💬 message Denise

What if it was never about the food?

Betsy Brenner didn't receive her eating disorder diagnosis until her 40s. She was a mother of three, a high school tennis coach, a woman who — by every visible measure — had it together. And she was quietly disappearing, not just physically, but from herself.

What she eventually learned: the behaviours were never the problem. They were the symptom. What lived underneath was decades of internalized emotion, unspoken grief, profound anxiety, and a childhood shaped by the belief that vulnerability equals weakness.

In this conversation, Betsy — author of The Longest Match: Rallying to Defeat an Eating Disorder in Midlife, recovery speaker, and founder of Gifts of Recovery — opens the door on what so many women in midlife are carrying alone.

We talk about:

— The "perfect storm" of her 40s that brought a lifetime of emotion to the surface

— Why eating disorders in midlife are so often missed, minimized, or misunderstood

— The difference between professional clinical care and peer support — and why both matter

— What it means to heal when there is no finish line

— The word that describes everything she found on the other side: freedom

It's never too late to be a work in progress.

Connect with Betsy Brenner:

📖 The Longest Match — available on her website and Amazon

📲 Instagram: @BetsyBrennerAuthor

🌐 www.betsybrenner.com

Virtual support groups for women in midlife — reach out via Instagram or email for next session dates

Connect with Denise | Thrive After 45™:

🌐 denisedrinkwalter.com

📲 @thethriveafter45podcast

💫 IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

November 2026, I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™.

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The waitlist is now open.

Get your name on the list now, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

If you loved this episode, I’d be so grateful if you left a review - it helps more amazing women like you find this show!

Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...

💬 message Denise

You've stood at the mirror and felt it — that quiet moment when what used to work simply doesn't anymore. And somewhere in that moment, you wondered if something was wrong with you.

Nothing is wrong with you. No one ever taught you how to work with the skin you're in now.

Gabriela Soares is a professional makeup artist and hairstylist with over 20 years of experience working with women across every age, skin type, and life stage. As a beauty content creator her work has reached over 119 million views — not because she sells products, but because she finally said what millions of women were waiting to hear.

In this conversation Gabi and I go deep into the beauty conversation the industry forgot to have. We talk about why your old techniques stop working after 40, the difference between hiding and decorating, and the one question Gabi asks every woman before she touches a single product. Most importantly — we talk about what it means to finally see yourself clearly enough to bring your own beauty forward.

This isn't a conversation about makeup. It's a conversation about meeting yourself in the mirror again.

In this episode:

- Why foundation stops sitting the same after 40 and what to do about it

- The difference between hunting for the perfect product vs. mastering technique

- How to identify what you love about your face and bring it forward

- Why makeup is decoration not disguise

- What self-love actually looks like on the outside

- Why beauty is the sum of all the parts — not one imperfection

Find Gabi:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GlamGirlGabi
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glamgirlgabi/

119 million views 🤩 and counting — go see why.

When one woman turns her light on, the whole room catches fire. 🔥

#ThriveAfter45 #ItWasNeverAboutTheMakeup #MidlifeBeauty

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

November 2026, I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™.

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The waitlist is now open.

Get your name on the list now, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

If you loved this episode, I’d be so grateful if you left a review - it helps more amazing women like you find this show!

Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...

💬 message Denise

A gentle heads up: Chad's honesty doesn't always come wrapped in pretty language — and that's exactly what makes it land. Some mild profanity ahead. The truth, as always, is worth it.

You've done the work. And still — something keeps showing up the same way.

Chad Taylor didn't choose to become a psychotherapist. Life chose it for him. Twenty-five years in recovery, a plumbing business, criminal charges, and a series of moments that cracked him wide open — that's what built the man who now sits with thousands of clients across every age, every story, every kind of pain.

In this conversation, Chad and I go deep into the one thing most of us spend a lifetime avoiding: our own reflection. We talk about the black wolf and the white wolf — and why the one you feed is the one that wins. We explore egocentricity, why patterns keep repeating, and what it actually takes to stop blaming and start looking inward.

This isn't comfortable. It wasn't meant to be. But if something in your life keeps showing up the same way, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

- Why self-reflection is the hardest thing we'll ever do

- The difference between ego and egocentricity

- The 5-column inventory that reveals your part in every resentment

- What the black wolf feeds on — and how to starve it

- Why curiosity and compassion change every conversation

- Why "it's not the first drink — it's the first think"

Find Chad: chadtaylorpsychotherapy.com.au

Website: chadtaylorpsychotherapy.com.au

Podcast: It’s You. Oh F*ck. It’s ME. In Session with a Psychotherapist.

📲Instagram: chadaylor.it’s you

TikTok: chadaylor.it’s you

Chad’s book It's You is available on Amazon, Shopify, and Audible.

When one woman turns her light on, the whole room catches fire. 🔥

#ThriveAfter45 #FeedTheRightWolf #MidlifeAwakening

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

November 2026, I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™.

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The waitlist is now open.

Get your name on the list now, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

If you loved this episode, I’d be so grateful if you left a review - it helps more amazing women like you find this show!

Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...