We Can Do It Women

Debra L. Morrison

Reinvention, Wealth & Life After 50 You're over 50. You've given everything to everyone else. Now it's your turn. Every week, host Debra L. Morrison — CFP®, TEDx speaker, Certified Grief Coach, and author of My Husband Died, Now What? A Widow's Guide to Grief Recovery & Smart Financial Decisions — sits down with women who are reinventing careers, building businesses, and navigating widowhood, divorce, and new beginnings. Not just inspiration. Practical tools to actually fund your next chapter. 47 years of real financial expertise. Real women. Real stories. New episode every week.

  1. 23h ago

    The Science of Empowerment with Laura Ballet — The Formula That Creates Change That Actually Lasts

    At 14 she told her mother she'd write a world-changing book. It took decades, a year-long concussion, and a formula born in Olympic gymnastics coaching. Laura Ballet did it anyway. IN THIS EPISODE: J3=E: the Olympic gymnastics formula adapted for everyday women — unpacked simplyThe three fields of energy — negative, positive, neutral — and why neutrality is the superpowerThe five principles: awareness, willingness, accountability, critical thinking, energy"Negative Bob": the 7-year-old who learned to walk negativity out the door — now a champion at 15Subconscious contracts: how to identify the ones keeping you in the same loop"Suspend the doubt": the single most powerful instruction Laura gives every clientHow the concussion became the proving ground for everything she was writingEPISODE SUMMARY:Laura Ballet watched her brother Chris — former USA Olympic gymnastics coach — apply mindset training to elite athletes for decades. She wondered: what if everyday women had access to the same formula? The answer became The Science of Empowerment and a coaching practice built on one central truth: neutrality is where choice lives, and choice is the most powerful seat anyone can occupy. Her five principles — awareness, willingness, accountability, critical thinking, energy — don't just describe change. They create it. When a client walks in believing they're stuck, Laura asks one question: if you had high-level intellectual awareness right now, how would you answer this? They always know. The moment they voice it, the alignment begins. Information becomes knowledge. Knowledge becomes wisdom. Wisdom becomes an empowered life. ABOUT LAURA:Number-one bestselling international author of The Science of Empowerment, speaker, and empowerment coach. 150+ podcast and media appearances. Based in Farmington, Connecticut. CONNECT: https://thescienceofempowerment.com/ | Amazon: The Science of EmpowermentCOMMUNITY: WeCanDoItWomen.com If this episode made you ask what energy you're contributing right now — the formula is already working. Join us at WeCanDoItWomen.com. A 5-star Apple Podcasts review helps more women find this show.

    25 min
  2. Jun 25

    Misti McCloud: NASM-Certified Coach on Rebuilding Strength, Confidence, and Self-Trust After 50

    At 12, a botched surgery shattered every bone in both feet and ended her Olympic skating dream. At 315 pounds in her late 30s, she decided that wasn't her story either. Two weeks before her 52nd birthday, a corporate layoff handed her a door she never would have opened herself. She walked through it. IN THIS EPISODE: The malpractice surgery at 12 that launched a lifetime philosophy: focus on what you can doLosing over 100 pounds as a single mom through tiny, sustainable changes — before GLP-1 injections existedThe layoff at 52, one week of intentional stillness, and the Venn diagram that changed everythingWhy six months of living expenses in savings is the breathing room that makes real choices possibleWhat happens when women reconnect with physical strength — and why it changes everything beyond the bodyThe 69-year-old client: breast cancer, a stroke, two knee replacements, couldn't rise from a toilet unassisted — now a self-described gym rat who lifts a 30-pound sewing machine aloneWhy reinvention starts where staying the same becomes more painful than changingEPISODE SUMMARY: Misti McCloud built her coaching practice around what she knows firsthand. She survived single motherhood in D.C., raised a neurodiverse son, built a corporate career, and lost over 100 pounds through micro-changes made one at a time. When a layoff at 52 pushed her through an unexpected door, she took one intentional week, drew a Venn diagram of her skills, the world's needs, and what she could earn, and found her answer: NASM-certified coaching for women 40 and better. Her philosophy: when women reconnect with physical strength, the transformation is never just physical. It changes how they walk into rooms, set boundaries, and trust themselves. She is the GPS. Her clients do the driving. ABOUT MISTI: NASM-certified personal trainer, nutrition coach, and women's empowerment coach serving women 40 and better. Former corporate professional and single mother who lost over 100 pounds. Speaker and workshop leader for women's groups. CONNECT: trainwithmisti.com COMMUNITY: WeCanDoItWomen.com If this episode fanned an ember, take one step today — then join us at WeCanDoItWomen.com. A 5-star Apple Podcasts review helps more women find this show.

    22 min
  3. Jun 18

    She Spent 8.5 Years Caregiving for a Husband with a Brain Tumor — Then Published 3 Novels in 2 Years

    In his last coherent week, after eight and a half years of a brain tumor that had stolen him one layer at a time, Gerard came back. He told his wife she had been to hell. Then he asked her to promise him two things: love again, and write the novels. She scattered his ashes in Ireland and started writing that same night. IN THIS EPISODE: A fifth-generation Michigan girl who read every library in town — and ended up in the Reagan White HouseHow CEO Frank Popoff found her writing speeches that didn't sound like business speeches — and her career was never the sameMeeting Gerard Cowan in a Dublin pub — the electricity, the Tuesday Club, the tripletsEight and a half years of a right-frontal-lobe astrocytoma: personality changes, financial devastation, seizures, a broken back, and caregiving aloneHow IBM's chief medical officer got them into Sloan Kettering by Wednesday morningGerard's final week — the deathbed promise that unlocked everythingThree novels published in two and a half years. A fourth coming. A life that is finally full.EPISODE SUMMARY:Michelle Morris has always connected with people by telling their stories — at the White House, in journalism, across corporate boardrooms, in crisis communications on three continents. But the decade she spent caregiving for a husband whose brain tumor was slowly dismantling his personality was one she lived mostly alone — too hard to explain, too strange to fit anyone's framework. When Gerard died, he gave her a permission slip she had been waiting for her whole career: write. She came home to Michigan, walked away from her last corporate job, and in two and a half years published three novels. Her characters face what she faced — the question of whether you get back up and what you build next. Her answer, in every book and in this conversation, is yes. ABOUT MICHELLE:Novelist, former Reagan White House staffer, corporate executive, and crisis communications professional. Author of Comes Around, A Quiet Town, Fresh Water, and a forthcoming fourth novel. Based in Michigan. CONNECT: http://michellesmorris.com | Amazon: Michelle S. Morris | Facebook: Michelle S. Morris, Author | Instagram: @michelle.s.morrisCOMMUNITY: WeCanDoItWomen.com If this episode reminded you the story isn't over, come find your people at WeCanDoItWomen.com. A 5-star Apple Podcasts review helps more women find this show.

    33 min
  4. Jun 11

    How to Stop Letting Your Own Mind Be the Handbrake on Your Life | Cindy Koehler, Mind Garage

    She was made redundant on a Friday. By Monday she'd enrolled in naturopathy. She built a 5-site business, sold it in one of South Australia's largest exits, and founded Mind Garage. Now Cindy Koehler brings 40 years and 10,000 coaching hours to this conversation. In This Episode: Cindy's own story: from biomechanics to education to a 5-site business to its sale — and now the coaching practice she was always building towardWhy the beliefs we carry into adulthood were never actually chosen — and the one question that exposes whether they're helping or holding you backThe "handbrake" metaphor: how the business owner's own mindset is the single largest obstacle to business growthIdentity-based resilience coaching: why "who am I becoming?" is a more powerful question than "what should I do?"The three-word exercise: a practice for stepping into your future self right now, without waitingMetacognition — the skill only humans have — and how to use it to separate threat from storyUncomfortable is not the same as unsafe: why the brain defaults to threat and how to override it with choiceHow women rebuild self-trust after years of people-pleasing and meeting everyone else's expectations"Empty the drawer first": the Russian proverb that reframes every major life transitionCindy's upcoming book Manifest You and what it will walk readers throughAbout Cindy Koehler Cindy Koehler is a transformational business and life coach based in Adelaide, South Australia. With 40 years of experience in mindset coaching, 20 years in education, 25 years in business, and a background in NLP, hypnotherapy, mindfulness, and energetic medicine, she is the founder of Mind Garage and the author of the forthcoming Manifest You. She has delivered over 10,000 hours of coaching to elite professionals, business owners, and athletes. She turned 60 last year and says she has never been more excited for what comes next. Connect with Cindy Koehler Website: mindgarage.comUpcoming book: Manifest You (July 2026)Resources WeCanDoItWomen.com/group — join Debra's community

    26 min
  5. Jun 4

    Sex, Sensuality, and How Women Over 70 Reclaim Their Desire and Their Lives

    She was 70 years old, running a solo business without a steady paycheck, supporting a husband in severe decline in a nursing home — a man she had already decided to divorce — and quietly hitting the lowest point of her life. By 73, she was dating men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, writing erotica, taking university classes, and finishing a book called Sex, Sensuality and the Senior Woman. Andrea Feinberg didn't wait for circumstances to improve. She decided she was the one who was going to improve them. In This Episode: The unexpected crisis that preceded Andrea's transformation: planning a divorce, then watching her husband have a life-changing accident and decline in a nursing homeThe four changes she made at 70 that cost nothing and changed everything: university classes, a weekly discussion group, one friend per week, and datingWhat she discovered on a dating website for the over-50s — and why it completely reframed how she thinks about age and desirabilityThe 16 reasons younger men gave her for why they specifically seek out older women (she asked every single one)Why Andrea says there's a generation of men in their 30s, 40s, and even 20s who find older women "wildly attractive and wildly desired"Her 10-step common sense framework for personal transformation — no investment, no unusual skills requiredWriting erotica for the first time at 70+ — and why she's now expanding it toward female satisfaction specificallyThe childhood story that made independence feel like her natural stateAbout Andrea Feinberg Andrea Feinberg is the founder of Coaching Insight and a 40-year veteran of business development, strategic marketing, and entrepreneurial coaching. After a decade on Wall Street and 35 years running her own firm, Andrea made a radical personal pivot at 70 — enrolling in university, dating younger men, and writing her most personal book to date: Sex, Sensuality and the Senior Woman, a 10-step transformation guide for women ready to pursue the life society told them they couldn't have. Connect with Andrea Feinberg Website: marketingthatrocks.comWebsite: bossonthebeach.comResources Sex, Sensuality and the Senior Woman WeCanDoItWomen.com — join Debra's community

    25 min
  6. Apr 2

    Aging Is Not the Problem. Ageism Is. Ashton Applewhite Makes the Case That Changes Everything.

    She found out that two-thirds of divorces are initiated by women — and was stunned. Then she found out that almost everything she believed about aging was equally wrong. That same question — why don't we know this? — made Ashton Applewhite the world's leading voice on ageism. IN THIS EPISODE: Why "old" should be a neutral word — and the shame we attach to it is the problem, not the ageThe U-curve of happiness: people are happiest at life's beginning and end — and whyOnly 2.5% of people over 65 are in nursing homes — and dementia rates keep droppingYale research: your attitudes toward aging affect your health at the cellular levelElder speak — what it is, why everyone hates it, and how to avoid itWhy "aging successfully" is ableist and sets us all up to failThe single greatest predictor of a good old age: not health, not wealth — your social networkThe shoe test for age diversity — and why making one older or younger friend is an anti-ageist actFree resources: Old School Hub, Wednesday office hours, "Aging Is Living" artwork EPISODE SUMMARY: Ashton Applewhite is entirely self-taught. She didn't start writing until her 40s or discover ageism until her mid-50s. Her TED Talk, her manifesto This Chair Rocks, and the Old School Hub she co-founded are the product of a researcher's rigor and a deep suspicion that cultural forces keep women in the dark on purpose. Under capitalism and in a sexist, ageist society, fear of aging is profitable. The facts are not. The facts: the U-curve proves people are happiest at life's beginning and end. Yale psychologist Becca Levy's research shows people with positive views of aging live 7.5 years longer. Loneliness rates are higher in young people than old. And discrimination, not age itself, is the problem. When you learn to see ageism in yourself, a veil lifts — and then you can do something about it. ABOUT ASHTON: Author of This Chair Rocks, TED speaker, co-founder of Old School Hub. Recognized by the United Nations, WHO, PBS Next Avenue, NYT, and NPR as an expert on ageism. CONNECT: thisChairRocks.com | oldschool.info | Wednesday office hours 1:30 ET COMMUNITY: WeCanDoItWomen.com If this episode lifted a veil, go to oldschool.info and join us at WeCanDoItWomen.com. A 5-star Apple Podcasts review helps more women find this show.

    55 min
  7. Mar 26

    Could Your Brain Fog, Sleeplessness, and Emotional Swings Be Perimenopause? A 20-Year Expert Answers.

    She was mid-sentence in a business meeting when her brain froze. It kept happening. She stopped speaking in meetings. She couldn't sleep. She was convinced she had early dementia. A retired gynecologist at a dinner party changed everything: you're in perimenopause, Ellen. That moment became a 20-year mission. IN THIS EPISODE: The brain freeze, insomnia, and emotional chaos nobody warned Ellen about — and what was actually happeningThe three stages: perimenopause (6–10 years of symptoms), menopause (one single day), and post-menopauseThe 2002 WHI study that scared women off hormone therapy — and the 2024 study of 10 million Medicare women that reversed everythingWhy heart disease kills more women than cancer — and how estrogen therapy reduces that riskUTIs and vaginal health after 60: why this becomes a life-threatening issue and how to prevent itHow to find a certified menopause specialist at menopause.org — step by stepWhy only one-third of gynecologists have menopause trainingEllen's free symptom tracker, Menopause Mondays blog, and Fearless Vagina course EPISODE SUMMARY:Ellen didn't plan this career. She hand-wrote a book on her living room floor, her son put it on a Word doc, menopause specialists vetted it, and a Disney ABC imprint bought it after Rachael Ray's producer found it first. Her Menopause Mondays blog has run every Monday for 20 years. Now her Fearless Vagina course delivers five 20-minute modules on everything women need to know — from perimenopause to post-menopause, hormones to heart health. The medical facts she shares are backed by two decades of interviewing the top scientists: the 2024 study of 10 million Medicare women proved that women who stayed on hormones had better outcomes in heart, bone, brain, and cancer protection. The conversation women deserved for decades is here. Ellen has been leading it the whole time. ABOUT ELLEN:Menopause advocate, bestselling author, and creator of Menopause Mondays and the Fearless Vagina course. Featured on CBS Sunday Morning, Today, Rachel Ray, NPR, and Oprah Radio. CONNECT: ellendolgen.com | menopause.org for a specialist near youCOMMUNITY: WeCanDoItWomen.com If this episode gave you something you didn't know you needed, share it with every woman in your life. Then join us at WeCanDoItWomen.com. A 5-star Apple Podcasts review helps more women find this show.

    1 hr
  8. Mar 19

    Major General Tammy Smith: The First Openly Gay US General on Leadership, Values, and Service

    She filled out a coupon in her FFA magazine. The Army wasn't looking for her. They got Major General Tammy Smith anyway — 35 years of service, two stars, and the first openly gay general in United States military history. IN THIS EPISODE: A farm-girl scholarship and the career no one saw coming — from Oakland, Oregon to the Pentagon25 years hiding her identity under threat of dishonorable discharge — not from shame, but to keep a job she lovedThe parachute jump that knocked out her tooth — and taught her to trust her equipmentBuilding roads and bridges in Costa Rica — and finding them still standing 20 years laterThe Admiral Mullen testimony that made her cry and rescind her retirement papersDeploying to Afghanistan while her partner said goodbye like a stranger in a civilian airportWaking up in Bagram on September 20, 2011 when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealedBecoming the first openly gay general in US military history — terrified, and doing it anywayHow LGBTQ veterans can access blanket discharge upgrades and reclaim VA benefits EPISODE SUMMARY: Tammy Smith hid for 25 years — not from shame, but from a policy that allowed commanders to discharge service members administratively, without legal recourse, simply for being identified as gay. She loved the Army too much to leave. When she met Tracy Hepner in 2004, hiding became harder. When Admiral Mullen testified that he couldn't understand asking soldiers to lie about who they were to serve with honor, she wept, rescinded her retirement papers, and stayed. She was in Bagram on the day repeal happened. She came home, married Tracy at the Jefferson Memorial, and two months later became the first openly gay general in US history — with her wife and her father pinning on her stars. ABOUT GENERAL SMITH: Major General Tammy Smith (Ret.) served 35 years in the US Army. She holds a BA in US History, two master's degrees, and a Doctorate of Management in Organizational Leadership. COMMUNITY: WeCanDoItWomen.com If this episode moved you, come carry it forward at WeCanDoItWomen.com. A 5-star Apple Podcasts review takes under a minute and helps more women find this show.

    1h 2m

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Reinvention, Wealth & Life After 50 You're over 50. You've given everything to everyone else. Now it's your turn. Every week, host Debra L. Morrison — CFP®, TEDx speaker, Certified Grief Coach, and author of My Husband Died, Now What? A Widow's Guide to Grief Recovery & Smart Financial Decisions — sits down with women who are reinventing careers, building businesses, and navigating widowhood, divorce, and new beginnings. Not just inspiration. Practical tools to actually fund your next chapter. 47 years of real financial expertise. Real women. Real stories. New episode every week.