What if grief isn’t something you have to beat, but something you learn to live alongside?

In this episode of Unstoppable Women, Julie Tague talks to Tetyana - an HR professional, coach and former rhythmic gymnast whose life changed when her husband died by suicide.

Tetyana shares what it meant to suddenly hold life together for her children, why trauma made change itself frightening and how she eventually learned to “partner with grief” rather than constantly fight it. She talks about rebuilding confidence, returning to movement through yoga and contemporary dance, finding love again and taking the first tentative steps towards building her own coaching business.

This is not simply a conversation about loss. It’s about what comes afterwards - and how grief, ambition, love and genuine joy can all exist in the same life.

About Julie Tague & Unstoppable by Design

Julie Tague is the founder of Unstoppable by Design and host of Unstoppable Women. After experiencing profound personal loss, rebuilding her life as a widowed mum and building a successful career in the public sector, Julie created Unstoppable by Design around one central belief:

No woman is as stuck as she thinks she is.

Julie works alongside women at turning points as a strategic partner and project manager for change - helping them make decisions, create momentum and turn intentions into meaningful action.

Every episode of Unstoppable Women shares the story of a woman who has navigated change, challenged expectations and found her own way forward.

🌐 www.unstoppablebydesign.co.uk

Content note: This episode contains candid discussion of suicide, bereavement and emotionally abusive relationships.

What happens when the life you've built isn't the life you imagined?

By our forties, many of us find ourselves asking quiet questions we'd never expected: Who am I now? Is this really what success looks like? Why does my life feel so different from the one I pictured?

In this episode, I sit down with leadership expert, facilitator and executive coach Jess Annison to explore the identity shift that so many women experience in midlife. Together we discuss the hidden grief of letting go of the life you thought you'd have, why we often measure ourselves against outdated expectations, and how we can redefine success for the woman we've become today.

Jess shares her own story of ambition, motherhood, career change and learning to stop seeing different as less. We explore gratitude, updating the stories we tell ourselves, and why asking "Who am I now?" might be one of the most important questions we ever answer.

If you've ever found yourself thinking:

• I thought my life would look different.
• I'm not where I expected to be.
• I'm ready for what's next but don't know where to begin.

...this conversation is for you.

🔥 About Unstoppable Women and Unstoppable By Design

I'm Julie Tague, founder of Unstoppable by Design.

After experiencing profound personal loss, rebuilding my life as a widowed mum, and creating a successful career in the public sector, I came to realise something that now underpins everything I do:

No woman is as stuck as she thinks she is.

I work alongside women at turning points to help them build what's next—step by step. Together we prioritise, make decisions, create momentum and manage the practical project of designing a new life. This isn't coaching; it's strategic partnership. I'm your project manager for change: helping you make the hard decisions, holding you to account and turning good intentions into meaningful action.

Unstoppable Women is the podcast from Unstoppable by Design, sharing real, honest stories from women navigating change, identity and growth—and redefining what it means to be unstoppable. Every episode tells the story of a woman who has navigated change, challenged expectations and rewritten her future—not because life was easy, but because she chose to keep moving.

If this episode resonates with you, I'd love you to subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

🌐 www.unstoppablebydesign.co.uk

For years, Franka van der Poll believed she was simply too much.

Too impulsive. Too emotional. Too restless. Too intense.

She spent decades chasing adventure, throwing herself into relationships, fitness and work, always searching for something she couldn't quite explain. Then everything changed. A routine foot operation left her with chronic pain. Isolation during the COVID lockdowns in Spain pushed her to breaking point.

It was only later, after receiving an ADHD diagnosis, that her life finally made sense.

Not because the diagnosis changed who she was.

Because it changed how she understood herself.

In this deeply honest conversation, Franka shares the extraordinary journey behind that realisation. We talk about childhood, grief, identity, chronic pain, perimenopause, resilience and the freedom that comes from finally understanding your own mind.

Along the way, we also laugh our way through the unbelievable stories behind her book, SWIPE Love - from disastrous online dates to the strange world of dating apps, and the moment she realised she'd become addicted to swiping rather than searching for love.

This episode is funny, emotional and full of hope.

• ADHD in women and why it is so often missed
• The hidden impact of chronic pain and depression
• Perimenopause and self-understanding
• Why diagnosis can be liberating rather than limiting
• Online dating, identity and finding humour in life's chaos
• What it really means to rebuild yourself

If you've ever wondered whether you were the problem, this conversation is for you.

Unstoppable Women is a podcast about reinvention.

Each episode features a woman who has faced one of life's defining moments - grief, illness, divorce, redundancy, burnout or a complete change in direction - and discovered that their greatest challenge became the catalyst for their next chapter.

These conversations are honest, practical and deeply human, reminding us that no woman is as stuck as she thinks she is.

I'm Julie, founder of Unstoppable by Design.

I help women at turning points stop waiting for confidence and start creating momentum. Through one-to-one partnerships, retreats, workshops and the Unstoppable Women community, I help women reconnect with who they are and take purposeful action towards what's next.

If Franka's story resonates with you, I'd love to help you write your own next chapter.

🌐 www.unstoppablebydesign.co.uk

If you enjoyed this episode, please follow the podcast, leave a rating and share it with someone who needs to hear that they were never broken either.