Her Intentional Reset: Career changes and second acts for women in midlife

Sonja Nesse got into fashion — the industry she'd dreamed about since she was 16. Then she saw the inside: the waste, the conditions, the clothes made to last two washes. It conflicted with everything she valued. Instead of walking away, she carved out the work that brings her joy and built Neranese, a sustainable small-batch label made in Los Angeles that puts people and planet first.

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Sonja Nesse is the founde...

Six months into this midlife career change experiment, Molly’s pulling back the curtain — not on a guest, but on herself. Two lessons the guests keep teaching her, two mind shifts that have quietly changed how she thinks about money and risk, two things that have flat-out not gone to plan, and two she’s reworking heading into the back half of the year.

It’s an honest midyear check-in for any woman in her 40s ...

Melanie had every reason to stay: the title, the paycheck, the 401(k) she’d be walking away from as a single woman with no one to fall back on. Then a mentor asked her one question that made all of that beside the point — how many women are you NOT reaching by playing it safe?

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Melanie Kiss spent nearly 30 years in healthcare before founding Chicas Abroad, a women’s adventure travel company she built...

Gina realized teaching no longer fit, but the bigger pull was her desire to live abroad and build a life that felt more expansive than the one she had in Atlanta. This episode follows how that desire led her from the U.S. classroom to the Philippines, then into digital nomad life, expat living, and a location-independent business.

Gina Oliver shares how she and her husband chose the Philippines, learned to navigate visas, housing, r...

At home with her young kids, Carrie found herself with the space to ask a question a lot of women in midlife quietly carry: if I could do anything I wanted, what would it be? The honest answer didn't fit the career she'd already built — and figuring out what to do about that took more than one try.

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Carrie Fabris spent 20+ years in corporate leadership at companies like Google, Travelocity, and Sabre before leav...

You’re good at your job, you’re juggling everything, and somewhere underneath all of it there’s a quiet question you haven’t answered yet: what do I actually want to do next? The problem isn’t that you don’t know how to work hard — it’s that no one ever taught you how to listen to yourself.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, Molly shares how The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron kep...

From Wall Street trader to fashion entrepreneur, Jennifer Conrad moved from New York to Madison, WI, on September 11, 2001. While coping with the events of that day, Jennifer identified a need in her new city — and a vision for what to do next. So she did what a former day trader would do: she trusted her gut, moved quickly, and built it herself.

Jennifer, Founder & President of Twigs, an elevated, fashion boutique, will d...

You've got a hobby you can't stop doing. But between the caregiving, the family, the life that's already full, you're not sure there's room for it to become anything more — or if you're even allowed to find out.

A gentle note before you listen: this episode includes Jenny's experience with postpartum depression and suicidal thoughts. If that's a tender topic for you, please take care with this one. Support resources are linked...

Returning to work after a career break? Here's what stay-at-home moms get told: the years home don't count, you'll come back at a lower title, and you should take whatever salary is offered. Leah Tilstra rejected all three — and walked back into engineering at Abbott with a senior title and a sign-on bonus after twelve years raising four kids.

How did she pull it off? She refused the apologetic part-time re-entry, used one old...

You spent 20+ years building real expertise — the kind you can't fake — and now you're staring down a layoff, a restructure, or just a quiet voice asking if this is really it. What if the skills you've spent two decades building are the exact foundation you need for something that's finally yours?

ABOUT GUEST: Courtney Reimer is the founder and principal strategist at Sounds Great, a podcast strategy company, and the hos...

The universe doesn't always shout — sometimes it whispers for years before it knocks. And if you keep ignoring the knock, eventually it hits you over the head with a frying pan — and for Molly, that frying pan had a name: layoff.

ABOUT GUEST: If you're a woman in your 40s or 50s sitting with a quiet voice that keeps asking is this really it? — this episode is your origin story too. Her Intentional Reset host Molly ...

There is a moment when something finally feels like you — not the version of you that carpools and manages spreadsheets, but the version that has been waiting. Marissa found hers in a color drape. She didn’t blow up her life — she built a new one, slowly, intentionally, one client at a time, and she is here to show you exactly how she did it.

About Marissa Ray

Marissa Ray went from dental office manager and...

You've spent years inside corporate America watching how the game is played — what gets negotiated behind closed doors, what's actually in that separation agreement, and what your employer is hoping you never think to ask. Carol Thompson spent 12 years as a corporate HR director before walking away to build her own consulting practice from scratch — and in this conversation she hands you both sides of the playbook: how ...

A midlife career change can feel like trading everything you've built for a leap into the unknown — especially when you're starting over in a field that doesn't know your name yet. If you're a woman over 40 staring down a layoff, a restless feeling, or a career that no longer fits, the question isn't whether to pivot — it's how to do it without throwing away 20 years of hard-won expertise.

Joanna Ehresman spent 13 years ...

She always knew she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She just needed something worth building. Tina Hegna spent over a decade in corporate accounting — not because she'd given up on that dream, but because the right application hadn't found her yet. Then she walked into a Burn Boot Camp class as a member, and everything clicked.

What happened next was anything but simple — one franchise became three, a pandemic tested every...

A passion-led career change does not transpire instantaneously; rather, it is a gradual unfolding of deliberate actions and reflections. Hailey Smith's journey exemplifies this principle, as she transitioned from an essential worker to the founder of Simply Creative, a thriving art studio in Minneapolis. Throughout our discussion, we delve into the pivotal 2AM moment that catalyzed her decision to leap into entrepreneurship, as wel...

Ruby Raynes shares her extraordinary journey as both an accountant and a romance author in this engaging episode. Remarkably, she composed her third book, "Jasper," while battling breast cancer, demonstrating her resilience and dedication to her craft. In our conversation, Ruby illuminates the significance of her writing not only as a personal outlet but also as a means to amplify queer voices and foster community support. Her narr...

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You’re capable, driven, and successful by every outside measure. But somewhere in the back of your mind, a quiet voice keeps asking: is this career still right for me?

Her Intentional Reset — a podcast hosted by Molly Wipperfurth is for women in their mid30's, 40s and 50s navigating midlife career change. Each week, Molly talks with real women who’ve mad...