Growing Up Late

Jeannie McIntire
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Growing Up Late explores the gap between the impressive lives we build on the outside and who we actually are on the inside. Through honest conversations about betrayal, comebacks, and personal transformation, host Jeannie McIntire shows how the real growth happens when we finally own our role in our own story. A podcast for anyone ready to stop playing small and start living authentically.

  1. 2d ago

    Take Me Off the Mortgage! The Audacity of One More Ask

    My marriage was over. My finances were devastated. My ex was building a new life with someone else. Then he left me a voicemail: "Can you take me off the mortgage?" The nerve of it was one thing. What surprised me more was my own reaction. I immediately started thinking about how I could fix it. That was what I did. At work, I was actually nicknamed "The Ambulance" because I was sent into failing divisions and categories to revive them financially and put them back in order. I solved problems. I found answers. I knew a guy who knew a guy. I could fix anything. Or at least I thought I could. Maybe that was also part of why it took me so long to stop trying to fix my marriage. In this episode of Growing Up Late, I go back to the mortgage call that finally forced me to look at the role I had been playing for years: someone creates the mess, and I clean it up. I also talk about something a woman helping me through my divorce said that changed the way I looked at leaving: some people get divorced on paper and stay married for the rest of their lives. They keep arguing, negotiating, rescuing, fixing, and communicating long after the legal relationship is over. That left me with a much harder question: Was I going to be legally divorced, or actually divorced? In this episode: Why being "The Ambulance" worked brilliantly in business and not so well in marriageThe difference between recklessness and behavior that begins to look calculatedWhy my first instinct was still to solve his mortgage problemThe bottomless pit, and why I finally started shoveling dirt into the graveThe moment I stopped being responsible for fixing one more thingWhy I'm no longer attached to other people's outcomesHow that experience changed the way I support people in crisis todayThe story of the monks, the water and the river, and why it stayed with me I didn't stop helping people. I stopped believing I had to solve their problems. Today I can share what worked for me, offer tools, ask good questions and point out possibilities. But I don't need to have the answer to someone else's life. Sometimes we have to come up against an unfixable problem to stop believing we can fix everything. And sometimes a relationship doesn't really end when the papers are signed. It ends when you stop doing your old job in it. What problem are you still trying to solve that was never yours to solve? Growing Up Late with Jeannie McIntire explores what happens when life forces you to reconsider who you are, how you got here, and what comes next.

  2. Aug 20

    When Being Needed Becomes Self-Abandonment | Alyssa Utecht

    There’s a difference between being generous and abandoning yourself. But when you’ve spent years being the helpful one, the dependable one, the woman everyone needs, that line can get surprisingly hard to see. In this episode of Growing Up Late, I talk with holistic boundaries coach Alyssa Utecht about the energy leaks we create when our yes doesn’t really mean yes — and why sensitive women can become especially good at managing everyone else while slowly losing touch with themselves. One idea really stopped me during our conversation: being needed can be intoxicating. If being helpful makes us feel valued, safe, or like we have a place, we may volunteer, accommodate, and over-give before anyone ever asks us to. No one has to cross our boundaries because sometimes we’re crossing our own. Alyssa and I talk about: The difference between generosity and self-abandonmentWhy sensitive women can become chronic over-giversHow people-pleasing can begin as an attempt to feel safeWhy being needed can become part of our identityThe connection between boundaries and the nervous systemWhy saying no can trigger a very real physical responseHow fear of the unknown can keep us in relationships, jobs and situations that no longer fitWhat happens to relationships when we begin changing internallyWhy boundaries can be felt before they’re ever heardHow to recognize when your yes is actually a hidden noWhat to do with the panic that can come after setting a boundaryWhy small moments of joy can help bring us back to ourselvesWhat it means to keep growing up long after we’re supposedly grown Alyssa also shares a simple practice for slowing down before automatically saying yes, and another for calming yourself after setting a boundary when your nervous system is telling you that saying no wasn’t safe. And for the woman who feels exhausted, resentful, numb, or wonders where she went while taking care of everyone else, Alyssa offers a beautifully simple place to begin: find one tiny thing that brings you joy and start there. ABOUT ALYSSA UTECHT Alyssa Utecht is a holistic boundaries coach who helps sensitive women heal what’s been draining them, move beyond people-pleasing, and reclaim their time, energy and sense of self. She is also working on a book with the working title Boundaries Are an Inside Job. CONNECT WITH ALYSSA Free Gift: Seven Simple Ways to Soothe Your System and Shift Your Mood https://bit.ly/SootheYourSystem Website: https://www.alyssautecht.com Substack: https://alyssautecht.substack.com/ ABOUT GROWING UP LATE Growing Up Late is about what happens when the life you thought you were building changes and you have to figure out who you are now. Host Jeannie McIntire explores reinvention, identity, resilience, money, relationships, and what it means to keep growing long after we're supposedly grown.

  3. Aug 13

    Your Life Has Drafts | Reinvention, Identity & Starting Over

    A lot can change in a year. A lot can change in a life. Jeannie McIntire lost her father at five years old. A year later, she watched a man walk on the moon. Decades later, she would discover just how many different lives can fit inside one lifetime. In this episode of Growing Up Late, Jeannie explores what happens when we stop treating our current identity as the final version of who we are. A career can end. A marriage can end. A plan can fall apart. But that does not mean the life you built was a mistake, or that the skills, wisdom, and experience you gained belong only to the chapter where you learned them. Why This MattersWhen a major chapter ends, it can feel as if we have lost the person we were supposed to be. But what if the earlier version of your life was not wrong? What if it was simply a draft? Growing up may have less to do with finally becoming the finished version of yourself and more to do with becoming an increasingly conscious author of what comes next. Key TakeawayYour past does not have to be discarded when your life changes. The abilities, relationships, lessons and hard-earned knowledge from one chapter can become the raw material for the next. Sometimes the skill you dismiss as something you just do may be one of your greatest gifts. And sometimes the only way to discover the next version is to stop revising, put down the paintbrush and actually begin. In This EpisodeWhy we can mistake one chapter of life for the whole bookThe moment Jeannie realized leaving her Fortune 500 career meant leaving an identity behindWhy loving an earlier version of your life does not mean you have to keep living itThe difference between understanding how you landed in the ditch and staying thereHow career skills can transfer into completely unexpected workWhy where you learned a skill is not necessarily what that skill is forThe surprisingly dismissive power of the word justHow a hobby or natural ability can contain the beginnings of a new chapterWhy endless preparation can keep an idea trapped in draft formWhat launching Growing Up Late taught Jeannie that planning never could Dive DeeperJeannie spent years believing her professional path would follow a straight line: choose a field, become excellent at it, rise through the ranks and eventually retire. Instead, leaving that career opened a much more expansive life. The leadership, financial judgment, marketing, public relations, attention to detail and ability to connect people that she developed professionally did not disappear when she turned in her badge. Her career was simply where she happened to learn them. That raises a different question: What do you already know how to do that you have dismissed as just part of your job, just a hobby or just something that comes naturally to you? Those skills may belong somewhere you have not imagined yet. A Question to ConsiderWhat are you calling just something you do? Organizing people. Making something beautiful. Solving problems. Running a household. Bringing the right people together. Creating order out of chaos. The fact that something feels natural to you does not make it insignificant. FAQHow do you reinvent yourself after a major life change?Start by recognizing that you are not beginning with nothing. Your previous chapters gave you skills, perspective, relationships and information that can be applied in new ways. Reinvention is often less about becoming someone completely different and more about discovering new uses for what you already know. How do you know when it is time to move on from an old identity?Sometimes something that once fit begins to feel uncomfortable. That does not mean the earlier version was false or a failure. It may simply mean that growth is asking for another iteration. What if I don't know what comes next?You may not be able to think your way into the answer. Taking a small action gives you new information. Jeannie discovered this while launching Growing Up Late: publishing something imperfect gave her more clarity than another round of planning could. Is starting over really starting from scratch?No. The setting may change, but the experience comes with you. The skills you developed in one career, relationship, community or season of life may become unexpectedly valuable in another. About Growing Up LateGrowing Up Late is a podcast about rebuilding, reinvention and becoming more fully yourself at any age. Jeannie McIntire explores what happens when the life you expected changes — and how we can use everything we have learned to create what comes next. If this episode resonated with you, follow Growing Up Late, share it with someone who may need it, and come back next week. Because we're just getting started.

  4. Aug 6

    Life After the Unthinkable: When the Life You Planned Is No Longer Possible

    What happens when the life you planned disappears, and grief leaves you responsible for decisions you never expected to make alone? Catherine “Cathy” Bass had more than 25 years of tax and financial experience when her husband died unexpectedly in a drowning accident. Professionally, she knew how to handle paperwork, deadlines, and financial obligations. Personally, nothing could have prepared her for the brain fog, identity loss, loneliness, and delayed grief that followed. In this episode of Growing Up Late, Cathy shares how she continued raising her children and running her business while postponing her own grief for nearly five years. She explains how grief can affect memory and decision-making, why widows are especially vulnerable to financial pressure and scams, and what she learned about rebuilding a life that no longer included the future she and her husband had planned together. This is not simply a conversation about taxes after the death of a spouse. It is an honest and ultimately hopeful discussion about grief, identity, financial confidence, and learning to live again after an unimaginable loss. In This EpisodeWhy Cathy postponed her grief while caring for her children and running her businessHow childhood messages about loss influenced the way she responded to her husband’s deathWhat grief-related brain fog can look like months or even years laterThe administrative burden widows face alongside emotional lossWhy every woman should understand how her household finances and bills are managedHow widows can become vulnerable to financial pressure, scams, and rushed decisionsWhy grief does not follow a fixed timelineThe loss of identity that can come with moving from “we” to “me”How Cathy rediscovered music, writing, and possibilities she had stopped imaginingWhy remembering someone is not the same as refusing to move forwardHow isolation and the loss of a social network can deepen widowhoodCathy’s growing mission to advocate for widows and help them feel supportedThe importance of pausing before making major financial decisions after a loss A Practical First StepWhen grief makes paperwork and financial decisions feel impossible, Cathy recommends slowing down, taking a breath, and handling only what truly must be addressed immediately. Not every decision has to be made on someone else’s timeline. Reliable guidance, a clear checklist, and one trustworthy person in your corner can help restore a sense of control. About Catherine BassCatherine “Cathy” Bass is a tax professional with more than 25 years of experience helping individuals and small businesses navigate taxes and financial obligations. After becoming a widow herself, she began using both her professional knowledge and lived experience to support grieving women facing taxes, paperwork, deadlines, and difficult financial decisions. Her work is rooted in a simple goal: helping widows feel less overwhelmed, less isolated, and more confident as they begin rebuilding their lives. ResourcesConnect With Catherine "Cathy" Bass Essential document checklist for widows: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaZ8gGSST1JElSdSNWMlx-V3xWEvb0mMOiUOrM_DxPYf0zJw/viewform LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-bass-ea-ctrs/ Bass Tax Relief and Bass Tax Service: https://www.basstaxservice.com/index.htm About Growing Up LateGrowing Up Late explores reinvention, resilience, identity, and the lifelong process of becoming. Host Jeannie McIntire speaks with people who have faced the unexpected, questioned their lives, and discovered that growth can happen at any age. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and follow Growing Up Late for more conversations about starting over, moving forward, and becoming who you are now.

  5. Jul 30

    Divorce Is an Opportunity: Trust, Growth, and Co-Parenting with Marisa Belger

    Episode SummaryWhat if divorce wasn’t just something to survive, but an opportunity to grow? Divorce is often described as one of life’s most painful experiences. But what if it could also become one of its greatest teachers? In this episode of Growing Up Late, I sit down with divorce and co-parenting coach Marisa Belger for a thoughtful conversation about navigating one of life’s hardest transitions with intention rather than fear. Instead of focusing on blame, conflict, or simply getting through it, Marisa shares a perspective centered on trust, personal growth, emotional healing, and creating healthier futures for both parents and children. Whether you’re navigating divorce yourself, supporting someone who is, or simply facing a season when life no longer looks the way you expected, this conversation offers wisdom about moving forward with courage and compassion. Why It MattersDivorce changes far more than legal status. It challenges identity, trust, family dynamics, and our vision for the future. Marisa believes that while we don’t choose every difficult circumstance, we do have a choice in how we respond. Growth begins when we stop asking, Why is this happening to me? and begin asking, What is this experience inviting me to become? In This EpisodeWhy Marisa believes divorce can become an opportunity for growthLearning to trust yourself when life doesn’t go according to planHow divorce affects identity and the stories we tell ourselvesWhy healing yourself benefits both you and your childrenRethinking co-parenting through the lens of trust and compassionFinding hope and possibility in life’s most difficult transitions A Favorite MomentOne of the most powerful ideas from this conversation is that healing isn’t about controlling every outcome. It’s about learning to trust yourself enough to keep taking the next right step. About Marisa BelgerMarisa Belger is a coach and mentor who helps mothers navigate the emotional terrain of divorce and co-parenting. Drawing from both her own experience and years of guiding women through family transitions, she helps mothers find steadiness, self-trust, and a path forward. Alongside her coaching work, Marisa spent 25 years writing about motherhood, including co-authoring the bestselling The First Forty Days. In this episode, Marisa shares the framework she uses with clients moving from divorce into co-parenting, including why friendship with an ex is never guaranteed and how fear, more than circumstance, is often what keeps women stuck in versions of themselves they’ve outgrown. Connect with Marisa Belger About Growing Up LateGrowing Up Late is a podcast about reinvention, resilience, identity, and the lifelong process of becoming. Hosted by Jeannie McIntire, each episode explores what happens after life doesn’t go according to plan and how our greatest setbacks often become the beginning of our greatest growth. Whether you’re rebuilding after divorce, career loss, financial hardship, grief, or simply realizing your life no longer fits, this show is a reminder that it is never too late to become the author of what comes next. ConnectIf this episode resonated with you, please: Follow Growing Up LateLeave a reviewShare this episode with someone navigating a major life transition Jeannie McIntire Your support helps more people discover conversations that encourage hope, courage, and reinvention.

  6. Jul 23

    The Watcher: The Voice in Your Head Isn't Always You

    What if the voice in your head isn't actually you?Most of us assume the voice narrating our lives is who we are. We replay old conversations, believe inherited stories, mistake certainty for truth, and give every thought equal authority. But what if the narrator in your mind isn't always telling the truth? In this episode of Growing Up Late, Jeannie shares the deeply personal experiences that taught her to question the voice in her head instead of automatically believing it. Through stories of divorce, rebuilding after loss, buying a home, and finally launching this podcast, she explores the relationship between the narrator, the watcher, and the author, and why becoming the watcher changed everything. Why it mattersThe stories we tell ourselves shape the decisions we make. When we learn to notice our thoughts instead of automatically obeying them, we create space to choose differently and begin writing a different future. Key TakeawaysWhy certainty isn't evidenceThe difference between the narrator, the watcher, and the authorHow inherited beliefs quietly shape our decisionsWhy you don't have to believe every thought you thinkWhat it means to become the watcherHow awareness helps you reclaim your story In this episodeThe Men in Black quote that changed Jeannie's perspective on certaintyA marriage story that completely reframed what truth meansThe inherited belief that resurfaced years after successBuying a home despite overwhelming fearLaunching a podcast despite self-doubtWhy the narrator isn't always the author About Growing Up LateGrowing Up Late is a podcast about reinvention, resilience, identity, and the lifelong process of becoming. Through candid conversations and deeply personal storytelling, Jeannie McIntire explores what it means to rebuild after divorce, career change, grief, financial loss, or the realization that life no longer fits. Each episode helps listeners see what is true, decide what comes next, and become the author of their own story. Because it's never too late to become yourself.

  7. Jul 16

    The Divorce Your Children Will Thank You For | Child-Centered Divorce with Rosalind Sedacca

    Divorce changes a family—but it doesn't have to define a child's future. In this episode of Growing Up Late, Jeannie McIntire sits down with internationally recognized divorce and co-parenting coach Rosalind Sedacca to explore what children truly need when their parents separate, and how adults can navigate divorce with greater wisdom, compassion, and emotional maturity. Drawing on her experience as a divorced mother, Rosalind shares a conversation with her adult son that changed the direction of her life and inspired her mission to help parents put children first. Why This Matters Divorce is one of the most significant life transitions a family can experience. While parents often focus on legal decisions, finances, and the emotional pain of ending a marriage, children are quietly learning about relationships, conflict, trust, and love from everything they see and hear. The way parents navigate divorce can influence their children's emotional well-being for decades. This conversation offers practical guidance and hope for anyone who wants to protect their children while rebuilding their own life. Key Takeaway Parents cannot always prevent the pain of divorce, but they can dramatically reduce its emotional impact on their children. Child-centered divorce means protecting children from adult conflict, refusing to make them choose sides, encouraging healthy relationships with both parents whenever it is safe, and responding with emotional maturity rather than resentment. The goal isn't a perfect divorce; it's raising emotionally healthy children despite difficult circumstances. What You'll Learn What child-centered divorce really meansWhy Rosalind dedicated her career to helping divorced familiesThe conversation with her adult son that transformed her life's workWhy children should never be asked to choose sidesThe hidden damage of making children emotional caretakersWhat children truly need during divorceWhy some children experience relief after divorcePractical co-parenting strategies that reduce conflictHow personal accountability changes familiesFinding unexpected gifts in life's hardest transitions Dive Deeper After years of trying to save her marriage, Rosalind Sedacca made the difficult decision to divorce when she realized the conflict at home was already affecting her young son. Years later, an unexpected conversation with that son, who thanked both his parents for how they handled their divorce, became the catalyst for a new career helping families around the world. Together, Jeannie and Rosalind discuss how divorce can become either a source of lifelong wounds or an opportunity for healing, depending on how parents choose to respond. Their conversation explores emotional maturity, parentification, loyalty conflicts, co-parenting, accountability, and the lifelong impact of prioritizing children's emotional needs over adult grievances. While divorce is never easy, this episode offers a hopeful perspective: families can emerge healthier when parents choose growth over blame and healing over resentment. About Our Guest Rosalind Sedacca is an internationally recognized Divorce & Co-Parenting Coach, founder of the Child-Centered Divorce Network, author of How Do I Tell the Kids About the Divorce?, and host of the Divorce, Dating & Empowered Living podcast. Through coaching, books, courses, and other educational resources, she helps parents navigate divorce while protecting their children's emotional well-being. Resources 🌐 childcentereddivorce.com 📘 How Do I Tell the Kids About the Divorce? 🎁 Free Resource: Post-Divorce Parenting Success Strategies Frequently Asked Questions What is child-centered divorce? Child-centered divorce focuses on protecting children's emotional well-being by reducing conflict, encouraging respectful co-parenting, and supporting healthy relationships with both parents whenever possible. How can parents protect children during divorce? Parents can reduce emotional harm by avoiding conflict in front of children, not asking them to choose sides, keeping adult issues between adults, and creating consistency across both households. Can children recover from divorce? Yes. Research and experience show that children often adapt well when parents reduce conflict, communicate respectfully, and create emotionally safe environments. Who is Rosalind Sedacca? Rosalind Sedacca is a divorce and co-parenting coach, founder of the Child-Centered Divorce Network, author, speaker, and podcast host who helps parents create healthier outcomes for children before, during, and after divorce. Subscribe to Growing Up Late for honest conversations about reinvention, resilience, identity, relationships, midlife change, starting over, and becoming who you are meant to be.

  8. Jul 9

    Say What You Need to Say

    The difference between sacred silence and self-abandonment. How many times have you rehearsed something in your head—not because you did not know what you wanted to say, but because you were trying to say it in a way that would not make anyone uncomfortable? In this solo episode of Growing Up Late, Jeannie McIntire explores what it means to say what needs to be said—not as a way to control the outcome, but as an act of integrity and self-trust. Some silence is wise. Some silence is loving. Some silence keeps us from using our pain as a weapon. But some silence is fear dressed up as politeness. And that kind of silence can slowly teach us to shrink. Jeannie shares the line from her mother that stayed with her for decades: “You’re a long time silent. Say what you need to say now.” From long-distance phone calls to relationships, leadership moments, nonprofit work, and the small ways we edit ourselves to stay acceptable, this episode asks a deeper question: Can I live with myself if I never say this? Why it mattersMany women are taught from a young age to keep the peace, soften the truth, manage reactions, and avoid making anyone uncomfortable. But keeping the peace and abandoning yourself are not the same thing. In this episode, Jeannie reflects on the false promise that if we find the perfect words, we can control the outcome. But speaking truth does not guarantee agreement, approval, or understanding. The marriage can still end. The other person can still get angry. The vote can still go the other way. Still, saying what needs to be said can rebuild something essential: self-trust. Key takeawaySpeaking truth is not outcome control. The goal is not always to win, persuade, or get your way. The goal is integrity. As Jeannie says in the episode: “I can live with things not going my way. I can’t live with self-betrayal.”And: “I will never leave myself alone in the room again. I won’t be the first person out the door on me.”In this episodeJeannie explores: The difference between sacred silence and self-abandonmentWhy rehearsing the “perfect words” is often about managing someone else’s reactionHow silence can either steady us or shrink usThe small ways we edit ourselves to keep other people comfortableWhy speaking up may not change the outcome, but it can change your relationship with yourselfHow self-trust grows when we stop abandoning our own voice Listen if you have been carrying…A truth. A boundary. A request. An apology. A goodbye. A sentence you keep rehearsing because some part of you knows it still needs to be said. You may not be able to control what happens after the words leave your mouth. But you can decide whether keeping yourself quiet to remain acceptable to others is still a price you are willing to pay. You are a long time silent. Say what you need to say. If this resonated with youIf this episode made you think of someone who has been rehearsing the thing they need to say, send it to them. And if Growing Up Late is speaking to where you are in your own life, follow or subscribe wherever you listen so you do not miss future episodes. Growing Up Late is a podcast about reinvention, resilience, and the lifelong process of becoming.

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About

Growing Up Late explores the gap between the impressive lives we build on the outside and who we actually are on the inside. Through honest conversations about betrayal, comebacks, and personal transformation, host Jeannie McIntire shows how the real growth happens when we finally own our role in our own story. A podcast for anyone ready to stop playing small and start living authentically.

Information

  • Creator
    Jeannie McIntire
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Jeannie McIntire
  • Show Website
    Growing Up Late