37. Menopause Isn't a Breakdown ~ It's a Becoming with Marelda Rodrigues
Design Your Joyful Retirement
What if this season of life isn't something to survive, but an opportunity to create intentionally? In this episode, I'm talking with Marelda Rodrigues, certified health coach, menopause educator, and founder of Sovereign Becoming™, to explore how menopause, retirement, and other life transitions can become powerful invitations to reconnect with yourself and design a next chapter that truly fits. We talk about: Why menopause is more than a physical transition The connection between health, identity, and purpose How to approach your next chapter with intention instead of autopilot ...
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36. Maybe You're Not Stuck ~ Just Being Redirected with Jess Parvin
Design Your Joyful Retirement
This conversation with Jess Parvin is an honest look at what it really takes to build a business that reflects who you are ~ without shrinking yourself to fit someone else’s formula. We talk about the myth of “overnight success,” why burnout often becomes a turning point, and how entrepreneurship can act as a powerful catalyst for personal and spiritual growth. Jess shares how limiting beliefs ~ not lack of strategy ~ are often the real barrier, and why reconnecting with your authentic self is the foundation for building something sustainable. We also explore the shift away...
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35. Who Made These Rules? with Jennifer Butz
Design Your Joyful Retirement
What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't your age, but the invisible rules you've been living by? In this episode, I'm talking with Jennifer Butz, founder of WonderCrone, to explore what it means to break the societal scripts that shape how women think about aging, purpose, and what's possible after 50. After decades of living and working around the world, Jen noticed something striking: many cultures honor older women as wisdom holders, while ours often encourages us to become smaller, quieter, and less visible. Together, we explore how limiting beliefs quietly shape our lives, why...
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34. The Empress Has Entered the Chat with Kate Higgins
Design Your Joyful Retirement
In this episode, I talk with Kate Higgins, a therapist-turned-spiritual life coach for unconventional women 40+, who brings 26 years of clinical experience, a decade of burlesque performing, and a hard-won midlife reinvention of her own. It's a rich, expansive conversation that will make you feel seen ~ and maybe a little more ready to claim what's yours. Kate speaks candidly about the four archetypal phases every woman moves through ~ Maiden, Mother, Empress, and Crone ~ and why understanding where you are right now has a way of shifting everything. She shares her powerful...
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33. Your Intuition Is a Diagnostic Tool ~ with Dr. Kaye Brundidge
Design Your Joyful Retirement
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Kaye Brundidge, an anesthesiologist and medical intuitive who spent decades in operating rooms before dedicating her work to helping women truly understand their bodies. It's a warm, eye-opening conversation that will make you feel seen and more equipped than ever to take charge of your health. Dr. Kaye speaks candidly about what she witnessed in her years of practice: women who were brilliant advocates for everyone around them, but had never learned to advocate for themselves. She's here to change that. From the science behind how unprocessed emotions...
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32. All Downhill From Here? Hard Pass ~ with Diane Amelia Read and Teresa Lisum
Design Your Joyful Retirement
What does wellness actually mean in midlife ~ and why do so many of us wait for permission to prioritize it? In this episode, I talked with Diane Amelia Read and Teresa Lisum for an honest, energizing conversation about movement, identity, and what it really looks like to age well. We talk about busting the stories we've been handed about getting older, why five intentional minutes beats zero perfect ones, and how showing up imperfectly is still showing up. In this episode: Why movement is the non-negotiable ~ and how to make it sustainable The myth of the "right time" to start...
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31. What's The Story You've Been Holding? with Dr. Xanthe Golenko
Design Your Joyful Retirement
By the time you hit 50, you've lived enough life to fill a few books. But most of us don't think our stories are worth telling. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Xanthe Golenko about why that couldn't be further from the truth. Xanthe was a dancer in France, then a researcher studying older adults. When she introduced life story books into care homes, something magical happened ~ families reconnected, staff saw the whole person, and the storytellers themselves transformed. That's when she realized: storytelling isn't just about preserving the past. It's about...
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30. Your Future Self Called. She's Fine. (Better Than Fine, Actually.)
Design Your Joyful Retirement
In this episode, I'm talking with Pauline Zielonka, founder of Retirement Life Plan, about what people actually experience when they step away from full-time work. Pauline has spent years researching the non-financial side of retirement, and what she's found is both surprising and deeply reassuring. We talk about why the fear of boredom is so much more common than actual boredom, how retirement can expand (not erase) your sense of self, and why generic retirement advice often misses the mark. Pauline also shares insights from her research on what helps people adjust ~ and what makes...
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29. From Ad Agency to Ashram to Memoir Ghostwriter ~ A Conversation with Gail Harris
Design Your Joyful Retirement
What if the hard-won, transformative parts of your life are exactly what someone else needs to hear? In this episode, I talk with Gail Harris ~ memoir ghostwriter who helps women turn their lived experience into stories that heal. We cover the difference between memoir and autobiography, how to find your narrative arc (even when life feels all over the place), and why being deeply listened to is so transformative. If you've ever thought "I should write a book someday," this episode might be the nudge. Your story ~ the one you've lived, survived, and learned from ~ is probably more...
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28. One Breath at a Time: Support for All of Us with Lydia Mandell
Design Your Joyful Retirement
This week, Laurie welcomes breathwork coach Lydia Mandell to the podcast for a truly nourishing conversation about the healing power of breath. Breathwork can be a lifeline ~ bringing us back into our bodies, soothing our nervous systems, and helping us gently release what weighs us down. In this episode, we explore: What breathwork really is (and why it goes far beyond relaxation) How conscious breathing can help release stored tension, grief, and old emotional patterns The importance of feeling safe and supported ~ whether in 1:1 sessions or in community ~ especially for...
info_outlineWhat if the biggest thing holding you back isn't your age, but the invisible rules you've been living by?
In this episode, I'm talking with Jennifer Butz, founder of WonderCrone, to explore what it means to break the societal scripts that shape how women think about aging, purpose, and what's possible after 50.
After decades of living and working around the world, Jen noticed something striking: many cultures honor older women as wisdom holders, while ours often encourages us to become smaller, quieter, and less visible. Together, we explore how limiting beliefs quietly shape our lives, why lasting change happens through small acts of self-trust rather than dramatic reinvention, and how cultivating wonder can open doors to a more authentic next chapter.
If you've ever caught yourself thinking, I'm too old for that, I should have this figured out by now, or Who am I if I'm no longer defined by my career or caregiving?, this conversation is for you.
We explore:
- Why the stories we tell ourselves about aging deserve to be questioned.
- The most common limiting beliefs women carry into midlife and how to recognize them.
- Why meaningful change is evolutionary, not revolutionary.
- How giving yourself small "permission slips" can lead to profound transformation.
- The role of wonder, curiosity, and playfulness in creating a fulfilling next chapter.
- Why your lived experience is one of your greatest strengths.
- How older women can embrace their voice, wisdom, and relevance in a culture that often overlooks them.
Jen's take on aging is irreverent, warm, and deeply human. This one will stay with you.
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Website: Wondercrone.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-l-butz-6a2ab311/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wondercrone/
Weekly blogs can be found at wondercrone.com.
Jen has written four books that are available on Amazon:
- Where Wisdom Meets Wonder: A Workbook of Renewal, Agency, and Direction. (2024)
- Rebel Aging: Wisdom, Wonder, and a Few Shenanigans (2025)
- The Wisdom and Wonder of Coloring (a journaling/coloring book to tap the right side of the brain) (2025)
- What Darwin Can Teach Us About Aging in Power: An Evolutionary Lens on Resilience and Thriving (due out early 2027)