Message In The Middle
Finding Meaningful Messages in Midlife -
Let's Navigate, Grow, and Thrive Together
Recent Episodes
220
July 24, 2026
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 cen...
219
July 17, 2026
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 h...
218
July 10, 2026
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 retire
217
July 3, 2026
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, Mariann...
216
June 26, 2026
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 C...
215
June 19, 2026
Alli O'Malley on the Hidden Face of Abuse and the Truth About Recovery
Sometimes the hardest experiences to recognize are the ones we are living through. Many women think intimate partner violence only looks one way. They picture obvious warning signs, visible injuries, or situations that seem dramatically different from their own. But what happens when the harm is subtle? When it shows up as constant self-doubt, walking on eggshells, losing trust in your own instincts, or slowly becoming someone you no longer recognize? In this powerful conversation, Marianne s...
214
June 12, 2026
From Broken to the Big Stage: Scott Scovill on Fear of Failure and Reinvention
What if the thing standing between you and the life you still want isn’t talent, timing, or confidence—but tenacity? In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with entrepreneur, creative director, and author Scott Scovill to explore what it really takes to keep going when fear, failure, and self-doubt tell you to stop. Scott’s story doesn’t follow a traditional path. He went from a struggling student who felt “broken” and paralyzed by fear of failure to building one of the m
213
June 5, 2026
The Identity Gap: Who You Were vs. Who You’re Becoming with Dr. Sarah Andreas
There’s a moment in midlife that many women recognize, even if they’ve never had the language for it. You’re no longer who you used to be… but you’re not fully who you’re becoming either. In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Dr. Sarah Andreas, artist, educator, and author of Step Into the Ether, to explore what she calls the identity gap. That in-between space where old identities begin to fall away and something new is quietly forming. Together, they unpack: &nbs...
212
May 29, 2026
You Don’t Have to Change Everything to Change Your Life | Michele Kehrer on Clarity, Resilience, and Brave Shifts
What if the answer isn’t to change everything… but to change just a few things that change everything? In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Dr. Michele Kehrer, business growth coach, entrepreneur, and four-time cancer survivor, to explore what it really means to find clarity in the middle of chaos. After building and selling a successful physical therapy practice in downtown Chicago, Michele now helps overwhelmed entrepreneurs and midlife women step out of constan...
Recent Blog Posts
May 18, 2025
Embracing Your Second Act with Shannon Russell
If you’re like many women I talk to, you might feel like you’ve spent the first half of your life checking all the boxes, doing all the things. Career, family, helping with your aging parents, responsibility after responsibility, and now, something…
April 28, 2025
Can We Really Have It All? A Candid Conversation About Burnout and Balance with Dr. Denise Brown
What if the path to a more fulfilling life didn’t require running yourself into the ground first? In this week’s episode of Message in the Middle, I sat down with Dr. Denise Brown—Stanford-trained physician, former CEO, strategic advisor, and the a…
April 21, 2025
Creating Safer Spaces: How to Help Your Loved Ones Age in Place with Confidence
As our loved ones get older, many of them express a strong desire to stay in the homes they know and love—but that doesn’t mean those spaces are ready to support them as they age. From fall risks to poor lighting and tricky stairs, the home can quic…