Message in the Middle: Midlife Women, Reinvention & Personal Growth

Marianne DeMello-Smith
  • 5.0 (34)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Message in the Middle is a podcast for women navigating the challenges, transitions, and reinventions that often come with midlife.  Hosted by Marianne DeMello-Smith, each episode explores the messy, meaningful moments that shape who we become. Through honest conversations with experts, authors, thought leaders, and everyday women, you'll discover practical insights, inspiring stories, and new perspectives on what it means to grow through life's most difficult seasons. Whether you're facing a career change, caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, grief, relationship shifts, menopause, identity changes, or simply wondering what's next, Message in the Middle offers encouragement, wisdom, and real-world strategies to help you move forward with greater confidence and purpose. Together, we'll explore resilience, personal growth, self-discovery, emotional well-being, and the power of turning life's messes into meaningful midlife messages. Because midlife isn't the end of your story. It may just be the beginning of your next chapter.

  1. 2d ago

    What Remains When Memory Fades? Alzheimer's, Caregiving, and the Legacy of Storytelling

    What happens when the person who once cared for you begins to need your care? For many people in midlife, one of the most unexpected transitions isn't retirement, an empty nest, or a career change. It's becoming the caregiver for an aging parent. In this deeply moving episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with psychologist, memoirist, and poet Sarah Vosburgh to discuss her memoir, Who Will Name the Bees?, a powerful reflection on her mother's journey through Alzheimer's disease and her own experience navigating the emotional realities of caregiving. Together they explore: • The moment a daughter becomes a caregiver • The complicated emotions of loving someone through Alzheimer's • Guilt, grief, and the weight of making difficult decisions • The role reversal that happens when parents begin to depend on their children • What remains when memory begins to fade • The invisible emotional labor caregivers carry • How writing became part of Sarah's healing journey • Resilience, family dynamics, and finding meaning through loss Through lyrical storytelling and honest reflection, Sarah offers a compassionate look at one of life's most challenging experiences while reminding us that connection, love, and identity often endure long after memories begin to disappear. Whether you're caring for an aging parent, grieving a loved one, navigating dementia or Alzheimer's, or simply trying to make sense of a changing family relationship, this conversation will leave you feeling seen, understood, and a little less alone. Connect with Sarah Vosburgh: Website: https://www.SarahVosburgh.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/SarahVosburghAuthorInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/scvosburghX: http://x.com/SCVosburghTikTok: http://tiktok.com/SarahVosburghAuthorAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/sarahvosburgh Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    What Remains When Memory Fades? Alzheimer's, Caregiving, and the Legacy of Storytelling

  2. Aug 8

    Beyond This Lifetime: Past Lives, Healing & Soul Patterns

    Some questions don't have easy answers. Have you ever experienced an unexplained fear that didn't seem connected to anything in your life? Felt an immediate connection with someone you had just met? Or found yourself repeating the same emotional patterns despite years of self-reflection and personal growth? In this follow-up conversation, Marianne welcomes licensed somatic psychotherapist and certified spiritual integration hypnotherapist Melanie Smithson back to Message in the Middle to explore a topic that invites curiosity more than certainty: past-life regression and the possibility that some of our present-day struggles may have roots beyond this lifetime. Whether you approach this conversation through a spiritual lens, a symbolic one, or with healthy skepticism, Melanie offers thoughtful insights into why some experiences seem resistant to traditional explanations and how exploring them can sometimes open the door to deeper healing. Together, they discuss:  What past-life regression actually is  Why some fears and emotional patterns seem to have no obvious origin  Soul connections and why certain relationships feel instantly familiar  How the body and spirit may work together in healing  The role curiosity plays in personal growth  Why some of life's biggest questions don't always have simple answers This isn't an episode about convincing you what to believe. It's an invitation to stay curious. Connect with Melanie:  http://www.smithsonclinic.com/ Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    Beyond This Lifetime: Past Lives, Healing & Soul Patterns

  3. Aug 1

    Why Do I Keep Reacting Like This? Understanding the Hidden Stories Behind Your Triggers

    Why do we keep reacting in ways we don't fully understand? Why do certain situations seem to hit harder than they should? And why can we have years of insight into our patterns and still feel stuck repeating them? In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Karen Rubinstein, speaker, author, and creator of The RETURN Way™, to explore the hidden fears and stories that often drive our reactions, relationships, and behaviors. Drawing from her own journey through alcoholism, recovery, trauma healing, and personal transformation, Karen shares how she discovered that most of what we call stress isn't actually about the moment we're living through. It's about the meaning our nervous system attached to experiences long ago. Together, Marianne and Karen discuss: • Why insight alone doesn't always create change • The difference between self-awareness and self-judgment • How shame keeps us stuck in familiar patterns • What survival mode can look like in high-functioning women • Why emotional intelligence is more practical than most people realize • The shift from self-improvement to self-alignment • How naming our fears begins to loosen their grip If you've ever wondered why certain emotional triggers keep showing up, why healing feels harder than simply trying harder, or why you still struggle with patterns you thought you'd outgrown, this conversation offers both understanding and hope. Because real transformation doesn't begin with becoming someone new. It begins with understanding who you've been all along. Connect with Karen:  https://www.karenrubinstein.comhttps://substack.com/@karenrubinsteinoutloudhttps://www.karenrubinstein.com/the-return-way Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    Why Do I Keep Reacting Like This? Understanding the Hidden Stories Behind Your Triggers

  4. Jul 25

    The Cost of Speaking Up: Lisa Cornwell on Truth, Self-Awareness, and Finding Peace After Conflict

    What happens after you speak up? In this deeply thoughtful conversation, Marianne sits down with broadcaster, author, and keynote speaker Lisa Cornwell to explore truth, conflict, accountability, emotional healing, and the complicated aftermath that can follow when someone chooses to speak openly. Following her memoir Troublemaker: A Memoir of Sexism, Retaliation, & the Fight They Didn’t See Coming and a Washington Post investigation into systemic issues in sports media, Lisa became a central figure in a national conversation about workplace culture and retaliation. But what makes this conversation so compelling is not just what happened publicly. It’s what happened internally afterward. Together, Marianne and Lisa explore the difference between being right and being effective, the emotional exhaustion of constantly defending yourself, the survival skills high-achieving women often have to unlearn, and the life-changing power of self-awareness. They also discuss emotional regulation, communication with intention, healing after conflict, making peace with being misunderstood, and what it means to stop living in a constant state of defense. This episode is thoughtful, emotionally honest, nuanced, and incredibly relevant to the cultural moment we’re living in. If you’ve ever struggled with speaking up, questioned whether the fallout was worth it, or found yourself trying to rebuild peace after difficult experiences changed you, this conversation will resonate deeply. Connect with Lisa: https://www.lisacornwell.com Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    The Cost of Speaking Up: Lisa Cornwell on Truth, Self-Awareness, and Finding Peace After Conflict

  5. Jul 18

    One Cup of Coffee Changed Everything: Jody Zarn on Homelessness, Empathy, and the Power of Truly Seeing People

    What happens when we slow down long enough to truly see another human being? In this deeply thoughtful episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Jody Zarn, an author, corporate trainer, and TEDx speaker whose life changed after buying a cup of coffee for a man named Leroy who was experiencing homelessness. What began as one small act of kindness became a life-changing friendship that challenged everything Jody thought she understood about trauma, mental illness, dignity, and human connection. As she slowly earned Leroy’s trust, she discovered a man whose story, intelligence, pain, and humanity were far more layered than the labels people placed on him. Together, Marianne and Jody explore the emotional tension between helping and rescuing, the invisible ways trauma shapes us all, and why so many people today are quietly carrying the ache of feeling unseen. This conversation is emotional, nuanced, hopeful, and a reminder that every human being has a story beneath the surface. Connect with Jody:   https://www.jodyzarn.comhttps://mybook.to/JodyZarn Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    One Cup of Coffee Changed Everything: Jody Zarn on Homelessness, Empathy, and the Power of Truly Seeing People

  6. Jul 11

    Retirement, Reinvention, and the Search for Purpose with George Jerjian

    Retirement is something many of us prepare for financially, but few of us prepare for emotionally. What happens when the career that shaped your identity, routines, and sense of purpose suddenly disappears? And how do you rediscover yourself when the role you carried for decades is no longer there? In this episode, Marianne sits down with George Jerjian, an Emmy Award-winning producer, author, and retirement mindset mentor who helps people navigate the emotional and psychological side of retirement and reinvention. After a life-threatening diagnosis at 52 forced him to confront the fragility of life and the possibility of stepping away from his career, George began exploring the deeper identity shifts that often come with retirement. Together, they talk about grief, purpose, aging, societal expectations, and the outdated beliefs that can keep people stuck in later life. George also shares insights from studying more than 21,000 retirees around the world and explains why retirement is not about slowing down, but about creating meaning, clarity, and possibility in a new season of life. If you’ve been questioning what comes next, feeling the pull toward reinvention, or wondering who you are beyond productivity and achievement, this conversation will resonate deeply. Connect with George: Website LinkedIn Instagram YouTube Facebook X Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    Retirement, Reinvention, and the Search for Purpose with George Jerjian

  7. Jul 4

    Why Your Gut Isn’t Healing (And the Truth About Parasite Cleanses)

    There’s no shortage of advice when it comes to gut health right now. Parasite cleanses. Heavy metal detoxes. Protocols that promise to fix everything in a matter of weeks. And if you’ve been dealing with bloating, fatigue, constipation, or symptoms that never quite resolve, it makes sense why those promises are so appealing. But what if some of the things you’re doing to heal are actually putting more stress on your body instead of helping it? In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Dr. Kate Davis, a licensed chiropractor and Functional Medicine doctor whose own decade-long struggle with chronic gut issues led to the discovery of a significant parasite infection that had been missed for years. Together, they unpack what’s really happening beneath the surface when gut healing doesn’t work, why jumping into detox protocols too quickly can backfire, and how to approach healing in a way that actually supports the body. This conversation is honest, eye-opening, and deeply validating for anyone who feels like they’ve already tried everything and still isn’t getting results. In this episode, we cover:  Why parasite cleanses and detox trends can sometimes do more harm than good  What’s actually happening in the body during strong “detox reactions”  The biggest gut health myths circulating right now  Why gut healing often fails, even when you’re doing all the “right” things  What “expensive pee” really means and why absorption matters  The correct order of healing and why skipping steps can keep you stuck  How gut health connects to stress, trauma, and the nervous system  Where to start if you feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or out of options If you’ve ever felt like your body isn’t responding the way it should, this episode will help you understand why and remind you that you’re not as stuck as you think. Connect with Dr. Davis:   Website Instagram  DM me the number ‘100’ on Instagram (@drkatedavis) and I’ll give you $100 off an initial consult + labs package YouTube  Podcast (Unconventional Medicine) Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    Why Your Gut Isn’t Healing (And the Truth About Parasite Cleanses)

  8. Jun 27

    You Built the Life. So Why Does It Feel Like You've Outgrown It?

    There comes a point in midlife that can feel both confusing and surprisingly unsettling. You've built a life. A career. A reputation. Maybe a family. You've worked hard, made sacrifices, and checked many of the boxes you once thought would lead to happiness and fulfillment. And then one day you find yourself wondering: Why doesn't this fit the way it used to? Not because you've failed. Not because your life is falling apart. But because you've grown. In this episode, Marianne sits down with Crystal Bell to explore what happens when the version of success you've been pursuing no longer feels fully aligned with who you've become. Crystal shares her journey from growing up in a low-income, unstable environment to becoming a technology executive, entrepreneur, coach, and wellness studio owner. Along the way, she discovered how perfectionism and overachievement helped her succeed while also creating pressure, exhaustion, and the feeling that more was always required. Together, they explore why so many accomplished women find themselves questioning what comes next in midlife, how to tell the difference between being busy and making progress, and what it means to create a life that reflects who you are now, not who you had to be to survive. In this episode, we discuss: • The hidden costs of perfectionism and overachievement  • Why success and alignment aren't always the same thing  • How to recognize when you've outgrown old definitions of achievement  • The difference between motion and meaningful progress  • Rebuilding trust in yourself after years of overthinking  • Finding clarity during seasons of transition and reinvention  • What it means to grow into the next version of yourself Connect with Crystal:   Clarity-with-crystal.comLI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarity-with-crystalIG: @Clarity.With.CrystalYT: https://youtube.com/@clarity-with-crystal?si=4noHYQLjQjdPSLGQ Connect with Marianne: Website:  Message In The Middle with MarianneMessage In the Middle Facebook Group:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlistsLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966Email:  Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne Subscribe to Message In the Middle: Apple PodcastsSpotifyYouTubeLeave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content. Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...

    You Built the Life. So Why Does It Feel Like You've Outgrown It?
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About

Message in the Middle is a podcast for women navigating the challenges, transitions, and reinventions that often come with midlife.  Hosted by Marianne DeMello-Smith, each episode explores the messy, meaningful moments that shape who we become. Through honest conversations with experts, authors, thought leaders, and everyday women, you'll discover practical insights, inspiring stories, and new perspectives on what it means to grow through life's most difficult seasons. Whether you're facing a career change, caregiving responsibilities, health challenges, grief, relationship shifts, menopause, identity changes, or simply wondering what's next, Message in the Middle offers encouragement, wisdom, and real-world strategies to help you move forward with greater confidence and purpose. Together, we'll explore resilience, personal growth, self-discovery, emotional well-being, and the power of turning life's messes into meaningful midlife messages. Because midlife isn't the end of your story. It may just be the beginning of your next chapter.

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