The Weird Years

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide.We're sold a Disney-inspired story of love. Meet the love of your life, get married, have children and live happily ever after. But nothing in life is guaranteed.What happens when something cataclysmic changes your whole life’s path?How do you begin to rebuild after trauma and sudden loss?And who might you become when the dust starts to settle?This episode is Lisa’s story of losing her husband to suicide and how that suicide loss changed everything, leaving her a widow with three children at 31.In this conversation we explore:✨ The earth-shattering shock of sudden loss✨ How suicide loss impacted her self-esteem as a woman✨ What shifts when your “life plan” suddenly disappears✨ The stigma that shapes grief after suicide✨ Building new meaning and post-traumatic growth after lossThis is partly a story of what happened, but really a story of rebuilding life after losing a partner to suicide.If you’ve ever built a life you thought was certain, only to watch everything change overnight, then this one is for you.Follow the show on your favourite platforms:Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyearsFollow  Lisa - @the_widowdiaries

If you told me a year ago that I would be releasing this episode, I would have been shooketh...But wow can things change. Really fast and really dramatically. And now my big becoming era is being shaped by a new reality of motherhood. I was very unsure about the choice to have a child, I was very scared about how it was going to shape me and maybe you're feeling the same if this is something you're considering. So I'm going to lay it all bare, the good, the bad and the weird. In this weirdly personal episode I get into:✨ How my birth plan got derailed ✨ The c-section experience ✨ Sharing a ward with a schizophrenic mother in psychosis ✨ How weirdly magical breastfeeding is ✨  The REAL partner test ✨ The inevitable identity shift coming my way If you’ve been circling the idea of motherhood, wondering what it really does to you, not just physically, but to your identity, your control, your relationship, your sense of self - then this one is for you 🤍Stick it on and go for your hot girl/guy walk.Follow the show on your favourite platforms:Instagram - ⁠@theweirdyearspodcast ⁠Tiktok - ⁠@theweirdyears⁠

In our 20s it feels far away.Like something that will “change everything”.But in your 30s?It starts to feel closer.And the questions get louder.Will I lose myself?Will my ambition survive?What happens to my identity?In this episode, I’m joined by Raychel Addo.We talk about the fear around motherhood, the way life reorganises with a child, and the identity shift that comes with becoming a mum.Because what if the story we’re told - that you lose yourself - isn’t the full picture?In this conversation, we cover:✨ The fear narrative around motherhood✨ The identity shift of matrescence✨ Grieving who you were before✨ Motherhood and ambition✨ Boundaries, productivity and career as a working mumThis isn’t about pretending it’s easy.Raychel is honest about the sleep deprivation, the adjustment, the overwhelm.But we also talk about growth.Clarity. Confidence and the unexpected ways motherhood can expand you rather than reduce you.If you’ve ever felt unsure about becoming a mum…If you’ve worried it might cost you your ambition…If you’re navigating motherhood and career at the same time…This one’s for you 🤍Follow the show on your favourite platforms:Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyearsFollow Raychel - @milkandmummiespodcast #Motherhood #WorkingMum #WomenInTheir30s

Somewhere along the way, making new friends got… weird.In our 20s it just happened.School. Uni. Work. Nights out.You were thrown together and something stuck.But in your 30s?It can feel awkward. Forced.Like everyone else already has their people.In this episode, I’m joined by Rose and Zoe, founders of CityDaze!We talk about why adult friendships feel harder now, how algorithms quietly narrow our worlds 📱 and why so many of us are craving real connection but feel out of practice actually talking to strangers.In this conversation, we cover:✨ Why making friends in your 30s feels different✨ How tech shapes who we meet (and who we don’t)✨ Why walking makes conversations deeper and less intense✨ The awkwardness of meeting new people✨ A small challenge you can try this weekIf your world has started to feel smaller…If you’ve been feeling a bit disconnected…If you want to get better at being open again…This one’s for you 🤍Pull up a chair.Or better yet - go for a walk.Follow the show on your favourite platforms:Instagram - @theweirdyearspodcast Tiktok - @theweirdyearsToday's Guests - @Zoemallet & @stillchill.ig#MakingFriendsInYour30s #AdultFriendships #BuildingCommunity

Do you ever feel overstimulated, constantly distracted… but at the same time, you know something inside you needs space?This episode is about what happens when you remove the noise completely. When there’s no phone, no talking, no distractions, and no way to avoid yourself.I’m joined by Rio, who travelled to Poland to spend four days in complete darkness and silence. Pitch black. Total stillness. Just her, her thoughts, and whatever came up.Honestly… parts of this conversation made me want to throw my phone in the bin. Other parts made my skin crawl.We get into:• What a darkness retreat actually involves (and how you even function inside one)• Why our phones are the easiest way to numb emotion• What comes up when you stop performing and start feeling• Shame, people pleasing, and patterns that come from childhood• Why slowing down can feel terrifying before it feels freeing• How to create space in everyday life without disappearing from itFollow the show on your favourite platforms:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theweirdyearspodcast/?hl=enTiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theweirdyearsThis episode is a reminder that doing less isn’t failing.Sometimes clarity comes from stopping, not pushing.#Overstimulation #SlowingDown

Do you feel like your life isn't going to plan…but at the same time, you know you're growing?This solo episode is about that uncomfortable, confusing phase so many of us hit in our 30s, where things are shifting internally but the external milestones haven't quite caught up yet.That feeling? It's limbo.In this episode, I break down why limbo exists, honestly... why it feels so shit, and why it doesn't mean you're failing or falling behind.We get into:• Why life can feel stuck even when you're evolving• The difference between identity exploration and rushing to label yourself• Why confusion isn't inefficiency• The grief of letting go of lives you thought you'd have• Five practical ways to stay in the in-between without spirallingFollow the show on your favourite platforms:Instagram - ⁠https://www.instagram.com/theweirdyearspodcast/?hl=en⁠Tiktok - ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@theweirdyears⁠This episode is a reminder to stop rushing yourself into clarity and start trusting the becoming process.Limbo isn't a dead zone.It's a formation space.#limbo #Feelingstuck #selfdevelopment

The DJ, the Control Freak & the Incoming Baby... in like 2 weeks, wtf. This week, I’m joined by my husband Chris for a very honest pre-baby conversation, recorded in that strange limbo where everything is about to change.… but hasn’t yet. We lay it al out on what it really feels like to stand on the edge of being first time parents and the lurking "uuuraaaghhhh" of what is about to happen. We get into:🍼 What having a baby has brought up for us before even arriving 🍼 The different ways we thought about the decision to start a family 🍼 Fear, identity changes, and the pressure to stay “the same”🍼 Who we hope we can be as parents This episode is for anyone who's thinking about kids, unsure if they want them, or just fascinated by the moment before a life changing moment. 🖤 Follow Chris: ⁠@chrisavantgarde⁠🎙️ Follow us: ⁠@theweirdyearspodcast⁠🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What happens when you remove the most popular social lubricant and fully meet yourself in your thirties?In this episode, I’m joined by Emily Syphas, founder of Sober & Social and one of the UK’s leading voices on sober curiosity, hangover-free living and rethinking alcohol in your 30s.Emily shares her personal journey from heavy drinking in hospitality, to years of full sobriety, to finding a hangover-free relationship with alcohol. Together, we explore what actually changes when you question the social rules we’ve inherited around drinking, and what clarity replaces the blur.We get into:🧠 Sobriety as a journey, not a destination🧠 Whether hangover-free living is a 30s cheat code🧠 How alcohol, anxiety and confidence interact🧠 The clarity that comes to dating and friendships without alcoholThis episode isn’t about quitting drinking. It’s about outgrowing versions of yourself that relied on numbing, distraction or validation and stepping into what comes next.🎙️ Follow us: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What if trying to be our best, healthiest, most beautiful selves is actually… stressing us out?In this episode, I’m joined by Emilie Lavinia, Fitness and Wellbeing Editor at The Independent, to make sense of the ever-expanding world of health, wellbeing and beauty in our thirties.This is not yet another podcast episode with a list of everything you need to be doing — it's Emilie's stripped-back, honest perspective shaped by years inside the beauty industry.We get into:✨ How to spot products with actual research behind them✨ Why women are ageing under a microscope while men get to call their facelifts “biohacking”✨ The difference between doing wellness and feeling well✨ Why going back to basics might be the best wellness glow-up you haveIf you’ve ever felt like beauty and wellness is a treadmill where you can't keep up, this episode is your reset.📲 Follow Emilie Lavinia: @emilielaviniauk🎙️ Follow us: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What if the arguments you’re avoiding/repeating/stuck in… are the exact ones that could make your life better?In this week’s Weirdly Personal, I’m getting into the fights we should be having in our thirties — and the ones we can finally stop wasting energy on.After spending way too much time arguing with men on the internet (productive? questionable), I realised just how much of our energy goes into the wrong conflicts -  and how powerful the right arguments can be.Arguments aren’t about winning; they’re about understanding, clarity and connection.In this episode, I break down:✨ The five arguments you never need to have again✨ The fights that actually improve your life - values, alignment, accountability and equality✨ How to spot the real issue underneath a conflict✨ How to argue in a way that brings you closer, not further apartIf you’ve ever replayed a conversation 47 times, avoided a necessary conflict, or found yourself knee-deep in a pointless debate, this one will shift how you think about arguing in your thirties.Listen, reflect, and maybe send this to someone you’ve been avoiding a conversation with.🙏 Follow us at @theweirdyearspodcast

What if you built your career through your own sucessful business… only to realise you’d quietly outgrown it?That’s exactly what Chloë Downes found herself facing and right at the peak of her success.Chloë is the recently exited founder of the multi-million-pound talent agency SHFT, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum, and one of the few women of colour in her industry. From the outside she was thriving, but inside she knew this wasn’t her dream.We talk about:✨ How success doesn’t always feel like success✨ What it’s really like to walk away from a career when you’re on top✨ The pressure of being a visible female founder✨ How the combination of ADHD and autism shapes her approach to the worldThis episode is for anyone who’s ever hit a level of success and then realised… this doesn’t fit me anymore.✨ Follow Chloë: @frkle & @chloe.dwns📲 Follow us: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What if your self-worth has quietly been outsourced?In this Weirdly Personal episode, I’m unpacking the validation loop - that exhausting cycle of chasing approval, likes, or praise even when we know it’s making us miserable.I get into how our need for validation isn’t a personality flaw, but a learned pattern shaped by our childhood and reinforced by a culture that rewards traditional progress at one of the stickiest times of our lives. From the dopamine hit of social media to the performance of dating and work success, I explore why our thirties can feel like a constant test of “am I doing enough?”We’ll cover:🔁 How the need for external validation is a learned 🔁 Why it feels so heavy in our thirties 🔁 The cost of living for likes, promotions, or praise🔁 Research-backed ways to shift from external to internal validationThis one’s for anyone who’s ever found themselves looking to everyone else for answers or playing for the applause instead of their own joy.🎧 New episode every Tuesday 🙏 Follow us at @theweirdyearspodcast📲 Share it with someone who’s struggling to escape the validation loop.

We know that losing people we love is inevitable - but why does grief still feel so awkward?Freddie lost both of his parents by the age of 23, an experience he didn’t face head-on. The first time, he buried it in childhood distractions; the second, he numbed it through socialising and alcohol.Now in his thirties, he’s learned that grief doesn’t end — it evolves. And at some point, it has to be faced.Through running, reflection, and opening up about loss online, Freddie has found peace in the power of conversation.In this episode, we talk about:🌀 The non-linear journey of grief🌀 Navigating your twenties and thirties without parents🌀 The questions Freddie wishes he’d asked while they were still here🌀 How to prepare for the practical side of lossThis episode is for anyone who’s lost someone, fears losing someone, or wants to better understand how to show up for those who have.✨ Follow Freddie: @f_oscar_r📲 Follow us: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What if your hormones had ruled your life for as long as you could remember?After years of emotional crashes and misdiagnoses, Kristina finally discovered she was living with PMDD — premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a hormone condition that debilitates her for two weeks of every month.In this raw and brave conversation, Kristina opens up about:🌀 What living with PMDD is really like🌀 How it impacts her dating, career, and big life decisions🌀 Her decision to choose a hysterectomy in her early 30sThis is a story about hormones, yes — but also about taking back control when your body feels like it’s working against you, and the courage it takes to make decisions others might never understand.✨ Follow Kristina: @kristinagoodsell📲 Follow us: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday — hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What if identity shifts aren’t breakdowns but breakthroughs?This week, we’re getting weirdly personal about identity - that quiet, disorienting shift that creeps in when who you were stops fitting, but who you’re becoming isn’t clear yet. Suddenly, the things that once defined you, your job, your habits, your goals, might not feel like you anymore.From grieving old versions of ourselves to realising how much of our “personality” was performance, we’re getting into it all.I'm riffing on... 🌀 Why our thirties are such a turbulent time for identity🦋 The difference between your core self and your shell self 🥀 Why shedding old versions of yourself can feel like grief (and why that’s okay)📦 How to find peace in your identity through new stories and small actionsIf you’ve ever caught yourself thinking, “I don’t even recognise myself anymore,” then you’re not lost, you’re just shedding and this one is for you. 🎧 New episode every Tuesday 🙏 Follow us at @theweirdyearspodcast📲 Share it with someone who’s in their own shedding era.

Remember when friendship just… happened?This week, we’re getting weirdly personal about the friendship gap — that strange, silent drift that happens as life scatters us into different jobs, cities, and stages. Suddenly, maintaining friendships feels like a full-time job.From friendship “breakups” that still sting years later to the awkward reality of trying to make new friends as a grown adult, we’re diving into why staying close feels harder than ever — and what we can actually do about it.We’ll unpack:💬 Why friendship peaks at 25 (and what happens after)🌿 The emotional cost of connection and why “inconvenience is the price of community”🧩 How to repair old friendships, and make new ones that actually last💞 Why your friends might just be the greatest loves of your lifeIf your WhatsApp feels quieter these days, or you’ve ever wondered “is it just me?” - this one’s for you.📲 Follow us on Instagram: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday – it's weird, but we're in it together.

What happens when your body breaks down before your mind admits you’re burnt out?This week I’m joined by David Vioque — a recovering investment banker who had every marker of success on paper, but inside was facing what he calls “spiritual burnout.” When his health started to collapse — caffeine stopped working, exercise gave immediate exhaustion — he did what most of us only dream of: he walked away. David trekked the Camino de Santiago, sat in silence with monks in Nepal, and built a toolkit for reconnection and purpose. Now, he’s the co-founder of Unbound, a reimagined health space in Shoreditch that blends testing, conversation, and community into something radically more human for preventative health & longevity. In this episode we get into:✨ What it really means to face spiritual burnout✨ Why silence and solitude can be medicine for clarity✨ How to find balance in “the extreme middle” of health✨ Follow David at @david.vioque and Unbound at @living.unbound📲 Follow us on Instagram: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday – hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

Could your sex life be the quiet revolution that reshapes how you see yourself in your thirties?This week I’m joined by Emma-Louise Boynton - journalist, founder of Sex Talks, and unflinching voice on intimacy, body image, and the stories we’re told about desire. After years of struggling with her relationship to her body, Emma-Louise's experience in sex therapy at 28 reshaped how she thought about intimacy altogether and inspired her mission to take conversations about pleasure from taboo and awkward to enlightening and essential.We get into:✨ Why so many millennials are having less sex than generations before us✨ The body insecurities and cultural scripts that follow us into our thirties✨ How curiosity, not performance, is the most radical path to confidence This chat is a reminder that sex isn’t something you “figure out” in your twenties and forget, it keeps evolving, just like the rest of us.If you’re craving more intimacy but aren’t sure where to start, whether with yourself or someone else, this one's for you. ✨ Follow Emma-Louise at @emmalouiseboynton📲 Follow us on Instagram: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday – hit subscribe to navigate the weirdness together.

What if by 36 you’d already overcome more than you ever thought possible?This week I’m joined by Abi Feltham - content creator, comedian (although she doesn't admit that), and unfiltered storyteller - whose life has been anything but linear. After years of self-destruction through alcohol and drugs, Abi achieved sobriety at 32… only to face an incurable brain cancer diagnosis just four years later.Abi shares it all, from the chaos of teenage angst, to the breakdown that finally led her to therapy, to the “sinus infection” that turned out to be a tumour. We dive into the cycles of her addiction, what resilience really looks like, and how she’s learned to choose self-compassion after decades of self-loathing.For anyone who’s ever felt like their thirties aren’t going to plan and needs a reminder that it’s possible to rebuild after collapse, this one's for you. ✨ Follow Abi at @abi.feltham📲 Follow us on Instagram: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday – hit subscribe to stay weird

The haunting what-ifs 😱What if you picked the wrong path? the wrong career, the wrong partner, the wrong city? We’ve all been there: lying awake at 2am, spiralling through The Big What-If and wondering if we’ve blown our one shot at the “right” life.In this Weirdly Personal solo episode, we’re unpacking the nagging regret spiral that so many of us get caught in, and why our generation in particular can’t stop asking what if and what's next?Here’s what we get into:The six biggest regrets people report in midlifeHow social media and endless choice leave us paralysedWhy action (even messy, imperfect action) creates clarityHow to reframe regret into something actually usefulIf you’ve ever felt haunted by the roads not taken, this one’s for you. Because regret isn’t proof we chose wrong, it’s proof we had freedom. And that’s worth something.📲 Follow us on Instagram: @theweirdyearspodcast🚀 New episodes every Tuesday – it's weird, but we're in it together.