In this powerful episode of the “I Lost Everything” series, Caren Paskel shares the unimaginable journey of losing the love of her life, watching her husband battle terminal brain cancer during the pandemic, closing her businesses, facing complete burnout, and rebuilding herself from the ground up.

What started as survival mode became a complete reinvention.

Caren opens up about the moment everything changed, the breakdowns no one saw, the pressure of caregiving while falling apart herself, and the unexpected way rebuilding an online business helped save her mentally and emotionally during the darkest season of her life.

But this conversation goes deeper than grief.

It’s about identity. Nervous system healing. Letting go of the life you thought you were supposed to have. Simplifying everything. Learning how to rebuild without pretending it’s pretty.

From moving across the country alone to redefining health, femininity, success, and self-belief, Caren’s story is a reminder that losing everything does not mean your life is over. Sometimes it’s the beginning of becoming the person you were always meant to be.

If you are in the middle of loss, transition, divorce, burnout, grief, or rebuilding your life after everything changed… this episode will stay with you.

Please consider donating to the fundraiser for dental work, for a person who has lost everything and we can help replace some teeth:

Go Fund Me: GoFundMe — Messy Missy Movement: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-friend-smile-again-through-cancer-and-dental-work/cl/o?utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp17_control-amp20_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=en_US

www.carenpaskel.com

https://www.instagram.com/carenpaskel/ https://www.tiktok.com/@caren.paskel https://www.facebook.com/caren.paskel https://www.youtube.com/@CarenPaskel-g1g

Work with Messie 1:1: Book Here

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Email Me: Melissa@messiemissy.com

In this episode of The Messie Missy Podcast: I Lost Everything Series, Eman Alves shares the shocking story of how her entire life collapsed overnight while living in Dubai.

After building a successful life and business with her then-husband, everything changed when a legal investigation froze their accounts and turned their world upside down. Within days, Eman found herself without access to money, food, housing, or freedom. Her husband was sent to jail, she was unable to leave the country, and at the same time, her father was back home finishing chemotherapy and nearing the end of his life.

This conversation is raw, emotional, and deeply human. It’s about survival, resilience, identity, and what happens when life strips away everything familiar.

If you’ve ever wondered how a woman rebuilds herself after unimaginable loss, this episode will stay with you.

Please consider donating to the fundraiser for dental work, for a person who has lost everything and we can help replace some teeth:

Go Fund Me: GoFundMe — Messy Missy Movement: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-friend-smile-again-through-cancer-and-dental-work/cl/o?utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp17_control-amp20_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=en_US

https://www.eman.coach/uncouplingreimagined

Work with Messie 1:1: Book Here

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Email Me: Melissa@messiemissy.com

In this episode of the Messie Missy Podcast, Irene Vaksberg joins the I Lost Everything series to share the unbelievable story of how a devastating car accident destroyed the life she had spent years building.

After creating a successful six-figure hair business and overcoming years of personal struggles, Irene thought she had finally reached a season of freedom and peace. Then, overnight, everything changed. Chronic pain, financial collapse, emotional exhaustion, failed marriages, miscarriages, motherhood struggles, and survival mode forced her into the deepest rebuild of her life.

We talk about what it really feels like when your identity falls apart, how trauma changes you, why “hot mess” seasons can shape who you become, and the mindset required to keep rebuilding anyway.

This episode is funny, painful, powerful, and full of the kind of truth women desperately need to hear when they feel like life knocked them flat.

Please consider donating to the fundraiser for dental work, for a person who has lost everything and we can help replace some teeth:

Go Fund Me: GoFundMe — Messy Missy Movement: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-friend-smile-again-through-cancer-and-dental-work/cl/o?utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp17_control-amp20_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=en_US

Contact Irene:

ivaksberg2@gmail.com

https://www.instagram.com/gothealth_vaksberg?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irene.vaksberg?mibextid=LQQJ4d Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@irenevaksberg?_t=8ZY1BCwlE8Q&_r=1 LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/irenevaksberg YouTube: https://youtube.com/@irenevaksberg-painManagement

Work with Messie 1:1: Book Here

Download the FREE Messy to Momentum Framework:

Download Framework Here

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Facebook: Facebook Link Here

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Youtube: Youtube

Email Me: Melissa@messiemissy.com

After losing my home, my finances, my career, and pieces of myself, I'm documenting an 80-day journey to rebuild—not just a business, but a life worth coming home to.

Three years after a devastating ripple effect of divorce, financial loss, job loss, and housing instability, I found myself asking a difficult question:

What if I stopped trying to figure everything out and simply documented the rebuild?

In this deeply personal episode, I'm introducing Project Homeward Bound—an 80-day journey to intentionally rebuild my life, one day at a time. My goal isn't just to move into a home of my own by the end of summer. It's to rediscover consistency, purpose, identity, and hope after years of surviving.

I share:

• How Project Homeward Bound was born
• Why "starting over" feels different in midlife
• The hidden emotional cost of losing a home
• The surprising reason a nightstand has become one of my biggest goals
• Why documenting the journey may be the thing that finally changes everything
• How building a business through life's messes remains the heart of the Messie Missy mission

If you've ever felt like you're rebuilding from ashes, living in the messy middle, or trying to find your way back to yourself after loss, this episode is for you.

This is Day 7 of Project Homeward Bound.

Come walk the next 73 days with me.

Week 9 of building my personal brand… and nothing looks like it’s working.

No sales. No engagement. No real traction.

In this episode, I’m sharing the part of rebuilding that no one talks about—the quiet phase where you’re showing up, doing the work, and seeing no visible results.

I open up about what it feels like to build something new while carrying the weight of past loss, why certain seasons (like May) can bring unexpected emotional setbacks, and the pressure of feeling “behind” years after your life fell apart.

I also share what is happening beneath the surface—from identity shifts to mental resilience—and why this invisible progress matters more than early results.

If you’re a woman rebuilding after divorce, burnout, loss, or a major life transition, this episode will remind you that you’re not failing—you’re in the phase most people quit.

And this is where momentum actually begins.

Week 9 of building my personal brand… and nothing looks like it’s working.

No sales. No engagement. No real traction.

In this episode, I’m sharing the part of rebuilding that no one talks about—the quiet phase where you’re showing up, doing the work, and seeing no visible results.

I open up about what it feels like to build something new while carrying the weight of past loss, why certain seasons (like May) can bring unexpected emotional setbacks, and the pressure of feeling “behind” years after your life fell apart.

I also share what is happening beneath the surface—from identity shifts to mental resilience—and why this invisible progress matters more than early results.

If you’re a woman rebuilding after divorce, burnout, loss, or a major life transition, this episode will remind you that you’re not failing—you’re in the phase most people quit.

And this is where momentum actually begins.

What happens when “home” is the first place that breaks you?

Most recently, she lost her entire world in a house fire... but there's so much more to Holly's "I Lost Everything" story. In this raw episode of the “I Lost Everything” series, Holly shares the kind of story most people never say out loud — childhood abuse, fear, survival, running away at 12 years old, and carrying trauma while trying to build a life anyway.

This isn’t a polished comeback story. It’s the truth about what survival actually looks like before the rebuilding begins.

In this episode of the Messie Missy Podcast “I Lost Everything” series, Missy sits down with Holly Haag for one of the most vulnerable conversations of the series so far.

Holly opens up about growing up in abuse, living in fear as a child, running away at 12 years old, and navigating the lifelong impact of trauma while later facing her own diagnosis with multiple sclerosis.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on the messy realities so many women quietly carry: survival mode, silence, shame, resilience, and the long road of rebuilding yourself after life breaks apart.

If you’ve ever wondered whether someone can rebuild after losing safety, identity, trust, or stability — this episode is for you.

Because sometimes rebuilding doesn’t start with confidence. Sometimes it starts with surviving one more day.

Holly's Contact: www.thehealinghaul.com

Go Fund Me: GoFundMe — Messy Missy Movement: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-our-friend-smile-again-through-cancer-and-dental-work/cl/o?utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp17_control-amp20_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&lang=en_US

This series is the proof.

. 👉 Work with Messie 1:1: www.messiemissy.com/workwithme

👉 Join the Mess to Momentum Room: https://community.messiemissy.com/communities/groups/messy-to-momentum-room/home?invite=69eebd9144366ed8dbef7c64

On this episode of the Messy Missy Podcast, Melissa dives into one phrase she kept hearing over and over again from women rebuilding their lives:

“Give yourself grace.”

But for a woman raised to avoid failure, avoid messes, and hold everything together… what does that even mean?

Melissa opens up about hitting midlife completely flattened by life and realizing she had never learned how to move through setbacks with compassion. Instead, she learned pressure. Perfectionism. Shame. Performance.

Through raw storytelling and honest reflection, this episode explores:

• why women struggle to receive grace from themselves
• how shame keeps women stuck in survival mode
• the difference between accountability and self-punishment
• rebuilding while still grieving
• learning to see yourself through love instead of criticism

This isn’t about excusing bad choices or pretending life is easy.

It’s about understanding that rebuilding requires room to breathe.

Grace is allowing yourself to be unfinished while still believing your life is worth rebuilding.