Chasing Brighter Podcast: Choosing Real Over Perfect
by Jessica Colarco and Kelly Fox
**2024 PODCAST OF THE YEAR WINNER: BEST FEMALE HOSTED PODCAST** Welcome to the Chasing Brighter podcast; created as a guide to make midlife your best life!Are you ready to embrace the next chapter of your life with confidence and excitement? Whether you’re looking to reinvent your career, improve your health, deepen your relationships, or find your true purpose, Chasing Brighter is here to help.Join us each week as we bring you inspiring stories, expert interviews, and actionable tips to help you navigate the challenges and opportunities of midlife. From wellness and personal growth to connection and beyond, we’ve got you covered.
Episodes
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Superwoman Diaries #9: Reading, Resilience & Raising Culture-Curious Kids
Superwoman Diaries: Reading, Resilience & Raising Culture-Curious Kids Chasing Brighter | Superwoman Diaries Kelly recently attended a Chicago Humanities Festival event featuring Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible and Demon Copperhead, on the tour for her new novel Partita. The...
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Building the Friendships You Want Now
Ep. 20: Building the Friendships You Want Now We've spent all of October talking about friendship: the ones that last, the ones that change, and the ones we outgrow. To close out the month, Jess and Kelly take on the question so many women quietly wonder about: how do you actually make new…
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Superwoman Diaries #8: Retreats, Rising Costs & the Lost Art of the Letter
Retreats, Rising Costs & the Lost Art of the Letter Jessica and Kelly kick off the week admitting they're running on fumes. Jessica blames perimenopause, post-trip fatigue, and those workouts where you show up but just don't care. That leads into a conversation about teen retreats, sticker shock,...
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Your Marriage Is a Friendship Too
Your Marriage Is a Friendship Too Chasing Brighter | Season 6: Becoming, Not Arriving When was the last time you got curious about your partner, the person they are right now, not the version you memorized years ago? After a month of talking about friendship, Jessica and Kelly turn to the...
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Superwoman Diaries #7: Disco Nights, Builder Gel & Finding the Causes That Move Us
Superwoman Diaries: Disco Nights, Builder Gel & Finding the Causes That Move Us It's October in Vegas and Jessica is still pretending it's cozy season in a blazer. In this Superwoman Diaries episode, the sisters catch up on the little luxuries and the big-hearted moments of the past few weeks....
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The Friend You're Not Sure About Anymore
Not every friendship ends with a falling-out. Some quietly drift. Some go on pause. Some still exist on paper, with birthday texts and the occasional "we should get together!", while the emotional closeness has faded. In this episode, Jessica and Kelly talk about friendship ambiguity: the...
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Superwoman Diaries #6: White Lies, Chicken Sandwiches & the College Search
Superwoman Diaries: White Lies, Chicken Sandwiches & the College Search Jess and Kelly catch up on life as moms of almost-grown and newly-grown kids. Jess shares the college "white lies party", her plan to feed a team of hungry college athletes from 2,000 miles away, and the surprisingly…
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When You Outgrow a Friendship (and That's Okay)
Here are the show notes, built from the episode audio. The timestamps are approximate, so give them a quick check against your final edit. Outgrown, Not Failed: When Friendships Fade Have you ever thought about a friend you used to be inseparable from and felt… nothing? Not bad, just not the…
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Super Woman Diaries #5: Fall Fashion Finds, TJ Maxx Jackpots & the Mystery of the Missing Mediums
Superwoman Diaries: Fall Fashion Finds, TJ Maxx Jackpots & the Mystery of the Missing Mediums It's officially fall, and Jessica and Kelly are talking wardrobes. After a school open house leaves Kelly second-guessing her go-to t-shirt-and-jeans look, the sisters swap stories about refreshing their...
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The Friendships That Found You
The Friendships That Found You Chasing Brighter | Season 6: Becoming, Not Arriving Some of the most important people in your life never came from a plan. They came from a park bench, a softball tryout, a Friday coffee table, or the spot next to you in a gym class. This month, Jessica and Kelly…
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Superwoman Diaries #4: Car Loop Chaos & the Case for Just Being a Good Human
Superwoman Diaries #4: Car Loop Chaos & the Case for Just Being a Good Human It's 99 degrees, school is back in session, and the drop-off line has become a test of character. In this Superwoman Diaries episode, Jessica and Kelly vent about morning traffic, dog walkers who don't know the school...
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Let's Get Honest: What We've Been Waiting to Begin
Let's Get Honest: What We've Been Waiting to Begin Chasing Brighter | Season 6: Becoming, Not Arriving | September 24 All September long, we've been talking about beginnings: self-sabotage, the stories we tell ourselves, and the "not yet" that keeps us stuck. To close out the month, Jessica and...
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Super Woman Diaries #3: Back to School: Then vs. Now (and Learning to Let Go)
Back to school looks nothing like it did when we were kids. Jessica and Kelly compare the back-to-school shopping of their childhoods (the planned outfits, the double socks, the once-a-year wardrobe refresh) with what it looks like now: uniforms, reused backpacks, digital textbooks, and teenagers...
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High Standards or Self-Sabotage: How to Tell the Difference
Do you have high standards, or are you sabotaging yourself and calling it perfectionism? This week Jessica and Kelly dig into the sneaky ways perfectionism disguises itself as a virtue — and why it can be one of the most sophisticated ways we keep ourselves safe. They unpack the real clinical...
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Super Woman Diaries #2: "2026 Is the New 2016" — Remembering Who We Were vs. Who We're Becoming
Jessica and Kelly dig into the viral "2026 is the new 2016" trend — the exercise of looking back a decade and asking who you were then, what you miss, and what you don't. The conversation quickly turns into a heart-to-heart about parenting through transitions: Kelly reflecting on missing her…
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The Credential Trap: Why We Keep Waiting to Feel Qualified
Last week we talked about "I'm not ready yet" as fear dressed up as logic. This week, Jessica and Kelly pull on that thread further to unpack the credential trap — the pattern of adding one more certification, one more year of experience, one more thing to point to before you'll let yourself…
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Super Woman Diaries #1: How ChatGPT Became My Personal Stylist
In this week's Superwoman Diaries, Jessica shares how she's been using ChatGPT as an unexpected style consultant on her weight loss journey. What started as a simple question — "how do I dress this changing body?" — turned into a full-blown "Jessica Style Playbook," complete with a closet audit,...
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The Lie of "I'm Not Ready Yet"
In this episode, they unpack why "I'm not ready yet" sounds responsible but is usually just fear in disguise, why readiness is a decision instead of a feeling, and how the question "Am I ready?" is a lot less useful than "Am I willing?" Jessica shares how she's built almost everything in her life…
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The Messy Middle: Chasing Brighter Season 6 Trailer
Last season, we dug into the gap between who women think they're supposed to be and who they actually are — the expectations, the perfectionism, the invisible rules about what a "good life" looks like. But figuring out who you are was never the finish line. Season 6 picks up where that left off:...
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What are you waiting to feel ready for?
So many of us are waiting for the moment we finally "arrive." When we lose the weight. When the kids need us less. When work calms down. When we're more organized, more confident, more together... then we'll be happy. Then we'll rest. But what if there isn't an arrival point? In this trailer,...
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Season 6: Becoming, Not Arriving
So many of us are waiting for the moment we finally "arrive." When we lose the weight. When the kids need us less. When work calms down. When we're more organized, more confident, more together... then we'll be happy. Then we'll rest. But what if there isn't an arrival point? In this trailer,...
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RE-RELEASE: Real Systems for Real Life
Ever bought a beautiful color-coded planner and abandoned it in 10 days? Jessica and Kelly get real about why aspirational, Instagram-perfect systems fail — and what actually works instead. This episode is about meeting yourself where you're at: building systems that are low-friction, flexible,...
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RE-RELEASE: The Exhaustion That Sleep Can't Fix
Kicking off their Energy and Overwhelm month, Jessica and Kelly get honest about a kind of tired that sleep cannot touch — the exhaustion that lives underneath an otherwise good, full life. Jessica opens up about six years of intentional self-work — therapy, fitness, nutrition, a 40-pound weight...
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RE-RELEASE: Energy First: The Smarter Way to Organize Your Life
Social media makes organizing look like color-coded bins and perfectly labeled pantries, but Jessica and Kelly get honest about why a one-size-fits-all system rarely works. In this re-released episode, they dig into what it looks like to build your life around your actual energy instead of a list...
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RE-RELEASE: Reset Your Nervous System (Without Reinventing Your Life)
February is all about resetting, resting, and reconnecting — and Jessica and Kelly start with the foundation of it all: the nervous system. If you've been feeling irritable, exhausted, numb, or like you're running on fumes, it's probably not a motivation problem, it's a regulation problem. This...
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RE-RELEASE: Reconnecting With Yourself Before You Reconnect With Everyone Else
In this re-released episode, Jessica and Kelly explore what it really means to feel disconnected — not from other people, but from yourself. Valentine's Day and February can amplify loneliness, comparison, and that quiet "am I behind somehow?" feeling, even for people who are partnered, busy, or...
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Super Woman Diaries #21: Home Runs, Hundred-Degree Heat, and Why We're Still Talking About The Crash
Jessica is back from a week at AFA Nationals in St. George watching Gabby's softball team battle through four games in 102-degree heat (and a home run!), while Kelly's son Wes had his own big weekend in Chicago — also with a home run of his own. The sisters dig into the realities of travel ball...
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What We Learned This Season — Our Season 5 Finale
It's officially a wrap on Season 5. In this finale, Jessica and Kelly look back at the whole arc of the season — from rest and reset in February, to choosing real over perfect in March, through exhaustion and invisible labor in April, identity and worthiness in May, and joy and presence in June....
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Super Woman Diaries #20: Lost AirPods, AI Decor Hacks, and Finding Joy in the Little Things
Kelly kicks things off with an epic (and hilarious) saga of a missing AirPod that turns a weekend getaway into a full-blown investigation — trash cans, lint traps, and all. From there, Jess and Kelly riff on how far audio tech has come, then dive into something they're both obsessed with lately:...
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Choosing Joy Is an Act of Courage
Joy isn't something that just happens when the circumstances are right — it's something you have to practice, protect, and sometimes fight for. In this episode, Jessica and Kelly unpack the real difference between happiness and joy, why so many women struggle to fully inhabit the good moments in...
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Super Woman Diareis #19: Our Summer Reading List (Light, Spicy, Twisty & Everything In Between)
It's officially summer reading season — and Kelly and Jess are giving you their full list. From spicy hockey romance to psychological thrillers, cozy small-town reads to historical fiction, there is genuinely something here for every kind of reader. Plus: why reading might be one of the most...
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Permission To Slow Down
It's June — and for so many of us, that means the pace finally starts to shift. But what happens when slowing down feels uncomfortable? When stillness makes your nervous system anxious instead of at ease? In this episode, Jessica and Kelly kick off June with an honest conversation about what it...
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Super Woman Diaries #18: Summer 2026 Fashion Trends — What to Try, What to Skip & What You're Already Living
June is officially joy month at Chasing Brighter — and what better way to kick it off than with one of our favorite subjects: fashion. In this Superwoman Diaries episode, Jessica and Kelly break down the summer 2026 fashion trends worth paying attention to, the ones you can skip, and the ones...
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Romanticizing Your Life
You've seen the aesthetic — the linen aprons, the cottagecore feeds, the slow-morning coffee rituals on Instagram. But what does romanticizing your life actually mean when real life is messy, busy, and full? In this episode, Jessica and Kelly strip the concept down to its honest core: noticing...
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Super Woman Diaries #17: Sleeping In, Sending Kids Off, and Letting Go of the Plan
Jessica and Kelly are back for another real-life check-in, and summer is officially on the horizon. In this episode, they get into all of it: the exhausting reality of trying to figure out what to do with your tween when camp is impossible to get into, the surprisingly calm approach Jessica is...
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Still Figuring It Out
No frameworks, no formulas — just two sisters getting real. In this May wrap-up episode, Jessica and Kelly close out the month by doing what they do best: being honest. They share the moments they slid back into old patterns (Jessica with achievement pressure, Kelly with people-pleasing), talk...
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Super Woman Diaries #16: Maycember, State Champs, and the Sports Money Grab
It's officially Maycember — that stretch of late May where schedules implode, school events multiply, and someone always ends up puking on your air mattress. Jess and Kelly are back for another Superwoman Diaries check-in, and this one covers it all: Dominic's history-making baseball state...
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Having It All Is A Myth
This week, Kelly and Jessica blow up the "having it all" story — where it came from, why it keeps getting a makeover, and what they actually think. From the career-and-family narratives of the 1980s to today's softer language of "intentional living" and "alignment," the pressure for women to…
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Super Woman Diaries #15: New Spaces, AI Tools, Take Your Kid to Work Day, and What's for Dinner?
This week, Jess and Kelly are keeping it real — catching up on new studio setups, a deep dive into AI tools (Claude vs. ChatGPT, anyone?), Take Your Child to Work Day, navigating loss while hosting family, and the eternal question: what's for dinner? It's a full-life conversation about the…
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You Are Worthy. Full Stop.
Where have you been looking for your worthiness? If the honest answer involves what you've achieved, who approves of you, or how well you've performed your roles — this episode is for you. Jessica and Kelly get personal about the conditional worth they each carried for years: the Pinterest mom…
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Super Woman Diaries #14: Dragon Fruit, Documentary Rabbit Holes & the "Who Created Sex?" Conversation
Grab your beverage of choice — because Jess has at least three of them. This week's Superwoman Diaries is peak real life: protein struggles and gut health deep dives, surviving food poisoning on the GLP-1, middle-of-the-night cortisol pushups, anxiety packing for a fifth grade field trip to Zion,...
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The Woman You Were vs. the Woman You're Becoming
Have you ever been introduced to someone — by a person who loves you — and realized the version of you they described doesn't exist anymore? That's where this episode begins. Jessica and Kelly get honest about the slow, quiet drift of identity: how it shifts in small decisions, in what you stop...
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Super Woman Diaries #13: Glowing Up & Letting Go: Skincare Secrets, Style Resets & Dressing for the Life You're In
Jessica and Kelly are in their glow-up era — and they're taking you with them. This week's Superwoman Diaries is a full-on deep dive into what's actually working for their skin (hint: Retin-A, Paula's Choice, and asking AI for a skincare routine), why they're both rethinking their wardrobes from...
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Are You Living Your Values or Someone Else's?
In this bonus episode, Jessica and Kelly tackle a topic that perfectly closes out April's theme of energy and capacity — values alignment. With five Thursdays in the month, the sisters decided to make good use of the extra week by walking through their free April download together: the two-part...
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Super Woman Diaries #12: Babies, Baseball & Body Wash: Real Talk on Parenting Then vs. Now
Jess and Kelly discuss what it would actually mean to start over with a baby at their stage of life — and why they're both firmly in the "no thank you" camp. They explore new research on postpartum hormones and the five-year timeline for hormonal homeostasis, and reflect on how that science...
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Hot Takes: What We Actually Think About Energy, Overwhelm & the Mental Load
No frameworks. No beats. Just Jessica and Kelly telling you what they actually think. In this month’s Hot Takes episode, the sisters close out April’s Energy & Overwhelm theme by going off-script and getting real about the mental load in relationships, the wellness industry’s complicated grip on...
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Super Woman Diaries #11: Blue Eyeshadow, Skin Tints & the Eye Color Discovery We Never Expected
Jessica and Kelly kick things off with a fun, unfiltered conversation about their latest makeup adventures — from blue eyeshadow experimentation to skin tints and primers they're currently loving. Jessica shares a hilarious Ulta makeover story that didn't quite land with her family, and Kelly…
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The Unpaid Job Nobody Talks About: Invisible Labor
This one is real. Before hitting record, Kelly shares something personal — her family is navigating health uncertainty with her father-in-law, and she's been quietly absorbing everything at home while her husband is pulled elsewhere. No ask for sympathy, just honesty. And it's exactly the kind of...
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Super Woman Diaries #10: Spring Vibes, Jelly Shoes & Trader Joe's Tote Chaos
No agenda, no framework — just Jess and Kelly doing what they do best: talking real life. This week it's all about what we're actually wearing this season (barrel jeans turned cutoffs, gold Birkenstocks, and a strong prediction for the summer's biggest shoe trend), how to stay warm and somewhat...
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You're Not Failing. You're Running Out of Capacity.
Have you ever looked at your week and thought, if I could just get more organized, I could handle all of this? In this episode, Jessica and Kelly get into a reframe that might be the most important mindset shift you make this month: the difference between a discipline problem and a capacity…
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About this show
**2024 PODCAST OF THE YEAR WINNER: BEST FEMALE HOSTED PODCAST** Welcome to the Chasing Brighter podcast; created as a guide to make midlife your best life!Are you ready to embrace the next chapter of your life with confidence and excitement? Whether you’re looking to reinvent your career, improve your health, deepen your relationships, or find your true purpose, Chasing Brighter is here to help.Join us each week as we bring you inspiring stories, expert interviews, and actionable tips to help you navigate the challenges and opportunities of midlife. From wellness and personal growth to connection and beyond, we’ve got you covered.
Hosted by
Jessica Colarco and Kelly Fox