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.
Episodes
217 episodes
Alli O'Malley on the Hidden Face of Abuse and the Truth About Recovery
Sometimes the hardest experiences to recognize are the ones we are living through.Many women think intimate partner violence only looks one way. They picture obvious warning signs, visible injuries, or situations that seem dramatically d...
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From Broken to the Big Stage: Scott Scovill on Fear of Failure and Reinvention
What if the thing standing between you and the life you still want isn’t talent, timing, or confidence—but tenacity?In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with entrepreneur, creative director, and author Sc...
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The Identity Gap: Who You Were vs. Who You’re Becoming with Dr. Sarah Andreas
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...
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You Don’t Have to Change Everything to Change Your Life | Michele Kehrer on Clarity, Resilience, and Brave Shifts
What if the answer isn’t to change everything… but to change just a few things that change everything?In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Dr. Michele Kehrer, business growth coach, entrepreneur, and...
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Why You Still Feel Stuck (Even After Doing the Work) | Somatic Healing with Melanie Smithson
There’s a moment many women reach in midlife where they realize something frustrating…They’ve done the work.They understand their patterns. They’ve processed their experiences. They can talk about their past with clarity and insig...
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It’s Not Too Late to Change Your Life: Debbie Weiss on Letting Go of the Victim Mindset
What happens when you wake up one day and realize your life doesn’t look the way you thought it would?In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Debbie Weiss, best-selling author, speaker, and host of the ...
The Real Reason You React The Way You Do In Relationships (And How to Change It)
In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with therapist, relationships coach, and emotional safety expert Diane McDowell to explore a powerful reframe:What if the challenges in your relationships aren’t about...
The Relationship That Changes Everything: Learning to Show Up for Yourself in Midlife
What does it actually mean to be in a good relationship with yourself? Not the version you perform for the world. Not the one built on how much you get done or how little you ask for. The one underneath all of that. The one that shapes how safe...
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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...
