Women's networking, female entrepreneurship, and what it costs to be the woman everyone leans on. Jenn Fasano, founder of Babes in Business Long Island, joins Deb for an honest conversation about getting fired, building a women's networking community from scratch, and running three businesses without pretending it's effortless.

Jenn was working sixty-hour weeks in corporate, commuting into the city, when she got fired. Her mentor's response became the turning point: you were hanging off that cliff with both feet, and he just pushed you. What she built next launched in November 2019, four months before the world shut down.

In this episode:

• Why the traditional 7 a.m. networking breakfast made her think this is not for me; and what she built instead
• How she kept Babes alive through COVID by going live every single day, kids screaming in the background
• The money lessons no one teaches you: separate LLCs, separate accounts, and hiring a bookkeeper before you think you need one
• Why she only works one-on-one, and what she asks every client before anything else
• The surprisingly short list of people she actually leans on; and why family isn't on it
• Plus my Rapid Reclaim Round: her best unglamorous business investment, the word her daughters use to describe her working, and the one beauty product she won't leave home without

If you're building something of your own and you're tired of hearing that it looked easy for everyone else, this one's for you.

Find Jenn: jennfasano.com

On Instagram: @babesinbusinesslongisland, @jenn_fasano

Find Deb: https://stan.store/thedishwithdeb : if you are ready to gain clarity & confidence with your financial life-Grab the Money Clarity System™

On Instagram: @thedishwithdeb

Between the Laugh Lines is the show where more meaningful conversations happen solo or with guests to dig deeper into how women can get honest about beauty, money, and who they are right now. Real beauty that works on your actual face, money talk with zero shame, and figuring out who you are now; not who you used to be. Hosted by Deb, a CPA who carried real debt and rebuilt.

Follow the show so you don't miss what's next. Go on, reclaim you.

You caught yourself in a bad mirror and thought, who is that? and quietly decided you were falling apart. Here's the truth: you're not. What changes in your skin, your face, and your confidence in midlife isn't failure. It's biology; and once you understand it, the fear loses its grip.

This week Deb sits down with Dr. Natalya Borakowski, a naturopathic doctor who went from a classical piano career to founding a skincare practice in Arizona women drive across the city to see. She explains why your products stopped working, what's actually happening in your brain when you don't recognize your reflection, and the four simple things that matter more than anything in a jar: no shame, no fear-selling, no anti-aging nonsense.

Honest talk about beauty, confidence, and coming home to yourself.

✨ Ready to get honest about your beauty, your money, and who you're becoming? DM the word RECLAIM on Instagram @thedishwithdeb for The Reclaim Score™ FREE

Connect with Deb: Instagram: @thedishwithdeb Shop + free resources: stan.store/thedishwithdeb Email: info@thedishwithdeb.com

This week's guest: Dr. Natalya Borakowski: Instagram: @natalyaborakowski + @unveilyou.life Platform: https://unveilyou.life/

https://www.desertbloomskincare.com/dr-natalya-borakowski-nmd/

Between the Laugh Lines: The Place to Reclaim your beauty, money, and who you are.

If you have ever known exactly what you should do with your money, and avoided it anyway, this episode is for you.

Financial anxiety does not care how educated you are. It does not care that you have a degree, a title, or are a mom-preneur. It lives in us all capable, smart women precisely because we know enough to feel ashamed of being stuck.

I bring my CPA training and my own personal debt story to one of the most avoided conversations in the midlife space. Because the women who need this most, are the ones least likely to admit they need it.

In this episode you'll hear:

• What financial anxiety actually is and why mindset work alone won't fix it
• The real reason high-achieving women stay stuck with money longer than anyone else
• Three reframes that build financial confidence without requiring a complete life overhaul

You already know what you should do. This episode is about why you're not doing it and what actually helps move the needle.

Between the Laugh Lines is the podcast for women who are done feeling invisible and ready for honest conversations about what's on their bathroom counter, what's in their bank account and who they're becoming. Hosted by Deb; a CPA who carried personal debt, a beauty obsessive who does the research and testing, and a sandwich generation survivor building something real, all while raising her sons, managing the retired husband and working full time. No hustle culture. No toxic positivity. Just truth, delivered warm and with a laugh sometimes!

Grab The free Reclaim Blueprint™ and other resources: https://stan.store/thedishwithdeb

Connect with me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/thedishwithdeb

Email me your questions: info@thedishwithdeb.com

Beauty advice from one stranger. Money advice from another. Identity pep talks from a third. Sound familiar? Most women are piecing together their confidence from three different corners of the internet and wondering why none of it sticks.

In this episode, I unpack the three lanes of Between the Laugh Lines: Honest Beauty, Money Truth, and Identity in Progress and I explain why they belong in the same conversation from the same woman.

I break down what a CPA actually is (the 4 main areas) versus a financial advisor (they're not the same thing and most people don't know the difference), why your skincare routine is confidence infrastructure and not vanity, and what Identity in Progress really means when you're still figuring out what you want to be when you grow up, regardless of your age!

If you're the woman managing everyone else's life while tip toeing around her own beauty, her budget, and who she is ready to reclaim; this episode was built for you!

Between the Laugh Lines is the podcast for women who are done feeling invisible and ready for honest conversations about what's on their bathroom counter, who they're becoming, and even what's in their bank account. Hosted by Deb of The Reclaim Concierge™. New episodes drop regularly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and many other platforms.

Follow @thedishwithdeb on Instagram. DM the word RECLAIM for a free copy of The Reclaim Blueprint™. Get started today!

What if feeling happy again wasn’t about a major life overhaul but instead about paying attention to what’s already there?

This week, I sit down with Brielle Neumann, founder of Smile Stories: The Movement, an award-winning social impact brand built on one surprisingly powerful question: What made you smile today?

What started as a Post-It wall in a corporate job that didn’t fit, has grown into school programs, public installations at Penn Station and Union Square in NYC, and a kindness movement reaching people worldwide.

In this honest conversation, Brielle and I dig into what it actually costs to stay in a life that looks fine on the outside, what it takes to build something real from scratch with no blueprint and no backup plan, and why reclaiming your happiness isn’t a luxury. It’s the foundation everything else gets built on.

In this episode:

• Why smiling is free, science-backed, and wildly underused by adults!
• What Brielle walked away from to build this, and what it actually felt like in real time
• The honest hard part that the Instagram version never shows
• Why happiness and confidence are more connected than most people realize
• The one question that might tell you more about yourself than a year of therapy

If you’ve been going through the motions and wondering when you get to feel like yourself again; this one’s for you!

📲 Instagram: @smilestories.themovement

🌐 Website: www.smilestoriesthemovement.com

Ready to get The Reclaim Blueprint™ ; The free framework to help you rebuild confidence and clarity, starting exactly where you are?

📲 DM RECLAIM to @thedishwithdeb on Instagram

📍 Instagram: @thedishwithdeb

Between the Laugh Lines is the podcast for women who are done feeling invisible and ready for honest conversations about beauty, confidence, and who they actually are right now. Hosted by Deb, a CPA who carried personal debt, a beauty obsessive who did the research, and a sandwich generation survivor building something real in the throes of a very full life. No hustle culture. No toxic positivity. Just truth, delivered warm.

Follow the show on Podbean | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

There’s a version of midlife nobody warns you about, the one where you’re doing everything right and still feel like nobody sees you. Yup, that was me!

In this episode, I stop dancing around it and gets honest about what Between the Laugh Lines is really about, why I avoided talking about money for eighteen episodes despite being a CPA, and what finally made me stop hiding. If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and thought “I don’t even recognize her anymore”,this is where that changes.

Between the Laugh Lines is the podcast for women who are done feeling invisible and ready for honest conversations about what’s on their bathroom counter, who they’re becoming, and — even what’s in their bank account. Hosted by Deb of The Reclaim Concierge™. New episodes drop regularly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podbean. Follow @thedishwithdeb on Instagram. DM the word RECLAIM on any post for a free copy of The Reclaim Blueprint™.

Sandwich generation survival isn't a phrase; it's a daily reality for women in midlife. You're raising kids, managing a career, and now your aging parent needs you in a way you weren't prepared for. A diagnosis. A fall. A stroke. Suddenly you're the one making the calls, breaking the rules in rehab facilities, and Googling medical terms at 2 a.m. while everyone around you assumes you've got it handled. This is exactly the kind of invisible, identity-shifting season Between the Laugh Lines was built for.

In this episode, I sit down with my friend Jean Gibbs, Air Force military wife, mother of two boys, and founder of the Pathways Stroke Foundation, for an honest conversation about caregiving a parent when the system isn't built to support you or them.

In December 2012, Jean's mother Agnes suffered a massive stroke that left her with aphasia, apraxia and hemiplegia. A doctor walked in with no emotion and said she'd never speak again. Jean spent the next eight years proving him wrong — and quietly building something extraordinary out of the hardest chapter of her life.

Here's what you'll walk away with:

• Why patient advocacy is non-negotiable when a loved one can't speak for themselves, and how to start, even when you're terrified
• The "tribe" framework: who you actually need around you (hint: it's not just family) and how to ask for help without apologizing
• What nobody tells you about caregiver burnout, and Jean's unfiltered "no drama, have faith, take care of you" rule for staying upright!

If you're the woman holding everyone together and wondering when someone's going to hold you, this episode is your reminder that you're not alone, you're not doing it wrong, and you don't have to keep performing strength you don't feel.

Caregiving doesn't just rearrange your calendar. It rearranges who you are. There's a version of this season where you're still you at the end of it — rebuilding your confidence, reclaiming your identity, and finding clarity on what comes next.

Jean is proof.

Find Jean here- @pathwaysstroke, www.strokepath.org and on Youtube- Pathways Kitchen.

_______________________

Between the Laugh Lines is the podcast for women who are done feeling invisible and ready for honest conversations about what's on their bathroom counter, who they're becoming, and — even what's in their bank account. Hosted by Deb of The Reclaim Concierge™. New episodes drop regularly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podbean, etc. Follow @thedishwithdeb on Instagram. DM the word RECLAIM for a free copy of The Reclaim Blueprint™

Amy Nikolai spent decades measuring her confidence by other people's feedback. In her 50s, that finally changed; and what she built in the process is extraordinary!

On her own at 17. No college degree. A career built on being the person who executes. Then her daughter's best friend was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away at 11 — and Amy's life shifted permanently.

She co-founded the Olivia Hope Foundation, taught herself nonprofit management, raised over a million dollars, and secured a first-of-its-kind partnership with Cohen Children's Medical Center. All as a volunteer. All while navigating menopause, marriage, motherhood, and her own emotional reckoning.

In this episode, Amy and I talk about what confidence looks like when it stops being about performance, how OCD and "laser focus" became her operational strengths, and why the women who feel most underqualified are often the most capable.

If you're in progress — this conversation will remind you that's exactly where you're supposed to be.

🎗️ oliviahope.org

OHF2026.givesmart.com for tickets to the annual gala

@oliviahopefoundation

Between the Laugh Lines is the podcast for women who are done feeling invisible and ready for honest conversations about who they're becoming, what's on their bathroom counter, and what's in their bank account. Hosted by Deb creator of The Reclaim Concierge. New episodes drop regularly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean. Follow @thedishwithdeb on Instagram. DM the word RECLAIM for a free copy of The Reclaim Blueprint™.