You’re Not Starting Over—You’re Building on Everything

If you’re in a season of transition and quietly wondering, “Did I miss my window?”—this episode is for you.

Penny is joined by Julie DeLucca-Collins, confidence coach, author, and fellow podcaster, for an honest conversation about career pivots, self-trust, and why you’re never truly starting over. Julie shares how being laid off during the pandemic became the catalyst for building a purpose-driven business—and how confidence is less about being fearless and more about trusting yourself enough to take the next step.

Together, Penny and Julie explore the quiet strength women often overlook, the transferable skills we carry through every chapter of life, and the power of community, sisterhood, and “believing mirrors” to help us see what we can’t always see in ourselves.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why so many capable women underestimate their experience
• The myth of “starting over” in midlife
• How confidence is built through small, brave moves
• Letting go of hustle culture and redefining success
• The role of community and sisterhood in personal growth
• Trusting yourself—even when you feel unsure or afraid

This conversation is honest, encouraging, and grounding—one that reminds you nothing you’ve lived, learned, or survived has been wasted.

Pour a drink, settle in, and let this episode meet you exactly where you are.

Connect with Julie and explore her work here:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julie_deluccacollins/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goconfidentlyjulie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jdelucca
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@juliedeluccacollins

🎙 Julie’s Podcast: https://www.goconfidentlycoaching.com/podcast
🎤 TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/WrcJisG_wmc
🔗 Resources & Quick Links: https://www.goconfidentlycoaching.com/quicklinks

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📍 Dates: July 30–August 2, 2026
🏡 Spots are limited, so grab yours now: https://www.pennyforyourshots.com/winecamp

Bring your besties or come solo—you’ll leave with new favorites either way. Wine Camp 2026 is calling. Are you in?

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Transcript

You’re Not Starting Over—You’re Building on Everything

Today's conversation felt really easy. I'm chatting with Julie DeLucca-Collins, a confidence coach, author and fellow podcaster, and we connected right away over confidence career pivots and what it really means to trust yourself. We talk about why so many capable women forget how much they already bring to the table, why you're never really starting over.

And how community and sisterhood change everything. [00:01:00] This is one of those conversations that's honest, encouraging, and grounding. Pour a drink, get comfortable, and let's dig in. Here is Julie DeLucca-Collins. 

Thank you so much for being here and for having me. Absolutely. I'm grateful to meet you. Yeah, absolutely. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Where are you in the world, Penny Uhhuh?

I am in, Sarasota, Florida. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Oh, I know Sarasota. Yes. Have friends in Sarasota. Nice. Throughout Florida. I went to high school in Miami. Okay, wonderful. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Where are you now? 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: I'm in New England. My dad is from New York. I lived in New York for many years after college and Uhhuh ended up marrying my husband about 13 years ago and moved here to Connecticut.

Penny Fitzgerald: Connecticut. Nice. Yeah. Beautiful. 

Well, okay. So Julie, for for my audience, would you tell us a little bit about you, give us your name and, um, what you're passionate about and what you do.

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah, absolutely. So, Julie DeLucca-Collins, and I am just passionate about life. There is a, mm-hmm. Word that I'd like to [00:02:00] refer to. It's a word, uh, in Finnish. The word is sisu and it really is about that deep emotional connection to life, right? It's about having a little bit of grit and grace. And I think that that really describes my life.

Um, I started my career as a teacher, then moved on to work in corporate America, still in education, and grew through the company ranks. And one of the things that I found is that women in particular, gifted, intelligent, strong women. Really doubted themselves, uh, in the more that I ascended to different leadership positions.

I just felt like I wanted to see more women there, and I'm incredibly passionate about supporting them and helping them just know how great they are and build the confidence that it takes to take the next step. And, and I combine that with that whole concept of sisu because the, the grid comes from within us and it comes from the support and, and the mind.

Mindfulness in the community that [00:03:00] we, we surround ourselves with. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You are my people. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yay. I love finding my 

Penny Fitzgerald: people. Yes, exactly. It's just, it's so true. I, I was in the corporate realm for quite a while too, and I loved it. I loved the people I worked with, loved solving problems for people, bringing people together, but.

The more I, the more I reflect on things, not just from the corporate world, but from, you know, all, all through the jobs that I, that I had, it's set up in a masculine energy. It's set up in a competitive hustle and grind culture. Mm-hmm. Yep. And you don't get ahead unless you get your piece. You get your piece of the pie.

Mm-hmm. That's right. Yeah. The more I work with women, I mean, we're resourceful. We'll make more pie. We'll make more 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: pie. I know. And if we can't make it, we'll find the person who makes it and Exactly. Say, come and make it with me. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Exactly. Collaborations and support, um, when we work together is just magic.

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Absolutely. Gosh, and, and that [00:04:00] really, you know, warms my heart. I toyed with the idea of going out on my own. I was already doing some corporate coaching and mentoring at some of the universities here in Connecticut, and I was still afraid, you know. Despite how confident I may seem, I was still afraid and unsure and didn't know what that would look like.

And of course the universe took care of it. The universe said, well, we're gonna have a pandemic. You are gonna be laid off and that's gonna be the time for you to start. And that's how I launched my business. Aw. I started go confidently services to be able to work with women individuals, whether it be in a corporate arena or in the entrepreneurship space, and really help them build.

The brand, the voice, and create the life that they imagine confidently. One brave step at a time. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm, wonderful. How, how do you go about doing that? 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Amazing. So, first of all, I, I, I am a teacher at heart, so Uhhuh, anytime that I work with [00:05:00] individuals, whether it be working in a corporate space or when people come to me, we really do an assessment first.

I, I think that it's really important to, number one, be able to see where you are. What are the things that you are looking to do when we really create a vision? Are you living the vision for your life? If not, what does it look like and what are the skills and what are the gifts that you already have that you've acquired?

Because all of us kind of walk through life and put things in our backpack and we're carrying and we don't see that they can be of use. For us in the next thing that we do. So once we meet for that initial strategic conversation, we begin to build the steps. I'm a very strategic, strategic person, so I'd like to, number one, once we have the vision, number two, be able to see, okay, what are your values?

And do your values and your time align with what your vision is Because mm-hmm. What we do today is really paving the way. For us to go in whatever direction we're [00:06:00] going. So absolutely. We specifically look at time management and we start to look at, okay, this is your goal, or this is where you wanna be in a year.

What does it take to do that? And how do we break that down into smaller and more manageable steps? Mm-hmm. And of course, once we create that plan, we work the plan. And my goal is to not only be the cheerleader, but that accountability person that comes alongside of us. So important. To hopefully give you an easy button because I've made the mistakes.

Right? Right. And then this way you can take, say, the benefit of my mistakes and, and be the lessons that you then carry with you to get to where you wanna be. Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. So many women that I work with too. I mean, we get so busy putting one foot in front of the other. Mm-hmm. Doing everything for everyone else.

Yeah. Serving our family, going to work just one foot in front of the other every day, day after day, and we lose that spark. We forget what we're good at. We forget that we've juggled all these things and have managed this [00:07:00] whole entire. Our family, our schedules. Yeah. We've got all these skills. And a lot of the women I work with too say, well, I'm starting over.

You're never starting over. Never. Yeah. You bring with you all of the experience you've had, all of the skills that you've built. You know, managing a family, you can manage a corporation, you know? That's right. Oh, a hundred 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: percent. And I think that that's one of the things that I noticed. I had a girlfriend actually, and this is really when I was starting.

To move to do my own thing. Mm-hmm. And she had been married for over 25 years and less than ideal situation, very abusive relationship. Mm. And, but she ran a household of seven kids and Oh my gosh. And a couple of them had. Some additional, um, deficiencies and they were special needs students and she navigated psychologists in schools and of course, ran this household, ran around, got her kids and her oldest into college, into [00:08:00] Ivy League schools.

Wow. And when she was getting ready to leave and she needed to get a job, she, she said, I think I'm gonna get a job at a grocery store. And there's nothing wrong with that. But I, I questioned her and I said. You know, you used to be a director for, uh, you know, I forget the insurance company that she was in and mm-hmm.

She's like, yeah, but I could never go back. I haven't been up in, in the, in the corporate environment for so long, and we started to go through. All of the things that she does or she did at the time. Mm-hmm. For her family, the planning, the scheduling, the appointments, the advocating, the volunteering at the schools.

Mm. She realized that all of these skills were very transferable to something else. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. Yeah. And not, not necessarily even for someone else, you know, so many women think that they have to work for someone else because That's right. They don't have the vision or they don't, not necessarily, don't even have the vision, but they don't have the belief in themselves.

[00:09:00] Mm-hmm. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: They don't 

Penny Fitzgerald: believe that they're worthy of that bigger thing. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think that that's one of the things that I, on my podcast, it's confidence. And I often talk about a concept that I learned from a friend of mine. She was reading the book, running With the Wolves, and there's a concept in there in which they talk about becoming each other's believing mirrors.

And ever since then, I talk about that all the time. And that's really what I aim to do, is to be the believing mirror for the woman who at times. Is questioning, who am I? Mm-hmm. What am I doing? Can, am I enough and can I cut it? And we need to have these mirrors that see that other sides of us, that we are so harsh on ourselves.

Mm-hmm. And then remind us and reflect on us. Reflect on us, those gifts. And yeah, I love that. And I know that the community that I've built. Does that for each other in which we remind each [00:10:00] other of the goodness, the strength, the, the, uh, capabilities. And also, you know what we can do if we really put ourselves and take that brave move.

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. It, it's so easy to see it in our friends. Mm-hmm. It's so easy to lift and support our friends, but then when we talk to ourselves, we're down, we, 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Discredit what we've done. Mm-hmm. You know, one of the best exercises I think that you can do is, um, to reach out to like three or four of your girlfriends, ask them, what do you think I'm good at?

What, what would you come to me for if you, you know, if you needed something, what, whatever, what would that be? 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: That's right. A hundred percent. Yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. I, I love that. And I think that we, we think, well, I don't know, I don't wanna bother people, but listen, this is what really people love to do is to really be able to.

Maybe give you the insight that mm-hmm. You haven't seen, and I know that my girlfriends have done that for [00:11:00] myself and mm-hmm. Hopefully we can continue to do that in, in, uh, communities that we're building. 

Penny Fitzgerald: If they came to you, you would do it in a heartbeat. You would love to support them in that way. Yep.

Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay, Julie, so you've been, um, you started your business, your coaching career in, um, during COVID mm-hmm. During the pandemic. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. So I, I was laid off. It was March 24th, 2020, and, hmm. It was shocking because again, my role with the organization that I worked with was a national educational comp, uh, company.

Mm-hmm. Based outta New York. My role was Chief Innovation Officer for the organization, so I oversaw all of our business development and operations throughout the country and we definitely had gone into lockdown. We definitely were trying to navigate having all of our programs. Be kind of shut down.

Mm-hmm. And I thought, this is what I do best, is kind of figuring out what's [00:12:00] next and forging partnerships. And when the, I had, I received a call from the COO and again, someone who has had been my colleague for many years, and he, I knew something was wrong and he said, I've been laid off. And of course my brain immediately went to what?

Okay, well don't worry about it. Oh my God, you're so strong. You're so smart. Look at you. You're able to do this. And we started, I started to go down the list of all the things, and you know what? I'm gonna call so and so. They probably need someone. And then all of a sudden as I'm talking, I thought, wait a minute.

This is our COO, I'm the C, you know, chief innovation. I'm, I'm the Ccio Uhhuh, you're another C-Suite maybe. Um, so then I said, you know what? Let me call you back. I need to call our, our CEO And I, I texted him and I said, Hey, I'm on the phone with. So and so, and he's just letting me know that he's been laid off.

Am I next? 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, wow. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: And um, all of a sudden you see [00:13:00] the little dots on the phone. And then I thought, okay, 

Penny Fitzgerald: here we go. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Here we go. And there was a level of relief in some ways. Yeah. 'cause I'd already been. Trying to figure out how to go out on my own.

I knew that it was time. I knew that I'd been working at something, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. And of course, mm-hmm. The, the imposter syndrome and of course the fear of, oh, my friends are gonna think I'm crazy. I'm leaving salary to go and do what, right? Mm-hmm. Um, but once, once I heard the news, I, I thought, okay.

I know exactly what I'm going to do. Mm. And for me, it wasn't until maybe later on that night that I, it hit me and I, I started to grieve because mm-hmm. I had been with that organization for a long time. Mm-hmm. The founder of the company was someone who I, I admired [00:14:00] tremendously. She was someone who was my friend, my mentor, and sadly had passed away in 2019.

Mm. And the reason I, or, or 2018 rather. And the reason I stayed with the company was because I wanted to help continue to. Take her legacy further. Mm. But I also knew that the direction the company was going was not necessarily the place where she would've liked to have gone. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm mm-hmm. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: So I was at odds in many different ways, and that was one of the reasons that going out on my own, excuse me, was attracted to me because I knew that.

I could call the Shots. Not that I didn't call the Shots in a position of leadership, but it's different when you're doing it for yourself. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, yeah. Very different. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: It's very, very different. Mm-hmm. And I, I knew that that's where I wanted to go. And of course there was a period of grieving, but it was also a period of excitement, sort of that, uh, newly wet type of excitement where you're trying all kinds of different things.

[00:15:00] Butterflies. Yeah. Yeah. And that was a really fun experience. And of course I've been so fortunate and blessed. My husband has been incredibly supportive. Mm-hmm. Throughout the process, he came alongside of me and even now he is my business partner. In addition to being Oh, nice life partner, we, he was the one who a month into being on my own.

Of course, I thought this pandemic thing was only gonna last a couple of weeks. Yeah. But he's the one who got, um, who got me podcasting equipment because I had been planning a big milestone birthday party for me in April, and of course that was not going to happen. Penny. So, yeah. Um, he said, you're starting a podcast.

You've talked about this for a long time. Oh my gosh. Don't worry about the tech. I will do that for you. Oh gosh. I'll do the tech. How fabulous you do the talking and that's how we got started. We started Casa, the confidence and the rest is history. The rest is, um, here we are. Top 2% of [00:16:00] podcasts. We continue to have some incredible individuals, and I learned so much from the guests, but it's giving me an outlet to talk about the things that are important to me and talk about the thing that I feel at times people misunderstand, and that's confidence.

And now of course, not only do I get to do what I love, but the side of podcasting has grown tremendously as well, because my husband now has a full production company. Oh my goodness. In which he helps women like me who are in a position and have a message, wow. To get their message out there. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Fantastic.

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You know, and so often those things that they smack you in the face, you know, the, you've lo you've, you've lost in quote mm-hmm. Your job, but then you know, it, it, in the moment it seems like, oh my gosh, this horrible thing and how am I going to. Survive it and whatever, and, and it leads, you never know.

Yeah. To [00:17:00] what, and it always Yeah. Becomes something beautiful. It 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: has. And and I think of all of the dreams that may that, that I had kind of, uh, punted, right. Oh, someday. Someday. Yes. Exactly. And we do that. We do that so much in being able to. Yes. Was it scary? Was it hard? Mm-hmm. Did I fail at times in the business?

Of course. Mm-hmm. I, I, I would not be honest if I didn't say, there weren't some times in the very beginning where I, I thought, oh my God, am I doing the right thing? Maybe I should go get a job, or what am I doing? You know? Mm-hmm. All of that has happened. Doubt. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. But 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: the truth is. You gotta remind yourself, who is it that I wanna become and what does that look like if I wanna become that person.

What does she do today? Right? And that has allowed me to then go after some of the things that I've always wanted her to do. Write a book, launch a podcast, do a TED [00:18:00] Talk, right? Mm-hmm. All of these things have been the things that have come about. Because I was willing to be uncomfortable. I was willing to be afraid.

Yes, I was willing to do it imperfectly. Mm-hmm. And also say, I need help and find the people around me that can help me. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. Julie, our journeys are so very similar. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah, isn't it? It's amazing. Oh my gosh. And when you can talk about these Penny, because if we don't, and that's, that's really the, the story, right?

We, we may not see somebody that has exactly what we want. Mm-hmm. We may see someone that maybe is three, four, or five times removed, and it's very difficult to actually see that it's possible. If we begin that comparisonitis, we begin to see, oh, well they have it all together. Mm-hmm. No, we need to talk about what our journeys have been like so that um, other people who are maybe thinking of taking that brave [00:19:00] step, they can do it.

Penny Fitzgerald: Yep. I, I am so much, um, in line with that, but I, I had wanted to start my podcast for years too. Mm-hmm. And just kept kicking the can down the road. I let busyness get in the way. Mm. You know, always something, um, would delay it. Mm-hmm. And the technology, you know, the fear of all of the things you don't know.

Oh God. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so grateful I finally, finally started. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. And listen, it's, it's. Totally. Okay. If you're not great at it, you know, I think about, I think about all, you're not gonna be great at it. You're not gonna start. Listen. And by the way, even when you've been doing something and you can start doing it again, and it's not gonna be perfect, I'm doing a little experiment, um, because I come across many women that are working with us, whether it be for the consulting coaching side, but also the podcasting side.

And many of them are really uncertain and many of [00:20:00] them really second guess themselves. And they'll say, oh, it was easy for you. Because your husband helped. It was easy for you. Oh gosh. Whatever, right? Fill in the blank. Yeah. So I decided, you know what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna prove that it's not, that it's not easy or, or that it's easy, but it's.

Just doing the thing and showing up. So yeah, about a month ago I launched a second podcast, and it's an experiment. I'm not having my husband help or any of the team members that we have help with any of it. I'm doing it all myself. I launched it, I researched it. I did the cover art myself, which I kind of rolled my eyes at it.

Um. But I decided that I was launching a, it's a daily podcast, which is a very Oh wow. Big undertaking, uhhuh. It's just what I call little Shots of confidence for your day. Right. Five, 10 minutes maybe. And I decided I'm gonna grow the podcast. Mm-hmm. Just organically, I'm gonna do all the things that I tell clients they need to do to [00:21:00] grow their show.

I'm going to show you when I'm failing, show you when I'm winning, show you mm-hmm. When I'm struggling, and what are the things that I do also to make it easy on myself. So we're 26 days in and it's a really fun journey. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Well, good. It, it just sounds that's a authentic, and we crave that. Mm-hmm. We wanna see the real, the raw, all of it.

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Oh, a hundred percent. I've been really fortunate. I, of course, I listen to Pat Pat Flynn for many years and I still, um, work with him. I'm part of his community and I've seen him do this so many different times. Mm-hmm. And last year he launched a brand new YouTube channel, and of course he's been around the, the online industry, online market plays for years.

And he has millions of downloads on his podcast he has. Thousands, hundreds and thousands of people follow him on YouTube in both of his channels. And he launched a third one. And I [00:22:00] saw him do it imperfectly. He didn't tell a lot of, he didn't tell people he had done this for Uhhuh about six months, but then he went back and he showed you, he's like, it wasn't about, you know, doing the thing and how many, you know, how do I get to number one so fast?

It was more about all I'm gonna do is put one video up. Next video. Next video. And that's really the mentality that I have with this podcast. I'm not worrying about, you know, the downloads yet. I'm not worrying about how is this, you know, growing. I'm worrying about, all I'm trying to do is do one more show and relief, one more show and learning along the way and everything that I learned, then it's stuff that I turn around and, and share with others.

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. That's important. I feel like for me, if I keep my clients in mind, my, the women that I'm serving, mm-hmm. When I think about what they need, that keeps me going. Yeah. That, that, and you mentioned too. What would your future self want you? Yeah. You know, [00:23:00] what do you want your future to look like? I feel like our future self already knows.

Mm-hmm. And she knows that we're so close. She knows, you know, but are you serving her? Are you putting that one foot in front of the other for her? Yeah. Are you doing what she would want you to do so that you can live that life that you want? That she knows? Is there. You know, just picturing that. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: So agree with that.

You know, the future self has been definitely a concept that has helped me tremendously. I was listening to Jen Hat make's new book. I don't know if you're familiar with Jen Hatmaker? Mm-hmm. But I've been following her for a while and she. Was she just went through a very public divorce. She's been an online blogger for many years, and of course she was in the personal development space and in the Christian leadership side.

And when she went through this very public divorce, people really crucified her. But one of the things that she was talking about, and it's totally resonated with me, is this whole concept of, um, she started. [00:24:00] She had two Jens. She said, morning Jen, and evening Jen. Huh? And the evening, Jen would do the things that morning Jen needed.

And it's so funny because I, I do that all the time at night. I may be really tired, I may be ready for bed, and I say, Julie. Tomorrow morning, Julie, tomorrow morning is gonna appreciate that coffee, coffee being made. It's gonna appreciate the kitchen being clean. Um, the one who is gonna wake up and not have the residue of old makeup, um, it's gonna be so grateful.

So I, I love that concept, my future self, you know, and in the morning sometimes I get up, I'm like, thank you, Julie, for making coffee last night. I appreciate you. Mm-hmm. Because those things, they're up the kitchen. Yeah. Those are the things that make a big impact, and yet we discount them. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. I had never really put that kind of story to it, but yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

You know, laying [00:25:00] out your clothes for the next day, just planning out what tasks are most important for the next day. All of those, that's little things. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Absolutely. That's really how it, how it rolls. And we don't, you know, we, we tend to live life in what I call that white noise of life. Mm-hmm. It's just there.

Busyness. Busyness, we, we allow it to kind of just take us in this automation and when we kind of step back and say, okay, let me take a look. What am I doing? Is that how I really wanna spend my time? Is this serving me? Is this making me that person who I wanna be in the future? Is it getting me closer to where I wanna be in life too?

So 

Penny Fitzgerald: important. Yeah. And is it serving my people? 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Is it serving my people? I know. I think that that's the other piece of it that we can ask. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Julie, tell us about your book. Or books. [00:26:00] Sure. Um, so the book is called Confident You Simple Habits to Live the Life You Have Imagined. And really, again, my business is called Go Confidently Services.

And the quote from Henry David Thoreau, go confidently direction of your dreams has been what has inspired everything that's been my life mantra forever. Um, but when I started to write the book, I really wanted to share the story of my grandmother because she was incredibly instrumental. She was a very.

Successful, um, independent woman in a time where you didn't see a lot of women mm-hmm. In the forefront. And as I started to write it, I realized that it hasn't only been her that has been incredibly instrumental in my life. All of the habits that I have, the things that have made me successful are things that I learned from other women in their own journey to confidence.

These habits that they [00:27:00] had are those simple habits that help them. Get the level of confidence to find the success in life. And I thought, you know, not everybody is going to meet someone like my boss who passed away, right? Nobody. Not everybody is gonna meet someone like my late mother-in-law as well, but these women in their own right, created an impact in me that now I share with others.

So every chapter is, I wouldn't call it a memoir. Of my life, but it's really just a glimpse into different times and periods of my life and how that woman came alongside of me, helped me create a new habit, taught me something that had worked for them, and how. It had helped them, and now how it helps me, and of course, because there's a teacher part of me still at the end of the book, every, every chapter has a journal prompt [00:28:00] in which lets you explore for yourself so you're not just reading about it.

You can decide how you can incorporate what you just read about in your own life and do it as a takeaway. So, mm-hmm. There's 12 different chapters. And there is one chapter in which there is a man in the book, and that is my dad, who again was um, we were very close, and he is the person who introduced me to the Henry Thoreau quote because he loved Henry David Thoreau.

Nice. Yeah. Tell me about your mom. Mm. You know, my mom and my dad divorced when I was five, and I definitely was more like my dad than I was my mom and I was very close to her mom, and I think that we. My mom has always been the person that I can count on. It's been the person that, you know, is that safety that only a mom can give you.

But it's a complicated relationship too, Penny, because mm-hmm. I think [00:29:00] I am very different. We, I'm very much like my dad also very much like my grandmother. And I think that there's that friction that, that different of, um, of personalities creates when, um. We were living in Florida, uh, in, during my high school years, she was a single mom.

And being the oldest, I helped her a lot. Okay. And I wanted to kind of take away from her some of the, I think, burdens of being a single mom and working hard and doing all the things. Now, the one thing is she also inspired the journey that I'm on today. Mm-hmm. Of course. And I'll tell you, and I'll tell you why.

Because one of the things that happened that I saw her. Is at when she was, when she turned 50, she was laid off very similar to myself. The story kind of replayed itself, but as I was getting ready to turn 50, I was throwing myself this birthday party because I remember that at [00:30:00] 50 when she was laid off, my mom.

Decided, you know, nobody wants me. I'm old, I'm, I'm, I'm out the pasture. And I remember always thinking, here's someone who's smart and beautiful. I mean, she's a former beauty queen and studied very, very, um, intelligent, has a masters and, and yet she didn't see. Her goodness, she didn't see all of her gifts.

Mm-hmm. And I just thought, I'm not gonna let anybody else define myself. I, I wanna do it differently. So of course that was the other piece that because of what I saw that she went through, I wanted to redefine that and show her as well. Listen, I know that maybe you saw that, but I want you to know that.

Because of the example you set for me. I'm here because of what I know that you struggled with. I've decided to not let that define me and [00:31:00] rewrite the story for both of us. Now in the last few years, about three years, she fell and broke her pelvis in five times in five places. Oh my goodness. And she was goodness, living in Atlanta at the time.

My sister lives in Atlanta, but as my sister continues to travel a lot. Do a lot of different things. She, she couldn't really, um, spend a lot of time with her, so I decided that this was a really great opportunity since I'm home and I am working from home, that she could come up here. And we can kind of explore a, a different relationship.

Mm-hmm. More of companions and fun and, and friendship. Especially because I definitely could use the mom here, but she could also use the company of people that are surrounding her with love. She has the early stages of dementia as well. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm-hmm. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: And I'm going to tell you, it's not easy to live with your mom.

I at a certain age. [00:32:00] Yeah. But we, we make it work. And once again, I'm incredibly fortunate. My, my husband is just the incredible individual that he is, right? And so he steps in and, and of course he can do no wrong, right? Because 

Penny Fitzgerald: he's just wonderful. Boy, does that sound familiar? Yeah. Right. My mom had, um, had Alzheimer's too.

And so it, you know, it was like this slow death for 10 years. You have them just, you know, this vibrant woman that she used to be mm-hmm. Slips away in front of your eyes. It's just so painful to watch. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. And, and I know that, you know, for myself, I've been so, um. Happy that I've been able to get to a place in my own journey, in my own personal development, where I know that there's so many different things that I can do, right?

Mm-hmm. We, we don't have to grow old, but we can live life. Welder as individual to welder. Oh, interesting. Uh, Uhhuh and [00:33:00] I have the resources. My gosh, have I met some incredible individuals through the podcast, through my business. Mm-hmm. So now I can take those resources and help her. Not that I, I have all the answers, but if I need answers mm-hmm.

I have a plethora of people that I can go to. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yes. It's so good to have friends and so it is. Yeah. A network, a collaboration. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Absolutely. Wonderful. Absolutely. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yep. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wow. And it's so important. It's wonderful to be able to spend time with our loved ones as they age, and yeah, I'm so grateful for that time that I had with my mom and my dad too.

Mm-hmm. Too, my, my dad and I were very close in the end too, and 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: yeah, 

Penny Fitzgerald: I had him till he was almost 103. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Oh, you're so fortunate. I know. Amazing. That's 

Penny Fitzgerald: so great. I know. Oh my gosh. I love that. I love that. We had the best conversations when I would be taking him to his doctor appointments, his checkups and stuff.

And that's when he could hear the best. 'cause we were in a, in enclosed car. Oh yeah, for sure. And he could hear, so yeah, [00:34:00] I'd ask him, um, you know, how were, how was life growing up? And what about, you know, what, what were your experiences? And just hearing those stories was just amazing. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. I love that. You know, I, I think for me that's probably been.

One of the greatest gifts mm-hmm. Is when my dad got sick. Being able to be the person that helped to usher that transition for him to uhhuh out of this life. And it was the most o the biggest honor I've had. To be able to sit with him and tell stories and listen to him and just even hold his hand when, yep.

He was the one who was afraid. Right. Mm-hmm. And, and you know, by the way, I, I was scared out of my mind mm-hmm. And felt terribly unqualified. And the fear of course, of losing him was. Grand. But at the end of the day, you know, he said to me, and this is [00:35:00] the, the new podcast, this is why it's called, what it's called, um, he said to me, honey, you are so brave that you're here.

And I remember thinking, no I'm not. Oh, wow. No, I am not. I don't even know, like if I can keep it together. And yeah. And he said, well, you show up even when you're scared. And wow, that's a brave move. And I thought, oh, okay. So it was the lesson, right? It was the lesson that, and every time that I'm afraid, and every time that I don't think I'm, I think, okay, what is the brave move that I can make?

And that may just be, all right, I'm gonna sit in this hotel room or this hospital room and, and just be hold space. Wow. You know? 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. What a gift he gave you. And just to have that conversation with him like that. Yeah. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Well, 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: again, you know, we, we have to pay attention to the little moments and, and the things that transpire.

Mm-hmm. Because sometimes we don't, we don't see those, those moments that are [00:36:00] happening right in front of our eyes. 

Penny Fitzgerald: So many people are too busy to notice, you know, we keep ourselves so, so, yeah. Yeah, 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: it's a badge of honor for some people to be that busy. And, hey, by the way, if you look at Julia 35, that was me.

Penny Fitzgerald: That was me before too. Yep. Yeah. Yep. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: You don't, you don't get a badge, you don't win. Nope. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Busy. You're gonna burn out of anything, and then you're going to not be very kind in the relationships around you because you're just crank. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Right. Right. And the I, I believe the greatest gift you can give someone is to make them feel seen and heard, to really listen to them.

Yeah. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah. I love that. Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Julie, can I change gears on you? Go for it. Go for it. I love it. Awesome. Well, towards the end of my episodes, I love to ask, what's your favorite cocktail or glass of wine? 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Oh my goodness. Okay. Well, uh, this is, uh, a multi-layer question, I think, because [00:37:00] Okay. You are my 

Penny Fitzgerald: people. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: I, um, it's, it's so funny.

I, I, there hasn't been a bottle of wine that I really can say I hate. Perhaps my least favorite would be, uh, Pinot Grigio. No, not Pinot Grigio. A Chardonnay, maybe Char. Oh my gosh. You 

Penny Fitzgerald: are my people. Yeah. So I'm like, 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Chardonnay probably would be my last choice. Uhhuh, um. But I, I would say I've gotten a little adventurous, especially during the pandemic.

Um, our, our cocoon, our good friends, we decided that once a week we would have a bartending competition and come up with different drinks. So fun. And we got to taste a lot of different things. Lately, what my girlfriends and I had a girl's weekend about. A month ago in the Cape Cod and we created, apparently there is a drink called this, but it's called the Cape Codder.

Okay. And it has a little bit of [00:38:00] pineapple, a little bit of rub, a lit, a dash of tequila and some sparkling. I mean, it was like a concoction. It really was. Yeah. 'cause we were sitting on the beach, but it was really fun and it was very refreshing and it had a couple of bubbles and a little tartness and sweetness at the same time.

So, yes. 

Penny Fitzgerald: It sounds 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: delightful. Yeah, I know. A perfect beach concoction. It was a perfect a fall beach concoction 'cause it wasn't hot, but it wasn't cool yet. It was just nice enough to sit on the beach and soak up the sun and dances with some girl. Friends. Mm-hmm. And really, we had the beach to ourselves, which was perfect.

Oh, wow. And then we built a fire at night. It was perfect. Mm. Oh my 

Penny Fitzgerald: gosh. Okay, so my, I also always ask about a favorite memory shared with girlfriends. Was, was that it? That 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: would probably be one, you know? Yeah. I think, um, every year we try to create these memories with my friends. Uh, specifically because [00:39:00] we know life is very fleeting and can turn on a dime, so we really prioritize coming together, creating the memories, and not waiting till, you know, whatever special date or target time, who cares that?

Maybe in the future we'll have more time, but maybe this is all there is. You don't know. Mm-hmm. Do it today. Don't put it off. Mm-hmm. 

Penny Fitzgerald: I recently heard that. Spending time with your girlfriends is as important to your health, if not more so than quitting smoking. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yes. There is a new research that talks about the power of sisterhood, whether it be by blood or by choice, and how it really does lengthen your life.

And there's another study that talks about that. Um, loneliness is one of the most detrimental things to your health as well. So surround yourself, find the community, find the girlfriends, and create these [00:40:00] memories. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Amen. Julie, is there anything I haven't asked you that you'd love to share? 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Oh my God, Penny, you are so good.

I, well, first of all, you, you, you keep the conversation going and I love that. Um, no, I mean, you, we've talked the gamut, I think. Nice. Um, the only thing that I probably didn't talk about that if anybody knows me, knows that I always bring it into the conversation is. I've been doing a pilgrimage in Spain called the Camino de Santiago and I highly You have go to go.

It's one of the best experiences. And if you like wine Penny. Oh my goodness. That's another place to go. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Oh, nice. I, that's one, uh, wine region. I have not yet visited. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Well, uh, been to Valencia, Rioja 

Penny Fitzgerald: is fantastic. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yes, Rioja. Surprisingly enough, my husband and I had been doing. You know, you hike throughout the day.

And then the first time that we got into Rioja, we were staying at one of the pilgrim ess, and we decided to go to town to have [00:41:00] dinner, and we ordered a bottle of wine, which is incredibly inexpensive. Mm-hmm. You typically have 10 euros. They bring you this whole bottle and plus your meal. It's $10, includes everything.

Wow. So we're sitting there having a good time, and then all of a sudden when they brought us the wine, it was white wine. And I thought, no, no, no. We want red Rioja. And he said, well, we make white wine in Rio. And I thought, 

Penny Fitzgerald: oh, 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: okay. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah. And it was fantastic. It was a great blend. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Mm 

Penny Fitzgerald: yum. It sounds delightful and what an experience.

Julie DeLucca-Collins: Yeah, it's, it's, it's amazing. So how long did you, did it take? So I've been doing it in stages. Um, okay. The total mile or kilometers uhhuh, if you're starting from the main place where most people start, which is the Nee Mountains, is from there to com to Santiago de Compostela, 758 kilometers 

Penny Fitzgerald: Dang. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: My girlfriend and I did a first, the first stage of [00:42:00] it, and we did about 130 kilometers.

She's a doctor and at the time, of course, I was working my corporate career, so we couldn't take that much time off. How long did that piece take you? About seven days. Okay. You, you know, and again, my girlfriend and I are what we call Camino Turtles. We did not go. These people that wanna walk 25 to 30 miles daily.

Oh my gosh. Thank you. No, I mean, I'm sorry, kilometers daily, but even at that 20 Yeah. You're doing a marathon every day. Yeah. So we, we really went at our own pace. If we felt like stopping earlier or if there was something that really interested us. In the towns that we were coming into, we would, we would wait.

So my husband and I did about 150, so I've done about 270 kilometers and I am not quite at halfway, so I've been doing it in stages. I was supposed to go back in 2020, but you know what happened then? Oh yeah. Mm-hmm. And of course, the next [00:43:00] time I had anticipated going was 2023, but that's when my mom broke her pelvis.

So the plan is 2026, and now I have the flexibility to go and stay for as long as I can. Now, most people tend to do it in anywhere between 35 to 40 days for if they're doing the French, the French route, you can do the Portuguese route, which I think is about 12 days. And obviously goes from Portugal to Northern Spain.

Mm-hmm. But I, I highly recommend it go at your own pace and see what you can do. There's so many different, um, videos and people who can lead you and mm-hmm. If anybody's interested, I'm always happy to talk about it. I have, um, a couple episodes of my podcast in which I Oh, fun about, about the journey. Um, and of course I kept the blog throughout that.

Nice. So if anybody wants to read some of those adventures, they can too. 

Penny Fitzgerald: I imagine the people that you met along the way, it was just, [00:44:00] it was phenomenal. Oh, that's 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: another, that could be another episode. Mm-hmm. I mean, some of the people that we met at Ann. I still keep in touch with a lot of them because you become a family.

It's that community is mm-hmm. That, um, doing something together that's so 

Penny Fitzgerald: difficult 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: and you're, you're just walking and you're talking. A lot of times you get to know people and it's fun because there's certain you may not. Be staying in the same place. You may not know them very well, but you end up seeing a lot of the same people when you get to the same towns.

Sure. And you got to hang out. And of course, you know Spain, the food is amazing. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Mm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, my husband and I, um. One of our favorite trips ever was to Napa, Sonoma Wine Country. Love it. I love wine Country. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. And one of the days that we, you know, we did seven wineries in one day and we started seeing the same people at the next stop.

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: You become friends. Friends with them. Yeah. Friends. You 

Penny Fitzgerald: do make friends. Wine brings people together too. It 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: sure does. It sure does. And, and anytime that you wanna come [00:45:00] up to Connecticut, Penny, we have a great Connecticut wine trail, so really Come on over. Yeah. We have some, some amazing wineries.

Yeah. Well I haven't explored those either. Yeah, listen. Amazing. Nice. I host an event once a year. Um, it's a women's retreat and it's just a time to come together. And Uhhuh, we really envision for our next year. We put together our plans, we decide how we wanna, um, show up and plan for our future selves, Uhhuh.

And then we also have a little bit of wine. We go to a couple of wineries and oh my gosh, stay at this amazing quaint, um, conference center. It's an old inn here in Connecticut, uh, and a very quaint town and oh, we 

Penny Fitzgerald: just have a blast. Oh yeah. I also do a retreat for women. Mine is called Wine Camp. Oh, oh, when is that?

What is that? The next one is July 30th through August 2nd. Oh my gosh. Tell me yes, please 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: let me know. Okay. I'll [00:46:00] send you a link. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Yeah, this sounds right up my alley. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: And I'll, I'll, I'll share it with my girlfriends too. Wonderful. That sounds amazing. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Wonderful. Yeah. We're going to, um. The Finger Lakes region of New York, so we're gonna tour some wine region up there.

So. Amazing. Oh my 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: gosh. There is a, a winery that I've been going, I've been wanting to go up there. Yeah, they actually have, they, they have cabins 

Penny Fitzgerald: where you can stay in. Oh yeah. I've, I've rented out an entire resort on Sene Lake. Oh, you have? Oh my God. Well, well, yeah. You had me at wine.

Amazing. Oh, that's so fun. I'll send you that link, please. And so you can check it out. Please do so and and 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: bring your girlfriends. So yeah, I will. We haven't planned our next year. Maybe this is the event that we go to. Oh, there you go. Fun, fun, fun. Yeah. Amazing. Thank you for having me. I've had such a fun time.

Much this afternoon. 

Penny Fitzgerald: Me too. It's great getting to know you a little bit and hearing your journey. I think we're so much aligned and have a lot in common. 

Julie DeLucca-Collins: You're a good podcaster. You've got your, your stuff together. That's how we should be. [00:47:00] Anyway, thank you again, Penny. All right, wonderful. Thank you. Have a great day. You too. Thanks. Take care. Bye-bye. Bye. 

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