Fearlessly Facing Fifty And Beyond
The Fearlessly Facing Fifty and beyond podcast encourages women to be fearless and fabulous at any age. Let's be honest, midlife and beyond comes with change. And let's face it, we are a masterclass in reinvention. So let's fearlessly face all the “F” words” together, like fashion, fitness, finances, family, friendships, faith, failures, our futures just to name a few. Let's get fired up about aging and CANNONBALL with confidence into our "next one thing".
Hosted by Amy Schmidt, a sought-after national media expert and thought leader on a variety of topics, an award-winning podcast host, stream show host, TEDx speaker, and author (Cannonball! Fearlessly Facing Midlife and Beyond) who has appeared in hundreds of publications, podcasts, live news, tv lifestyle segments, and radio, she is ready to arm you with all the tools to move the needle on your journey.
As a former journalist, turned what she calls, a ‘trailing spouse’ staying home to raise her children, she believes her voice and action-oriented advice allows people to move the needle on their journey and make positive changes in their relationships. Through countless reinventions, at the age of 49, she knew there was more to do, and she launched her brand and podcast, Fearlessly Facing Fifty.
Get ready to CANNONBALL with confidence and begin pushing play on your next adventure. Let's GOOOOOOO!
Fearlessly Facing Fifty And Beyond
EP215: Reinvention After Motherhood you are made for more - Meet Sharon Macey
Sharon Macey's journey from stay-at-home mom to podcast host and competitive dancer offers a refreshing roadmap for life's second act. The question that guided her wasn't "What do I want to do when I grow up?" but rather "What do I want to do when my kids grow up?"—a subtle distinction that resonates deeply with women navigating the transition from active motherhood to their next chapter.
What makes Sharon's approach so accessible is her emphasis on baby steps. "The beauty of taking a baby step is that if it doesn't work, we can pivot," she explains, giving women permission to experiment without the pressure of getting it perfectly right the first time. Her own return to dance after many years away led her to Latin ballroom competitions, complete with spray tans and elaborate costumes—a testament to the joy that comes from reconnecting with forgotten passions.
The conversation explores how friendships evolve, family dynamics shift, and faith deepens as we age. Sharon challenges the notion that making friends gets harder with age, noting how her social circle has expanded in her sixties. Both women discuss the intentionality required to maintain connections with adult children while embracing this new phase of life. Most powerfully, Sharon reminds listeners that reinvention is deeply personal: "You do you, and no one does you better than you." Whether that means launching a podcast, playing pickleball, or simply focusing on wellness, the path forward should reflect your unique desires, not external expectations.
Ready to take your own baby step toward reinvention? Listen now and discover how the wisdom, resilience, and experience you've gained become your greatest assets in creating life's most meaningful chapters. What will you become when your children grow up?
Connect with Sharon and take a listen to her MOM to more podcast here:
Ready to FEARLESSLY FACE all the F WORDS – be inspired and encouraged?
Get a copy of Amy’s Best selling book: CANNONBALL! FEARLESSLY Facing Midlife and Beyond here
Fearlessly Facing Fifty and Beyond has over 200 episodes with inspiration and stories to age fearlessly and connect confidently to others thriving at midlife and beyond.
Make sure to share with friends and family and would love if you could leave a review. There are so many shows out there floating around and if you are finding value in the Fearlessly Facing Fifty podcast share it with the world – a review means so much.
And don’t forget to follow along on all the socials:
http://instagram.com/theamy.schmidt
https://www.instagram.com/fearlesslyfacingfifty_fwords/
Hey, Fearless Friends, it's Amy Schmidt and I am so happy to be back with another episode, and you know what? It's an exciting one.
Speaker 1:Of course it is because I use that word every single time, but this is a great one. I have on a guest today that actually our worlds are very similar. Yep, Yep, you know it. Stay at home, mom. I like to use that word. Trailing spouse. A lot of people say no, no, no, don't use that. But Sharon Macy is my guest today. She's amazing. She's the podcast creator and host of Mom to More, a top 3% globally ranked podcast right now, and she's doing her thing. So stay with me and buckle up for this conversation with the incredible Sharon Macy.
Speaker 1:Well, fearless friends, as you heard in the intro, I'm very, very excited to have this conversation with somebody that you know I admire. I've been watching, she's been just on fire for her passion and you know, Sharon, I'm super excited. Sharon Macy, I'm excited to have you here. Welcome to the show. Thank you, I'm so excited to be here. You know we have so many similarities, Sharon. We'll talk about that, but first of all, I just want to open this up by saying, right now, we just talked a little bit before we started recording and we said you know, I got the mom hat on. Today, Sharon's sitting in a hotel making this all happen while life is unraveling around her, because we all know, as moms, that stuff happens right. I mean it just for whatever reason, when we least expect it, things happen, but we're always on right. We're always on as a mom.
Speaker 2:We're always on as mom, and no matter where our kids are and no matter how old our kids are, we're always there for them, isn't that true? I?
Speaker 1:want to ask you this before we really dig into everything you're doing with Mom to More and your podcast and your speaking and everything you're doing If you're out. So if you're sitting here with me and we're at lunch, Sharon, and your phone rings and it's your kid, do you pick it up, you kind?
Speaker 2:of have to See.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2:Because you're always so afraid. It's like, oh, what if something's wrong, right, yeah, yeah, I don't know why our brains always go to the negative, I know, and sometimes I'll say, hey, I can't talk right now. You know, if it's important, let me know that sort of thing. But in general, yeah, I'll pick up for my kids before I pick up for my husband.
Speaker 1:I know, okay, you heard it here first. I mean, yes, exactly, and we were out with friends a while ago. It was a big group of us and not that any of I have three kids, not that any of them were struggling or you know whatever. They're just going through life in their orbit and they're all doing fine. But I'm with this group and I'm out to dinner and my phone rings. I didn't have my phone, I just had it down here, or whatever. I heard it ring. No, you know what it was. Sharon, I have a certain ringtone for each kid. Call me crazy, but I do, I do too.
Speaker 2:No, you're not crazy I do too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I heard it chirping, so I'm like hey, come on, like, he's fine, like, but I had to answer it, so I'm very happy that that you kind of stand with me in that and maybe everybody that's listening does too, because I do, I pick it up.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's something all moms can relate to. It's just, it's just inherent in who we are. It's the mom gene. Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 1:Well, let's talk about your story. You've done a lot with Mom2More in a pretty short period of time.
Speaker 2:You should really be proud of what you've accomplished. Thank you, amy. I really am. It's been so much fun More fun than I actually thought it was going to be and super inspiring. And the women, the moms that I've had the privilege of speaking with and interviewing like you, the moms that I've had the privilege of speaking with and interviewing like you, so inspiring, and I'm just so blessed to count everybody as friends now, which is so incredible.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you use the word fun I want you to define that for me.
Speaker 2:So how has it been fun? For you? It has been fun because I love a challenge and I've always been one of those people who loves to challenge herself. And this has been a challenge, but it's been a slow burn and for me, challenges and when I achieve little baby steps which is what I talk about a lot it's fun because it's those tiny little victories that happen in the long game and to me that's fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree with that. I think it's fun Talk to me about the challenges. Let's talk about the challenges because we keep it real here and we fearlessly face all of these F-words as we age. I mean, let's be honest, we fearlessly face family and finances and fitness and food and friends and all that stuff.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about the challenges we face because there are some.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. I think the challenges are well many and, again, as resilient and wise women who have been there and done that over years, I think as a mom, you learn to roll with the punches. I think, as a mom, you learn to roll with the punches and, as I've gotten older, that whole concept of oh, it's a challenge, oh, it's a blip, it's just something that I have to move beyond, and it becomes easier and easier, amy, which is really interesting because I think, as I get older maybe you too nothing rattles me as much. I would agree, because, yeah, it's all, it's all we've. We've experienced it before.
Speaker 2:But the challenges with, I think, just starting the brand, I knew that this podcast had to get started because, having been a stay-at-home mom and and knowing other women who reinvented into extraordinary next chapters of their life and I include you in that I knew that these stories needed to be told. And so I thought, well, I'm going to reach out to some friends, I'm going to grab a mic and press record, and that's really what happened. And then you start dealing with issues like, okay, how frequently? And am I going to, how do I get more people? And things like that.
Speaker 1:I remember somebody saying when I started don't look at how many downloads you get, because it doesn't matter If you've got one person listening or you got 10,000 people listening. And I think that goes back to something I talk about. A lot, too is the fact that there's so much validation that we seek in our life. We're looking for these little pearls of validation along the way, and I always say the only like we need is our like. If we like ourselves, if we wake up and say I like me, hey, that's all right.
Speaker 1:So you know for someone like you and me that stayed home, raised our kids and kind of put us on the back burner for a while. 100%, it's possible to create things that bring you joy and fun and challenge.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And what's really interesting about that, amy and maybe you've experienced this as well is, while I was home with the kids, I kept thinking to myself what do I want to do when I grow up? And I thought, well, that's odd, I'm a grown up, and I realized that the real question was what do I want to do when my kids grow up? What is my next chapter going to be? And I didn't even have the words for it, I didn't have the phraseology for it, but I knew that I had more inside of me and I knew that I wasn't done, and that is really what propelled me into this next chapter of my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that and I love Mom to More. That's the name of the podcast. I love everything linked in the episode notes so people can listen and follow along with Sharon and everything that she offers, because she does a lot of great stuff and I think I like you so much and your content resonates with me because we walk the walk and talk the talk. You know, I mean we are authentic people. We are this is, this is me. I mean I'm not putting on any pretenses. I know you aren't either. I mean we just want to share our journeys and those of others with people, to inspire them. Because you just said what's next for me after a mom, when I'm a grownup? Now I'm a mom and now my kids are grown what is next? There are so many people, sharon, that are listening right now. I know just dear friends of mine that are in their 50s. Their kids are grown and flown and they're like now what?
Speaker 2:Now what? Now what? And I've spoken to so many women who are going through that. They gather at lunches and they talk about what are we going to do now that our kids are getting older, and I would say, you know my, my advice to that would be find something that really resonates with your heart and soul and then go for it. But that doesn't mean going for it in a big way. That doesn't mean taking a big jump. That means taking a tiny little step and seeing how you can make that work in however you know, in whatever ways that are that are comfortable for you and meaningful for you. So it could be writing a book, it could be going back to painting, it could be going back to dance, which is something I did after putting it aside for so many years. We're going to talk about that.
Speaker 1:I wish I had a little video to incorporate, right? Sorry to interrupt you.
Speaker 2:No, no worries, but I think that you know, I also realize that so many moms are afraid to take that very first baby step. And the beauty, amy, of taking a baby step is that okay, if it doesn't work, we can pivot. I mean, how many times have you and I tried something and went, okay, that doesn't work. And then we've pivoted right, we can all raise our hands right, and so we've pivoted to something else. And I think the beauty of those tiny little baby steps is they are not scary, it's not like jumping down off a cliff, it's like taking little baby steps down the sidewalk. And when you start that way, it becomes so much easier. And I think another thing that's important that I've been hearing from other women and I know for me and my heart is that the failure is not trying Exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly.
Speaker 2:Because you'll always have that sort of what if? What if I had tried? What if I had done, and we don't want to end things that way.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree. You know I'm sure you've heard it, I've said it in my TED Talk, I've said it so many times. But you know, the first episode of the Fearlessly Facing 50 podcast, I thought I hit it out of the ballpark. I was like, ok, this is, this is awesome, like I'm loving this whole thing, until I forgot to push record on the whole episode, you know, and it was like, ok, now Amy's epic fail, now what am I going to do? But you know what? You said it earlier Things don't rattle you as much.
Speaker 1:They don't rattle you, they just kind of. You're like, ok, all right, I'll do it again. So what it again? So what, Right? Exactly, one person listens, great, and now will remember to push record. I learned from that. But I want to talk to you before we talk about dancing, because I do want to talk about that, because I have a dear friend from high school that dances and I watch her and I'm like, oh man, dancing with the stars is like my dream. Why don't they have one of her moms Like the golden bachelorette? I think they need like dancing with the stars.
Speaker 1:Moms dancing with the stars.
Speaker 2:Mom's dancing with the stars. I like that.
Speaker 1:I think it would be great. I want to ask you something, and I hope I can describe this in a way I always try to because I think sometimes I have a hard time describing it, but I hope you can get it. There is such a light shown right now. There's a spotlight on menopause, on women over 50, all of that, which I applaud and I think is fabulous. With that, I think, also has come a bit of trepidation for some women over 50.
Speaker 1:Because there are women you know think about middle school. So there are women you know think about middle school when we were walking those halls of middle school or high school and you're walking down and you're thinking, oh man, am I going to be invited to that party? Oh man, she just got an A plus on that world history report and I got to see. Oh man, she just made the varsity team and I didn't. Oh, she's a cute cheerleader, she's got the hottest boyfriend. All of that, all of those things that we go through in middle school and high school, some of that now for some 50 plus women, I think it's hard for them because they may not want to launch a podcast. This might not be their desire to do. They may not want to write a book, they may not want to do this grandiose thing, and now they're feeling a little deflated because there's such a spotlight on achievement All right.
Speaker 2:How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1:Are you tracking a little bit? Every time I say it, it's like I can see it coming out, but I don't know if it comes out in the right way because I don't want to put down what we're doing after 50 because it's fabulous, but I also don't want to inhibit those or get people feeling like they can't do anything great enough.
Speaker 2:Oh well, first of all, I understand where you're coming from. That's a great question, Amy, Really great question. Achievement comes from within and however a woman wants to go further into her life, you know, once the kids are gone, listen, if someone just wants to play golf all the time and go, I want to get good at golf. If someone just wants to play golf all the time and go, I want to get good at golf, hallelujah. You know, I think they go for it and it doesn't. You don't have to start a business.
Speaker 2:I started a podcast which turned into a business and I realized it was a brand I. I didn't start it off that way, it sort of happened. But I'd say, you know, for women who are listening to this, who are just like my kids are getting older, I'm so frigging tired from all those years I spent as a mom. I just want to travel with my husband or my friends, or maybe focus on my fitness, focus on my health. I want to maybe take a class here and there. I want to play pickleball, I want to play mahjong, A hundred percent. You do you, right, yes, and no one does you better than you, Right? So whatever that you is is brilliant. I don't think there should be any any pressure to do something that makes you uncomfortable.
Speaker 2:At the stage of our life, we're like I'm doing this for me because I love it and it makes me feel good, and that's why I do it, and that's why you do what you do. So you do you and you do you the best.
Speaker 1:I love that you said that and we can all be better from learning from each other and looking, and not looking at it with envy or with, you know, a feeling of being deflated. We have to look and encourage each other, and I love, and we have to be ourselves, but I do hope that somebody listening today or watching is saying, all right, amy did it, sharon did it. I think I can do something now. It doesn't have to be a podcast, like you said, it can be whatever, but I hope that they can push play on something in their life Because, as you know, this time of our life is precious. I mean, I had a husband who had a heart attack, completely unexpected and unprepared.
Speaker 2:And thank God, he's okay, I talk about it openly.
Speaker 1:I have his wishes to be able to do that. He's doing fantastic and he's great and healthier than ever, but life is precious, yes.
Speaker 2:And it goes so fast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it goes so fast.
Speaker 2:It goes so fast, and do you notice that the older we get, the more?
Speaker 1:it speeds up. Yeah, you know, didn't? We always hear that too, and we're always like, oh yeah, whatever it does, it goes fast. It does it really does? I know let's talk about dance for a minute, because I want to hear your journey around this, because was this something that you did as a young adult?
Speaker 2:So I danced as a kid. I started, you know classic ballet and jazz and then kept dancing into high school and jazz was my thing. I was a big jazz baby and would do recitals and things like that.
Speaker 1:Like you, were a jazz hands girl, jazz hands.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then I went to college and continued to dance and then realized I can't make a career out of this and I got into advertising and marketing Flash forward. Moving to New York, I continued to dance masterclasses, martha Graham and things like that, which were awesome, but then kid years and there were really no places to dance as adults where we lived in Connecticut and it was all you know kid ballet and things like that. And then so years went by, couldn't really find classes, itching to get back, and probably about eight years ago I found a studio that had kids and adults and they had a really robust adult program.
Speaker 2:So I went back doing jazz and did a recital or two and thought that was fun and then thought, well, let me try standard ballroom. Hated it, okay, that was a big learn lesson my neck, because your neck has my neck had to be way back and I didn't like that. But then I realized that there was something called Latin ballroom and I thought, well, this sounds a little more cha-cha and a little more fun. Okay, that just sounds fun, yeah, yeah. And so I started taking lessons and classes and then one day a bunch of women walked in with these shimmery, cha-cha, sexy outfits and I said oh, what are those for? And they said we have a competition coming up and I'm like, wait, I can compete doing this and that's how I began.
Speaker 1:That didn't intimidate you. You go girl.
Speaker 2:No, that for me that was just like another goal, and I set a goal that this year you know, by the time I'm this age I'm going to have my first competition, and I did.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. Yeah, I followed you on social media about it, thank you, take me to that moment. Like, yeah, fun, yeah, I mean you can see in your face and people can tell if they're listening how much joy that brings you. But take me to, I mean, putting on the costume. I mean, did you look in your mirror and be like man, I'm a badass? Like okay, I can rock this? Or were you like holy?
Speaker 2:cow like Sharon. What am I doing?
Speaker 1:No, no, no, just like Sharon. What am I doing?
Speaker 2:No, no, no, Just the opposite. I loved it. First of all, I look totally different. I have posted things and people said to me is that you or is that somebody else? Because I wear a ponytail, my hair's all slicked back, I'm spray tanned, I've got makeup that makes me look like a high class hooker. I just, you know, it's a whole different look. My husband, it's like he's married to a whole different woman for about, you know, it's a. It's a whole different look. My husband, it's like he's married to a whole different woman for about, you know, 24 hours.
Speaker 2:And I just totally embraced it, amy, I loved it's almost like an out of body experience, like I was playing someone else, but it was all me and it's just so much fun and I get so much joy out of it. I like to joke and say it's the most fun you can have with your clothes on and it's just been so much fun. And you know I did really well in bronze. It's like bronze, silver, gold, like you know, like the Olympics. I won nationals in bronze. I was a national champion in bronze.
Speaker 2:I'm like, okay, yeah, that was back in 22.
Speaker 1:Okay, dancing with the stars. If you're listening right now, here's your girl. I mean, that's so cool.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it was Thank you. So now I'm in silver, definitely harder, choreography is more intense and they, they expect more and yeah, so I just continue on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Well, see you. You talk, the talk and walk the walk, I love it.
Speaker 1:And dance, dance a little the dance, dance, dance, dance, the dance, the dance, the dance, the dance. Let's talk about these F-words that we are facing as we age. I mean, it's a big deal, and that's really my whole impotence about this whole series was, I was sitting around with my husband and I'm like man, there's a whole lot of F-words that we face. And he's like Amy, yeah, and you fearlessly face them. I'm like, ok, well, that makes sense. So let's talk about friendships, because you know friendships are. I mean, I am blessed with great friends. I surround myself with people of different ages and stages and I think that adds a lot of value for me. But friends, as we get older, it's not so easy.
Speaker 2:You know it's interesting, Amy. I've heard a lot of people say that it's harder to make friends the older you get, and I got to tell you I find I'm, first of all, I'm like you. I'm blessed with just some people that have been in my life for years and years and, and those are my gold friends and we, really we just honor those and we, those are the women that I feel you can like totally be yourself with right. Yeah, you can cry, you can be real, it's just. Those are the women that I feel you can like totally be yourself with Right. You can, you can cry, you can be real. It's just. Those are the people that have known you for a hundred years. But I feel that the older I get, and especially with the podcast, I'm meeting new people and I'm expanding my friend group and for me in my sixties, I'm like this is so cool.
Speaker 1:You're in your sixties, you are not.
Speaker 2:I am.
Speaker 1:You go, girl. Amazing, Thank you. I love that. I mean I hear the 60s are even better than the 50s.
Speaker 2:So I'm I say bring it on. You know, 60s is the new 40s, so there you go.
Speaker 1:I say bring it on, yeah.
Speaker 2:So friendship I would agree Fearlessly facing friendship.
Speaker 1:And don't you find that friendships bloom and some, some, some don't anymore?
Speaker 2:There are friends you might have to walk away from. That's very true and it's interesting, annie, that's something we tell our kids that not everybody is going to be on your bus your entire life. And yes, I've seen friendships just sort of peter away, fizzle away another F word. And that's okay. And that's okay. And I always come back to people come into your life for a reason or a season. What is that? The third one, a reason or a season, or something else?
Speaker 1:Oh right, I can't remember the third one either, but you're right. A reason, a season. Well we'll think of it as soon as we go off. It's true, and I think that there's so much value in having friends that are younger and older and it all just morphs together. I think we all morph together after 30 anyway.
Speaker 2:We do. That reminds me of my mom, who's in her 80s, and she's got friends my age which I love.
Speaker 1:That's fabulous. Fearlessly facing family. Let's talk about that family.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about that. That has been such an interesting journey and I love this question because, like you, we are empty nesters. Our kids are grown up and actually our son is going to be getting married later this year, so we're thrilled about that and everyone is doing their own independent lives and we are literally spread from, you know, coast to coast. But what we really do, which I love, is we make time for family. We'll still take to the best of everyone's abilities. We will still take family trips together. We love back roads, these active travel vacations, and we have to plan them far in advance, but it's. It's worth it and you know just the time that we spend together is so valuable and wonderful, and I think as the kids get older, you just have to plan more.
Speaker 2:Oh that's a good way of thinking. I do think.
Speaker 1:I think you have to plan more. We were just recently in London and only two of the kids well, one is studying there, but only one of the other kids could come because of young adults and emerging careers and vacation time limited and all of those things become very real and, I think, fearlessly facing family. There's a lot of different. You know avenues off of that, but I would agree it takes planning, um, and it also you know I I had an interview with my mother-in-law before she turned 80 and um, I did it for a couple of reasons. One was because I don't have my mom's voice anymore and I wish I did and I want that for my husband and for his siblings and for the grandkids. But she said you know, aime, you just got to move that butt over and scooch over a little bit and make more room on the couch for anybody that comes into the Schmidt family. And I really think that's so true. I love that.
Speaker 2:Isn't that good. I always talk about that, but fearlessly facing family.
Speaker 1:it's transitions again. It's change but plan.
Speaker 2:I love that and you know it's interesting, like what you just said, you were in London and you were only able to have one of your kids. It's really wonderful to do that as well, because you have that dedicated time with that child, and it's nice. Exactly, exactly and it's nice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly Exactly. And let's talk about. I've got two more F's here, fearlessly facing finances. How's that looking? I mean, I think it's very different in our fifties and beyond.
Speaker 2:We got one more college tuition year and then it's like, oh, thank goodness we have one first year of graduate school, so we have another year, year and change of that. You know, I think, and if for the younger moms who are, who are listening to this, planning, planning, planning, planning, you have to plan, you have to sacrifice when the kids are younger, sacrifice when the kids are younger. So we have that cushion. When we get older, and I can't stress that enough, the wiser you are and the more frugal you are, often when we are younger, it pays off later in life.
Speaker 2:I think it's just being smart financially.
Speaker 1:Exactly, that's great advice. Great advice, let's talk about fearlessly facing faith. That's a big one. That's a big one for me. I've got a lot of guests coming on to talk about that very thing. But you know, faith discussions with your kids or with your spouse, or I mean I think. I think that's something that changes as you get older.
Speaker 2:It does, you know it's, it's really interesting. So for me, faith is is very personal, um, and I'll I don't admit this too often, but I'm Jewish and with everything going on in the world that has been, that has been very uh, heavy in in in lightning and heavy and and and insight, and even within our family, Um, but it also gives me a lot of strength and meaning, and I saw this with my husband's father, I saw this with both of my parents that the older they get, they got, and even some of our friends, the older they get, they're getting more religious, and I don't know if you want to say if religious is the right word. I think it's just more um, uh, you know, whatever God might be to anyone, that's very, very personal.
Speaker 2:Yes, so, you know, that is a very personal journey and I, you know, I just think it just provides me strength and meaning as I get older.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would agree with that, and I feel as though I have more discussions around faith. Yes, Friends of different faiths, learning more about different faiths. You know I was raised. Our generation was kind of you know I was Presbyterian. You're either Catholic or you're Lutheran, or you're Presbyterian, or you're this or you're that, or you know you're labeled that way. That is so evolved and changed. I see that through my kids' relationships. I love that, but yeah, I think it's something that we kind of fearlessly face in it. Those conversations change.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely Absolutely, and I think our kids are. It's a very different outlook now. I think kids are far more blind to things like that. It's like they're looking for a person. They're not looking for a person. You know, within your faith confines, and I think that's nice.
Speaker 1:I think the world should be more like that anyway. Women that. I also admire very much, put us in touch with each other, and I think that's such an important part of our journey now as women. Are those relationships that we can have, these just the network of women supporting each other? I think it's, and we talked about that at length. I remember when I was still in Connecticut we talked about the value in those friendships and you know people really kicking the door open and holding it open for you.
Speaker 2:Which I think is beautiful, and that's. I think that's what a mature woman's journey is.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And we can both consider ourselves mature women and have to give a shout out. The person who actually introduced us was Katie Fogarty. Was it, Katie? A certain age pod? Yeah, it was Katie. So thank you, Katie.
Speaker 1:Oh she's fabulous. Yeah, I love what she's doing so many women in this space that are doing amazing things.
Speaker 2:There are, and I'm just so glad, I have to say I'm so glad that you are back with your podcast. Thank you, because I love the concept. I let me you know, I interview the gift of interviewing you almost a year ago. It was like, yeah, it was like you came out last spring, late spring, and just what you're doing and all the F words which I think are hilarious but they're so meaningful and, yeah, so I love watching you rise as well. This has been a mutual admiration society.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, and you know the guest I had on before. We talked about the fact that we need to let women know when we admire them, Like we can't just say, oh yeah, I'll tell her, when I see her I'll reach out to her or whatever, and let her know. No, do it now. Like if there's somebody right now that you know that you're listening right now and you're saying, oh man, I do really admire that woman, I haven't told her. Pick up the phone, send a text, whatever it is, let them know because it is so important.
Speaker 2:It is, and you know what's interesting about that. If there's a friend that you have that you maybe haven't been in touch with for a while and you would like to reach back out to them, a text is a great way just to say you've been on my mind, I hope you're doing well, and often that can rekindle a friendship you never know.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love that. That's great wisdom. Great wisdom so Mom2More ranked top 3% globally podcast. That's amazing. I'll link that in the episode notes. I know you have some other things that you have going on that women can work with you and I'll put that in the episode notes as well. Sharon with her journey and her podcast, pop the earbuds in, take a listen. She's doing some fabulous things. And before we close today, I want to ask you the question which I ask everybody, and that is if you were sitting on the couch, sharon, in a hotel room, like you are right now and you look over and there's 30 year old Sharon.
Speaker 1:What advice would? You give her what advice would you give her?
Speaker 2:I love that question. I would say to her don't be in a rush. That you will do many extraordinary and unexpected things in your life and that you alone will make happen, and that you simply have to believe in the power and vision of you doing that and then also that reinvention. This whole concept is a long game and it evolves over many years, and that's actually something all of my guests talk about. So I would just say know in your heart that you have what it takes to do extraordinary things in your life. So if you're leaning into family life for a while, enjoy it, be there, really experience it, because it is so fleeting, and then know that whatever your next chapters in life are going to be, you can get there, because you've got the wisdom, you've got the resilience, you've got the fortitude, you've got the mojo. You have what it takes to make whatever you want to have happen happen. That's what I'd say to her.
Speaker 1:I love that. Sharon Macy, that's amazing. Thank you, thank you. Thank you, amy Schmidt. Thank you for your time today. I appreciate this. I'm so glad we got this time together. I am too.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm excited to introduce you to the world.
Speaker 1:Those of you that might not know Sharon and what she's doing, so I'm excited about it and thanks so much for making and taking time for me today.
Speaker 2:Thank you. I'm so grateful that you reached out to me and it's always wonderful to see you. And thank you again. I love what you're doing and I'm so honored to be a part of it, so thank you for that, thanks so much for listening today.
Speaker 1:We know how valuable your time is and that's why we keep it short and sweet. Don't forget to follow us on all the socials, and you can check out all the links and resources in the show notes. Until next time, go forth and be awesome.