Late Bloomer Living Podcast

EP 118: Living Your True You with Rae Ann Louise

Are you feeling stuck in the muck of life? You are not alone. I’ve certainly been there… 

My guest this week has also “been there”.  On Mother’s Day weekend in 2018, Rae Ann Louise had an emotional breakdown which left her in a state of oblivion for a couple of weeks. It was a moment of reckoning from which she took a leap of faith that changed her life and that has inspired her to help others do the same.  Rae Ann is the Founder of Live Your True You.  She’s a certified coach who specializes in helping women who feel lost after a life-changing event navigate a new direction so that they live a more fulfilling and purposeful life.

EP 117: Real Life Parenting with Kim Muench

If you are a parent… today’s episode is for you.  If you have feelings of guilt and shame about the kind of parent you’ve been you are definitely not alone.  I don’t know a single parent who doesn’t question themselves and wonder if they are doing right by their kids.  Kim Muench is a Parenting Coach who specializes in working with mothers of adolescents ages 10 and up and young adults. Kim is passionate about educating and supporting her clients to raise their children with intention and guidance rather than fear and control. She’s a mother of 5 children and was inspired to do the work she’s doing today because she herself had a crisis moment with her oldest son that led her to learn how the parent/child relationship really works and slowly made her own well-being a priority.

EP 116: Daughter of Spies with Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop

One of the most challenging relationships, perhaps, is the mother/daughter relationship.  Today I am so happy to bring you a story of a mother and daughter that leads to healing and forgiveness.  As we age, I like to think we have the chance to begin to see our mothers as full-fledged humans, not just as “our mom”. With that clarity comes the opportunity for growth and healing.

Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop is the award winning author of over 50 works of fiction for adults and children.  Her latest book is titled, DAUGHTER OF SPIES: Wartime Secrets, Family Lies.   Looking back on her life as her mother was slowly slipping away from her and into the mists of dementia, she’s written a memoir for the first time.  I sat down with her to talk about what it was like to write a memoir to look deeply at her mother and the events that made her who she was.

EP 115: Finding Meaning in the Middle of Hardship with Maureen Edwards

Have you ever asked the question, “Why Me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?”. The longer we live the greater the chance that we will experience devastating loss.

Maureen Edwards is an award-winning branding, marketing, and business strategist and 2x award-winning inventor who has created 6 profitable companies from conception to commercialization. 

In June of 2021, her son was home on leave from the Marines and died in a car accident. One month later, their family home burned to the ground… and yet she persists… She keeps on going. How does she do it?

EP 114: Coming Out of Hiding with Gayle Petrillo

Have you ever felt isolated because of a secret you’ve been holding onto?  It can be a heavy burden.  A chance encounter at a critical moment inspired Gayle Petrillo to come out of hiding after 65 years of keeping her secret.  She has written a memoir called The Accident, where she shares her story of growing up as a burn survivor, overcoming multiple obstacles and turning them into triumphs.  She has had to overcome body image issues, fears and phobias and a lack of self-confidence in order to create a successful career in healthcare leadership followed by her becoming an entrepreneur and first time author in her 60s. In this episode we talk about how writing this book has helped her transform her feelings of being 'different' and 'damaged'.

EP 113: Viva Fifty... And Then Some! with Lorraine Ladish

I’m excited for you to meet Lorraine Ladish also known as The Flawed Yogini.  The 2008 recession took the rug out from under her.  She lost her marriage, her savings and her source of income. She found herself absolutely broke—emotionally and financially. She was suddenly a single mother in her forties with two little girls to take care of, but with the help and inspiration from many friends along the way, she managed to reinvent her writing career by taking it online.  If you were to follow her on Instagram today, you’d see a beautiful, confident 59 year old woman who can do some crazy yoga poses… but what we’re talking about today is what it took to get her from where she was to where she is now. 

EP 112: Who Wants to Go Outside and Get Dirty? with Kriste Peoples

One of the things I love about my guest this week is how she is courageous about following her curiosity! Kriste Peoples is a Denver-based writer, producer, speaker, women’s trail running coach, and outdoorist. That wasn’t always her gig!  She started off as a graphic designer working in New York City, but she had an aha moment that led her to move to Arizona to go to graduate school for writing and she didn’t stop exploring there.  Her work in the field of equity and inclusion in nature combines speaking and facilitating transformational experiences for others. As founder of Black Women’s Alliance of Denver she extends her passion for connecting underrepresented communities to new, empowering narratives of wellness.

EP 111: How Do You Climb a Mountain? with Dierdre Wolownick

Dierdre Wolonick is an accomplished woman who speaks 8 languages, is a professor, published author and speaker, plays several instruments, founded and conducted the West Sacramento Orchestra.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  She raised 2 ultra athletes, but never thought of herself as an athlete.  Funny enough, a simple walk with her dog and conversation with her son, Alex Honnold, changed her life. At 55, she began running, and has since done marathons, half-marathons and other races. At 59, she began rock climbing, and at 66, she became the oldest woman to climb Yosemite’s iconic El Capitan. Last year, she celebrated her 70th birthday by going up El Cap again and camping on the summit. Whenever we feel that fear that’s stopping us from getting what we want we can remind ourselves that our reaction to that fear is a choice… and that we never climb the mountain all at once… we do it 3 feet at a time… Babysteps are the key to doing anything you want to do.

EP 110: How to Write the Future with Beth Barany

Welcome to Season Three of this podcast!  Today’s guest is Beth Barany, an award-winning novelist and certified creativity coach for writers.  She has an online school for fiction writers and a 12-month group coaching program to help them get published.  When she's not helping writers, Beth writes magical tales of romance, mystery, and adventure that empower women and girls to be the heroes of their own lives. In this episode Beth talks about her own journey to becoming a novelist and writing coach when she realized that she wanted more from her work than a 9-5 existence and realized she could take charge of her own destiny. 

EP 109: Provenance with Sue Mell

Sue Mell is a writer from Queens, NY.  Sue is 65 years old and started writing later in life.  She balances her writing time with being the primary caregiver for her mom.  Her debut novel, Provenance, was just released in July and won the Madville Publishing’s 2021 Blue Moon Novel Contest.  She earned her MFA from Warren Wilson, and was a 2020 BookEnds fellow at SUNY Stony Brook. Her collection of micro essays, Giving Care, won the 2022 Chestnut Review Prose Chapbook Prize, and her collection of short stories, A New Day, was a finalist for the 2021 St. Lawrence Book Award.