Message In The Middle
Finding Meaningful Messages in Midlife -
Let's Navigate, Grow, and Thrive Together
Recent Episodes
205
Aug. 28, 2026
Midlife Reinvention, Inner Wisdom, Authenticity and Aging Well with Kathy Robinson
Episode Description What happens when you've achieved everything you thought you wanted, only to discover there's something deeper calling you? For more than thirty years, Kathy Robinson built an impressive corporate career, rising to become Chief Audit Executive and Chief Risk Officer at a Fortune 250 company. Then, at the height of her success, she made the courageous decision to walk away. What followed wasn't the end of her story. It was the beginning of a profound transformation. In this...
224
Aug. 21, 2026
What Happens When the Strategies That Made You Successful Stop Working?
For years, Nancy Deyo lived by the same rules many of us have been taught to follow: work hard, stay disciplined, push through discomfort, and keep going. Those strategies helped her build a successful career as a Silicon Valley CEO. But after a medical crisis on Mount Kilimanjaro left her living with chronic pain, years of misdiagnosis, opioid dependence, and an entirely different reality than the one she had planned, she was forced to ask a difficult question: What do we do when the strategi
223
Aug. 14, 2026
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...
222
Aug. 7, 2026
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 expl...
221
July 31, 2026
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,...
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...
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…