Unstoppable At Any Age

About Unstoppable At Any Age

Inspiring stories and science-backed insight from women who continue to build strength, performance, and possibility with age. Hosted by Dr. Shawna Darou, ND, Unstoppable at Any Age is the voice of Women Who Move - a global movement grounded in one belief: how we move today determines how we live tomorrow. Each episode features conversations with athletes, scientists, founders, and leaders who are expanding what is possible in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond. These women are training, competing, leading, and building lives defined by strength, independence, and momentum.

Publisher

Dr. Shawna Darou, ND

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

2 Apr 2026

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 32 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   31. A Life You Don't Need to Escape From: Rebekah Streeter on Burnout, Rest, and the 60-Second Reset

   Rebekah Streeter woke up in the middle of the night so dizzy she didn't know what was happening. She was helping run two bed and breakfasts with young kids at home, and her body had finally decided she couldn't keep pushing through. In this episode of Unstoppable at Any Age, I talk with Rebekah, founder of Voda Retreats, about burnout, rest, and building a life you don't need to escape from. We talk a lot on this show about moving and training, but your nervous system is part of that picture too, and this conversation is about giving it some tools. Before COVID, Rebekah's days were built around other people: guests, kids, family, and a business that never closed. The stress showed up in her body first, as pain, inflammation, exhaustion, and anxiety, and then as vertigo that made it hard to drive, look at a screen, or sometimes even walk from room to room. She had a head start from years of dance training, studying kinesiology and anatomy, and learning breathing practices, and she built her recovery from there with help from a team of practitioners. What worked was small and repeatable: a ten-minute walk, chair yoga when pushing made things worse, short weighted workouts, and breaks scheduled into the day on purpose. She turned what she learned into Voda Retreats, which makes aromatherapy nasal wands, a meditation candle, and wellness kits designed as physical cues to pause. The wands carry a QR code to a 60-second guided breathing exercise, using the connection between scent and memory to turn a pause into a habit. She also hosts a micro podcast called Calm Currents. Toward the end, she walks us through one of her favourite resets, and you can try it right along with her: breathe in through your nose for four, out through your mouth for six, for about a minute. Only do it somewhere safe, and not with your eyes closed if you're driving. In this episode, we discuss: The night vertigo forced her to stop, and what had been building in her body beforehand How she rebuilt movement from a ten-minute walk, chair yoga, and short strength sessions, and why she respects her limits now Why her biggest advice is to do less, not to add more to your wellness routine What a 60-second break actually does for your nervous system: changing position, getting outside, and slow breathing Her case for giving everyone the equivalent of a smoke break, without the cigarettes How she uses scent as a physical cue to turn a pause into a habit Why she designed her products for different kinds of learners What "a life you don't need to escape from" means to her: a small house, good food, good friends Why saying no to just one thing today can change how the whole week feels Asking for help, and why the generation above us often finds it hardest to rest A simple breathing practice you can do along with us What unstoppable at any age means to someone who has learned to take breaks One of my favourite moments from this conversation was when Rebekah said: "You don't actually have to do more. I think you just need to do less." Rebekah Streeter She doesn't mean you need to stop caring for the people in your life. She means that if you can't find an hour, find five minutes, and if you can't find five minutes, find sixty seconds. If you're the person everyone else leans on, try her challenge before you press play on anything else today: pick one thing to say no to, and give yourself sixty seconds. 💜 Join my free community, #WomenWhoMove: drshawnadarou.com/start-here 📖 Download my free guide, Fueling for Hormones & Metabolic Health: drshawnadarou.com/fueling-for-health 🌿 Explore Voda Retreats: vodaretreats.com (also available on well.ca and at select Halifax-area shops) 📲 Follow Voda Retreats: @thevodaexperience (https://www.instagram.com/thevodaexperience/)

2. 

   15 Oct 2026

   30. I've Waited My Whole Life for My 40s - Jen Gowers on Success, Motherhood, and Loving the Body You're In

   Jen Gowers was at the park with her four-year-old when a principal called. Her daughter said, "Mama, I thought we were just gonna be in the park together today." That sentence was the moment Jen knew she needed to make new choices. In this episode of Unstoppable at Any Age, I talk with Jen, an instructional and leadership coach for schools in New York City, about redefining success, building a career around her family, and why she loves being 46. It's a different flavor from my usual episodes, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Jen started out as a dance major, raised in a family of dancers with a studio in a small town. An elective sociology course changed her direction, and twenty-plus years later she has been a teacher, literacy coach, department head, director, executive director, and chief. Today she coaches teachers and school leaders freelance across four organizations, including a project supporting teachers and students at Rikers Island, on a schedule that lets her handle school drop-off and pick-up for her daughter. She also credits three women for how she sees aging: her mother, her great aunt, and her aunt, all performers, who lived into their 80s and 90s and showed her that laughter, wisdom, and confidence keep growing in the second half of life. We spend the second half of our conversation on her relationship with her body, from growing up in the diet culture of the 80s and 90s, to the art therapy in her 20s that taught her to see what's real before trying to judge it, to the new chapter she's in now, adding strength training for her bones and muscle while keeping the walking, swimming, and dancing she loves. In this episode, we discuss: Why Jen has waited her whole life for her 40s, and what she loves about 46 Growing up with three matriarchs who showed her what aging with joy looks like How a dance major ended up in education, and what twenty-plus years in the field taught her The moment in the park that pushed her to rebuild her career around her daughter Why "freelance" was the scariest word in her vocabulary, and how she built a coaching career around a school schedule Why she thinks we're sold an unrealistic version of work-life balance Redefining success as positive contribution instead of a single ladder to climb Her work with teachers and students at Rikers Island What art therapy in her 20s taught her about seeing her body clearly, then accepting it, then loving it Why she's adding strength training in her 40s, and why she chooses movement she looks forward to The "halfway through, if I'm lucky" exercise she uses to decide what the second half of life should look like Why she reads stretch marks and scars as a map of where her body has been One of my favourite moments from this conversation was when Jen said: "It's okay to conclude what came before, and it's okay to plan something new for what comes next." Jen Gowers She got there by doing a little math. If she's lucky, she's about halfway through her life, so what does she want the second half to look like? She gave herself permission to close the first chapter with gratitude, and to start the next one sooner rather than later. If you're in the middle of the juggle right now, feeling trapped by a path you worked hard to build, I hope this conversation plants a small seed of possibility. 💜 Join my free community, #WomenWhoMove: drshawnadarou.com/start-here 📖 Download my free guide, Fueling for Hormones & Metabolic Health: drshawnadarou.com/fueling-for-health 🤝 Connect with Jen on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jen-gowers-622242116/).

3. 

   8 Oct 2026

   29. The Race She Wasn't Supposed to Run: Sara Girotto on Gold Medals, Sub-3 Marathons, and Believing You Belong

   Her actual race got cancelled by wildfire smoke. So Sara Girotto lined up for the 1500m instead, an event she'd run maybe twice in her life, and won the national title. In this episode of Unstoppable at Any Age, I sit down with Sara, who didn't start running until she was closing in on 40, ran her first marathon with no idea what a gel was, and is now a two-time sub-3 marathoner in her 50s and a USATF Masters national champion. Sara grew up in Italy, where school sports aren't woven into daily life the way they are in North America. She didn't run competitively as a kid, commuted to college by train instead of playing on a team, and didn't pick up running until she was almost 40, mostly to get herself out of the house after a move to Philadelphia where she didn't know a soul yet. She ran her first 5K in 2011 with her husband and daughter. A few years later she signed up for a half marathon off a training plan she downloaded online, with no real sense of what a good time even looked like. She ran a 1:36, then a 1:33, then decided, without knowing anything about marathon-specific training, to sign up for a full marathon. She ran a 3:06, which turned out to be a Boston Qualifier, and had no idea what that meant for months. What followed was a rough stretch of overtraining, a DNF at her first Boston Marathon in brutal weather she wasn't dressed for, and a body that couldn't hold a nine-minute-mile pace by the end of 2018. She credits her coach, who she met by chance at a local race, with pulling her out of that hole and teaching her, for the first time, that every mile should have a purpose. She ran her first sub-3 marathon at 46. She's since gone sub-3 twice more past 50, including a 2:58 at Boston this year. And this past summer, when wildfire smoke cancelled the 10K she'd actually trained for at USATF Masters Nationals, she lined up for the 1500m instead, out-kicked the field, and won gold. In this episode, we discuss: Growing up in Italy without a school sports culture, and what that meant for her relationship with athletics How she started running in her late 30s almost by accident, to cope with a cross-country move Running her first half marathon and marathon with zero knowledge of pacing, fueling, or gear What overtraining actually looked like for her, and the DNF that forced a change How meeting her coach by chance at a local race turned into an eight-year coaching relationship What changed in her training: purposeful mileage, real rest days, and years of gradual, deliberate build Running her first sub-3 marathon at 46, and going sub-3 twice more past 50 What it took mentally to line up at her first national championship, and why the mental training matters as much as the physical Winning gold in the 1500m at nationals this year, in an event that wasn't even her race Moving between two cultures, and what running gave her that she didn't have words for before Her advice for a woman in her 40s or 50s wondering if she's missed her window to be a competitive athlete One of my favourite moments from this conversation was when Sara said: "It's never too late to find out." Sara Girotto I love how unfussy that is. It's not a training plan or a five-step program. It's just permission to find out what you're actually capable of, at whatever age you happen to be when you decide to try. If you've ever wondered whether you missed your window, this episode is a pretty good argument that the window doesn't close the way we assume it does. 💜 Join my free community, #WomenWhoMove: drshawnadarou.com/start-here🎤 Hire Me to speak at your event: https://drshawnadarou.com/speaking 🏅You can follow Sara on Instagram here, and https://www.instagram.com/my.happy.places.paces/ (https://www.instagram.com/my.happy.places.paces/) and Sara races with: Greater Philadelphia Track Club

Inside a recent episode

7. Your running shoes weren’t made for your body with Lindsay Housman

Published 7 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] A lot of women have toes poked through their shoes. And so we, one, the material we chose is really strong. And then two, we adapted the height of the toe box so that there would be less toe bang against the top of the toe box for women in the shoes. Proud to say we have not had one toe poke through that I know of. We are coming out with two new shoes this year that will be a more traditional knit upper. So I'm going to be curious with the height of our toe box, how that wears as we get into testing and get some early models in the market. But those are little things that we consider. Then you get into plate choice and we wanted it to be performance. […]

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

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