The Wendi Era: Learning to Be Happy and Heartbroken at the Same Time

"You're Not Stuck, You're Just in a Moment" Mike Cormier on Finding a New Pace & a New Race to Run

What happens when the career you spent thirty years building disappears overnight? For Coach Mike Cormier, it was the beginning of the most important pivot of his life. In this episode, we sit down with our very first male guest on Her Advantage Collective, a former Silicon Valley tech warrior turned certified fitness coach and founder of RunFitMind. Coach Mike gets raw and honest about burnout, the identity crisis that comes with job loss, and the life-altering moment that forced him to finally face his mental health. In eighteen months he coached one thousand classes at Orange Theory Fitness. He holds a mental health and wellness coaching certification. And he lives by a belief that we haven't stopped thinking about since we hit record — there is no health without mental health. In this episode we talk about: * What it really feels like when your identity disappears with your job title * Why fitness can become an idol — and how to find the balance * The stigma of mental health in men and why Coach Mike says it out loud anyway * What "RunFitMind" means and who it's built for * The one thing Coach Mike wants you to remember if you're in a hard moment right now Change happens by force or by choice. This episode is for every woman who has ever stood in the middle of a pivot and thought — now what. ---------------------------------------- Connect with Coach Mike: * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/coachmikecpt/] * LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelcormiercustomersuccess/] ---------------------------------------- Connect with Her Advantage Collective: * Substack: The Advantage Writes [https://misskbwrites.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips] * Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with the woman in your life who needs to hear it.

You May Be the Only One Holding You Back Featuring Erann Lincoln

What if the only thing standing between you and the life you actually want is you? In this episode we sit down with Erann Lincoln — director-level executive in the aerospace and aviation industry, mother of two, wife to one, and someone who knew exactly what she wanted and spent years talking herself out of it anyway. From a breaking point during the pandemic that brought her to her knees, to a deliberate decision to start saying yes, Erann's story is equal parts honest, funny, and deeply relatable. She talks about the structural changes she made to actually make it work, the investments she made in herself that changed everything, and the moment she looked in the mirror and made a decision that every woman in this audience needs to hear. If you have ever felt like you have more to give, this one is for you. In this conversation we talk about: * Why saying yes is a decision, not a feeling — and why no one can make it for you * The moment during the pandemic that broke everything open and what she did next * The structural changes that actually made her career possible — and why she doesn't apologize for any of them * What she said to herself the day she decided she was done feeling guilty for being ambitious * Why investing in yourself is not taking from your family — it's the whole point

The Wendi Era: Learning to Be Happy and Heartbroken at the Same Time

What do you do when life asks you to keep going after losing the people who made it make sense? Wendi Marshall has walked through every mother's worst fear, the loss of her daughter Lauren at 23, and then years later the sudden loss of her husband of 42 years. She didn't just survive. She built a nonprofit, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in Lauren's name, showed up for her grandkids, and somewhere along the way learned to flirt with the world again. This episode is for anyone who has ever walked through loss and couldn't find the words, and for anyone who has ever loved someone in pain and didn't know how to move toward them without being afraid of breaking them. In this conversation we talk about: * Why grief doesn't end and why that's actually okay * The conscious choice to keep moving when staying in bed is so much easier * How to show up for someone who is grieving (hint: just do something specific) * What it means to hold happiness and heartbreak at the same time * Why Wendi is done with the word "widow" and what she's calling this season instead ---------------------------------------- Want to connect with Wendi or share how this episode resonated with you? Head to The Advantage Writes [https://misskbwrites.substack.com], our Substack community. It's the best place to reach us, stay in the conversation, and go deeper between episodes. We read everything. ---------------------------------------- Her Advantage Collective. Wisdom forged in the hardest seasons of life.

People to Love, Not Problems to Fix

Are you feeling the "squeeze" of the sandwich generation? This week, Katie and Ms. K sit down with former educator and self-described "recovering fixer" Kim Brakmann for a conversation full of wisdom, laughter, and hard-won grace. Kim Brakmann has always been the one people call. The teacher. The organizer. The fixer. But caring for aging parents has a way of humbling even the most capable among us, and Kim's journey from trying to cure the people she loves to simply being present with them is one every woman in this season needs to hear. In this episode, we dive into: * The Perfectionism Trap — Why excellence and perfection are not the same thing, and why one is rooted in pride * The Sibling Renaissance — How the caregiving season can bring siblings back together for a "team maiden name" comeback * Practical Midlife Hacks — Lightweight wheelchairs, bed modifications, baby monitors, and the caregiving tools nobody tells you about * The Power of Margin — Why saying no to the church nursery might be the yes your soul (and your neighbors) actually need Whether you're deep in the caregiving trenches or it feels like a million years away, Kim's wisdom on leading with love — and seeing the people in your life as people to love, not problems to fix — will stay with you long after this episode ends.

Chemistry, Not Character: How Hormonal Shifts Unmask ADHD with Kristen Vega Glass

Have you ever hit a wall where your old productivity hacks just... stopped working? Where you felt like you were suddenly struggling to keep up, despite years of being the high-achiever who had it all together? This week on Her Advantage, Katie and Ms. K sit down with instructional designer and systems expert Kristen Vega Glass. Kristen shares the vulnerable moment her internal systems hit a breaking point and the life-changing ADHD diagnosis that followed. It turns out, her struggle wasn't a character flaw—it was a direct result of biological chemistry. In this episode, we dive into: * The "Vocal Stim" Revelation: How a casual cubicle moment led to a formal ADHD diagnosis at age 34. * The Estrogen Connection: Why hormonal shifts (like postpartum and menopause) can suddenly "unmask" ADHD symptoms that were previously managed or hidden. * Calculated Spontaneity: Kristen’s brilliant framework for building systems that allow a neurodivergent brain to thrive without the burnout. * Naming the Narrative: How separating her identity from her diagnosis allowed her to trade shame for high-level strategy. If you’re tired of "white-knuckling" your way through brain fog and are ready to start designing a life that works with your biology instead of against it, this episode is your masterclass. Stop apologizing for your wiring. Start leveraging it.