Hi, I'm Cara. I believe every woman carries a
vision of who she longs to become, and that's
no accident. Grab your favorite beverage and
settle into a cozy spot, because this is that
kind of conversation. That quiet knowing you're
meant for more? It's not wishful thinking, but
a calling on your heart. And every soul calling
deserves an answer. Not someday, today, right
now. Together, we'll explore what it really means
to be her now. The healing, the worthiness, the
work, the becoming. Because none of us were meant
to figure this out on our own. Whatever brought
you here today, trust it. You belong here. I
want to start today by telling you about a message
I recently received. It came out of nowhere from
someone I recently worked with and coached. and
would now consider a friend, now that I'm no
longer with that company. But she was reaching
out to tell me that she'd been going through
a really painful breakup and that this podcast
had been helping her to get through it. She just
wanted to let me know. I sat with that message
for a long time because honestly, I'd gone quiet.
I'd stepped away from the show and I had told
myself all kinds of stories about why. Life got
busy. I wasn't ready. It wasn't good enough yet.
But the truth is, that message cracked something
back open in me. It reminded me why I started
this in the first place. And it felt like the
universe tapping me on the shoulder saying, okay,
it's time. So here I am. And I'm so glad you're
here too. I feel like before we move forward,
we need to step back a bit. I want to talk about
the gap because I think it's actually the most
important part of this story and maybe the most
relevant to you. When I started to be her now,
I meant every word. The passion was and is real.
The mission is real. I had spent over 25 years
coaching women and I knew this work mattered.
But somewhere in the process of putting it out
there, I bumped into something uncomfortable.
I was teaching principles I deeply believe in,
and then going home and not fully living them.
At least not consistently. Not in my body, not
in my habits, not in my health. And I think part
of me knew that. I think that's actually what
made it hard to keep showing up. Not perfectionism
exactly. It was more like I could feel the distance
between what I was saying and where I actually
was. and I didn't want to keep talking about
becoming her while quietly wondering if I was
doing it myself. So life gave me a gift, disguised
as a pause, and I went to actually live it. I
want to tell you about a trip I took to Europe
two years ago because it became a turning point
in a way I did not expect. My wife and I had
dreamed of this trip for a very long time, 14
days. Spain, Italy, the history, the beauty,
all of it. It was the kind of trip you imagine
your whole life. And when we got there, it was
everything I'd imagined and more. And I could
barely access any of it. Over the couple of years
leading up to that trip, my Hashimoto's thyroiditis
had flown out of control. I had kind of given
up caring for my body. I had gained a bunch of
weight. On that trip, I was exhausted even before
we landed. The plane seats felt smaller than
I remembered, and between the long flight and
the tailbone and knee pain that set in from sitting
for too long, I arrived already exhausted, already
depleted. By day two, my ankles had swollen into
the size of actual literal grapefruits. Every
step on the cobblestones sent pain shooting through
my feet. I was breathless with movement that
should have been easy. I didn't trust my balance
or my mobility. I didn't trust my strength. I
didn't trust my body at all. We had planned to
walk everywhere. That was going to be a huge
part of the experience, wandering through these
ancient streets and at our own pace. Instead,
we ended up spending money we hadn't budgeted
on. for cabs and transportation because I simply
couldn't do it. I remember my wife, not unkindly,
just genuinely worried about the budget, making
a comment about what we were spending, and I
just absorbed it. Because she was right, and
I knew why. There were moments I will never forget.
Standing in front of Michelangelo's David, this
impossibly breathtaking thing. Feeling genuine
awe and genuine pain at the same time. Trying
to hold both. Walking around the Colosseum in
the very extreme summer heat because we had a
heat wave that year. Putting on a smile because
this was our dream trip and I didn't want to
ruin it. While inside, I was just trying to survive
the next hundred feet. Watching my wife ride
a Vespa through the Italian countryside with
the other couples on our tour while I rode in
the Fiat with the tour guide because I just didn't
trust that I could move my body quickly enough
if I needed to was simultaneously beautiful and
fun but also really sad and added to this enormous
wake -up call. I had a Very little desire to
take any photos, and I'm so glad I took photos
anyway. I had to override something in myself
to do it, but I did. And I've learned to look
at those photos with such deep love. That woman,
that version of me, was doing her absolute best.
She showed up for the dream even when her body
made it harder than it should have been. And
I'm so appreciative of that because the memories
really are overarchingly beautiful. But I came
home knowing something had to absolutely change.
Not someday, not when it was convenient. The
trip I had waited years for had been real, and
I had spent most of it managing pain instead
of living it. I didn't want that to be my story
anymore, so I decided it wouldn't be. When I
got home, something deep inside of me had shifted.
I started getting more and more serious about
my health in a way I hadn't before. And part
of that meant finding a doctor who would actually
partner with me. My previous doctor, on what
became my last visit, looked at my chart and
said, and I'll never forget this, she said, you're
healthy. I'm not sure what you want to do. And
I remember thinking, I want to feel like myself.
I want to actually heal. not just be told my
numbers are fine, I want my body to stop attacking
my thyroid. Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune
condition, and I had spent years being managed
instead of healed. Find a doctor who believed
that healing was actually possible, who is willing
to dig in with me on nutrition, on leaky gut,
on the whole picture. That changed everything.
It's been and continues to be a slow process,
but I am genuinely healing. And that experience
taught me something I now believe deeply. You
deserve a partner in your health, not just a
gatekeeper. Around the same time, I got really
honest with myself about the basics. I call them
my four pillars. Movement, sleep, hydration,
and nourishing my body, mind, and spirit. Simple,
right? And yet... I had been skating on knowing
them without truly living them, at least not
consistently. That word consistently had been
my gap for a long time. Something deep and profound
clicked this time. I don't fully know how to
explain it except to say that I finally stopped
negotiating with myself. I'm now well over 60
days into eating fully clean, alcohol -free,
moving my body regularly. And I want to be clear,
this isn't about a number on the scale, though
that shifted too. It's about finally feeling
at home in my body, which, after Europe, felt
like the most important thing I could do. It's
been a long process from getting off of that
plane home to getting to where I am today. But
the one thing that has become my strength has
been consistency. Consistency in doing a little
bit more, in getting a little bit better, in
finding a little bit more support, in following
through a little bit more often. Other things
have changed too. It's funny when you start to
revamp one thing and pay close attention to yourself
and listen to the calling within you, other things
start to change and fall in line too. I've recently
gone back to school and I'm studying psychology,
which has been equal parts fascinating and personally
illuminating because it turns out understanding
how the human mind works gives you a lot of compassion
for yourself and everyone around you. I've spent
25 years coaching intuitively and now I'm getting
the framework to understand why it works. It's
been one of the most energizing decisions I've
made. in a very long time. And I got honest about
something else. About wanting more for my life
professionally. I love what I do in real estate,
genuinely. But not for the reason most people
assume. It's never been about houses for me.
It's about walking alongside people through major
life transitions. That I will probably always
do in some form. But I also got clear that I
have a bigger calling. And I'd been telling myself
a story that I wasn't qualified enough to pursue
it. That without a degree, the door was closed.
So I'm going back and I'm getting the degree.
Because she, the woman I'm becoming, doesn't
let a logistical barrier be the reason she stays
small. I'm telling you all of this not because
my story is exceptional, but because I think
it might be familiar. Maybe you're someone who
knows what she should be doing and isn't quite
doing it yet. Maybe you can see her, that version
of you, so clearly. And the gap between here
and her feels embarrassing or exhausting or like
evidence that something is wrong with you. And
it's not. It really isn't. It's just the work.
And the work is exactly what this show is about.
If you're in your late 30s and beyond, maybe
you're in perimenopause, feeling like your body
is a stranger. You might be in a relationship
or newly out of one, trying to remember who you
are. You might be happy, genuinely happy, and
still haunted by this quiet feeling that there's
more. All of that belongs here. You belong here.
None of us were meant to figure this out on our
own. And I spent too long trying to. So here's
what to be her now is going to be going forward.
We're going to have longer conversations. We're
leaving the 10 minute episodes behind. I want
to actually go somewhere with you. I want to
talk about women's health and perimenopause and
what it means to care for yourself in midlife.
I want to talk about worthiness and purpose and
spirituality. and what it looks like to actually
close the gap between who you are and who you
feel called to be. I want to talk about consistency,
not as a buzzword, but as the quiet revolutionary
act it actually is. I'm going to show up as someone
who is on this path with you, not someone who's
arrived, because I think that's actually more
useful. I know what it feels like to know the
right things and not live them. And I know what
it feels like when something finally clicks.
We're going to explore all of it. I'm also going
to be talking about the things that don't always
get airtime in the personal growth space. The
physical stuff, the hormonal stuff, the nobody
told me midlife would feel like this stuff. Because
your body is part of your becoming. You can't
separate them. And down the road, I'd love to
bring other women into this conversation. Women
who are living it, figuring it out, becoming
her in real time, because their stories belong
here too. I'm so grateful you found your way
here, or back here, if you've been with me before.
Either way, you're right on time. If this episode
resonated with you, will you do something for
me? Share it with just one woman in your life
who needs to hear it. Not because I need numbers,
but because she might be sitting somewhere, right
now, feeling alone in exactly the way we've been
talking about today. And she deserves to know
she's not alone, too. You can find me on Instagram,
and I would genuinely love to hear from you.
Tell me what you brought here. Tell me what you're
working on. Tell me who she is, the woman you're
becoming. I'll be back soon with more. Until
then... Be her now, not someday.