What makes a business connection worth keeping, and what happens when women show up for each other?

Going further, what can happen when you build the community that supports you and feeds your soul?

Carrie Kass joins Karen Cerezo & Paula Fournier and on Hose Water, Hot Flashes & Bad Decisions for a conversation about networking, women supporting women, and the relationships & communities that help us move forward. We talk about the awkwardness of elevator pitches and business-card exchanges, why following up matters, and how a few meaningful connections can be more valuable than a room full of introductions.

We also explore the messages we grew up with about women and success, what it means to share knowledge and encouragement, and how we can help create more opportunities for each other.

Expect honest conversation, a few laughs, and some familiar networking moments that might make you feel a little better about that forgotten stack of business cards.

Subscribe for more conversations about navigating midlife, work, relationships, and whatever comes next, with humor and a healthy dose of GenX perspective.

What’s one connection that made a difference in your life or business? Tell us in the comments.

#CarrieKass #WomenSupportingWomen #Networking #WomenInBusiness #GenX #HoseWaterHotFlashesAndBadDecisions

MEET YOUR HOSTS:

Karen Cerezo - a nationally board-certified health coach (NBC-HWC), menopause expert, and TEDx speaker helping women advocate for themselves through perimenopause and menopause.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karen-cerezo1 IG: https://www.instagram.com/midlife_health_coach

Website: MidlifeHealthCoach.com Navigating Menopause Wellness Journal:

Paula Fournier - Practical nutrition, mental health, wellness & lifestyle support coach, helping you feel better from the inside out.

Website: ewcoach.com

IG: https://www.instagram.com/everydaywellnesscoaching/

Gratitude Journal: https://a.co/d/09Uu9sO6

In this episode, we look back at the legendary high school graduation traditions: Paula in 1989 and Karen in 1991.

Plus, we are paying tribute to the cutting-edge, beautifully androgynous vibe of the iconic Sassy magazine launched in 1988, and how it broke the mold for teen fashion.

Finally, stick around for all of the hair tools for those great styles! And note, these are returning. Of course they are! We were great at the hair game!

Want us to take a look at your GenX graduation year? What memories do you have and what do you want us to cover?

Listen to Episode 10 now on your favorite platform!

🎧 Spotify

🎧 Apple Podcasts

🎧 iHeartRadio

🎧 Amazon Music

📺 YouTube

🎵 Deezer

What happens when you’re exhausted, you’re not sleeping, your body feels unfamiliar, and nobody has mentioned perimenopause?

In this special episode in honor of World Menopause Day of Hose Water, Hot Flashes, and Bad Decisions, Paula and Karen get personal about the changes they didn’t see coming and the conversations they wish had happened sooner. From mood shifts and sleepless nights to changing body shape and unexpected food reactions, they share what it felt like to search for answers while trying to get through everyday life.

Karen talks about the conversation that helped her recognize perimenopause, while Paula reflects on an appointment where depression was discussed but perimenopause wasn’t. Together, they explore the frustration of hearing “that’s normal” when you still don’t feel like yourself, the value of tracking what’s happening, and why it can be so hard to tell the whole story once you’re sitting in the exam room.

Of course, there’s humor. Because sometimes you need to laugh with someone who understands why you’re throwing off the blankets one minute and reaching for them the next.

This is an honest conversation about their personal experiences, the questions they’re still asking, and making room for women to talk openly about midlife.

What do you wish someone had told you about perimenopause? Share it in the comments, and send this episode to a friend who might recognize her own experience.

Subscribe for more conversations with Paula and Karen. New episodes every Thursday.

This episode shares personal experiences and is for general information, not individual medical advice.

Also, join us for our 90-minute, one-night-only Decompress Before the Holiday Stress Event. Learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/decompress-before-the-holiday-stress-live-group-coaching-session-tickets-2002951520917?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

#WorldMenopauseDay #Perimenopause #Menopause #MidlifeWomen #HoseWaterHotFlashesAndBadDecisions #GenX #Millenial

What do Barbie, the corporate ladder, and that persistent voice telling us we’re not good enough have in common? They all have a place in this conversation.

In Episode 8 of Hose Water, Hot Flashes, and Bad Decisions, Paula and Karen welcome Krizel Rodriguez for an honest discussion about identity, representation, and the messages women carry from childhood into adulthood. From growing up with dolls that didn’t look like us to questioning our abilities in the workplace, we explore how those experiences can shape what we believe is possible.

Krizel shares what discovering a Mexican Barbie meant to her, why Latina representation in leadership matters personally, and her hopes for the next generation. We also talk about the self-doubt that can follow women into rooms they’ve earned the right to be in, even when their accomplishments tell a different story.

There’s room for laughter, reflection, and a conversation about what connects us across different backgrounds and experiences. Because while our stories may differ, we have plenty of reasons to listen to one another and move forward together.

What message did you grow up hearing about who you could become, and have you rewritten it? Tell us in the comments.

Subscribe to Hose Water, Hot Flashes, and Bad Decisions with Paula & Karen. New episodes every Thursday!

#HoseWaterHotFlashesAndBadDecisions #GenX #WomenSupportingWomen #SelfDoubt #RepresentationMatters #WomenInLeadership #Barbie #Podcast

We were prepared for quicksand. Processing our feelings? Not so much.

In this episode of Hose Water, Hot Flashes, and Bad Decisions, Paula and Karen revisit the other side of growing up Gen X: the frightening headlines, confusing adult conversations, and moments when everyone simply turned off the TV and moved on.

From watching the Challenger disaster in class to missing kids on milk cartons, nuclear war fears, and the Tylenol poisonings, they reflect on what they remember, what nobody explained, and how humor, sarcasm, and pushing feelings down became familiar ways to cope.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an ’80s conversation without MTV, Madonna’s lace gloves, cereal-box entertainment, latchkey life, and shoulder pads big enough to carry the whole decade. There’s also Baby Jessica, Geraldo’s empty vault, and the eternal question: why did we think quicksand would be such a major problem?

Come for the nostalgia, stay for the candid conversation about childhood fears, midlife anxiety, and looking back with a little more understanding.

What ’80s moment still sticks with you? Tell us in the comments or email hosewaterthepodcast@gmail.com.

#GenX #Comedy #80s #Challenger #Midlife #Menopause

New episodes every Thursday morning.

Getting laid off hits differently in midlife.

You’ve spent decades building experience, skills, relationships, and a career, only to suddenly find yourself wondering: Now what?

In this clip from Laid Off In Midlife. Now What?, Karen and Paula talk about the reality of losing a job in midlife, what it does to your confidence, and the challenge of figuring out what comes next when you thought you already had that part of life figured out.

Hose Water, Hot Flashes & Bad Decisions
Real conversations about Gen X, midlife, careers, menopause, relationships, and all the stuff nobody warned us about.

New episodes every Thursday.

What happens to intimacy when life, health, and relationships change?

In this episode of Hose Water, Hot Flashes & Bad Decisions, Paula and Karen talk with psychotherapist Carrie Cohen about desire, emotional safety, and staying connected to a partner through midlife.

Carrie explains why two people can experience desire differently, how the nervous system can affect closeness, and why menopause or fibromyalgia doesn’t have to end a couple’s love life.

It’s a candid conversation about the misunderstandings that can grow between partners, and the possibility of finding your way back to each other.

Connect with Carrie Cohen:
Website: https://www.carriecohencoaching.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carriecohencoaching/
Contact Carrie: https://www.carriecohencoaching.com/contact

Follow the hosts:
Karen: https://www.instagram.com/midlife_health_coach/
Paula: https://www.instagram.com/everydaywellnesscoaching/

Have a question or an idea for the show? Email us at hosewaterthepodcast@gmail.com.

#GenX #Perimenopause #Menopause #MidlifeRelationships #Menopause #Intimacy #Fibromyalgia

This week Karen and Paula cover a little bit of everything when it comes to fitness, from the gym to the bedroom to the playground.

Grab a glass of wine (no judgment here!) as we kick things off with the wild ride that is women's fitness: leg warmers, aerobics tapes, diet culture, all of it.

Karen and Paula get real about what they were doing (and wearing) through every era of it. From there we get into why a good workout buddy can make or break your consistency, then make the case for lifting heavy weights (yes, heavier than you're currently doing) and why strength training matters more than ever for women in perimenopause and menopause.

Paula shares her nighttime routine, and how she uses her wearables to track it all.

Then we take a nostalgic detour through peak 80s gym fashion (leg warmers and leotards included) before wrapping up with a hot take on why Gen Alpha needs dodgeball back in their lives. The evolution of women's fitness, workout buddies, heavy weights, better sleep, questionable fashion choices, and a little bit of chaos for the kids.

This one has it all.

What was your fitness evolution? Let's hear it!

New episode out now.

Subscribe and follow along for more Hose Water, Hot Flashes & Bad Decisions.

Tell us what you want us to talk about!

Connect with us: Karen Instagram: @midlife_health_coach midlifehealthcoach.com

Paula Instagram: @everydaywellnesscoaching ewcoach.com

Want to be a guest on the show? Email the podcast: hosewaterthepodcast@gmail.com