From Managing Menopause to Winning Menopause What’s Your Story?

Real quick, before we dive into this episode, I have a little sleep secret I want to tell you about. Look, sleep is crucial for your fitness, but it's crucial for just plain old everyday life and function. And I find I sleep great unless I have a migraine. And I've had more than my fair share since perimenopause all the way through postmenopause. My secret weapon was Blue Sky CBD sleep gels. Each gel contains 25mg of CBD and 25mg CBN for deep restorative sleep. Something about it helps to reduce inflammation, which I believe for me was key in helping me get to sleep. But the biggest thing is so many of the over-the-counter solutions, whether for sleep or migraines, can ruin gut health, and liver health. Neither one of those did I want to be problematic for me. So this option is recommended by healthcare providers worldwide and backed by thousands of happy customers, many of whom come from our Flipping 50 community. There is zero THC, so it's non-habit-forming. It's made by a trusted family-owned company that we all can feel good about. Third-party tested for purity and potency. And if you're interested, you too can try a sample for just $6. But even better, you can get 30% off forever with discount code FLIPPING50. That's FLIPPING50. Just go to flipping50.com/blueskycbd. We'll put that link in the show notes and you'll find it everywhere on Flipping 50 at My Favorites. What are you waiting for? Good night.

Just to be clear, this is not a bait and switch, but based on the title, I want to be sure you understand this episode is less about managing menopause in the physical sense of the term and more about what you might be telling yourself about it. If you're stuck in the messy middle or you're itching for a change, and perhaps you don't even know what that change is, this is for you. If you think life right now is hard or you're overwhelmed, I think this episode will be one that you'll find rather awesome, because there is no, no other word.

Listen to this.

After surviving a triple devastation in losing the love of her life, her job, and her health all at once, Dr. Marja Simon began a 10 or more year journey studying, reading, and listening to everything she could do on deliberately creating a new life. And I think so many of us can find ourselves in that, what I called my midlife crisis. And at the time, I looked at it as things that were happening to me, because often we do when we're in the middle of it. But as you've learned now, Things turned out rather okay for Marja. Can't wait to have you listen and meet my guest. My guest, Marja Simon, is the visionary behind Author Writers Academy, where successful entrepreneurs, entertainers, and executives become authors effortlessly. With a rich background in law, military service, modeling, and business— yes, this is all one person— Marja is a seasoned attorney and international speaker. Marja's impressive portfolio includes not only 5 of her own books— I believe at number 7 now, by the way— but creating 100+ published authors, making her a prolific coach, writer, and dedicated mentor to aspiring writers. Maybe you join her at Author Writers Academy to share your amazing story with the world. I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness in menopause and beyond before you knew to ask them. The goal: to help accelerate your results with science and the practical application of proven protocols while living your best life. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than a midlife woman, and it's not just about you, but the 3 generations that you influence. My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, and an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made-for-menopause-and-beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts behind the scenes and the science of optimal hormone balancing, fitness, and longevity, and share answers to our community's questions so you can have the vitality and the energy that you want, need, and deserve. Marsha, thank you so much for being here. I cannot wait to dive into this and to introduce you to this audience.

Thank you so much for having me, Debra. This has been— it's my honor and my pleasure. I can't wait to connect with the amazing people that you bring into your community.

Well, I first, before we even dive into the juicy stuff that is you, your history, the why you're doing what you're doing, I want to dive into this because we all are still coming off of a little bit of a high that I think we needed so much with the Paris Olympics, and you were there personally. So I would love for you to describe in your own words, number one, what What was it like to be there witnessing it firsthand?

Yeah, so I'm going to say something that's going to make a lot of people just roll their eyes right off the bat. I didn't want to go. And so quite a while ago, I said yes to going. I was meeting a dozen of my friends there. We're going to meet for the Olympic opening ceremony games. We had VIP seats sitting on the Seine River opening this once in a lifetime opportunity that has never happened before, will never happen again, all of the fun things. And the only thing I kept thinking about is, oh my God, this is such a bad time for me to travel. I have so much work to do in my business. I really don't want to go. And I even tried to sell off the ticket, and my friends were like, we don't want a stranger sitting in your seat. If you don't get your butt on the plane, get here right now. And I had lived in Germany for 10 years, so the idea of traveling to Paris wasn't like the big draw for me. I've been there several times, experienced the beautiful city, the entire country. And so, but what was actually the draw for me was one, being present for something iconic in history. Like I said, that has never happened before and will likely never happen again. And finding those opportunities to be part of history, adding your name, your story, your little, just, just being present sometimes into the history is something really magical and special that I think we should all embrace whenever we get an opportunity to. And everything we do is all about relationships. You know, we, we spend so much time in the hustle and grind, trying to do the work, trying to get the stuff done, trying to make this, trying to do that. And we forget about the quadrant of important but not urgent. And so it was important but not urgent for me to get on a plane from the US, fly to Paris and spend several days with these incredible people doing these amazing things. And they flew in from all over the world as well. And the amazing thing is when I left, of course, my business kept going without me. My team is incredible. They were still getting all the stuff done, making all the magic happen. So, you know, stepping out of this illusion that I must be present, I'm needed all the time, I can't have a life because I got to take care of— no, that's why you have a team. That's why you're building out a community. That's why you're doing the things so that you can all rise together. You can still have a life. And when I got to Paris, not only was there the magic of the Olympic Games, but there was the magic of having those conversations with my friends who also stepped out of their comfort zone, stepped out of their routines, and said yes to showing up. And so we sat and had incredible conversations and things that were on my to-do list and on my bucket list and on my future list and on my desires list. Those things were getting answered over sweets and coffee on a Paris café, on the side of a Paris café. And you can't make that stuff up. And so it was absolutely magical.

So good. Oh, even better answer than I had thought. I love that. On a microscopic level where the world is concerned, but a monumental level on mine. I feel like I'm a little bit in the same mode. I have these details, this list of things I need to do as mother of the groom. I'm thinking the flowers and the seating and the dessert, and I'm like, I don't need to be doing this. I have so much to do. And it's like, no, wait a minute. Why am I doing all those things in order to do this? I need a reframe right now. It's so good, and every woman listening, I'm sure, can identify with this. And okay, so I— you are, you know, there's so much here that I need to unpack. I mean, international bestselling author, writer, trainer, professional speaker, mindset coach, international attorney, and US Army and US Air Force military veteran. I mean, Yeah, you have a little, you have a little discipline. I would say not really a motivation problem over there. So, but yes, maybe you need somebody to cut the umbilical cord from work occasionally. And, and yet I'm going to read this too. So this I got, it's the first sentence describing your book, your one of your books. There are many. Friends, you've heard 7 of them. One Law. After surviving a triple devastation and losing the love of her life, her job, and her health all at once, Dr. Marcia Simon began a 10-plus-year journey studying, reading, and listening to everything she could deliberately to create a new life on Deliberately Creating a New Life. I sluttered that last sentence a little bit for you. But talk a little bit about that. I mean, that's a heavy sentence right there.

Thank you for that. Wow. I love when somebody quotes my book to me. It's like, oh my God, who said that? And so thank you for that. Yeah. In that one sentence, I shared a lot that happened. I call it my Job experience in life. And it's really interesting that you brought that up because I just had a conversation conversation 2 days ago with a woman who was introduced to me. I never met her before, just conversation on the phone. And it turns out she had lost her fiancé not too long ago. And we were speaking into that. And the— by the way, when I lost the love of my life at that time, I was 3 months pregnant with our child and had a 9-year-old also that I was raising as a single mom. And so we were engaged to get married, all of the things. He had just survived coming back from a year of fighting in Iraq. All of the things. And so we had this whole plan, this whole bright future, all of the things moving forward. And we were just ready to go. He was like my biggest champion, my biggest love, the biggest supporter I've ever had in my life besides my sister Jasmine, you know, it's like, and everything I wanted to do, I remember he said, mommy, just go do it. I won't let you fall. And there was something really, really—

I have chills right now.

That, that, that level of support and being seen. And that's what I continue to hold out for in my life again, because I had it once, I know it's possible again. And so we were talking, I was talking with this, this lady about moving through the journey. And so many people want to give their advice and opinions, but they've never been through it and don't quite understand. And I've gotten the privilege of speaking on many stages, Gold Star family and mothers for military people who had lost their loved ones, for other events and other platforms, letting them know that there's light and hope through this. And that what feels like, no matter what it is, whether it's the loss of a loved one, loss of a job, loss of your health, any of these losses, I call it my Job Experience because In the Bible, you know, there's that one scene where Job just gets all completely wiped out and then gets restored and elevated above and beyond anything he could have imagined. And what I realized is every single human being on Earth has their Job experience. This is not an outside story, but an allegory reminding us, hey, this is what happens and you can get through it and you will get through it. And one of my coaches is Tony Robbins.. And he's always talking about, it's about the story you give to the event, not the event itself.

And so, yeah, powerful, very powerful. And that actually was a question I was going to ask you about. Do you think that it takes like rock bottom? Do we all need that in order to go somewhere else? Not to stay in this gray area of what we think is our comfort zone, or it's an okay place, a safe place?

So yes and no. This is where we start from. We're taught to start there. Yes, we all have those Job mirror experiences. I also call it my country western song. I said all I needed to have was a dog run away and I would have had a hit. My car got repossessed, my home.

There was a truck.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. My, my truck got pulled away. My car, my house got foreclosed. My health failed. My fiancé died. My, uh, you know, my health failed and just, I just needed that dog and I would have been on the top, you know, Billboard's bestseller right up above Beyoncé on her country western.

Oh my gosh.

And I say yes and no, because yes, we all go through that. And no, we don't have to always have that as a catalyst. One of my most recent books that myself and one of my other best friends, JJ Vilar, we put out is called Next Life Next. And that book actually talks— it's one of the books I'm most proud of. It's a beautiful book. And we, we were having a conversation and we said, you know, we've helped thousands of people, both of us in our coaching and development and everything we've done. And neither one of us able to help our mothers. And my mother has passed on, his mother is soon to pass on. And, and we were talking about why, and what if people like our mom, our mothers had access to all of the personal development and things that we've learned and we've taught ourselves over the decades, but access in a way that they could access it in a fun, easy, colorful, playful, joyful way. And so we created a book doing just that. For people like our mothers. And, but in that book, we talk about the default of the pain and the loss and, and going through all of the things that we went through. And we give lots of examples and steps and actionable things. And we also talk about now you actually have a formula where you can intentionally choose to create your next iteration of life in any area of life you want. It doesn't have to be a total wipeout. It could be in your health or in your relationships or in your career or mission or wherever you want to excel or change. And without the pain and the catalyst, you can actually step into a decision with courage and just take the action. I'm an attorney, and about 4 years ago, 4 and a half years ago now, I decided to step away from my job as an attorney and create my own business full-time. I've always been an entrepreneur. On the side with my attorney business full-time. And I was absolutely miserable as an attorney. I hated what I was doing. I was in pain. I was always fighting, fighting with people that I worked with, not being seen, not being appreciated. I was depressed. I was crying. My, my health again was failing from all of the stress I was under. I was being misused. I felt like my gifts and talents were being just abused and I was allowing it. It wasn't like anybody did it to me. I allowed it to be done. And so one day after 5 years of knowing that I was suffering, and even the doctors like, this job is going to kill you if you don't leave. And finally, I stepped into that moment of courage and said, and made the decision and said, I'm done. And I knew that it meant probably the end of my marriage. Probably me leaving a country that I was in and loved for 10 years, and a lot of other things and all of the uncertainty that comes with suddenly not having that quote, safe, secure job and having to rely on yourself and all of the uncertainties that come with that. And, but we don't have to wait to do that. And so, you know, until it gets to be painful. And so I look at my life and I'm like, Okay, where do I want to level up? Where do I want to try next? Like right now I've been intentionally nomadic for since the beginning of February and traveling the world, working from everywhere with my clients and having an amazing time. And just a couple of days ago, I had an amazing opportunity. You'll be like one of the first to hear it. So, shh, secret, don't tell anybody. I decided to move to Florida. I'm going to move to Miami like next month and already have the lease signed. And And it happened. I decided it in a day, but I didn't have to wait for some sort of pain catalyst in how I was living now or what I was doing now in order to make that decision. I was like, you know what? Time for the next phase. Go. I'm going to do that. And I did.

So what is it about Florida energetically that attracted you or why there?

Yeah. Well, every time I've traveled all over the world, I feel like I'm a child of the world and I can be at home with any people anywhere. I love Japan, love Fiji, love the Maldives. I don't care where. In Florida, I feel like I'm home. And I'm even a resident of Florida, even though I've never lived there. But I love the state. I love the people. I have, I'm not exaggerating, hundreds of friends and family throughout the state. And so again, going back to the power of relationships. And so my friends are my chosen family, and I get to be with many of them and co-create and elevate and have fun in the world and play. When we hit, you know, this stage in our lives at 50 plus, we get to tap into something that's really magical that I didn't experience when I was 40 and 30 and 20. I don't give a bleep about what people think anymore.

Right? Yeah, right. It's so refreshing. It's amazing.

Yes. Yeah. And because of that, I get to tap into that inner child that we all have. And let her out and let her play and let her create and let her elevate herself and others. Every day, wake up and decide, who do I want to be today and how do I want to show up in the world?

Love that. And I want to come back to, okay, what was it that you jumped into from law? But I also want to ask you, do you think it was age or was it going through turmoil and change that has given you this attitude? Like, don't get in my way. I'm not asking your permission. You know, what's, what's given you this? No, no, no. This is about me. I know it's my decision.

I don't care what you think. Well, I know a lot of people that are much older than me that are still stuck. Like I said, my mom, for example, was, even though I loved her, she was beautiful soul, God rest her soul. She's a wonderful mother, but she couldn't get out of her own way and step into her heart's desires and the things she really wanted for her life. And I'm grateful to her because she put her hopes and dreams into me. And the people that are around us can help propel us into who we are, what we want to be. I intentionally created ecosystems, created environments, created relationships, created connections with people that had the attitude of, I can, I will, I must, it can be done. Of people that when I told them my dreams and hopes, they didn't laugh or they didn't, you know, put me down or say, what are you crazy? You can't do that. That's not possible. I mean, I had that from some, I heard that from some of the people closest to me and it hurt. And that rejection or even that fear of rejection often stops us. From moving forward. And, but when you realize they're not trying to reject you or hurt you, but in their own fears and their own limitations, they're trying to protect you usually. And, and so you just hear it from the place of love that they mean it and leave it with them because that's their stuff, not yours. And so age, I don't think that's it because I know a lot of people much older than me that haven't transcended into the life that they want. Because they're still in that fear mode and uncertainty. And I'm in fear and uncertainty every day, by the way, but I just let it play. And then, so no, age, I don't think so. And the pain of it and that catalyst, I don't think that's it either, because there are a lot of people that stay in suffering mode and they have developed an attitude of, why is this happening to me? Why is everything against me? Why does, why me? You know, And first of all, why not you? And there again, it's— and so letting go of the victim mentality, the poor me, the why me, and that suffering, and realize that there is no pain or suffering that is uncommon. Everything we've ever experienced, someone else has experienced. In one form or another. And so what we're going through, and again, I love, I have many coaches and trainers and mentors, which is also what helps me to propel myself forward consistently. One of, again, I quote Tony, he says, you know, we go into suffering and even suicide thoughts when we believe the 3 Ps, when we believe that something is permanent, pervasive, or personal. And when we believe all three of those things, we put ourselves into a place of that suffering, that severe suffering and pain. And so what I mean by that is it's not personal. Like I said, it happens to us all. And remembering when we feel isolated and alone and that, and that pain and that illusion of our ego and saying, hey, it's just you. You suck. It's just you. Nobody wants you. It's just you. You're the only one who's ever failed. It's just you. You're the only one who hasn't figured this out. None of that is true. And secondly, it's not pervasive. You know, we tend to negatively stack all of the things that are happening in our life and we make it bigger and bigger and bigger until we've built this imaginary brick wall around ourselves and we're beating our head against the brick wall. Prison of our own device. But, you know, the fact that my car had got repossessed had nothing to do with the fact that my job closed down. The fact that my job closed down had absolutely nothing to do that my fiancé passed away. And my fiancé passed away had nothing to do with, you know, and so, but yet we stack all of these things in me. Oh my God, life sucks. It's terrible. And we miss out, first of all, seeing that if we separate out these blocks, We can handle them one by one by one by one because their power is diluted. And then secondly, when we positively stack all of the good things in our life, now we compound that energy and that effect. And it forces us also to look and see all of the good things that are happening. And when I was going through that, that Job experience in my life, You know, some days it was just, I can breathe in and out. I can breathe in and out. You know, another blessing was my sister Jasmine. She packed up her house, quit her job, and showed up at my front door from another state, showed up at my front door and forced and willed me back to health and took care of my then 9-year-old for me because I couldn't even get myself out of bed. And another stacking positive: I have a sister who loves me so much, who just shows up for me and lives for me when I feel like I can't. You know, another stacking positive I have, even though, yeah, there are some people that I thought would be there for me that weren't, there are some people that were there for me that I never expected to be there for me. And so I got the opportunity to cultivate new relationships and, and new understanding. Yeah, positively stacking that because of this experience, I've developed a level of awareness and insight into myself and compassion for other people and their journeys and the human condition and plight and the possibility of elevation. Because of everything that happened, I get to be a light when other people are going through their darkness. And so all of that is positive stacking, positive emotion. And I always say, you know, I definitely wouldn't have chosen any of it, but I'm grateful for it. I am eternally grateful for it because of the decisions that I made along the way, the meaning I gave to everything that was happening. I was able to move from, why is this happening to me? To, God, I don't understand this, but I trust you. To, this is happening for me. Me to now I am making this life happen through me.

So beautiful. Okay. But were you called to write and help others get their voice out there? Were you called to do that before you left law, or did that emerge afterward?

Yes and yes.

Okay. My favorite answer.

Okay. Well, Yeah. And I've been writing my whole life since I was a child, and I never knew that what I was preparing for. So I've always been writing stories and reading books. My dad was, he used to force me to read before I could go out to play. And sometimes the books, you know, he would choose the books that they'd be this thick. And I was like in elementary school and not understand. I used to cry and hear my friends outside play, read the book and get through my chapters so I could go out to play. And all of the things that we think our hardships and challenges and unfair are often the magic that's setting us up for our gifts, talents, and successes in life. And by the time I was in middle school, I was reading on a college level. And, but again, I didn't realize that this is what I was going to do. And I even started, I was an architect major for 3 years, cause I, you know, I was, and I did art in high school as a painter and, and photography and all of the creative stuff. And I decided to go to architecture because it was practical art, was how I phrased it in my mind. Yeah. And realizing that I was not very good at it, I quickly took the mentorship again. Mentorship, coaching, and advice from people that have done things successfully is so important. And I took the advice from two of my professors who were sitting judges. I took, uh, business law as an elective and they said, you're clearly an attorney. You need to go to law school. And I switched my major, graduated, went to law school, loved it, learned how to think and see and understand things differently, had a beautiful career in that. And even going through that was a serious challenge, a whole nother story with my first husband trying to sabotage and force me not to finish and all of the things and had a brand new baby, my first daughter, months before I started law school. And all of those things that were stacked, again, stacking, stacking, stacking, saying, just stop, just quit, just don't do it. And I just needed one reason to do it. And my one reason was that if I quit, I can never look at my daughter Jada and tell her not to quit. And so I made myself say, I know the end date. I just need to graduate. I just need to show up every day until that end date and show up just one more day, no matter what is happening. And that's what I did. And I graduated. And, and of all of the things for that, my, all my friends, family, everything showed up celebrating, supporting me. I'm like, where were you for 4 years? And, but the The biggest one was my daughter, Jada. She was then 4. And I remember her standing there in her little light blue dress and she looked up at me and she said, Mommy, I'm so glad you graduated. And I'm so proud of you. And to this day, it fills my heart with joy and tears and, and all of the beautiful things in that moment made all of it worth it. And so when I left the practice of law. This was not something I took lightly. I worked really, really hard at it. I sacrificed a lot to get there. And then of course you're told, hey, you've made it. You have the American dream. You have the title in the corner office and the people listening to you and all of the things you have. Be grateful, be happy, be satisfied. But I knew that it was no longer the ladder that I wanted to climb. I knew that it was killing my soul, killing my spirit, killing my body, killing my passion and my intentions and why I was here in life. And I also had to admit that I would, like I said, I was allowing it to happen. I think it was Earl Nightingale. He said, everyone is self-made, but only the successful will admit it. And when we take responsibility for the fact that we are co-creating our own lives. And so again, after years, I said, you know what, I'm done. And the day I was done, I heard in my spirit, it's time, it's time. And I knew that voice was talking about a book from 2 years prior that I had a spiritual download of. I woke up out of my sleep and it was the one law that you had mentioned. And pouring through me and pouring through me. And I'm like, gosh, can you wake me up? That's not 3, 4 in the morning. And he was like, no, Christi, you don't hear me. And when he stopped, I was in fear mode. I was in ego mode. I was like, I'm not publishing this. I don't even understand it. And I had published another book for another business years before, and it was hard and it was painful. I was like, I definitely don't want to go through that. I was out of fear. I was out of ego. I was fully surrendered. And I had let go of everything. And I said, okay, I'll publish it. And when I did that, it was fun and it was easy and it was magical. And it was such a contrast to the first time I published my book. And I was like, why was this so different? So I put on my attorney brain and I had studied and I reverse engineered and I was like, there's a formula here. I can do this again for other people so that they could have a fun, joyous, magical experience. At that time, I heard a bishop from my church saying that he had 10 years been suffering trying to write his book. And I reached out to him. I said, I can help you. And so he hired me. So my first phone call was my first paying client.

Oh my goodness. That's, those are good odds. Those are great odds.

To a business that I didn't even know I had yet.

And a bishop. I mean, you got connections. That's good. That's really good.

Thank you. Yeah. And because when we tune in and dial into what we really want, there's something called the RAS in our brain, the reticular activating system. Part of our brain dials in and it could hear what's important and what's in support of that. That's why if you have a you know, this dress and you go out, you'll see everybody else with a red dress on. Or when you get a certain car, suddenly you see 1,000 people driving your same car in the same color. It's like, did they all just buy it? No. Our brain, we told our brain it's important to us because we put action and activity to it. And so our brain seeks out a narrow focus and says, here it is, here it is, here it is, here it is. And so that's what happened with that. And so when, so, I mean, he was talking about a lot of stuff in that, in that sermon. I was in Germany listening to him preach in New Jersey. And, but when I heard that, the RAS kicked in, I said, I have a formula. I've been working on that. I can help him. And then shortly, and 3 months later, he was holding his bestselling published book. And he was fighting back tears with his wife and his children standing around him going, this is fun. Oh, so good. And then at that time, I had a woman from one of the masterminds I was in reach out and she said, I saw your book, The One Law. Can you help me make mine? And I was like, yeah, I can. And she was my second client. I didn't even make that phone call. And that's when I realized there was something really magical and special. And Author Writers Academy was born.

How beautiful. How many authors and writers have you helped publish?

So in the past 4 years, I've helped over 100 people become bestselling authors all over the world in all genres, children's book, relationships, business books, cookbooks, you name it, we've done it. We've even done it in, in other languages, fiction, nonfiction. And the only commonality that I insist on in AWA for all of our books is that it has to bring something positively impactful into the world. And so I work primarily with established entrepreneurs and executives and entertainers. So executives like doctors, lawyers, CPAs, presidents of companies, things like that. Entertainers like retired professional athletes, people stage, screen, Hollywood, and behind the celebrities on those people. 85% of my clients are high-end successful entrepreneurs. And bringing— so basically people that have decided to take routes in life, decided to figure something out and go and do it. And in doing that process, they develop wisdom and experiences and knowledge that I love to capture and bring out into the world. I call myself the grave robber. I'm here to rob the grave of all of that wisdom, all of those experiences, all of that knowledge that falls into it every day and put it into, instead, into the hearts, hands, and heads of the people whose lives it'll actually change. And in doing that, I get to help the author to elevate in who they are, what they're doing, their mission, their vision, their purpose in the world. And so it's a— this is something— it's a business and it's a calling for me. It's a passion and a love. And I get to do this every day.

I want to ask you something, though. And I think that there are a lot of women who we get ourselves all caught up in this. There's hormonal changes going on and there's physical changes, and we feel like we're not in control of those changes. But I think that it becomes kind of a downward spiral. It's like almost we're stacking that things are against us and it's so hard. We often come against maybe evaluating relationships that we're in and are they serving us or is this changing? And in our careers, like you, it's sometimes you're— I may be fed up with this or I'm ready for the second chapter, a new new beginning and maybe willing to take it, take that risk. But, you know, I think that is such a difference because we can stay there in the middle and the mess and focus on, but not until, like, I don't like my weight right now, I don't like the way I look right now, I, you know, I'm not sleeping right now, and I'm gonna wait, you know, my way through this, as opposed to maybe thinking of this as a catalyst of sorts and thinking, how do I take this moment of huge change physiologically for us, obviously, but help others and myself by using my gifts and my talents that we have such wisdom at this point in life. I mean, how would you frame that for someone who's listening who feels like they do have a story in them, and yet not sure anybody else will benefit from hearing it.

So that is probably one of the number one things I hear when people finally say yes to at least having the conversation and asking the questions. And like, who's gonna listen to me? Oh, you are so magical You are so insightful. And the thing that either comes easy to you is hard for a lot of other people, and they need you to show up in your gifts and talents and share what you know so that they can find their way through. Also, the life challenges that you've been through, again, it's not common. It's not an uncommon thing. So there are lots of other people, like one of my friends, Les Brown, the speaker, he talks about, you know, either people have been through it, they're going through it now, or they're about, or they're about to go through it. And you're always in the job somewhere in one of those cycles. What you have to share is for you and to help others. One of the things I hear most from my authors is that working with AWA, Authorize Academy, is a transformational experience because who they are in the beginning, in working with us, as we draw, I use my attorney skills and draw out their story and their experience and their words and their wisdom. And I could synthesize and see and make it, put it out authentically as them and their voice in a really powerful way where other people can apply the lessons that you've learned. And so now you're being the light to somebody else's darkness. The fact that you have the desire means the reader is also there. The fact that other people have been telling you, "Hey, you should tell your story. You should write a book. Oh my God, that's incredible," means there are people that want and need to hear you. And—

I love this. And I'm thinking right now of like 3 people who just should have heard that sentence right there. So I hope you're listening. Tell me this. Yes. For that person who is like, yes, but I'm not a writer. I have a story. Talk about how is it that you're making it easy for people who don't identify as a writer, haven't always loved to write.

You make it easy. Thank you for that question. Yeah. Like I said, most of my clients don't write a word. Our slogan is become an author without writing a word.

There we go.

And so for me as an attorney, accuracy is really important. As somebody who is an empath who knows the importance of making a difference in the world, authenticity is really important. Those two components are often pulled out when people are throwing out quick, cheap books with AI or when they're using—

That was my next question. Thank you for saying that.

Or when they're using like low-rate ghostwriter to quickly throw something out. And don't get me wrong, there are some really great ghostwriters, but most of them are just taking your ideas and doing research and slapping something together and calling you an author. And great, you're an author. It serves no one but ego. Is it making a difference? Is it making an impact? Is it representing you at the highest? I've had many people who came to me say, I don't like this. It doesn't sound like me. Can you help me? Can you fix this? Often we unfortunately have to start over because it's not them. And I said, all they do is show up. I interview them, my team that I've trained, that's been working with me for years. We interview them, we pull out their authentic story and their voice. So just like you and I are having a conversation, this is all they need to do. And so it's fun and it's easy and it's relaxed because I wanted to recreate that experience that I had created when the one law was created. So I felt like it was birthed through me. Me. And so I create that holistic place of non-judgment and full support where it gets to be birthed through them. Then they just get to show up and be themselves. And some of the hardest things I have to do is tell them, your book is done. We're done. Stop talking. And I'm like, but this is better than therapy. I'm like, but you can write another book.

Oh, that is so good. Oh, so is it like Christmas is over and there's this letdown of now what?

Well, from the beginning to the end, we're my— the AWA team, we're creating this beautiful space. And in addition to having this transformational journey within yourself, you give birth to this incredible book, this work of you that's going out into the world, that's making a difference, that's elevating who you are and what you're here to do in the world. And so we're looking at your branding, your mission, your vision. I have clients that have a business, that have multiple businesses, that have multiple million-dollar businesses. I have clients that want to be in business and are in transition from being an entertainer or an executive and want to make that transition just like I have. And so I love working with all of these people because I have been all of these people and I understand what's needed. You know, I was an entertainer. I love being on stage still, of course, with speaking and stuff, but I used to do modeling and a little bit of acting. And so I love being in front of the mic, in front of the camera, and connecting with audiences from stages. I just do it a different way using my words and my platforms and things like that. And now my books. I was an executive as a lawyer. I was sitting and doing the corporate thing and working in businesses. So I understand all of the things that they are going through and what they had to do. And so I understand how to bring it out of them. And of course, entrepreneurs have been doing that my whole life. And so it's not just about creating the book. It's not just about your transformational experience, but then we're elevating that into why you are here on earth. What is driving you for that? Again, like in my Next Life Next book, that next life next for yourself, for your business, the thing that's driving your heart's desire. And so my podcast also, Mill Money Impact and Legacy with Marja, Mill with Marja, is coming out next month. And we're interviewing people and talking about this, just that. I am so in awe of all of our authors. Because they are showing up and these look like, quote, look like ordinary people. And they said the same thing that you asked me. Who am I to write a book? What do I have to say? Who's going to listen to me? Will this make any difference? Oh my God. When they start talking, I'm like, what? And so my job is to be a conduit for you, for your stories, for your wisdom. And to help you get out of your own way and make it easy and fun.

So, yeah, so good. Okay, and with that, please, where can anybody listening connect with you? And of course, listeners, if you're working out or walking— I love that about you— we will have the links in the show notes, but I'd love you to let everybody know where to find you.

Yes, so please, uh, tap into awalkforlife.com That's awa4life.com. And also, if you want to check out like a promo video, you want to quickly get all of my social media links, or you want to find out what other things has she done, or you want to see some of our author books, whatever it is, you can check out marjah360.com. And so M-A-R-J-A-H 360.com, and you can quickly tap in there, and then there's little buttons you can contact us and all of the other things. So two ways, quick and easy. I'd love to hear from you, hear who you are. And we actually have a 5-minute open heart process where we help our people get clarity about what is that one story that you're here to share in the world right now? You know, what is that thing that is to be your book coming out of you? And so we even help you with that.

Beautiful.

Lovely.

Thank you so much. It's been wonderful chatting with you.

Thank you.

Thank you for listening. To listen to a decade of episodes and to get the show notes, visit flipping50.com where you'll be able to find all the previous episodes. And I made it super easy. To make the most of your listening time and get exactly what you want to listen to as top priority by getting the top 10 episodes in the areas you most care about, like how much protein do you need, weight loss, and other 3 ultra-important topics we've identified as our community's top 5. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than you, midlife woman. So go and listen right now. Do you have a question for a podcast? A question you'd love to ask, or maybe a story you want to tell? Did you know we have a special group just for podcast podcast question roundups and the answers. My community coaches and I provide answers daily inside of this group, but it's also where I go when I occasionally say, okay, open call for podcast questions, or tell your story, would you like to be a guest? So if you're looking for a community of women who are also interested in optimizing their health, strengthening their mindset, and looking forward to free new year. Join the Flipping 50 Insiders group. That's Flipping 5-0 Insiders on Facebook.