As I reflect on the anniversary of 44 years on Earth, I’m filled with so much gratitude and reflection. It’s said (clearly by someone in their later years) that “Life begins at forty.” And while I feel like my whole life has been full and a vibrant exploration of living, these last few in my 40’s have shaped me into a version of myself younger Stacy wouldn’t recognize. Certainly, I strive to be the person she would have felt safe with – the person my inner child needed.
So what did I learn, and how did I get here?
What Family Means
Becoming a Family of 6
June 28, 2024 was an incredibly special time for us. Papers finally reflected what we’ve known in our hearts and home for years prior (1,247 days to be exact). We adopted our 4th child, and the words that come to mind for me were:
Complete abundance of love. Our family is complete. We completed treatment foster care. Complete gratitude for how this journey helped us grow.
Above and beyond anything else I’ve done in my life, choosing to parent with such intention was life changing.
Not just for Nick or because of what they brought to our lives, but because of who it helped me transform into. In the training to because a treatment foster parent, I did a lot of personal work on my own traumas. With my own parenting skills, I focused on how to lead with compassion and empathy rather than reactivity.
Finn, now 17, recently told me “When you started taking those parenting classes, I could really tell. And when I noticed you were making the effort to be such a good mom and not yell, it made me want to be a better person and do the same, too.”
I mean, what more could I ask for?
Creating Boundaries with Parents
In doing that work to be a better parent, I realized part of my own healing needed to be creating better boundaries with my own. Years of my own therapy finally clicked in. I watched my own children cry from the same triggers I still struggle with. And realized, it’s my job to protect them. I can’t change my youth, but I can improve theirs.
While I have spent several years working on my own feelings, Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents by Lindsay C. Gibson, PsyD was incredibly helpful towards my healing. Highly recommend to anyone who has a strained relationship with your parents. It gave me a different perspective to the why behind behavior that often isn’t intended as it ends up coming across.
It also helped me realize that I can forgive and let go, for me.
Reconnecting & Expanding Community
While working on becoming the person my younger self would be proud of, building positive relationships has been critical. Family doesn’t just mean shared blood! When the kids were younger, it literally took a village. We met so many wonderful humans who helped us find our footing as new parents trying to figure it all out.
The thing is – it take a village to not only raise a family, but to find time for work, play, and learning and growing as a person. It’s HARD to make friends as adults! But the last few years, we’ve growing our communities. As half of our children are now legal adults, we face the preverbal empty nest. But instead of feeling “empty,” my life feels full with friendship.
I’m so grateful for those I’ve connected with. From mahjong, pottery, and a job that doesn’t feel like work, I’ve been able to bringing my besties on to my podcast and travel with them. It has also been wonderful to push myself out of my comfort zone in connecting more in person. Dare I say, I even willingly hug these days!
Last but not least, I’ve been intentionally engaging in more meaningful relationships with you through book clubs, authentic content, and being mindful every single day.
Integrity (and Sanity) Matters
Bold can be beautiful…and messy and difficult and scary. Two big shifts happened in my professional life over the past few years that took some soul-searching, values alignment, and finding some sanity all for the integrity of what I stand behind.
Going Solo on the Podcast
In March 2022, Dr. Sarah and I ended a 500-episode run of our weekly podcast (The Whole View, formally The Paleo View). She left to focus on her (highly successful) Nutrivore, and I stuck around to expand the podcast to more general wellness topics, bringing on a myriad of guests (I still can’t believe my very first guest on my solo podcast was Jeffrey Marsh!)
After a 2.5 year run that I’m so incredibly proud of, in December of 2024 I officially ended my solo weekly podcast, The Whole View with Stacy Toth. It was time – I had incredible guests, was able to lift up so many important and personal topics, and mostly enjoyed talking to new people every week. But the reality of 12+ years of a weekly podcast caught up with me and it was time for something new.
…and then I took 7 months off. It wasn’t intentional. In November 2024 I announced I would be shifting to a new podcast Is It Real: Fact-Checking Everything with more periodic drops of a series of shows dedicated to one topic to deep dive into the facts and truth behind something, as well as the misinformation. I started excitedly researching and then quickly realized with the 2024 election and the MAHA movement, I became paralyzed by the barrage of a constant “unprecendented” news cycle.
So I scrapped that idea. It’s so hard for me to “give up” something. To quit. But for my own mental health, it was the right thing to do. And then I decided… we could just have fun. Which, frankly, I think we all need more of!
In June 2025 I launched Real Talk, Whole Life. In the short time since I’ve started I can honestly say I’m enjoying these less structured, chatty episodes (it reminds me of the banter I had with Dr. Sarah!), especially with my best friend, Daynah Burnett.
Beautycounter’s End and Partnering with Shaklee
In April 2024 Beautycounter abruptly (like literally hours notice) shut down. This loss was beyond difficult. I not only was a top leader and top seller in the entire company, it was my identity. It is scary. I had a lot to lose in walking away completely, I am the breadwinner for my family.
I am so proud of the work that I did with Beautycounter. The gratitude I have, for the movement I can tell my grandchildren I was a part of – changing laws and lives, can never be taken away.
For 6 years I was a walking Beautycounter infomercial. Which is why the conclusion deciding not to re-partner with them was a surprise, even to myself. Open Letter on Beautycounter’s Return (and the Addendum from June 2025)
In reality, it was a decision to make about who I want to be, what I want to represent, and how I want to show up each day. And who that is, is someone who aligned and fully committed to the values that are important to me: stability, kindness, compassion, family, balance, and inclusion as much as it is about safe, effective, and proven products. It’s about being the example I want for my children. And about aligning with a brand that values and treats others with the same respect which I’d like to be treated.
After researching 100+ companies I landed with Shaklee. I have a lot of thoughts. First and foremost: gratitude. I was deep in grief, confused about what to do and how to be of service. Finding a brand committed to it’s field with longevity AND safety standards wasn’t something I expected to find.
I’m not alone in this journey, and I’m so grateful for the colleagues who have become friends. What a gift that my job doesn’t feel like work. 
Creativity Cures
Not only did I re-kindle my love affair with reading, I turned a gifted ceramics class into my daily sanctuary and a *gasp* new business!
Back to Books
I used to love books so much that my mother took them away when I was grounded in high school. It’s why I choose an English degree. But then I started a blog with daily posts and wrote 3 books in 5 years, all while working a full time job reading legal documents and raising 3 small kids. It led to an unintentional decade-long hiatus from pleasure reading.
Which is why I owed a HUGE thank you to my dear friend Anna Vig, who re-ignited my love by sending me a copy of Elin Hilderbrand’s Hotel Nantucket. It was so fun to chat with friends (virtually) as I got back into paper books! That’s something I haven’t done since college!
I wrapped up 2022 with my best dozen books of the year. In 2023 it continued. You can get a run down of all 52 books I read. Last year I hit 55 total books. And, of course, this year I’m still going strong. We even added a “book report” to the podcast!
Not to mention, I wanted to continue the “naughty book club” started by Anna – and did so with YOU. Last year I started the NBC and now those “strangers” have all become friends. We dream of taking a trip together outside the group text! It’s been amazing to have a community to chat nerdy things all month long through our group chat and on our monthly Zoom Call!
Ceramics
Last but not least… the thing I didn’t know I needed. Call it an antidote to perfectionism, a call to creativity, a way to self express while turning off all the “noise” normally plaguing my worry-prone-mind.
I have loved all forms of artistic expressions throughout my whole life. I’ve explored canvas painting in elementary school to refinishing furniture from garage sales and trash piles with my mother growing up. I even made my own clothes in high school! Artistic expression has always been a part of my life.
After art classes in college, I dabbled in jewelry making, cake decorating, mosaic and multi-media expression, cooking, and writing. A lot of writing, about cooking… 3 bestselling cookbooks!
But I never would have called myself an “artist” of any form. It was the ceramics class Matt gifted me for the 2023 holidays that has taken my heart. Now I have found a passion for creating art out of useful objects for everyday.
Life is hard enough, let’s add some beauty to make each day a little better.
Aimee McNee said it best in her Ted Talk, click the above to hear the powerful words that have literally changed my life.
Mission Makers
Which is how Mission Makers came about. Mission Makers is not just a place for me to share my art, but more importantly – a place to build community with a shared mission of making the world a better place. Art has historically been a way for people to unite over shared values and beliefs, to express themselves, and to collaborate with fellow creatives.
Mission Makers aspires to do just that while giving back to causes that can make a difference in the world. So yes, you can shop my pottery, more importantly – it’s a way for me to connect with you and the local community.
All of this had let to me feeling more fulfilled and at peace than I can ever remember. And if that’s not becoming the person my inner child needed, I don’t know what is.
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