When Divorce Becomes A New Beginning

On this episode of The Rewrite, I’m talking with Jody Bauer, a certified High-Conflict Divorce Coach and founder of Solidarity Consulting. Jody spent 27 years as a Nurse Practitioner, but it was her own divorce that changed the direction of her life. She spent years hyper-aware of her ex-husband’s moods, managing her home and her reactions while trying to protect her children. After their 20-year marriage ended, the divorce became a five-year journey of emotional, financial, and legal chaos. Today, Jody helps protective parents understand what can happen to the nervous system when you’ve been living in a constant state of fear, uncertainty, and hypervigilance. We talk about divorce terror, the physical symptoms that can come with prolonged stress, why fear of retaliation can keep people from leaving, and why even smart, successful people can find themselves thinking, “How did I not see this?” This is a conversation about divorce, the body, survival, and ultimately finding your way back to yourself. Follow Jody: @jody_in_solidarity 

On this episode of The Rewrite, I’m joined by psychotherapist and author Amber Martin Smith. Amber’s Rewrite is about what happens when you’ve spent years being the “good girl”—people-pleasing, perfectionism, motherhood, marriage—and somewhere along the way, you lose yourself. After spending eleven years in a marriage that nearly erased her, Amber rebuilt her life and began looking more deeply at the expectations so many women carry—the pressure to be everything to everyone.We talk about what happens when you realize you’ve lost yourself, what it takes to come back, and who you become on the other side.Amber is the author of The Long Journey Home: Notes from a Mother On Losing and Finding Your Way Back. Follow Amber @ambermartinsmith

On this episode of The Rewrite, I’m welcoming back Marisa Belger for a second conversation. The first time we talked, Marisa shared her own divorce story — and how she went from believing divorce meant she had failed to realizing it could become one of the most transformative experiences of her life. This time, we go deeper.What happens when you stop trying to put your old life back together and start building something new?How do you learn to trust yourself again?How do you create a healthy co-parenting relationship when emotions are complicated?And can exes, new partners and children actually become a family that genuinely enjoys being together?Marisa has created that kind of blended family herself — and now helps other women find their way there, too. We talk about self-trust, healing, co-parenting, children, blended families, being “Unwrecked,” and what it really means to create a life that looks different from the one you once imagined. And I loved this conversation.Follow Marisa @marisabelger   

What happens when you’re given a 1% chance of survival? For entrepreneur and author Vincent Van den Broeck, that question became personal in 2024 when he was hit by a car, spent three weeks in a coma, underwent emergency brain surgery, and had to rebuild his life from the ground up. But Vincent’s story isn’t just about surviving. It’s about what happens when you get another chance — and decide to intentionally build a life that actually matters to you. On this episode of The Rewrite, Wendy and Vincent talk about resilience, marriage, entrepreneurship, health, relationships, purpose, and the decision to stop simply going through life and start intentionally creating it. Vincent is the author of Everything Feels Impossible Until It’s Done, and founder of UID Club, a community focused on helping people improve their health, wealth, relationships and mindset. This is such an honest conversation about adversity, perspective and choosing what comes next. Follow Vincent: @vincentinthekitchenLearn more: www.theuidclub.comGet his book: Everything Feels Impossible Until It’s Done

What happens when you spend years chasing the version of success you were told you were supposed to want… only to realize it doesn’t make you happy? That’s exactly where Ariel Friedman’s Rewrite began. Ariel spent years building a career in corporate marketing, chasing stability, success and the traditional climb up the ladder. But eventually, she realized she didn’t want to spend her life working toward a life she wasn’t excited to live. She stepped away, worked with a life coach, redefined what success meant to her, and discovered her true purpose: helping young people find their own voice, build confidence and resilience, and create a life that feels meaningful to them. Today, Ariel is a Certified Youth Life Coach working with kids, teens and emerging adults — helping them keep that light inside of them shining brightly instead of allowing outside expectations to dim it. I loved our conversation about redefining success, following what feels meaningful, and why we don’t have to settle for a life we feel the need to escape from.  Follow Ariel and learn more about her youth life coaching:@arielfriedmancoachingabout.me/arielfriedmancoaching 

My guest today knows divorce from both sides of the microphone. At 33, Allison Kahler found herself wrestling with a question so many people quietly ask themselves: Do I stay, or do I go? She felt lonely, guilty, ashamed and afraid. And leaving meant letting go of the life she thought she was supposed to have. But that ending became the beginning of an entirely new life. Today, Allison is the host of The D. Tales with Allison Kahler, an executive coach, and a self-proclaimed “Divorce Data Nerd,” sharing real divorce stories and the information she wishes she had when she was 33. We talk about relationship ambivalence, the fear of making the wrong decision, reinventing yourself after divorce, and what it really means to choose yourself and begin again. Because sometimes the hardest part of the rewrite isn’t knowing where you’re going. It’s giving yourself permission to leave where you are. Follow Allison : @thedtalespodcast

"My rewrite started twice.” That’s how Jamie Lima describes his story — first as a child watching his parents’ marriage fall apart, and later when he experienced divorce himself. After 20 years as a financial planner, Jamie knew the numbers. But going through divorce taught him something no professional training could. Today, he’s a CFP, CDFA, Certified Mediator, founder of Allegiant Divorce Solutions, and co-founder & CEO of SecureSplit. We talk about divorce, money, starting over, taking risks, entrepreneurship, and intentionally designing your next chapter. Because sometimes the hardest chapter of our lives becomes the one that changes everything.Follow: Jamie LimaInstagram - Allegiant Divorce Solutions Instagram - SecureSplit

What happens when you spend years building a life around someone else—and somewhere along the way, you lose yourself? On this episode of The Rewrite, I’m joined by British actor and writer Paul Drayton, whose remarkable journey takes us from Sunderland to London’s nightlife and celebrity world, through a very public relationship, addiction and recovery, divorce—and ultimately, to a quieter and happier life in the countryside. Paul’s new memoir, Ride or Die Trying, is raw, honest, funny, and incredibly human. We talk about what it means to lose yourself inside a relationship, the complicated reality of ending a marriage in the public eye, addiction and recovery, his late-in-life ADHD diagnosis, forgiveness, and perhaps the biggest question of all: Who are you when the life you thought you’d have is no longer the life you’re living? Paul’s story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the end of a chapter isn’t the end of your story. Sometimes, it’s where you finally begin to Rewrite it. Ride or Die Trying by Paul DraytonInstagram: @pauldrayton1 Website: pauldrayton.co.uk

On this episode of The Rewrite, I’m talking with Marcelle LeBlanc, founder of The Conversation Architect, about what happens when we ignore that little voice telling us something isn’t right. Marcelle knows this firsthand. After discovering that her husband had been living a second life in another state with a long-term girlfriend, she found herself emotionally devastated, financially overwhelmed, and facing a life she never imagined. But her story didn’t end there. She rebuilt her life, created a successful multi-million-dollar business, and went on to have thousands of deeply honest conversations with women about relationships, intimacy, loneliness, resentment, and the things we often avoid saying out loud. Her message is one I think so many women need to hear: Stop living in hope. Start asking. Because sometimes one honest conversation can save you years.  Follow Marcelle:https://www.facebook.com/TheConversationArchitect https://www.instagram.com/the_conversation_architect/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/theconversationarchitect/

I’m honored to welcome back Dr. Stephen Paul Edwards for his second appearance on The Rewrite. Dr. Stephen Paul Edwards is an author and speaker who explores the deeper patterns behind relationships, desire, and personal transformation. His work focuses on helping individuals understand the unconscious behaviors that shape their lives—and how to consciously change them.When Stephen first joined me, we talked about the hidden patterns that shape our relationships, the stories we tell ourselves, and the moments when we have to be brave enough to face the truth. On this episode, we continue that conversation as he shares his newest book, The Venus Fly Trap: Enough is Never Enough — a powerful exploration of self-awareness, accountability, and the choices we make when we’re ready to stop repeating the same chapters. This episode is about looking inward, understanding ourselves more deeply, and recognizing that real change begins when we’re willing to take responsibility for our own story. Because rewriting your life doesn’t mean erasing your past… it means choosing what comes next. Listen to this meaningful conversation on The Rewrite.Follow Dr. Stephen Paul Edwards Tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@vft23_official?lang=en Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575468609762 Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/seemiracles/ X https://x.com/Stephen_Edwardz Instagram https://www.instagram.com/stephen_sapereaude/ Website https://vft23.com/