Shows
Midlife Confidence LabHyper-Independence in Midlife: Why “I Don’t Need Anyone” Is Not Confidence - #28Ever catch yourself saying “I don’t need anyone” and wonder whether it’s power or protection talking? Do you often ask “Why do I push people away?” or “Why is it hard to ask for help?” We dig into the difference between hyper- independence - a nervous system adaptation after trust breaks - and real confidence that can handle both self-reliance and support. From the shockwaves of divorce and betrayal to the subtle burnout of overfunctioning at work and home, we map where armor shows up, how it keeps us safe for awhile, and why it eventually blocks the connection w...
2026-02-2412 minMidlife Confidence LabHow to Trust Again After Divorce or Betrayal in Midlife: Drop the Sword - #27If you’re wondering how to trust again after divorce in midlife, you’re not alone. Divorce changes you. Betrayal changes you. Broken relationships change you. And many women in midlife find themselves more guarded, more defensive, and more emotionally self-protective than they ever expected to be.In this episode of Midlife Confidence Lab, we explore how to rebuild trust after divorce - without becoming naïve, and without guarding your heart so tightly that you block intimacy.You’ll learn:Why trust issues after divorce are rooted in nervous system protectionHow emotional walls form af...
2026-02-1717 minMidlife Confidence LabFeeling Lonely in Midlife? Why Friendships and Connection Matter - #26Have you ever felt the ache for connection right when reaching out feels hardest? We unpack why that paradox shows up in midlife and how to shift from isolation to steady, nourishing friendship without forcing big, performative social moves. Drawing on nervous system wisdom, we explain how co-regulation lowers cortisol, boosts oxytocin, and opens the door to healing, clarity, and creativity - making a powerful case that friendship is a biological need, not a personality preference.We get honest about the structural shakeups that disrupt women’s social worlds - moves, caregiving, divorce, career pivots, kids launching...
2026-02-1016 minMidlife Confidence LabYour Nervous System Is Blocking Your Manifestation (Here’s How to Fix It) - #25Manifestation isn’t just positive thinking, and it’s definitely not just mystical. In this episode, we explore the powerful connection between your nervous system and your ability to manifest what you want in midlife.If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing all the “mindset work” but still feel stuck, unmotivated, or unable to move forward, this conversation will help you understand why. When your nervous system is stuck in stress, survival mode, or emotional burnout, it becomes incredibly hard to access clarity, confidence, and aligned action - the very things manifestation actually requires.You’ll lea...
2026-02-0312 minMidlife Confidence LabIf You Feel Stuck in Midlife, Do This One Thing Today - #24Feeling frozen by choices that used to feel simple? I walk through a science-backed way to cut through overthinking and kickstart real momentum, not with pressure or pep talks, but with a single, doable action that calms your nervous system and proves you can move again. Instead of chasing motivation, I explain why your body needs safety and completion - and how one “clean finish” can lower stress, release dopamine, and widen your field of view so solutions and energy return.I break down the paradox of gripping outcomes and how that tight focus triggers cortisol, attentional narr...
2026-01-2708 min
Mormon to Muse36 - Audacity over PermissionAudacity Over Permission Why Waiting Isn’t Wisdom—and Showing Up Changes Everything.
We’re often taught that patience is a virtue. That waiting is wise. That if we just prepare a little more, heal a little more, learn a little more—then we’ll be ready to speak, create, lead, or take up space.
But for many women—especially those raised in high-demand or patriarchal systems—waiting isn’t neutral.
It’s conditioning. In this episode, we talk about audacity: not arrogance, not recklessness—but the willingness to show up without permission, certainty, or guaran...
2026-01-2513 minMidlife Confidence LabHow to Be Happy in Midlife Without Fixing Yourself - #23What if the most radical move you can make in midlife is to feel good without earning it first? We peel back the belief that joy must be postponed until the body is fixed, the house is organized, or the career is clarified, and we show how that belief keeps so many women stuck in a quiet holding pattern. Instead of waiting, we practice allowing happiness now - through acceptance, receptivity, and small daily choices that soften the nervous system and expand what we notice.We explore the “waiting room of life” and why achievement-based happiness falters as m...
2026-01-1313 minMidlife Confidence LabDecision-Making in Midlife: How to Trust Yourself Again - #22Decision-making in midlife can feel surprisingly hard. You second-guess yourself, overthink small choices, and wonder why trusting your own judgment doesn’t come as easily as it once did.In this episode of Midlife Confidence Lab, we explore why decision-making changes in midlife, how self-trust gets disrupted over time, and what it actually takes to rebuild confidence from the inside out.We’ll talk about:Why women in midlife often struggle with self-doubt and decision paralysisHow people-pleasing, past roles, and old conditioning impact your ability to chooseThe nervous system’s role in overth...
2026-01-0609 minMidlife Confidence LabStop Playing It Safe: Rebuilding Confidence and Choosing a Bigger Life in Midlife - #21Boldness feels far away until you decide you’re already worthy of it. Kristin opens a clear path from self-censorship to self-trust, showing why worthiness is a decision you claim now - not a trophy you earn later - and how confidence grows from action, not overthinking. We look squarely at the inner critic and reframe it as an overused neural pathway you can quiet, challenge, and replace with truth. From there, momentum becomes practical: three decisions that change your direction, the ladder approach to make big goals believable, and embodiment practices that help your nervous system feel safe in...
2025-12-3025 minMidlife Confidence LabEnding the Year with Integrity in Midlife: How to Let Go of Emotional Weight and Move Forward Confidently - #20In this episode, we explore how to end the year with integrity by completing open emotional loops so we enter the next year lighter, clearer, and more confident. We redefine integrity as coherence, share body-based ways to acknowledge what happened, and offer simple prompts that build capacity without forcing positivity.• redefining integrity as the coherence between lived experience and acknowledgement• understanding open loops in the nervous system and why “fine” is a cognitive override• completion as witnessing, not fixing, closure, or forced forgiveness• signals of unprocessed experiences and how acknowledgement restores safety• capacity as the foundat...
2025-12-2313 minMidlife Confidence LabDecluttering in Midlife: How Clearing Your Space Rebuilds Calm and Confidence - #19Decluttering in midlife is about far more than getting rid of stuff. It’s about nervous system regulation and rebuilding calm, confidence, and self-trust during a season of identity change.In this episode of Midlife Confidence Lab, Kristin explores how physical clutter affects your nervous system, emotional regulation, and sense of self - especially for women in midlife who feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or like something in their life no longer fits.Using a relatable story about seasonal decorating, letting go, and moving forward after a difficult chapter, Kristin breaks down why clutter creates st...
2025-12-1625 minMidlife Confidence LabFeeling Stuck in Midlife? How to Navigate Change When You Don’t Know What’s Next - #18That slightly “off” feeling isn’t something you need to fix, it’s a starting place. We talk about this uncomfortable in-between place we sometimes feel when a former identity loosens, but your next chapter hasn’t fully come into focus yet. And we show how to move through it with steadiness and trust rather than panic. I walk through how the nervous system reacts to unfamiliar change, why you may be toggling between freeze and urgency, and simple regulation practices - breathwork, somatic check-ins, and EFT tapping - that teach your body it’s safe to explore.We also...
2025-12-0911 minMidlife Confidence Lab7 Life-Changing Things I Learned This Year - #17In this episode, I’m sharing the seven lessons from the year that completely transformed my life as I learned how to reinvent myself in midlife and learned how to be more confident at 50+. From becoming the CEO of your own days to embracing imperfect action, these are the mindset shifts and practical tools that build real midlife confidence, self-trust, and momentum.We talk about what it looks like to design a life that fits your wiring - not the expectations you’ve outgrown. I have learned how to create a life I love! I shar...
2025-12-0215 min
The Grim: Haunted Cemeteries & Graveyard TalesLegacy Within Trinity | Trinity Churchyard, New York CityIn this episode of The Grim, Kristin guides you through the historic shadows of Trinity Churchyard in New York City—the final resting place of Alexander Hamilton, Eliza Hamilton, Angelica Schuyler, Robert Fulton, Albert Gallatin, John Peter Zenger, and the mysterious James Leeson.Step beyond Wall Street’s noise and into a world where America’s early history and lingering hauntings intertwine. Discover the stories etched into these stones, from Revolutionary heroes to whispered legends said to wander the grounds after dark.A haunting, heartfelt walk through one of America’s most iconic cemeteries.Suppor...
2025-12-0220 minMidlife Confidence Lab7 Ways to End the Year Strong - #16Ready to finish the year strong? We explore ending the year rooted in identity, choice, and self-trust in midlife - so the next chapter starts with natural momentum. Framed by the energetic shift from the Year of the Snake to the Year of the Horse, we trade shedding and inner work for bold, forward movement grounded in presence and clarity.We walk through seven practical steps to end the year with intention: offering real gratitude to the people who changed you, running a full tech reset to clear mental noise, auditing your year...
2025-11-2518 min
Midlife Confidence LabThe Psychology of Midlife Reinvention: Why You Want More Now - #15We reintroduce our show as Midlife Confidence Lab (formerly Edge of Real Podcast) and explore why midlife restlessness is not a crisis but a call to a deeper, truer identity. We share the psychology, the signs to watch for, and practical steps to regulate, reflect, and follow small, brave moves.• Midlife Confidence Lab has a deeper focus on self‑trust and boldness• Carl Jung’s individuation and the shift from roles to inner truth• Three driving forces: role disruption, cognitive maturing, somatic truth telling• The hidden message of restlessness as expansion not failure• Clear signs yo...
2025-11-1817 min
Friends & FictionFriends & Fiction with Brisa CarletonOn this episode, Patti Callahan Henry & Kristy Woodson Harvey welcome Broadway producer turned author Brisa Carleton to discuss her debut novel Last Call at the Savoy, which is set against the glittering backdrop of London's iconic Savoy hotel where a young woman is forced to confront her troubled past as she uncovers the story of the hotel's first female bartender who’s been erased from the history books. Brisa grew up in the Pacific Northwest before moving to Midtown Manhattan to turn her passion for musicals and "flare for the dramatic" into an award-winning career as a Broadway producer. Th...
2025-11-1442 minMidlife Confidence LabBig News: Edge of Real is becoming Midlife Confidence Lab - #14Today we share a decisive shift - Edge of Real is becoming Midlife Confidence Lab - to best support women in a midlife transformation to move from self-reflection to embodied, practical confidence. The heart stays the same: honest stories, truth-telling, and those moments of knowing you are seen.We walk through the why behind the rename and how it helps the right listeners find us. Midlife signals who we serve. Confidence names the skill most women ask for. Lab sets the tone: low-risk tests, iterative learning, and real-world tools for decision-making...
2025-11-1120 min
Christ PopWait For It — Trusting God in the WaitingIn today’s episode we dive deep into the powerful themes behind the song “Wait For It” from Hamilton. What happens when everyone around you seems to be moving forward — getting the break, the blessing, the answered prayer — and you’re still waiting on God? Through Scripture and storytelling, we explore how seasons of waiting aren’t punishment, but preparation. We’ll walk through the lives of Abraham, Joseph, and David and uncover what “waiting on the Lord” really means.If you’ve ever felt stuck, overlooked, behind schedule, or uncertain about your next step — this episode is...
2025-11-0710 minMidlife Confidence LabLow Confidence? Learn Better Decision-Making - #13Staring at a menu too long, rewriting the same text, or living in the land of maybe isn’t a character flaw - it’s a signal that your confidence got outsourced. In this episode, host Kristin Hamilton opens up about how that happens in midlife and share a simple, repeatable way to rebuild self-trust so choices feel cleaner, calmer, and more aligned with who you are now.We start by redefining confidence as the ability to handle what comes next, not the pressure to predict the perfect outcome. From there, we walk through the “confidence loop”: make a s...
2025-11-0416 minMidlife Confidence LabHow to Find Meaning in Midlife When Everything Is Fine But Nothing Feels Real - #12The quiet question “Is this all there is?” can actually be an invitation. We trace the origins of midlife restlessness back to generational scripts that prized endurance over expression and to a Gen X upbringing that taught independence without teaching self-connection. That context matters: it explains why a life that looks complete on paper can still feel thin in your body, and why longing is not failure but a sign of expansion trying to surface.I share a personal turning point that unfolded into years of choosing again. Along the way, we unpack the myth of completion, the...
2025-10-2825 minMidlife Confidence LabFeeling Fully Alive Again: Reclaiming Freedom, Joy, and Choice in Midlife - #11What does it really mean to feel alive again - to wake up each day knowing you have the power to choose how you show up, what you want, and who you want to be? In this episode of Edge of Real, Kristin explores the exhilarating freedom that comes when you start living life on your own terms.From breaking old patterns to embracing your desires, this soulful conversation dives into what it means to live in full spectrum - to reconnect with your autonomy, your joy, and your sense of self after years of putting others...
2025-10-2116 minMidlife Confidence LabStop Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone: Start Expanding Who You Are - #10What if the real block isn’t leaving your comfort zone, but believing you have one in the first place? We explore a gentler, more powerful approach to growth: living as expansion. Instead of muscling through fear, we look at how language, identity, and energy can shift the way you move through your day so progress feels safer, more aligned, and actually sustainable.I share how a single phrase - “stepping outside my comfort zone” - felt small and constricting, and how replacing it with “I’m expanding into this” changed my choices and calmed my nervous system. We u...
2025-10-1413 minMidlife Confidence LabHow to Trust Yourself Again: The Foundation for Alignment and Expansion - #9We explore how self-trust erodes through small betrayals, then rebuild it through nervous system regulation, compassionate reframes, and seven practical steps that create proof you can rely on yourself. • how self-trust erodes through people-pleasing and overthinking• signals of lost self-trust such as overexplaining and decision paralysis• energy, alignment, and why doubt repels what you want• fear as self-protection and walking with it anyway• regulating the nervous system to access intuition• seven steps to rebuild self-trust with micropromises and action• journal prompts to anchor insight into daily lifeIf this episode resonat...
2025-10-0719 minMidlife Confidence LabThe Weight of Shame and the Freedom Beyond It - #8We take a hard, honest look at shame - the kind that tells you you’re the problem - and trade the old scripts for a new practice of self-return. Along the way, we unpack how culture taught many midlife women to internalize blame, explore why younger stories are reframing shame as something external, and draw strength from surprising places: the action-packed K‑pop Demon Hunters with a deeper message and Keely Jones’s refusal to carry someone else’s violation in Ted Lasso.I share the language that helped me separate identity from behavior, and a personal...
2025-09-3019 min
Friends & FictionFriends & Fiction with Jane HamiltonOn this episode, Kristin Harmel & Ron Block welcome acclaimed NYT-bestselling novelist Jane Hamilton to discuss her stunning new coming-of-age novel, The Phoebe Variations, about girls, mothers, and finding one's way in the world. Jane's novels have won literary prizes, have been made into films, and have been international bestsellers. Two of them — The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World — were selections of Oprah's Book Club. Her nonfiction has appeared in the New York Times; The Washington Post; Allure; O, The Oprah Magazine; Elle; and various anthologies. She joins us from her home on an apple farm in W...
2025-09-2643 minMidlife Confidence LabLiving Out of Alignment? How to Recognize the Signs and Realign with Your Authentic Self - #7You now that quiet nudge you sometimes feel inside, that whisper that something just feels off? That heaviness in your body, flatness in your mood, or racing thoughts you can't quiet? These aren't random feelings - they're powerful signals that you've drifted out of alignment with your authentic self.In this deeply reflective episode, we explore what it truly means to live in alignment and the subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways our bodies tell us when we're off course. For so many women, especially in midlife, we've followed external rulebooks for so long that disconnection becomes our normal...
2025-09-2421 minMidlife Confidence LabFeeling Unsettled? How to Learn From It - #6Ever feel that familiar tightness in your chest when someone says something that pushes your buttons? That sensation isn't just discomfort, it's a doorway to profound personal growth.Emotional triggers - we're taught to avoid them, manage them, or push them down. But what if these uncomfortable moments are actually powerful mirrors showing us exactly where we need to heal? In this deeply personal episode, I share a recent interaction that could have sent me spiraling into old patterns of people-pleasing and self-abandonment. Instead, it became a catalyst for standing even more firmly in my truth.
2025-09-1618 min