The Bright Side of Loss
A weekly podcast about what happens when retirement does not go to plan. The challenges nobody warned you about. The survival skills nobody taught you. The moments of joy nobody expected. Honest conversations. Real stories. No scripts. No pretending.
Why This Exists
Every Thursday, I sit down to have a conversation about what actually happens in retirement. Not what we were led to believe back in our thirties and forties, but the real things. The unexpected things. The bits that throw you completely off course, and the moments that lift you up when you least expect it.
Health—the diagnosis that changes everything. The body that stops doing what it’s told. The health service that wasn't built for your questions. And the extraordinary clarity that arrives when your own mortality stops being a theoretical concept.
Money—not investment strategies, but the gut-wrenching reality of money worries when you’re no longer earning. The bills that don't care about a medical diagnosis. The conversations about money that nobody wants to have.
Relationships—the friendships that grow stronger under pressure, and the ones that simply vanish. The family dynamics that shift when you’re no longer the strong one. The strange loneliness that can sit right beside you in a room full of people.
Identity—who are you when your job title disappears, your health falters, and the future you planned isn't there anymore? And who do you become when you stop trying to be who you used to be?
Resilience—not the neat, polished version people like to talk about. The real kind. The kind that happens when you’re down on the floor, in the dark, when nobody else is watching.
Joy—because it’s still there. Sometimes in the most unexpected places. Sometimes precisely because everything else has been stripped away. And it deserves just as much airtime as the hard stuff.
Each episode is part of an ongoing story—what's actually happening in real time. Sometimes with a guest, sometimes just me thinking out loud, sharing what I’m learning as I face whatever comes next.
Always honest. Always warm. Always real.
The things that knock you sideways and that things that lift you up when you least expect it,
Episode 00: Introducing The Bright Side of Loss
In this inaugural episode, I introduce The Bright Side of Loss—a podcast for anyone whose retirement hasn't gone to plan. I share my background in online business startup strategy, psychotherapy and coaching and how a Stage 4b ovarian cancer diagnosis and financial shocks dismantled my ideal retirement. This isn't a place for quick fixes or forced positivity; it's an invitation to face real life, together.
More Episodes
EPISODE 01 - 2 SEPTEMBER 2026
Starting Down the Path
Stepping into retirement is often framed as a triumphant finish line - but what happens when the path ahead looks completely unfamiliar? In this episode, I explore the shock of transition, the myth of the "ideal retirement" and why acknowledging that you feel lost is the first real step toward finding your feet.
EPISODE 02 - 9 SEPTEMBER 2026
The Day Everything Changed
A single doctor’s visit, an unexpected diagnosis, or a sudden loss can slice life neatly into "before" and "after." Sue speaks candidly about receiving her Stage 4b ovarian cancer diagnosis a week after her 70th birthday, processing shock and learning how to stand firm when the future is suddenly in question.
EPISODE 03 - 16 SEPTEMBER 2026
What Nobody Tells You About Retirement
Why is nobody talking about the hidden grief of retirement? Sue tackles the societal pressures to stay cheerful, the loss of unwritten social contacts, and the frustration of finding that standard retirement guides are written for lives that exist only on brochure covers.
EPISODE 04 - 23 SEPTEMBER 2026
Learning To Live In The Moment
"Live in the present" sounds like a trite phrase from a greeting card—until a serious diagnosis makes tomorrow entirely unpredictable. Sue breaks down what living in the moment actually requires when you are dealing with chronic uncertainty, health scans, and waiting rooms.
Never Miss An Episode
New episodes land every Thursday. Subscribe on your favourite platform and they will arrive automatically, like a letter from a friend who always writes on time - even whe the news is complicated.
And if you want more between episodes, the Field Notes arrive every Monday morning. A weekly letter about what I am facing, what surprised me, what knocked me down and what got me back up again.