How Strength Training Prepared Debbie for Caregiving, Career, and Everything Else
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You've spent years being the strong one. You raised kids alone, built a career from nothing, and showed up for your parents when they needed you most. And somewhere in all of that, you stopped asking what you really needed.
This episode is for the woman who's still carrying more than anyone around her realizes.
Debbie has been one of Karen's clients for over 20 years, since she walked into Karen's home studio as a single mom of three rebuilding her life from the ground up. She's now a licensed real estate broker with almost 40 years in the business, and she and Karen talk through what got her here: the training, the confidence work nobody saw, and caring for both her parents through Alzheimer's while still showing up for her own family every day.
Here's what's covered:
Why Debbie picked up strength training in her 40s as a single mom starting over, and what that decision ended up building over the next two decades
The confidence problem Debbie carried underneath a career full of public speaking and client meetings, and how she pushed through it at Toastmasters
What caring for both parents through two very different versions of Alzheimer's required, from the earliest signs to the day she had to move them into care
The diet change that finally solved an eczema problem Debbie had lived with her whole life, and how nutrition became part of her routine decades before it was trendy
Debbie's daily journaling method, three non-negotiable priorities written down every morning and reviewed every night, and why it still works for her today
How Debbie built a version of work-life balance around deliberate coaching and learning who to lean on, instead of trying to do it all herself
What a full-time real estate career actually looks like at 71, and why she started investing in her health decades before she needed to
What Debbie wants every woman caring for an aging parent to know about grief, regret, and giving herself permission to ask for help
This one's for the woman who's caregiving for a parent right now, rebuilding a career or a life on her own, or quietly convinced she's the only one holding everything together.
"You'd be surprised at how much strength you have." - Debbie
Debbie's strength didn't come from one big decision. It came from three VIPs a day, a journal she still keeps, and choosing to get stronger even when showing up for herself felt like one more thing on the list. Share this one with a friend and ask her what she's carrying that nobody else sees.
Meet Debbie
Debbie has been a full-time real estate agent since 1986 and became a broker in 1992, giving her almost four decades of hands-on experience across every part of the industry. She specializes in relocation, first-time buyers, and move-up and move-down transactions, backed by a Certified Home Marketing Specialist designation, a Certified Residential Broker designation, and Global Luxury Specialist training. Before real estate, she earned a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Education, and an Elementary School Teacher's Certificate, and she's attended every International Business Conference since joining Coldwell Banker in 1998. Her approach centers on the Ultimate Service Program, designed to deliver the extraordinary, memorable service that keeps clients coming back long after the sale closes.
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This podcast is brought to you in partnership with Leah Bryant Co.
More about FIT4HER Unplugged
You've spent decades building a life. Your career, family, and health…you've shown up for all of it. And somewhere in your 40s or 50s, you started noticing that what used to work no longer does. Your body feels different. Your energy isn't there. You're not sure who you are outside of the roles you've been playing. And nobody seems to be talking about all of it at once.
Fit4Her is a podcast for women in midlife who are ready to stop waiting to feel like themselves again.
Hosted by Karen Gallagher, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Strength and Conditioning Coach with 30 years of experience, this show delivers what most health and wellness content never does: honest, whole-life guidance that covers your body, your mindset, your relationships, and your sense of purpose, without the extremes, the all-or-nothing pressure, or the advice that was never built for a woman at this stage of life.
No single corner of midlife gets left out. Fitness, hormones, identity, relationships, career, empty nest, divorce, purpose - it's all here, and it's all connected.
We'll answer questions like:
What should I eat in perimenopause and menopause?
How do I balance my hormones naturally?
How do I get my energy back in midlife?
How do I find my purpose in midlife?
How do I deal with teenagers while going through menopause?
Is it too late to change careers in my 40s or 50s?
How do I rebuild my life after divorce?
How do I stop feeling invisible as I get older?
This show is for women who are done waiting to feel better and ready to actually do something about it.
If that's you, Karen built this show for you.
