Podcast Summary
What happens when the career that defined you ends? You rewire life! For many people, retirement, an unexpected job loss, or a major life transition raises a much deeper question than “What’s next?” What they don’t know is how to “rewire” their lives.
It asks, “Who am I now?”
In this episode of On the Brink, I welcome Leslie Traub, transformational facilitator, executive coach, and founder of Rewiring Together, for an inspiring conversation about identity, reinvention, and navigating life’s “liminal spaces”—those uncertain periods between who we were and who we are becoming.
After spending more than forty years helping organizations and leaders manage change, Leslie found herself facing the same questions many of her clients encounter after selling her own consulting business. Rather than simply filling her calendar with activities, she began exploring the deeper psychological and spiritual dimensions of transition.
That personal journey became the foundation for her work helping women over fifty rediscover purpose, confidence, and joy.
Retirement Is Not the Challenge—Identity Is
One of the themes Leslie returns to throughout our conversation is that most people are not afraid of retirement itself.
They are afraid of losing the identity that work provided.
Titles disappear.
Responsibilities change.
The external validation that once measured success suddenly becomes quiet.
Many people instinctively try to replace that identity by staying busy. Leslie shares a powerful story of meeting a woman whose calendar was overflowing—not because she loved the activities, but because she believed she needed constant achievement to prove she still mattered.
That realization became the catalyst for Leslie’s work today.
Rewire Life: Learning to Live in the Liminal Space
As an anthropologist, I often remind clients that humans dislike uncertainty.
We want clear beginnings and endings.
Life, however, rarely works that way.
Leslie introduces listeners to the concept of liminal space—the uncomfortable but incredibly creative period between an old identity and a new one.
Rather than rushing to eliminate uncertainty, she encourages people to stay with it.
When we stop trying to recreate the past, we create room for an entirely different future to emerge.
From External Success to Inner Purpose
One of the most thought-provoking moments in our conversation explores the transition from living for external achievement to living from internal purpose.
Early in life we often build careers, accumulate accomplishments, earn promotions, and collect recognition.
Those are important milestones.
But eventually many people discover that achievement alone is no longer enough.
Leslie believes the second half of life invites us to shift from proving our worth to simply living it.
Purpose becomes less about titles and more about contribution, relationships, creativity, wisdom, and authenticity.
Why Women Face Unique Challenges When They Rewire?
Leslie also discusses the particular pressures many women experience throughout their careers.
Conditioned to care for others, prove themselves, and continually give more, many women reach midlife emotionally depleted.
She encourages women to establish healthier boundaries, reconnect with their own values, and stop measuring themselves solely through external expectations.
The result is not withdrawal from meaningful work.
Instead, it is work that aligns more closely with who they truly are.
My Reflections on How to Rewrite Life
One of the reasons I enjoyed this conversation so much is that it reinforces something I continue to see in my work around Rethink Retirement.
The greatest transition is rarely financial.
It is emotional.
Whether someone retires voluntarily, sells a business, loses a job unexpectedly, or simply reaches a point where life begins asking new questions, the challenge becomes learning to write a new story.
As Leslie reminds us, uncertainty isn’t something to fear.
It is often the doorway to discovering who we are becoming.
If you’re standing at one of life’s crossroads—or helping someone else navigate theirs—I think you’ll find this conversation both comforting and inspiring.
Sometimes the next chapter begins not by having all the answers, but by becoming willing to ask better questions.
I hope you’ll listen.
Listen to the Episode
If this conversation resonates with you, please subscribe to On the Brink with Andi Simon, leave a review, and share this episode with someone navigating an important life transition.
Together we can continue to see, feel, and think in new ways.
To connect with Leslie Traub:
Leslie’s profile: linkedin.com/in/leslie-traub-b01a684
Website: leslietraubart.com (Personal) and udarta.com (Company)