Episode 2: The Plot Twist: The Unfiltered Truth About Starting Over After 40!

Welcome to Episode 2:  The Plot Twist:  The Unfiltered Truth About Starting Over After 40!

Starting over sounds so empowering... until it’s you, staring at your life like, wait — whose idea was this?

In this episode of Midlife: Interrupted & Unfiltered, Anne and Melissa get real about what it actually looks like to reinvent yourself when life throws a plot twist you didn’t ask for. We’re talking identity shifts, fear, self-doubt, big dreams, messy middle moments, and the inconvenient truth that growth rarely arrives looking cute and organized.

This is an honest, funny, and motivating conversation about reinvention, personal growth, starting over, confidence, and learning how to trust yourself when the old version of your life no longer fits. If you’ve been craving change, questioning everything, or feeling pulled toward a new chapter, this episode is your reminder that you are not behind — you’re in transition.

Expect laughter, truth bombs, and the kind of tough-love encouragement that makes you want to fix your crown, update your vision, and make one bold move. Because sometimes the breakdown is really the beginning, and sometimes the plot twist is exactly what puts you back in the driver’s seat.

If you’re looking for a podcast about starting over, reinvention, personal growth, women’s empowerment, life transitions, self-discovery, mindset shifts, confidence, and designing your next chapter, you’re in the right place.

Plot twist: you’re not falling apart — you’re becoming.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to Midlife Interrupted and Unfiltered. I'm Melissa, coach, counselor, and professional truthbringer. And I'm Anne, trial lawyer, accountability partner, and certified Pilates instructor. That's true.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

We're just two East Coast women who met at a kindergarten drop-off in the Midwest.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

And 15 years later, we decided that midlife needed a megaphone, not a button. So we're here to interrupt the negative narratives we tell ourselves. And to share the unfiltered truth about reinvention, perimenopause, and everything in between. Just real talk.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Let's go. Okay. I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer it honestly.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

All right. Always.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

When you told people that you were becoming a Pilates instructor, what did they say to you?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

A lot of them look like it looked to me like I had lost my mind and then I was like insane. Really? Yeah. One person who shall remain nameless actually said, you are crazy. They did not. They did. You were crazy. You're running a law practice. You're president of a statewide organization. You have two kids, and now you want to become a blind instructor. What did you say to them? I said, watch me do that. Of course you did.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

That's the episode, folks, right there. Welcome to episode two. I'm Ann. I'm Melissa. And today we're going to be talking about the plot twist starting over or reinvention and why the you're crazy might just be the best compliment someone can give you in midlife. Let's set the stage. We're calling this episode plot twist because that's exactly what reinvention feels like, right? It's the moment in your story where you go, wait a minute, this isn't how I thought this chapter was going to go. It's terrifying, but it's also incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

And the plot twist is that part of the story that makes it worth reading.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Exactly. Nobody wants to read a story where everything goes exactly as planned. I mean, the plot twist is the real story. It's where it begins.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

And midlife is full of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Yep. Kids leaving home, marriages evolving, sometimes ending, careers that used to fit us perfectly. They suddenly feel like they're two sizes too small. And priorities shifting, things changing. The things you told yourself you would do someday are getting louder and louder because someday is now. Someday is now. And that's what we're talking about today. The women who heard Someday calling and actually answered it.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Starting with us.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Yeah, starting with us. And I will warn you right now, our stories are not neat and they're not linear and they're not pretty.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

They are interruptions.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Exactly. Interruptions. But they're real. And we hope someone listening right now takes permission for themselves to take this leap. All right. And let's talk about your story because your story is one of my favorites. And even though I've heard it a hundred, maybe a thousand times, it still gets me.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Okay, so I'm a trial attorney, and that's not new. But what people don't know is that within my career, I've had multiple reinventions.

SPEAKER_00 3:06

Start from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

So starting from day one, I started my career and spent four years defending corporations, learning, observing, understanding how defense strategy works. And then I made the decision that felt terrifying at the time, but I walked away from the security of a big firm and I opened my own law firm representing individuals. How old were you? Late 20s, maybe 27 or 28. And everybody had opinions about it, that's for sure. And of course, there were the naysayers of you don't have enough experience. How are you going to get clients? You don't have any clients right now. Well, let's be clear. You can never have enough of everything. Right. Seriously. Right. So you can fill in that blank. Yeah, fill in every blank. And now here we are over 22 years later, and I'm still my own boss with my own firm. So there's that. And then over the last 10 years, I've again reinvented myself in my legal practice, taking on leadership roles and organizations and even more fun taking on leadership roles and national litigations. And right now, for example, I'm a co-lead counsel on a national case, Penn Meet California. But that Pilates thing, that's the one that really got people interested. Tell them the full story. So I've always been interested in fitness and that working out movement. And I was a competitive gymnast in high school and competed division one in college. And Pilates, I started doing about 17 years ago. And it was such a great workout. And I was generally fascinated by it because not only are you working out, but you have to be disciplined. There's precision to the movements, and it really does establish a great mind-body connection. And it always demands presence, which is good because you can't be thinking about work, family, anything else.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

So you did that, but then what happened?

SPEAKER_01 4:54

So I decided that I wanted to teach, and I saw a flyer about a certification program at the Pilates studio I go to. And I decided to go for it. It was a pretty lengthy commitment. I think it took me about seven months or so classroom training. I had to observation hours, actual teaching hours, practice hours, and a two-part comprehensive exam, all while running a law practice. And part of it was still while I was the Missouri Association of Trial Attorney President and taking care of a family.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Oh, let's just sit with that for a second. President, managing a family, running a law practice. Yep, all that.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

And simultaneously running that multidistrict litigation in a federal court in California. And someone said, you are crazy for wanting to add Pilates to that. And in their defense, they weren't entirely wrong about that crazy part. But you still did it. I did. And here's what I didn't expect. Being a student again was pretty humbling. And it actually really gave me joy in more things than I've encountered in the past few years. I think we all get so locked in on being that expert in our field. And you forget the feeling of being a beginner, of not knowing things, or of needing to ask questions without any ego attached. It was challenging and honestly, it took discipline to study for the tests and get all those requirements. And but it really felt good to have challenged myself and succeeded in that challenge and definitely something that was outside of my normal comfort zone.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Yeah, and there's something so powerful in that.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

I think so too. It was incredibly powerful. And now I love teaching. I love meeting the new people who I would not have met otherwise, watching somebody make a mind-body connection that they weren't aware of before, seeing that look when something clicks, or seeing a confidence that they might not have had at the beginning of the lesson or the beginning of the class. So kind of doing this is fulfilling a different part of me than practicing law does. And while both are very important to me, they just feed different parts of my soul.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

And what about that person who said you are crazy? Well, they've since asked me for Pilot Studio recommendations. I'll never get tired of hearing that ending. Neither will I, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

So the moral of the story is what? You are crazy from the right people means you are on to something. Okay, now it's your turn. And I want you to be completely honest about how hard this actually was because I think people see the human group now and they don't know the full picture of what it took to build it.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

So about 25 years with Accenture. And for anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's a global Fortune 500 management consulting firm. And I was blessed to join straight out of university at age 22 and really built my entire professional identity there, met my husband there. You know, we joke that our families all Accenture, many me's and he's. But anyway.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

So what did that identity that you say was tied to Accenture look like?

SPEAKER_00 8:07

So senior HR leadership, management consulting, leadership and talent, performance and strategy development, travel, a lot of travel, both domestic and sometimes international. And when I started, I started working with external organizations on change, transformation. But then after about three and a half years, I moved internal and worked on our workforce reorganizations. And you can times that by probably nine or 10. It was so exciting and demanding. And I like to think I was okay at it.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Oh, she's really good at it, and who's always been really good at it.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

But there was always this pull. There was always this pull towards something more human, I guess, more individual. The coaching moments in my career when I sat with a team or I sat with a leader who might have tried to figure out how to meet a goal for themselves or a team, or helping them find clarity on their own professional or personal goals and watching them have this breakthrough. Like those were the moments that I lived for.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

And when did you decide or feel that flow that you needed to move on and do your own thing?

SPEAKER_00 9:17

It really wasn't just one moment, actually. It was accumulative over about seven years prior to launching the human group. It was just several years I'd wake up and feel like, well, either if it were virtual or in person, felt like I was dressing up in a costume and needed to reveal the person underneath it sometimes because I felt like I was sometimes acting. It was like living and working the way others expected me to, but not always in accordance with my values. So this version of me that showed up every day was only part of me. And there were so many parts that felt like they were just underwater or not getting air. And so those were the parts that I needed to get in touch with.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

And so then 2020 happened.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yep, 2020, which I know a global pandemic, the most sane time to start and launch a business.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Absolutely, a totally normal decision.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

Yeah. But honestly, the pandemic did something. It stripped everything down for so many people to what actually mattered. And I thought, if I don't do it now, when? So I made the leap and launched the human group.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

And now tell me about what it actually requires starting your own company, the human group, because this is the part that people really don't see the behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Yeah. So here's where it gets real. And I want to share this because a lot of women imagine that reinvention is just deciding to do something new and then just go doing it. And the reality is it is so much more than that.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

So much more.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

When I launched the human group, I knew I wanted to offer coaching and consulting. And then when 2020 happened and I saw the toll that the pandemic had on people's mental health, including within myself and my own family, I decided, well, I need to add a third C to this focus, and that was counseling. But to actually practice counseling, you have to be licensed.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

And so what did you do?

SPEAKER_00 11:11

I had to find a program that gave me 12 more graduate credits and go back to graduate school for a year.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Oh my gosh. Well, I don't think I realized that. Why was it really something you were that passionate about that you felt the need to go back to school to get that certificate and degree?

SPEAKER_00 11:29

It was. And I had gotten my master's degree in counseling psychology years before. When I got it to pursue licensure, you needed 48 graduate credits. And since it was a long time, that that requirement has since moved up to 60 credit hours. So I needed 12 more. So those 12, I had to find a program that met the requirements for licensure. And I applied to a couple programs. And by applying, I literally mean I had to write essays, get three letters of recommendations, pull out the transcripts and all, had to go search for them. Like when I was accepted, I was like, okay, I got into this. I'm probably old enough to be a lot of these people's parents, but I went full speed ahead and I did this certificate in clinical mental health counseling. And it was a lot, a lot of work, but it was so good. It was a lot of writing APA style papers, which is the psychology way, a lot of busy work. And it was actually more practical than when I did my master's years ago because I knew I was going to be launching this. And it was very, very informative and more practical, hands-on. And so while I was raising my daughters with my husband and figuring out how to be an entrepreneur, I was also working on finishing this certificate.

SPEAKER_01 12:47

And did you finish it?

SPEAKER_00 12:50

I did. And in addition to that, in the world of coaching, there's an overarching what they call the gold standard of coaching, which is called the International Coaching Federation. And they, when you are with them, they have certifications. And most organizations want you to have those certifications when you're working with them. So while I was doing the counseling in parallel, I was working toward my professional certified coach credential. Let me tell you, that process was probably, I almost want to say, harder than the graduate school.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

I can imagine. And tell people about that and about how it felt to be a student again when you've been an expert for so long.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Yeah. It was actually humbling because I learned more from people that I would have never met, different backgrounds, different parts of the world, right? People coaching for different reasons. So just to give people an understanding, so be a professional certified coach through the ICF, you need 125 hours of coach-specific classroom training. That was more classroom training. A lot of it was virtual. I needed at least 500 hours of paid coaching experience, at least 10 hours of one-on-one coach mentoring with the mentor coach. And I have an awesome mentor coach that I've worked with and continue to work with. And then the worst part was recording and passing two performance assessments where I had to record my sessions and then send them into an outside party so that they could make sure I met all the qualifications of that level of certification. And to top it all off, I had to sit and pass a three-hour scenario-based exam in a testing center. Oh, it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Those two exams seem a little more intense than my Pilates.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

I don't know. Any exam is it's not fun. It's I have test anxiety. I'd never had it before, but I also had to take an exam for my counseling license. So that was a whole other one. So, you know, I had to take two for coaching and then I had to take the one for counseling. And that's three major professional exams of graduate school year and documenting all these coaching hours and trying to figure out how all this and running a business because I had to still make money. You did all this in midlife. And then a pandemic. And of course, life happened too. So life wasn't perfect, you know, on the other side. I guess I would say I really, really pushed my boundaries.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

And were there days that you thought, why did I do this or wanted to quit?

SPEAKER_00 15:12

Yeah, there were days when I sat at the desk and thought, my God, who do I think I am? Who told me I could do this? I could be working in an organization with fixed salary, a title. I'm sitting here studying for exams when I'm hoping I remember what I just read. And my colleagues are starting to think about retirement.

unknown 15:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

And on those days when you were saying to yourself, who do I think I am? Who told me I could do this? I don't know if I made the right decision. You would call me.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

I call it Ann multiple times, more than she probably wanted.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

No, I love hearing from you. And every single time, every time, I hope I gave you a positive boost. What did you say to me? I said you were born for this. Stop waiting for the permission of others. You don't need that. The credentials matter, and you're already exceptional at what you do. Just finish what you've started this time. She did this, you guys, every single time. Because it was true every single time.

SPEAKER_00 16:13

And here's what I want every single woman that's listening to hear. This reinvention wasn't just deciding to do something new. It was literally going back to school, sitting for exams, logging hours, and rebuilding my credentials from scratch. And in some ways, not because I wasn't capable, but because the world changes and sometimes you have to meet it where it is.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

And wait every single thing.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

I did. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. Sometimes I joke, I want to get my PhD, but then my husband puts me back in my place. But I truly believe that I now am privileged to do what I do. Every single client, every session, every breakthrough, every team. I absolutely love it. And it was worth every paper I had to write when I wanted to pull my hair out.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

And if I recall correctly, wasn't the same room that turned into your home office where you were studying the girls' nursery?

SPEAKER_00 17:06

It was from a nursery to a practice. Now transforming hopefully people's lives. That's just awesome.

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Did anybody call you crazy?

SPEAKER_00 17:15

No one did, but if they had, I would have said, watch me just like you. Just like me.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

And here we are.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Here we are.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

There we go. Amen. Okay, so let's talk about the lines. Because we both had to fight through them, and our listeners might be fighting through them right now. So let's talk about those.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Okay. Line number one. I'm too old for this.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

The Hall of Famer of those self-womening beliefs, that one I think stops more women in pursuing something opassion about than any other Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Here's the truth, though. The average life expectancy for women now in the US is around 82-ish years old. So if you're 45, you could potentially have 37 more years of productive, creative, and meaningful life ahead of you. 37 years, if not more. Exactly. So this is more years than you've been an adult. So you haven't even hit halftime yet. And if I can go back to school and sit for exams with the testing society and start a new business, I'm telling you, anyone can do it. And I couldn't have done it at age 25.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

And I have to say, I think too, that we all have resources and skills later in life that we didn't have at 25. Networks of people and things that we can take to make these um really new passions come true.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Let's move on. Line number two. I don't have the right credentials or experience to do that.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

And this one's uh kind of tricky because sometimes it's partially true. And somebody might need more training or might need a certification like you did, and you might have to go back to school or take courses, but it doesn't mean you can't go back and do that.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Right, exactly. And here's what I want to say about that to everyone. So what? Say it louder. So what? So I needed 12 more graduate credits and all these coaching hours and sit for exams. You know what? The credential grap is not a stop sign. It's really like a to-do list, right? There's a path from where you are to where you want to be. And it's a road, you give yourself a roadmap and a plan. And it might take a year, it might take more than a year. It depends on your life. But the time is gonna pass anyway. So wouldn't you rather be spending it doing something that you're gonna love longer term and that every day you'll want to get out of bed and go do?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

That is so true. So let's talk about number three.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

So line number three. Oh my gosh, what are people gonna think?

SPEAKER_01 19:51

No, absolutely not. We're not doing this one. She has opinions.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

I do. I have strong opinions. And because it's the people who question your reinvention or anybody's reinvention are the people who are too scared to do it on their own. That's it. It's the entire truth. Somebody called me crazy, somebody implied it was too late. People I'm sure did the same to you. And not one single person of those individuals has a say or a vote in how I live my life. That's right. Not a single vote. And you do not let somebody else's fear, which is exactly what the naysayers are. But there's an element of fear there. Determine the trajectory of your own life, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Absolutely. And we're gonna come back to that notion of fear. Okay, so let's go to line number four. And this is the most painful one. It's too late.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

I think that's such a BS line. I really do. Julia Child, did you know, published her first cookbook at 49?

SPEAKER_00 20:55

Yeah, and Vera Wang didn't design her first dress until I think she was around 40.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

And talk about fabulous midlife. Holy cow. I know. And Tony Morrison, she didn't publish her first novel until 39. So I think there's hope for all of us when you look at these successes. Holy cow, to do something different.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Exactly. And I won't say my age, but I did some changes as well.

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Yeah, she's really not gonna say her age.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Well, all I can say though is it's never too late. And the only way it's too late is if you decide. Remember, it's a choice, not a fact. Amen to that, sister. All right, now Yeah, let's get to a practical framework for reinvention because we like to get practical because inspiration is great, but you need a framework, a roadmap, so you can do it too. Real tools in every episode of this podcast. True. So let's get to it. So in my coaching practice, when I work with someone on a reinvention, which I often do, we start with three questions, and I want to share them today because I I genuinely believe they will unlock something for you. All right, bring it on, sister. Let's hear. Okay. So, question one. What did you love to do before life told you to be practical?

SPEAKER_01 22:10

I think that's a question that lands differently every time I hear it.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

And I don't think either that you'd have the same answer every single time. Because I think there are really so many different things that people would do.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Yeah. And people have different phases of life where different things might consider stay consider practical. But think back for those of us like before the career, before you had to pay a mortgage, before you had to save for kids' college and all the responsibilities that go with that. What made you like lose track of time? And what did you do just because it made you feel completely alive?

SPEAKER_01 22:45

I don't know. I would say having fun and doing things that lit me up, whether it was being outside, doing something like that. And I think it always changes. I mean, I do remember liking to be an advocate for others, especially the underdog, but I don't think there's always a single answer to that question either.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

So, you know, I I would say the other thing when you're an advocate is you have to sometimes be the the upstander, right? Not the bystander. Yeah, yeah. And so look at everything you built from starting as to advocate for kids or when you were younger to now. Everything maps back. So let's go to question two. If you knew exactly, or if you knew that you absolutely could not fail, what would you try?

SPEAKER_01 23:31

Yeah, that question is genuinely uncomfortable. And I think it's because everybody does have that fear of feeling.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

It's supposed to be because the answer to that question is the thing you fear is your fear is protecting. Remember, I said we were going to come back to the word fear. Fear protects you.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

That is a pretty powerful way to frame it. That the fear is protecting you. And also then, right? Melissa, you're the expert in this, is then also hindering you in so many ways.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Absolutely. We call it a defense mechanism when we uh in psychological terms, but fear and desire actually live in the same house. So you can have fear and desire together, but the bigger your fear is around something, it means the more it matters to you. So sit with that for a minute. The bigger the fear is around something, the more it matters to you. And courage, courage is the opposite of fear.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

That's awesome. That really resonates. And I really never thought about it that way. And I really love the thought of, and I really didn't not make that connection previously that fear and desire live in the same house.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:43

That's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Well, most people haven't. It's how many people sit down and say, oh my gosh, what's my desire? What's my fear? And how do I make my butt the the thing is we should, right? And we want to. And so, okay, we'll get back to fear again in another episode. It will probably come up again and again. But let's go to question three. What would you regret not doing if today you were 90 years old and you were on your deathbed?

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Yeah, and that's one that could have you waking up at three or four o'clock in the morning, or you wake up just naturally, and then you sit there staring at the ceiling, thinking about that question.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

Yeah. Because regret of action fades, right? You try something, it doesn't work, you learn, you move on. But regret of not taking action, oh, that's the one that can haunt you. The what if that never gets answered.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

And nobody wants to lie on their deathbed wishing that they had played it safe.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Right. Nobody. Everyone, those are your three questions. And I actually I am gonna add a fourth. I'm gonna add a practical one that I use with clients who are ready to move on. All right, bring it all in. What is that credential gap? What specifically stands between you, where you are today, and where you want to be? Is it a certification? Is it a degree? Is it a number of hours? Is it an experience? Name it because once you name it and put it out in the universe, it becomes part of your to-do list instead of a wall.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Yeah, a wall versus a to-do list. I like that to-do list idea. That's pretty awesome. And then you just check it off. And I know it sounds like easier said than done, but baby steps and do one step at a time. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

One little item, one step at a time.

SPEAKER_01 26:24

So before we get to all these action items, I want to come back to something. Okay. You're crazy moments.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Okay, let's reframe that.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

Okay, because I've been thinking about this. In the moment somebody's telling you that you're crazy or pursuing a booty invention and it stings, and it's meant to be dismissive. It's meant to put you back in a box that they've decided you belong in, or uh quite honestly, uh they're probably projecting their fear of change onto you. But here's the reframe. So here's the reframe. Every significant thing that has ever been built, every business, every movement, every piece of art, uh, every career pivot that's changed someone's life was called crazy at first.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Crazy is just what people call things they can't imagine for themselves, and so when somebody calls your dream crazy, I think what they're really saying is I couldn't do that, or that they're too afraid to do that, or they would never put themselves out there like that. And it has absolutely nothing to do with you. Nothing whatsoever. So the next time somebody tells you you're crazy for wanting to pursue something you're passionate about or reinvent yourself or do something out of the ordinary that you wouldn't normally do, what should they say? What did you say? Watch me.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Okay, let's get to action items.

SPEAKER_01 27:58

And if you haven't noticed, Melissa loves her action items, and we're gonna have them in every episode because part of this is about accountability, building yourself accountable.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

Absolutely. And we want to be that for you. So here's your action item for episode two. All right, real tools, every episode. Bring it on now. So I want everybody to maybe you should create a journal that's called Midlife interrupted it on filter because we're gonna have lots of this. But grab a journal or a notes app, whatever you want. And here are the four questions. And I don't want you to overthink them and don't edit yourself. Just write your first honest thing that comes to your mind. What's number one, Ian?

SPEAKER_01 28:35

What did you love before life told you to be practical?

SPEAKER_00 28:40

Number two, if you knew you couldn't sell, what would you try?

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Number three, what would you regret not doing if you were 90 years old and on your deathbed right now?

SPEAKER_00 28:51

And four, that I added, what is the credential gap? What specifically certification, a degree, an experience, number of hours stands between you and that thing that you really want?

SPEAKER_01 29:01

Because really, any gap might be much smaller than you think.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Yeah, it's almost always smaller than you think in the grand scheme of things. And once you name it, it stops being on a wall and it's on your to-do list.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

And then the second part of the action item share your answers with one person who will hold the vision with you, not somebody who will immediately list every reason. It won't work.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Yeah, someone who will say, That sounds incredible. Now let's figure out how.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

And be that person for somebody else too. I think everybody could use a cheerleader.

SPEAKER_00 29:38

Exactly. And again, we want to be that for you. So we want to hear from you. Share your plot twist with us on Instagram. Our handle is at the dot interruption. We're really rooting for you all, and we're rooting for your reinvention, and we're rooting hard.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 29:56

Okay, we did it. Episode two, the plot twist.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

So if this episode spoke to you, if you have a dream you've been sitting on or reinvention, you've been too scared to start, a credential gap that's been feeling like a wall. Then this is your sign. Seriously, this is your sign. Yep. I did it. Papers, exams, and all. And I became a Pilates instructor of all running a law of practice, and somebody told me I was freezing.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

And what did we both say? Watch me. We can. You can.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

Subscribe wherever you listen. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. It genuinely helps other women find the show.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

Yeah, and share this episode right now. Think of one woman in your life who has a dream she's been sitting on and send it to her.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Because she needs to hear it too.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Exactly. So next week, we're gonna go somewhere deep and we're gonna talk about identity. Get that journal ready because we'll probably need it again with those action items. But we're thinking about next week, who are you in midlife when all those roles that define you start to shift?

SPEAKER_01 31:01

And that's a big one. That's a big topic.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Yeah, you don't want to miss it. And until then, keep interrupting.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Stay unfiltered, and we will see you next week.