In this episode, Victoria Payne chats with her long-time friend Angie Parker Yoakum, a life coach and first-time author, who's hitting the big 5-0. They dive into how milestone birthdays are perfect times for a bit of self-reflection and personal growth. Angie opens up about her own journey of figuring herself out and how crucial it is to really know yourself to craft the life and relationships you're after. She gives us a sneak peek into her book, "Before You Say I Do: Questions Every Person Should Ask," which is all about asking the tough questions about past experiences, values, and future dreams, both for you and your partner. Angie's big on knowing your worth and not settling for less in relationships. She also opens up about how her family background shaped her views on love and relationships. All in all, it's a heart-to-heart on why knowing yourself inside out is key to a fulfilling and meaningful life. A big thanks to Angie Parker Yoakum! Look for her book : Before You Say I Do: Questions Every Person Should Ask...out soon on Amazon. And thank you to Seth Parson for his music. This episode features his track "The Sun is Out." Show transcript below: Speaker 1 (00:01): Big birthdays, we approach them with some trepidation, dread, maybe excitement. But what if you could use the runway to 50 or 60 or 70 or 40 as a way to know yourself better? Because we can't have the life or relationships we want if we haven't done the work to know ourselves and become the person of our dreams. Yep, I said it. You are who you've been waiting for. (00:36): We've all got them. People who change our lives, people we can grow with, and if we're lucky people we can grow old with. And speaking of getting old or what my 78-year-old father likes to call getting older, I am so glad you tuned into today's conversation because I'm going to introduce you to one of the wisest and most interesting women you are bound to meet. And she just so happens to be one of my oldest friends. And I promise you, if you ever find yourself in the same room with Angie Parker Yoakum, you're going to have a meaningful conversation. You'll leave their thinking about your answers and likely inspired to dig a little deeper. If you're new to the Naked Librarian, welcome. I'm Victoria Payne, a writer, storyteller, recovering English professor and total health nerd, and also your host. I created The Naked Librarian because I wanted more honest conversation about women's health and happiness. (01:34): It's my hope that the show gives you practical tips and food for thought because in my ever expanding Girlfriend Circle, I know one thing for sure. We are all in it together. So let me tell you more about Angie Parker Yoakum. She is a life coach, first time author, mom to a beautiful teenage daughter and an all-star human being that you're going to fall in love with. In this episode that I've entitled Route 50, we dive into the mindful journey of turning 50 in a modern age. Because let's face it, ladies, it's both a personal milestone and potentially a meltdown. Your body, brain, hormones, life, job, relationships, everything has aged. And it could be hard to take the good with the bad, but what if you could use your road to 50 or 60 or 70 or 40, maybe 30 as a way to know yourself better? (02:28): Because as do hear in our conversation, we can't have the life or relationships we want if we haven't done the work to know ourselves and become the person of our dreams. Yep, I said it. You are who you've been waiting for, and that's exactly what Angie and I talk about today. We dive into regret what we learned or didn't learn from our parents, parenting loss and what we would tell our 25-year-old self who has yet to embark on the journey and learn the wisdom that we now have for better or worse in our gosh dang back pocket. And we want to give it to you. Now, Angie's book is coming out soon, so this conversation is a bit of a preview and also listening in to two old friends talk about life and all they've learned along the way. And bonus, whenever you listen to this episode, I just want you to know that it airs on Angie's 50th birthday. How cool is that? So you are here celebrating it with us. So come with me and Angie as we put all this stuff together. We made this episode for you, Angie, do you remember how we met? Speaker 2 (03:39): So we were at UPS, we worked at UPS together, and Victoria was this young southern belle little tender. What were you like 19? Such a little peach. And we were really lucky in the whole hub of Swan Island, UPS to work in this little corner called the hazardous responder section, which they had one just on each, it was just two in the whole hub, if you know what I'm talking about. In UPS, just the warehouse. But there were two ends to where it was literally what, six of us and Victoria and I were two of the six. And we just bonded. We became friends and she learned about my little quirks of, what was it you made quiche? ...
