If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it too late for me to...” the answer’s NO and The Uplifters are about to show you why. This space is for purpose-driven women who want to do big, brave things in the second half of their lives. I’m your host, Aransas Savas, and I’ve spent the last 20 years at the intersection of behavior change research and coaching.
May is for mothers, money, and menopause
This month’s stories: Four very different takes on motherhood from Ruthie Ackerman, Katie Horwitch, Sarah Gormley, and Shayla Martin. Dr. Kimberly Derezil, MD and certified wealth manager, on how to avoid massive financial losses during menopause. Women’s health advocate Rebecca Bloom on what happens when women get sick. And Jacquelyn Fletcher Johnson and Christy Kercheville on finding renewed purpose in the wake of cancer.
If Hallmark made an honest Mother's Day card for midlife women, it might read: You turned out fine. She would like some credit for that. Because by now, most of us have complicated relationships with this day, the women who raised us, and the choices we made or didn't get to make. In this special episode, recorded live at Uplifters Live, four midlife women share radically honest stories about motherhood, identity, and the inherited scripts we get to rewrite.
Ruthie Ackerman, author of The Mother Code and founder of Ignite Writers Collective, reclaims motherhood as a time of self-discovery rather than self-sacrifice and reminds us that we can challenge the patriarchal myths that have shaped our choices.
Katie Horwitch, founder of WANT (Women Against Negative Talk) and author of WANT Yourself, walks us through the inherited contracts behind our self-talk and how to rewrite our limiting stories.
Sarah Gormley, author of The Order of Things, shares how starting over at 40, through therapy, loss, love, and an art gallery, gave her the life she’d always been chasing when she was climbing ladders.
The episode closes with a sound bath, a little gift to you, whether you’re a mother, a daughter, or both, from somatic healer and breast cancer survivor Shayla Martin, whose entire life was changed when she healed her “mother wound”.
“I want to be a mother who believes that there are so many ways to have a worthy and beautiful life, both with and without children.” — Ruthie Ackerman
More Powerful Stories of Motherhood
These four stories are just the beginning. In 160 episodes, some of the most unforgettable moments on this show have been about mothers and mothering in all its forms. A few that have stayed with me:
Alex Stried, founder of Poppins, who is building something that actually makes life easier for parents.
Lia DeFeo, whose journey to motherhood was impossibly difficult.
Amy Cohen, whose grief after losing her son became the force behind national traffic safety legislation.
Rebecca Soffer, who lost both parents young and built Modern Loss so no one has to navigate grief without some humor and human connection.
And Deshi Singh, co-founder of Chamber of Mothers.
And so many more whose lives, purpose, and careers have been shaped by mothers and by mothering, whatever that means for them. Whatever it means for you, I hope you see yourself somewhere in these stories. Happy Mother’s Day.
xo,
Aransas
