Straight Talk for a Curvy World®
by Ann Peck
Straight Talk for a Curvy World is a podcast about life after 40 and the challenges women face. Host Ann Peck, talks to women (and a few men) some you've never heard of - and some you have… about the things we don't talk about… the things we keep inside because we feel ashamed, confused or fear we'll be judged. These conversations cover the messy stuff, like grief, death, divorce & hormones. Losing the money, losing our minds, losing ourselves… we talk about sex, dating and starting over… the second half of life, building a business, pursuing a passion and following a dream… and we talk about love.
Episodes
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Mental Health, Anxiety, Self-Harm and More
A single act doesn't define us, nor does a moment in time. When we feel weak or powerless, we search internally for the one version of ourselves that we think will best cope with the situation we are faced with. If our history includes anxiety, anger, or apprehension, we are basically like a box…
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Aging Women Learn About Physical and Emotional Limits
*Consider who may be listening with you. This episode contains fun stuff that only adults should hear. A Special Passage for Monica From The Call - Sometimes, it comes as a soft-bellied whisper. Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency, but it always says, "Wake up, my love. You are walking asleep;...
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Accepting Ourselves Without Judgement
In this Best of Straight Talk for a Curvy World® episode, I talk about my book. Smiling on the Outside: Secrets, Sex, Shame, and the Search for Self-Love became a #1 Best-selling book upon release and continues to show up in the top ten even today. It also won SIX national and international book...
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Grief, Anxiety and Moving Through Time
Lucky is how Mo Hannah describes herself. And when you consider the profound impacts she has withstood, you can agree that Mo Hannah is indeed lucky. Mo was destined to have found the Battered Mothers Custody Conference. Her personal life gave her reason, and her humanity gave her purpose. Ann…
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The Journey of Caregiving Our Aging Parents
Caring for our parents can be one of the greatest gifts in life and one of our greatest hardships. You can never quite prepare yourself for the physical and emotional changes on the way. It is a challenging time that requires us to be many things to many people. We are the lucky ones spending as...
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A Conversation About Mental Illness
Most of us believe medicines will heal our illnesses. We do not expect a drug to exacerbate our problems, so when one does, it's difficult to know it is at the root of the problem. Karen shares with us how Prozac caused a mania that led her down the dark hallways of depression, suicidal thoughts,...
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Jordan Harbinger Talks About How Men Deal With Grief
Detaching yourself from grief shortly after a loss is a reliable way to ensure you prolong its influence. Frequently, additional losses compound the suffering and may cause other behaviors which eventually take their toll on your well-being. And even though most of us have difficulty handling...
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Anxiety & Starting Over in Your 40s
We don't always plan on being pushed in the right direction, and more often than not, it takes us by surprise, especially when we are in our 40s. It usually happens when we take a deep breath and martyr our lives for those we care about. In Ellen's case, her push came right after she bought her...
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Building a Better Relationship with Yourself
Many of us are just finding ourselves again in our 40s. Our relationships up until this point have been with people with which we share similar emotional attributes. We may try to recreate our family of origin because it is a familiar place. When we learn to stop living through other people, we...
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Introducing the Best of Straight Talk for a Curvy World®
Welcome to a new season as we introduce the Best of Straight Talk for a Curvy World® podcast series. This "best of" series features some of your favorite Straight Talk for a Curvy World® podcast episodes. Over the coming days and weeks, you'll have an opportunity to get reacquainted with our...
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Discussing The Controversy Of Bioidentical Hormones With Kelli Jaecks | STCW 058
Kelli Jaecks has been speaking nationally and internationally for ten years and is wrapping up work on her book Martinis and Menopause (out later this year). We're discussing bioidentical hormones to help unshroud some of the controversy you may have heard about them. To start off, bioidenticals...
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EP057: Accepting Ourselves, How We Are, Without Judgment with Christine Khetarpal
My guest on today's podcast is the Certified Life Coach at Emerge Now Coaching. Christine Khetarpal helps women who are contemplating divorce make clear, confident choices. Christine learned the hard way, filing for divorce four times before making the final commitment. She offers all of the...
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EP056: Creating a Better Body Image
Welcome home, everyone. I am so happy to be back with you on the Straight Talk for a Curvy World podcast. My break was just a little longer than I had anticipated, but I took the time to line up some amazing guests for upcoming episodes. Today, Elaine Turso is here to tell us about her boudoir...
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EP055: Important Conversations Should Be Heard Again
Thank you all so much for the anniversary messages you sent me to celebrate this podcast's one-year milestone last week. When you send in messages and share your stories with me, it validates that we are achieving our goals with this podcast. I know we are making a difference in each other's…
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EP054: Not Everyone is Ready to Write Their Story
Today's episode marks the one year anniversary of my Straight Talk for a Curvy World podcast. I truly believe in the work we are doing here on the show and all of your generous feedback lets me know you believe in it too. To help me celebrate this milestone, I am speaking today with an amazing...
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EP053: Life Asked Her to Step Up – Part 2
I continue my conversation with Carol Egan from last episode, where we discovered how a girl who dropped out of high school to raise her son, made it a priority to get her life and health in order. In this episode, we discuss her entrepreneurship, what happened after she got her college degree…
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EP052: Life Asked Her to Step Up – Part 1
Today my conversation is with Carol Egan. Carol and I met online in a mastermind club. When she shared her story with me, I instantly thought of how courageous she was. It reminded me of the quote "Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you?" by Elizabeth...
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EP051: The Difference Between Fantasy and Reality
* This conversation involves sex talk, please be aware of who may be listening in with you. My sister friends Charlie, Leigh and Felicia are back together again for an episode on Pornography. The four of us openly admit to having watched porn and for most of us, it is something best shared with a...
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EP050: Accomplishments and Milestones
My book title needs amending. My book coach and some very good, honest friends told me the title I previously had simply didn't fit. I resisted and held onto the title for a long time, because I was emotionally attached to it. But, I am currently in the process of discovering a new title. HuffPo...
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EP049: Betrayal, Trust and Forgiveness
My guest today, Penny Isaac Nelson, speaks candidly about an affair she had with an older, married man when she was in her 30's. Now 52, she has been happily married for 10-years, volunteers for the church ministry and creates a video series, Focus Forward, which assists women in finding a...
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EP048: Knowledge: Carnal and Conditional
* This podcast is a conversation between adults, please be aware of who may be listening in with you. My friends Charlie, Felicia and Leigh are joining me once again to share intimate details about their sexual preferences and experiences. Today's honest conversation includes a follow up from…
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EP047: Love Yourself Through Your Challenges
As many of you know, I have been planning my book launch, birthday party, and a spectacular Straight Talk for a Curvy World Live event. I decided that on my 50th birthday, I would celebrate the beginning of the second half of my life by sharing the first part of my life in a series of stories and...
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EP046: Raw Feelings Put on A Page Can Heal You
In 2015, on a street in London, Sheree Angela Matthews was listening to a podcast. The podcast just happened to be my conversation with Shannon Crotty, founder of Polka Dot Powerhouse. Sheree started crying while listening and decided to reach out. I am so pleased she did. Her journey, which she...
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EP045: When We Believe We Don't Matter, We Start Acting Like We Don't Matter
As the date of my book launch gets closer, I find myself going through a lot of emotions. I've put myself and my stories out there for everyone to see. It makes me appreciate my guests who have come on this podcast and shared their very personal stories with us, even more so. I didn't think that...
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EP044: I Am More Than Enough is an Inspirational, Transformational Self-Help Book
Today, I graciously hand the controls and my microphone over to my dear friend Nicole Fende. Nicole has promised to be gentle with me and since she has started her own podcast I decided to sit underneath her verbal microscope and field some questions about my new book and live event. A Book Baby…
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EP043: Straight Talk for a Curvy World Live: An Affair with Joy - My Vision of a Sisterhood Realized
This is a place for women to share their secrets, share their stories, and share their shame completely free of judgment. In this safe place, you will be embraced only with love, acceptance, and validation. A Sisterhood of Sharing Remembering my Grandmother, Elsie, on the day of her birth reminds...
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EP042: You Really Can't Do It Wrong But You Can Make It Better
*This is an adult conversation so please be aware of who may be listening in with you. Recording this episode was so much fun. My guests are three of my closest friends, Felicia, Charlie, and Leigh. We sat down in my living room, the day after the summer solstice, to discuss blowjobs while…
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EP041: When the Unimaginable Happens
*This is an adult conversation so please be aware of who may be listening with you. My guest Barbara, who will soon be turning 50, is a mother with five kids at home and is currently going through her second divorce. She and her ex-husband have just finished the paperwork after going through the...
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EP040: Learning How to FLY (First Love Yourself)
*This is an adult conversation so please be aware of who may be listening with you. A Special Passage for Lisa "I am worthy. You were born worthy. You don't have to do anything to make yourself worthy. You are a superhero born into this world and being you is all you need to do. Express yourself...
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EP039: Your Brain Can Not Tell the Difference Between a Stored Memory and an Implanted Memory
My guest, Theresa Vigarino is a transformational certified life coach, a spiritual teacher, author and professional speaker. Theresa's work includes changing thought patterns through neuroscience. She is truly the epitome of joy, as you can hear by our conversation today. Her coaching programs…
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EP038: Don't Think of Me as That Poor Girl
*This is an adult conversation feel free to share but only after listening to it first, please. You Have Got to Be Kidney'n Me Katrina Clayton has had a variety of different jobs, and while it seems natural for a native Southern Californian to have actress and waitress listed on her bio, she also...
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EP037: Daring Your Heart, Baring Your Soul and Sharing Your Music
Lowry Olafson is a multi-faceted human being. He is a songwriter, a performer, a husband, a lover, a father, a friend, an inspiration and a professional speaker who incorporates his music into his keynotes. During today's podcast, he shares his music, his message, and his secrets. His Songs and...
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EP036: Depression is Just Your Brain Getting Really Messed Up
A Special Passage for Karen "My life is not perfect, nor is it close to being perfect. I am not perfect. I am, in fact, a bundle of imperfections. I wish - sometimes I wish with all my heart - that I could correct these imperfections; that I knew what causes my behaviors, what sets up my…
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EP035: Understanding Your Physical and Emotional Limits
*Consider who may be listening with you this episode contains fun stuff that only adults should hear. A Special Passage for Monica From The Call - Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper. Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency, but it always says, "Wake up my love. You are walking asleep,...
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EP034: Normal for You is Not Necessarily What is Normal for Me
A Special Passage "To discover who she is, a woman must descend into her own depths. She must leave the safe role of remaining a faithful daughter of the collectives around her and descend to her individual feeling values. It will be her task to experience her pain. The pain of her own unique...
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EP033: All You Need is Love...and the Proper Documents
*This conversation may include opinions of family law but it should not be considered legal advice. Special Passages "Happiness comes more from loving than being loved, and often when our affection seems wounded it is only our vanity bleeding. To love, and to be hurt often, and to love again —…
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EP032: The Shattered Glass Silver Lining
*This conversation includes adult language so be aware of who might be listening in with you. A Special Passage for Nicole Art is a spiritual transaction. Artists are visionaries. We routinely practice a form of faith, seeing clearly and moving toward a creative goal that shimmers in the distance…
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EP031: Unleashing Your Passion After 40
This episode gets raw and honest, so be aware of who might be listening in with you. A Special Quote for Jennifer “Don't lament so much about how your career is going to turn out. You don't have a career. You have a life. Do the work. Keep the faith. Be true blue. You are a writer because you...
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EP030: A Script is a Story with a Predetermined Ending, Real Life Doesn't Recognize That
This episode contains inspiration and proof of how we can all get to our fulfilled place. Believing we are not destined to live the script someone else wrote for us, is empowering. A Special Quote for Cathy When the pressure is on and you are all alone take a little ride into the Danger Zone.…
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EP029: Just Because You Are a Smart Woman It Doesn't Mean You Are Immune to Scams of the Heart
A Special Quote for Theresa Boundaries emerge from deep within. They are connected to letting go of guilt and shame, and to changing our beliefs about what we deserve. As our thinking about this becomes clearer, so will our boundaries. Boundaries are also connected to a Higher Timing than our…
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EP028: Basking in His Guidance, Encouragement and Love
This is a special solo episode, which is being released on the one year anniversary of my father’s death. The focus of this episode is the inspirational messages my father passed on to me. I am passing these to you as a gift, so that we may all bask in his guidance and love. Special Messages from...
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EP027: Transmitting a Thought from Your Heart
A Special Quote for Bob (from Bob) O Birther! Father- Mother of the Cosmos Focus your light within us - make it useful. Create your reign of unity now- through our fiery hearts and willing hands Help us love beyond our ideals and sprout acts of compassion for all creatures. Animate the earth…
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EP026: The Curvy Areas of Life Show More than They Hide
A Special Quote for Rick “Embody what you teach and teach only what you have embodied.” - The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman Acknowledging the Truth Rick Clemons had the guts to tell his parents he was gay while he was in his teens. Whether due to a lack of understanding or social...
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EP025: Dr. Theo Tsaousides – Part 2
A Special Quote from Dr. Theo Start with the simplest thing which is a respect, an appreciation, and love for yourself. Start with that. Worry Holds Us Back When it comes to sex, people generally worry about everything from being comfortable in our bodies to how many partners we have had. We...
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EP024: Author's Corner – Dr. Theo Tsaousides
A Special Passage for Dr. Theo From Brain Blocks: Overcoming the 7 Hidden Barriers to Success - “There is nothing more miserable than constantly living in fear. Challenges are perceived as threats. At the slightest deviation from the safe and familiar, alarms go off and hair stands on end. The...
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EP023: Survival by Whatever Means Necessary
*Take note - This conversation contains a personal medical journey and its content is not meant to be taken as medical advice. A Special Passage for Sharon From Jonathan Livingston Seagull: “Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitation. Look with your understanding,...
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EP022: A Valentine's Day Wedding
Close your eyes and picture this... A tropical beach in the Caribbean, on the island of Bonaire. It’s Valentine’s Day. The man of your dreams is standing next to you. He is looking into your eyes and promising his heart and body belong to you and only you until he breathes his last breath. Sounds...
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EP021: The Art of Capturing Your Story Before It Is Lost Forever
A Special Passage for Renee “Deep in the wintry parts of our minds we are hardly stock and know there is no such thing as work-free transformation. We know that we will have to burn to the ground in one way or another and then sit right in the ashes of who we once thought we were and go from...
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EP020: Understanding Your Physical and Emotional Limits
*Consider who may be listening with you. This episode contains fun stuff that only adults should hear. A Special Passage for Monica From The Call - Sometimes it comes as a soft-bellied whisper. Sometimes it holds an edge of urgency, but it always says, “Wake up my love. You are walking asleep,...
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EP019: Don't Let Your Dreams Die Inside You
This is episode celebrates a very special anniversary. Two years ago today my mother took her last breath. She had been in hospice care for some time and was living in a hospice facility. I struggled internally with visiting her because I was having a hard timing dealing with what I was feeling -...
About this show
Straight Talk for a Curvy World is a podcast about life after 40 and the challenges women face. Host Ann Peck, talks to women (and a few men) some you've never heard of - and some you have… about the things we don't talk about… the things we keep inside because we feel ashamed, confused or fear we'll be judged. These conversations cover the messy stuff, like grief, death, divorce & hormones. Losing the money, losing our minds, losing ourselves… we talk about sex, dating and starting over… the second half of life, building a business, pursuing a passion and following a dream… and we talk about love.
Hosted by
Ann Peck