Create Your Best Empty Nest

Marianne Iverson
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Your kids are almost gone, or already gone, and nobody told you it would feel like this. Create Your Best Empty Nest is where women figure out who they are now and what comes next. Certified life coach Marianne Iverson helps you move from lost and uncertain to clear, grounded, and genuinely excited about your next chapter.

  1. This Is the Only Thing Stopping You: Joy Crawford on Empty Nest Reinvention- Part 2

    3d ago

    This Is the Only Thing Stopping You: Joy Crawford on Empty Nest Reinvention- Part 2

    You've been taking care of everyone else for so long that somewhere along the way you forgot to take care of you. Today Joy Crawford is back to remind you that only YOU can make you smile - and that taking care of yourself is not selfish. It's the most important thing you can do for everyone you love. This is Part 2 of a two part conversation with Joy Crawford --76 years old, retired kindergarten teacher, and founder of a movement of over 30,000 people. If you haven't listened to Part 1 yet go back and start there. But if you're ready - let's go. In this episode Joy and I go deep on the questions that matter most to the woman who loves her family fiercely AND is starting to wonder if there's more for her too. We talk about how to stop putting yourself last without feeling guilty about it. We talk about how to hold deep love for your family AND a burning desire to become more fully yourself - at the same time. And Joy shares the mindset shift that changed everything for her - making myself think it. Intentionally. Because that is where it all starts. If you have been waiting for the right time, the right sign, or the right amount of courage - this conversation is going to show you that you already have everything you need. You just have to decide. In this episode you'll hear: How to separate "I'm a good mom" from "I've forgotten I'm a person" - and why that distinction changes everythingWhy taking care of yourself is not selfish - it's necessary for everyone around youThe eggs in both baskets mindset - how to love your family AND build a life that is your ownWhy you don't need to know how - you just need to decide you willWhat Joy still has ahead of her at 76 - and what that means for what's still ahead for youThe one thing Joy says every woman needs to hear before she goesThis episode will leave you feeling seen, hopeful, and ready to stop waiting and start living. 🌿 START HERE - If you've been sitting with "Now what?" longer than you'd like to admit, that question deserves an actual answer. Take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz at marianneiverson.com/quiz. Five minutes. Real clarity. No more circling. 📞 Here's what I know about waiting: it doesn't get easier. It just gets quieter and lonelier. If you're ready to stop thinking about your next chapter and actually start writing it, book a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call at marianneiverson.com/call. We'll identify one place the empty nest has you feeling lost and give you one small shift you can start today. This season won't last forever. Neither will this window. 🎉 FIND JOY CRAWFORD:Facebook: What My Grandkids Call MeInstagram: What My Grandkids Call MeTikTok: What My Grandkids Call Me👉 whatmygrandkidscallme.com

    15 min
  2. This Is the Only Thing Stopping You: Joy Crawford on Empty Nest Reinvention- Part 1

    Jun 16

    This Is the Only Thing Stopping You: Joy Crawford on Empty Nest Reinvention- Part 1

    You know that quiet voice that keeps asking "is this really all there is?" This episode is for her. If you're in the empty nest season and you've been feeling lost, stuck, or like you've somehow disappeared into everyone else's life - you are not alone. And today's guest is living proof that the best chapter of your life can start at any age. Joy Crawford is 76 years old. She's a retired kindergarten teacher who built a movement of over 30,000 people from one single ordinary moment in a church nursery. She had no idea how she was going to do it. She just knew she would. In this episode Joy and I talk about what it really feels like when the kids leave and you suddenly don't know who you are anymore. We talk about losing yourself in motherhood, finding yourself after the empty nest, and what it actually takes to stop living through your kids and start living your own life. Joy shares the moment she stopped asking "what can I do?" and started doing it anyway - without a plan, without knowing how, and without waiting for permission. If you have been putting yourself on the shelf while everyone else's life comes first - this conversation is going to light something up in you. In this episode you'll hear:Why the empty nest transition can feel like an identity crisis -- and what to do about itHow Joy went from retired and questioning to building a movement of 30,000 peopleWhat it looks like to find your purpose after 50, after 60, even after 70Why "I don't know how" is not a reason to stop - it's actually where you startThe one thing Joy says is standing between you and the life you actually wantHow to rediscover yourself after kids leave and start living for YOU This is Part 1 of a two part conversation. Part 2 drops next week and you do not want to miss it. 🎉 FIND JOY CRAWFORD AND JOIN HER MOVEMENT:Joy is on a mission to make a million people smile- one grandparent name at a time. Find her community of 30,000 grandparents and counting right here: Facebook: What My Grandkids Call MeInstagram: What My Grandkids Call MeTikTok: What My Grandkids Call Me 👉 whatmygrandkidscallme.com 🌿 START HERE If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" -- take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about 90 seconds you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months.👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START? You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll identify one place the empty nest has you feeling lost and give you one small shift you can start today to create your next chapter. Not someday. Now.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

    21 min

  3. Jun 9

    Desire Isn't Selfish. It's Sacred Direction

    You've spent decades making sure everyone else had what they needed. And somewhere along the way, you stopped asking yourself what YOU wanted. Not because you forgot. Because you stopped giving yourself permission. If you're in the empty nest season, or getting close to it, and someone asks "so what do YOU want now?" and you go completely blank, this episode is for you. That blank isn't a personality flaw. It's a muscle you stopped using. And today we're building it back. In this episode, Marianne Iverson, certified life coach and empty nest reinvention coach, walks you through four honest, no-fluff points about desire, purpose, and what it actually looks like to want things for yourself again after years of putting everyone else first. You'll learn: Why your desires are your roadmap to your best life, not something to feel guilty aboutWhen you stopped giving yourself permission to want things, and how to get that backMarianne's personal story of almost talking herself out of the very thing she was made for, at almost 50 years old with 25 years of stay-at-home motherhood behind herWhat it looks like to honor a desire without judging it, even when you don't have a plan yetThis episode is for you if you're an empty nester, a soon-to-be empty nester, or a midlife woman asking "who am I now?" and "what do I do next?" You are not too late. You are not behind. You are just early in a new season. And your desires? They are not selfish. They are sacred direction. LINKS MENTIONED: 🌿 START HERE: If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about 90 seconds, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months.👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START? You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll identify one place the empty nest has you feeling lost and give you one small shift you can start today to create your next chapter. Not someday. Now.👉 marianneiverson.com/call Keywords: empty nest, empty nester, midlife women, purpose after kids leave, what do I want after empty nest, empty nest identity, midlife reinvention, life after kids, who am I now, empty nest coach, life coaching for women, midlife purpose, starting over at 50, it's not too late midlife, empty nest transition, rediscovering yourself after kids, desires and purpose, midlife women podcast, reinvention after 50, empty nest reinvention

    23 min

  4. Jun 2

    How to Solve Any Problem

    You've been trying to fix the wrong thing. If you're in the empty nest season and you feel stuck, lost, disconnected from your adult kids, or like you don't even know who you are anymore, you've probably been looking for the answer out there somewhere. A new routine. A new circumstance. Waiting for something to change. But what if every single problem you have, every relationship struggle, every identity question, every bout of loneliness or purposelessness, is actually the same kind of problem underneath? And what if there was one tool that worked on all of them? In this episode, I'm teaching you the five-part model I use in every single coaching session. It was developed by Brooke Castillo of The Life Coach School and taught to me by my mentor Jody Moore, and it is the most powerful tool I know for empty nest reinvention, midlife identity shifts, and getting unstuck at any stage of this transition. Here's what you'll learn: How to separate facts from the stories your brain adds on top of them, and why that one skill changes everything. Why your lower brain is running your life on default and how to finally see the thoughts that have been quietly creating your reality. The real reason willpower doesn't work long term and what to do instead. Why your feelings are not the enemy, and what happens in your body when you keep pushing them down. How your behaviors and your results are always connected back to one thing: what you're thinking. I also share my own real story of when my youngest daughter moved out, the painful thought I didn't even know I was thinking, and how that one thought was creating a reality I didn't want. Including what it did to my body. The knee story is real and you need to hear it. This episode is for you if you're an empty nester asking "now what?", a mom in her last years before the kids leave wondering how to prepare, or a woman in midlife who is ready to stop circling and actually start building what comes next. All problems are thought problems. And that is the best news you'll hear all week. 🌿 START HERE If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about five minutes, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months.👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START? You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll get clear on what this season is really asking of you and map out your first real step forward. Not someday. Now.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

    30 min
  5. Permission to Want More: One Woman’s Fascinating Story of Waking Up After the Kids Left- Part 2

    May 26

    Permission to Want More: One Woman’s Fascinating Story of Waking Up After the Kids Left- Part 2

    What if the thing standing between you and your next chapter isn't laziness or fear or even not knowing what you want? What if it's just that nobody ever gave you permission to want it? In Part 2 of this conversation with Maureen Mehr, we go deeper. Maureen is the president of the nonprofit Who I Really Am, a singer-songwriter, a grandmother of five, and a woman who spent years learning what it means to stop living small and start showing up fully for herself without walking away from the people she loves most. This is the conversation for the woman who is starting to wonder if faith and ambition can coexist. They can. And Maureen shows you exactly what that looks like. In this episode, we talk about: Why showing up for yourself actually makes you a better mom, not a selfish oneThe moment God nudged her back to herself during a season of real health strugglesHow she shifted from fear to faith when she couldn't see what was aheadWhat the "let them" mindset did for her relationships with her adult kidsWhy co-creating your life with God has been the real secret to everything she's builtHow to keep moving forward when you don't have the how figured out yetWhat Maureen believes is still ahead for her, including a concert at the scale of the Delta CenterThe one thing she wants every empty nest mom to know about beauty and becomingThis episode will leave you feeling seen, less alone, and genuinely excited about what's still possible for you in this season. This is part of the series: How to Stop Living Through Your Kids and Start Living Your Own Life. 🌿 START HEREIf the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about five minutes, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months.👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START?You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll get clear on what this season is really asking of you and map out your first real step forward. Not someday. Now.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

    33 min
  6. Permission to Want More: One Woman's Fascinating Story of Waking Up After the Kids Left- Part 1

    May 19

    Permission to Want More: One Woman's Fascinating Story of Waking Up After the Kids Left- Part 1

    What happens when the kids leave and you realize you've been living everyone else's life but your own? If you're in the empty nest season and you've been sitting with that quiet, uncomfortable question of "who am I now?" -- you are not alone. And you are not too late. In this episode, I sit down with my neighbor and friend Maureen Mehr, president of the nonprofit Who I Really Am, singer-songwriter, and woman who spent decades quietly putting her own life up on a shelf while she raised her family. She didn't even realize she'd done it until the kids were gone and the house got quiet. What finally cracked her open? A phone call from her son. He was moving to Kansas City and taking her grandkids with him. She hung up the phone and fell apart. And then she grabbed her laptop and started figuring out what was next. What followed was a graduate degree, international nonprofit work, a music career, and a life she's finally living on her own terms. In this first part of our conversation, we talk about: What the empty nest transition actually feels like when it hits you out of nowhereHow women slowly disappear into motherhood one small sacrifice at a timeWhy so many of us can't answer the question "what do YOU want?" without referencing our kidsThe stories we tell ourselves that keep us stuck in the supporting role of everyone else's lifeWhat it means to finally get comfortable not having all the answersWhy alignment feels completely different from pushing and forcingThis episode is for the woman who loves her kids fiercely AND suspects there's more for her too. You don't have to choose. That's the whole point. This is part of our series: How to Stop Living Through Your Kids and Start Living Your Own Life. 🌿 START HEREIf the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" -- take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about five minutes, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months.👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START?You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll get clear on what this season is really asking of you and map out your first real step forward. Not someday. Now.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

    30 min

  7. May 12

    Eye-opening Advice about "Firsts and Lasts"

    The last school lunch you packed. The last time you're the first number they call. The last time someone's practice schedule tells you what the week looks like. Those lasts are yours too, and they deserve to be felt. But here's what nobody talks about: after all that busy evaporates and the house goes quiet, a lot of women stand in the middle of it and think something is wrong with them. The fog. The "I don't know who I am outside of this role" feeling. The sense that their best years are behind them. They're not broken. They're in the cocoon. In this episode, you'll get a completely different frame for this season. Not as something ending, but as something beginning. For you. On purpose. Here's what we cover: Why YOUR lasts matter just as much as theirs, and how to start honoring them The caterpillar metaphor that reframes the lost, foggy feeling so many empty nesters carry Why the empty nest isn't fall. It's spring. And what that means for what's coming next for you The pickleball story that is six words of pure permission Three things you can do today to start collecting your own firsts If you're a mom whose kids are grown or almost grown, and you can feel that shift coming but don't know yet who you're becoming, this episode is for you. START HERE If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" — take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about five minutes, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months. 👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START? You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll get clear on what this season is really asking of you and map out your first real step forward. Not someday. Now. 👉 marianneiverson.com/call Keywords: empty nest transition, empty nester identity, life after kids leave home, who am I after my kids leave, empty nest depression, rediscovering yourself after motherhood, midlife reinvention, purpose after 50, life coach for empty nesters, women over 45, next chapter after kids, empty nest emotions, finding yourself again, mom identity loss, life coach for moms

    15 min

  8. May 5

    The Truth About Losing Your Purpose

    The house is quiet… but no one talks about what happens inside of you. You thought you’d feel relief when the kids moved out.More time. More freedom. Maybe even a little excitement. Instead… you feel lost. Like something important disappeared...and you can’t quite name it. In this episode, we’re talking about the part of the empty nest that catches so many women off guard: the loss of purpose after motherhood. Not just missing your kids… but missing the version of you who always knew what mattered that day. If you’ve been Googling things like: “Why do I feel lost after my kids leave?”“Empty nest syndrome and identity loss”“How to find purpose after kids move out”“Who am I now that I’m not needed the same way?”…this episode is for you. We’re getting honest about:✔ Why the emptiness isn’t just about your kids✔ The hidden grief of losing your everyday purpose✔ Why the best moms often feel this the hardest✔ The difference between staying busy and actually feeling fulfilled✔ One simple way to start finding yourself again today This is your Reflect moment.Not to fix it. Not to rush past it.But to finally name what’s really going on...so you can begin to reclaim what’s next. Because nothing has gone wrong with you.You’re not broken.You’re in the space between who you were… and who you’re becoming. And there is a way forward. 💛 If this episode hits home, take the next step:🌿 START HERE If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet question of "Now what?" — take the "Who Am I After the Kids Leave?" quiz. In about five minutes, you'll have more clarity on this season than you've had in months. 👉 marianneiverson.com/quiz 📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START? You've been thinking about this long enough. On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll get clear on what this season is really asking of you and map out your first real step forward. Not someday. Now. 👉 marianneiverson.com/call

    14 min
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About

Your kids are almost gone, or already gone, and nobody told you it would feel like this. Create Your Best Empty Nest is where women figure out who they are now and what comes next. Certified life coach Marianne Iverson helps you move from lost and uncertain to clear, grounded, and genuinely excited about your next chapter.

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