The Big Four Oh: The Podcast About Turning 40

Dana Diaz was born to a teenage mother who didn’t want her and grew up with a stepfather who was verbally and physically abusive. She left home as soon as she was legally able to and swore that nobod…

Though he knows he came to the understanding late in life, Paul Zolman realized at age 35 that he was responsible for his own actions. He had residual anger from being abused as a child and he blamed…

When she was 35, Diane Woodford was living a pretty picture. She was married with two kids and a dog, living in her dream house, and driving a minivan to her dream job. She had no idea that everythin…

Dai Manuel was in his late 30s and the cofounder of a successful fitness industry company when he realized that all the trappings of success that he was chasing were from someone else’s dream. The th…

In the year leading up to her 50th birthday, Jennifer found herself divorced, an empty nester, let go from her career, and bed-ridden with a stress-related illness. In the space of a year, all of her…

At 20, Mitch Webb fell out a second story window on the first night of his college study abroad program. The fall left him with a traumatic brain injury, panic attacks and insomnia. In the years sinc…

Ryan Judd always knew he wanted to work with kids. Growing up, he took jobs as a camp counselor and babysitter. That led him through college and grad school into a career in music therapy serving chi…

When Justin Schenck was in high school, he would have been a contender for the “least likely to succeed” superlative. He had a 1.7 GPA; his mom was in the middle of her 20-year battle with opioids an…

Mindy Aisling was in her 30s and living her best life on the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest. But when she was 35, Mindy and her son and husband were on the way to the pumpkin patch when a…

Thanks to a long-distance relationship that turned toxic after she got pregnant and moved to be near her partner, Aveline Clarke had to navigate a messy five years in her late 30s. During this time s…

In her late 30s, Amy Tsai was frustrated she couldn’t achieve what she wanted in her business, which led her to meditation and introspection. Then she learned that her mom had made a conscious decisi…

In this episode, Stephanie interviews Rachel Isabela, a first-generation American, about her journey of healing and personal growth. Rachel shares her experiences growing up with an emotionally absen…

Deidre Harter’s second marriage was a harrowing journey of lies, fraud, and her husband’s imprisonment, all while she was raising their young son. It took seven years for her to realize she wasn’t sa…

In this episode of the Forty Drinks Podcast Karel Chan discusses her journey to find peace and happiness. Karel shares her search for love and longing to become a mother, and how these desires shaped…

Stephanie McLaughlin kicks off season four of the Forty Drinks Podcast by exploring the concept of the "Ick" - that feeling of something not quite fitting in our lives as we approach or pass our 40th…

Episode Introduction

AdaPia d'Errico experienced three major awakenings between her early thirties and early forties. The first was “who am I?” The second was “what the hell am I doing?” And the thir…

Dr. Lisa Petty calls herself a “midlife alchemist,” who helps women navigate the big questions of midlife after arriving there with a sense of panic and uncertainty about her own identity and purpose…

Paula Conroy is an ex-banker turned entrepreneur who uses the ancient Indigenous wisdom of traditional Rites of Passage to help people make their way through the transitions we face at different poin…

For Sascha Siegmund, the month before his 40th birthday was a whirlwind of rapid change, from leaving a safe, stable job in finance with no plan to next steps, to a 10-day Buddhist silent retreat. Af…

Paul Padmore was made redundant from his position at a startup in London in his early 40s, which led to feelings of embarrassment, shame and failure that he harbored for a long time. Ultimately, he r…