You Are Here: A Grateful Twist on Life’s Disruptions and Hardest Moments.

3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode

• How a hummingbird, a lockout, and a resignation letter marked the real turning point from a stable payroll job into full-time.• Why Gentle Trauma Release was the missing piece for both her clients and herself.• The two "mother energy" archetypes (the white-knuckle achiever and the martyr) that keep women disconnected from their bodies.Bio:Ramona Kossowan is a women’s wellness and empowerment coach known for her deep-rooted approach to helping women who feel exhausted, hypervigilant, disconnected from themselves, or stuck in a frustrating battle with their bodies despite doing “all the right things.”Through Gentle Trauma Release, nervous system healing, mindful eating, and strength training, Ramona helps women uncover the missing piece they often didn’t even realize they needed until they experienced it for themselves: releasing the energetic weight their bodies have been carrying for years beneath the surface of stress, survival mode, self-pressure, and accumulated life experiences.Her work offers a refreshing alternative to surface-level wellness approaches, helping women finally feel safer, stronger, more connected to themselves, and able to work with their bodies instead of constantly fighting against them."Websitesramonakcoaching.comgentletraumacoach.comSocials:   https://www.facebook.com/RamonaKCoachinghttps://www.instagram.com/ramonakcoachinghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ramona-kossowan-380ba66a/https://www.youtube.com/@ramonakcoachinghttps://substack.com/@ramonakcoachinghttps://www.pinterest.com/ramonakcoaching/Is it Trauma? Explore the often overlooked symptoms of trauma: https://ramonakcoaching.com/gentle-trauma-assessment/When food feels chaotic..who's running the show? Find your Food Archetype: https://ramonakcoaching.com/Food-Archetype-Opt-in

My guest, Kathy Love, was living a dream life in Connecticut. A beautiful home, three kids, a strong community. A husband she loved. And then, one summer afternoon, an FBI card on her front door changed everything.

For four years, she lived in uncertainty. Job loss. Financial devastation. Her husband in federal prison. A marriage that crumbled under the weight of it all.

But this episode isn't just about surviving that. It's about what she had to unlearn to actually live after it.

We talk about codependency and self-erasure, the ways women disappear themselves trying to hold everyone else together. About a therapist who gave her permission to leave.

She talks about crying in aisle 11 at the grocery store over the cost of paper towels. About keeping secrets that nearly broke her family, and then choosing radical honesty instead. About swimming for the first time as an adult, finishing a triathlon with barely a breath left, and realizing she could do hard things.And about the power of slowing down, of noticing when you're not in a race, even when your whole life feels like one.

Kathy built an entirely new life after that four-year storm. She became a speaker, a coach, an author. She helps people, especially veterans, recognize the codependency patterns that keep them small.

And the one thing she wants everyone to know: "Slow down and breathe. It'll change your life."

____

Kathy Love is a two-time TEDx speaker, leadership and self-care coach, author, and Chief Community Officer of The Outlier Project, a global community of high-performing leaders, entrepreneurs, and changemakers.

Known for her candid, relatable approach, Kathy speaks about authentic leadership, self-trust, boundaries, and the courage to show up as who you really are, especially in environments where it can feel easier to play it safe.

Her work is shaped by both professional leadership experience and a deeply personal understanding of what happens when caring, achieving, and being there for everyone else come at the expense of yourself.

Kathy challenges audiences to rethink what self-care and authenticity actually look like at work, moving beyond buzzwords to practical choices that build trust, resilience, and stronger human connection.

Kathy is also the host of the My Self Care Sh*t podcast, a certified coach and yoga instructor, and the author of My Self Care Sh*t: The Workbook. Her style blends humor, vulnerability, practical tools, and the occasional uncomfortable question, the kind that makes you think differently long after you leave the room.

Ways to connect with Kathy Love:Website: https://www.MySelfCareShit.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathylove111

00:00 Episode Roadmap

01:03 Meet Kathy Love

02:30 Dream Life Shattered

04:14 Year One Upheaval

05:23 Charges And Sentencing

07:11 Single Parent Survival15:51 Coping And Healing

19:19 Time Versus Priorities21:05 No More Secrets25:48 Learning To Swim

27:20 Triathlon Breath Control30:48 Living Apart After Release

32:37 Why Connecticut Won35:20 Finding Work and Stability

36:57 Codependency and Culture37:56 Bookstore Wake Up Call

41:03 Gratitude and Taking Control

43:04 Life After Divorce

43:27 Books TED Talks and Coaching

47:53 Building Your Dream Life

50:50 Slow Down and Breathe

There's one line from this conversation that has really stayed with me:"Try not to fit into the roles that everyone is assigning to you."My guest, Tanja Brown, was 50 years old — a single mom raising a daughter with severe autism, running an autism-services company, still catching her breath from selling the last one — when she met a man 26 years younger than her.Thirty days later, he moved in. They stayed together for almost 10 years.But this episode isn't just about the age gap.It's about everything Tanja had to unlearn to let herself have it.We talk about caregiving and self-erasure, the double standards women face in dating, the friendships that didn't survive her choice and the ones that did, what it means to plan a lifetime of care for a child who will outlive her marriage, her sabbatical, her sense of self — and the guilt that shows up the second a woman starts choosing herself.We talk about the voice that says:"You should know better."The judgment that says more about the person judging than the person being judged.The years she spent editing her own story before she finally wrote the real one — a memoir called Flipping the Script: A Decade of Borrowed Time.And what happens when a woman stops asking for permission to be happy.Tanja put it simply:Show up for yourself. Schedule it in. Stop feeling guilty for it.I think there's something in that for so many of us.Not chasing scandal. Not needing anyone's approval. But choosing what actually makes you feel alive — and letting that be enough of a reason.What would you do if you stopped waiting for everyone else's permission first?00:00 Unexpected Age Gap Romance01:02 Meet Tanja Brown02:01 Caregiver Life Overload04:12 Ex Husband Pushback06:46 Who Knew and Who Didn’t08:35 Planning for Disabled Adult Child10:24 A Decade Together and the Breakup11:08 Judgment and Double Standards12:15 Family and Friends Reactions14:30 From Situationship to Real Love20:07 Breaking the Molds27:08 Why It Worked29:05 Laughter Youth and Boundaries32:15 Dating Younger After Divorce33:18 Apps Burnout and Age Range34:30 Compatibility and Lifestyle Pace36:22 Money Time and Priorities40:21 Travel Year Over Dating43:59 Rekindling Friendships45:11 Autism Business Mission48:30 Memoir and Age Gap Truths54:01 Advice Show Up for You57:31 Closing Thanks and Goodbye

Three Things You'll Learn in the Episode:

1. How to break up with ageism. Kat explains that ageism is unique among the “isms."

2. Why the losses of aging can reveal expansions. Kat reframes the identity losses that come with getting older not just as things to grieve, but as openings that force you to choose what's truly meaningful.

3. Why “someday” is a lie. Drawing on her own early brush with a terminal diagnosis, Kat talks about how recognizing life's shortness actually brings more presence, gratitude, and love.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Tanya sits down with Kat, a psychotherapist and aging-freely advocate, for a wide-ranging conversation about breaking free from ageism and finding joy in impermanence.

Kat traces her path to this work back to studying with her spiritual teacher Gangaji, noticing her discomfort with casual ageist comments, and watching her mother and her mother's friends age boldly. A pivotal, unexpected moment came when she began photographing hibiscus flowers up close, from bud to decay, and realized every stage of the flower's life was equally beautiful — a metaphor she now applies to human aging. She describes this as “falling in love with impermanence.”

Topics Covered

• The statistic that women aged 20–29 are the most anxious about aging, and how the beauty and pharmaceutical industries capitalize on that fear starting as young as age 15

• The happiness U-curve — how happiness rises with age and levels off around 80, and how younger generations' happiness is now declining, flattening that curve

• Resilience as something you build through lived hardship, not something you're taught

• How community and friendship change with age, including the sobering but freeing awareness that close friendships will likely end in death

• Identity loss as aging's central challenge, and how those losses can open space for expansion and clarity about priorities

• Kat's TEDx talk, “Aging Sucks or Does It?” and her upcoming talk, “Someday Is A Lie”

• Personal power and choice — how attitude and perspective remain within your control even amid loss and hardship

• Kat's card game, Older: A Renewable Life, designed to help people confront ageist assumptions through science-based prompts

Kat's parting advice: get informed about ageism (start with Ashton Applewhite's TED Talk “Let's End Ageism”), and mine your own past for wisdom by asking how your view of things like vulnerability and forgiveness has changed over time.

Ways to Connect with Kat

Website: ⁠agefreely.com⁠

Older:A Renewable Life card game:  ⁠https://www.agefreely.com/the-older-game⁠

TEDx link:  ⁠Aging Sucks — Or Does It?⁠

Instagram: @katagefreely 

Facebook:  kat.miller.7370

Linkedin:  ⁠[email protected]⁠

Resources Mentioned

• Ashton Applewhite's TED Talk, “Let's End Ageism

3 Things You Will Learn in this Episode1. Why aging is an emergence, not an emergency.2. What is an Age Cage—and how do you break free from it?3. How to grow new wings in midlife and beyond.How to connect with Wendi Know:Website:https://wendiknox.com/Link to buy her book:https://www.amazon.com/Way-Dragonfly-Flight-Instructions-Transform/dp/196182616XInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/wendiknoxuplifter/Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/wendiknoxauthor/Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/user/OhMyGoddessByWendiLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendiknox/Profile on Ageist Magazine:https://www.ageist.com/profile/wendi-knox-71-soaring-after-midlife/Wendi Knox is an author, artist, speaker, and professional uplifter.In her former life, she was an advertising Senior Vice President/Creative Director and award-winning brand storyteller, creating campaigns for global brands including Honda and Acura.Today, Wendi is on a mission to rebrand aging as a process of becoming more of who we are, not less of what we were.Through her inspiring talks, workshops, and new book, The Way of the Dragonfly: Flight Instructions to Transform the Way We Age.Wendi encourages women 50+ to break out of the “Age Cage” challenge limiting beliefs about aging, and embrace the next chapter of life with more purpose, possibility, and joy.Because she believes it’s never too late to grow new wings.

3 Things You Will Learn in this Episode:

1. How a secret held for 60 years came out by accident, on a stage, in front of 200 strangers.

2. Why sharing her story keeps triggering the same reaction in other people, a veteran, a coworker, a stranger at a Rotary breakfast, all in tears, all admitting a secret of their own for the first time.

3. What actually changed at 50, and why she says healing isn't about the timeline you expect.

Ways to Connect with Gayle:

BOOK: BECOMING VISIBLE: Overcoming Trauma-Based Fears, Phobias and Self-Doubtwww.booklocker.com/13819
THE

ACCIDENT: https://booklocker.com/11593EL

ACCIDENTE: https://booklocker.com/11681

Website:http://www.firstimpressions1.comhttps://booklocker.com/books/13819.html

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Gaylepetrillo602

Gayle was born and raised in Albany, New York. She has called Tucson home for 27 years. She is a coach, author and speaker.

With a career of over 35 years in healthcare leadership roles, including managing hospital departments, serving as Director of HR for a large medical group, and Director of Physician Operations for a hospital system, as well as Executive Director for a multi-specialty medical practice, she has seen the amazingly good, bad and ugly leadership and communications.

In 2017 Gayle launched First Impressions, an image consulting and career coaching firm because she believes, “We never get a second opportunity to make that all important first impression.” She coaches clients to strengthen their confidence, communication, and professional presence.

As a young girl Gayle was accidently burned which resulted in physical and emotional scars that lasted a lifetime. In her first book, The Accident, and its Spanish counterpart, El accidente, she shares how she overcame fears, phobias and body image issues, turning obstacles into positive outcomes.

Her memoir, Becoming Visible: Overcoming Trauma-Based Fears, Phobias and Self-Doubt closes the loop by talking openly about surviving not only a burn injury as a toddler, but also domestic abuse, stalking, not once but twice, and overcoming imposter syndrome. Becoming Visible was published in April 2025 and offers a powerful voice to those healing from trauma through small, steady acts of bravery rather than dramatic transformation.

Gayle serves as Board Chair for the American Red Cross of Southern Arizona and volunteers with the Arizona Burn Foundation and Team Lizzie Bell.

Gayle Petrillo, MBAExecutive and Career Coach, AUTHOR and SPEAKER

www.firstimpressions1.com

YOU NEVER GET A SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION - MAKE IT A GREAT ONE!

3 Things You'll Learn in This Episode

1. How a 22-year corporate career ended with a list written behind a closed office door. Melissa spent decades running a national division at a company she once called "a little icky," making good money and putting her kids through college. At 65, sitting at her desk, it hit her that she had no idea what came next, so she made a list: saxophone, a book, a podcast, and the one that stuck, making a movie. You'll hear exactly what pushed her to finally act on it.

2. How a dirt road, a Charity Buzz auction, and a three-second conversation with M. Night Shyamalan turned into her first film. Melissa didn't plan to become a filmmaker. She stumbled onto a movie set by accident, won a day of shadowing Shyamalan through an online charity auction, and left with one question ringing in her ears: "What do you really want to do?" That day set her on the path to Beyond 60, streaming since 2021 on eight platforms.

3. How she landed Alex Honnold's mother, and then Alex Honnold himself, in her second film. Melissa's current documentary follows Deirdre Wolownick, the oldest woman to climb El Capitan, who didn't take up climbing until her 60s. Melissa also convinced Deirdre's son, free solo climber Alex Honnold, to appear on camera, after being told he'd say no. The film has since picked up 18 festival selections and 11 awards, with distribution in progress.

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More about Melissa:

Website: www.melissadavey.com⁠⁠

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-davey--16484b6/

Email: [email protected]⁠

Melissa Davey, age 75, retired from a lengthy corporate career in 2016 to pursue her second act and dream of becoming a filmmaker. 

Melissa began her early career in Legal Services pursuing Chapter 766 compliance and advocacy for disabled children. As a Paralegal, Melissa represented more than one thousand individuals before the Social Security Administration and was a national substantive law trainer for the Legal Services Corporation. 

In 1994 Melissa was recruited to the for-profit company, Genex, headquartered in Wayne, PA, to build their Social Security advocacy program. As the Vice President of Social Security and Managed Disability for 22 years, Melissa sat on the company’s executive team and worked throughout the United States to bring services to the disability insurance marketplace. 

At age 65, after a day on the set with a famous Director, she decided to take a risk and left her career to jump into the unknown. 

Pursuing her dream of becoming a filmmaker became a reality in late 2018 when Melissa completed her first film, Beyond Sixty, a feature length documentary about women over the age of sixty. During 2019 Melissa’s film was accepted by and screened at 8 film festivals throughout the United States and Canada, winning awards and confirming that it is never too late to learn something new. 

The film was picked up by a Distributor in late 2020 and had a Spring, 2021 release date. The film is currently available on most streaming platforms (Apple TV, Prime Video, Vimeo, Vudu, Google TV, YouTubeTV) including international airlines, library streaming as well as Cable OnDemand.  

Melissa has completed her second documentary, Climbing into Life, the story of Dierdre Wolownick who is the mother of Alex Honnold (Free Solo).  The film was accepted into eighteen film festivals, winning numerous awards.  The film is set for distribution in the summer of 2026.

Melissa is currently working on her third film, a documentary about domestic violence for the Women’s Center of Montgomery County in PA.

3 things you'll learn in this episode:

1. Why going back into painful "rooms" is less scary than you think.
2. How one look on her husband's face made April quit drinking.
3. Why your past doesn't define you, but your courage does.

April Day Garcia is an author, speaker, and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant from Long Island, New York. She’s the author of The Room to Be Brave, a memoir and healing framework about the rooms we carry with us—the beliefs, memories, and experiences that quietly shape who we become. Through storytelling, humor, and honest conversation, April speaks about healing, identity, recovery, courage, and what it looks like to rebuild a life from the inside out. Her work invites people to return to the parts of themselves they’ve been avoiding and discover that healing often begins by going back.

She is also co-founder of Be Brave Travel Academy, launching July 4th, a training program created to help travel professionals plan with greater confidence for travelers with disabilities and accessibility needs. 

The Room to Be Brave can be found at  https://www.aprildaygarcia.com/the-book

You can find April at https://www.aprildaygarcia.com

bebravetravelacademy.com

On social media:

@aprildaygarcia and @bebravetravelacademy

3 Things You'll Learning this Podcast:

1. Why menopause isn't just a health conversation — it's a leadership conversation that high-performing women can't afford to ignore
2. How to navigate the biological, emotional, and identity shifts of midlife without losing yourself in the process
3. What it looks like to lead your next chapter with self-trust, discernment, and real possibility

Marelda Rodrigues believes menopause is more than a health conversation. It is a leadership conversation. As a speaker, educator, and founder of Sovereign Becoming™, she helps high-performing women navigate the biological, emotional, and identity shifts of midlife without losing themselves in the process. Her work challenges outdated narratives about menopause and invites women to lead this chapter with greater self-trust, discernment, and possibility

Contact Marelda:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mareldarodrigues/

3 Things you will learn on this podcast:

• Identity shifts are a lifelong process, not a single moment. 
• Other people's judgments — and compliments — are a reflection of them, not you. 
• Action before readiness is the real breakthrough.

Teresa Lisum

Teresa Lisum helps women reconnect with their strengths and inner wisdom so they can stop second-guessing themselves and trust who they are. Through her strengths-based approach, she guides women from hesitation to confident action as they take the next step they’ve been afraid to take in life, wellness, and their next chapter.

Diane Amelia Read

Diane Amelia Read’s mission is to make the world a more loving and interconnected place by helping women love themselves first so they can share their awesomeness without depleting themselves. 

She is an experienced growth partner, health & mindset advisor, Reiki Master Teacher, motivational speaker, author, and stereotype disrupter.

As a Mind & Body Alchemist For Women Over 50, Diane Amelia uses her unique transformation toolbox to help midlife women create a sustainable path to their best health, confidence, mindset, income, community, and more.

The Vitality Continuum:

https://thevitalitycontinuum.com

How to Connect to Teresa:
ttps://linktr.ee/teresalisum

How to Connect to Diane Amelia:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-amelia-read/

https://dianeameliaread.com/version3/

https://calendly.com/dianeameliaread