Message In The Middle
This podcast is a safe and supportive space for listeners to explore life's challenging lessons and gain inspiration for their personal development journey. Through a variety of engaging formats, including interviews, book clubs, master classes, and discussions, the podcast delves into topics related to perseverance, self-empowerment, and self-discovery. With a focus on sharing expertise, inspiring stories and insights from a diverse range of voices, the podcast aims to help listeners navigate difficult experiences, provide hope and inspiration, and develop the resilience and strength needed to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.
At its core, this podcast is a platform for personal growth and development. It provides a welcoming space for listeners to explore life's toughest lessons and learn from others who have overcome similar challenges. Through a variety of formats, including interviews with experts and everyday people, book clubs featuring thought-provoking works, and discussions focused on specific topics, listeners are exposed to a range of perspectives and ideas that can help them on their own personal journeys.
One of the key themes of this podcast is perseverance. Many of the stories shared on the show highlight the importance of pushing through difficult times and not giving up, even when the odds seem insurmountable. Whether it's overcoming eating disorders, grief, addiction, navigating a health crisis, or dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic experience, the podcast emphasizes the resilience and strength of the human spirit.
Another important theme of the podcast is self-empowerment. Listeners are encouraged to take control of their own lives and pursue their goals with confidence and determination. By sharing stories of individuals who have transformed their lives through hard work and self-discovery, the podcast inspires listeners to believe in their own potential and take steps to create the life they want and to recognize that we are all capable of rewiring our thoughts and behaviors.
Finally, the podcast is focused on self-discovery. Through discussions and interviews, listeners are encouraged to explore their own values, beliefs, and desires, and to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. By reflecting on their own experiences and learning from the stories of others, listeners can gain valuable insights that can help them navigate life's challenges and live more fulfilling lives.
Overall, this podcast is a powerful resource for anyone seeking inspiration, guidance, and support on their personal development journey. By exploring life's difficult lessons through inspiring stories, interviews, book clubs, and discussions, listeners can gain the tools they need to persevere through tough times, empower themselves to achieve their goals, and discover their true selves.
Episodes
209 episodes
Stuck in the Same Patterns? How to Work with Your Subconscious Instead of Fighting It
If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “Why do I keep doing this?” or “Why can’t I just change this pattern?” Then this episode is for you.Because the truth is, most of us aren’t stuck because we’re broken. We’re...
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Rebuilding From the Inside Out: Jo Rye on Rebuilding Identity, Clarity, and Courage After Crisis
What do you do when everything in the life you knew changes unexpectedly? In this episode of Message in the Middle, I’m joined by Jo Rye, founder of Clarity & Courage, executive coach, and author, who shares what it rea...
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From Obedience to Inner Authority: Rediscovering Self-Trust with Toni LaMotta
In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Toni LaMotta to explore what happens when we lose trust in our own inner voice and how we begin finding it again.After spending sixteen years living under a vow o...
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Resilience Is a Choice: Adriana Cowdin on Reinvention, Chronic Illness, and Starting Again
For many women in midlife, reinvention feels like something that should happen at the beginning of a new year, after a major life change, or once everything finally settles down. But what if the truth is simpler and harder at the same tim...
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It’s Not You vs. The World. It’s You vs. You | Emotional Fitness with Shaun Zetlin
In this episode of Message in the Middle, I sit down with Shaun Zetlin, master fitness trainer, author, and creator of Emotional Fitness, for a powerful conversation about redefining strength. After more than two decades helpi...
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Redefining Success, Sobriety, and Self-Awareness in Midlife with Ann Karber
In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne welcomes Anne Karber for an honest and reflective conversation about the midlife moment when everything appears fine on the outside, yet something feels quietly off. Anne is ...
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You’re Not Stuck. Your Nervous System Is Protecting You.
Many women reach midlife having done years of personal growth work. They’ve read the books, gone to therapy, practiced mindset tools, and still find themselves feeling stuck. Not broken, exactly. Just not settled. Not at ease.In this epi...
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What If Healing Doesn’t Have to Wait? Emma Churchman on Trauma and Resilience
What if healing from trauma didn’t have to wait until life finally slowed down?What if recovery could happen in real time, right in the middle of uncertainty, responsibility, and everyday life?In this episode of Message in the Middl...
When Being Busy Stops Working: Curiosity, Connection, and Midlife Leadership
So many women in midlife are craving something they can’t quite name. It’s not another productivity system. It’s not better time management. And it’s definitely not one more thing to add to an already full plate. It’s genuine connection....
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Rewiring the Mind in Midlife: Hypnosis, Curiosity, Manifestation and the Power of Imagination
In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Clinical Hypnotherapist, imagination advocate, and award-winning author Michelle Walters to explore how hypnosis, curiosity, manifestation, and imagination can help wome...
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You Don’t Have to Earn Your Worth: Ruth Hirshberg on Burnout, Boundaries, and Believing You’re Enough
So many women in midlife are quietly carrying an exhausting belief: that their worth is something they have to earn—through productivity, perfection, and putting everyone else first.In this episode of Message in the Middle, Mari...
Thriving Through Chronic Illness: Relationships, Resilience & Staying Connected with Lisa Gray, LMFT
What happens to a relationship when chronic illness enters the picture?For many women in midlife, a diagnosis doesn’t just affect the body, it reshapes roles, routines, identity, intimacy, and the emotional fabric of our closest relation...
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Turning Heartbreak Into Art: Nikki Allen on Healing, Identity & Reinvention
In this powerful conversation, Marianne sits down with author and creative visionary Nikki Allen, whose novel Loved You, Hated You began as a song, became a screenplay, and ultimately transformed into a raw, emotionally charged ...
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From Fight, Flight, or Freeze to Ease: Reconnecting with Your Nervous System with Kelly Hale
If you’ve ever felt like your body and your mind were working against you—stuck in stress, burnout, or exhaustion—this episode is for you.Marianne sits down with Kelly Hale, a wellness practitioner with over 25 years of experience...
You’re Not Broken, You’re Wired Differently: ADHD, Midlife, and Thriving with Jorie Houlihan
What happens when you realize in midlife that your brain has been playing by a completely different rulebook all along?In this episode of Message in the Middle, host Marianne DeMello-Smith sits down with Jorie Houlihan...
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The Power of Storytelling: How to Rewrite Your Life with Shaunna Lee
In this episode of Message in the Middle, we’re exploring something deeply human and undeniably powerful: the stories we tell about ourselves and how changing them can change everything.I’m joined by Shaunna Lee, bestselling aut...
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You’re Not Giving Something Up, You’re Taking Yourself Back: Lauren Fay on Sobriety, Self-Trust, and Midlife Confidence
Many women in midlife begin to question habits they once accepted without much thought, for some that includes their relationship with alcohol. In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with alcohol-free empowe...
You’re Not Broken; You’re Becoming: A Solo Episode of 2025 Reflections As We Enter a New Year
As we come to the end of the year and step into a new one, this episode of Message in the Middle is meant to feel like a bridge between seasons.Instead of a detailed recap, Marianne reflects on the themes that showed up again an...
Your Midday Reset: A Few Minutes to Breathe, Pause, and Come Back to Yourself
If life has been feeling loud, heavy, or just a little too fast lately, this short, guided reset might be just what you didn't know you needed. In today’s mini episode of Message in the Middle, I’m inviting you to step out...
Midlife Momentum with Steve Gamlin: Vision Boards, Action & the Confidence to Begin Again
In today’s episode of Message in the Middle, I’m joined by the one and only Steve Gamlin, speaker, author, storyteller, vision-board expert, and “The Motivational Firewood® Guy.” If you’ve ever felt stuck in the middle of your l...
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Falling in Love With Your Brain: Midlife Brain Health with Dr. Leonaura Rhodes
Stress, memory lapses, and brain fog aren’t just “part of getting older.” In this powerful conversation, Dr. Leonaura Rhodes, a physician turned executive coach, corporate trainer, author, and host of the Mindful Medics podcast, explai...
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Middle Age Madness: Finding Humor and Hope Through Menopause with Sarah Stenton
What if menopause didn’t have to feel like the end of something and instead could be thought of as the messy, magical middle of becoming someone new?In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Sarah Stenton...
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Always Hungry: Healing Emotional Eating and Finding Yourself with Jane McGuinness
What if your relationship with food wasn’t really about food at all?In this conversation Marianne sits down with Jane McGuinness, Registered Clinical Counsellor and author of Always Hungry, to unpack the tangled relations...
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Choosing Courage After Tragedy: Valerie Silveira on Finding Strength When Life Breaks You Open
What do you do when life shatters the story you thought you were living?In this powerful episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Valerie Silveira, a woman who has faced unimaginable heartbreak and...
Stronger Than the Storm: Felicity Ashley on Resilience, Cancer, and Courage
When life throws storms our way, we often think we’re at our breaking point. But what if the storm is the very place, we discover our truest, strongest selves?In this episode of Message in the Middle, I sit down with Felicity...
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