Create Your Best Empty Nest

You just said no to something and then spent the next four sentences apologizing for it. If that sounds familiar, you're not alone, and it's not a personality flaw. It's people pleasing, and it's one of the sneakiest habits keeping women in the empty nest and midlife stuck in a version of themselves they're ready to outgrow.In this episode of Create Your Best Empty Nest, Marianne Iverson breaks down why a plain "no" feels like it needs a resume of reasons attached to it, and what actually happens when you drop the performance. Spoiler: you don't lose the people who matter. You only lose the exhausting act of managing everyone's feelings about your answer.This episode covers:The hidden fear underneath every over-explained "no"The exact moment in your body where you talk yourself out of your own answerWhy "no, thank you" is a full sentence, even when you're tempted to defend itWhat you actually lose when you stop performing for people (it's not what you think)Why this season of life, after the kids leave, is the perfect practice ground for a voice you haven't used in yearsIf you've spent years being the good wife, the good mom, the good friend who always has a reason ready, this is your permission slip to stop earning your own answers.🌿 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START?If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet "now what," you've probably thought about this call more than once already.On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll find the one place the empty nest has you feeling stuck, and you'll walk away with one small shift you can start today. Not someday. Today.You don't need to have it figured out first. That's what the call is for.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

Your kid used to need you for everything. Now they need you for almost nothing, on their schedule, in ways you don't control. If that whiplash has you lying awake wondering how to stay close to your adult children without hovering, this episode is for you.Marianne Iverson, certified life coach and host of Create Your Best Empty Nest, breaks down four simple, doable strategies for building real connection with your adult child in this new season of parenting. Drawing on her own experience navigating a son's wedding, a new grandbaby, and a daughter serving a mission overseas, Marianne walks you through the exact shift from worry to trust that changes how your adult child actually experiences your love, not just how it feels to give it.This episode is for you if you've ever wondered how to let go without losing the relationship, how to stop checking in so much it feels like checking up, or how to handle that anxious wait for a text back. Whether you're newly in the empty nest or you've been here a while, these are strategies you can start using today.In this episode, you'll learn:How to tell the difference between checking in and checking up, and why the line moves faster than you thinkWhy worry, even well-intentioned worry, often lands as distrust instead of loveHow to build a boundary that protects your relationship with your adult child in both directionsA simple way to separate your anxiety from how long they actually take to respondWhat it really means to build the adult-to-adult relationship you'll have for the next 40 yearsIf you've been circling this question of how to relate to your grown kids without losing yourself or the relationship, this episode gives you real, practical language and tools you can use this week.🌿 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START?If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet "now what," you've probably thought about this call more than once already.On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll find the one place the empty nest has you feeling stuck, and you'll walk away with one small shift you can start today. Not someday. Today.You don't need to have it figured out first. That's what the call is for.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

The car pulls out of the driveway and the silence hits different this time. If you're staring down the season where your kids leave for college, or you're already living in it, this episode is the real talk you actually need. Not the Pinterest list. Not "go find yourself." Just what to do with the grief, the guilt, the pride, and the quiet calendar that comes with empty nest syndrome.In this episode of Create Your Best Empty Nest, you'll learn:Why the empty nest transition hits so much harder than anyone warns you, and why that's not a red flagHow to hold pride in your kid's independence and grief over the quiet house without picking oneWhy filling every open hour in week one works against you, and what to do insteadOne small, doable thing you can actually do today, not a five-year planIf you've been asking "who am I now?" since your kid left for college, or you can feel that question looming before they've even packed the car, this one's for you.📞 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START?You've been thinking about this long enough.On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll identify one place the empty nest has you feeling lost and give you one small shift you can start today to create your next chapter.Not someday. Today.👉 marianneiverson.com/call

Every time Hilary Weeks sat down to write music, the same thought showed up. "You're not good enough. Nobody wants to hear this." It happened so often she almost stopped noticing it. Then her husband said one sentence that changed how she heard that voice for good.This is part two of my conversation with singer-songwriter Hilary Weeks, and it might be the most important thing she says in this whole series. If you've ever felt that quiet voice of self-doubt creep in right when you're trying to build something meaningful, whether that's a career, a creative pursuit, or your next chapter after the kids leave home, this episode will change how you hear it.In this episode you'll learn:What Hilary says the adversary whispers every time she creates something meaningful, and the one sentence her husband said that reframed it for goodThe four minute habit that's kept her marriage strong for thirty four yearsHow her faith and her music have worked together instead of against each otherWhat's still ahead for her in this next season, and the book she wrote to help you find your own purpose in yoursHer final words to every woman listening, wherever she's at right nowIf you're navigating identity after kids leave home, rediscovering purpose in midlife, or just trying to quiet the voice that tells you you're too late or not qualified for what's next, this conversation will give you real language for that voice, and where it actually comes from.🌿 YOU RAISED THEM. NOW THE HOUSE IS QUIET, AND SO ARE YOU.Join the 3-Day Rediscover You Challenge, starting August 31st for just $27, and walk away with a written page of what you want, what you're good at, and your top 3 intentions for this next chapter.👉 Save your spot: marianneiverson.com/challengeFind Hilary Weeks:Website + her book, Discovering Purpose: hilaryweeks.comInstagram: @hilaryweeksmusicFacebook: @hilaryweeksYouTube: @hilaryweeksmusicListen to part one first if you haven't yet, we talk about how she balanced fourteen albums and four daughters, and what she'd say to the woman who feels like she has to disappear into her kids to be a good mom.

You Don't Have to Disappear to Be a Good Mom: The 30 Minute Secret with Hilary WeeksShe released fourteen albums. Raised four daughters. And never had to choose between the two.If you're in the empty nest season asking yourself "who am I now," or you're standing at the edge of it wondering how you're supposed to want anything for yourself again, this conversation is for you. Hilary Weeks, singer-songwriter, mom of four, and now grandmother of five, joins me to talk about how she built a real music career using thirty minutes a day, right in the middle of bedtime, homework, and everything else motherhood demanded of her.We talk about the moments she felt torn between her family and her gift. What having her own identity outside of "mom" gave her that she thinks she would've lost otherwise. And her answer to every woman who feels like she has to disappear into her kids to be a good mom, or who already built her own thing and still feels the empty nest ache anyway.In this episode you'll learn:How Hilary balanced a real music career and four daughters using just thirty minutes a dayWhat kept her showing up, even on the days nothing came outThe moments she felt torn between her family and her gift, and how she made peace with itWhat having her own identity outside of "mom" gave herHer answer to the woman who feels like she has to disappear into her kids to be a good momWhy the empty nest ache can show up even for the woman who already built her own thingThis is part one of a two part conversation, and it's the perfect place to start if you're navigating identity after kids leave home, rediscovering purpose in midlife, or just trying to figure out what your next chapter looks like.🌿 READY TO STOP CIRCLING AND ACTUALLY START?If the kids have left and you're sitting with that quiet "now what," you've probably thought about this call more than once already.On a free Next Chapter Jumpstart Call, we'll find the one place the empty nest has you feeling stuck, and you'll walk away with one small shift you can start today. Not someday. Today.You don't need to have it figured out first. That's what the call is for.👉 marianneiverson.com/callFind Hilary Weeks:Website + her book, Discovering Purpose: hilaryweeks.comInstagram: @hilaryweeksmusicYouTube + Facebook: Hilary Weeks