I have seen too many super smart, extremely capable women start to feel like the wheels are coming off in their 40s. But before we go blaming our hormones, our jobs, our spouses or our bodies—let’s pause.

This week, I’m joined by Courtney Townley, host of the Grace & Grit podcast and a total truth-teller when it comes to women’s health. She’s here to help us stop waging war on our bodies, stop doing everyone else’s emotional labor, and start rebuilding a life that actually works for us.

We’re talking burnout, hormone shifts, people-pleasing, body image, boundaries—and how to stop patching the cracks and start pouring a new foundation.

We cover:

✔️ Why so many women feel like they’re falling apart at midlife

✔️ How our hormones are changing and why our capacity is too

✔️ The concept of “unnecessary labor” and how to stop doing it

✔️ Why self-care has nothing to do with spa days

✔️ Why you have to be willing to disappoint some people

If your stress bucket is overflowing and you’re feeling overwhelmed—this episode is your wake-up call and your roadmap.

➡️ Learn more and connect with Courtney:

www.graceandgrit.com

@gracegrit

Grace & Grit podcast

Like what you hear?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ If this episode inspired you, please share it with a friend and leave a 5-star review!

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy 🎧:

• The Midlife Working Mom Struggle is Real: Burnout, Guilt and Finding Joy
• How to Heal from Burn Out in Midlife w/Katie Bonarrigo
• I Checked All The Boxes, So Why Am I Still Unsatisfied? w/Anna K. Morris

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

What happens when divorce, single motherhood, turning 50, and perimenopause all hit at once? You get a full-blown midlife dumpster fire.

But today’s guest, Donna Johnsen, found a lifeline in laughter. In this episode, she shares how journaling, community, and humor helped her survive the hardest season of her life—and how her Instagram account Laugh Lines and Life Goals became an unexpected source of healing for herself and others.

We talk about:

•Being blindsided by divorce and surviving the grief

•The midlife identity remix—and how to find yourself again

•Parenting teens while falling apart inside

•Using humor as a bridge, not a bypass

•Why community can save your sanity

•The backstory behind Donna’s hilarious reels

If you feel like midlife is blowing your life up—this one’s for you.

➡️ Follow Donna on Instagram: @laughlinesandlifegoals

➡️ Read her blog: laughlinesandlifegoals.com

Like what you hear?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ If this episode inspired you, please share it with a friend and leave a 5-star review!

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy 🎧:

How to Help a Friend in Crisis: Real Advice from a Mom Who’s Been There with Tara Sharp

The Midlife Working Mom Struggle is Real: Burnout, Guilt and Finding Joy

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

It’s my birthday, and we’re halfway through 2025, so I’m doing a little mid-year reflection and inviting you to join me.

In this solo episode, I’m sharing what’s felt aligned this year, where I’ve made some changes, how my word of the year is going, and why launching this podcast has felt both vulnerable and fulfilling.

Plus: I need your help with a birthday goal I’ve set for the podcast… and there’s a fun little giveaway in it for you. 🎁

I cover:

•My 2025 intentions and how it’s going so far

•Perimenopause, therapy breakthroughs, and changes to my fitness regimen

•What I’ve learned about energy, mindset, and FUN

•A giveaway to celebrate turning 48 (and how you can win!)

🎈Want to help me hit my birthday goal? Give my podcast a 5-star rating and send me a screenshot! I will personally thank you and enter you to WIN a special gift from me!

Resources & Links

➡️ Cathy Heller’s book: Abundant Ever After

This is an affiliate link. I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking this link, but rest assured I only recommend what I stand behind. Thank you for supporting a solopreneur!

Like what you hear?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ If this episode inspired you, please share it with a friend and leave a 5-star review!

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy 🎧:

• How I Changed the Way I Set Intentions This Year
• Perimenopause (Jessica’s Version)

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

If your nightstand is stacked with books you swear you’re going to read (someday), this episode is for you.

Jessica sits down with her oldest friend, Alexis Lynch—a lawyer, mom, and avid reader—who somehow manages to read 2 to 6 books a month while working full time and raising an 8-year-old.

In this light & fun chat between old friends, Jess & Lex talk about:

📖 Why midlife is the perfect time to rediscover reading for fun

📖 The mindset shift that helped Alexis start reading again

📖 How to find time to read—even when life feels full AF

📖 The book genres that pair best with perimenopause (p.s. it’s not self-help)

📖 Why you should lower your standards and be a QUITTER

Alexis shares her top book recs for midlife women, including:

•Wellness by Nathan Hill

•All Fours by Miranda July

•Wintering by Katherine May

•Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

•Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Jessica mentions she is currently reading:

• The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin

If you want to be that girl who reads for FUN, or you just want to laugh along with two old friends, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now and get your next “can’t put it down” read—plus a gentle reminder that reading counts as self-care (even if it’s a rom-com).

Resources & Links:

➡️ Connect with Alexis on Instagram

➡️ AlexisLynchLaw.com

Like what you hear?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ If this episode inspired you, please share it with a friend and leave a 5-star review!

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy 🎧:

• The Midlife Working Mom Struggle is Real: Burnout, Guilt and Finding Joy
• How to Heal from Burn Out in Midlife w/Katie Bonarrigo

Some of these links are affiliate links. I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking these links. Thank you for supporting a solopreneur!

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

If you’re a midlife woman who knows strength training matters but can’t figure out how the heck to fit it in, this episode is for you. Jessica talks with longtime fitness instructor and midlife mom Judy Truong, who’s all about making strength training doable—no gym, no childcare, no special gear required.

Judy shares creative ways to squeeze strength into your day, how to start if you’re not sure where to begin, and why small efforts matter more than you think.

We cover:

✔️ Why strength training doesn’t have to mean deadlifting 200 pounds

✔️ How to sneak fitness into everyday moments—at the park, at your desk, even at the airport

✔️ What “progressive overload” really means

✔️ The difference between strength and endurance training

✔️ What exercises matter most for real-life function

✔️ How to shift your mindset around fitness, especially if you feel like “it’s too late” or “you don’t have time”

Resources & Links:

➡️ Follow Judy on Instagram for fun, real-life fitness inspo

➡️ Jessica’s workout playlist

Like what you hear?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ If this episode helped you, please share it with a friend and leave a 5 star review!

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy 🎧:

• The Midlife Working Mom Struggle is Real: Burnout, Guilt and Finding Joy
• How to Heal from Burn Out in Midlife w/Katie Bonarrigo

Disclaimer:

Belong Wellness and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and other agents or representatives are not licensed medical care providers and do not provide medical services or advice, including without limitation diagnosing, examining, preventing, treating, or curing any medical conditions. The information shared in this podcast is meant to be educational, not prescriptive. Please consult your medical doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Further, the opinions of guests on this show do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jessica or anyone affiliated with Belong Wellness.

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

Ever had a brilliant idea for a product but no clue how to make it real?

Whether you are a visionary with a dream, or just love a story of resilience and midlife woman badassery, this episode is for you.

Jill is a longtime Pilates instructor with a thriving studio and Instagram following. But when she couldn’t find a piece of equipment that did what her clients actually needed, she decided to invent her own. That’s how Fit Springs was born: a spring-resistance workout system that’s now being used by everyone from professional athletes to clients in their 70s.

Jill shares the real story behind building her product—from sketching prototypes with a Burning Man engineer to navigating business setbacks, a violent personal attack, and the long, messy middle of turning a brilliant idea into a brand.

We talk about:

✔️ How she went from “I have an idea” to “I built a brand”

✔️ The technical and physical challenges of product development

✔️ The assault that could have set her back, but didn’t—and how she rehabbed herself using the very product she created

✔️ How she built a brand without outside funding—and the challenges this presented

✔️ Her best advice for anyone sitting on a brilliant idea

Resources & Links:

➡️ Follow Jill on Instagram

➡️ Follow Fitsprings on Instagram

➡️ Fitsprings.com

Like what you hear?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ If this episode helped you, please share it with a friend and leave a 5 star review!

Disclaimer:

Belong Wellness and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and other agents or representatives are not licensed medical care providers and do not provide medical services or advice, including without limitation diagnosing, examining, preventing, treating, or curing any medical conditions. The information shared in this podcast is meant to be educational, not prescriptive. Please consult your medical doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Further, the opinions of guests on this show do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jessica or anyone affiliated with Belong Wellness.

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

How to Help a Friend in Crisis: Real Advice from a Mom Who’s Been There

When someone you love is facing the unimaginable, what do you actually say? What can you do that really helps?

In this episode, Jessica talks with her friend Tara Sharp, a midlife mom who’s navigated multiple medical crises with her children—including open-heart surgery for her infant daughter and spinal surgery for her teen. Tara shares real-life examples of what helped the most (and what didn’t), along with advice for anyone in the thick of it themselves.

Whether you’re supporting a friend with a sick child, showing up for someone in crisis, or facing your own storm—this is a must-listen.

We talk about:

•How to support a friend going through a medical crisis

•What to say (and not say) when someone is struggling

•Practical ways to show up: food, logistics, emotional support

•Postpartum depression and the emotional toll on moms

•Why second opinions matter—and how to advocate for the best care

•How medical trauma can affect marriage and mental health

•What Tara wishes every parent knew

⭐️ Please share this with your friends who could benefit and leave a 5-star rating if this episode helped you.

Resources & Links:

➡️ Connect with Tara on Linked In

➡️ Order Maya Shankar’s book: The Other Side of Change*

*This is an affiliate link. I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking this link, but rest assured I only recommend what I stand behind.

Disclaimer:

Belong Wellness and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and other agents or representatives are not licensed medical care providers and do not provide medical services or advice, including without limitation diagnosing, examining, preventing, treating, or curing any medical conditions. The information shared in this podcast is meant to be educational, not prescriptive. Please consult your medical doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Further, the opinions of guests on this show do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jessica or anyone affiliated with Belong Wellness.

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.

Acupuncture for midlife symptoms? Yes, please.

In this episode, licensed acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner Katharine Chaney explains how acupuncture, cupping, and Chinese herbs can help with perimenopause symptoms like frozen shoulder, hot flashes, sleep issues, anxiety, and irritability.

We talk about how to actually build better health habits, what your tongue says about your health, and—no joke—how acupuncture helps penguins.

We also cover:

✔️ How acupuncture helps with pain, sleep, mood, and hormones

✔️ The many ways you can take Chinese herbs

✔️ How to find a qualified, trustworthy acupuncturist

✔️ The benefits of starting acupuncture before symptoms begin

✔️ And how it’s never too late to start, even if you’ve had symptoms for years

If you’re ready for natural solutions, real talk about what actually helps in midlife, and a little humor thrown in, this episode is for you.

Resources & Links:

➡️ Katharine’s website: PureJoyAcupuncture.com

➡️ Katharine’s Instagram: @purejoyacupuncture

➡️ Mention this podcast to save $50 off your first session with Katharine in 2025!

Other Episodes You Might Enjoy 🎧:

• Can Herbs Help My Hormones? Natural Solutions for Perimenopause Symptoms with Ashley Rocha
• What is Reiki Healing—and Can It Help Stressed-Out Midlife Women?

Did this episode make you think?

➕ Follow Belong Wellness for more super smart and slightly sassy midlife conversations that blend science, intuition, and zero BS.

⭐️ Please share this episode with a 40+ friend who could use some support, drop a 5-star rating and leave a review! I promise I will do a happy dance if you do.

Disclaimer:

Belong Wellness and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and other agents or representatives are not licensed medical care providers and do not provide medical services or advice, including without limitation diagnosing, examining, preventing, treating, or curing any medical conditions. The information shared in this podcast is meant to be educational, not prescriptive. Please consult your medical doctor before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Further, the opinions of guests on this show do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Jessica or anyone affiliated with Belong Wellness.

I want to hear from you. Send me a text!

Let's stay in touch!
Follow me on Instagram: @belongwellness
Check out my website: belongwellness.com

Join my email list and I will send you my free guide: How to Eat for Healthy Hormones.