WEBVTT

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Hi, I'm Cara. I believe every woman carries a

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vision of who she longs to become, and that's

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no accident. Grab your favorite beverage and

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settle into a cozy spot, because this is that

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kind of conversation. That quiet knowing you're

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meant for more? It's not wishful thinking, but

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a calling on your heart. And every soul calling

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deserves an answer. Not someday, today, right

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now. Together, we'll explore what it really means

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to be her now. The healing, the worthiness, the

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work, the becoming. Because none of us were meant

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to figure this out on our own. Whatever brought

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you here today, trust it. You belong here. I

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want to start today by telling you about a message

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I recently received. It came out of nowhere from

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someone I recently worked with and coached. and

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would now consider a friend, now that I'm no

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longer with that company. But she was reaching

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out to tell me that she'd been going through

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a really painful breakup and that this podcast

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had been helping her to get through it. She just

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wanted to let me know. I sat with that message

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for a long time because honestly, I'd gone quiet.

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I'd stepped away from the show and I had told

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myself all kinds of stories about why. Life got

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busy. I wasn't ready. It wasn't good enough yet.

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But the truth is, that message cracked something

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back open in me. It reminded me why I started

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this in the first place. And it felt like the

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universe tapping me on the shoulder saying, okay,

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it's time. So here I am. And I'm so glad you're

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here too. I feel like before we move forward,

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we need to step back a bit. I want to talk about

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the gap because I think it's actually the most

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important part of this story and maybe the most

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relevant to you. When I started to be her now,

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I meant every word. The passion was and is real.

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The mission is real. I had spent over 25 years

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coaching women and I knew this work mattered.

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But somewhere in the process of putting it out

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there, I bumped into something uncomfortable.

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I was teaching principles I deeply believe in,

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and then going home and not fully living them.

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At least not consistently. Not in my body, not

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in my habits, not in my health. And I think part

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of me knew that. I think that's actually what

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made it hard to keep showing up. Not perfectionism

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exactly. It was more like I could feel the distance

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between what I was saying and where I actually

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was. and I didn't want to keep talking about

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becoming her while quietly wondering if I was

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doing it myself. So life gave me a gift, disguised

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as a pause, and I went to actually live it. I

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want to tell you about a trip I took to Europe

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two years ago because it became a turning point

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in a way I did not expect. My wife and I had

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dreamed of this trip for a very long time, 14

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days. Spain, Italy, the history, the beauty,

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all of it. It was the kind of trip you imagine

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your whole life. And when we got there, it was

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everything I'd imagined and more. And I could

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barely access any of it. Over the couple of years

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leading up to that trip, my Hashimoto's thyroiditis

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had flown out of control. I had kind of given

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up caring for my body. I had gained a bunch of

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weight. On that trip, I was exhausted even before

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we landed. The plane seats felt smaller than

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I remembered, and between the long flight and

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the tailbone and knee pain that set in from sitting

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for too long, I arrived already exhausted, already

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depleted. By day two, my ankles had swollen into

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the size of actual literal grapefruits. Every

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step on the cobblestones sent pain shooting through

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my feet. I was breathless with movement that

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should have been easy. I didn't trust my balance

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or my mobility. I didn't trust my strength. I

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didn't trust my body at all. We had planned to

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walk everywhere. That was going to be a huge

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part of the experience, wandering through these

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ancient streets and at our own pace. Instead,

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we ended up spending money we hadn't budgeted

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on. for cabs and transportation because I simply

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couldn't do it. I remember my wife, not unkindly,

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just genuinely worried about the budget, making

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a comment about what we were spending, and I

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just absorbed it. Because she was right, and

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I knew why. There were moments I will never forget.

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Standing in front of Michelangelo's David, this

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impossibly breathtaking thing. Feeling genuine

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awe and genuine pain at the same time. Trying

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to hold both. Walking around the Colosseum in

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the very extreme summer heat because we had a

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heat wave that year. Putting on a smile because

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this was our dream trip and I didn't want to

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ruin it. While inside, I was just trying to survive

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the next hundred feet. Watching my wife ride

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a Vespa through the Italian countryside with

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the other couples on our tour while I rode in

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the Fiat with the tour guide because I just didn't

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trust that I could move my body quickly enough

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if I needed to was simultaneously beautiful and

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fun but also really sad and added to this enormous

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wake -up call. I had a Very little desire to

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take any photos, and I'm so glad I took photos

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anyway. I had to override something in myself

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to do it, but I did. And I've learned to look

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at those photos with such deep love. That woman,

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that version of me, was doing her absolute best.

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She showed up for the dream even when her body

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made it harder than it should have been. And

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I'm so appreciative of that because the memories

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really are overarchingly beautiful. But I came

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home knowing something had to absolutely change.

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Not someday, not when it was convenient. The

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trip I had waited years for had been real, and

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I had spent most of it managing pain instead

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of living it. I didn't want that to be my story

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anymore, so I decided it wouldn't be. When I

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got home, something deep inside of me had shifted.

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I started getting more and more serious about

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my health in a way I hadn't before. And part

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of that meant finding a doctor who would actually

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partner with me. My previous doctor, on what

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became my last visit, looked at my chart and

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said, and I'll never forget this, she said, you're

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healthy. I'm not sure what you want to do. And

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I remember thinking, I want to feel like myself.

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I want to actually heal. not just be told my

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numbers are fine, I want my body to stop attacking

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my thyroid. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune

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condition, and I had spent years being managed

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instead of healed. Find a doctor who believed

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that healing was actually possible, who is willing

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to dig in with me on nutrition, on leaky gut,

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on the whole picture. That changed everything.

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It's been and continues to be a slow process,

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but I am genuinely healing. And that experience

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taught me something I now believe deeply. You

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deserve a partner in your health, not just a

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gatekeeper. Around the same time, I got really

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honest with myself about the basics. I call them

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my four pillars. Movement, sleep, hydration,

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and nourishing my body, mind, and spirit. Simple,

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right? And yet... I had been skating on knowing

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them without truly living them, at least not

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consistently. That word consistently had been

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my gap for a long time. Something deep and profound

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clicked this time. I don't fully know how to

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explain it except to say that I finally stopped

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negotiating with myself. I'm now well over 60

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days into eating fully clean, alcohol -free,

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moving my body regularly. And I want to be clear,

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this isn't about a number on the scale, though

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that shifted too. It's about finally feeling

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at home in my body, which, after Europe, felt

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like the most important thing I could do. It's

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been a long process from getting off of that

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plane home to getting to where I am today. But

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the one thing that has become my strength has

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been consistency. Consistency in doing a little

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bit more, in getting a little bit better, in

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finding a little bit more support, in following

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through a little bit more often. Other things

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have changed too. It's funny when you start to

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revamp one thing and pay close attention to yourself

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and listen to the calling within you, other things

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start to change and fall in line too. I've recently

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gone back to school and I'm studying psychology,

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which has been equal parts fascinating and personally

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illuminating because it turns out understanding

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how the human mind works gives you a lot of compassion

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for yourself and everyone around you. I've spent

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25 years coaching intuitively and now I'm getting

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the framework to understand why it works. It's

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been one of the most energizing decisions I've

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made. in a very long time. And I got honest about

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something else. About wanting more for my life

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professionally. I love what I do in real estate,

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genuinely. But not for the reason most people

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assume. It's never been about houses for me.

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It's about walking alongside people through major

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life transitions. That I will probably always

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do in some form. But I also got clear that I

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have a bigger calling. And I'd been telling myself

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a story that I wasn't qualified enough to pursue

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it. That without a degree, the door was closed.

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So I'm going back and I'm getting the degree.

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Because she, the woman I'm becoming, doesn't

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let a logistical barrier be the reason she stays

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small. I'm telling you all of this not because

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my story is exceptional, but because I think

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it might be familiar. Maybe you're someone who

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knows what she should be doing and isn't quite

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doing it yet. Maybe you can see her, that version

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of you, so clearly. And the gap between here

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and her feels embarrassing or exhausting or like

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evidence that something is wrong with you. And

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it's not. It really isn't. It's just the work.

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And the work is exactly what this show is about.

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If you're in your late 30s and beyond, maybe

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you're in perimenopause, feeling like your body

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is a stranger. You might be in a relationship

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or newly out of one, trying to remember who you

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are. You might be happy, genuinely happy, and

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still haunted by this quiet feeling that there's

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more. All of that belongs here. You belong here.

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None of us were meant to figure this out on our

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own. And I spent too long trying to. So here's

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what to be her now is going to be going forward.

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We're going to have longer conversations. We're

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leaving the 10 minute episodes behind. I want

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to actually go somewhere with you. I want to

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talk about women's health and perimenopause and

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what it means to care for yourself in midlife.

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I want to talk about worthiness and purpose and

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spirituality. and what it looks like to actually

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close the gap between who you are and who you

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feel called to be. I want to talk about consistency,

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not as a buzzword, but as the quiet revolutionary

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act it actually is. I'm going to show up as someone

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who is on this path with you, not someone who's

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arrived, because I think that's actually more

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useful. I know what it feels like to know the

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right things and not live them. And I know what

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it feels like when something finally clicks.

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We're going to explore all of it. I'm also going

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to be talking about the things that don't always

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get airtime in the personal growth space. The

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physical stuff, the hormonal stuff, the nobody

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told me midlife would feel like this stuff. Because

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your body is part of your becoming. You can't

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separate them. And down the road, I'd love to

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bring other women into this conversation. Women

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who are living it, figuring it out, becoming

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her in real time, because their stories belong

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here too. I'm so grateful you found your way

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here, or back here, if you've been with me before.

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Either way, you're right on time. If this episode

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resonated with you, will you do something for

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me? Share it with just one woman in your life

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who needs to hear it. Not because I need numbers,

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but because she might be sitting somewhere, right

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now, feeling alone in exactly the way we've been

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talking about today. And she deserves to know

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she's not alone, too. You can find me on Instagram,

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and I would genuinely love to hear from you.

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Tell me what you brought here. Tell me what you're

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working on. Tell me who she is, the woman you're

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becoming. I'll be back soon with more. Until

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then... Be her now, not someday.