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 Cara Lockwood, a USA Today bestselling author. When Cara was diagnosed with breast cancer, she discovered something unexpected: you don't have to be positive to be strong. You can fight cancer salty, sarcastic, and real. In this conversation, she talks about the power of authenticity, the mythology of toxic positivity, and why the universe responds to your vibration, not your words.
They explore:
Why vulnerability isn't weakness, and how being honest about fear, anger, and overwhelm is actually the strongest choice you can make
You still get to decide: how to maintain agency and power even when crisis feels like it's driving the bus
Focus as a superpower: how intentionally looking for joy (an English muffin with jam or a cup of tea) grounds you and helps change what's possible
Cara's whole philosophy is about refusing to choose between authenticity and strength. You don't have to fake positivity to access joy. You don't have to deny the hard thing to focus on what you love. What matters is your vibration, your focus, and your willingness to stay real about where you are while choosing what brings you alive. That's how you keep your power: not by pretending everything's fine, but by refusing to let the hard thing be the only thing.
Connect with Cara:
CaraTheAuthor.com
Her Books: caratheauthor.com/author
Instagram: instagram.com/cara.the.author
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/cara-tanamachi-lockwood-benoit-563b5040
Referenced in this Episode:
A Course in Miracles (Wendy's favorite links):
apps.apple.com/us/app/acim-remind/id737568020
amazon.com/Course-Miracles-Combined-Quality/dp/1883360242?tag=syty-20
marianne.com/acim/
________________________________________________________________________________________
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!
Join Wendy for the 2027 Summer Solstice White Party at the Phineas Wright House. A celebration of community, intention, and connection. Save your seat here: phineaswrighthouse.com/the-shop/p/summer-solstice-white-party-2027
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Kim Costa, a real estate professional and author who believes your home is far more than a financial transaction—it's a reflection of your soul. After years in real estate and a background in residential construction and design, Kim has developed a framework for making conscious housing decisions aligned with who you actually are. She's written a book featuring the Wheelhouse Assessment, a tool that helps people understand the 8 areas of their life and what their home needs to support.
They explore:
Why your home is a spiritual alignment tool, not just a practical one, and what happens when it's out of alignment
How to use the Wheelhouse Assessment and Maslow's hierarchy to distinguish between real needs and aesthetic wants
Why knowing yourself is the foundation for choosing a home that actually serves you
Kim's philosophy is simple: life transitions, whether forced upon us or chosen, are opportunities to recalibrate and ask the hard questions. Your home can either support that process or resist it. The work isn't just about finding the right house. It's about understanding who you're becoming and whether your living space can hold that version of you. That's conscious choosing.
Connect with Kim:
Website: lifestylefoundations.com
Instagram: instagram.com/kim.e.costa
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kimecosta
Her Podcast, Live in Your Wheelhouse: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-in-your-wheel-house/id1853930729
Get her book, Live in Your Wheelhouse: amazon.com/Live-Your-Wheel-House-Empowering/dp/B0GKTB5Z7C?tag=syty-20
Referenced in this Episode:
Books by Gay Hendricks: 
The Genius Zone: The Breakthrough Process to End Negative Thinking and Live in True Creativity: amazon.com/Genius-Zone-Breakthrough-Negative-Creativity/dp/1250246547?tag=syty-20
The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level: amazon.com/Big-Leap-Conquer-Hidden-Level/dp/0061735361?tag=syty-20
Wendy's HGTV Appearance: New House New Life, Season 1 Episode 3: amazon.com/New-House-Life-Season/dp/B091HZQ912
________________________________________________________________________________________
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!
Join Wendy for the 2027 Summer Solstice White Party at the Phineas Wright House. A celebration of community, intention, and connection. Save your seat here: phineaswrighthouse.com/the-shop/p/summer-solstice-white-party-2027
In this episode, Wendy sits down with Nancy Griffin, who has spent nearly three decades exploring the intersection of health and wealth, and how both are foundational to women's self-worth, power, and legacy. Nancy started Women Worth & Wellness 30 years ago when women were beginning to earn real money but didn't know how to think about it strategically. Over three decades, she's evolved the mission: it's no longer just about building net worth. It's about women stepping into the power they've earned and choosing what to do with it.
They explore:
Why health and wealth belong together and how integrating them fuels women's power
What it means for women to step into the opportunity they're in of more earning, more inheriting, and longer life expectancy
How knowing your uniqueness and delegating allows you to invest your greatest asset of time in what matters most
Nancy's philosophy is simple: women have already achieved an incredible amount. Now the question is: what are you going to do with that power? Not from a place of obligation or guilt, but from genuine alignment with your values. She talks about twinning health and wealth in every conversation, because you can't show up powerfully in the world if you're not taking care of yourself. And once you're grounded, the real work begins: stepping in, stepping up, and amplifying your impact through generosity, philanthropy, and legacy.
Connect with Nancy:
Email: nancy@womenworthwellness.com
Website: WomenWorthWellness.com
Instagram: instagram.com/womenworthandwellness
Facebook: facebook.com/womenworthandwellness
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/womenworthandwellness
________________________________________________________________________________________
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 Jan Goss, executive consultant, bestselling author, and founder of Show Up Well Consulting. Jan teaches a comprehensive framework for showing up as your whole, aligned self—not just at work, but at home, in relationships, and in every role you hold. She's spent decades building businesses, raising foster children, and discovering that true success isn't about shiny exteriors. It's about alignment, wholeness, and leading with love.
They explore:
Why self-love and alignment are the foundation for showing up well everywhere
How love brings cohesion, and the two-degree shifts that help you move toward it
What it means to show up whole as a parent, partner, executive, and human being
Jan's philosophy is simple but radical: all of you is delicious, including the parts you'd rather hide. She talks about facing fear with compassion, making tiny shifts toward alignment, and discovering that love is a universal protocol that works in the boardroom and the bedroom, in parenting and in marriage. The roadblocks are comparison and fear, but the tools are practical: self-discovery and the willingness to show up as yourself, fully aligned, in every relationship that matters.
Connect with Jan:
Get her book, Bedroom Etiquette: How to Show Up Well Behind Closed Doors: amazon.com/Bedroom-Etiquette-Behind-Closed-Doors/dp/B0DXV7W8S1?tag=syty-20
ShowUpWell.com
Instagram: instagram.com/showupwell
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/showupwell
Referenced in this Episode:
A Course in Miracles Links:
amazon.com/Course-Miracles-Combined-Quality/dp/1883360242?tag=syty-20
marianne.com/acim/
apps.apple.com/us/app/acim-remind/id737568020
________________________________________________________________________________________
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 Karen Mayer Cunningham, special education advocate and author of Epic IEP, a framework that transforms the complicated federal special education law into actionable steps. After years of doing 500 IEP meetings annually, Karen realized her greatest pain in motherhood had become her biggest calling: helping families navigate special education when the system feels impossibly complicated.
They explore:
What it means to advocate WITH schools, not against them, and why that partnership matters
Why children with disabilities have capacity, but they need the right intervention and support to reach equity
The scope of need: why individual advocacy alone isn't enough
Karen's approach is fundamentally collaborative: she works alongside teachers, administrators, and families because she knows they're all navigating a system that's overwhelming for everyone. Her conviction is simple: when we start seeing each other as partners working toward the same goal, that's when children actually get what they need. 
Connect with Karen:
Get her book, The Epic IEP: amazon.com/Epic-IEP-Educators-Advocates-Navigating/dp/1637635125?tag=syty-20
SpecialEducationAcademy.com
Instagram: instagram.com/specialeducationboss
________________________________________________________________________________________
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.