.png)
Message in the Middle: Midlife Women, Reinvention & Personal Growth
Message in the Middle is a podcast for women navigating the challenges, transitions, and reinventions that often come with midlife.
Hosted by Marianne DeMello-Smith, each episode explores the messy, meaningful moments that shape who we become. Through honest conversations with experts, authors, thought leaders, and everyday women, you'll discover practical insights, inspiring stories, and new perspectives on what it means to grow through life's most difficult seasons.
Whether you're facing a career change, caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, grief, relationship shifts, menopause, identity changes, or simply wondering what's next, Message in the Middle offers encouragement, wisdom, and real-world strategies to help you move forward with greater confidence and purpose.
Together, we'll explore resilience, personal growth, self-discovery, emotional well-being, and the power of turning life's messes into meaningful midlife messages.
Because midlife isn't the end of your story. It may just be the beginning of your next chapter.
Message in the Middle: Midlife Women, Reinvention & Personal Growth
The Identity Gap: Who You Were vs. Who You’re Becoming with Dr. Sarah Andreas
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
There’s a moment in midlife that many women recognize, even if they’ve never had the language for it.
You’re no longer who you used to be… but you’re not fully who you’re becoming either.
In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Dr. Sarah Andreas, artist, educator, and author of Step Into the Ether, to explore what she calls the identity gap. That in-between space where old identities begin to fall away and something new is quietly forming.
Together, they unpack:
- What the identity gap actually feels like in real life
- Why reinvention is not a one-time event, but a cycle
- Sarah’s three-phase framework: Reveal, Render, and Rise
- The role of creativity and art in accessing deeper self-understanding
- Why grief is often part of becoming someone new
- How to stay grounded when you’re no longer who you were, but not yet who you’ll be
This conversation is thoughtful, honest, and deeply validating for anyone navigating change, transition, or reinvention in midlife.
If you’ve been feeling untethered, uncertain, or quietly evolving… this episode will help you make sense of where you are and remind you that there is nothing wrong with being in the middle.
Connect with Sarah:
Connect with Marianne:
- Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
- Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
- Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne
Subscribe to Message In the Middle:
Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.
Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...