The Reinvention I Never Saw Coming: How Following My Joy Led Me Home
What happens when everything you’ve built after 18 years no longer feels aligned—and the future is a mystery?
In this deeply personal solo episode of Follow Your Joy, I share the story behind my most significant reinvention in nearly two decades and the unexpected birth of my new company, Reverie + Velvet.
For months, I felt caught between worlds.
My intuition kept telling me something needed to change. The coaching industry was changing in a big way. Technology and AI were disrupting how we work and connect. And despite countless pivots, new ideas, and attempts to find clarity, nothing seemed to really fit.
What looked like an unraveling on the outside was actually making way for something very different. It was transformation and my “real” next identity.
In this vulnerable conversation, I take you behind the scenes of a season marked by uncertainty, loss, grief, identity shifts, and the search for a more authentic way to express who I am at this stage of life.
You’ll hear:
• How a chance meeting at a local chamber event became the catalyst for an entirely new business
• Why I reached a breaking point after years of working primarily online
• The profound losses I experienced that quietly reshaped my life and perspective
• What I learned about the “world between worlds” when an old identity is dissolving but the new one hasn’t fully emerged
• How intuition guided me when logic could not
• The surprising way my entire three decade long career finally integrated into one unified mission
I also share the story and meaning behind Reverie + Velvet—a creative house devoted to women artists, founders, and visionaries expanding into greater visibility, success, and self-expression.
This episode is a reminder that what feels like unraveling is actually an evolution. Oftentimes the next chapter doesn’t arrive when we’re trying our darndest to figure things out.
I believe it arrives when we stop thinking our way through it and instead listen very carefully to our intuition and our higher power, and allow life to reveal what has been waiting for us all along.
For me, it was a God thing. God had been trying to show me and lead me where to land, but I was too busy in the weeds trying to figure it out!
This episode isn’t really about launching Reverie + Velvet, although I am very excited about this! It’s about a woman who spent months searching, pivoting, grieving, questioning, praying, listening, and ultimately surrendering.
It was a return to my:
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Creativity
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Entertainment roots
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Love of artistry
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A gift for storytelling
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A passion for visibility and personal branding
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The intuitive way of guiding women + men creatives even more deeply
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Desire for beauty, artistry, music, conversation, and meaningful connection
If you’re navigating uncertainty, craving reinvention, or sensing that a new chapter is calling your name, this conversation is for you.
The truth is, when you follow your joy, you eventually find your way home.
Resources + Links:
-Reverie + Velvet is now accepting a limited number of inquiries for artist representation and founder mentorship consideration. If something in this story spoke to you deeply, perhaps that’s where the conversation begins.
-To request the Reverie + Velvet overview and details for an introductory consideration, email: support@marladiann.com
IG: marla_diann TT: Marla Diann FB: Marla Diann LI Marla Diann Dennis
Shop Marla’s Amazon Lifestyle Store for her favorites – https://www.amazon.com/shop/marla_diann
Loved this episode? Don’t stop here, unlock the tools, resources, and free downloads mentioned during the episode. Click here to access the portal of joy.
Book your Soul-Led Next Chapter call with Marla:
Click here to schedule.
If you enjoyed the episode and podcast, I’d appreciate a review on Apple & Spotify. Let’s connect: @marla_diann.
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hi, i’m your host
Marla Diann!
I’ve been transforming creative entrepreneurs’ lives for over 27 years through two businesses. As a success coach and business strategist, I am passionate about helping entrepreneurs collapse the time frame of achieving their desires and goals.
It’s time to make joy your inner GPS for life and business decisions rather than lean on your logic and reason, first.
You’ll not only be following what is most authentic to you and for you, but you will live the beautiful life meant just for you.
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