Second Breaks

Coffee chats with people I want to learn from — about life, work, becoming, and figuring things out (often in midlife, but not always). Hosted by Lou Blaser. About The Host: Lou Blaser is a corporate escapee turned writer, podcast host, and resident philosopher-next-door. She writes We’re All Getting Older — a newsletter about joy, purpose, and figuring out what matters now. She’s also the author of Break Free: The Courage to Reinvent Yourself and Your Career.

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Last refreshed: July 18th, 2025 at 3:18 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

[13] How to Follow Your Heart When Making Career Decisions | Nicole Karon

We often hear the advice “follow your heart” especially when we’re faced with a decision that we’re not sure about. I’ve been noticing it come up more and more, in various forms, within the context of a career change. Highlights of Episode 13: Common misconceptions about the advice “follow your heart” Difference between “listen to your heart” and “follow your passion” How to listen to your heart Trusting the results of the process How to avoid inadvertently incorporating other people’s opinions ...

Aug 10, 2017•30 min

[12] Using Your Interests Outside of Work to Guide Your Next Career Move | Lara Dalch

Highlights of Episode 12: What health & lifestyle coaching is and what you want to look for in a health & lifestyle coach How Lara Dalch got started on this career path The challenges she faced transitioning from a corporate career into a freelance type of work and starting a new business How finding new communities helped her during the early stages The importance of continuous learning when creating a new career How to become a health & lifestyle coach Get full access to We're All ...

Aug 04, 2017•28 min

[11] Maximizing Life Experiences Through Career Change | Tim DeBellis

Tim DeBellis traces his philosophy around maximizing life experiences to his immigrant grandfather, who took on so many different roles in his lifetime. Highlights of Episode 11: How Tim identified his passion Coming up with an “exit strategy,a long-term vision, and a 5-year plan The willingness to go back when things don’t work out the way you imagined Honoring commitments while taking risks Applying existing skills and expertise in your new field The importance of having a strong support syste...

Jul 27, 2017•33 min

[10] Parenthood Can be the Perfect Catalyst for a New Career | Alethea Fitzpatrick

Highlights of Episode 10: Alethea’s career journey from architect to photographer to business owner How becoming a parent created a strong incentive for her to consider new career possibilities How her vision of the kind-of-mother-she-wants-to-be factors into her business and career considerations How being a parent can create constraints that encourage you to be more productive and creative in your career. The importance of financial planning when making any kind of change Get full access to We...

Jul 20, 2017•36 min

[09] How to Avoid Analysis Paralysis When Making a Career Move

How do we avoid analysis paralysis and getting stuck while on the road to our career change? Knowing the stages of any career move, and the key action and decision points in each stage will help you avoid getting stuck with analysis paralysis. For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast Get full access to We're All Getting Older at loublaser.substack.com/subscribe...

Jul 13, 2017•17 min

[08] On Writing and Finding Your Way Through Your First Book | Brenda Peregrine

Is writing and publishing a book a dream of yours? How the state of today’s publishing industry opens opportunities to aspiring writers and common misconceptions by new writers about the writing process. For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast Get full access to We're All Getting Older at loublaser.substack.com/subscribe...

Jul 07, 2017•43 min

[07] How to Manage a Portfolio Career | Adrianne Machina

Have you ever wondered how a portfolio career works? Adrianne Machina shares how she manages time, finances, and prioritization to make it all work. For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast Get full access to We're All Getting Older at loublaser.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 29, 2017•34 min

[06] Awakening our Creativity and Living a Creative Life | Melissa Dinwiddie

Creativity Coach Melissa Dinwiddie discusses how we can tap back into our natural creativity and how to incorporate creative expression in our work-life. For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast Get full access to We're All Getting Older at loublaser.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 22, 2017•45 min

[05] Early Retirement and Quitting the Cop’s Life | Shane Moran

Former NYC Police Officer Shane Moran shares his decision-making process for taking on early retirement so he can work full-time on his growing business, Goji Fitness. For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast Get full access to We're All Getting Older at loublaser.substack.com/subscribe

Jun 15, 2017•42 min

[04] Doing Meaningful Work by Helping Others Make Meaningful Choices

Deanna Carlisle works with young kids—and their parents—to help them identify those nuggets and use the insight to guide their decisions about college and, eventually, their career direction. She guides college students and new graduates through a process that allows them to better understand their own strengths, interests, and personality. Highlights of Episode 04: The importance of “testing things out” (and how to do it) before jumping into a new field of work and career path. How to recognize...

Jun 08, 2017•45 min

[03] Going Back to School to Start a New Career

Starting a new career sometimes mean going back to school. But this can be challenging especially when you’ve been out of it a while and making a living. Brooke Erickson is a functional nutritionist based in Washington, doing the kind of work in an area that has always meant something personal to her. Highlights of Episode 3: My lesson learned about using fear as an indicator for growth Where Brooke’s passion for health and nutrition comes from The difference between a functional nutritionist an...

Jun 01, 2017•26 min

[02] Aligning Your Work With Your Core Desired Feelings

Gail Jessen, a veteran in the Higher Education space, uses an illness diagnosis to align work with her core desired feelings and reinvent her career. Highlights of Episode 2 What core desired feelings are How we can use those core desired feelings to set our goals How our bodies give us signals that our work may be misaligned with our core desired feelings How Gail manages to quit her job and travel—without being independently wealthy (!) What she defines “adventure” and how we could all be adve...

Jun 01, 2017•32 min

[01] Start a Side-Gig and Turn it Into a New Career

This being the inaugural episode of this new podcast, Second Breaks, I set the scene for the show so you know what to expect going forward. My guest is Shannon Davis, who shares her career change story from Executive Assistant to Business Owner and Entrepreneur, in under two years. Highlights of Episode 1 I give a brief description, format, and focus of the SB Podcast My own career reinvention story Shannon Davis shares how she started a side gig on a whim Picking up new required skills on the g...

Jun 01, 2017•35 min

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