Sharon Lawrence: North Carolina native stars in one-woman play about Katharine Graham from the Washington Post
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
Release Date: 01/04/2025
Endings
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
In our culture, we love to talk about new beginnings. There's a lot of chatter around taking risks, taking a leap, going for it, embracing change. But what we don't talk about, enough, in my opinion, is endings. How we leave something helps define our path going forward. I've never been very good at endings. I'm kind of an Irish-goodbye type of person. I slip out the back door of a crowded party pretty often, which is no big deal. But in life's big moments-the end of a job, the end of a relationship, the end of a connnection to a community, we really need to examine and process the endings. If...
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Quiet ambition is about getting real with yourself and others
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
Joining me today is Sheronda Rochelle Blackburn. She describes herself as a deeply human guide for women in transition. After two decades leading legal strategy at global giants like Microsoft and JPMorgan Chase, she’s turned her focus to something more personal—and more radical. She helps high-achieving women, especially those over 50, who are navigating reinvention to reimagine success on their own terms. Her approach blends legal precision with emotional depth, shaped by her own evolution and a lifetime of advocacy for equity, truth, and storytelling that heals. Sheronda calls it brand...
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Jill Knight is looking at the world through a different lens
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
Jill Knight is many things—a talented photographer, a birth doula, the mother of four beautiful children, including one with special needs. And now, drum roll please, she is adding entrepreneur to her list with her newly launched personal branding company for women called The Luminary League. Jill is not in the 50+ club yet, but I made an exception for this show because her message and her mission are for women of all ages. Jill firmly embraces the idea that she learned from the women who came before her and they helped her clear the metaphorical trees off the path so to speak so that she...
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Working on the “inner you” is the path to letting go of fear and anxiety
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
We all have it to differing degrees, fear and anxiety. And whether we recognize it or not, it holds us back from achieving the things we really want to do in life. It keeps us from being our authentic selves. In this episode, coach Susanne Biro speaks about her own struggles with anxiety and depression. She shares how she learned to cope with them and offers advice for others who are experiencing these issues. Susanne teaches people to focus on their inner lives instead of worrying about what others are doing or what they think about us. Her simple, powerful tips will give you invaluable...
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Hit life's pause button in order to discover your authentic path
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
There’s so much advice out there for women in midlife, it can be overwhelming. We’re supposed to say “yes” to things that challenge us and scare us so that we can grow. Then, we’re supposed to say “no” to anything that doesn’t serve us and depletes our batteries. It’s hard to figure out what the right path is when we get so many conflicting messages. In this episode, we talk to two women who have been doing the work, trying to figure out for themselves how to evolve into the next phase of their lives with purpose and honesty. They did what a lot of us do; they took a class,...
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Financial literacy is for everyone; that means you, Girl!
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
It sounds like a stereotype—women not being involved in the family finances, so much so that when something catastrophic happens, like a divorce or a death, they don’t know where to turn. Surprisingly, many women are still in the dark when it comes to financial literacy, either because they’re simply not interested, or they allow their partners to do the heavy lifting in this area. Even as the child of a divorce lawyer, you would think I would have taken the time to understand the financial world as a young adult. But, I actually didn’t do it until I was forced to when my mother got...
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Dating in midlife requires a good bullshit detector, a big dose of patience, and a healthy sense of humor
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
Dating in midlife is not for the faint of heart. I’ve been listening to many friends over the past few years who found themselves suddenly single and decided to dip their toes into the dating pool again. Let’s face it, a LOT has changed, including how we meet the people we date. Most of these meetings happen online, a place where it’s easy to deceive others into thinking that you are someone you are not. Often, when the date does show up in person after an online courtship, women realize this man was not who he said he was. In short, women in midlife must kiss a lot of frogs on their way...
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"Whispers on the Mountain": A new murder mystery from Amanda Lamb
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
I'm so excited to share my new thriller novel with you. It is set in the North Carolina mountains and follows the point of views of four characters as they unravel the mystery surrounding a missing hiker in the deadly terrain. This is a completely new set of characters from my previous murder mystery series. But like my previous fiction, the main character is a crime journalist who can't walk away from the tug of case once it gets in her head. My plan is that "Whispers on the Mountain" will be the first in a new ficton series. This is my thirteenth book. To learn more about the book and how to...
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Singer Brooke Hatala agrees that parenting a rising star without dimming their light requires love and patience
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
If you’re a parent, you know the drill—shuttling your kids to and from activities after school and on weekends. Whether they’re involved in sports or creative pursuits like dance or theater, you’re their guide, their constant companion, their rock, and their safety net. We do it all out of love, but sometimes the demands can be even bigger than we imagined. Take young performers, for instance. Parenting a budding professional musician elevates these demands to a whole new level. Today, we’re chatting with a mother-daughter duo who transformed an 11-year-old girl’s passion for...
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Creator of Kenda Kist jewelry is dedicated to mentoring, empowering women, and aligning her values with her art
AGELESS: Opening Doors With Amanda Lamb
As women, we’re always looking for ways to update our style, to add more creativity and more fun to our looks and our lives. Our style is more than just the picture we show the outside world; it’s a reflection of who we are and who we are becoming. This is especially critical for women in midlife when we are seeking ways to redefine ourselves. Something as simple as embracing small style changes can help us on this journey to becoming our authentic selves. A big part of this style transformation is how we use accessories—specifically jewelry-to make a statement about who we are. In this...
info_outlineSharon Lawrence is a name most people know well. She is a star on the big screen, the little screen, and on the stage. She is probably best know for her longtime role as Sylvia Costas on NYPD Blue. She's also a huge supporter of women in her industry and a committed environmentalist. But here in North Carolina, we're proud to call her family. The Carolina native is now bringing her talent along with her star power to the Playmakers Repertory Theater at her alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill, for a weeklong stint in "The Shot." It's a one-woman play inspired by the story of the most powerful woman in journalism. Before her legendary tenure at The Washington Post, where she defied the U. S. government by publishing both the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate story, Katharine Graham was an abused wife. Her resilience set the stage for her transformation into an emblem of power in the media world.
*This interview with Sharon first aired in April, 2024. But I wanted to bring it back this week to coincide with her appearance on stage in our area. This is a longer version of the original conversation with extra content. I hope you enjoy listening to Sharon and glean as much wisdom from her as much as I did!
To follow Sharon and her work:
The Shot | PlayMakers Repertory Company
Sharon Lawrence (@sharonelawrence) • Instagram photos and videos