midlife, I sit down with Tamar Hill, CEO of MedRoots, to explore an emerging and often misunderstood option in women’s health: CBD vaginal and rectal suppositories for pelvic pain, painful sex, and menopause symptoms.

We discuss what clinicians are seeing in real practice, why patients are quietly turning to these products, and the gap between what is happening in women’s bodies and what is currently included in medical guidelines.

This is not about trends. This is about options.

What We Cover in This Episode

• What pelvic pain really looks like in midlife women

• Why painful sex (dyspareunia), vaginismus, and vulvodynia are often underdiagnosed

• How CBD interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system and why that matters

• The difference between CBD vs THC and what “microdosing” actually means

• Why some women are choosing CBD over medications like benzodiazepines for pelvic floor therapy

• The role of inflammation, nervous system dysregulation, and the pelvic pain cycle

• Vaginal dryness in perimenopause and menopause and how it impacts intimacy

• The reality of stigma, lack of research funding, and why providers are hesitant to recommend CBD

• How clinicians are navigating documentation and conversations around CBD with patients

• What to look for in a safe, high-quality CBD product (this is critical)

Learn more about Tamar Hill and MedRoots

Final Thought

Women deserve more than silence, dismissal, or one-size-fits-all solutions.

This conversation is an invitation to stay curious, ask better questions, and advocate for your body, because small changes can make a big difference.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

What happens when your definition of success changes in your 40s?

In this deeply personal episode of Women Mastering Midlife, Victoria sits down with business coach and speaker Krista Demcher for an honest conversation about perimenopause, parenting teenagers, mental health, identity shifts, and what it really means to reinvent yourself in midlife.

Together, they explore the emotional and hormonal layers of this season from anxiety and anticipatory grief to launching young adults and redefining personal fulfillment beyond productivity and income.

This conversation is about courage. The courage to evolve. The courage to speak honestly. And the courage to change direction when what once worked no longer feels aligned.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• Perimenopause and increased anxiety
• Mood changes and decreased stress resilience in midlife
• Parenting teens while navigating your own hormonal transition
• The emotional impact of launching a child to college
• Anticipatory grief and identity shifts in motherhood
• Redefining success beyond revenue and achievements
• Letting go of a successful business model to pursue alignment
• Social media, mental health, and speaking up in polarizing times
• Why storytelling builds trust in an AI-driven world

Connect with Krista Demcher

https://www.kristademcher.com/ https://www.instagram.com/kristademcher 

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Midlife is not an ending. It is a beginning.

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Victoria sits down with writer, coach, and educator Colleen Kohanek to talk about what she calls “the third act” — the phase of life where women finally get to define their next chapter on their own terms.

Colleen shares the story of her 50s, which she describes as “the blender years.” After being laid off from a long career, becoming a caregiver to her husband during a sudden illness, losing him, navigating her own health crisis, and later losing her sister, she found herself rebuilding life from the ground up. Through grief, trauma, therapy, and reinvention, she began helping other women recognize that it is never too late to start over.

Together, Victoria and Colleen explore:

• Why women over 45 are uniquely positioned to build something meaningful
• How grief, divorce, illness, and empty nesting can become catalysts for reinvention
• The fear of being seen and starting something new later in life
• Imposter syndrome in highly accomplished women
• Hustle culture and why midlife calls for something different
• The psychological shift that happens in perimenopause and menopause
• Ageism, patriarchy, and the freedom that comes from no longer centering the male gaze
• Navigating social media when the world feels chaotic
• Why longevity changes everything about how we think about retirement
• The power of choosing flexibility and freedom over traditional security

Colleen challenges the outdated “Disney script” many women were handed: work hard, perform well, retire quietly. Instead, she invites women to see midlife as the greatest opportunity they did not know was coming.

With longer lifespans and better health than previous generations, women today have decades ahead of them. The question becomes: What do you want to do with your third act?

About Colleen Kohanek

Colleen Kohanek is a writer, coach, and educator who works with women in midlife and beyond who are ready to redefine what is possible in their next chapter. She supports women who want to translate decades of experience into meaningful work, often by building an online business or creative platform.

Her work focuses on clarity, sustainability, confidence, and aligned growth rather than hustle culture.

Connect with Colleen:

https://www.colleenkochannek.com/ 

https://www.instagram.com/colleenkochannek

https://www.tiktok.com/@colleenkochannek 

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/freeguides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

In this powerful and wide-ranging conversation, Victoria Byrd sits down with OB-GYN and menopause advocate Dr. Sarah Berg to talk honestly about what is really happening to women in midlife — and why our healthcare system, workplaces, and culture are still falling short.

From the “slope shoulder moment” Dr. Berg noticed in her patients to the systemic gaps in menopause education, this episode explores how women are often left to navigate perimenopause and menopause without adequate support, accurate information, or validation.

Together, they discuss:

• Why menopause education is still missing from most medical training

• How misinformation from the WHI study continues to affect hormone therapy conversations

• Why only a fraction of women prescribed hormone therapy actually start it

• The foundational role of sleep in managing midlife symptoms

• Practical strategies to improve sleep without medication

• The importance of nervous system regulation, breathwork, and meditation

• Sexual health, orgasm, and why pleasure is not optional healthcare

• Why menopause should be treated as preventive care — not an afterthought

• Menopause in the workplace and the financial cost of losing women in leadership

• How cultural language around menopause shapes perception and opportunity

• The need for male education and co-ed menopause conversations

• Why symptom checklists should be standard in primary care visits

Dr. Berg also shares her journey creating Self Aware-ity, a digital menopause education platform designed to translate evidence-based medicine into relatable, story-driven learning that women can actually absorb — without needing to read another dense textbook at bedtime.

This episode is both validating and action-oriented. It reframes menopause not as decline, but as a powerful transition stage that deserves education, support, and structural change.

About Dr. Sarah  Berg

Dr. Sarah Berg is an OB-GYN who specializes in menopause education and advocacy. After recognizing patterns in her midlife patients that were not being adequately addressed in traditional care models, she deepened her focus on menopause medicine and created Selfority,  a digital educational platform designed to make evidence-based menopause care accessible and relatable.

Follow Dr. Sarah Berg and learn more about Selfority

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/free-guides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @WomenMasteringMidlife  and @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast. 

In this episode of Women Mastering Midlife, Victoria Byrd sits down with menopause educator, therapist, and author Lauren Tetenbaum to talk about a conversation many millennial women are not prepared for: perimenopause in your 30s and early 40s.

Lauren, author of Millennial Menopause, shares why so many women are being dismissed, misdiagnosed, or told they are “too young” for hormonal symptoms, and why that narrative must change.

Together, Victoria and Lauren explore:

• Why perimenopause can begin in your mid-to-late 30s

• The mental health impact of hormonal fluctuations, including anxiety, irritability, and the “3 a.m. doom drops”

• Why mood symptoms often appear before cycle changes

• The cultural reluctance millennials have around embracing “midlife”

• How menopause affects women in the workplace and contributes to lost income and stalled careers

• The myths surrounding hormone therapy and breast cancer risk

• Alcohol and breast cancer risk versus estrogen risk

• The testosterone double standard in women’s healthcare

• Pellet therapy, med spas, and how to make informed treatment decisions

• Fertility grief and identity shifts during the menopause transition

• Why education for providers, pharmacists, and mental health professionals must improve
  

Lauren explains that perimenopause is often more complex than menopause itself, especially when it comes to mood disorders and misdiagnosis. Many women are prescribed antidepressants or sleeping pills without discussion of hormonal drivers. While SSRIs can be helpful tools, they should not be the only option offered.

Lauren shares practical first steps for women who suspect they are in perimenopause:

• Track symptoms

• Practice self-compassion

• Seek a provider who understands menopause guidelines

• Consider individualized care rather than relying solely on social media advice
  

If you are a millennial woman feeling “off,” experiencing unexplained anxiety, irritability, sleep disruption, or simply not recognizing yourself anymore, this conversation offers validation, clarity, and direction.

You are not too young. You are not dramatic. And you are not alone.

About Lauren Tetenbaum: Lauren Tetenbaum is a therapist, menopause educator, advocate, and author of Millennial Menopause. Her work focuses on educating younger women about perimenopause, breaking down hormone therapy myths, and empowering women with accessible, research-informed knowledge.

Learn more and find her book at:Millenial Menopause Book

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecounselaur/

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/free-guides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @WomenMasteringMidlife  and @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Divorce rates for adults over 50 have doubled since the 1990s, and many midlife women are finding themselves reevaluating their marriages during perimenopause and menopause. This cultural moment has sparked a new conversation often labeled “menodivorce,” but the reality is far more complex than fluctuating hormones alone.

In this episode of Women Mastering Midlife, Victoria Byrd is joined by award-winning family law attorney, divorce educator, and founder of My Confident Divorce, Hannah Hembree Bell. Together, they unpack what is really happening for women in midlife who find themselves done tolerating dynamics that no longer serve them.

Hannah shares her personal divorce story, including the costly consequences of entering the process unprepared and how approaching divorce differently the second time, with strategy, documentation, and emotional steadiness, completely changed the outcome for her and her children. That experience became the foundation of her work helping women prepare for divorce long before legal papers are filed.

Victoria and Hannah discuss why menopause often acts as a moment of awakening rather than impulsivity, how years of people-pleasing and unheld boundaries come to a breaking point, and why women typically consider divorce for years while men are often caught off guard.

They also address one of the most common fears midlife women face: financial insecurity, especially after years spent caregiving or stepping away from a career. Hannah offers a grounded, responsibility-centered framework for rebuilding confidence, autonomy, and financial stability over time rather than overnight.

This episode is an honest, validating, and empowering conversation for any woman contemplating divorce, navigating separation, or rebuilding her identity in midlife.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why menopause is often a catalyst for reevaluation, not the cause of divorce

• The concept of “D-U-N done” and why women reach a breaking point

• Financial fear, career gaps, and rebuilding independence after caregiving years

• Emotional and mental preparation before filing for divorce

• Boundaries, people-pleasing, and reclaiming personal agency

• How stress, cortisol, and chronic emotional labor affect women’s health

• Supporting children through divorce while modeling healthy relationships

• The role of community and shared experience in healing
  

Resources mentioned:

• My Confident Divorce education platform

• The My Confident Life community

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/free-guides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @WomenMasteringMidlife  and @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Midlife is not a makeover. It is not a glow-up montage. And it is definitely not a neat before-and-after photo.

In this deeply honest and often funny conversation, Victoria Byrd sits down with Angela Burk, author of Real Girls Guide to Midlife, to talk about what really happens in the messy middle of life. The years where hormones shift quietly at first, rage shows up without warning, sleep disappears at 3 a.m., relationships change, and women realize they have been shrinking themselves for decades.

Angela shares her personal story of navigating perimenopause, divorce at 45, identity loss, and reinvention, along with the realization that there was no book telling the truth about midlife the way women actually live it. What emerged was not a how-to guide, but a manifesto: one rooted in honesty, sovereignty, rest, pleasure, and self-trust.

This episode moves beyond symptom checklists and productivity culture and into the lived experience of midlife women who are exhausted, capable, burned out, and still deeply powerful.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why midlife feels so overwhelming and why it is not “just hormones”

• The emotional and identity shifts that often begin in the late 30s and early 40s

• Why many women feel invisible, depleted, or disconnected from themselves

• How people-pleasing becomes unsustainable in midlife

• How midlife forces women to confront old rules they never chose

• Why waiting for the “perfect plan” keeps women stuck

• The importance of naming needs out loud, without apology

• How children benefit when they see the real version of you

• Why midlife can be the beginning of pleasure, confidence, and sovereignty

Angela also offers a simple but powerful starting point for women who feel stuck or exhausted: identify one thing to stop carrying and one thing to begin claiming, write it down, and say it out loud. No overhaul required.

About the guest

Angela Burk is an award-winning marketing strategist, author of Real Girls Guide to Midlife, a mother of three, bonus mom to four, and a fierce advocate for women reclaiming their power in midlife. Her work centers on honesty, community, and helping women stop shrinking themselves in the second half of life.

Resources mentioned

• Real Girls Guide to Midlife by Angela Burk • Angela Burk’s Substack and writing (linked in show notes)

If this conversation resonated, share it with a woman who needs to know she is not alone in the messy middle.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going: If this episode resonated with you, please rate, review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe to Women Mastering Midlife on your favorite podcast platform to receive weekly conversations that help you navigate perimenopause, menopause, and midlife health with clarity and confidence.

Join the Women Mastering Midlife Community and let’s grow stronger together.

Get your FREE guides HERE: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com/free-guides 

Share your thoughts and stories on our social channels and tag us @WomenMasteringMidlife  and @misvictoriabyrd Let’s rewrite the narrative together!  

Find more information on our website: www.womenmasteringmidlife.com 

Book a FREE 1:1 discovery call to learn more about coaching programs and courses 

Disclaimer  

This podcast is for entertainment, educational, and informational purposes only. The hosts, guests, and experts featured are not your personal healthcare providers or advisors. The content should not be considered as professional, personalized medical, psychological, or prescriptive advice.  

Always consult qualified professionals such as your physician, therapist, pharmacist, or coach for specific concerns and decisions related to your health or lifestyle. *Women Mastering Midlife* is not responsible for any undesired outcomes resulting from actions taken based on the content of this podcast.