Tara Pavlovic is a Gold Coast-based content creator and mum of two who recently announced her separation — and the response from women everywhere made it clear this conversation needed to happen.

Rachel and Tara get into what the lead-up to leaving actually looks like from the inside. The years of therapy. The panic attacks. The couples counselling that didn't save the marriage but mattered anyway. The Fiji holiday they booked because they knew they could still have a good time together. And the moment Tara's body made the decision before her mind was ready to.

They also go somewhere neither of them planned — into what it does to a woman's sense of self when she realises her version of the marriage and his were two completely different realities. And what it means to lose trust in yourself so completely that you can't imagine ever choosing again.

Honest, raw, and at times genuinely surprising. This one will probably make you cry at least once.

In this episode:

• Why the hardest part of leaving isn't what comes after — it's the decision itself
• What couples counselling actually does when it doesn't save the marriage
• How alcohol can hold a relationship together — and what happens when it's gone
• The moment the panic attacks became impossible to ignore
• Why she doesn't believe anyone will truly love her now
• What it feels like to lose all trust in yourself after a marriage ends
• What Tara would say to any woman sitting in that dark place right now
• 
  

Find Tara: @tarapavlovic

Now What is hosted by Rachel Maksimovic. Follow @rachel.maksimovic & @nowwhat.podcast on Instagram.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel sits down with Kylie to talk about the parts of single motherhood and dating again that don't get said out loud enough — the fallout when a significant relationship ends and your kids are caught in it, the survival mode that masquerades as a personality, and the stories women tell themselves to excuse behaviour they should be walking away from. Kylie is five years out from her separation, has lived through a second major breakup, and speaks with the kind of hard-won clarity that only comes from actually doing the work. This is an honest conversation about blended families, self-trust, and what it really takes to be open to love again without losing yourself in the process.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Catie Gett is a Melbourne-based naturopath, founder of The Staple Store, and single mum to her daughter Scout. She has spent her career making food and health accessible to people who can't afford a 20-step morning routine — and this conversation goes places neither of them expected.

Rachel and Catie get into what survival mode actually costs you. Why the wellness industry has made health aspirational instead of accessible. Why telling women to self-care without changing any of the actual conditions they're living in is just another layer of guilt. And what it feels like to look back on your daughter's early years and realise you don't remember them — because you were so deep in stress you weren't really there.

Rachel also gets honest about where she's at right now. And somehow, by the end of it, finds one thing she can actually change.

This one is for every woman standing at the bench feeding her kids breakfast while she has nothing but a coffee. It's practical, it's honest, and it will probably make you cry at least once.

In this episode:

• Why the wellness industry has made health a purchase, not a right
• What survival mode does to your body — and your memory
• The breakfast change that shifted everything for Katie
• Why "have you tried yoga?" is some of the most expensive free advice women get
• The specific cruelty of heartbreak when you're parenting alone
• 
  

Find Catie: @thestaplestore

Now What is hosted by Rachel Maksimovic. Follow @rachel.maksimovic & @nowwhat.podcast on Instagram.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.