Pulling Threads

About Pulling Threads

Pulling Threads is a podcast for women navigating life, career, past and current trauma, breakups and divorce, motherhood, reinvention, and the brave work of becoming who they’re meant to be. Hosted by therapist, coach, and founder of The LooM Life, Leslie Mathews, JD, MSW, this show blends trauma-informed guidance, nervous system education, and meaningful conversations about the patterns that shape our relationships, identity, and purpose. Each episode explores the complicated places where life asks us to grow — healing from emotional abuse, rebuilding after divorce, midlife identity shifts, attachment wounds, dating again, motherhood, and rediscovering your voice. Many guests share their own stories of reinvention, entrepreneurship, career pivots, and stepping into authenticity, offering inspiration and practical wisdom for women building new chapters. Through expert interviews, personal storytelling, and mindfulness-based tools, Pulling Threads supports women who are healing, expanding, and creating aligned lives and businesses. It’s a space for those navigating toxic dynamics, strengthening emotional regulation, or following the pull toward something more authentic and more fulfilling. If you’re ready to untangle old patterns, trust your intuition, and weave a life — and identity — that feels grounded, empowered, and true, this podcast is where your next chapter begins.

Publisher

Leslie Mathews

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Jan 2025

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

111 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Your First Stop in Divorce Isn’t a Lawyer | Olivia Howell

   What if the first call you made when you were thinking about divorce wasn't to a lawyer? Olivia Dreizen Howell, co-founder and CEO of Fresh Starts Registry, joins Leslie Mathews to talk about what people actually need when life comes apart, and why so few of us know how to ask for it.🧵 Free 15-minute resource chat with Olivia: https://calendly.com/oliviafreshstarts/divorce-resource-consults-free🧵 Not sure yet whether to stay or go? Mending or Moving On: https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-moving-on🧵 Going through divorce now? THROUGH with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com/sp/through-divorce-programOlivia grew up in a family where divorce was "the water we swam in," and she still felt isolated and scared whenher own marriage ended in 2019. So she and her sister Jenny built the world's first divorce registry. Today FreshStarts is a network of about 180 vetted divorce professionals, with free workshops, free e-books, a magazineand several podcasts, all free for the people going through it.In this episode:• Why the first stop on the divorce train isn't a "shark" lawyer• The hidden barriers to getting help: unsafe phones and inboxes, unclear pricing, and not knowing what youneed• How a stay-at-home parent can start building a nest egg• How to choose a divorce coach or strategist without getting the ick• Building your hype team: coach, CDFA, real estate and mortgage pros, therapist, healer• What divorce professionals miss about what's happening inside the homeCHAPTERS00:00 Welcome: who shows up when life falls apart?01:50 Meet Olivia Howell & Fresh Starts Registry05:20 "Divorce was the water we swam in"07:20 Two sisters, two very different fresh starts10:40 Bootstrapping a company with heart11:50 Free 15-minute calls & why it's not just for divorce14:50 The real barriers to getting help20:40 How to reach out safely22:20 Pricing, the ick & stay-at-home parents25:10 Why your first stop isn't a lawyer31:00 How Fresh Starts keeps support free33:20 Shame-free, inclusive & naming emotional abuse36:20 Why free support matters so much38:30 No upsell, no obligation42:40 What divorce professionals miss45:20 What's really happening inside the home50:30 Building your hype team: who's in the network53:00 Where to find OliviaCONNECT WITH OLIVIA & FRESH STARTSFresh Starts Registry: https://www.freshstartsregistry.comFree e-book, How to Get Divorced as a Stay-at-Home Parent: https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/books-inventory/how-to-get-divorced-as-a-stay-at-home-parentFree workshops & events: https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/public-events-1Divorce Guide Magazine: https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/divorceguidemagazineA Fresh Story podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-fresh-story/id1652881132Newsletter: https://freshstartsregistry.substack.comInstagram: @freshstartsregistry | @oliviahowellThreads: @oliviahowellDivorce professionals, join the network: https://www.freshstartsregistry.com/join-usCONNECT WITH LESLIEhttps://theloomlife.comInstagram: @the.loom.lifeTikTok: @leslieellenmathewsThis conversation is for education and support. It isn't legal, financial or therapeutic advice. If you're in danger, call 911. The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788.#DivorceSupport #FreshStart #DivorceRecovery #SingleMom #PullingThreads

2. 

   14 Oct 2026

   Why I Call Myself a Guide, Not a Coach

   Divorce coach or therapist? If neither feels quite right, there's a reason, and it isn't you. Here's why I callmyself a guide.▶ Work with Leslie: https://theloomlife.com▶ Still deciding whether to stay or go? Start with Mending or Moving On:https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-moving-onWhen a marriage or long-term partnership ends, therapy can feel like it's for something broken.Coaching can feel too "let's make a plan" while the ground is still shifting under your feet. So capable, high-functioning women white-knuckle it alone, or settle for support that's close but not quite right, andwonder why something essential still feels missing.In this solo episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie Mathews (trauma-informed therapist, former attorney, anda woman who has walked through her own divorce) names the difference between coaching, therapy,and guidance. She explains why divorce isn't a problem to be solved. It's a passage to be movedthrough, and passages need guides.In this episode:• Divorce coaching vs. therapy: what each one does well, and where each one falls short• Why you're not stuck between options. You're in fog.• What a guide actually does (the mountain-in-the-fog metaphor)• The four dimensions Leslie holds with every woman: emotional, nervous system, practical/legal, andtransformational• Why cortisol, hypervigilance, and numbness are your body trying to keep you safe• Why highly capable women often find divorce the hardest thing they can't "figure out"• The LooM Life: unraveling as the beginning of a new weavingCHAPTERS00:00 Why I call myself a guide01:00 When therapy and coaching don't quite fit02:25 What was missing in my own divorce03:10 What a coach does, and when you can't do coaching04:20 What a therapist does05:05 What a guide does: the mountain in the fog06:45 The four dimensions I hold with every woman09:00 Unraveling as the beginning of a new weaving09:20 Who this work is for10:10 A passage, not a problem to solve11:20 How to work with meWHEREVER YOU ARE IN THE PASSAGE→ Deciding whether to stay or go: Mending or Moving On https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-moving-on→ In the thick of divorce: THROUGH https://theloomlife.com/sp/through-divorce-program→ On the other side and ready to land: Mindful Untangling communityhttps://theloomlife.com/membership→ Work with Leslie as your guide: https://theloomlife.comIf this episode landed for you, share it with a woman in your world who's in the fog right now. It might bewhat gives her the words for what she needs.CONNECTInstagram: @the.loom.lifeTikTok: @leslieellenmathewsWebsite: https://theloomlife.comPulling Threads: Weaving Authenticity is a podcast for women about the hidden patterns and truths ofmajor life transitions: divorce, the end of long-term partnerships, identity, and becoming who you are onthe other side. Not the sanitized version. The real one.Guidance and coaching through The LooM Life are not therapy or legal advice. For therapy with Leslie(Florida residents), visit https://loomlifetherapy.com.#DivorceRecovery #DivorceSupport #LifeAfterDivorce #WomenInTransition #PullingThreads

3. 

   23 Sept 2026

   Why your friend gets meaner when you’re happy

   You drove home replaying a comment that was “just a joke.” Someone close to you gets a little sharper every timeyour life gets better — and you’re starting to wonder if you’re the problem.You’re not. Here’s what’s actually happening, and what to do about it without blowing up the relationship.→ Work with me: https://theloomlife.com/coachingThis episode is about the person who needs you to stay small. It is not a diagnosis, and Leslie is direct about why: a label becomes a place to hide, and you end up spending all your energy proving what they are and none of it on what you need to do. So instead, patterns — five of them. Your joy reads as a threat. They correct you, always wrapped in “I’m just being honest.” They devalue the person who makes you happy. They invite you back into who you used to be, which isn’t nostalgia, it’s recruitment. And the one that tells you everything: how you feel after you leave.Then the harder question — why your happiness bothers them at all. Their comments aren’t a map of your flaws.They’re a map of their discomfort. Every relationship has unspoken rules and a role for each person, and when you heal, you stop playing your part. Harriet Lerner named the response decades ago: change-back reactions. Nobody says “change back.” They say “you’ve changed,” like it’s a crime.This matters more than venting. Decades of research on couples and their social circles — including a 16-year studyof married couples — found that the negative side of friendship, disapproval and interference, predicted divorcemore strongly than the supportive side protected against it. Someone chipping away at the person you love isapplying pressure, and pressure works.Leslie shares that she is living a version of this right now, from both sides: the person who changed and heard“you’ve changed,” and the partner watching someone she loves do brave, hard work while others pull at thethreads of it. What she’s had to learn — you can’t out-kind someone’s envy.The last third is practical: trust the aftertaste, take your joy to people who can hold it, stop defending what theycriticize, right-size the relationship instead of ending it, what to do when it’s your partner’s friend, and how tobuild a circle that roots for you.For anyone who has been told they’ve changed like it was an accusation.CHAPTERS00:00 The person who gets meaner when you’re happy01:20 Five patterns (and why I won’t diagnose them)04:10 Why your happiness threatens them06:55 What the research says — and my own version of this08:20 Why empathic people keep them close10:00 Healing uphill: when your circle punishes progress11:30 Six things you can actually do14:15 Your happiness is not a provocationMOREOngoing support for women: https://theloomlife.com/membershipInstagram: @the.loom.lifeThis channel is educational content, not therapy. Watching does not create a clinician-client relationship. Therapyclients are seen in Florida only, through loomlifetherapy.com.

Who has been a guest on Pulling Threads

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Courtney Carter
• Amber Shaw
• Liza Lounsbury
• Carly Hill
• Dr Stephanie Thrower

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

40

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0