💬 message Denise

https://ignite2026.lovable.app/

Join this IGNITE: The Inner Uprising ™ waitlist here - excited to see you in real life 😍❤️

What if the thing keeping you home isn't the cost of the ticket or the fear of getting lost, but the belief that someone else has to plan it for you first? Maria Kamau has spent 37 years proving that belief wrong. She has travelled to 100 countries across five continents on a Kenyan passport, all while working full time as a health data specialist for over 20 years.

For part of that career she ran her own travel agency and helped more than 300 people plan trips they'd been putting off. Then she noticed that the women who came to her needed more than a booking. They needed the confidence to plan their own trips on their own terms. In 2022 she stepped into travel coaching, and she has since guided close to 20 women from "I don't know how to do this" to "I know exactly what I'm doing." Maria is an ICF certified travel coach.

In this conversation we talk about why so many women say "I'll travel when I retire," and why the best time is usually now. We get into the guilt women carry about spending their own money and time on themselves. Maria shares the story of a client who travelled for a decade without ever booking her own flight, and what happened once she did. We also cover how to understand yourself as a traveller, how to choose travel companions wisely, and why solo travel can show you who you are away from everyone who knows you. Maria's advice on starting small, with a nearby city or a friend abroad, makes the first step feel doable. She also takes on the biggest misconceptions about international travel, including safety, cost, and who travel is "for."

Connect with Maria Kamau:

www.travelwithmkay.co.ke

-www.facebook.com/TravelwithMkay/

CONNECT WITH DENISE DRINKWALTER

Website: denisedrinkwalter.com

Podcast: @thethriveafter45podcast

IGNITE waitlist: ignite2026.lovable.app

If this episode spoke to you, please follow the show, share it with a woman who needs to hear it, and leave a rating or review so it reaches more midlife women.

Support the show

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ .

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The ticket sales will be coming soon, so get your name on the waitlist, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

If you loved this episode, I’d be so grateful if you left a review - it helps more amazing women like you find this show!

Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...

💬 message Denise

https://ignite2026.lovable.app/

Join this IGNITE: The Inner Uprising ™ waitlist here - excited to see you in real life 😍❤️

What if the block holding you back isn't yours to fix, but yours to release?

In this episode of Thrive After 45®, Denise Drinkwalter sits down with Judy Kane, a mindset transformation specialist who helps women and men change the subconscious beliefs quietly shaping their lives. Judy spent years in IT before this work found her, and she still sees it through that lens: when a system isn't giving you the results you want, you find the code that isn't working and change it.

Together they explore where limiting beliefs come from, why most of them are in place by the age of seven, and how those early beliefs drive up to 95% of our behaviour well into midlife. Judy explains why changing a single subconscious belief can take less than five minutes, what "secondary benefits" are and how they can keep us stuck, why so many women make decisions based on what they want to avoid rather than what they truly want, and why this kind of change does not have to re-traumatize you. For every woman over 45 who knows there is something more but can't yet name it, this conversation offers a gentle, practical place to begin.

Since 2011, Judy has worked with between 750 and 1,000 clients, now entirely online, helping them release what she calls head trash about their worth, their bodies, their fears and their businesses.

Judy is the author of Your4Truths: How Beliefs Impact Your Life, available at https://www.amazon.com/Your4Truths-Beliefs-Impact-Your-Life/dp/1737263815/.

You can find her work at Aligned Consciousness, https://www.alignedconsciousness.com/, and download her free resources, including 7 Signs Your Subconscious Is Running the Show, at https://www.alignedconsciousness.com/resources/.

CONNECT WITH DENISE DRINKWALTER

Website: denisedrinkwalter.com

Instagram and YouTube: @thethriveafter45podcast

IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ waitlist: ignite2026.lovable.app

If this episode spoke to you, please leave a rating and review. It helps more women in midlife find these conversations.

Support the show

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ .

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The ticket sales will be coming soon, so get your name on the waitlist, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

If you loved this episode, I’d be so grateful if you left a review - it helps more amazing women like you find this show!

Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...

💬 message Denise

https://ignite2026.lovable.app/

Join this IGNITE: The Inner Uprising ™ waitlist here - excited to see you in real life 😍❤️

Please note: this episode contains mild language.

What is really standing in the way of women's advancement? Nicole Johnston spent thirty years in the corporate world leading sales and marketing for consumer products companies including Procter & Gamble, Hershey, and Kimberly-Clark, and along the way she watched talented women get overlooked, underpaid, and pigeonholed. Today she is an executive and leadership coach, the founder of innatePOWER™, and the author of Taboo Topics: Things Women Should Talk About, But Don't.

In this conversation, Nicole explains why so many women over 45 grew up doing excellent work quietly, and why that habit means the people around us rarely know what we're good at or what we want next. She shares practical ways to start being seen, from naming what you're exemplary at to keeping an "attagirl" folder that makes your annual review easier and your confidence steadier. We talk about the mental load at work and at home, how to hand off an entire job without taking it back, and why letting go of the gold star is one of the most freeing things a woman can do.

You'll also hear Nicole's favourite phrase for handling assumptions and sexism with calm, the real difference between a coach, a mentor, and a sponsor (women are over-mentored and under-sponsored), how to cultivate a sponsor, and how to choose leadership roles outside of work that don't quietly turn into menial tasks. Her closing reminder is one to carry with you: when you do something that feels disruptive, you're doing it for yourself and for every woman coming after you.

Connect with Nicole Johnston:

Website: http://www.innate-power.com

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolemjohnston

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/innatepowercoaching/

TEDx: https://youtu.be/4vCDnJiGDaA

CONNECT WITH DENISE DRINKWALTER

Website: denisedrinkwalter.com

Instagram, YouTube: @thethriveafter45podcast

IGNITE waitlist: ignite2026.lovable.app

If this conversation gave you language or courage you can use this week, please leave a rating and review. It helps more women find Thrive After 45®.

Support the show

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Thrive After 45™ podcast! If this episode spoke to you, be sure to hit that follow button so you never miss one.

I will be hosting a live, in-person experience called IGNITE: The Inner Uprising™ .

It is a two-day immersive gathering for women in midlife — women who feel the quiet pull toward something more truthful, more embodied, more fully their own.

IGNITE is an extension of these conversations.

It’s where reflection becomes embodiment.

Where insight becomes integration.

Where women who have held so much for others gather to stand fully in their own sovereignty.

If something in today’s conversation stirred you — if your body leaned in — that is NOT accidental.

The ticket sales will be coming soon, so get your name on the waitlist, and never miss an update and special price breaks that will exist for early registrants.

https://ignite2026.lovable.app

There is a place for us to gather.

If you loved this episode, I’d be so grateful if you left a review - it helps more amazing women like you find this show!

Your journey doesn’t stop here - let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with me at denisedrinkwalter.com, and follow ...