BW 189: Widowhood Reality: Your Old Life Is Gone – How To Rebuild A Life You Love Again
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
- Apply for Brave Widow Academy:
👉 bravewidow.com/academy - Book a free consult (no pressure):
👉 bravewidow.com/call
When your spouse dies, it can feel like your entire life burned to the ground. You don’t recognize yourself, you don’t know what’s next, and part of you is terrified that rebuilding a new life means abandoning the old one.
In this episode, I’m inviting you into my personal story and the exact mindset shifts that helped me go from “life is over” to becoming the architect of a new, hopeful, faith‑filled life.
We talk about:
- Why you can’t go back to your old life (and why that doesn’t mean leaving your person behind)
- What it really means to be the “life architect” of your next chapter
- The coaching rooms, mentors, and programs that radically changed my grief journey
- How one decision at a retreat opened the door to meeting my now‑husband, Robert
- How coaching helped me collapse years of suffering into months of transformation
- Why Brave Widow Academy exists and who it’s truly for
If you’re a faith-based widow who is tired of feeling stuck, lonely, and “not really living,” this episode is for you.
TIMESTAMPS
- 00:00 – Being a “life architect” after loss
- 03:40 – “Your old life is gone. It’s ash.”
- 07:00 – Deciding who you want to be now
- 09:30 – Hearing Dr. Betsy’s story and the moment everything shifted
- 13:00 – The priest’s advice that changed how I see grief
- 15:00 – Investing $10K+ in a coaching program I barely understood
- 18:00 – How healing in community changed me from the inside out
- 21:00 – Miami retreat, guilt about dating, and a powerful moment of healing
- 24:00 – Praying for a future spouse… and meeting Robert two weeks later
- 26:30 – “Who are you becoming?” vs “What are you learning?”
- 27:30 – Hiring a speaking coach for NFDA and becoming a different woman
- 30:30 – Stepping into the identity of “author”
- 35:00 – Overwhelm, exhaustion, and discovering my iron was severely low
- 38:00 – Re‑energizing my relationship with Brave Widow
- 43:00 – Why I built Brave Widow Academy as a group coaching space
- 46:00 – Stabilize, explore, build: the 3 stages inside Academy
- 48:00 – How widows “collapse time” in Academy
- 50:00 – Who Brave Widow Academy is for (and who it’s not)
- 52:00 – How to apply + free consult option
WHO THIS IS FOR
Brave Widow Academy is for widows (from a few months to 20+ years out) who are:
- Tired of waiting on “time” to magically fix things
- Done just surviving and ready to rebuild intentionally
- Longing for a faith-based, hopeful roadmap and real community
- Ready to take gentle, practical steps toward a life they can love again
If that’s you, apply at bravewidow.com/academy. Our next small cohort (under 20 women) starts Thursday, April 2.
💬 If this episode helped you, please:
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- Leave a quick rating & review – it helps more widows find this support
- Share this with a friend who’s facing grief or the holidays without their person
If you’re new here, my name is Emily Tanner. I’m the founder of Brave Widow and Brave Widow Academy.
I help widows move from barely surviving their loss… to rebuilding a life they can actually love again without feeling like they’re betraying their person.
By day (and for 20+ years), I’ve led large teams and complex operations in the corporate world.
After my husband Nathan died in 2021, just shy of our 20-year anniversary, I took everything I knew about leadership, systems, and change — and started applying it to grief.
Since then, I’ve:
Shared my story publicly to make widows feel less alone.
Launched the Brave Widow podcast, now with 180+ episodes and listeners around the world.
Coached hundreds of widows 1:1 and in groups, and talked with thousands more through the podcast, communities, and events.
Built Brave Widow Academy, a 6-month coaching program with a clear framework for moving from deep grief to rebuilding a life you can love again.
I don’t teach “just think positive” grief tips.
I teach widows how to:
Heal their heart.
Stop waiting on “time” to fix everything.
Take small, brave steps toward a life that feels meaningful again.
How I Got Here…
2021: My husband Nathan dies unexpectedly. I’m 4 kids in, overwhelmed, and drowning in paperwork, decisions, and pain. Therapy helps, but I still feel stuck with no roadmap.
2021–2022: I start devouring books, interviewing widows, trying grief groups, and studying coaching — desperate to find something that actually helps me feel different.
2022: I start the Brave Widow podcast, recording episodes while terrified and crying between takes — but determined that no widow should feel as alone as I did.
Year 1: I begin coaching widows 1:1. Word spreads quietly. The same patterns and problems keep showing up, so I start building frameworks instead of one-off advice.
Year 2: I launch Brave Widow Academy — a structured, 6-month coaching program with a step-by-step path: from deep grief, to stability, to rebuilding.
Year 3: Brave Widow has listeners around the world. I’ve personally coached hundreds of widows and spoken with thousands more through consults, lives, emails, and DMs.
Today: My work is simple:
Help widows stop surviving each day… and start rebuilding a life that makes them genuinely glad to be alive again.
