Have you ever wondered if love could actually find you somewhere you weren't even looking?

This week I'm joined by Lauren Josephine: dating author, relationship coach, and someone who went on over 200 dates before meeting her husband... on Reddit.

Lauren spent 10 years navigating the apps, the love bombing, the ghosting, and the heartbreak that so many of us know too well. In this episode, she shares honestly about what finally shifted for her, and why the answer wasn't another app or another strategy, but learning to trust herself.

We get into so much in this conversation:

• How Lauren met her husband through a Reddit post about "the oversharing phenomenon" (yes, really)
• Why effort doesn't always equal results in dating, and the frustration that comes with that
• The moment she hit rock bottom and what changed because of it
• Shifting from external advice to internal guidance - and what that actually looks like day to day
• The honest conversation about men, emotional intelligence, and whether things are actually changing
• Why Lauren takes a middle-of-the-road approach to dating apps (and when she thinks it's okay to quit them)
• What the early stages of her relationship actually felt like, and why "calm" scared her at first
• The avoidant chapter nobody talks about when you finally meet someone good
• Why the work you do in your single chapter doesn't disappear when love arrives

This is one of those conversations that will stay with you. Whether you're deep in your single chapter right now or just starting to think about getting back out there, Lauren's story is a reminder that love can happen in the most unexpected ways, and that your timeline is working for you, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Connect with Lauren:

📖 Book — Looking for Something Serious: https://www.amazon.com/Looking-Something-Serious-Stories-Lessons/dp/B0CLZ3XS9R

📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lookingforsomethingserious/

🌐 Website: https://lauren-josephine.com/

Want to work on your single chapter alongside 100+ women who get it? The Turning community is where we do exactly this together. Learn more: https://www.turning30coach.com/turning-lp

The Turning 30 Podcast is hosted by Life Coach Emma Wilson.

Starting April 6th we're kicking off a live run-through of the Next Chapter program inside the Turning community and this episode is the story of exactly where it came from.

The Next Chapter is Emma's signature coaching program: 20+ videos, a 100-page workbook, four workshops, and a community to go through it all with. It has previously been available for up to $1,000 — right now you can access it as part of your Turning membership for just $83/month, along with live coaching, guest expert sessions, daily resources and so much more.

If you've been listening to the podcast and wondering what it would look like to actually do the work, this is it.

👉 Join Turning here: https://turning.circle.so/checkout/your-turning-membership

The doors are open until midnight on April 5th.

This week's episode is a solo one, and it's a story Emma has never told in full before on the podcast.

It's about what happened after the big 2020 breakup (not the breakup itself, but what came next). And it's the story that explains exactly where the Next Chapter program was born.

It’s all about how you need to be a little more delusional and a little less realistic in order to build the life that you want.

In 2020, within the space of one week, Emma lost her relationship, her job, and her home — with zero savings and no idea what was coming. A few months later, despite being in debt and genuinely questioning everything, she said yes to a last-minute trip to a hilltop villa in Greece. Something told her she had to go.

That week changed everything.

In this episode:

• What rock bottom actually looked like (and why she was still trying to date through it)
• The journaling breakthrough that happened on a balcony overlooking the sea in Siphnos
• The bold, slightly delusional decision she made that week — and why it worked
• The link between building a life you love and finding a relationship
• Why looking for love from a low energy place keeps you stuck
• How exactly two years later, she met Ellie

This episode is for you if you're in a transitional moment right now. Maybe you're coming out of a breakup, questioning your career, thinking about solo travel, or just feeling like something needs to shift but you don't know where to start.

Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is the thing that looks irresponsible from the outside.

https://www.turning30coach.com/turning-lp

This week I'm joined by Cole Zesiger, a breakup and relationship coach who has helped over 2,000 people navigate heartbreak.

After going through a divorce at 23 and jumping into a rebound relationship that also ended, Cole rebuilt his life from scratch and now teaches others how to do the same. He also just released his first book, Exes and No's: The Breakup Advice You Don't Want to Hear.

This is one of the rare episodes where we have a male guest, and I loved getting Cole's perspective on breakups, rebounds, and what it actually takes to be ready for love again.

What we cover:

• Why breakups are so devastating. It's not just losing the person, it's losing the entire future you imagined with them.

• The science behind heartbreak. Studies show that romantic rejection activates the same brain patterns as withdrawing from hard drugs. This explains why we do irrational things after a breakup.

• The truth about no contact. Why treating a breakup like a detox is often the fastest path to healing, and why it's also the best strategy if you genuinely want to get back together.

• Can you actually get back with an ex? Cole shares when reconciliation works, when it doesn't, and a story about a couple who reunited after divorce and are still going strong years later.

• The rebound trap. Why jumping into a new relationship too quickly often just delays the grief, and how Cole learned this the hard way.

• How to know when you're ready to date again. Not "fully healed" but "happy enough" with your life that you won't just take the first person who shows interest.

• The dating rules that keep you single. Why building a rigid checklist after heartbreak often backfires and screens out great people for meaningless reasons.

• How to talk about your ex on early dates. The difference between making your ex the main character of the story versus making yourself the main character.

Resources mentioned:

Cole's new book, Exes and No's: coachcolezesiger.com/exsandnos

Work with Cole: coachcolezesiger.com/booking

Cole on Instagram: @coachcolezesiger

Connect with Emma:

Instagram: @turning30coach

Join the Turning Community: https://www.turning30coach.com/turning-lp

If this episode helped you see breakups differently, please subscribe, rate, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Think you need fireworks on the first date to know they're the one? In this episode, Emma challenges everything we've been taught about how love is supposed to feel at the start.

What we cover:

The difference between a fast burn and a slow burn, and why rushing through the early stages of dating often means skipping the check-ins that actually matter.

Why those "I just knew" stories you see on Instagram aren't the full picture, and what most love stories actually look like behind the scenes.

The dating masks we all wear. Even if you think you're being your authentic self, Emma explains why it takes time for the real versions of both people to show up.

How Emma and Ellie navigated the early days of their relationship, including why a three-week trip apart actually helped them.

Practical tips for slowing down without dragging things out, from choosing better date activities to reframing how you ask important questions.

Why going slow at the start often leads to things speeding up later, and how to trust that process when you're feeling the pressure of your 30s.

Connect with Emma:

Instagram: @turning30coach

Join the Turning Community: https://www.turning30coach.com/turning-lp

If this episode shifted something for you, please subscribe, rate, and share it with a friend who's in her dating era.

Ever caught yourself saying "I'm doing everything right, so why isn't it working?" You're not alone. In this episode, Emma unpacks that phrase so many women use when they join the Turning community, and what it often reveals underneath.

What we cover:

Is there really such a thing as "doing all the right things" when it comes to love? Emma challenges the idea that love works like other areas of life where effort equals results. Unlike your career or friendships, love has an element of randomness and divine timing that we simply can't control.

The difference between wanting love and being open to it. Emma shares her own story of how she turned down Ellie two years before they got together, not because she didn't want a relationship, but because she had deep inner work to do first. Desire and openness aren't the same thing.

How to tell if you're truly ready. Emma offers a simple thought experiment: imagine someone handed you an envelope containing a real, past-the-honeymoon-phase relationship starting tomorrow. What comes up for you? Your honest reaction might reveal more than you expect.

What to actually focus on during this chapter. Instead of treating single life as a waiting room, Emma encourages you to get curious about what genuinely lights you up and to do the inner work that opens your heart to receive love when it does arrive.

Resources mentioned:

Free journaling guide: https://chipper-builder-227.kit.com/journal-guide

The Turning Community for women in their 30s calling in love

Coming soon: a workshop on how to open your heart and call in your next chapter

Connect with Emma:

Instagram: @turning30coach

Join the Turning Community: https://www.turning30coach.com/turning-lp

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, rate, and share it with a friend who needs to hear it xo

This is a special bonus episode following the Love After 35 email series, where I’ve been sharing real stories from women who met their partners later than expected (many in their late 30s and early 40s).

After collecting dozens of submissions over the past year and interviewing women on this podcast for over six years, I've noticed clear patterns in how women find love after 35. In this episode, I'm breaking down the seven most common patterns and what you can learn from them.

The 7 Patterns:

1. The struggle before the shift - What every woman experienced before meeting their partner
2. Divine timing and serendipity - The unexplainable moments that led to love
3. Building a beautiful single chapter - What women were actually doing while single
4. The work that preceded love - What changed internally before they met their person
5. Surrender and acceptance - The mindset shift that opened them up
6. It felt different - Why the right relationship doesn't always feel how you expect
7. The advice they all give - What every woman says to her younger self

Join the Turning Community

If these stories resonate with you and you're thinking "I want that to be me," come inside the Turning Community. This is where you do the work these women did: the internal healing, the mindset shifts, the building of a beautiful single chapter.

Inside you get:

• The Turning Curriculum (two full courses on dating and building your thirties chapter)
• Live group coaching with Emma
• A 24/7 community of over 100 women from around the world
• Expert guest workshops on relevant topics
• Daily accountability challenges
• Support from women who understand exactly what you're going through

Join Now: https://www.turning30coach.com/turning-lp

Sign up here for the Love After 35 email series which goes live on January 9th 2026.

What if the love you're searching for is already here- you just need to become the match for it?

In this episode, Emma sits down with writer and storyteller Bryn Daylor to explore one of the most transformative love stories you'll hear. Bryn shares her journey from a challenging divorce at 30, through years of emotionally unavailable relationships, to meeting her fiancé in the most unexpected way.

But this isn't just a love story. It's about how Bryn used writing as a tool to liberate herself from old patterns, heal deep wounds around intimacy and worthiness, and ultimately manifest a relationship that felt like coming home.

Together, Emma and Bryn unpack the messy, vulnerable parts of dating in your 30s, the practice of surrendering control, and why learning to be alone might be the most important prerequisite to finding lasting love.

Inside this episode:

• Why quitting dating for 90 days terrified Bryn more than staying single forever, and what she discovered about herself when she finally stopped buffering with male attention
• The exact writing practice Bryn used to manifest her partner (and why it wasn't just a manifestation checklist)
• How to massage the stories from your past so they stop holding you hostage and start propelling you forward
• The difference between journaling and storytelling, and why vulnerability on the page builds trust in real life
• What happened when Bryn’s partner canceled their first date the day before (and why she didn't write him off)
• Why being with uncertainty is the key to calling in an extraordinary life

If you've been single longer than you expected, if you're tired of emotionally unavailable people, if you're scared that love might not find you in time, this episode is for you. Bryn’s story proves that the relationship you want isn't just luck. It's about doing the inner work, releasing the grip of old stories, and trusting that your person is already on their way.

Connect with Bryn:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryndaylor/

Join the Turning Community:The only online community space specifically designed to support single women in their thirties to enjoy their single chapters and call in a life partner. The doors are now open and we are accepting new members for January. Sign up here.

What if the key to everything you’re calling in — love, purpose, peace — isn’t in your mind, but in your heart?

In this deeply grounding and expansive conversation, Emma sits down with Estelle Bingham, therapist, spiritual teacher, and author of Manifest Your True Essence, to explore a whole new way of thinking about manifestation — one rooted not in mindset hacks or vision boards, but in emotional truth, inner child healing, and the heart’s intelligence.

Estelle shares how our deepest beliefs, past experiences, and ancestral patterns shape what we attract, and how learning to listen to our hearts can transform not just what we call in, but how we relate to ourselves along the way.

• What “heart-led manifestation” really means, and how it differs from the traditional mindset-based approach.
• Why the unconscious mind and unhealed inner child can block what we’re trying to manifest.
• How ancestral and intergenerational trauma (epigenetics) can quietly shape our patterns in love, money, and self-worth.
• The power of self-compassion, curiosity, and trust when you’re tired of “doing the work” but not seeing change.
• How to move from survival mode into embodiment, and why your heart is your most powerful manifestation tool.
• A simple, science-backed heart practice you can do anywhere to reconnect with yourself and create coherence between your heart and mind.

If you’ve been doing everything right (journaling, therapy, affirmations) but still feel stuck, this episode will meet you where you are.

It’s for the woman who’s exhausted from trying to fix herself, who’s wondering if she’s fallen behind, and who’s craving a softer, more embodied way forward. Estelle and Emma remind you that you don’t need to “earn” love, peace, or joy, you just need to come home to yourself.

Because healing and manifestation aren’t about forcing outcomes. They’re about remembering who you are, and trusting that the universe responds to the frequency of your truth.

Connect with Estelle:

Estelle Bingham, known as “The Heart Whisperer”, is an holistic therapist, healer, and metaphysical teacher. For over two decades, she has dedicated her life to guiding others through profound journeys of healing and empowerment, helping them embody their true joy and potential.

Book: 'Manifest Your True Essence'

Website: www.estellebingham.com

IG: estelle.bingham

YT: https://www.youtube.com/@estelle.bingham

Connect with Emma:

IG: @turning30coach

Join the Turning 30 Membership: turning30coach.com/membership