The Tracey Coates Show

If you’ve ever struggled with perfectionist or people-pleasing tendencies, this one’s for you. I’m sitting down with Margaret Ghielmetti to talk about her phenomenal book Brave(ish): A Memoir of a Recovering Perfectionist. Margaret Davis Ghielmetti is a writer, storyteller, solo performance artist, and photographer who wrote Brave(ish): A Memoir of a Recovering Perfectionist to inspire readers that it’s never too late to learn to live our own lives if we dare to let go of outdated roles and rules we thought kept us safe. She has lived on four continents with her Swiss husband. Her journeys inform her rallying cry ("The world is not my enemy!") and her creative work, including winning two StorySLAMs with The Moth. Margaret loves to entertain readers and listeners with her adventures (and mis-adventures) abroad and is passionate about sharing what other countries and cultures have taught her. Listen to the full episode to hear: Learn more about Margaret Ghielmetti: www.MargaretGhielmetti.com@MargaretGhielmetti@MargaretGhielmettiConnect with Margaret on LinkedIn@MargaretGhielm1Brave(ish): A Memoir of a Recovering PerfectionistLearn more about Tracey: TraceyCoates.comCoaching with Tracey Coates@iamtraceycoates

As a family law attorney, my clients are often juggling many balls in the air at any given time–their careers, their relationships, their kids, their family and friends, and if they’re lucky, a minute or two for themselves. They’re exhausted, burned out, and stressed. Not to mention that they’re going through the emotional roller coaster ride of a separation and divorce process. As a life coach, I have the privilege of working with amazing high-achieving women who are killing it in so many areas of their professional lives, who are what I refer to as “amazing on paper.” Because they, too, have similar pain points and feel unfulfilled and like they’re failing in their personal lives. So many of us work to shield the behind the scenes hot mess of our day to day lives, until it creeps up into other parts of our lives and we have no choice but to deal with it. Today I’m talking with Tiffany Vaughan and we’re shining a light on what many of us may be going through behind closed doors. Tiffany lets us in on her journey, dealing with everything from struggling with IVF to a mental breakdown, to dealing with ADHD and ODD diagnoses with her children. It’s so important for us to feel like we aren’t the only ones in a particular situation and to hear from others who totally get it because they’re on a similar journey. Tiffany Vaughan is a Soul Coach who is passionate about helping women explore their spiritual awakening and tune into their divine purpose for being here. She also hosts the podcast, Hard Beautiful Journey. Listen to the full episode to hear: Learn more about Tiffany Vaughan: MsTiffVaughan.comHard Beautiful Journey Podcast@mstiffvaughan@mstiffvaughanLearn more about Tracey: TraceyCoates.comCoaching with Tracey Coates@iamtraceycoates

If you live in Washington, DC, Maryland, or Virginia–or the DMV as it's affectionately called– chances are great that you or someone you know is a federal employee. It's a lot like being a lawyer in this town, you throw a stone and you hit about five or six attorneys along the way. And it may come as no surprise to many of you that there are unique considerations for those individuals, married to federal employees, and are contemplating a divorce, particularly in the areas of retirement and health insurance benefits. It can be an interesting road to navigate if you don't know the ins and outs and are not working with a competent lawyer who is knowledgeable in this area. So if you or someone you know is in this boat and are considering going through a divorce, you're going to want to have a pen and paper handy during today's episode, because my guest is the perfect person to dive into the nuances of divorce for federal employees and their spouses. Jessica Markham is the Managing Principal Attorney at Markham Law Firm in Bethesda, Maryland. She practices all aspects of family law in Maryland and Washington, D.C. She is collaboratively trained and also handles guardianship matters as well as serves as a child privilege attorney and a best interest attorney. She is also the author of Representing Federal Employees and Their Spouses in Divorce. Ms. Markham and Markham Law Firm have been repeatedly recognized for excellence in the fields of Family Law, Divorce and Alternative Dispute Resolution, with recent top rankings in Best Lawyers in America©, Bethesda Magazine, and Washingtonian Magazine. Listen to the full episode to hear: Learn more about Jessica Markham: Markham Law Firm@markhamlegal@markhamlegal@jessgha@markhamlegalConnect with Jessica on LinkedInRepresenting Federal Employees and Their Spouses in DivorceLearn more about Tracey: TraceyCoates.comCoaching with Tracey Coates@iamtraceycoates

The last two years have been rough for all of us in different ways and for different reasons. No one has been spared from the emotional, physical, and mental rollercoaster of the last two years due to the pandemic. And I don’t know that we’ll ever go back to a pre-COVID sense of normalcy. But not all of the changes brought about by the pandemic have been bad. And I believe that change is a good thing. It's such a necessary component for growth and moving towards our goals, whatever those may be, in all aspects of one's life. We’ve all been through a lot of change since I’ve been on hiatus, so let’s catch up. Listen to the full episode to hear: Learn more about Tracey: TraceyCoates.comCoaching with Tracey Coates@iamtraceycoatesResources: Just Pursuit, Laura Coates

As we go through life’s journey, we develop and nourish so many of our relationships—relationships with family and friends and, of course, significant others. We pour time, energy, and resources into these relationships. But there’s another relationship that can have such a significant impact on our daily lives and can absolutely have a lasting effect if we don’t nurture it and give it the time and attention it deserves…. And that is the relationship we have with our finances. As so many...

I would take a guess to say that there isn’t one person out there who hasn’t on some level experienced significant change over the past 12 months. One thing that has probably changed is the way that we take care of ourselves and the subtle ways that we boost our confidence and feel good in our own skin. In today’s episode, I’m bringing both the fun and the informative! Misha Lewis is passionate about wellness, clean beauty, and skincare. In her downtime, she moonlights as a sleep literacy...

At the time of this recording, we are still in the midst of a global pandemic due to the coronavirus and even though things are looking up with the administration of the vaccines, we are still a ways away from returning to “normal,” whatever that will mean in the months and years to come. But, as many of you know, throughout this pandemic so much of our everyday lives ended up taking place virtual and online. Everything from social interactions including dating, weddings, and birthday...

As a mom, how many of you feel like your time and energy to do one more thing for one more person is completely maxed out? I am directly talking to those of you who’ve spent very little time pouring into yourself, accomplishing your goals and achieving your dreams because you consistently fail to put yourself on your own to-do list. How many of you can relate? I know I certainly can. So much of the time we—myself included—pile onto our plate more than any one person can realistically...

Hello and Happy New Year! Welcome back to our first show of 2021. Like so many of you making changes and pivoting in 2020, we here at the Tracey Coates Show decided to take a pause over the last couple of months so we could come back with even more fantastic episodes. I’m really excited to be back… I’ve missed all of you! 2020 was certainly a year to behold and at the time of this recording we just witnessed unfathomable attacks on our democracy by our very own and, honestly, it’s...

I'm sure I do not have to tell anybody out there that 2020 has been a year filled with surprises and twists and turns – the realities of COVID-19, the stresses of remote learning. And so we're trying something a little different this year. We’ve decided to take a short hiatus over the holiday season to regroup and focus on what is really important to us. We will return on January 14th with a great lineup of podcast episodes that I know you're going to love. In the meantime, for all of my...

Are you still paying for your business expenses through your personal PayPal account or credit card? Or are your personal and business finances separate? Keeping your finances separate is not only good business practice but it’s also an important practice for if or when you go into business with your husband or wife. Co-mingling all of your personal and business expenses makes it impossible to know the true value of your business—and, unfortunately, it may have a severe impact on the...

Today's episode is going to be a little different than most. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with my friend, Regina Topelson of the Life Well-Lived podcast. And I'm excited to be sharing that episode with you today. On Life Well-Lived with Regina Topelson - EP 10 Regina and I chatted all about one of my favorite topics, relationships. We talked about how relationships are one of the six pillars of wellness, both in support of, and unfortunately detrimental to your overall happiness...

Is your success keeping you from finding someone to share your life with? Professionally, the future is bright—but what about personally? What about a life partner? What about a family? Black women who are achieving massive success in their professional lives—advanced degrees and dream jobs—are finding that men, and Black men in particular, are intimidated by their success. So why are some Black women's dating lives being impacted by attaining higher education and success? Today on the...

Alimony—am I getting it or do I have to pay it? Questions about alimony are what I hear most often from my clients. There are a lot of questions and confusion—rightfully so—as to how alimony is calculated and how long it’s going to last. And, naturally, they are most concerned with how much they are going to receive or are going to have to pay to their ex-spouse. That answer varies depending on where you are in the country, but on a very basic and universal level, some of the factors that...

When you’re going through a divorce, you can feel an array of emotions from anger to self-doubt to uncertainty in any given day. Life as you know it is about to change and you’re afraid of what it will look like after the divorce. Common questions for those going through the divorce process include: how much time will I get to spend with my kids? Will I have a roof over my head? How am I going to support myself and my kids on my own? These are big questions and are not always easy to find...

What does happily ever after look like for couples when one person is an American citizen and the other is not? And what does the process look like to even get married—whether in the United States or somewhere else in the world? When it comes to marriage and immigration into the United States, it’s not so clear cut. If you’re in this scenario—either as a U.S. citizen or an immigrant—you might have a number of questions like: What does having a green card mean? If I’m engaged, what...

Do you remember that old school dating rule that you had to wait three days before reaching back out to someone you were interested in after your first date? It went something like this: a call or text on the first day… too eager. Contact after 2 days seems planned. Naturally, the third day is the optimal time to reconnect if you want to see your date again. Right? Well, not so much anymore. Dating has evolved since the three-day rule was the norm. With online dating and the ease of...

As the saying goes, it’s not always about the destination but the journey to get there. One of my passions is discovering those big or small things that influence a couple’s relationship—propelling it forward or stopping it dead in its tracks. So often we think—especially when we’re in the thick of things—that it’s too late to change course or that the change is too hard so we don’t even give it a try. For couples that are struggling but have committed to forever, red flags might feel...

The history of Pride gatherings in this country—and around the globe—is embedded in the arduous history of those minority groups who themselves have continuously fought to have an equal voice in a society that has historically kept them oppressed and fighting to overcome prejudices and injustices in their struggle to be accepted for who they are. Look back to just five years ago when the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in the seminole case Obergefell v. Hodges in June of 2015....

Imagine this: you’re in an argument with your spouse or significant other. You’re steaming with rage… while your partner appears to be completely cool, calm, and collected. If you’re anything like me… that would make me even more upset. Why don’t they feel the same emotions that I do? Why isn’t this upsetting them as much as it’s hurt me? Well, remember that age-old expression: don’t judge a book by its cover? While it may be difficult, intense moments like this, it’s crucial to peel...