The Next Phase – Details, episodes & analysis

In the wake of Catherine O’Hara’s death, a lot of millennial women felt unexpectedly emotional.

Not just because we lost a legendary actress — but because we lost Kevin’s mom.

In this episode, I reflect on Kate McCallister, the iconic 90s movie mom from Home Alone, and why her character still lives in our bodies decades later. The busy, overwhelmed, loving mom who held everything together — often without rest, support, or language for burnout.

This isn’t a tribute episode.
 It’s a time capsule.

A look at the model of motherhood so many of us absorbed from the movies and shows we grew up watching — and why that model quietly stopped working as we entered adulthood, motherhood, and perimenopause.

We talk about:

• Why celebrity deaths from our childhood can feel like real grief
• What the “90s mom” taught us about strength, sacrifice, and endurance
• Why modern motherhood feels so overwhelming — even when we’re doing everything “right”
• And how we can take responsibility for building lives with more capacity, not more pressure

So grab your Hi-C, your Dunkaroos, or your Fruit by the Foot.
 Dust off the VCR.

This is about Kevin’s mom —
 and what it means now that we’re the moms.

Perimenopause can feel like a confusing full-body mystery… but today’s conversation is a deep exhale.

I’m sitting down with Jane Barlow, an herbalist and founder of Barlow Herbal, who literally grew up in plant medicine—her dad was a college-educated medicinal botanist, and herbal healing was just normal in her house. And while Jane’s own menopause experience was basically a “nothing burger” (yes, we unpack that), she’s helped thousands of women navigate the real stuff: irregular/heavy periods, mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, and sleep that suddenly falls apart.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why perimenopause doesn’t have to be miserable
• The simple starter herb she recommends for almost everyone: red raspberry leaf tea
• Sleep support that can calm a “monkey mind”: valerian root + blue vervain
• Adaptogens for mood + resilience (and why modern stress makes us think we’re “broken”)
• Post-menopause vitality: energy, libido, hormones, and the herbs Jane personally uses
• The deeper message beneath all of it: learning to trust your body again

And then… Jane unexpectedly challenges me to something I did not see coming:
One hour a week with zero technology. No doom scrolling. No dopamine drip. Just you, quiet, and your nervous system finally getting a signal that you’re safe.

If you’re an overachieving millennial mom trying to stop fixing yourself and start listening to yourself—this one is for you.

And beyond the episode, I made something for you to listen to yourself more. It's a Cycle Syncing guide. A way for you to get in touch with your cycle through your food, your exercise, and your social interactions. Download it here.

Find Jane: BarlowHerbal.com + @barlowherbal on Instagram + Barlow Herbal on YouTube
(And yes… she actually does sell the products we talk about 😉)

Jane's tea recommendation:  www.starwestbotanicals.com

(pssst. She was spot on about the red raspberry leaf tea. It's been a month of me drinking it regularly and the difference is obvious in my cramps and my period)

About Jane: 

Jane Barlow is a master herbalist, health advocate, and founder of Barlow Herbal Specialties, carrying forward the legacy of her father, medicinal botanist Dr. Max G. Barlow. With decades of experience in herbal medicine, fitness, and holistic wellness, Jane teaches people how to use medicinal plants to support the body’s natural ability to heal.

Before fully immersing herself in herbal medicine, Jane spent over 20 years in the fitness industry, including co-owning a gym with her sister. Her work bridges physical health, nervous system balance, and spiritual awareness, helping people reconnect with their intuition and take ownership of their well-being.

Jane is also the author of Be Your Own Shaman, a modern expansion of her father’s classic work From the Shepherd’s Purse, and shares herbal wisdom through her YouTube channel and podcast appearances.

Have you felt it lately?
That pull to rearrange, clean, and reimagine your space — not for your kids this time, but for you?

In this episode of The Next Phase Podcast, Stacey explores the nesting energy that comes back during perimenopause — the intuitive urge to clear out the old and create space for the woman you’re becoming.

This isn’t just about cleaning. It’s about energy work.
Because every drawer you clear, every object you release, every time you light sage or a candle with intention — you’re telling your body: It’s safe to let go.

You’ll learn:
 🌿 Why nesting instincts return in perimenopause — and what they’re trying to tell you
 🧺 How clutter creates stagnant energy (and the fastest way to shift it)
 🔥 How to perform a simple smudging ritual to clear your home’s energy field
💫 And how to join our new community — The Next Phase Collective — for live body-doubling sessions starting in January

If you’ve been craving a reset — in your home, your mood, and your energy — this one’s for you.

🕯️ Mentioned in this episode

• Join The Next Phase Collective on Facebook 
• Get Stacey’s Cycle Syncing Guide to balance your food, fitness, and energy with your hormones
  
• Follow Stacey on Instagram → @stacehutson
  
  
• Email Stacey → stacey@staceyhutson.com

💛 Connect + Share

If this episode resonates, share it with a friend who’s feeling stuck in her space — or tag @stacehutson on Instagram and tell me your favorite takeaway.
 Your stories help other millennial moms find this show — and remember they’re not alone in this wild, beautiful phase of life.

This episode is my love letter to turning 40 — and to the woman who helped me do it with less fear and more fire.

As I step into this next phase, I’ve been thinking a lot about how our culture taught us to see women in their 40s and 50s: tired, stressed, and quietly disappearing. But then Diane Keaton came along and flipped the script.

In this episode, I talk about:

• The fear of losing relevance as we age
• How movies like This Is 40 (and Something’s Gotta Give) shaped our expectations of midlife
• What Diane Keaton taught me about presence, weirdness, slowing down, and pleasure
• Why I’m rewriting the rules of aging — starting with a fabulous hat

And of course, I’ll share the seven lessons I’m bringing into my forties, inspired by Diane herself.

So if you’re hovering around forty — or already in it — and you’re wondering what comes next, this one’s for you.

🎂 Join the 40 Club:
DM me @stacehutson
and tell me how you’re celebrating your next phase.

What if the “woo” you’ve been side-eyeing all these years is actually the missing piece in your perimenopause puzzle?

In this episode, Stacey peels back the layers on energy work — not as a mystical concept, but as a real, biological, and emotional process that every woman experiences as her hormones shift.

She breaks down how changing estrogen and progesterone levels make your nervous system more sensitive (a.k.a. why you cry over dog food commercials and snap at your partner), and how that same sensitivity might actually be your superpower.

You’ll learn:
 🔹 How hormonal changes make you more intuitive and energetically aware
 🔹 What “energy work” really means (and why it’s not all linen dresses and crystals)
 🔹 Why slowing down — not pushing through — is the secret to feeling better
 🔹 Simple daily rituals that help you regulate your energy and reconnect to yourself

This isn’t about becoming more “woo.” It’s about finally listening to your body’s language — your energy — and realizing it’s been trying to guide you all along.

Listen now and discover how to work with your energy instead of against it.

💌 Want to keep the conversation going?
 Join Stacey’s email list for early access to upcoming Woo Series episodes and energy-regulating tools for your next phase (and get your free cycle syncing guide when you do).

Stay in touch here: stacey@stacey-hutson.com

Instagram: @stacehutson

You know that feeling when you’ve been eating the same breakfast for years — same coffee, same smoothie, same handful of nuts — and one day your body just says nope?

Yeah… same.

In this episode, we’re talking about what it actually means to eat with your cycle — and why your body doesn’t want the same foods every day. I’ll walk you through how your hormones shift each week, what your body is craving (and why), and how the temperature of your food might be the most overlooked key to digestion, energy, and mood.

You’ll learn:
 ✨ How your hormones change through the four phases — and what to eat in each one
 ✨ Why digestion (and even your body temperature) play a huge role in how you feel
 ✨ My favorite foods to reduce bloating, boost energy, and balance mood
 ✨ How to start cycle syncing your meals without overhauling your diet

This episode will help you see food differently — not as something to control, but as one of the most enjoyable, affordable, and intuitive forms of hormone support out there.

Oh — and you’ll never look at a cold smoothie in winter the same way again. 😉

📘 Mentioned in the Episode

• Cycle Syncing Food Guide — your free cheat sheet with what to eat in each phase + easy breakfast ideas.
  👉 Download it here
• Dandy Blend (the dandelion coffee alternative I love)
• Fermented vs. shelf-stable pickles — how to tell which ones actually have probiotics

🩸 Phases in a Nutshell

Menstrual (Winter): Warm, mineral-rich comfort food — think soups, stews, and cozy meals that feel like a weighted blanket.
Follicular (Spring): Fresh and vibrant — leafy greens, berries, and foods that support detox and energy.
Ovulatory (Summer): Light, colorful, cooling foods — salads, fruit, and omega-3s.
Luteal (Fall): Grounding, fiber-rich comfort — roasted veggies, root foods, cinnamon tea, and dark chocolate.

🧘‍♀️ Join The Next Phase Community

If this episode made you rethink your morning smoothie or late-night snack, share it with a friend who’s ready to work with her hormones, not against them.
Follow me on Instagram [@stacehutson] for more cycle-syncing tips and hormone-supportive living.

We live in a world that tells us to “optimize every moment” — even the ones when we’re brushing our teeth. As overachieving, multitasking moms, we’ve replaced boredom with productivity and filled every quiet space with someone else’s voice.

In this episode, Stacey explores what happens when we never stop consuming and how the Default Mode Network in our brains literally needs silence to process, heal, and create.

You’ll learn:

• Why silence feels uncomfortable — and what’s really happening in your brain
• How perimenopause shifts our body’s need for rest and recovery
• The science (and woo) behind why quiet heals
• Easy ways to create more “blank spaces” in your day — from silent showers to music-only drives

This is your permission slip to turn down the noise, stop fixing yourself, and start listening to your own voice again.

And yes, Stacey fully gets the irony of it all — a podcaster telling you to listen to fewer podcasts. We'll talk to Alanis about it later.

If you try a “blank space” moment this week — tell Stacey about it!
 📩 Email her at stacey@stacey-hutson.com

 or DM her on Instagram 

@stacehutson

Remember 5th grade health class? Pads, tampons, cramps, done.

But what if your gym teacher had told you this: your period isn’t just five days of bleeding. It’s a map of your body’s hormonal changes. And if you learn to listen, you’ll discover a different set of superpowers every single week of your cycle.

That’s the foundation of cycle syncing — and it’s what we’re diving into today.

In this episode, I’m breaking down:

• Why so many of us high-achieving millennial moms are burned out and disconnected from our bodies
• How diet and fitness culture has been wrecking our hormonal health
• The difference between the male 24-hour cycle and the female 28-day infradian cycle (and why it matters)
• The four phases of your cycle — menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal — and how to align food, fitness, and energy with each one
• What cycle syncing actually looks like in real life (yes, including naps and Gilmore Girls marathons)

This isn’t about doing more. It’s about finally listening to your body — and discovering that your hormones aren’t the enemy, they’re the instruction manual.

✨ Grab your free Cycle Syncing Map — the fridge-friendly cheat sheet that breaks it all down for you 

🎧 And make sure to hit subscribe — cycle syncing will be a recurring theme on this show, and you’ll want to come back to this episode again and again.

Remember TRL after school, low-rise jeans that never passed the squat check, and crying through Titanic in theaters (every single time)? We were unstoppable in our 20s—CrossFit at dawn, cocktails at midnight, living on four hours of sleep and audacity. Then we became moms… and suddenly our gold-star perfectionism turned into exhaustion, anxiety, and maybe even a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis.

Now? Our bodies aren’t letting us “just push through” anymore. The gray hairs, the 2 a.m. doom spirals, our hormones losing the plot—welcome to perimenopause, the era nobody prepared us for.

I’m Stacey Hutson—wellness chef, health coach, mom of two, and former cohost of the Mother Plus Podcast—and this is The Next Phase Podcast. Each week I’ll bring you the wellness tools and the woo practices that help us navigate perimenopause with more energy, more clarity, and a lot more fun.

Subscribe now so you don’t miss the first full episode—because if we do this right, our 40s might just be the best years yet.

Welcome to The Next Phase Podcast! I’m Stacey Hutson—wellness chef, health coach, mom of two, and former co-host of the Mother Plus Podcast. This show is for millennial moms who are staring down a season of life we never thought would actually come: perimenopause.

If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking things like:

• Why don’t I have any energy anymore?
• Is it just me, or did my body change overnight?
• Can I balance my hormones naturally, without hormone treatment? 
• Wait… am I really old enough for perimenopause??

Then you’re in the right place.

In this first episode, I’m sharing why I started The Next Phase, what you can expect each week (think wellness meets woo, science meets soul, and a lot of honest conversations about our capacity), and how we’re going to figure this out together—without shame, confusion, or feeling like you’re completely alone in it.

This isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating space for the questions—and finding a better way through this next phase of life.