The Moment I Realized It Was My Turn

podcast

In this first episode of It's Your Turn, Shari Biery shares the moment everything shifted, a military retirement ceremony where her husband John handed her a folded flag and said, "Now it's your turn." If you've spent years being the steady one, the reliable one, the one everyone counted on, this episode is for you. Shari introduces the C.A.L.M. Method and what this show is really about: coming home to yourself.

Listen to this episode on your favorite podcast player.

Key Takeaways

Midlife is not a crisis to survive, it's a homecoming to find your way back to.
Many women feel off even when life looks fine on the outside, because something quietly went missing along the way.
The C.A.L.M. Method has four parts: Clarity, Awareness, Learning, and Mindset, and each one supports women in coming back to themselves.
This show isn't about hustle, pressure, or quick fixes. It's about honest conversation and grounded support.
You don't have to blow up your whole life to come back to yourself.
You've held a lot for a long time. This podcast is a reminder that you count too.

Resources

Transcript

A Ceremony in Pensacola

[00:00:02] Shari Biery: You're listening to It's Your Turn with Shari Biery.

It's a warm summer day in Pensacola, Florida. Inside the National Naval Aviation Museum, the Blue Angels are suspended overhead, frozen in formation. Friends and family have gathered to mark the end of something. Twenty years of military service. Twenty years of moving, adapting, showing up, and holding everything together.

I'm sitting in the front row, and I'm telling myself not to cry. Not because I'm not grateful. I am. But I know if I lose it, my husband John will lose it. And someone in this family needs to hold it together. That was my job. It had always been my job, and I'd gotten very good at it.

The Flag

[00:01:06] Shari Biery: As John finished up his speech, something happened that I did not expect. Four Navy service members stood in a line, each representing a rank he had held during his career. They passed a folded American flag from one set of hands to the next. It was very deliberate, it was slow, it was intentional. And it just felt like something very sacred.

And then, they handed it to John. He walked over towards me. He placed that flag in my hands. He looked at me, and he said quietly, after giving me a kiss on the cheek, I love you. And now it's your turn.

I remember something releasing in my chest in that moment. It was like a breath I had been holding for twenty years. It was the first time someone had said those words to me. And it was the first time I started to think I might be able to believe they might be true.

Do You Recognize the Feeling

[00:02:22] Shari Biery: Now, you may not be a military spouse, and your story is probably different from mine. But I wonder if you recognize the feeling.

The feeling of having been so focused on everyone else's path forward. Their schedules, their needs, their next chapter. That somewhere along the way, you stopped asking about your own. The feeling of looking in the mirror and just pausing, and thinking to yourself, when did I start feeling this way? The feeling of doing everything right on the outside, but inside, something is missing.

If any of that feels familiar, this podcast is for you.

Who I Am and Why I'm Here

[00:03:19] Shari Biery: I'm Shari Biery, I'm a nationally board-certified health and wellness coach, the author of It's Your Turn, speaker, creator of the C.A.L.M. Method. And I was a military spouse who spent two decades navigating that military life while supporting my husband's career, and building my own career while raising my family.

After that ceremony in Pensacola, I started searching for answers. How do I prioritize myself without guilt? How do I care for my body in this season of life? How do I figure out what I actually want now that I have permission to want something?

Working with a health and wellness coach changed everything for me. For the first time, I experienced what it felt like to be supported, heard, and guided through real change. And that experience eventually led me here to become the coach that I am.

What began as my own search for answers became something more. Today, I help midlife women reconnect with themselves, understand their changing bodies, and create supportive rhythms that fit who you are now, and who you're becoming.

Why This Show Exists

[00:04:48] Shari Biery: This show is called It's Your Turn, because I believe midlife is not a crisis to survive. It's a homecoming to find your way back to.

Each week, we're going to talk about the things most people are not saying out loud. Why you feel off, even when your life looks fine on the outside. Why the things that used to work no longer do. What your body has been trying to tell you. And how to come back to yourself without blowing up your whole life to do it.

We're going to draw from my book, from my years of coaching midlife women, and from the real stories of women who've walked this path and found their way through. We'll start with episodes just with you and I each week, and as the show grows, I'll be bringing in other voices and experts to deepen the conversation.

I want to be really clear, this is not a hustle show. There is no pressure here. No rigid plans or quick fixes. I'm just here to bring honest conversations, grounded support, and the steady reminder that you're not alone in what you are carrying and feeling.

The C.A.L.M. Method

[00:06:13] Shari Biery: Everything I teach is rooted in what I call the C.A.L.M. Method. These are four steps that help midlife women come back to themselves. I developed this first for myself. I saw a pattern, and then as I was working with women, I realized we were going through these same four core things.

The first one, the C stands for Clarity. Getting clear on who you are now, and what actually matters in this time in your life. It's important. Otherwise, you feel stuck all the time.

Next is Awareness. We have to be aware of recognizing our own patterns that have quietly been shaping us. How we live, how we feel, how we take action, or inaction.

The next is Learning. Learning to listen to your body, and building different rhythms that support yourself, instead of fighting it.

And then Mindset is for strengthening the thoughts that help you move forward, so that you can really develop self-trust instead of self-doubt.

We'll go deeper into every one of these together over the weeks ahead.

Why I Chose a Podcast

[00:07:50] Shari Biery: One more thing before we move on. I want to tell you why I chose a podcast. Because honestly, my plate has been full. But something happened. As I was a guest on podcasts, fellow podcasters have been asking me when I was going to start one for a while now. And the honest answer is that I wanted to show up for the right reasons, not just to have a podcast. But because it genuinely felt right. For you, for me. And this feels right.

I love conversations. I've learned so much from listening to others. From the women who have been honest enough to share what they were really carrying. From the voices that found me when I needed them the most. Podcasts are with me when I'm out walking, on road trips, driving in the car, cleaning the house, cooking. They are in my ears, and they have changed how I think, how I see myself, how I see others, and what I believe is possible for both you and me.

And I believe we need more of that. More women sharing honestly. More voices that don't have it all figured out, but are willing to show up anyway and tell the truth. And that is my promise to you. I will always show up honestly. I will tell you what I know, what I am still learning, and what I wish someone had told me sooner. There will be no pretending here, there's no performance. I just want to bring real conversations between women who are figuring midlife out together.

And I'm so grateful you are here.

A Quieter Room

[00:09:53] Shari Biery: Before I let you go, I want to say one more thing. There is so much noise out there right now. Loud voices competing for attention. People cutting each other down instead of lifting each other up.

And in the middle of all that noise, I think there is a quiet hunger in a lot of us for something truer. Something that actually connects us instead of divides us. This is exactly the moment we need to show up for each other. Not by being louder, by being honest. By offering what we actually have, instead of a performance of who we think we should be.

And that's what I want this podcast to be. A quieter room. A place where you feel seen instead of sold to.

So if you're listening to this right now, I want you to know something. I see you. I understand you. You've already held so much for so long. You've been the steady one, the reliable one, the one everyone counts on. And somewhere in all of that giving, you may have stopped counting yourself.

This podcast is a standing reminder that you count. That your needs are real. That midlife is not asking you to push harder. It is asking you to come home to yourself. And it really is your turn.

Closing

[00:11:41] Shari Biery: So, new episodes drop weekly. If you have not yet subscribed, do that now so you never miss one. And if you want a simple place to begin right now, take the free Midlife Spark Type Quiz at sharibiery.com/quiz. It takes about three minutes, and it'll help you understand exactly where you are, and what you need most right now at this time in your life.

So, I want to say thank you for spending this time with me today. And if something in this episode really hit your heart, share it with a woman in your life who may need to hear it, too. That is how this show will grow.

So, you can find me on Substack, at sharibiery.substack.com. And take that Midlife Spark Type Quiz. The link is always in the show notes. And until next time. Keep taking your turn.

CTA

If today's episode resonated with you, take the free Midlife Spark Type Quiz. It takes about three minutes and will help you understand exactly where you are right now, and what you need most in this season. Take the quiz here.

New episodes of It's Your Turn with Shari Biery drop weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Substack. Subscribe so you don't miss one.