# #271: Second Acts

An episode of [A Beautiful Mess Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1485472892), 27 Oct 2025, 49 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/498/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/abmpodcast/ABM_EP271_Final.mp3?dest-id=1624655

This week we're sharing our stories about how we're changing careers in our thirties and forties. What led us to this point and the logistics of making it happen. If you are in a similar position or dreaming about starting a new career, we hope that this episode will be helpful and encouraging for you. Thank you to this week's sponsor: Visit GrowTherapy.com/MESS today to get started. When approaching your second act: Give yourself every bit of training you would give your kid Invest in your education Form a business plan in phases Interview other people who are doing what you want to do Start small How to find support during this time in life: Find groups of people doing the same thing Talking to a therapist You can support us by leaving us a couple of 5 star recipe reviews this week at abeautifulmess.com Have a topic idea for the podcast? Write in to us at podcast@abeautifulmess.com or leave us a voicemail at 417-893-0011.

## Transcript

[0:19] Elsie: So there is a platinum record in this room. That part is true. That's true. So anyway, my husband was trying to be a professional musician since the time we met when we were, I think I was 25 and he was 26 when we met until around the time when he was 40. And in those years he did lots of different things. He wrote actually what the Platinum Record is from is that he wrote like a hundred string arrangements for other people's music during that time. He. It's one of those annoyingly multi-talented people who can play every instrument. Insane, talented. And so he plays all the strings so he can produce a stringed, like an orchestra, sound himself in our basement and he did that for many years as his main income, and then several times he released his own records. And a couple of them were released through various labels and the last one that he did was called Violence. The project's called Violence. And the album is called Awaken, pretty much sober. And I still listen to it regularly. It probably like once a season, it's, I still just absolutely love this record. So go listen to it if you wanna feel a little nostalgia with me. My favorite song is Unraveling and Fair. So anyway, he had this project that he did with this amazing singer, Monica, and at the time that he did it, she was. Already contracted to be writing her solo record through a label. And we were adopting our child Nova, our first child. We were in the process of like the pre-process before we adopted it. When he made this record and we knew, we kind of knew. It was like maybe his last hurrah. We definitely knew that he was not going to be touring. After we became parents, and that was like our decision together. And I would say I was 90% against touring and I pro there's probably 10% of me where I could have compromised

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