What if the season that feels like starting over is actually the moment you finally start from somewhere true?

Most women have been here at least once: standing at the edge of a new season with the uncomfortable awareness that the life they've been building no longer fits who they're becoming. It's not failure, and it's not a sign they got it wrong. It's one of the clearest invitations God gives — to stop forcing what no longer fits and start telling the truth about what does.

In this solo episode, Rachel Brooks opens up an honest conversation about what it actually means to begin again. Not the version that requires burning everything down, but the more honest, more grounded kind, where you look at your life, your values, your energy, and your sense of self, and ask what actually belongs in the next chapter.

Rachel shares her own experience of standing between the life she built and the one she's still defining, what she learned writing Chasing Perfection, and why the in-between space, as uncomfortable as it feels, is often exactly where clarity begins. She walks through the four pillars she returns to when everything feels unsettled, the questions worth asking when you're ready to stop carrying what belongs to an older version of yourself, and why small, consistent steps matter more than any complete overhaul when you're rebuilding self-trust.

This episode is for the woman who is tired of forcing old dreams into a new season and is ready to give herself permission to build a life that's true rather than impressive.

What You'll Hear:

• How to start over without losing the wisdom, experience, and foundation you've already built
• How to tell the difference between something that's genuinely challenging and something that's actually draining you
• The four pillars Rachel returns to when life feels unsettled, and why they apply across every area of your life
• What to do when clarity feels out of reach and the next step is all you have
• The honest questions worth sitting with when you're ready to stop defending a life that no longer fits
• How faith plays into starting over when God isn't giving you the full map, just the next step
• Why small, consistent decisions rebuild self-trust faster than any complete overhaul ever will

Scripture for the Soul:

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." — Proverbs 16:9

Key Quotes:

"Starting over becomes less about throwing everything away and more about telling the truth."

"What if this is actually wisdom we're starting from?"

"Starting over isn't about rejecting who you are. It's about honoring what brought you here while deciding what no longer needs to come with you."

"The goal isn't to become a completely different person overnight. The goal is to become more honest, more present, aligned, and rooted in what truly matters most."

"Maybe beginning again isn't proof that you failed. Maybe it's proof that you're still willing, still open, and still listening."

Your Next Step:

If you've been sitting in that gap between the life you built and the one you're still defining, this is where the real work begins.

Becoming The Confident Woman

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast

Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

What if the season that feels like it’s breaking you is actually the one God is using to rebuild you?

In this episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks sits down with Christine Marie, known as the Cortisol Coach. Christine is a Christian entrepreneur, certified biblical mindset coach, bestselling author, podcast host, and leader of a community of more than 420,000 women.

After years of fostering 77 children, adopting two, and caring for family members through serious illness, Christine’s body began showing the effects of chronic stress through fibromyalgia, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and burnout.

Together, Rachel and Christine explore the connection between stress, grief, caregiving, faith, and healing. They discuss what happens when you spend years caring for everyone else without stopping to consider what you’re carrying, what it’s costing you, and what God may be asking you to release.

Rachel also shares her own experiences with loss, identity shifts, and forgiveness during difficult seasons. This conversation is for the woman who feels overwhelmed, exhausted, and ready to discover a healthier way forward.

What You’ll Hear:

• How caregiving impacted Christine’s health and healing journey
• Why a performance mindset can keep you stuck in burnout
• The connection between cortisol, stress, and emotional burdens
• Why grief includes more than death and can involve seasons, roles, and identities
• The challenge of being a caregiver who never pauses to grieve
• How to simplify life and listen for God’s direction

Scripture for the Soul:

“Jesus wept.” — John 11:35

Key Quotes:

“Grief isn’t just something traumatic like losing a loved one. Grief is the constant evolution and letting go of what once was so that you can make room to embrace what is still to come.” — Rachel Brooks

“For us to grow, we gotta let go.” — Christine Marie

“The more is never found externally. The more is gained through our perseverance, our suffering, our losses.” — Christine Marie

“Everything we do, there’s a cost. Is it worth it?” — Christine Marie

“Who we are and whose we are is not found in what we do, but in who we be.” — Rachel Brooks

Your Next Step:

Ready to do the deeper work? → I Am… Becoming — rebuild your identity from the inside out: iamrachelbrooks.com/iam-becoming

Support your body's stress response, energy, and focus as you do it: → Beneve: iamrachelbrooks.com/beneve

Connect with Christine Marie:

Instagram: @cortisol_coach

Podcast: Cortisol Coach — available on all podcast platforms

Podcast: What to Expect While Fostering and Adopting

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast

Subscribe: iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

What if the very thing you keep waiting to receive from someone else is the thing you have not yet learned how to give yourself?

In this solo episode of The Confident Woman Podcast, Rachel Brooks opens up a deeply honest conversation about giving, receiving, self-trust, self-respect, love, and the mirror that reveals what we are truly longing for. She speaks to the woman who has been looking for clarity, validation, peace, love, confidence, or direction, only to realize the deeper question may not be, “Why am I not receiving this?” but, “Where have I stopped giving this to myself?”

Rachel unpacks why so many of us struggle to fully receive what we say we want, especially when we have not yet built the inner foundation to recognize it, hold it, or believe we are worthy of it. Through personal reflection and Matthew 22:39, she invites you to look at the second half of the command to love your neighbor as yourself and ask what your relationship with yourself is teaching every other relationship in your life.

This episode is not about blaming yourself or pretending you do not need love, support, connection, or community. It is about telling the truth about where you may be withholding trust, respect, grace, forgiveness, or love from yourself while searching for it everywhere else. It is about coming back to the mirror, noticing what keeps coming up, and allowing God to reveal what needs your attention now.

What You’ll Hear:

• Why it can be hard to receive what you have not learned to give yourself
• How self-respect, self-trust, and self-love shape the way you show up in every relationship
• Why confidence is not where the journey starts, but the result of what you practice
• How broken promises to yourself quietly weaken self-trust and confidence over time
• What Matthew 22:39 reveals about loving others from a place of stewardship, not self-abandonment
• Why the thing you are craving may be pointing you toward the deeper work God is inviting you into
• A reflection to help you ask where you may be withholding the very thing you keep waiting to receive

Scripture for the Soul:

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Matthew 22:39

Key Quotes:

“Sometimes the thing that we keep looking for outside of ourselves is the very thing we haven’t learned yet to give ourselves.”

“Confidence isn’t where it starts. Confidence is a result.”

“Confidence is built every time you keep a promise to yourself.”

“Sometimes we’re asking God for the whole staircase when He’s asking us to take the next step.”

“Everything we desire starts within.”

Point to Ponder:

Where am I withholding the very thing I keep asking to receive?

Subscribe to The Confident Woman Podcast:

iamrachelbrooks.com/subscribe

Connect with Rachel Brooks:

Website: iamrachelbrooks.com

Instagram: instagram.com/iamrachelbrooks

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/iamrachelbrooks

Podcast: iamrachelbrooks.com/podcast