Brave Enough For Love

Kabrina Ashley and Chris Ciardi
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Brave Enough for Love is a relationship podcast for adults navigating love after divorce. Hosted by Chris and Kabrina, who were both married for years before finding love with each other, this podcast explores second chances, dating after divorce, blended families, communication, boundaries, intimacy, and building healthy relationships the second time around. Each episode blends honest conversation, humor, and practical insight for singles, divorced adults, and anyone starting fresh in love. Because love after divorce isn’t about repeating the past. It’s about choosing differently.

Episodes

  1. 3d ago

    Dating Terms Game Part 2: Halfsey-Ships, Situationships & the Rest | Brave Enough for Love

    The Dating Terms Game is back. Part 2. Chris and Kabrina decode the new dating vocabulary that's everywhere right now — situationships, halfsey-ships (one person fully in, the other only halfway), breadcrumbing, and the rest. With a closing line we're putting on a t-shirt: "Love is blind. Dating's not." But first, the opening bit: the marriage hangover. The leftover habits and reflexes you carry out of your first marriage and into your new relationship — like jumping up to do the dishes because there's a 1% chance she might be mad you're not. (She's never been mad. The 1% wins anyway.) If you're dating in your 30s and 40s and beyond after divorce, or you just want a translator for the language Gen Z is using to date right now, this one's for you. ✓ The "marriage hangover" opener — Chris's dishes-and-the-1%-chance story ✓ The "am I too much?" voice that keeps showing up in your new relationship ✓ The "golden string" metaphor for two whole people who finally found each other ✓ Halfsey-ship explained: when one person is all in and the other shows up halfway ✓ Situationship as a SPECTRUM — and why so many people are accidentally in one ✓ A real script for telling a coworker "no, my partner and I will come to dinner" ✓ "Love is blind. Dating's not." — the line you're going to repeat for a year This one's for you if: you're dating after divorce and the vocabulary keeps changing under your feet, or you're a year-or-two into a new relationship and you keep catching yourself with reactions that belong to the old one. 💬 What dating term has confused you the most? Drop it in the comments and we'll define it (or roast it) in Part 3. 🔔 Subscribe for honest, funny conversations about love after divorce in your 30s and 40s and beyond. 📚 Resources & Links: 🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com 🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3o9B86i28QSt5biD4but0F 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brave-enough-for-love/id1880364062 🎧 Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a85721e4-20e8-4460-94d5-372e5bb34238/brave-enough-for-love 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BraveEnoughForLove 🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@braveenoughforlove 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braveenoughforlove/ 📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com #DatingTermsGame #Halfseyship #Situationship #DatingAfterDivorce #LoveAfterDivorce #ModernDating #DatingIn30s #DatingIn40s #BraveEnoughForLove #DivorcePodcast #MarriageHangover

    41 min

  2. May 28

    Dating Slang Guessing Game: Decoding the Dating Lingo | Brave Enough for Love

    We thought we'd done our homework after Episode 1. We had not.Round 2 of the dating-terms guessing game and somehow we are MORE confused than we were before. New terms, worse guesses, and the dawning horror that the dating world has invented a vocabulary specifically to make divorced adults feel ancient.Chris and Kabrina back at it — still laughing, still losing, still very glad we are not currently single.What we get into:- The terms TikTok keeps trying to make happen- Words that sound made up but are absolutely not (sorry)- The one Chris guessed right (he is unbearable about it for 20 minutes)- Which terms describe healthy behavior vs. red flags wearing a costume- What we wish we'd known these words meant 10 years ago- More running score chaos and at least one full hijacked tangent- Why naming this stuff actually helps you spot itIf Episode 1 made you laugh, this one's the same vibe with more confusion. Perfect for the laundry-folding hour or the I-can't-look-at-divorce-content-right-now hour.#DatingAfterDivorce #LifeAfterDivorce #DatingTerms #ModernDating #BraveEnoughForLove

    41 min

  3. May 21

    Modern Dating Terms Decoded by Two Divorced Adults Who Married Before Tinder | Brave Enough for Love

    The dating world has its own language now and nobody handed us the dictionary. So we played a game.In this episode, Chris and Kabrina sit down and try to define modern dating terms — the ones our kids use, the ones we hear thrown around on TikTok, the ones our newly-divorced friends are crying about over wine. Most of our guesses are unhinged. Some are accidentally right. All of them are very, very telling about how dating has changed since we were last single.This is a light, fun episode. No heavy lifting. Just two divorced adults bracing themselves for what "the dating pool" actually looks like in 2026.What we get into:- Why dating after divorce now requires a glossary- Our wildly wrong first guesses (and the real definitions)- The terms that did NOT exist last time we were dating- Which of these are real warning signs vs. just internet noise- The one term that made us both go "oh no, we have done that"- What this all says about dating after divorce as a 30+, 40+ adult- Game updates, scoring chaos, and Kabrina absolutely cooking ChrisIf you're recently divorced, freshly out of a long relationship, or just trying to make sense of how dating apps and TikTok rewrote the rules — pull up a chair. This one's for you.#DatingAfterDivorce #LifeAfterDivorce #DatingTerms #ModernDating #BraveEnoughForLove

    58 min

  4. Apr 26

    You Can't Ghost Your Ex When You Share DNA... aka KIDS | Brave Enough for Love

    Marriage ended. Co-parenting did not. Welcome to the lifetime subscription you didn't know you signed up for.Chris and Kabrina on the very specific chaos of co-parenting after divorce — the group texts about pickup times that somehow take 47 messages, the holiday math, the moment you realize "till death do us part" got replaced with "till the youngest turns 18."This isn't a fight episode. It's a how-do-we-actually-do-this-thing episode. With a lot of laughing about the parts nobody warned us about.What we get into:- Why co-parenting is its own full-time job nobody trained you for- The Sunday-night handoff energy (and how to not let it wreck your week)- Keeping the kids out of the middle when adult stuff is messy- The "two-house life" — making it feel normal for your kids- How to stop bracing for every text notification- When to respond and when to put the phone down for 4 hours- Why focusing on your kid's peace is the cheat codeThis one's for every divorced parent who has ever stared at a co-parenting app like it owed them money. You're not failing. This is just hard. We're in it too.#CoParenting #DatingAfterDivorce #LifeAfterDivorce #DivorceRecovery #BraveEnoughForLove

    44 min

  5. Mar 26

    Pepper Spray, Location Sharing, and Vibes: First Date Rules After Divorce | BEFL

    Pepper spray? Check. Location shared with your bestie via a group chat named "If I Die Tonight"? Check. A vibe check so finely tuned you could detect red flags from orbit? Also check.Welcome to dating after divorce — the only sport where the warm-up is filling out a 47-question personality quiz and the final boss is deciding what to wear.Your first date back out there might feel like the scariest thing you've done since signing those papers. We get it — because we lived it. The last time either of us did this, flip phones were still cool. Now there are apps, filters, and people who unironically put "entrepreneur" in their bio with a yacht they rented once.In this episode, Chris and Kabrina get real (and really hilarious) about what it takes to make a first date feel safe, fun, and pressure-free when you're starting over. No awkward scripts. No "rules" from a textbook written in 1998. Just two real people sharing what actually worked for them — and what went so sideways you can only laugh about it years later.✓ Why the coffee date is the GOAT of first dates (90 minutes, easy exit, caffeine-powered courage)✓ How to set boundaries without sounding like a HR presentation✓ The honesty move that builds instant trust AND filters out the weirdos in 10 minutes flat✓ What to do when first-date nerves hit at the table and your body forgets how to eat✓ How to stay true to who you are NOW, not the version of you your marriage turned you into✓ The one question Chris asked on date one that made Kabrina go "oh, he's different"This one's for you if: you're newly single, recently divorced, or Googling "am I too old to date" at 1am. Spoiler: you're not. You're seasoned. You're delicious. You're a whole meal.You're not starting over. You're starting smarter. (And with pepper spray.)💬 Tell us: What's your weirdest, funniest, or most "did that really just happen" first date story after divorce? Drop it below. We read every single one.🔔 New here? Subscribe and hit the bell — we drop new episodes weekly for every adult out here trying to love again without losing their minds.📚 Resources & Links:🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com🎧 Podcast: Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com📱 YouTube: @BraveEnoughForLove#DatingAfterDivorce #FirstDateTips #FirstDateAfterDivorce #HealingAfterDivorce #LoveAfterDivorce #DivorcePodcast #StartingOverAfterDivorce #BraveEnoughForLove #DatingInYour40s #SecondChancesInLove

    43 min

  6. Mar 19

    How Friendship Became Love: Our Real First Date Story | BEFL

    We were "just friends." That's what we kept telling everyone. That's what we kept telling ourselves. That's what we told our group chats with increasingly suspicious emoji use.Reader: we were not, in fact, just friends.This is the story of two divorced parents who agreed to meet up for coffee, got nervous in the parking lot like a couple of teenagers, and left that first date somehow BOTH more terrified and more hopeful than they'd felt in years.In this episode, Chris and Kabrina take you inside their actual first date — the shaky hands, the laugh that wouldn't stop, the moment the conversation went so deep so fast it felt almost illegal. And that quiet, thudding realization: oh. OH. This one is different.If you've been wondering whether real love is possible after everything you've been through… if you've been surviving on Trader Joe's frozen meals and Real Housewives and the vague hope that maybe one day… press play.✓ Why building a friendship first completely changes the dynamic (and keeps you from rebound-dating someone with major red flags)✓ The EXACT moment Chris realized Kabrina was unlike anyone he'd ever met✓ How being vulnerable on a first date actually works — a full inversion of every dating rule from your 20s✓ What it feels like to be yourself again after years of shrinking into a smaller version of you✓ The tiny signals that told them both "this person is safe" before they could put it into wordsThis one's for you if: you're wondering if love can ever feel easy again. If someone can see the real you — the messy, healing, therapy-in-progress, still-Googling-"is-this-normal" version of you — and stay.Spoiler: they can. And when it happens, you'll know.💬 Tell us: Do you believe in love at first conversation? What was the moment YOU knew someone was different? Drop it in the comments.🔔 Subscribe and hit the bell — you belong in this community. We're all figuring it out together.📚 Resources & Links:🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com🎧 Podcast: Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com📱 YouTube: @BraveEnoughForLove#LoveAfterDivorce #FirstDateStory #DatingAfterDivorce #HealingAfterDivorce #FriendshipToLove #RealLoveStory #BraveEnoughForLove #DivorcePodcast #SecondChancesInLove

    38 min

  7. Mar 12

    Is Dating Really This Dumb? - Here's What Nobody Tells You | BEFL

    Is dating really THIS dumb? Short answer: yes. Long answer: YES, but also sort of hilarious, and you're definitely not the only one crying laughing at your phone at 11pm on a Tuesday.The apps. The ghosting. The guy whose entire profile is one blurry gym mirror selfie and the words "ask me anything." Sir, no.The woman whose bio says "fluent in sarcasm" (ma'am, so is everyone, you have described… talking).The "u up?" text at 1:17am from a person who hasn't responded to a single one of your messages in 3 weeks. A MYSTERY.Dating after divorce is a whole different universe, and in this episode, Chris and Kabrina dive deep into the post-divorce dating scene — what's changed, what hasn't, and what nobody tells you about getting back out there when your last first date happened before TikTok existed.✓ Why dating after divorce feels like being dropped into a video game with no tutorial✓ How to relearn your social self after years of outsourcing it to one person✓ The truth about situationships: what they are, why they happen, and when to peace out with your dignity✓ How being a parent changes EVERYTHING about the dating equation (scheduling alone? A part-time job.)✓ The biggest communication mistakes the newly-divorced make (including Chris. Especially Chris.)✓ What Kabrina wishes someone had told her before she downloaded her first dating app and immediately regretted itThis one's for you if: you're staring at a dating app wondering if you're too old, too broken, or too out of practice. Spoiler: you're none of those things. You're just a person in a weird modern moment. It's okay.You're not broken. You're becoming. (You're also definitely going to match with at least one guy named Todd. Sorry. It's the statistics.)💬 Tell us: What's the weirdest, funniest, or most "this is a joke, right?" thing that's happened to you on a dating app? We NEED the stories.🔔 Subscribe and join a community of people who get it. New episodes weekly.📚 Resources & Links:🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com🎧 Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com📱 YouTube: @BraveEnoughForLove#DatingAfterDivorce #PostDivorceDating #Situationships #HealingAfterDivorce #OnlineDating #DivorcePodcast #BraveEnoughForLove #DatingInYour40s #ModernDating

    1h 20m

  8. Season 1 Trailer

    Doing Love Differently: What We Learned After Practice Marriages | BEFL

    Plot twist nobody warned us about: our first marriages were the practice round.Like… they were a really long, really expensive, emotionally catastrophic rehearsal. And nobody handed us a trophy at the end. They just handed us paperwork. A LOT of paperwork.But here's the wild thing: you don't come out of a first marriage with nothing. You come out with SCOUTING REPORTS. You know what you're bad at. You know what you accept that you shouldn't. You know what you want that you never asked for. You've got notes. You've got data. You've got a clearer picture of yourself than you had at 27 wearing someone else's last name.In this episode — the very first full episode of Brave Enough for Love — Chris and Kabrina get radically, almost uncomfortably honest about doing love differently this time around. What their first marriages taught them (not about their exes, but about THEMSELVES). The boundaries they set early that changed everything. And why choosing a partner when you're 40-something with eyes wide open hits different than any version of love that came before.✓ The biggest lessons divorce teaches you about love — and, spicier, about YOU✓ Why real love is built on honesty and intention, not the vibes-based chaos of your 20s✓ How to set boundaries without building a moat with crocodiles✓ What blended family dating actually looks like behind closed doors (and yes, there are spreadsheets)✓ How to stop repeating old patterns instead of just dating different-looking versions of the same dynamic✓ The conversation Chris and Kabrina had EARLY that set the foundation for everything sinceThis one's for you if: you're thinking about love again but secretly terrified you'll just run the same play with a different person. You won't. Not if you do the work. And this episode is a playbook.💬 Tell us: What's the #1 thing you'd do differently in your next relationship? We want to hear it. (And no, "not marry Kyle" doesn't count. Give us something actionable.)🔔 Subscribe, hit the bell, and join a community that's doing love differently — on purpose, with eyes open, with a sense of humor about the whole thing.📚 Resources & Links:🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com🎧 Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com📱 YouTube: @BraveEnoughForLove#DoingLoveDifferently #LifeAfterDivorce #DatingAfterDivorce #BlendedFamily #DivorcePodcast #BraveEnoughForLove #LoveAfterDivorce #RelationshipAdvice

    3 min

  9. Feb 26

    From "Who Am I?" to "Oh There She Is" | Life After Divorce | BEFL

    "Who AM I?" is the question that hits at 2am when the house is silent and you're eating cereal over the sink wearing the old t-shirt you can't remember buying.It's the question that hits when somebody asks what you like to do for fun and you realize the last hobby you had was "keeping that marriage alive."It's the question that hits when you catch yourself in a store mirror and go "huh, who's she?"Life after divorce isn't just a breakup. It's a full identity scavenger hunt with no map, no timer, and occasionally you find a version of yourself in the clearance aisle of Target and you don't even recognize her.But here's the plot twist. Somewhere between the therapy appointments, the takeout, the ugly-crying to a Taylor Swift bridge, and a laugh that for some reason came out of nowhere — you hear yourself go "oh. THERE she is."In this episode, Chris and Kabrina talk candidly about the raw, weird, sometimes hilarious process of rediscovering yourself after divorce — and how that journey eventually delivers you, somehow, to the kind of love you didn't know was waiting.✓ The identity crisis nobody warns you about (they put it in the fine print of the divorce papers. Just kidding. They don't. There is no fine print. You're on your own.)✓ How to rebuild your sense of self when everything you knew about yourself came bundled in a marriage✓ Why healing isn't linear (and why that's actually fine because you're not a spreadsheet)✓ The moment you realize you're ready to date again — hint: it's not when you're lonely, it's when you're actually enjoying your own company✓ How Chris went from "my life is over at 46, I guess I live here now" to finding the love of his life✓ Why building a support community is the single biggest cheat code for healingThis one's for you if: you feel like you don't know who you are anymore. If the future feels blank. If "starting over" sounds like a punishment. It's not. It's actually the best part — you just can't see it yet.💬 Tell us: What's one thing you've rediscovered about yourself since your divorce? An old hobby? A new favorite snack? A secret love of karaoke? Drop it below.🔔 Subscribe and hit the bell. You belong here.📚 Resources & Links:🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com🎧 Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com📱 YouTube: @BraveEnoughForLove#LifeAfterDivorce #HealingAfterDivorce #DivorceRecovery #SelfDiscovery #IdentityAfterDivorce #DivorcePodcast #BraveEnoughForLove #StartingOver #PersonalGrowth

    36 min

  10. Feb 26

    Starting Over After Divorce: The Glow-Up Nobody Saw Coming | BEFL

    Listen. Nobody — and we mean NOBODY — had us on their bingo card for this.Not our friends. Not our families. Not that one aunt who meant well but kept sliding us casserole recipes like food was the answer. (Aunt Linda, we love you, but the carbs did not, in fact, fix it.)The glow-up after divorce is real, and it is SNEAKY. One day you're on the floor of your closet wondering if you'll ever be okay, and two years later you're picking out a therapist AND a new travel mug AND a person and going "wait, is this… joy?"What does starting over in love actually look like when you're 35, 40, or beyond? When you've got kids, bills, scars, a body that remembers everything, and a heart that's been through the worst?In this episode — our most-watched ever — Chris and Kabrina share the raw, unfiltered, painfully honest, occasionally unhinged truth about second chances in love. The fear that you'll get hurt again. The doubt that you even deserve it. And the moment you realize: love didn't leave. It was just waiting for the upgraded version of you.✓ Why second chances require more courage than first chances EVER did (the first one was all delusion, this one is informed consent)✓ How to know when you're actually ready to date again, not just lonely and bored and 3 days into a true crime binge✓ The mindset shift that changes how you approach love after loss✓ What starting over means when you've got kids, an alimony spreadsheet, and emotional luggage that would not fit in an overhead bin✓ The real story of how Chris and Kabrina found each other when they'd both almost given up✓ Why your past doesn't disqualify you from an incredible future — it qualifies you MOREThis one's for you if: you've secretly told yourself your shot at love has passed. That you're too damaged, too old, too complicated, too tired. We are living proof that's a LIE. We're two tired adults with kids and a podcast and a love we didn't see coming. If us, then definitely you.Spoiler: Love is still out there. And it's looking for you too.💬 Tell us: Do you believe in second chances? What would you do differently this time? Drop it in the comments.🔔 Subscribe — and share this with the friend who's been going through it. They need to hear this today.📚 Resources & Links:🌐 Website: BraveEnoughForLove.com🎧 Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen📧 Email: info@braveenoughforlove.com📱 YouTube: @BraveEnoughForLove#StartingOverAfterDivorce #SecondChancesInLove #DatingAfterDivorce #LoveAfterDivorce #HealingAfterDivorce #DivorceRecovery #BraveEnoughForLove #DatingInYour40s #HopeAfterDivorce

    1 hr

Trailer

About

Brave Enough for Love is a relationship podcast for adults navigating love after divorce. Hosted by Chris and Kabrina, who were both married for years before finding love with each other, this podcast explores second chances, dating after divorce, blended families, communication, boundaries, intimacy, and building healthy relationships the second time around. Each episode blends honest conversation, humor, and practical insight for singles, divorced adults, and anyone starting fresh in love. Because love after divorce isn’t about repeating the past. It’s about choosing differently.

Information

  • Creator
    Kabrina Ashley and Chris Ciardi
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Kabrina Ashley and Chris Ciardi
  • Show Website
    Brave Enough For Love