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

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
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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 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
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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 Sarah Barnes-Humphrey about what happens when your entire life plan disappears overnight. Ten days before her 37th birthday, the family business she'd wanted to run since age 16 closed its doors. Job gone. Title gone. Future gone. It was the worst day of her life, but she didn't stay there.
They explore:
When you lose everything, you discover what you're actually made of, and how resilience looks less like inspiration and more like showing up broken
The moment someone told her the work was worth $1,000 and she believed it: how discovering your worth changes everything
The ongoing battle: autoimmune disease, panic attacks since her 20s, a dysregulated nervous system, but continuing to say yes to what matters anyway
Sarah's story isn't about bouncing back perfectly or finding the silver lining. It's about climbing out of rock bottom while still carrying the wounds. It's about rebuilding while your body and mind are still fighting. It's raw, honest, and real.
Connect with Sarah:
Get her book, I Buried Her in a French Press: amazon.com/Buried-Her-French-Press-Finding/dp/1544549466?tag=syty-20
Instagram: instagram.com/sarahbarneshumphrey
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sarahbarneshumphrey
BlendedPledge.org
SarahBarnesHumphrey.com
Podcasts: sarahbarneshumphrey.com/content
Referenced in this Episode:
On Our Best Behavior by Elise Loehnen: amazon.com/dp/059324303X/?tag=syty-20
Lewis Howes Podcast: lewishowes.com/sogpodcast
________________________________________________________________________________________
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 Angela Burk, author of The Real Girl's Guide to Midlife. Angela spent decades saying yes to everything—yes to things she didn't want to do, yes to explanations and justifications, yes to everyone else's needs before her own. Then she hit a wall. Not one explosive moment, but a gradual awareness that she'd lost parts of herself in the process of trying to be everything to everyone. So she started saying no. And her life changed.
They explore:
How saying no is actually saying yes to yourself, and why "no" is a complete sentence that needs no explanation
Breaking patterns rooted in decades of modeled behaviors and old stories about who you're supposed to be
The simple power of speaking your truth out loud: even saying it to yourself in an empty room interrupts a thought pattern and shifts your entire trajectory
Angela's philosophy centers on one core truth: you are not broken; you've just been operating from old blueprints. Midlife is an invitation to get real about what's working and what isn't. Rest isn't weakness. Boundaries aren't selfish. Your voice matters. And the messy middle part—the part nobody talks about—is where the actual transformation happens.
Connect with Angela:
Get her book, Real Girls Guide to Midlife: Hot Takes, True Stories, and Fearless Advice from Women Who’ve Lived It & Experts Who Get It: amazon.com/Real-Girls-Guide-Midlife-Fearless/dp/1959009338?tag=syty-20
realgirlsguidetomidlife.com
Instagram: instagram.com/realgirlsguide55/
Referenced in this Episode:
Episode 281: Aging Gracefully Vs. Aging Helplessly | Dr. Sofia Din: buzzsprout.com/1872382/episodes/18782263 
A Widow's Fire: An Intimate Memoir of Heartbreak, Survival, and Moving Forward by Diane Pike Heiler: amazon.com/Widows-Fire-Intimate-Heartbreak-Survival/dp/B0F67HJ3HW
________________________________________________________________________________________
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 Karla Freeman, a therapist, somatic experiencing practitioner, writer, filmmaker, artist, tango dancer, and playwright. Karla's life is a masterclass in reinvention. She's lived in 5 countries, traveled to 40, and built multiple careers—each one aligned with creativity and transformation. But her story isn't about constantly running. It's about saying yes. To imagination. To calls. To the next chapter, even when the current one is beautiful.
They explore:
How discovering your voice and realizing you have insight worth sharing changes everything
Reinvention as a spiritual practice: following the call even when you have to leave wonderful things behind
Living outside the box and what happens when you stop trying to fit into your family of origin's mold
Karla's philosophy is simple: fall down, get up, do it wrong long enough to learn the lesson. She's been a social worker, therapist, dancer, writer, and now a playwright—gathering all her experiences into one piece. She's lived in Brooklyn, Manhattan, California, Argentina, and Ecuador. She's followed her teachers, her instincts, and her imagination. And she's discovered that the universe supports the people brave enough to say yes.
Connect with Karla:
KarlaFreemanStoryteller.com
Get her book, Creating Magic in Midlife: 101 Questions and Answers to Reinvent Your Work, Relationships, and Life!: amazon.com/Creating-Magic-Midlife-Questions-Relationships/dp/0976554003?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.