coucou

What if your life is fine on paper, but something still feels a little off?Kim sits down with Megan Schnarr, a Canada-based life design coach, writer and twin mom who works with women who can't quite put their finger on what's wrong. Megan shares her own path from high-achieving corporate career to burnout, and why changing her external world never fixed what was happening inside. Together they talk about core values as a filter for big decisions, the life audit (green for what fills you up, red for what drains you, yellow for neutral), and why the job is often just the easiest thing to point at.Kim shares her own versions of this story: being offered a vice president title at Sephora that looked so good on paper, and what she uncovered about her childhood dreams through journaling, meditation and conversations with her parents. They also get into motherhood, ambition and mental load, and why Megan asks her clients to describe an ordinary Tuesday instead of a far-off fantasy.If you could design your ordinary Tuesday, how would you want it to feel?Resources:Megan Schnarr on Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/meganschnarr">@meganschnarr</a>Megan's website: <a href="https://www.meganschnarr.com/">meganschnarr.com</a>Megan's Substack: <a href="https://meganschnarr.substack.com/">meganschnarr.substack.com</a>Don't forget to subscribe, rate & review and follow us on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/coucou.pod/">@coucou.pod </a>Produced by <a href="https://novapodcasting.com/">NOVA</a>

What if coming apart isn’t the same as falling apart?Stuck in traffic on a French highway, Kim found herself wondering how she ended up there, and whether she had unraveled since moving to France. Using a sweater and thread analogy, she reflects on the schools, jobs, homes and “shoulds” we knit together into a life that looks good, and why questioning it can feel so uncomfortable.Kim shares what she has been letting go of, from guilt and constant productivity to frenetic energy, and what she has uncovered along the way: new curiosities, an Enneagram class taken entirely in French, and things she loved as a child. She also talks about why the people closest to us don’t always welcome the change. When you unravel, you uncover. Which thread might you be ready to pull?Plus, a few hot topics from France this fall, including the aisle of anti-lice products at every pharmacy and the Halloween costume she couldn’t buy until October 1.Resources:Don't forget to subscribe, rate & review and follow us on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/coucou.pod/">@coucou.pod</a>The Enneagram Institute: <a href="https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/">enneagraminstitute.com</a>Website: <a href="https://coucoupod.com">coucoupod.com</a>Substack: <a href="https://kimberlyannwheeler.substack.com/">kimberlyannwheeler.substack.com</a>Produced by <a href="https://novapodcasting.com/">NOVA</a>

Why would a bartender in Paris taste a wine, swirl it and spit it into the sink at 1:30 in the afternoon, and what does it say about how differently France and the US drink?In this episode of coucou, Kim looks at French vs. American drinking culture, from a bar stool in Paris to her own table in Provence. It begins with an apéro she hosted for French families, where she finally tried to get the cheese plate right: mildest to strongest, clockwise, room to breathe, no crackers. One fig pâté in the middle of the board set off a thirty-minute conversation about rules nobody had ever written down for her. From there she looks at the rhythm that shapes a French day: wine with lunch, a café, a sweet goûter in the late afternoon, then apéro at seven.Kim loves to dine solo in Paris, and in the 6th arrondissement she watched two cultures meet over one meal. An American diner ordered a second dirty martini just as her duck breast arrived, and a waiter quietly suggested the wine list. Neither understood the other. For one, the drink is the point. For the other, it is part of the meal. Kim wonders where our habits come from, from her Midwest upbringing and sorority days at the University of Wisconsin to why a day party feels normal to some and baffling to others.This isn't about which culture gets it right. Kim is an American expat three years into life in France, and she isn't trying to become French or give up the things she grew up with. She is learning to savor, with a wine class on the calendar, while keeping her beach-day drink and her first dirty martini back in the US. Which of your own everyday habits would you discover you had inherited if you lived somewhere else?Resources:Don't forget to subscribe, rate & review and follow us on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/coucou.pod/">@coucou.pod </a>Produced by <a href="https://novapodcasting.com/">NOVA</a>

What if the life you're supposed to live isn't the one you actually want?Kim sits down with Anne Ditmeyer, an American designer, creative coach, and author who has spent nearly two decades building an unconventional life and career in Paris. Through her workshops, creative exercises, and book OVERRIDE: What If There Was Another Way?, Anne helps people question the rules they've inherited and imagine new possibilities for themselves.Together, they explore what it means to create your own path, why we feel pressured to have everything figured out, and how creativity, curiosity, and small experiments can help us navigate uncertainty. Anne also shares the less glamorous realities of life in Paris, from French bureaucracy and making friends to her adventures exploring the city's public swimming pools.It's a conversation about trusting yourself, embracing the messy middle, and remembering that there's always another way to live.Resources:Anne Ditmeyer's website, workshops, and newsletter: annedittmeyer.comAnne on Instagram: @pretavoyagerOVERRIDE: What If There Was Another Way? by Anne DitmeyerDon't forget to subscribe, rate & review and follow us on Instagram @coucou.pod Visit our website coucoupod.comProduced by NOVA

What happens when you stop following the path that makes sense and start listening to what you actually want?Kim sits down in Paris with Jenny Minney, a graphic, brand and editorial designer and host of the podcast By Design. Jenny left New York City and moved to Paris in her 20s, following a desire that didn't necessarily make sense for her career, relationship or the life she had already built.They talk about learning to trust your intuition, letting go of five-year plans, navigating uncertainty and separating your identity from your work. Jenny also shares how moving abroad changed her relationship with social media, success, anxiety and the pressure women feel to have everything figured out.It's a conversation about Another Way to Live, and why sometimes designing a life that feels like your own means being willing to step off the path you're "supposed" to follow.Resources:Follow Jenny Minney On InstagramBy Design podcastAccord French Language School in ParisDon't forget to subscribe, rate & review and follow us on Instagram @coucou.pod Produced by NOVA