The Messy Middle
Something ended and the next thing hasn’t started. Brian and Michael on the messy middle of a life pivot: why you can’t rush it, why it’s rarely linear, and the tools that kept them steady while they were in it.
EP 00 ·
Welcome to Between Here + There
Conversation about life pivots
I knew something needed to change. I just didn't know what.
What happens when the life you built stops fitting the person you’re becoming? In this first episode, Michael Sanders and Brian Di Bartolomeo introduce Between Here + There: a podcast and community for people in transition, burnout or reinvention, or simply sensing that something has to change.
They talk about what a life pivot really is (the career part is the smaller part), why sometimes you choose a pivot and sometimes it chooses you, and why authenticity sits at the center of every turning point. They also share how they met in yoga teacher training after stepping away from successful careers, and why they wanted to build the space they couldn’t find anywhere else.
In this episode
- What a life pivot is, and why a career change is only one piece of it
- Chosen and unchosen pivots: starting a business or getting married, versus a layoff or a creative project that runs its course
- Why Brian sums up what this space is for in one word: authenticity
- Learning to stay present while the rest of your life changes
- A Midwest-rooted, yoga-informed lens on life transitions
- What to expect here: honest conversation, breathwork to help you ground in the moment, and a safe space that will still challenge you
Chapters
- 00:00 Who this is for
- 03:00 Staying present while everything changes
- 03:30 Sometimes the pivot chooses you
- 05:22 Why it matters to Brian
- 07:20 How we met
- 09:55 What’s missing out there
- 11:13 A safe space that will still challenge you
More episodes
Common Threads
Michael and Brian put their two pivot stories side by side: the five threads they had in common, the two things that were nothing alike, and the pattern underneath both.
Michael’s Story
After surviving trauma and outgrowing the success he once chased, Michael Sanders shares how he pivoted toward a life built on purpose, peace, and deeper fulfillment.