say YES to yourself! | Midlife Reinvention: Real Stories, Bold Moves

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
Joni Woods spent nearly 20 years as a youth and young adult pastor before leaving both her marriage and the church that shaped her. Now an author and corporate consultant, she joins Wendy to talk about what it actually takes to trust yourself when the people around you don't agree with your choices. 
They explore:
Why "anchoring down" on your own reasons matters more than winning an argument, especially when family, faith leaders, or an ex-spouse are working hard to change your mind
The difference between grace that heals a relationship and grace that's used to justify staying in something harmful
How writing through a contentious divorce turned into a book meant to give other people language for what they're not ready to say out loud yet
Joni's story isn't about rejecting faith. It's about redefining what alignment with it looks like on her own terms. Her decision to leave didn't come with anyone doing it for her or with her, and that's exactly the point: the anchoring has to come from inside.
Connect with Joni:
Get her book, Burned, Blocked, and Better than Ever: A Raw Journey of Healing: amazon.com/Burned-Blocked-Better-Than-Ever/dp/B0FGCXZBHX?tag=syty-20
Instagram: instagram.com/authorjoniwoods
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joniwoods
Website: JoniWoods.com 
Referenced in this Episode:
Coffee Chat with Joni: https://youtu.be/AC4ZlMAzeGM
The Vow Series: imdb.com/title/tt10222764/
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Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Kristine Jensen, a psychotherapist who spent 35+ years helping clients heal shame, while carrying a deep sense of unworthiness herself. After closing her practice and moving to the California coast, she finally became her own client. What she discovered: shame is foundational, not superficial. It's not embarrassment or guilt. It's a survival mechanism rooted in childhood, where you learned to collapse, comply, and hide in order to feel safe. And it shapes everything.
They explore:
Shame vs. other emotions: the misunderstood feeling that keeps women small, quiet, and disempowered
Self-soothing internal dialogue: the practice children with healthy self-esteem learn early, and what happens when you have to teach it to yourself as an adult
Stop telling your old story: why repeatedly reliving trauma reinforces neural pathways, and how moving toward who you're becoming shifts everything
The work isn't about understanding what happened to you. It's about learning to talk to yourself the way you'd talk to someone you love. Building an internal vocabulary of self-encouragement. Getting tired of your old story so you can create a new one. This is how unworthiness heals.
Connect with Kristine:
kristine-jensen.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kristinebjensenauthor
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kristine-jensen-203a09129/
Get her book, Bruised Not Broken: amazon.com/Bruised-Not-Broken-Troubled-Childhood/dp/B0DZ2PZN37?tag=syty-20
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Kate Assaraf, founder of Dipped—a plastic-free shampoo and conditioner bar company born from 20 years in the beauty industry and a decade of frustration. In 2014, Kate discovered something most people don't know: plastic is way more problematic than the average consumers know. Recycling is a farce. Plastic leaches chemicals into our bloodstream and messes with our endocrine systems. But instead of guilt-tripping people into sustainability, she built something radical: a product so good, people switch for quality and savings first, then realize it's plastic-free as a bonus.
They explore:
Why most sustainable beauty products fail: they're made for a specific avatar (linen-wearing boho) and disappoint people switching from expensive hair care
Building a brand on integrity, not influencers: no UGC actors, no AI, only actual paying customers. Result: 0.006% return rate.
Reinvesting in local economy: money spent at zero-waste stores stays in your community, supports your fire department and schools, brings back face-to-face commerce
Kate's philosophy is simple: don't guilt people into doing the right thing. Give them really good stuff. Treat smart women like smart women. Let quality and integrity be your marketing. The scaffolding is strong, the messaging is real, and people buy it over and over again.
Connect with Kate:
DipAlready.com
Instagram: instagram.com/dipalready
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kate-assaraf-b25a741a7
Referenced in this Episode:
HiBar: hellohibar.com
Bite: bitetoothpastebits.com
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Jossie Haines, a former Apple engineer who led teams on Siri, won a technical Emmy, and looked like she had it all figured out, until she realized the cost. After years in the frenetic tech industry where success equals hours worked and busyness is a badge of honor, she left. Then she took six months off and discovered something radical: she didn't have to keep living that way.
They explore:
Why hustle culture is a lie: career success doesn't have to come at the cost of your nervous system
Practical tools that actually work: worry dumps, scheduled worry time, and nervous system regulation
How to build both: the career success AND the personal wellbeing, not choosing between them
Jossie's work now centers on helping people, especially high-achievers in tech, understand that both sides of the equation matter. Burnout isn't inevitable. Your nervous system can be regulated even while you're doing ambitious work. It just takes intention, tools, and permission to step away from the myth that productivity equals worth.
Connect with Jossie:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jossiemann
JossieHaines.com
Referenced in this Episode:
Cake on Tuesday Podcast by Elizabeth Bieniek: podcast.cakeontuesday.com
Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine: amazon.com/dp/1608322785?tag=syty-20
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.

Fan Mail: Tell Wendy how you're saying yes to yourself!
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Dawn Pfingsten, a beauty and skincare creator who's spent the last decade on social media, and learned that perfectionism is the cage keeping women stuck as a result. Raised in the South with the conditioning to "look good before volleyball practice," she gradually dismantled that cage by showing up authentically: sweaty walks on camera, no-makeup days, real life. But the real story isn't about skincare. It's about seasons.
They explore:
How perfectionism shifts as you age: in your 20s you judge, but in your 40s and 50s, you assume good intent and give people the benefit of the doubt
Life has seasons, not failures: parenting phases, empty nests, marriage evolution aren't bad, they're just different, and you get to choose if you'll find good in the next phase
The power of following what feels right over what's shiny: roadblocks often mean "this way," and sometimes you have to try something to know if it's not for you
When her kids started growing up and moving out, Dawn made a choice: intentionally find good in this next chapter or spend 40 years miserable. So she moved to a farmhouse, started raising sheep, and traded her dresses for Target jeans, because she realized she still has so much more life left.
Connect with Dawn:
Instagram: instagram.com/justdoingmybest
Facebook: facebook.com/justdoingmybest
YouTube: youtube.com/justdoingmybest
Referenced in this Episode:
Naturium.com
________________________________________________________________________________________
Connect with Wendy:
Linkedin
Instagram: @wendy.harrop
Facebook: Phineas Wright House
Website: Phineas Wright House
PWH Farm Stays
PWH Curated Experience and Travel
Interested in being a guest on the show?
Send your pitch to podcast@phineaswrighthouse.com
Podcast Production By Shannon Warner of Resonant Collective
Want to start your own podcast? Let's chat!
If this episode resonated, follow Say YES to Yourself! and leave a  5-star review. It helps more women in midlife discover the tools, stories, and community that make saying YES not only possible, but powerful.