When a business is on the line in a divorce, the financial stakes can be staggering - and most people don't realize how much they don't know. Whether you’re a business owner trying to protect your business in divorce, or a non-owner trying to value your spouse’s business, understanding the rules of business valuation is critical.

Nicole Sodoma, a nationally recognized family law attorney and founder of one of the largest family law firms in the Carolinas, breaks down how business valuation works in divorce proceedings and why both spouses are often operating with blind spots that can cost them dearly.

From the quiet strategies used to undervalue a business to the surprising ways lifestyle clues can tell a truer financial story than a tax return, there's far more to uncovering what a business is actually worth than most people expect.

As a business owner who has navigated divorce herself, Nicole understands and explains how business owners often minimize what their company is worth, while the non-owner spouse may have no idea what questions to ask or what information to look for to dispute that value.

Nicole also explores the emotionally exhausting stretch between separation and final divorce, especially for entrepreneurs and business owners who are trying to keep a company running while their personal life is unraveling. She highlights the “divorce fog” that can cloud judgment, the risks of making decisions too fast, and the importance of building a strong team before problems spiral.

If you or someone you know owns a business and is going through a divorce, this podcast episode can make the difference between navigating through it with financial stability versus allowing your divorce to drive you to the edge of a financial cliff.

About Nicole

Nicole Sodoma is a nationally recognized family law attorney, author and thought leader redefining divorce, co-parenting and modern family dynamics. She is the founder and managing principal of Sodoma Law, the largest family law firm in North and South Carolina. A former litigator, certified parenting coordinator and collaborative law attorney, Nicole draws on her own lived experience as a step-parent, mother, ex-wife and entrepreneur to provide personalized strategies and tools for families navigating complex transitions. She is the author of Please Don’t Say You’re Sorry, which helps readers navigate the challenges of marriage and divorce with insight, humor and practical tools to move forward. Nicole is also the founder of the Sodoma Law Foundation and has been featured in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Business Insider.

Connect with Nicole

You can connect with Nicole on LinkedIn at Sodoma Law and on Facebook at Sodoma Law. You can follow Nicole on YouTube at Sodoma Law and on Instagram at The Sodoma Way. To learn more about working with Nicole, visit her website at Sodoma Law.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

What if the most painful experience of your life could actually become the doorway to discovering who you really are? Lisa Lisser, a certified divorce coach and retired attorney who navigated the painful ending of her own 24-year marriage, shares a refreshingly grounded perspective on how to find the spiritual gift in divorce.

As Lisa explains, divorce disrupts your identity, your nervous system, and the story you’ve told yourself for years about who you are. But with the proper perspective, mindset and a few practical tools, you can turn that disruption into a transformation

In this episode Lisa introduces the concept of "strategic empathy," a practical tool rooted in neuroscience for dealing with even the most difficult, high-conflict, co-parenting situations.

From tiny gratitude practices to mindset shifts that rewire how you see yourself, Lisa offers surprisingly simple, stackable steps that can pull you out of the darkest moments of divorce. Her approach opens the door to a different kind of transformation - one where divorce becomes not just something you survive, but something that can fundamentally change how you see yourself and your future.

If you've ever felt like you've lost yourself in the divorce process, this conversation might just change how you think about what's possible on the other side.

About Lisa

Lisa Z. Lisser is a Certified Divorce Coach®, BeH2O® Child-Centered Coparenting Coach, and founder of LZL Coaching, where she integrates strategy with soul-centered transformation. A retired attorney with a master’s degree in Jewish education and more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership, Lisa brings a rare combination of legal insight, lived experience, and spiritual grounding to the divorce process. After navigating her own divorce, she recognized that beyond legal decisions, divorce is a profound identity shift — one that calls for clarity of values, courage, and conscious intention.

Lisa helps clients slow down the emotional noise, reconnect to their deeper “why,” and build strategies rooted in who they are becoming. She believes that when divorce is approached as both a practical and spiritual transition, it becomes not just survivable — but transformative.

Connect with Lisa

You can connect with Lisa on LinkedIn at Lisa Z. Lisser and on Facebook at LZL Coaching. You can follow Lisa on Instagram at Divorce Coach Lisa and on YouTube at The Divorce Clarity Studio with Lisa Lisser. To learn more about working with Lisa visit her website at LZL Coaching.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

What if the secret to getting through one of life's hardest chapters isn't therapy, legal advice, or even time - but simply putting on your sneakers? Fitness instructor and cancer exercise specialist Carly Fauth joins the Off the Fence podcast to make a compelling case for movement as medicine, not just for the body, but for the mind and emotions, too. As a triple-negative breast cancer survivor who kept teaching and working out through chemotherapy, Carly brings hard-won, personal credibility to everything she shares about using exercise to manage divorce stress.

Carly unpacks the connection between physical stress and emotional turmoil in a way that’s practical, relatable, and (most importantly) DO-ABLE. Her advice resonates whether you're navigating a divorce, a diagnosis, or just a season of life that's knocked you flat.

Carly explains why stress tanks your motivation to move right when movement matters most, and how even small, consistent actions can shift your brain chemistry and help you feel more in control. We talk about Carly's 15-minute fitness method, the principle of habit stacking, and the one thing Carly believes everyone needs before they can sustain any healthy habit long-term. (Spoiler Alert: it has nothing to do with willpower.)

This conversation connects movement, mindset, and personal resilience in a way that challenges common excuses and invites a fresh perspective on what it really means to take care of yourself when life gets hard.

About Carly

Carly Fauth is a fitness instructor, mentor, and cancer exercise specialist with over 15 years of experience helping people build strength, resilience, and confidence through movement that fits their real lives. As the founder of Fit in Fitness and FitFunCarly, she creates accessible programs—from one-on-one coaching to group experiences—that help people reconnect with their bodies and feel empowered through intentional, joy-filled movement. A triple-negative breast cancer survivor, Carly continued teaching and exercising throughout chemotherapy and surgery, and now supports cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers in staying active through treatment and beyond. Her mission is to show that movement isn’t just exercise—it can be medicine, empowerment, and joy, even in just 15 minutes a day.

Connect with Carly

You can connect with Carly on LinkedIn at Carly Fauth and on Facebook at Fit Fun Carly. You can follow Carly on YouTube at Fit Fun Carly and Instagram at Fit Fun Carly. To learn more about working with Carly, visit her website at Fit Fun Carly.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

If you're going through a divorce, there's a financial landmine hiding in plain sight that most people don't even think to check … and it could cost you years of headaches after your divorce is over. In this podcast episode, consumer protection attorney Jim Smith explains how credit reports actually work, why errors happen more often than people think, and how consumers can spot credit mistakes during their divorce before they cause serious financial damage afterward.

Jim explains how common credit mistakes, from identity theft to identity confusion and mis-reported credit information, can quietly wreak havoc on your credit score. He also walks through the specific red flags you should look for when reviewing your own report. He also reveals the one legitimate website where you can pull all three of your credit reports completely free, and how to tell the difference between a soft and hard inquiry.

Jim also talks about the divorce-specific scenarios that most people (and even many divorce attorneys!) never even think about. From joint credit cards to authorized user accounts, Jim outlines the surprisingly easy steps that, if taken during the divorce process, could save you from a financial nightmare on the other side.

About Jim

Jim Smith is a consumer protection attorney with over 20 years of experience litigating under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. He specializes in reviewing credit reports during divorce to help clients identify errors, identity theft, and joint account issues that could impact their financial future post-divorce.

Connect with Jim

You can connect with Jim on LinkedIn at James Smith. To learn more about working with Jim, visit his website at Fair Credit Attorneys.

Free Annual Credit Report

You can get your free annual credit report at annualcreditreport.com.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

Divorce isn’t just painful. It’s full of hidden divorce mistakes that can quietly derail your future if you don’t see them coming.

After interviewing over 170 divorce experts and real people who've been through the divorce process, the Off the Fence podcast team has distilled three years' worth of podcast conversations into the five most expensive mistakes divorcing people make so that YOU can avoid making them yourself.

This episode opens by examining the patterns that kept showing up across all different experts (lawyers, mediators, therapists, financial professionals, coaches, and people who have lived through the process themselves) over the past three years. You’ll discover common themes, hard-won wisdom, and practical tools you can use in your own life.

What makes this episode especially useful is the way it moves from big-picture awareness to practical application. It doesn’t just name common divorce mistakes; it explains why people make them and how those mistakes play out in real life

You’ll get links to the specific experts and topics you want to explore, from decision-making to divorce process choices, financial preparation, high-conflict dynamics, and emotional regulation.

This episode functions like a mini divorce roadmap. It will help you slow down, see the divorce process more strategically, and recognize that better outcomes usually come from better preparation, better self-awareness, and better choices made early.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

Most couples don’t fall apart because they don’t love each other. They fall apart because they don’t understand the patterns quietly running their relationship. In this podcast episode, Psychotherapist and relationship coach Christie Bemis reveals why traditional marriage counseling often fails ... and what actually works to create lasting change in struggling marriages.

With over 20 years of experience and a fresh approach called Relational Life Therapy, Christie explains how the coping mechanisms that protected us in childhood often sabotage our adult relationships.

Instead of treating both partners as "the problem," Christie focuses on the dysfunctional pattern they've created together. This one small shift changes everything, because when you’re focused on your own behavior, you can change the pattern and dynamic of your entire relationship even if your partner doesn’t change.

Christie also dives deeply into themes like emotional attunement, boundaries, intimacy, and why communication tools alone rarely fix relationship disconnection.

If your marriage is struggling and traditional marriage counseling just hasn’t worked, this podcast episode can open the door to a whole new approach that just might save your marriage.

About Christie

Christie Bemis is a psychotherapist, sex educator, and relationship coach with over 20 years of experience helping people deepen intimacy and connection. She’s the founder of Hot Pink YOUniversity, host of the Ignite Your Life podcast, and author of multiple offerings that empower people to reignite passion and prioritize love.

Connect with Christie

You can connect with Christie on LinkedIn at Christie Bemis and on Facebook at Hot Pink You. You can follow Christie on Instagram at Christie Bemis and on YouTube at Hot Pink YOUniversity. To learn more about working with Christie, visit her website at Christie Bemis.

Special Offer

Curious about the health of your relationship? Christie is offering the SPARCS Assessment for couples on her website. In less than 10 minutes, this online tool evaluates all six areas of partnership — helping you celebrate your strengths and pinpoint the areas that could use a little more love and support.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

Divorce doesn't come with an instruction manual … but what if it could? When veteran celebrity journalist Ilyssa Panitz filed for divorce in 2018, she searched desperately for someone who could translate the confusing legal jargon and overwhelming process into plain English, but that "divorce correspondent" didn't exist. So as her long-running divorce dragged on, Ilyssa became the resource she wished she'd had all along.

In 2020 Ilyssa launched a nationally syndicated radio show, streaming TV series, and website dedicated to demystifying every aspect of divorce. From the shocking cost of legal retainers to why fighting over the family home might be the worst financial decision you'll make, Ilyssa breaks down the critical mistakes people make when they're too emotional to think straight.

She explains why your legal team is just one piece of a much larger puzzle and how to analyze decisions in a common-sense way that will keep the drama (and your legal fees!) down.

Whether you're considering divorce, in the middle of one, or trying to rebuild after, Ilyssa’s hard-won wisdom offers a roadmap through the chaos. She tackles everything from hidden liens on your house to what happens to kids when parents vent publicly about their divorce.

Ilyssa wraps up with a message of hope: that with the right preparation and the right team, you can emerge from divorce not broken, but empowered.

(And yes, we talk about celebrity divorce, too!)

About Ilyssa

Veteran journalist Ilyssa Panitz is a trailblazer - one of the world's foremost journalists about divorce and a highly accomplished entertainment news reporter, producer, and editor for more than 25+ years. Ilyssa began writing about divorce for Authority Magazine in 2020. Her work with the publication led Ilyssa to launch a website and radio show tackling every issue and angle surrounding all stages of divorce. Her nationally syndicated show "The Divorce Hour with Ilyssa Panitz" airs every Saturday and Sunday on CRN Digital Talk Radio Network and streams on 14 platforms including Spotify, Amazon, iTunes, Apple, and all podcast platforms. In 2024, Ilyssa debuted her new streaming television series "Ways Thru Divorce" on Your Home TV, a free on-demand streaming platform. Throughout her career, Ilyssa's important connections in the world of entertainment, sports, and business have made her a go-to writer for A-list talents like Tom Hanks, John Travolta, Dolly Parton, Oprah, Jane Fonda, Will Smith, Venus Williams, Meryl Streep, Jay Leno and more. Ilyssa is one of the most well-rounded journalists in the industry today.

Connect with Ilyssa

You can follow Ilyssa on Instagram, X and TikTok @ilyssapanitz and get exclusive content from The Divorce Hour and Ways Thru Divorce on Instagram @thedivorcehour and @waysthrudivorce. To learn more about working with Ilyssa, visit her website at Ilyssa Panitz.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.

Divorce can feel like an emotional freefall, especially because you don’t know what to expect or when the pain will stop. That’s precisely the problem that Oona Metz has set out to end in her book on divorce grief, entitled Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women.

As a licensed clinical social worker with decades of experience, Oona shares how her own divorce led her to create structured, therapist-led divorce support groups for women who desperately needed reassurance, guidance, and a sense that they weren’t alone. Through that work, Oona has identified five distinct phases of divorce grief that everyone who experiences a divorce will go through.

Like Elisabeth Kubler Ross’ five stages of grief, Oona’s five phases of divorce grief provide structure to what otherwise seems to be a chaotic experience. Identifying and understanding those phases of grief provide those navigating divorce with a roadmap through one of life's most disorienting experiences

In this podcast episode, Oona walks through how heartbreak, emotional ups and downs, healing, letting go, and moving forward actually show up in real life. She also offers practical insight into boundaries, high-conflict co-parenting, and dating after divorce, all with a focus on helping women regain clarity, confidence, and a sense of self.

If you or someone you love is navigating the choppy waters of divorce grief, this podcast episode will provide you with the structure and support you need to get through your challenges with more confidence and grace.

About Oona

Oona Metz is the author of Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women. She is a therapist with 30 years of clinical experience. For the past 15 years she has specialized in treating women navigating divorce. She leads three weekly divorce support groups and trains mental health professionals to lead them as well.

Connect with Oona

You can connect with Oona on LinkedIn at Oona Metz and on Facebook at Women Navigating Divorce. You can follow Oona on YouTube at Oona Metz and on Instagram at Oona Metz. To learn more about working with Oona, visit her website at Oona Metz.

New from Oona

Oona’s new book is what you need to support you through the emotional side of divorce. Order your copy now! Unhitched: The Essential Divorce Guide for Women.

Karen Covy is a Divorce Coach and Consultant, Lawyer, Author, and Speaker who is dedicated to helping people make the best decisions possible for themselves, their families, and their future - especially in stressful times. You can check out Karen's videos on YouTube.

You can connect with Karen on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and on her own website at karencovy.com.