Midlife isn’t a breakdown. It’s a data point. When you’ve built a life that looks solid on paper—but your body, bandwidth, or curiosity says “there’s more”—it’s time for a different kind of conversation. In this Second Wind episode, Rosemarie Beltz sits down with Teri Trifiletti, a former cardiovascular perfusionist who quietly leveraged her clinical career into real estate ownership, greater autonomy, and a life designed with intention.

In midlife, the question isn’t whether you’re capable. It’s whether the life you built still fits.

In this episode of Second Opinion, Rosemarie Beltz launches Second Wind—conversations for high-functioning adults who aren’t broken, but ready to evolve. The focus isn’t dramatic reinvention. It’s strategic expansion: using your experience as leverage, not a limitation.

Rosemarie is joined by Teri Trifiletti, a former cardiovascular perfusionist who spent more than two decades in high-acuity cardiac surgery before transitioning fully out of the OR. While still practicing, Teri began investing in real estate, learning through ownership and building a portfolio over time. A relocation to Charlotte became the pivot point that helped her step into full-time property management—creating more flexibility, more control, and a different relationship with work.

This conversation is about what many professionals quietly carry: the golden handcuffs of stability, the invisible toll of constant readiness, and the moment you realize success is not the same as freedom.

Key themes explored:

• Why “successful on paper” can still feel misaligned in real life
• How clinical skills transfer directly into ownership, entrepreneurship, and leadership
• The hidden courage required to leave certainty—even when you’re good at it
• What perfusion teaches you about risk, pressure, documentation, and decision-making
• A grounded entry point into real estate that doesn’t require a license or hype
• How to get unstuck by separating real constraints from mindset loops

This episode is for you if you’re grateful for what you’ve built—but you’re ready for more choice, more autonomy, and a life that supports your nervous system, not just your résumé.

Listen in, then take five quiet minutes afterward to ask: What would change if your experience worked for you—fully?

Second Opinion is where science meets story—and better questions lead to better decisions.

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💡 Have a topic you’d love for us to cover? Reach out at www.rosemarieb.com.

Feeling Behind in January Isn’t a Failure — It’s Biology
The Difference Between Falling Behind and Responding to Reality

January has a way of making capable, high-functioning people feel like they’re already behind. But that feeling isn’t a personal failure — it’s a biological response.

In this solo episode of Second Opinion, host Rosemarie Beltz unpacks why January often feels heavier than we expect, especially in midlife. Drawing from stress physiology, circadian biology, and lived clinical experience, she reframes the pressure to “reset” and explains what’s actually happening in the body and brain when motivation dips and clarity feels harder to reach.

This conversation isn’t about pushing harder or fixing yourself. It’s about understanding the difference between falling behind and responding intelligently to reality — and why midlife is often the moment that distinction becomes clear.

In this episode, you’ll explore:

• Why January disrupts energy, mood, and motivation at a physiological level
• How decision fatigue and cognitive load show up more sharply in midlife
• Why motivation isn’t a reliable starting point — and what works instead
• The role of systems in reducing stress and supporting sustainable change
• How to release shame and recalibrate without quitting or checking out

This episode is for you if you’re successful on paper, thoughtful by nature, and quietly questioning whether the traditional January reset actually serves you anymore.

Listen in, take what resonates, and share this episode with someone who needs permission to slow down without losing momentum.

Second Opinion exists to help you ask better questions — about health, timing, and the choices that shape how we live — so midlife becomes a season of clarity, not pressure.

Second Opinion is created, written, and produced by Rosemarie Beltz.

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💡 Have a topic you’d love for us to cover? Reach out at www.rosemarieb.com.

Why So Many Capable People Feel Stuck After 50
The quiet gap between experience and action

This episode is for you if you’re successful on paper, unsettled in real life, and ready to move from overthinking to aligned action—without making reinvention dramatic.

Midlife can feel disorienting when you’re sitting on competence, experience, and a growing awareness that something no longer fits. In this conversation, host Rosemarie Beltz sits down with Sairan Aqrawi—engineer turned business strategist and reinvention mentor—to explore what actually helps people move forward in midlife: clarity, action, and consistency.

Sairan’s story begins long before any career pivot. Evacuated from Iraq through a U.S. military operation in 1996, she arrived in the U.S. with a suitcase, $300, and a depth of resilience that would later shape her work. That lived experience now informs how she supports midlife women and men navigating career transitions, identity shifts, caregiving demands, and the pressure of other people’s timelines.

Together, Rosemarie and Sairan dismantle the myth of “too late,” name the trap of faux action (preparing without momentum), and reframe midlife as a prime decade for selective ambition—where time, health, relationships, and energy become non-negotiable.

Key themes you’ll hear:

• Why midlife is a reassessment—and how language shapes outcomes
• The clarity–action–consistency framework (and where most people get stuck)
• How identity evolves after disruption, immigration, and caregiving
• Why competence—not age or gender—is what truly carries authority
• A practical first step: uncovering your “hidden gem” through consistent compliments

As a gift to Second Opinion listeners, Sairan is offering a complimentary 15-minute discovery session for anyone who mentions the podcast interview. If this conversation sparked clarity—or questions—you can connect with her via her website https://www.sairanaqrawi.com or reach out on Instagram or LinkedIn.

Listen in, reflect, and choose one small action that proves you’re still in motion.

Second Opinion is where science meets story—and age is always the advantage.

Warmly, Rosemarie

🔗 Follow & Subscribe to never miss an episode. If you love the show, leave a review—it helps others get a second opinion!

💡 Have a topic you’d love for us to cover? Reach out at www.rosemarieb.com.