What happens when the life you've spent years building suddenly falls apart? And who are you when everything that once defined you is gone?

Dr. Diane Ortega, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Certified Nurse-Midwife, entrepreneur, and single mother of four, spent nearly a decade building three successful birth centers that helped transform maternity care for thousands of families.

Then an unexpected financial crisis changed everything.

A healthcare-system cyberattack, serious billing problems, and mounting losses eventually led to the closure of her business, leaving Diane facing something she never anticipated: an identity crisis in her 50s.

In this revealing conversation, we explore the hidden cost of being the woman everyone depends on, the realities of entrepreneurship, and what happens when success no longer looks the way you imagined.

Diane shares why she stopped calling her business closure a failure, what she discovered when she finally let go, and why starting over after 50 might be the beginning of something better.

"I didn't realize how much I was holding until I let it go."

If you've ever wondered whether your current life still fits the person you've become, this conversation is for you.

Meet Dr. Diane Ortega
Doctor of Nursing Practice, Certified Nurse-Midwife, women's health expert, co-founder of three birth centers, and host of The Midwife Life podcast.

Today, Diane uses nearly two decades of experience supporting women through life-changing transitions to help them navigate reinvention, rediscover themselves, and embrace their next chapter.

A Free Gift from Diane

Something Is Shifting is Diane's free ten-minute audio for the mother who's "fine." Tired, but fine.

🎧 Listen here: https://themidwifelife.kit.com/shifting

Connect with Diane
Website: https://themidwifelife.co/
Podcast: https://themidwifelife.co/the-midwife-life-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diane.ortega/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diane.ortega1/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diane-ortega-the-midwife-life-co/
Email: hello@themidwifelife.co

Watch the full version of my conversations with Dr. Diane Ortega:  https://youtu.be/Prtg8nbWP28
Chapters
0:00 Opening Intro
0:49 Introduction to Dr. Diane Ortega
4:09 Childhood in Illinois and Early Dreams
7:34 Discovering Midwifery After Motherhood
11:04 The Path to Becoming a Nurse Midwife
14:19 Moving to Arizona for a New Chapter
17:59 Transitioning from Employee to Business Owner
21:49 The Reality of Managing People and Growth
25:34 The Billing Crisis and Closing the Business
29:19 Navigating Divorce and Family Dynamics
33:04 The Identity Crisis After Closing a Business
36:49 Finding Peace in Part-Time Work and Silence
40:34 Reinvention and Fewer Fs to Give in Your 50s
44:09 The Rebirth Journey and Final Advice
48:16 End of Video

If something in Diane's story resonated with you, I encourage you to connect with her and explore her work.

💬 Here's a question for you: What part of your old life are you finally ready to leave behind?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and please share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

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Vera Czerny
Third Chances Podcast
Conversations that challenge how we think about health, business, and life without limits.

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