June 21, 2026 • 28 mins
There are registries for the good times in life…but what about for divorce? Olivia Howell is the co-founder of Fresh Starts Registry, and she’s explaining how her brilliant idea is now changing newly divorced people’s lives!
Plus, Olivia tells us about her divorce network and why it’s crucial for newly single people to have all the tools they can going into their divorce proceedings!
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Speaker 1 (00:18):
I do Part two.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's your celebrity mentor Kelly ben Simone, And today I
get to talk to a woman who co founded an
incredible business, Divorce Registries. Have you ever heard of something
so cool? And she's also the host of the Divorce
Happens podcast. Fresh Start Registry has been featured on The
(00:39):
Today Show, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and more. I
can't wait to learn all about this.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Please welcome my.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
New guest, Olivia Howell. Hello, Hi, how are you, Kelly?
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Oh? My god, Olivia is so nice to meet him,
So excited to talk to you today. So you started
this amazing opportunity for divorced men and women to have
not only a network, but access to all these different
products and things that they're going to need. First of all,
I love this whole idea. It's so fantastic. It resonates
(01:17):
with me because I was supposed to get married and
then I called off my wedding and everything was in
storage and there was everything was all over the place,
and you know what we were using what I wanted
to use, and I just felt.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Very very like totally like unsettled.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
And so I really really appreciate this. Also it's such
a cool business model.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You're doing every I mean all you have to do is.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Go to Amazon and like you have an entire, you know,
section of like every single thing that you need, from
the blanket, from the utensils, from the sheets, I mean everything.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
It's so brilliant. So now let's so you and your
sister you start a business. Yeah, what are the roles
and how does that work?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
This is a great question.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
So my sister is two and a half years younger
than me, and we had kind of opposite parallel stories.
So I had a very traditional got married in my
twenties to a guy I met on match dot com,
had two little boys, had the white picket fence, and
then he decides he's leaving.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Right.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
It was a very toxic marriage, so it ended up
being the best for everybody. And my sister had kind
of the opposite. She was with her partner for ten years.
They finally got engaged. They were supposed to have the
big wedding. She's the middle child, so this was like
her big moment to shine, and then COVID happened and
they pushed the wedding off so many times. He told
(02:33):
her he didn't love her anymore, so her engagement was over.
So I stayed in the marital residence and had to
really learn to heal in that environment. She left her
apartment in Queen's with nothing, and so we had these
different experiences.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
And so when my ex.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Moved out, I was very uncomfortable in the house. It
was all of the things we picked out together, and
he is a musician. He left, you know, guitar hangers
on the wall, and it was like a ghost town.
And so I thought to myself, you know, I had
two baby registries, I had a wedding registry. I really
need to replace these items. And I didn't have the money.
(03:11):
I worked for myself and I was paying for a divorce.
I literally was like, there's got to be a divorce
registry out there, and I googled it and there was not.
And so I called my sister and at the time
we were not working together. This was back in twenty nineteen,
and I said, I think we should start the world's
first divorce registry.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
And she's like, I love you, but like, we don't
know how to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Now.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I started my own business.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
I had had my own agency, marketing agency for a
long time, but started a startup of registry. We had
no idea what we were doing, and it wasn't until
she had her experience and she was in an apartment
by herself with nothing, and she called me and said,
remember that idea that you had, and so we built
everything and so we are the world's first divorce registry.
And like you said, Kelly, you know you can go.
(03:56):
It's always free to make a registry.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
So one of the.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Things that was really important to us is we're not lawyers.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
We are just two girls. We grew up in a
family of divorce.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
All of our grandparents are divorced, our parents are divorced.
It was you know, you know, it was normal for us, Kelly.
It was like, okay, like this is just like However,
I thought my divorce would be easy because I had experience, right,
And I was like, I have family support, I have
financial support, what And it wasn't right. It was I
was depressed, just like everybody else. I had to heal
(04:29):
for years, just like everybody else. And so I thought, well,
if that was hard for me to go through, then
how the hell is everybody else getting through this?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Right? Turns out they're not. That's there's the answer exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
So we built this business model where we said, let's
let's build you know, help people build the registries for
free and educate for free. And then we were like, well, uh,
we have to make money somehow on this, and so
we knew we wanted to have an expert platform because
people don't know this, but you actually, well you know,
but you use about seven experts when you go through
(05:05):
any big life change and you think about it, even
like buying a house, right you have the appraiser and
the mortgage person.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
It just adds up.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
I wanted a one stop shop for everybody to come
and say, I know that these professionals at Fresh Starts
are vetted and they're safe, and I can use any
of them. So what we did is we figured out banks.
We figured out, well, my background is marketing and PR,
my sister's backgrounds in tech and business development. Let's offer
that to experts and we can give them a membership.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
And so we did that. So we are very transparent.
We're bootstrapped.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
We make our money the way we've always made our money,
which is marketing and PR, and we provide that to
our experts and they pay either twenty five dollars or
fifty five dollars a month, very affordable, and we are
now the premier divorce support network of experts. And the
thing that I'm most proud of, Kelly, is that when
you sign on to be a Fresh Starts expert, you
have to sign our ethos that says you are shame free,
(06:02):
judgment free, and inclusive, because that's really important to us.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Oh my god, that is such a First of all,
I'm so sorry there was all this divorce in family,
but out of something bad came something so good.
Speaker 6 (06:15):
Yeah, fresh Start, Yeah, you and your sister, I mean
talk about backgrounds that are like built for business.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
I mean that's literally fantastic and just.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
The genesis of like why you guys started. This is
just so real and transparent. And yeah, people do need,
you know, tools in their tool belt, and I just
think this is so fantastic. So let's talk about the
three things that you need every person needs with kids,
(06:56):
and then we're gonna ask with that, but let's talk
about with first.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
I love this question, and Kelly, you know so many
women and we are for men and women, but we
primarily get a lot of women. Women are culturally more
conditioned to ask for help a little bit. And so
for women, for moms, they always think about the kids
right before anything else.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
You know what that's like, right, And so.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
A lot of women have to downsize or they have
to move really quickly out of a place. And so
it was really important for me, who I was left
a single mom with two little kids, to be able to,
you know, put together a bundle of items you could
add to your registry that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Were easy for single moms to build.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
Right, you only have two hands, so you're not going
to be able to build like a huge shelf by yourself.
So for moms who are building a registry, I would say,
and this is so silly, but like new dishes, right,
because you're starting a new family. This is a new
iteration of your family. And you know, I always say,
like divorce is like splitting the atom, right, So you
(08:00):
just kind of changing the dynamic of the family. And
it is those little things like dishes that you're not
going to use your wedding dishes anymore anything for your
wedding registry, maybe you and your kids can pick out
new dishes to put on your registry.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
So that's number one.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
New dishes, right, even if you just put pizza, frozen
pizza on there, totally fine. And then along with that utensils, right,
new utensils. I'm a small fork and spoon person. I
have very small hands. I do not want to reach
into a utensil drawer and pull out a big spoon
or fork, and so for me, it was really important.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
To have new utensils.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
And I always recommend you know, overall, the general theme
here is things that maybe your ex touched is great
to replace, right, Like I'm big into energy, and you
know you don't want to have those things necessarily in
the house. Of course, donate the things that you're not
going to use anymore, because somebody can definitely use them,
but you are worthy of that upgrade. So so utensils, plates,
(09:02):
And the last thing is a new blanket. Right, you
and your kiddos are going to snuggle under the blanket
and watch movies. Get yourself something beautiful and bold and
colorful and super soft.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
But now, what about if it's just a single person
man or woman who gets divorced and they have nothing,
what do they go away with?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
What three items did they ease?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Yeah, so this is the thing that always kind of
blows people's minds. But new underwear, get yourself new underwear,
and it's totally okay to put it on your registrate.
I'm giving everybody permission to do that right now. You
do not want to keep putting on underwear that your
ex saw. It's not going to help you feel sexy.
It's not going to help you heal, right, and this
is all about healing. So get yourself some new underwear.
(09:45):
And you know what, your girls are going to want
to buy your new underwear, So put it on the
registrate because you deserve that. And then sheets, right, you
do not want to sleep in that same bed that
you slept in with your ex again, Like I remember,
even one of the energy healers I work during my
divorce was like, you gotta get rid of all his cells.
No cells in the house, right, like nothing.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
In the house.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
So new sheets, new underwear, and then new wine glasses.
Get yourself something really you know whatever you drink, right,
what maybe it's just diet coke and ice, that's cool too,
Get yourself something that you really love. I remember, like
along these lines, right before my ex moved out, we
had cohabitated because most people do when they have kids
(10:27):
before they leave. And I went to Target and I
got myself these plastic glasses because I had kids at
the time. I still do, but they were smaller and
they were like vintage looking plastic glasses. And I didn't
take them out until he left, and it was so
special to see those in my cabinet. So yeah, and
(10:47):
you know, the whole thing is like you're allowed to
start fresh, and this is your time to pick out
items that bring you joy. You know, Gray divorce, which
is divorce over fifty is on the rise majorly. It's
about triple in the last twenty years. And a lot
of these women have literally Kelly, never picked anything out
for themselves.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
And you know, so.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Imagine like you get to go on, you know, pick
out your registrate of things for you. And we do
see some trends, which is interesting. The color pink.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
All over the place.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
Women love everybody after divorce after divorce, and so you
get your pink back that way, which is really nice.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So let's get to like some of your hot items,
like what are people asking for?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
What are like, you know, some of the big items
that everyone's like, I need.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
These, Yeah, I love that question. So you know a
couple of things, so we do. We can see you know.
The way that it works is you can actually submit
your registrate to our website and we have what we
call our registry Fairies, which are just anybody can be
a registry fairy. You can sign up and we send
the registries from women and men going through divorce to
our registry fairies, and you can buy somebody an item
(11:58):
from the registry. Because Amazon protects you, which is why
we used Amazon. You can also do it on my
registrate if you're not a fan of Amazon. And so
we always say submit your registry to us because you
never know you might get stuff, and we do have people.
We actually just had two of our somebody two companies
sponsored and hire registries recently for people, which is amazing,
(12:19):
and so we do get to see what people are
asking for. So some of my favorite items are disco balls.
People ask for disco balls, which I love. And somebody
asked her a pirate flag. Kelly, I was like, I
love this, I want a pirate flag. But you know
what I really love is like bathrobes and things that
people really ask for for themselves, right, and like we
(12:40):
love to see, you know, even simple things like a
butter dish somebody asked for. And then she emailed us
and she was like, I cried opening my butter dish.
And it's like those those little things they mean so
much to people, you know. And we had a a
somebody we know who registered for a new utensil holder,
and she emailed us a picture and she said, I
had the same tensilholder my whole marriage, and every time
(13:02):
I looked at it, I thought about the abuse that
I was, you know, I had gone through. And now
with this new utensil holder, I get to see my
life like happen in a beautiful way. And it's it's
because those little things do represent right, there's symbolic. We
always say that the items from a registry are items.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
We don't call them gifts.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
There's support items, and they're the physical manifestation of the
support that you can offer somebody. You know, there's a
lot of freeways to support your friends and family also
going through a divorce, which we are always a fan of.
But also you can buy a friend or a family member,
you know, a five dollars mug from their registry and
it's going to mean the world to them.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I just love that.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I mean, you're you're totally debunking the stigma of divorce.
And like, there's bridal registries, you know, there's wedding registries.
You know, there's registries for like baby registry you no baby.
There's literally a registry for everything, except for the thing
that you really really really need is starting over. So
how do we So how does someone even go about
(14:02):
sharing a registry? I mean, you've talked about Amazon, you
talked about my registry. How does that actually work?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
So you go to Fresh startsregistry dot com and on
the website there there's a button for build your Registry,
create your registry, and you can go in and so
the way that we've organized it is our whole mission
is to eliminate the overwhelm out of starting over. You know,
when you're at the intersection of heartbreak and legal and
all that bs stuff, you cannot handle picking out new
stuff for yourself and so reading reviews. So we have
(14:31):
bundles of items based on different things. We have you know,
by price point ninety nine dollars upwards. We have by esthetic, right,
so you can do like all different room aesthetics and
then simply by rooms, right, so you could go pick
you know, click on the bathrooms, and we've read the reviews.
We put the items there. So you can just add
all of that to your registry and then you can
(14:51):
go in and add anything else that you want. You
can also just add a thing to get money, you know,
to Amazon, so that you can also like get the
bigger items if you that also, but we always recommend,
you know, adding things that are different price points, and
you are allowed to like be wild, you know, get
the rainbow colored spoons and forks.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Why not, right, like live live boldly, and so you
do that.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
And we actually do provide scripts for people because they say, well,
how do I ask?
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Right, this is really weird.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Nobody's going to ask that.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Yeah, so we do have scripts on the website.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
You can click copy and paste it into a text
and we are all about scripts and helping people, and
so you can send it to your friends and family
and say, look, you've asked how you can help me.
This is how you can help me. I don't have
you know, dishes or cereal bowls. We've gotten a lot
of negative feedback over the years, not shockingly from people
who have said, well, I won't get somebody an item
(15:44):
from the registry, but I will buy you a bottle
of wine, which is lovely.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
But would why would they be negative about helping someone
be better?
Speaker 5 (15:54):
That's a great question, Kelly, because people are still really
stigmatizing divorce. Divorce is still morally a really bad thing
for people, and that's what we're here to and you know,
completely reshift the narrative, you know, a small thing to
try to do, like a historical narrative, but you know,
we're trying to say, like, yes, it's great that you're
saying I'm here for you, but sometimes people really just
(16:15):
need the basics to begin again.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
And that's okay. And you know, we've had a lot.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
Of people also thank us from the other side as
the friend or the sister of somebody going through divorce
and say thank you for providing this platform because I
didn't know how to help, and now I know how
to help. So and we also do provide I provide
one on one free calls for anybody who's interested, you know,
considering divorce or going through divorce, or or post divorce.
(16:43):
This was something we started just a few years ago,
and I talk to women now all day every day,
totally free, no obligation. It's very difficult for people to
understand that, but I'm it's completely.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Free, and we're there for them.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
I am there for them because I made a vow that, Yeah,
I didn't want anybody to go through this alone ever again,
and so we mean that.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
You know, it's interesting you were talking about the stigma
of getting divorced and there's all these you know, divorce rings.
I mean, I'm a victim of that I made. I
made a divorce ring from my ring. This is back
in like literally like two thousand and nine.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
I made a divorce ring.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And then people having these divorce parties, they're going to Vegas, they're.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Having all these things. Why is it that women.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Feel like they have to celebrate that moment? Do you
feel like they're trying to not feel so bad? I mean,
it's it's just the stigma of divorce is real. Oh yeah,
it's hurt and that harm is real. So why are
we celebrating?
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Why are we celebrating?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Celebrate? What am I doing?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
You know why, Kelly?
Speaker 5 (17:51):
Because you survived. You survived, and not every woman gets
out of marriage alive.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
And that's the true meaning.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
And you survived, and we are allowed to celebrate our
survival and divorce I think is still really hard for
people to understand. And you know, it touches every single
part of your life and your family and your future
and your past and you come out a completely different person.
So your celebration, your divorce ring, which I love that
(18:18):
you were on the vanguard of that, you know, is
about celebrating you as a person, choosing you. It is
not easy, like you said, to be a brave woman
and choose divorce.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
The world does not like single moms.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
The world hates divorced women, right, and so to choose
that is really brave. And that's what we're celebrating, is
the bravery that you, you know, you move forward with.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
It's interesting what you say, and I really appreciate you
using the word bravery because when I was on Housewives
at the very beginning in the ice age in two
thousand and nine, and I was divorced and my children
are very young, and the fan base was like, oh,
there must be something wrong with you. I'm like, no,
I actually made a good decision for our family as
a whole, for my girls, for their future, and for
(19:03):
my ex husband, Like I'm the one that made that decision,
and it was not any easy decision to be on
my own raising children alone.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Like who wants to do that? Like no, you don't
get you know, Like but you don't get harolded for that. No,
you do great work. You're gonna do this.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
I mean people were literally like, you.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Can't believe that, And you can't can't find a date,
you can't find someone to like take over.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
I'm like, I'm sorry, excuse me.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm you know, I'm I get it.
Like there's still such a stigma. And it's twenty twenty
six on single Moms, right, and like as much as
we try to say there isn't there is, And there's
such a morality discussion around divorce.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
And for me and my goal is to make divorce boring.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
Divorce happens, right, Like that's what that's our book title,
Divorce happens, right, you know, And like divorce happens to
fifty percent of first marriages and it goes up for
second and third. So why are we acting like it's
not a part of life, Because it just is a
part of life, and it's just a transition.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
You're just a reiteration of the family.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I just love that you just wanted to make divorce boring.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I think there's just so many things that you're saying
that are really resonating with me, and that you know,
I wish that I had known you back when I
had gotten divorced. I probably wouldn't have been so insecure.
I probably would have been a different human moving forward,
and just I probably would have handled my life in
a different way if I had had those tools. But
let's get into the business even more, because I'm like,
(20:37):
I like to you know, dive deep, and you guys
are doing more than just you know this registry. You
are creating this arsenal of like all of these different
ideas from divorce professionals, divorce coaches, attorneys, therapists.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
So is it important.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
For women and men who are getting divorced to have
these resources?
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Yeah, So we call it your hype team because we're
all always positive thinking but without toxic positivity. So you
need people around you, right whether you are considering divorce.
And the average woman and I'm sure you'll agree with me,
considers divorce for two years before she even says anything
to anybody. So I bet if you think back, you're like, oh, yeah,
I didn't realize I was doing that.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yeah, but I was. I did that Yep, yeah, me too.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
And so you know, so you whether you are in
the consideration phase or you're kind of just thinking about it.
I always like to say, and I assume we can
curse on this podcast, but before, before stuff hits the fan,
you want to have your hype team around you.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
So what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Right?
Speaker 5 (21:40):
And then how do we help? So let's say Kelly
that you are considering divorced. You make a call with
me on Zoom. We chat for fifteen minutes totally free,
and I'll say, Okay, Kelly, what's going on? And you're like,
I'm considering divorce. I've been married, I have kids, we're
not getting along whatever. I'll say, Great, let's get you
a divorce coach and I will connect you to three
different coaches for free calls that you can meet with.
(22:02):
I like to match people based on vibes great, because
that's why I meet with them. And I know all
of our professionals, so it's really easy for me to
see who would be a good fit. And our professionals
offer tons of different services, and so you know, divorce
coach will help you strategize. They save you so much
money down the line because they're helping you write the
emails to your lawyer. They're taking on the emotional load
(22:24):
that your lawyer does not like. My lawyer used to say,
call me back when you're calmer, and I was like, like,
I do not like that, thank you, So I you know,
so divorce coach is actually always my first stop, not
before a divorce lawyer.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
You don't even need to get there yet.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
Also, if you own a house and you have a mortgage,
you should always talk to a realtor and a mortgage
expert always. This is about education, right, We're not trying to, like,
you know, cause revenge. We're not trying to you know,
start problems. This is about educating you on your options.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
And you have to understand your assets.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
So a certified divorce financial analyst or forensic accountant, they're
going to help you really look and untangle. And this
does not matter whether you are living in a penthass
in New York City or in a small little ranch
house and wherever. Right, this is everybody's going to have
financial issues that they're going to have to untangle, and
then of course you know things like healers, right because
you're going to want to get through a healing process therapists,
(23:20):
and then also just you know, having a mediator, having
a co parenting coach, which I always recommend a co
parenting coach. We have an amazing expert who is a
college planning expert for divorced families, who actually helps the
parents figure out not just in the stipulation what the
college payment should be, but you know, you know, going
(23:40):
down the line and saying where should this kid go
to college? What if we disagree? All of these things.
You know, as we said, divorce touches everything, and it's
so important to have experts who you can refer to
for all of these things. So we help you build
your hype team, and if you need anything, we're always here.
We're really big into education because nobody teaches you write
about divorce and so you know, yeah, you know, it's
(24:04):
it's and for me, like I had to learn everything.
My sister was my point person. She got me through
my divorce, and I don't I don't know what the
lingo is.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
We're not we're not.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Lawyers, and so I love being able to teach people
like this is what you know you need, this is
who you need, this is why you need them, and
they will be able to support you through that.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I mean, Olivia, you are spot on with so many
different things. I mean, money really makes people very very ugly.
And I you know, I totally agree with having you know,
like just having the conversation with people about what the
possibilities are.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
And I loved all the resources. It's great.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I mean you just have to like again like have
the tools in your tool belt. And I mean, I
mean I live, I come from a family of lawyers.
I love lawyers. But you have to also kind of know,
like what your plan is.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yes, and a lot of people just don't.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
They just like and and you're also correct with they
it does take a while. You don't just like get
divorced on it two day people happens, No, exactly. So
my last thing is out you now hosting events? So
you guys are hosting all these events. Are there any
new events that are coming up this month? So that
these women can and then actually meet other people?
Speaker 4 (25:14):
So what we do?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
Yeah, so we are experts, have amazing groups. So I
would say, if you're interested in a Divorced Group. A
bunch of our experts have free groups, they have paid groups.
You can reach out to me, and my dms are
always open. I like to say, I'm at Olivia Howell.
So it's pretty easy and it's only me who reads them,
and so I do get hundreds of dms today, women
telling me incredible stories.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
We become so close.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
They tell me when they signed their divorce papers, like
it's so beautiful.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
And so if you've any questions, please reach out.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
But we do.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
We have about five events a month hosted by our experts.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
These are always.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Free Kelly, and they sign up and if you even
if you can't come, you get the replay. And so
just yesterday we actually had an event with one of
our experts about how to unfreeze yourself in a spiral
of anxiety when you're going through divorce. We have yeah
one coming up next week, I believe about how to
have hard conversations. We have one with the college planning expert.
(26:10):
But every month we have five new events and all
of them are always on the website.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You can go watch them.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
So we're really big into free stuff. Anything free is
there for you on the website and you know I
would say too. Ninety nine point nine percent of our
experts have free consultations and calls and so reach out,
like this stuff is here for you. We built this
for people. When we say we don't want anybody to
go through divorce alone, we truly mean that, and that's
(26:37):
our life's mission.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
I mean, I think it couldn't be better.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Congratulations, Seriously, this really really impressive, Olivia, I mean, unbelievable work.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
I want to meet your sister at some point too.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
She has an.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Amazing she has an amazing story.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
First of all, I want to say, Kelly, thank you
because you were on the vanguard of like single momhood
and choosing yourself and I watched you do that right,
and so like I just want to say thank you
to you, like stepping up because it is not easy
and being a public figure is not easy, and you did.
You were a model for other people, for other moms
(27:12):
to say, like, we can do this in a different way.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
That means a lot to me.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I'm really improved by that. I do Part two we
herald you. Thank you, thanks so so so much.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
So nice to see you, and I look forward to
hearing more and more and more good news from you.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Thanks Kelly.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Are you freshly divorced and trying to figure out your
new life but you don't know where to start. We're
here to help. Send us an email or leave us
a voicemail. All the infos in the show notes, and
follow us on socials.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
I Do Part two, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
We're falling in love is the main objective.
I do Part two.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
It's your celebrity mentor Kelly ben Simone, And today I
get to talk to a woman who co founded an
incredible business, Divorce Registries. Have you ever heard of something
so cool? And she's also the host of the Divorce
Happens podcast. Fresh Start Registry has been featured on The
(00:39):
Today Show, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and more. I
can't wait to learn all about this.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
Please welcome my.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
New guest, Olivia Howell. Hello, Hi, how are you, Kelly?
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Oh? My god, Olivia is so nice to meet him,
So excited to talk to you today. So you started
this amazing opportunity for divorced men and women to have
not only a network, but access to all these different
products and things that they're going to need. First of all,
I love this whole idea. It's so fantastic. It resonates
(01:17):
with me because I was supposed to get married and
then I called off my wedding and everything was in
storage and there was everything was all over the place,
and you know what we were using what I wanted
to use, and I just felt.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Very very like totally like unsettled.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
And so I really really appreciate this. Also it's such
a cool business model.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
You're doing every I mean all you have to do is.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Go to Amazon and like you have an entire, you know,
section of like every single thing that you need, from
the blanket, from the utensils, from the sheets, I mean everything.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
It's so brilliant. So now let's so you and your
sister you start a business. Yeah, what are the roles
and how does that work?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
This is a great question.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
So my sister is two and a half years younger
than me, and we had kind of opposite parallel stories.
So I had a very traditional got married in my
twenties to a guy I met on match dot com,
had two little boys, had the white picket fence, and
then he decides he's leaving.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Right.
Speaker 5 (02:13):
It was a very toxic marriage, so it ended up
being the best for everybody. And my sister had kind
of the opposite. She was with her partner for ten years.
They finally got engaged. They were supposed to have the
big wedding. She's the middle child, so this was like
her big moment to shine, and then COVID happened and
they pushed the wedding off so many times. He told
(02:33):
her he didn't love her anymore, so her engagement was over.
So I stayed in the marital residence and had to
really learn to heal in that environment. She left her
apartment in Queen's with nothing, and so we had these
different experiences.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
And so when my ex.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Moved out, I was very uncomfortable in the house. It
was all of the things we picked out together, and
he is a musician. He left, you know, guitar hangers
on the wall, and it was like a ghost town.
And so I thought to myself, you know, I had
two baby registries, I had a wedding registry. I really
need to replace these items. And I didn't have the money.
(03:11):
I worked for myself and I was paying for a divorce.
I literally was like, there's got to be a divorce
registry out there, and I googled it and there was not.
And so I called my sister and at the time
we were not working together. This was back in twenty nineteen,
and I said, I think we should start the world's
first divorce registry.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
And she's like, I love you, but like, we don't
know how to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Now.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
I started my own business.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
I had had my own agency, marketing agency for a
long time, but started a startup of registry. We had
no idea what we were doing, and it wasn't until
she had her experience and she was in an apartment
by herself with nothing, and she called me and said,
remember that idea that you had, and so we built
everything and so we are the world's first divorce registry.
And like you said, Kelly, you know you can go.
(03:56):
It's always free to make a registry.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
So one of the.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
Things that was really important to us is we're not lawyers.
Speaker 4 (04:04):
We are just two girls. We grew up in a
family of divorce.
Speaker 5 (04:06):
All of our grandparents are divorced, our parents are divorced.
It was you know, you know, it was normal for us, Kelly.
It was like, okay, like this is just like However,
I thought my divorce would be easy because I had experience, right,
And I was like, I have family support, I have
financial support, what And it wasn't right. It was I
was depressed, just like everybody else. I had to heal
(04:29):
for years, just like everybody else. And so I thought, well,
if that was hard for me to go through, then
how the hell is everybody else getting through this?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Right? Turns out they're not. That's there's the answer exactly.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
So we built this business model where we said, let's
let's build you know, help people build the registries for
free and educate for free. And then we were like, well, uh,
we have to make money somehow on this, and so
we knew we wanted to have an expert platform because
people don't know this, but you actually, well you know,
but you use about seven experts when you go through
(05:05):
any big life change and you think about it, even
like buying a house, right you have the appraiser and
the mortgage person.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
It just adds up.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
I wanted a one stop shop for everybody to come
and say, I know that these professionals at Fresh Starts
are vetted and they're safe, and I can use any
of them. So what we did is we figured out banks.
We figured out, well, my background is marketing and PR,
my sister's backgrounds in tech and business development. Let's offer
that to experts and we can give them a membership.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
And so we did that. So we are very transparent.
We're bootstrapped.
Speaker 5 (05:38):
We make our money the way we've always made our money,
which is marketing and PR, and we provide that to
our experts and they pay either twenty five dollars or
fifty five dollars a month, very affordable, and we are
now the premier divorce support network of experts. And the
thing that I'm most proud of, Kelly, is that when
you sign on to be a Fresh Starts expert, you
have to sign our ethos that says you are shame free,
(06:02):
judgment free, and inclusive, because that's really important to us.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Oh my god, that is such a First of all,
I'm so sorry there was all this divorce in family,
but out of something bad came something so good.
Speaker 6 (06:15):
Yeah, fresh Start, Yeah, you and your sister, I mean
talk about backgrounds that are like built for business.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
I mean that's literally fantastic and just.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
The genesis of like why you guys started. This is
just so real and transparent. And yeah, people do need,
you know, tools in their tool belt, and I just
think this is so fantastic. So let's talk about the
three things that you need every person needs with kids,
(06:56):
and then we're gonna ask with that, but let's talk
about with first.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
I love this question, and Kelly, you know so many
women and we are for men and women, but we
primarily get a lot of women. Women are culturally more
conditioned to ask for help a little bit. And so
for women, for moms, they always think about the kids
right before anything else.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
You know what that's like, right, And so.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
A lot of women have to downsize or they have
to move really quickly out of a place. And so
it was really important for me, who I was left
a single mom with two little kids, to be able to,
you know, put together a bundle of items you could
add to your registry that.
Speaker 4 (07:34):
Were easy for single moms to build.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
Right, you only have two hands, so you're not going
to be able to build like a huge shelf by yourself.
So for moms who are building a registry, I would say,
and this is so silly, but like new dishes, right,
because you're starting a new family. This is a new
iteration of your family. And you know, I always say,
like divorce is like splitting the atom, right, So you
(08:00):
just kind of changing the dynamic of the family. And
it is those little things like dishes that you're not
going to use your wedding dishes anymore anything for your
wedding registry, maybe you and your kids can pick out
new dishes to put on your registry.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
So that's number one.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
New dishes, right, even if you just put pizza, frozen
pizza on there, totally fine. And then along with that utensils, right,
new utensils. I'm a small fork and spoon person. I
have very small hands. I do not want to reach
into a utensil drawer and pull out a big spoon
or fork, and so for me, it was really important.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
To have new utensils.
Speaker 5 (08:38):
And I always recommend you know, overall, the general theme
here is things that maybe your ex touched is great
to replace, right, Like I'm big into energy, and you
know you don't want to have those things necessarily in
the house. Of course, donate the things that you're not
going to use anymore, because somebody can definitely use them,
but you are worthy of that upgrade. So so utensils, plates,
(09:02):
And the last thing is a new blanket. Right, you
and your kiddos are going to snuggle under the blanket
and watch movies. Get yourself something beautiful and bold and
colorful and super soft.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
But now, what about if it's just a single person
man or woman who gets divorced and they have nothing,
what do they go away with?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
What three items did they ease?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Yeah, so this is the thing that always kind of
blows people's minds. But new underwear, get yourself new underwear,
and it's totally okay to put it on your registrate.
I'm giving everybody permission to do that right now. You
do not want to keep putting on underwear that your
ex saw. It's not going to help you feel sexy.
It's not going to help you heal, right, and this
is all about healing. So get yourself some new underwear.
(09:45):
And you know what, your girls are going to want
to buy your new underwear, So put it on the
registrate because you deserve that. And then sheets, right, you
do not want to sleep in that same bed that
you slept in with your ex again, Like I remember,
even one of the energy healers I work during my
divorce was like, you gotta get rid of all his cells.
No cells in the house, right, like nothing.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
In the house.
Speaker 5 (10:06):
So new sheets, new underwear, and then new wine glasses.
Get yourself something really you know whatever you drink, right,
what maybe it's just diet coke and ice, that's cool too,
Get yourself something that you really love. I remember, like
along these lines, right before my ex moved out, we
had cohabitated because most people do when they have kids
(10:27):
before they leave. And I went to Target and I
got myself these plastic glasses because I had kids at
the time. I still do, but they were smaller and
they were like vintage looking plastic glasses. And I didn't
take them out until he left, and it was so
special to see those in my cabinet. So yeah, and
(10:47):
you know, the whole thing is like you're allowed to
start fresh, and this is your time to pick out
items that bring you joy. You know, Gray divorce, which
is divorce over fifty is on the rise majorly. It's
about triple in the last twenty years. And a lot
of these women have literally Kelly, never picked anything out
for themselves.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
And you know, so.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
Imagine like you get to go on, you know, pick
out your registrate of things for you. And we do
see some trends, which is interesting. The color pink.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
All over the place.
Speaker 5 (11:18):
Women love everybody after divorce after divorce, and so you
get your pink back that way, which is really nice.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
So let's get to like some of your hot items,
like what are people asking for?
Speaker 1 (11:32):
What are like, you know, some of the big items
that everyone's like, I need.
Speaker 5 (11:35):
These, Yeah, I love that question. So you know a
couple of things, so we do. We can see you know.
The way that it works is you can actually submit
your registrate to our website and we have what we
call our registry Fairies, which are just anybody can be
a registry fairy. You can sign up and we send
the registries from women and men going through divorce to
our registry fairies, and you can buy somebody an item
(11:58):
from the registry. Because Amazon protects you, which is why
we used Amazon. You can also do it on my
registrate if you're not a fan of Amazon. And so
we always say submit your registry to us because you
never know you might get stuff, and we do have people.
We actually just had two of our somebody two companies
sponsored and hire registries recently for people, which is amazing,
(12:19):
and so we do get to see what people are
asking for. So some of my favorite items are disco balls.
People ask for disco balls, which I love. And somebody
asked her a pirate flag. Kelly, I was like, I
love this, I want a pirate flag. But you know
what I really love is like bathrobes and things that
people really ask for for themselves, right, and like we
(12:40):
love to see, you know, even simple things like a
butter dish somebody asked for. And then she emailed us
and she was like, I cried opening my butter dish.
And it's like those those little things they mean so
much to people, you know. And we had a a
somebody we know who registered for a new utensil holder,
and she emailed us a picture and she said, I
had the same tensilholder my whole marriage, and every time
(13:02):
I looked at it, I thought about the abuse that
I was, you know, I had gone through. And now
with this new utensil holder, I get to see my
life like happen in a beautiful way. And it's it's
because those little things do represent right, there's symbolic. We
always say that the items from a registry are items.
Speaker 4 (13:19):
We don't call them gifts.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
There's support items, and they're the physical manifestation of the
support that you can offer somebody. You know, there's a
lot of freeways to support your friends and family also
going through a divorce, which we are always a fan of.
But also you can buy a friend or a family member,
you know, a five dollars mug from their registry and
it's going to mean the world to them.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
I just love that.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
I mean, you're you're totally debunking the stigma of divorce.
And like, there's bridal registries, you know, there's wedding registries.
You know, there's registries for like baby registry you no baby.
There's literally a registry for everything, except for the thing
that you really really really need is starting over. So
how do we So how does someone even go about
(14:02):
sharing a registry? I mean, you've talked about Amazon, you
talked about my registry. How does that actually work?
Speaker 5 (14:07):
So you go to Fresh startsregistry dot com and on
the website there there's a button for build your Registry,
create your registry, and you can go in and so
the way that we've organized it is our whole mission
is to eliminate the overwhelm out of starting over. You know,
when you're at the intersection of heartbreak and legal and
all that bs stuff, you cannot handle picking out new
stuff for yourself and so reading reviews. So we have
(14:31):
bundles of items based on different things. We have you know,
by price point ninety nine dollars upwards. We have by esthetic, right,
so you can do like all different room aesthetics and
then simply by rooms, right, so you could go pick
you know, click on the bathrooms, and we've read the reviews.
We put the items there. So you can just add
all of that to your registry and then you can
(14:51):
go in and add anything else that you want. You
can also just add a thing to get money, you know,
to Amazon, so that you can also like get the
bigger items if you that also, but we always recommend,
you know, adding things that are different price points, and
you are allowed to like be wild, you know, get
the rainbow colored spoons and forks.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Why not, right, like live live boldly, and so you
do that.
Speaker 5 (15:14):
And we actually do provide scripts for people because they say, well,
how do I ask?
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Right, this is really weird.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Nobody's going to ask that.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
Yeah, so we do have scripts on the website.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
You can click copy and paste it into a text
and we are all about scripts and helping people, and
so you can send it to your friends and family
and say, look, you've asked how you can help me.
This is how you can help me. I don't have
you know, dishes or cereal bowls. We've gotten a lot
of negative feedback over the years, not shockingly from people
who have said, well, I won't get somebody an item
(15:44):
from the registry, but I will buy you a bottle
of wine, which is lovely.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
But would why would they be negative about helping someone
be better?
Speaker 5 (15:54):
That's a great question, Kelly, because people are still really
stigmatizing divorce. Divorce is still morally a really bad thing
for people, and that's what we're here to and you know,
completely reshift the narrative, you know, a small thing to
try to do, like a historical narrative, but you know,
we're trying to say, like, yes, it's great that you're
saying I'm here for you, but sometimes people really just
(16:15):
need the basics to begin again.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
And that's okay. And you know, we've had a lot.
Speaker 5 (16:20):
Of people also thank us from the other side as
the friend or the sister of somebody going through divorce
and say thank you for providing this platform because I
didn't know how to help, and now I know how
to help. So and we also do provide I provide
one on one free calls for anybody who's interested, you know,
considering divorce or going through divorce, or or post divorce.
(16:43):
This was something we started just a few years ago,
and I talk to women now all day every day,
totally free, no obligation. It's very difficult for people to
understand that, but I'm it's completely.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Free, and we're there for them.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
I am there for them because I made a vow that, Yeah,
I didn't want anybody to go through this alone ever again,
and so we mean that.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
You know, it's interesting you were talking about the stigma
of getting divorced and there's all these you know, divorce rings.
I mean, I'm a victim of that I made. I
made a divorce ring from my ring. This is back
in like literally like two thousand and nine.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
I made a divorce ring.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
And then people having these divorce parties, they're going to Vegas, they're.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Having all these things. Why is it that women.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
Feel like they have to celebrate that moment? Do you
feel like they're trying to not feel so bad? I mean,
it's it's just the stigma of divorce is real. Oh yeah,
it's hurt and that harm is real. So why are
we celebrating?
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Why are we celebrating?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Celebrate? What am I doing?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
You know why, Kelly?
Speaker 5 (17:51):
Because you survived. You survived, and not every woman gets
out of marriage alive.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
And that's the true meaning.
Speaker 5 (17:57):
And you survived, and we are allowed to celebrate our
survival and divorce I think is still really hard for
people to understand. And you know, it touches every single
part of your life and your family and your future
and your past and you come out a completely different person.
So your celebration, your divorce ring, which I love that
(18:18):
you were on the vanguard of that, you know, is
about celebrating you as a person, choosing you. It is
not easy, like you said, to be a brave woman
and choose divorce.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
The world does not like single moms.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
The world hates divorced women, right, and so to choose
that is really brave. And that's what we're celebrating, is
the bravery that you, you know, you move forward with.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
It's interesting what you say, and I really appreciate you
using the word bravery because when I was on Housewives
at the very beginning in the ice age in two
thousand and nine, and I was divorced and my children
are very young, and the fan base was like, oh,
there must be something wrong with you. I'm like, no,
I actually made a good decision for our family as
a whole, for my girls, for their future, and for
(19:03):
my ex husband, Like I'm the one that made that decision,
and it was not any easy decision to be on
my own raising children alone.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Like who wants to do that? Like no, you don't
get you know, Like but you don't get harolded for that. No,
you do great work. You're gonna do this.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
I mean people were literally like, you.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Can't believe that, And you can't can't find a date,
you can't find someone to like take over.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
I'm like, I'm sorry, excuse me.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm you know, I'm I get it.
Like there's still such a stigma. And it's twenty twenty
six on single Moms, right, and like as much as
we try to say there isn't there is, And there's
such a morality discussion around divorce.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
And for me and my goal is to make divorce boring.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
Divorce happens, right, Like that's what that's our book title,
Divorce happens, right, you know, And like divorce happens to
fifty percent of first marriages and it goes up for
second and third. So why are we acting like it's
not a part of life, Because it just is a
part of life, and it's just a transition.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
You're just a reiteration of the family.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
I just love that you just wanted to make divorce boring.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
I think there's just so many things that you're saying
that are really resonating with me, and that you know,
I wish that I had known you back when I
had gotten divorced. I probably wouldn't have been so insecure.
I probably would have been a different human moving forward,
and just I probably would have handled my life in
a different way if I had had those tools. But
let's get into the business even more, because I'm like,
(20:37):
I like to you know, dive deep, and you guys
are doing more than just you know this registry. You
are creating this arsenal of like all of these different
ideas from divorce professionals, divorce coaches, attorneys, therapists.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
So is it important.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
For women and men who are getting divorced to have
these resources?
Speaker 5 (20:59):
Yeah, So we call it your hype team because we're
all always positive thinking but without toxic positivity. So you
need people around you, right whether you are considering divorce.
And the average woman and I'm sure you'll agree with me,
considers divorce for two years before she even says anything
to anybody. So I bet if you think back, you're like, oh, yeah,
I didn't realize I was doing that.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yeah, but I was. I did that Yep, yeah, me too.
Speaker 5 (21:24):
And so you know, so you whether you are in
the consideration phase or you're kind of just thinking about it.
I always like to say, and I assume we can
curse on this podcast, but before, before stuff hits the fan,
you want to have your hype team around you.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
So what does that look like?
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Right?
Speaker 5 (21:40):
And then how do we help? So let's say Kelly
that you are considering divorced. You make a call with
me on Zoom. We chat for fifteen minutes totally free,
and I'll say, Okay, Kelly, what's going on? And you're like,
I'm considering divorce. I've been married, I have kids, we're
not getting along whatever. I'll say, Great, let's get you
a divorce coach and I will connect you to three
different coaches for free calls that you can meet with.
(22:02):
I like to match people based on vibes great, because
that's why I meet with them. And I know all
of our professionals, so it's really easy for me to
see who would be a good fit. And our professionals
offer tons of different services, and so you know, divorce
coach will help you strategize. They save you so much
money down the line because they're helping you write the
emails to your lawyer. They're taking on the emotional load
(22:24):
that your lawyer does not like. My lawyer used to say,
call me back when you're calmer, and I was like, like,
I do not like that, thank you, So I you know,
so divorce coach is actually always my first stop, not
before a divorce lawyer.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
You don't even need to get there yet.
Speaker 5 (22:40):
Also, if you own a house and you have a mortgage,
you should always talk to a realtor and a mortgage
expert always. This is about education, right, We're not trying to, like,
you know, cause revenge. We're not trying to you know,
start problems. This is about educating you on your options.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
And you have to understand your assets.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
So a certified divorce financial analyst or forensic accountant, they're
going to help you really look and untangle. And this
does not matter whether you are living in a penthass
in New York City or in a small little ranch
house and wherever. Right, this is everybody's going to have
financial issues that they're going to have to untangle, and
then of course you know things like healers, right because
you're going to want to get through a healing process therapists,
(23:20):
and then also just you know, having a mediator, having
a co parenting coach, which I always recommend a co
parenting coach. We have an amazing expert who is a
college planning expert for divorced families, who actually helps the
parents figure out not just in the stipulation what the
college payment should be, but you know, you know, going
(23:40):
down the line and saying where should this kid go
to college? What if we disagree? All of these things.
You know, as we said, divorce touches everything, and it's
so important to have experts who you can refer to
for all of these things. So we help you build
your hype team, and if you need anything, we're always here.
We're really big into education because nobody teaches you write
about divorce and so you know, yeah, you know, it's
(24:04):
it's and for me, like I had to learn everything.
My sister was my point person. She got me through
my divorce, and I don't I don't know what the
lingo is.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
We're not we're not.
Speaker 5 (24:12):
Lawyers, and so I love being able to teach people
like this is what you know you need, this is
who you need, this is why you need them, and
they will be able to support you through that.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
I mean, Olivia, you are spot on with so many
different things. I mean, money really makes people very very ugly.
And I you know, I totally agree with having you know,
like just having the conversation with people about what the
possibilities are.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
And I loved all the resources. It's great.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
I mean you just have to like again like have
the tools in your tool belt. And I mean, I
mean I live, I come from a family of lawyers.
I love lawyers. But you have to also kind of know,
like what your plan is.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yes, and a lot of people just don't.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
They just like and and you're also correct with they
it does take a while. You don't just like get
divorced on it two day people happens, No, exactly. So
my last thing is out you now hosting events? So
you guys are hosting all these events. Are there any
new events that are coming up this month? So that
these women can and then actually meet other people?
Speaker 4 (25:14):
So what we do?
Speaker 5 (25:15):
Yeah, so we are experts, have amazing groups. So I
would say, if you're interested in a Divorced Group. A
bunch of our experts have free groups, they have paid groups.
You can reach out to me, and my dms are
always open. I like to say, I'm at Olivia Howell.
So it's pretty easy and it's only me who reads them,
and so I do get hundreds of dms today, women
telling me incredible stories.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
We become so close.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
They tell me when they signed their divorce papers, like
it's so beautiful.
Speaker 4 (25:41):
And so if you've any questions, please reach out.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
But we do.
Speaker 5 (25:44):
We have about five events a month hosted by our experts.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
These are always.
Speaker 5 (25:48):
Free Kelly, and they sign up and if you even
if you can't come, you get the replay. And so
just yesterday we actually had an event with one of
our experts about how to unfreeze yourself in a spiral
of anxiety when you're going through divorce. We have yeah
one coming up next week, I believe about how to
have hard conversations. We have one with the college planning expert.
(26:10):
But every month we have five new events and all
of them are always on the website.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You can go watch them.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
So we're really big into free stuff. Anything free is
there for you on the website and you know I
would say too. Ninety nine point nine percent of our
experts have free consultations and calls and so reach out,
like this stuff is here for you. We built this
for people. When we say we don't want anybody to
go through divorce alone, we truly mean that, and that's
(26:37):
our life's mission.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
I mean, I think it couldn't be better.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Congratulations, Seriously, this really really impressive, Olivia, I mean, unbelievable work.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
I want to meet your sister at some point too.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
She has an.
Speaker 4 (26:48):
Amazing she has an amazing story.
Speaker 5 (26:51):
First of all, I want to say, Kelly, thank you
because you were on the vanguard of like single momhood
and choosing yourself and I watched you do that right,
and so like I just want to say thank you
to you, like stepping up because it is not easy
and being a public figure is not easy, and you did.
You were a model for other people, for other moms
(27:12):
to say, like, we can do this in a different way.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
That means a lot to me.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
I'm really improved by that. I do Part two we
herald you. Thank you, thanks so so so much.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
So nice to see you, and I look forward to
hearing more and more and more good news from you.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Thanks Kelly.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Are you freshly divorced and trying to figure out your
new life but you don't know where to start. We're
here to help. Send us an email or leave us
a voicemail. All the infos in the show notes, and
follow us on socials.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
I Do Part two, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
We're falling in love is the main objective.
Host
Jana Kramer
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