Michelle Newman

come on stream yard all right we are  officially live we are kicking this off  so today i’m super excited my guest  today  is michelle newman she is the founder  and ceo of the new mid  she’s a former award-winning television  executive term transformational life  coach  and host of the new mid podcast which is  ranked number seven  in the top 10 valuable podcast for  midlife women  that is quite an honor she helps others  take charge of their future  and get rid of self-limiting beliefs in  order to live an abundant  second half michelle thank you so much  for coming on pivot me today  oh thank you so much for having me april  i’d love what you’re doing  and i love your guests thanks for having  me  absolutely so right before um we went  live um we were just talking about that  michelle’s getting a lot of snow in her  house right now  well not in her house but jason she’s  snow adjacent right now  they’ve got a lot of snow in maryland  right now so kids are out and playing in  it right now  yes it is a wonderful it’s a snow day  which is a bit foreign to me because i  grew up in los angeles  so i used to just read about snow  snow days and books but it’s kind of fun  that my kids are actually  doing it and it’s funny because you know  i my husband was like michelle we need  to put the sticks out in our driveway  and i’m like  no we’re not gonna get that much snow  it’s not that big of a deal oh yeah no  we have like nine inches right now  cannot see our driveway we’re not  driving anywhere  so is your husband from there or is he  from a place where it snows or did he  just know about the sticks  um well you kind of know about the  sticks because you start to see how your  neighbors put the sticks out but  he’s from england actually but the other  thing that’s funny is  our neighbors put the sticks out when it  was like 50 and sunny out and i’m like  why are they putting the sticks out now  like i just didn’t get it  and then my husband’s like i think we  should put the sticks out and i’m like  no  it’s okay well then when i finally  realized like honey we should put the  sticks out  you can’t because the ground’s frozen  your neighbors knew what they were  talking about so yeah so i  next time i need i hear i thought they  were stupid but yeah no they were  actually very smart and i was the one  wow you know what’s funny we don’t  actually put the sticks out now i’m  feeling like a snow newbie because we  we get snow in reno nevada but we’ve  never put the sticks out and that is  brilliant i yeah i have a really long  driveway too  and it hurts so you kind of need to know  where to occur  so okay that’s all right okay  michelle’s already overcoming in this uh  in the pivoting podcast today  okay let’s let’s talk about your  background you’ve got a fascinating  background you  um you came from the entertainment  industry um i believe you said over 20  years  um last role was vp of programming and  marketing at cbs  daytime i’m i’m really curious how you  shifted that i know you developed and  launched the  um uh let’s make a deal with wayne brady  and the talk with sharon osbourne does  that sound right yes  yes yes yep yep love them to death  wayne brady so talented he’s just  amazing but yeah  no i spent over 20 years in the  entertainment industry  started out at entertainment tonight  date myself with  john tesh and mary hart so that was  really fun that was a blast i got to  meet some  amazing people i got to meet like al  pacino and  cindy crawford i don’t know where the  picture is now but i took a picture with  cindy crawford and literally  i was like here and she was like here  and she was  gorgeous i mean just adonis she was  beautiful  and super nice i mean everybody who  wanted to take a picture with her  because we were all  awestruck she just did there and took  pictures of  them all yeah no she’s super cool super  nice so yeah  i started there and then i ended up at  cvs and um  that’s a great place that was really fun  and daytime was really fun  and um yeah no it was fun doing let’s  make a deal  we um started in we actually started the  show in vegas  isn’t that funny so yeah because it was  a  it was a for budget wise we did it at  the tropicana  so i know it’s not we used to have to um  go there every we we would tape on the  weekends because that’s when we can get  people in the crowd get the audience  so i would fly out to vegas from  thursday to sunday and then fly home  so that was really interesting and that  was challenging because i had a new  a new baby so that was kind of hard  leaving her but at the same time it was  good because then my husband had the  bonding with her especially on weekends  so that was good but yeah so that was  fun and then we started the talk  and sharon osbourne is still on there  and that was that was crazy but that was  really fun and it’s a great show  still on there so yeah so i really  enjoyed that time there so you’ve had  this amazing  career in entertainment what was the  i mean that’s a pretty big shift what  was the catalyst for that shift  well you know it’s funny because like i  said  i was when my first daughter was young i  was traveling a lot to vegas  i mean she wasn’t even one years old  when i was doing that so like her first  steps  someone else saw which is hard as a mom  sure so i got pregnant again with my  second  and my contract was up after she was  about six months old and my husband and  i talked about it and i said you know i  really  i was an older mom i had my first kid at  40 my second at 42 and i was like you  know what i really want to  um stay at home for a little while so  both agreed and so i did freelance and  stuff  and then my husband got a job that took  us to maryland so  all of that happened but you know it was  interesting because before i  met my husband i actually had a brain  hemorrhage so i almost died  i know isn’t that crazy wow okay  so so i didn’t think i was getting  married i didn’t think i was going to  have kids  so a month after my brain hemorrhage i  met my husband  and then it was kind of love at first  sight and we ended up  um getting getting engaged six months  later  and then getting many married eight  months later i mean it’s kind of like  one of those things like when you you  know when you know  yeah so so when i had my kids  and i had almost died i was like you  know what i really life is short  i really want to take this time to to  sort of you know raise my kids be a  stay-at-home mom it was hard to leave  really fun but it was just kind of you  make those life choices  yeah at that time question for you so  with the brain did i hear that right  that before the brain image you did not  want to get married and have kids  no i always wanted to but i just figured  at that point point  it wasn’t gonna happen because i think  it’s like 35 36  and by that point you’re kind of like  you’ve kissed a lot of frogs and none of  them are your prince  that’s just not gonna happen for me and  it’s okay yeah  and then you know i don’t know if you’ve  talked to anybody who’s almost died  because  i had the brain hemorrhage and i’ll  never forget when they took me from the  gurney to the icu bed  it was calm i was like i i literally  thought i was dying  you know and and for all intents  purposes that kind of was at the time  but i was like it’s okay like all of the  backstabbing at work and the someone  cutting you off at the freeway  or not getting the promotion you wanted  none of that mattered  it was like life was good and and i was  peaceful and i was happy  um but then getting a second chance and  then meeting my husband and then having  kids  it was a little difficult because you  know i was  you know i was i became vice president  was developing these amazing shows  um so it was a it was a real interesting  pivot point  um yeah so when that’s  fascinating story there’s about a  thousand questions i want to ask them  and try to  break it down just a couple um how much  do you think  having the brain hemorrhage influenced  you meeting your husband  or just the availability okay a lot  because can i tell you i don’t think i  would have given him a second look  to be perfectly you can tell us i don’t  know if you can tell him that michelle  no he knows he knows i mean april you  probably didn’t have this syndrome  but like i was dating like the  the crazy exciting you know not very  committed type of guy  my husband is just a great man  really great soul uh goofy  and i you know and it’s funny i just  don’t know if i would have given him a  second glance  but it was the right time the right  moment and it worked and it’s still  working  we got married in uh 2006 so what are we  on 14  almost 15 years yeah wow  it’s so interesting that of course what  oftentimes that’s the case right we  faced this  terrible thing by all intents and  purposes you had a brain hemorrhage and  you almost died that’s  pretty significant pretty life-changing  and yet something so  amazing came out of that experience that  may not have occurred  absolutely and i think that’s true in  life though  is it’s when are you open when are you  open to opportunities when are you open  to meeting people  you know what kind of people are you  bringing into your life what are you  looking for  and sometimes you have to have that  shift sometimes you have to have like a  big  incident sort of shake you and wake you  up to make  you available and and to give you  different eyes to look at people at  situation with different eyes and i  think that’s what really happened to me  um i love that phrase to make you  available  yeah it’s a really good phrase because  it for those kinds of big changes  oftentimes we are pretty shut off from  them  absolutely absolutely you know and it  does it  it it gives you and that’s one thing  that can be hard is  when you see certain doors close you  know as you  really want something super bad and it  doesn’t happen  the more you hold on to that the more  you’re looking at that closed door  you’re not going to be able to see the  other opportunities that are coming your  way  and you’re not available and open to  them and that’s  you know with pivoting i think that’s  key is  it’s quicker you can get over whatever  the disappointment is whatever the  brain hemorrhages whatever that you know  opportunity that you really want it  doesn’t come through  the sooner you can get through that the  quicker you can move on and you can  see what else is out there and what kind  of energy are you putting out into the  universe  you know are you because people read  your energy whether you realize it or  not but  if you’re if you’re just acting  disappointed like poor me  you know can you imagine if i would have  been like poor me i almost died you know  that’s not fair you know i was like hey  i saw my barista and i was like  oh i am so happy to see you oh and she’s  like  here’s your chai tea latte  you know but like you know she was like  excited to see me  because here i am excited to see her and  that’s sure  and and don’t get me wrong i’ve had a  lot of disappointments in my life i  thought a lot of things not happen  but the quicker you can get yourself  like all right it didn’t happen i feel  bad but  okay i’m gonna move on and and moving  forward  is key don’t stay still keep moving and  sometimes it might have to be the side  sometimes it might have to be a little  bit back but just  keep moving um you know good things  can happen for sure you know one one of  the phrases we talk about a lot is what  is this teaching me  um for me i don’t i i’ve never been  kind of my personal opinion i’ve never  been one that’s like oh everything  happens for a reason because sometimes  really bad things happen  yeah i think we can find reason and we  can find things that we can learn from  it i don’t necessarily think that it’s  all  you know uh created that way but what we  can do is say okay well this  this terrible thing happened what what  things can i learn from it what can i  what kind of experience that i wouldn’t  be able to experience before and  and when we look for those opportunities  it totally changes whatever just  happened to us and some of them can be  pretty significant  true and the other thing too with that  and i totally agree what can you learn  from that and sometimes it’s like okay  what can i learn so that if i see this  happening again  i don’t do it again because if you don’t  learn  you’re gonna keep repeating the same  mistake over and over again until you do  learn  it’s amazing how that it just happens it  will just keep coming to you  until you finally are like all right i  need to face this  what’s my part in it i need to own it  and then  you can move on from there yeah you know  it sounds like you have another pivot  that i wanted to talk to  talk about but first before we go into  that i’m thinking about the career that  you had before  and then leaving that how did you handle  one of the things we talk about epiphany  is when people make these pivots how  they deal with the identity change  because if you’re it sounds like you had  you know a prominent position  a visible position people looked up to  you you probably had a team and all  these  people in your network that kind of make  us have this elevated status  how do you switch identities and go now  i’m going to go do something else  where you don’t maybe have that status  or that cloud it was hard  and i kept looking at my phone i wasn’t  getting the same emails that i usually  get  yeah you know i was getting emails for  playdates i wasn’t getting emails from  storylines for the young and the  restless i was like what’s going on  yes that was probably one of the hardest  adjustments was  not being on 24 7 not you know  having to respond for you know what fire  there were always fires so i need to put  out a fire and  now i was you know like setting up  playdates and  going to singing classes and but  you know it’s a it’s a little different  because it the identity was from a  network executive to a mom  and then i realized i need some outlet  so i started doing consulting  so that helped a lot to be able to do  the consulting and stuff like that so  that was really  that that helped with the adjustment and  then moving out here  and getting life getting used to living  on the east coast it’s very different  than los angeles  so that was you know another another  transition  and then starting my business has been  really interesting because  you know being a solopreneur preneur  it’s lonely  and it’s up to you you know if you don’t  get up and do it that day nothing gets  done there’s nobody else doing it  so it’s it’s really interesting to  take the skills and the relationships  that i had before  and help me with what i’m doing right  now and if i can say  anything to you to your folks uh with  pivot me  pivoting changing whatever it all comes  down to relationships  so i mean i’m pulling back from my  relationships you know 15 years ago  and it’s it’s the best thing in the  world to have somebody pick up your  phone call  you know it really is and return your  texts or emails so whatever you’re doing  or whatever you’re going to pivot you  most likely  sometime in your life through linkedin  or  emails or however are going to reach  back  one day to to to use your contacts that  you’ve heard  with whatever you’re doing so so it’s  all relationships  so don’t open any bridges  don’t burn the bridges and and the other  thing i heard in there is  you know if possible continue to foster  them because yeah  absolutely eventually that will come  around that you might need them or they  might need you  and um yeah so yeah and that’s the other  thing that’s been nice it’s been nice  for me to be able to help  help some of my friends too as well um  with my podcast the new mid i’ve been  able to bring on some of my friends who  who are in midlife who are still acting  or in the  entertainment industry and give them a  voice  and stuff like that so it’s been nice  it’s been really good  so what made you decide to uh start the  podcast  well you know it’s funny because um i’m  gonna be  perfectly honest with you being in the  entertainment industry  especially in daytime the the  advertisers love 18 to 49  like that is their their demo so when i  turned 49 i was like oh my god i’m about  to become irrelevant  like i don’t want to be irrelevant oh my  god as soon as i think of it  yeah right and i was like i didn’t want  to party  nothing and so what a great example for  my kids right  so my mom and my best friend my my  parents both my parents came out and my  best friend from  la surprised me and showed up and that  was i didn’t  realize how much that would mean to me  and then a couple of my girlfriends from  here in maryland that meant the world to  me  and then i was like what am i doing like  this is ridiculous  like i’m still young who cares 50 is  just a number and by the way  tell people you’re 50 you’re doing  pretty good like yeah  so so then i was like you know what i  want to help other women like me like i  want to help them reinvent  themselves and i want to help them  realize their purpose and their clarity  and if we need to  you know just what can i give them how  can i help  women like me realize that it’s not bad  it’s not over it’s only we’re still  climbing  so i talked to loco i was good friends  with the gentleman who  fred manning who owns manny media and he  owns the local radio stations here that  are all music by the way  and i talked him into giving me a half  hour on the radio  so he’s like well it was funny i put the  deck together for the new mid and i was  like look at all these women who are  amazing who are in midlife  like they’re crushing it and i think  there’s an audience out there and i  really think  people want to hear this and we have a  lot a lot of local  good local people here in frederick so i  literally got to the fourth page in the  deck  and he’s like done let’s do it that’s  like  yes wow wow so you know so i used my  skill  i wasn’t radio but i was tv so i  understood that and i didn’t know where  to go  and i’ll tell you right now i’m not tech  savvy i’m just not  so it was wonderful to have him you know  believe in me  his crew there at the radio station  they’re wonderful  they’re super helpful for me with um  editing and  and promoting it um so that’s been great  so that’s been  that was uh it was a year in october so  that was exciting so i’m about 18 months  in so that’s been fabulous and then from  there  where i met you you trying to figure out  my brand  of brand builders um they were like  michelle you need to be a life coach  like you’re  so bubbly and energetic and and  i used to be an aerobics fitness  instructor i did spin  and and all this other stuff and um  they’re like you’re a natural teacher  and i was like  i don’t know should i shouldn’t i and so  then i was like you know what  you’re right and then people just  started coming  and i have this amazing academy april of  midlife women who are just crushing it  it’s just it’s a great community because  i don’t know about you but  i love community and with this pandemic  and isolation  it’s just so nice to have a great group  of women  huge difference so i heard so thank you  for sharing that that is amazing and  community is really what it’s all about  and  a lot of what why we show up and do the  things we do is  being part of and also creating  community for people like that  um there there was a lot there’s a lot  of change i mean i love your  background and i i still want to ask  about the um  um the iron man as well we’re gonna get  to that here in a second but  there’s so much change in that michelle  those changes  those all take a lot of courage where  does that come from where does the the  backbone to make all these significant  changes in life come from  okay so i think this is i think  men do this much better than women to be  perfectly honest  but you just push ahead and you’re just  like  i’m gonna do this and you just believe  in yourself  and you just what can go wrong they’ll  just say no  you know yeah i was so convinced  i was so convinced and i just knew it in  my bones  and when you know that when you have  that conviction  you can move mountains it’s amazing what  you can do  and just having that faith and belief in  yourself  is you it’s also contagious i mean  people see it in you and they get swept  up in that  so when you have this like unwaiter  unwavering faith in this  project or this launch or whatever it is  people get excited and they get swept up  in your enthusiasm for it  absolutely yeah totally that’s huge huge  so tell us about um tell us about the  iron man tell us that  okay this is yeah this is crazy this is  pre-kids we were talking about that  three children our race stories before  kids yeah  exactly so i was hanging out with a  group of crazy people  and we started doing i started doing  triathlons because i wanted to get over  my fear of the ocean  so i um i know which is crazy because i  lived in manhattan beach and hermosa  beach for a long time so it was good not  to be scared of the ocean  so i started doing mini triathlons and  then graduated  you know to olympic then half iron man  and you start hanging around with these  people right because you need to train  and all of that so then they’re like  let’s do an iron man and we’re like cool  well we’re gonna do one let’s do it  somewhere  fun so we’re like yeah where do you want  to go so somewhere fun and somewhere we  could qualify to get in those are two  big big things and so revealing how uh  new zealand we did it in new zealand  2003 and um oh my gosh  it was fun it was a lot of work like  all you think about is what you’re gonna  eat  when you’re gonna sleep what your  training schedule is and then  work family everything else is like  way i don’t know how i kept my job  during that time  it’s your full-time job it is you can  agree before work and after work and  yeah so so that was pretty funny well we  were doing a century ride  literally in palm springs literally one  month before the race  by the way it’s a 100 mile bike ride for  those who are oh yeah yeah  so we were at 50 mile 51 i kid you know  it  and we were in a peloton we were in a  group and  someone behind me took out my back tire  so the the the next i mean i remember  looking down to  see that this person took out my back  tire and the next thing i knew  one of my friends was over standing over  me going oh my god are you okay are you  okay  i had a concussion i had broken my  ring finger and i didn’t realize what  was going on with my right knee  but after several doctors and finally i  went to a pt in santa monica who’s  amazing  um he literally took my leg like my knee  was bent  and he took the bottom part of my leg  like my shin and here’s my knee joint  and it went like this and this like like  this  like that’s not supposed to do that it’s  like  no it’s not so i had a torn  posterior cruciate ligament the pco  which is very hard to tear by the way  it’s  really our go-getter so yeah  yeah absolutely so one month before  i tore my pcl and i was like i didn’t  know  so i was in pt like religiously  until i went you know he tried to you  know put me back together as best  month before one month before i paid all  my money i bought a new bike  you know i’ve done all those hours of  training i spent christmas day  you know out on pch you know  so um yeah so we get there two days  before the race i can’t walk  so the day before the race i just lay on  the couch the entire day  and pray i can do the iron man and sure  enough  somehow i got it done it was 15 hours  15 hours but i didn’t i was hoping to do  it in 13  hours but it took me two more hours but  hey i got it done  oh my you said two days before you  couldn’t walk i couldn’t walk no  because of your knee injury because my  knee injury because we got to new  zealand and there was a huge festival  so you want to walk around and you want  to do the town so i was walking around  and going to all the booths and  everything and setting up my bike  and then all of a sudden i was with my  friends and i was like oh my god  i can’t walk like i can’t put any  pressure on my right leg  and they’re like oh my gosh so luckily  one of the guys  in our group was dating a nurse and she  came for the  she came along and i was like oh my god  what do i do and she’s like  nothing she says you need to lay on this  couch for the entire day  and see if you can walk tomorrow i was  like okay  wow and you still did it i mean  did people support that i feel like  people around you would be like this is  a bad like well  you know you’re without the traveling no  you’re with triathletes they’re like  yeah  yeah exactly stuck it up yeah  yeah you know what april i have to tell  you though  you know we’re talking about pivoting  and we’re talking about you know what  does it take to get to the next level  yeah honestly and i think your audience  could relate to this but it does take a  lot of discipline  and i think being a former athlete and i  think you could relate to this  you learn how to have that kind of  discipline you learn what it takes  to like get up every morning make sure  you’re doing your morning routine  make sure you’re following through  especially when you have your own  business  because like i said before if you’re not  doing it no one else will be doing it  sure you know and i have to say i  learned  the daytime soap opera actors they are  so disciplined and they  do their homework and the stuff they  have to do  is incredible they were great examples  and i also have one other example too  betty white i had the fortune i know  i know right i mean she’s everything you  think she would be  i had the fortune um the opportunity to  spend an entire day with her we were  doing a part  pilot for the 25 000 pyramid  and she was a celebrity um contestant  and then there was a regular contestant  that she’d work with  she showed up with just her makeup kit  no entourage  you know she wasn’t like fancy she  wasn’t demanding  anyone who wanted a picture with her  anyone who wanted to talk to her  she was just kind and then she was  always she wanted to make sure the  executive producers were happy with her  game play  that she got everything she needed to do  i mean such an example  of a great workout down to earth  happy laughed she laughed all the time  just easily laughed you know  so so i i felt very fortunate to have  been around some amazing people  i love that you tell the backstory of  that because it’s easy if you’re on this  side of the camera  to assume that maybe there’s a natural  gift or it’s not as hard it’s not  they make it look easy right i mean what  we’re seeing looks easy and i love you  painting the picture of actually it’s  tremendous discipline and  it sounds like a lot some of the people  at least betty white has some humility  and always a student and  i love that good because i love that  woman i’m so glad to hear that oh yeah  i didn’t you know what it was i’m dating  myself but it was in the days when i  didn’t have  a camera on my phone at that time and  i’m like oh i would have taken a picture  now  for sure for sure oh she’s so hilarious  i love betty white quotes  um so so um i real quick i love how you  were talking about being a former  athlete that teaches you um  discipline but it also teaches you what  we were kind of joking around about  of uh what’s the phrase embrace the suck  i think david goddard  i think it’s from the marines originally  anyways um that it’s  it’s uh you’re not gonna love every step  of it it’s really consistent execution  that gets us there  and especially when we’re a business  owner that’s tough i mean to your point  that’s the biggest adjustment so i work  with a lot of business owners and  many of them are much larger than that  but sometimes they’re newer you know  less than five years  and that’s an adjustment of if if i  don’t show up if i don’t move  especially if i’m a solopreneur nothing  moves ahead unless  you get up and you direct your team or  you do it yourself  and that’s such a big adjustment because  when we come from the corporate world  we of our achievements and we’re like  well i did this and i did this and i did  this and  not to downplay the achievements of the  corporate world but they’re usually  collaborative events  it’s like i did this well i t worked  which is how you got on that video  and you know the ops team was working  fine which is how you got to the right  location because someone else booked  your trip and  it’s actually so much more collaborative  and then you own your own business and  you’re like oh  well this is going to be this is gonna  be interesting i need to make sure that  all these parts and pieces move  it’s it’s a huge adjustment for new  entrepreneurs i’m glad you shared in  your  your journey no doubt there was many  hiccups along the way  yeah no it’s great and it’s it’s  consistency  it’s just being consistent and and like  malcolm x says the more you do something  the better you get it than  you know and it’s true it’s absolutely  true  so i just want to encourage people to  not get discouraged  but when it is hard you know what you’re  right where you’re supposed to be  so just to figure it out keep going  um and show up show it for yourself show  up for the people that you’re serving  and they’ll be there it just takes some  time  in this space since you’ve made the  transition over to to coaching into  podcasting have you  thought about throwing in the towel have  you ever been in the morning  absolutely well yeah i mean  i mean you’ve got to admit it’s it’s a  it’s work doing  this podcast you know i mean it’s not it  it and it kind of crossed me up because  there’s a lot of people like i want to  do a podcast  you’re like okay but what type of  podcast are you going to do  some people will just turn the  microphone on and start talking which is  great but you and i we do interview  podcasts  you know and so and and you know like  for instance i’m going to be  interviewing joan london tomorrow and  i mean this is all i have a lot of  homework and i’m you know she  she interviews people for a living so  interviewing her  michelle it’s just a little intimidating  right but you know so so that’s  great but you know and then you know  having my coaching and  continuing like you are a great example  of this  continual learning just you know  continue more education  up in your game and then you know there  are two children in the house that need  their mom  you know that are virtual learning so  that’s always exciting  and then you know there is such a thing  as social media  so trying to learn all of that as  a midlife woman is very fascinating too  so absolutely it’s a lot to juggle but  it’s fun  so we were so earlier actually i was  just talking to um  to kristen cullen from grand builders  group we were talking about the social  media hurdle that a lot of people face  so was that a hurdle for you it just  being  much more what i’ve seen in the past is  just being much more visible  in social media that that sometimes can  be a hurdle for people did you struggle  with that okay  yeah so if you if you talk to any like i  know i  and and i apologize for the guys out  there i know your audience is mostly men  so this is you can talk to your wives or  your girlfriends  but especially moms if you were to grab  a mom’s phone  and look at her camera it’s all her  children  never wear she’s not in it at all like  it’s her children or it’s her husband  and her children  yeah it’s not important sometimes so can  i tell you how hard it is because  everybody’s like oh my social media you  gotta post pictures of yourself  and i’m like scrolling through my phone  going i don’t have any of myself here’s  my linkedin photo use that one instead  it’s totally true you know so  so i’ve just recently been getting  better and i’ve been like giving my  phone and my husband and i’m like okay  take a picture of me  and i’m like true you know how does that  look  it’s just delirious so  i i was thinking when i when i got into  podcasting i’m like the thing i  wish i would have known more about is  posing because like every  we’re getting we’re getting real here on  this so every time so my sister is this  amazing  makeup and hair artist she just she does  it for magazines and for movie shoots  she’s just unbelievable right none of  those skills translated over to the  sister right  so every photo that was taken as she  would say i stood like a linebacker like  the photos going i’m like you know  every single one and she’s like turn  sideways pop the hip dude  i had yeah one foot in front of the  other you know  yeah i look like i was carrying a  kettlebell in every photo that was taken  of me  and she’s like why do you do that no  this is terrible so  um i took her out of like that’s what i  needed to know more of is like how to be  photographed  because i was like yeah those  photographs look amazing she’s like you  know they took about 800 of them  for that one photo and for anyone who’s  out there who’s about to have a photo  just so you know i mean it’s just  anyways it  and that’s a part of this the your your  personal brand and for the podcast and  for the coaching that you’re doing  you really have to have this robust  personal brand which is which is so  important but that is the flip side of  it the images and all the  social media that’s a piece of it but  you know what’s interesting so i  interviewed uh sir richard branson’s  former attorney  and she said because i was like okay you  gotta tell me what is a billionaire’s  mindset like  he she was she still she was one of the  very first  attorneys for virgin wow he was on the  ground floor and she had some  interesting stories before  who you know who he is now one of the  one of the tips she said is richard’s  his brand  like he is sir richard is and she’s  funny because she just calls him richard  you know  but um he’s you know when when he was  having a  trouble with virgin airlines and he and  british airway was giving him a hard  time  he dressed up as an uh as a flight  attendant  i love this guy no but he jumped out you  know he had hot air balloons and  yeah he did crazy things jumping out of  airplanes and off cliffs and whatever  other  stuff he does but he’s his brand i mean  that is his brand  and it really kind of set with me and  whoever  is doing this type of stuff too you are  your brand  so what is that going to be so you’ll  see me with my kids like  i have a mid-life mom who has younger  kids and they’re keeping me young  and that helps my mindset and so  yeah you won’t see me in a bikini with  tattoos  on the edge of a you know in the beach  posing that’s yeah that you’re not gonna  see that  although i do have to say one of my  goals for 2021 is to get back into  a bikini i am gonna work on that we’ll  see what happens  and it sounds like we need a side tattoo  that’s what i heard too michelle  oh yeah i’m pretty sure that’s what i  heard  the bikini goes with the side tattoo  with the drink on the side of the pool  hand in hand  i think that’s amazing that’s that’s so  important you know  okay so we’re we’re going on tangent a  little bit i think this is so important  michelle something you said that’s so so  critical when you’re saying  grab the phone of any mom and there’s  not photos of her and then  as soon as you said grab the phone i’m  like i know where she’s going because i  had this hurdle myself is i didn’t  i’m not of the selfie generation either  and so the idea of like hitting that  little reverse the camera back on you  what’s an adjustment i remember the  first time i did it out in public  i mean just to be real i felt ridiculous  i felt like oh my god am i really going  to be like  a 22 year old standing there smiling and  staring at my phone  the answer is yes yeah i eventually i  got used to it but that was a huge  huge hurdle for me but the point i  wanted to make is you said  in the camera there’s not a lot of  photos of of the mom  um this is something i feel really  passionate about so i want to point this  out  moms if you’re listening right now get  in  the frame with your kids do not say oh i  don’t look good oh i’m not dressed nice  oh my hair’s not done  get in the frame with your kids uh my  dear friend um kat and i talk about this  a lot  that our our daughters are actually best  friends  your daughter’s watching you you know  i’m raising two girls i have a seven and  a nine-year-old  and if i say oh my hair is in a messy  bun i don’t want to get in  what am i telling my kids like you have  to print before you can get  photographed before we can have  documentation of our family photo  and so i don’t want to lob additional  stress and pressure on moms because man  it’s  it’s tough and it’s definitely happening  this season but  get in the frame get in the frame gosh  they’re watching you  i mean we’re role models not just in the  times that we want to be but in the  times that we don’t want to be  right and if i don’t want my daughter to  not get in the frame because she doesn’t  look good enough to be in the frame then  i sure as hell need to get in there with  her  you know what’s hilarious too is um my  daughter  my nine-year-old i have a nine-year-old  too he one time took my picture  and she she’s like mommy look and i’m  looking at her and she’s getting rid of  my crow’s feet  she knows how to do that i had no idea  my god  i know okay so can i tell you a funny  story about starting to learn how to do  selfies  yes so i have short arms like my husband  would always call me t-rex he just  thought it was hilarious because i have  little arms  so trying to do a selfie with little  arms is really  hard and when i couldn’t do it like you  i would only get like this part of my  head  oh my god some of the first selfies are  hilarious  oh my god that was a great story you  should absolutely share those stories  this is why they made like the stick  that’s healthy yeah  which also i’ve got a major hurdle over  i mean it just  i just don’t like i don’t see anyone  over 35  using a selfie stick i’m not judging you  if you do but like  i just can’t oh anyways i mean it’s  practical but  you know what’s funny is um in my  facebook group the new med  private facebook group it’s for women in  midlife every morning  it started it’s i’m almost on a year now  it started with  coved i would go on a walk and i’d be  like what day is it  i can is it monday like i couldn’t  remember  so i was like you know what i’m gonna  start saying good morning  so i started saying good morning to my  group and i tell them it’s monday  february 1st you know whatever it was  that’s today but you know i started in  march and then i just started saying you  know  inspirational quotes because people were  sad  and frustrated and i was like oh i’m  just going to start doing this  well now that i’ve been doing it for  almost a year it gets easier  you know it just gets easier so if  you’re out there and you’re trying to  figure out if you’ve got  short arms like me you have a lot of  selfies of your chin  you know it’s just showing up and i and  even telling the stories like the story  you just shared  sharing that behind the scenes um you  know one thing we talk about a lot um  internally is that people will people  can admire our accomplishments but  they’ll identify with us and our  vulnerabilities  and so we have to say like here’s my  first three selfies they’re all over my  chin  or here’s me trying to figure out this  or or sharing the story about how my  sister’s like why do you  square off in every photo that’s taken  of you it’s terrible like  you know turn sideways pop them sharing  that  it’s the humanity of it it’s like the  humanness of the experience and  i think we do uh we do a disservice when  we take that out of business  yeah we and you know i came from the  corporate world as well and  yeah i’ve been an entrepreneur for a  while but definitely the majority of my  career i had  side businesses but i i mostly was in  the corporate world  and we we sucked the humanness right out  of it we had such perfectly crafted  messages  and um we were very particular about  what we saw as our brand  but there was no humanity to it there’s  no depth to our brand it was just okay  well here’s my deliverables  here’s my linkedin profile it’s really  interesting you know what’s really  interesting and talking about my little  one like taking out my crow’s feet on  the picture yeah  yeah you were saying that like instagram  stories  and lives are much  people are liking them more because  they’re authentic so if we were to mess  up right now  you know it’s live that’s what it would  be  and i think people are liking that more  because they are wanting more authentic  they’re  they’re tired of the airbrushed and like  you know the everything is perfect you  know  so there he is absolutely so one thing  in the content the things that you do  within your facebook group and on your  podcast  you know can you give us some of the  insights what the topics that you  discuss  and kind of the um the journey that you  take people through like where do they  start at and then where they finish with  michelle  okay well what’s interesting is i just  did a workshop so  it’s just so funny that you’re saying  that and i’m just finishing it  and so one of the things that come to  mind is  you know any and as a life coach this is  kind of life coaching 101 and i’m sure  your  your your people have heard this before  but it’s  really how do you look at your  circumstances  it’s it’s it’s how you think about them  it’s your thoughts it’s your mindset  because that leads to your attitude  and your feelings and then how you’re  going to react how you’re going to act  and then that’s going to give you your  results so  it all starts and ends with your mindset  and  and taking a look at like what are your  ims  what is that voice in your head what are  you saying to yourself  is it negative is it positive and then a  huge thing for me  is who do you surround yourself with and  they say you’re the some  of the five people that you hang out  with but i want to put another little  exclamation point on that you should  have three types of people in your life  you should have the people that who are  in your life right now  will cheer you on they should be  positive they shouldn’t be dragging you  down  they shouldn’t be jealous they shouldn’t  be saying no that’s a bad idea  you want to be honest though you don’t  want them to blow sunshine up you know  you want them to be like hey you know  that might not be  wise because of xyz and actually have  good things about it but not people that  are just going to drag you down or  people who are just negative  and downers all the time the second type  of people you want  in your life is they’re just a little  bit above where you want to be  okay so you know they’re they they’ve  walked the walk but you’re like oh my  gosh that  you know i love i love that they’re  climbing and they’re  close to where they am but they’re a  little bit above me and then the next  set group of people or  you know that you want they should be 10  15  20 years where you want to be  so that you can look up that they’ve had  the path  that they can be like a mentor and they  can help you  lead the way and then the final thing  i’ll wrap up is  i really believe that in the law of  attraction i believe  you put things out in the universe that  it’s going to come back to you  you know and i try to get people to  imagine  okay what is it that you want what do  you you know my academy is a year-long  program so what i’ll do is i’ll be like  where do you want to be in 12 months  who is that person what do they look  like  what’s in their life you know and we  really break it down  and then we go and we back back like  where will we be in nine months where  are we  in six months where we’ll be in three  months and then we  break it down into 12 week cycles and  then week by week so we get  really down because you want to do small  steps sure and you know atomic havocs  tiny habits  all of those have really proven to work  sure um so we do small little baby steps  because it’s a lifestyle like we’re  it’s not a quick fix no it’s not  something that’s just gonna change  overnight  but every tiny little habit you’ll build  a  really abundant second half and  lifestyle and then the last thing i will  leave you with  is something and a lot of people have  been talking about this but i’m going to  reiterate it is  the mark twain eat the frog oh yes  first you know it really makes a  difference you know  what that is we talked about a few  podcasts but for those who are listening  that aren’t familiar with what  eat the frog is tell us michelle so mark  twain talked about  doing the worst thing first so  and he calls that eating a frog so the  thing that you  really don’t want to do do it first  thing  and then if you have two things that you  really don’t want to do  eat the fatter frog so eat the one that  you don’t want to do the most  yeah and do those first so then you know  the rest of the day  the worst things you’ve had to do have  gotten you’ve taken care of them and  they’re done  and it’s funny because your frog might  change it might move  but um just just keeping that top of  mind  and i have uh one of my clients she’s so  funny she  she took a picture and showed me she has  a big frog as  her picture on her phone oh i love  it and so it reminds her like in the  morning there’s the frog  she has to eat her frog so we did a  podcast on  eat the ugliest frog first and it’s uh  talks about the book  um as well um but one of the things that  we talk about is when we don’t eat our  frog that it just dirt  it occupies what i was called mental  real estate it  it doesn’t go away it’s constantly there  and i’m like imagine you wake up in the  morning and there’s your frog sitting  there when you turn off the alarm and  you brush your teeth in the morning your  frog’s still sitting there  you’re constantly aware that you’ve got  to do this thing it doesn’t matter what  the thing is it could be  i have to schedule a doctor’s  appointment i’m really dreading i’m  worried about the results or it could be  i have to fire this client or  whatever the frog is it’s this big thing  that has to be done and i’ll add and has  to be done by you  but you’re putting it off it occupies so  much  rental real estate and one of the things  that we talk about is high performers  they still have frogs in fact many of  them have more frogs they just get  really good at eating them fast like oh  there’s that thing i don’t want to do  it’s not about the time that you  dedicate to the frog like oh it’s just  45 minutes no no no  it sucked your energy and your  mental real estate for hours knowing you  had to do this thing and you kept  putting it off so you really do get back  hours by eating that frog fast  yeah absolutely and and right it doesn’t  take up the  your time your your mental space and you  spend so much time worrying about it and  thinking about it that it’s like just  all that time that you’re thinking about  worrying about it just do it  yeah and usually they never taste as bad  as you think they’re gonna taste right  like usually don’t get into it and go oh  my god that was way worse than i thought  basically that happens but most of the  time it’s the anticipation of agony  that’s way worse than the agony itself  right exactly oh and then the other  thing that’s hugely important  and this is a tom brady thing too for  you gentlemen out there  water drink water it’s  huge that it may it will make a big  difference especially for those of us  who are at midlife  it’s funny because one of my clients she  didn’t realize how dehydrated she was  all the time  and she she’s like she goes you know  what i kind of feel like the tin man i  kind of feel like i’ve been oiled  like my joints are oiled and a lot of  the aches and pains that she used to  have are gone now  and it does it makes a big difference to  drink water helps your brain  will help you focus um just so many  benefits and then you might want to add  some electrolytes in it as well a little  lemon little ginger  that helps as well not just you know but  do drink just  water try to cut back on that alcohol  especially when you’re getting older  alcohol and sugar  they um they’re causing they can cause  dementia  and alzheimer’s so um yeah  that alcohol not good for us replace it  with water  yeah yeah i don’t know um i was just  thinking about uh actually one of  one of one of my clients that i work  with he drinks something called rocket  fuel i think it  it’s from the gundry diet anyways it’s  it’s a combination of a bunch of leafy  greens and then it has  um ginger in it and turmeric and a  couple other things  it’s it’s amazing he’s got me drinking  it now and i love it  you really do feel amazing afterwards  and it’s really just a green juice that  you’re making at home  but you awesome well i think you should  put it in the notes the show notes  recipe in there peter i’m going to put  your rocket fuel in there  yeah so um  just a couple more questions real quick  but first um  let me ask you this michelle where do  people find you where do they go to  connect with michelle  well i’m my all my social media  platforms are  at the new mid so t-h-e-m-i-d-n-e-w  and i’m not the corvette the the the  engine for the corvette  because when you first started and you  typed in google the new mid  all these corvette engine parts came up  and i’m like oh great  there’s a there’s a lingerie model named  april garcia i was really conflicted  oh nice i mean that’s a real problem but  we have to uh that seo to get that away  from her so i totally hear you  so yeah and then you know i’m at the  newman.com  you know you can reach me there that’s  fine perfect  perfect um what lies ahead for you  what what’s next for michelle what’s  what you it sounds like you do a lot of  vision casting  well it’s so interesting well it’s  really interesting that you say that  because  you know for me i’m really excited to as  you  you know as being podcasters i  i’m really excited to sort of up my game  because i really want to serve my  clients  and and show them and learn from some of  the best  um people out there so i really want to  try to  up my game with getting a little more uh  guests that that  that people will be interested in yeah  and uh so that’s really exciting for me  i’m also  expanding my um coaching practice  so i’m going to be launching a digital  course this fall  which i’m excited about because i have  more people who yeah  i know you want your digital credits  a lot of work but exciting it is  it’s a great way to multiply your impact  too what’s that  it’s a great way to multiply your impact  too just really  get reach a lot of people that really  need what you’ve got it’s a great way to  do it  yeah so that’s what i’m hoping to do i’m  following in your footsteps  and then a book so what’s the topic of  your tedx talk do you already know  um you know it’s between a couple so i’m  just kind of  ruminating on them right now sure have  you taken the um  the world class keynote uh i just  i did i think that was the last course i  took yeah okay  that’s my next well actually i’m taking  captivating content but then i’m doing  the  right afterwards oh exciting you know i  actually usually ask this question two  questions ago and i accidentally skipped  it so  we kind of talked about this a little  bit but i would just ask it more  succinctly  michelle if you could tell the world one  thing  what would it be ah you mean besides  drink water  um well that’s really interesting  because i think  for women and i’m gonna be i know your  audience is  mostly male so hopefully bear with me  guys but  it’s self-confidence i think that a lot  of us have a lot  huge lack of self-confidence that we put  other people before ourselves  that it’s easy for us i like to say we  give everybody else the whole cookie and  we take the crumbs  that it is okay we are in midlife now it  is okay  to start to take the whole cookie for  yourself  you know other people can eat some of  the cookie crumbs too  it’s okay don’t feel guilty about it you  know  grow into the person that you want to be  that you know you can be  and get the education get whatever that  that you need to get you to the next  step  and don’t stop growing don’t stop  learning but  really believe in yourself see the  person that you are  get get from get from behind the shadows  you know get get in front of take a  picture with you and your kids like  be in the pictures be proactive  in doing things for your life because  you know what  we only have one life to live and the  sands in our hourglass are getting less  and every day is a gift and now is the  time to go for it  like really dig down deep and  and and go keep moving i’m all about  moving  moving forward if you have to move the  side for sometimes that’s fine but stay  in motion and keep going and it’s okay  and there’s going to be people that are  going to support you and lift you up  but you know really when you close your  eyes at night it’s you  and when you open your eyes in the  morning it’s you and like  every morning i say i thank god i open  my eyes and i’m like thank you for today  god and help me have a productive day  and and then bam and then i’m off to  my feet are on the ground i feel my feet  on the ground and i know a lot of times  people will take their shoes and socks  off and  you know walk around in the earth to get  really grounded well i do that  even though i have carpet in my bedroom  but i make sure my  feet feel the ground in the morning when  i wake up like that’s usually important  i have water by my bed i drink some  water first thing you know and then  i do my meditation and my journaling but  really  whatever it takes for you to get to the  point where you believe in yourself  where you have a purpose where you have  drive  yeah do that like grab life by the  you know just go for it because  you know we’re we’re still young enough  we’re still  able but you know what these days are  getting less  so it’s time it’s time to do it now  it’s time gosh it’s time to do it now  there’s your ted talk right there  yeah that’s beautiful it’s funny i think  we  um i think we quoted tony robbins  earlier but he always says when would  now be the  a good time and i always loved that  phrase so  the time to do it’s now that’s a  powerful message michelle thank you  thank you so much for coming on and  sharing um  your journey and what you guys are doing  what you what you’re doing in the new  mid and also that transition from  the world that you used to be in to this  world and the courage and the tools that  you use to get you there  um provided such great information for  us today thank you so much for that  thank you so much for having me and i  hope i hope some of this is helpful for  someone out there  sure for sure it is no i as you were  talking  we wrote down i had lots of um  ah man really some really good notes to  apply so i think there’s a lot of really  um applicable things that we can put  into play right away  i’ll put the links that you gave us into  the show notes so everyone can connect  with michelle  if you haven’t already um hopped on and  subscribed to our podcast definitely do  some great information it sounds like  some great guests as well  great yeah thank you so much yeah no we  have um  it’s funny i have a woman talking about  money right now because we all have  you know i think sex and money are taboo  topic so  you know so having a healthy  relationship with money  and there’s also a woman on there for  you women talking about midlife and  hormones and weight  and what’s going on with our bodies so  all that  stuff is really good sounds like a lot  of great information so  oh that’s great yeah and i love the  money topic too we’ve talked about it  everyone’s got a money free all right so  actually just a little plug for next  week  it’s american heart association month  and it’s all about women  and heart and so i have um two  ambassadors from the american hunter  association talking all about women  because heart attacks is the number one  killer for women not cancer not breast  cancer or uterine cancer it’s actually  heart attacks  wow they talk a lot about it and the  signs and the symptoms  that’s going to come out next monday  but even more so than that the doctor  talks about  um covet and heart disease  oh interesting really eye-opening  shocking some information that’s coming  out now with covid  wow yeah  it’s a must listen to i’m actually gonna  tag you on it i’m gonna send it to you  i’m gonna send it to everybody i can  because the information that’s coming  out  about covenant and heart is like scary  it’s wrong you don’t want this disease  you really know  no you do not even if it yeah i agree  agreed so thank you for doing that and  and also for educating people that’s a  huge piece  um yeah just getting that information  out i’m glad that you’re able to be a  conduit for that  well thank you thank you so much and  thank you for everything you’re doing  april and getting  helping people pivot because wow have we  had to pivot in the last year your title  couldn’t be more appropriate  no we were joking around about that last  year someone’s like we did trademark  that right because  everybody’s using it so we’ve been  teasing about about  we picked the perfect title indeed it’s  all about pivoting  and uh you know that’s what we’ve all  been doing pivoting in times of  uncertainty and ultimately we all  getting stronger  sometimes doesn’t feel like strength or  growth in the moment but we’re gonna  feel it afterwards  for sure well michelle thank you so much  again we’ll put all the links in the  show notes  have a wonderful day and take care thank  you  all right bye