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Message In The Middle

Message In The Middle

By: Marianne DeMello-Smith
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Summary

This podcast is a safe and supportive space for listeners to explore life's challenging lessons and gain inspiration for their personal development journey. Through a variety of engaging formats, including interviews, book clubs, master classes, and discussions, the podcast delves into topics related to perseverance, self-empowerment, and self-discovery. With a focus on sharing expertise, inspiring stories and insights from a diverse range of voices, the podcast aims to help listeners navigate difficult experiences, provide hope and inspiration, and develop the resilience and strength needed to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals.

At its core, this podcast is a platform for personal growth and development. It provides a welcoming space for listeners to explore life's toughest lessons and learn from others who have overcome similar challenges. Through a variety of formats, including interviews with experts and everyday people, book clubs featuring thought-provoking works, and discussions focused on specific topics, listeners are exposed to a range of perspectives and ideas that can help them on their own personal journeys.


One of the key themes of this podcast is perseverance. Many of the stories shared on the show highlight the importance of pushing through difficult times and not giving up, even when the odds seem insurmountable. Whether it's overcoming eating disorders, grief, addiction, navigating a health crisis, or dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic experience, the podcast emphasizes the resilience and strength of the human spirit.

Another important theme of the podcast is self-empowerment. Listeners are encouraged to take control of their own lives and pursue their goals with confidence and determination. By sharing stories of individuals who have transformed their lives through hard work and self-discovery, the podcast inspires listeners to believe in their own potential and take steps to create the life they want and to recognize that we are all capable of rewiring our thoughts and behaviors.

Finally, the podcast is focused on self-discovery. Through discussions and interviews, listeners are encouraged to explore their own values, beliefs, and desires, and to gain a deeper understanding of themselves. By reflecting on their own experiences and learning from the stories of others, listeners can gain valuable insights that can help them navigate life's challenges and live more fulfilling lives.


Overall, this podcast is a powerful resource for anyone seeking inspiration, guidance, and support on their personal development journey. By exploring life's difficult lessons through inspiring stories, interviews, book clubs, and discussions, listeners can gain the tools they need to persevere through tough times, empower themselves to achieve their goals, and discover their true selves.

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Episodes
  • It’s Not Too Late to Change Your Life: Debbie Weiss on Letting Go of the Victim Mindset

    It’s Not Too Late to Change Your Life: Debbie Weiss on Letting Go of the Victim Mindset
    May 16 2026

    What happens when you wake up one day and realize your life doesn’t look the way you thought it would?

    In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with Debbie Weiss, best-selling author, speaker, and host of the Maybe I Can podcast for a deeply honest conversation about what it really takes to change your life in midlife.

    After decades of caregiving, personal loss, infertility, and feeling defined by her circumstances, Debbie reached a turning point at 50. Not because her life suddenly became easier, but because she made a decision to stop waiting for things to change and start showing up differently.

    Together, Marianne and Debbie explore:

    • What a “victim mindset” actually feels like in everyday life
    • How caregiving and self-sacrifice can quietly disconnect you from your identity
    • The emotional cost of taking full responsibility for your life
    • Why small, intentional changes can create powerful momentum
    • When “taking small steps” can actually become a form of avoidance
    • What separates women who move forward from those who stay stuck

    This conversation goes beyond surface-level inspiration and into the real, sometimes uncomfortable truth about change, identity, and what it means to reclaim your life after years of putting yourself last.

    If you’ve ever wondered whether it’s too late to start over, this episode is a powerful reminder that it’s not.

    Connect with Debbie: https://www.debbierweiss.com

    Connect with Marianne:

    • Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
    • Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
    • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
    • Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne


    Subscribe to Message In the Middle:

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • YouTube

    Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.

    Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...
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    48 mins
  • The Real Reason You React The Way You Do In Relationships (And How to Change It)

    The Real Reason You React The Way You Do In Relationships (And How to Change It)
    May 9 2026

    In this episode of Message in the Middle, Marianne sits down with therapist, relationships coach, and emotional safety expert Diane McDowell to explore a powerful reframe:

    What if the challenges in your relationships aren’t about communication or compatibility… but about emotional safety?

    Because when emotional safety is missing, everything changes.

    You can know the tools.
    You can have the awareness.
    You can want to respond differently.

    But in the moment, none of it seems to matter.

    That’s because when the nervous system goes into survival mode, the brain gets hijacked. Logic disappears. And we shift into protection instead of connection.

    Diane introduces her Brain-to-Heart Code™, a process designed to help you “turn on the safety switch” internally, so you’re no longer relying on someone else to create the conditions you need to feel secure.

    This conversation explores what it really means to feel safe within yourself, and how that changes everything about how you show up in your relationships.

    When safety is restored:
    You stop reacting from fear
    You stop second-guessing yourself in the moment
    You stop adjusting who you are just to maintain connection

    And instead:
    You respond from clarity
    You communicate from truth
    And connection becomes steady, not something you have to earn

    If you’ve ever felt exhausted in your relationships, or like you’re constantly managing how you show up, this episode offers a grounded and hopeful shift in perspective.

    Connect with Diane: https://www.emotionalsafetyco.com/free-tools

    Connect with Marianne:

    • Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
    • Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
    • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
    • Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne


    Subscribe to Message In the Middle:

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • YouTube

    Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.

    Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...
    Show More Show Less
    42 mins
  • The Relationship That Changes Everything: Learning to Show Up for Yourself in Midlife

    The Relationship That Changes Everything: Learning to Show Up for Yourself in Midlife
    May 2 2026

    What does it actually mean to be in a good relationship with yourself? Not the version you perform for the world. Not the one built on how much you get done or how little you ask for. The one underneath all of that. The one that shapes how safe you feel in your own body, how you respond when things fall apart, and whether you extend even a fraction of the compassion to yourself which you so freely give to everyone else.

    In this episode of Message in the Middle, I'm joined by Kerisma Vere, holistic wellness coach, author, and founder of Towards Wellness Coaching. Kerisma's work is trauma-informed, deeply compassionate, and built from lived experience navigating trauma, mental health challenges, addiction, and the long, non-linear path back to self-trust. She is the author of The Light Switch Myth: Contemporary Approaches to Creating Lasting Change, the companion journal Ways I Showed Up for Myself, and the creator of the seven-module course From Pressure to Path: A Compassionate Framework for Change.

    In this episode we explore:

    • Why our self-relationship is the foundation of quality of life and connection with others.
    • The real link between self-worth and coping mechanisms like addiction
    • What the 'light switch myth' reveals about how we've been taught to approach change.
    • Why small acts of self-support often matter more than dramatic transformation
    • The practice of self-gratitude and what it means to acknowledge how you've shown up for yourself

    This episode is for the woman who has spent years caring for everyone else and is just beginning to ask what it might feel like to turn that care inward. You're not behind. You're not broken. And you're not alone.

    Connect with Kerisma Vere:

    Website: https://www.towardswellnesscoaching.ca

    Connect with Marianne:

    • Website: Message In The Middle with Marianne
    • Message In the Middle Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/422430469323847/
    • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MessageInTheMiddle/playlists
    • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianne-demello-smith-678b9966
    • Email: Contact | Message In The Middle with Marianne


    Subscribe to Message In the Middle:

    • Apple Podcasts
    • Spotify
    • YouTube

    Leave Us a Review: If you enjoyed today’s episode, please leave a review and share your favorite takeaway. Your feedback helps us reach more listeners and bring you even more valuable content.

    Keep the conversation going - Join us for more insightful conversations in the Message in the Middle Private Facebook Community & subscribe to Message in the Middle podcas...
    Show More Show Less
    44 mins
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