How to Start Over After 40 — Without Losing Yourself
- JoAnn Andrews
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 28
You were never meant to simply survive. You were born to rise, to reinvent, and to thrive.
I know this because I’ve lived it — more than once. I was 39, pregnant, and holding my three-year-old daughter’s hand when I buried my husband. Two weeks later, I gave birth to our son.
He didn’t have life insurance. I sold my corporate stock to pay the bills. And I promised myself one thing:
My children would never feel like life had defeated us.
That promise became a company. And that company became my proving ground — where I learned, in the most unglamorous ways possible, that resilience isn’t personality… it’s practice.
Here’s what I know now, that I wish I had known then.

The Truth About Starting Over
By the time I reached my mid-40s, life had asked me to begin again in ways I never saw coming: widowhood, caregiving for a husband with Alzheimer’s, raising two children, running a company, and navigating my daughter’s Type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
And yet, somewhere in the middle of it all, I found a way to feel like me again.
That path became The Grace Map™ — my framework for women in midlife transition who want to reclaim their clarity, rhythm, and radiance without the noise, hype, or hustle.
It’s not a checklist. It’s not a morning routine.
It’s a living framework you revisit every time life shifts.
Why the Grace Map™ Works
The Grace Map™ is built on five foundations that every woman must navigate when life changes everything:
Redefine Your Identity — Choosing the woman you are becoming.
Rebuild Your Inner Structure — Creating rhythms that nourish you.
Reclaim Your Emotional Resilience — Anchoring even in the storm.
Reconnect to Strategic Desire — Letting joy and want guide you.
Reinvent Through Action — Small moves that create momentum.
You don’t need to figure it all out at once. You just need the next right step.
Where Most Women Get Stuck
It’s not that you don’t have ambition or vision. It’s that you’ve been carrying the weight of everyone else’s needs for so long that you’ve forgotten your own.
You might even believe you should be able to “figure it out” alone — but the truth is, the women who rise after loss, transition, or burnout are the ones who choose support.
Because support is not weakness.
Support is strategy.
How We Begin Again — Together
When you work with me privately, we start with The Grace Map™ and tailor it to your exact life season.
Whether it’s through the 30-Day Kickstart, a 90-Day Private Coaching Program, or an immersive VIP Day, every step is designed to give you:
A clear, custom rhythm that actually works in your real life.
Emotional safety and space to hear your own thoughts again.
The confidence to make small moves that lead to massive change.
Lead with grace. Step into alignment. Command your results with ease.
Your Invitation This Week
This is your moment to move from quiet reinvention to fearless clarity.
Here are three graceful, decisive actions you can take today:
Download The Grace Map™ — a free 5-step guide to reclaiming your clarity, rhythm, and radiance.
Join the Grace Awakens Early List — be first to receive my upcoming book with seasonal reflections and rituals for your next chapter.
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