My ‘Mostly Together’ Moment
By Nicole Nalepa
Last September, I went through a major career transition after more than 15 years in local TV news — a career that was centered on telling other people’s stories. Suddenly, I found myself sitting at my dining room table asking myself big questions. Who am I now that I’m no longer doing what I had allowed to define me for so long? What parts of my life are no longer serving me? What should I carry with me into the next season? To my surprise, I realized I was doing much better than I expected as I tried to answer them.
Honestly, now that I’m about a year removed from that old life, I truly don’t know how I did it. I was experiencing burnout at a rapid pace long before I became a mom of two. Another comment I heard often after my departure was the cliché: “Now you’ll have more time with your kids.” While there is truth to that, they’re in school now, and I was about to have more “me” time for the first time in almost two decades! There was a freedom I was starting to feel again, similar to the feeling you have upon graduating…only with a husband, two kids and a dog.
It didn’t take me long to understand what a gift it was to be in this position. I was committed to making the most of this transitional period. Was there grief associated with the process? Yes. After spending so many years in a fast-paced career built on no sleep and pure adrenaline the idea of that being removed from my life felt daunting. That was when I had to turn inward to understand that reinvention doesn’t necessarily mean starting over. I was proud of the life and career I worked hard for, but I was finally able to admit to myself that there were parts I had really wanted to change.
This gift of time forced me to reckon with my identity and ambition in a way I may not have made room for before. I’ve learned that when the wind changes direction, you can adjust the sails and find your way back to yourself.
That led me to start my new show with a title that described how I’ve always felt: Mostly Together. I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. For years, I’d been an avid podcast listener. What I loved about this format was that you had more time than you did in a live interview. I’ve always been fascinated with the person underneath the title and what they’ve learned. Once I was no longer working in TV news, I realized how much I missed having a dedicated space for those conversations.
Now, just months in, I am awestruck by the response and the community of guests I’ve been building. It has brought me such joy when viewers and listeners tell me they feel less alone after learning about my guests’ unexpected turns. It’s important to understand that we will all experience inflection point in our lives. Mostly Together is about figuring out who you’re becoming, even when you don’t have everything perfectly together.
Let me be clear though. You don’t have to leave your career to know this feeling. Whatever season you find yourself in, perhaps this is an invitation to get to know yourself better. That way you’ll be able to recognize what you want to carry with you into the next chapter.
Nicole Nalepa is a veteran broadcast journalist and former TV news anchor with more than 15 years of experience telling stories and connecting with audiences. She is the host and creator of Mostly Together, a podcast exploring identity, ambition, reinvention and the messy in-between seasons of life.
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