Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie McDermott.
Hi Laurie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Yes, thank you…I hope others find and see this as my story of a Midlife Crisis success and my husband coming back will help others. After 16 years of being happily married to the same man with three kids, when my husband came to me and said he wanted to quit. He wasn’t happy and he realized he loved me but he was not in love with me. Crazy. His unhappiness was so troublesome that he wanted out of his old life so he could be free to find a life he thought he wanted. I was baffled and depressed. How could someone, who promised to spend the rest of his life with me, could just… change his mind???? Choose another path??? Abandon our beautiful little family to go….where….? Find joy elsewhere? What is better than creating an empire, a kingdom of a family and watching the fruits of your efforts grow? And no, I was no longer a hot 22-year-old girl anymore, however, we shared 22 years together – 16 years of marital life and five years of dating-to piss it all away?
Life was never meant to be perfect. No one promised a smooth ride into the sunset but I soon learned what happened to me was not unusual, and that dozens of women in my own small town had gone through something similar. This epidemic is called a Midlife Crisis… and it happens so often. It’s where the wife or husband just decides he’s not happy and bails to find a new life….alone (or with some affair partner)
Keep in mind, while my husband may have quit… I am not a quitter. And I knew I had to help him find a way out of this, to put my family back together. But I also knew I couldn’t fix my husband. I could only fix myself. I spent the next three years interviewing any and every random person over the age of 65 that I’d meet on the street, at Ralph’s, at the dentist’s office. From elevators to parking lots. If you were a man or woman who was older, I would question you like a detective searching for a murder weapon. Knowing surely someone had been through what I was facing and had answers, solutions and experiences that worked and didn’t work so that I didn’t have to try them all! They had the answers, they had proof. They had invented the wheel…I just had to get this information and put it in action! And people had story after story.
Sometimes these stories lead to phone numbers where I could call and interview other people. I was obsessed. Looking for the answer to what made people stay? What made marriage work? How did someone bring home a husband that chased another hot unique girl? A younger girl? The data and stories were so plentiful that I knew I had a secret weapon. And I used that secret weapon to bring my own husband home. He left in May 2013 and by October 2014, almost after 18 months of being away, my husband returned home…!
Then suddenly everyone wanted to know my secrets. I thought about teaching a class and when I went to offer my services as a teacher, they told me that although I have many degrees in business marketing and communications I did not have a certificate for teaching. Hmmm… well, I thought this was ridiculous but instead did what was required and got a coaching certificate instead. Yes! I got the coaching certificate that led me to create a website (TheWifeExpert.com ) where I could teach women and men my skills! So if you know anyone that is facing a midlife crisis or a divorce, and they don’t want it, point them to TheWifeExpert.com. And since I love creating content & videos to educate my clients, I now have over 189 detailed videos that teach exactly what I know about what to do, what to say, how to say it…to bring your husband or wife home after they ventured off into some greener grass. (which has brown roots they have yet to see!)
Years ago I wanted to be a travel writer but God had other plans, this is what he wanted me to do. One day I do hope to mingle traveling with this new career of helping people keep their families intact! I love helping people find their way back to love! And every single day I see miracles!! REAL miracles!! And I look forward to helping people bring their spouses back home to their families. That’s what our world needs: Tight supportive families!
We all face challenges, but looking back on your bumpy road, can you share what were your biggest challenges that you tackled:
I had a bunch….and I kept persisting. That’s the game – don’t give up! EVER!
1) My Classes! I wanted to teach a class and even though I had all the skills and the knowledge. The unique knowledge that no one else has to teach to a specific clientele, I was denied based on a certificate. Instead of getting my teaching certificate, I got my coaching certificate. In the end, I knew I could help more people doing it on my own…so that’s what I did! So that challenge turned into a huge positive.
2) A better me! While it’s sucked going through what I went through, however, I am now a better person because of it. I would not be the person I am today if this hadn’t happened to me!!
3) Creating helpful videos! When I first started coaching, one of my wives (a client) kept asking me the same thing, over and over. Finally she asked me to make a recording of this phrase I kept telling her. It was then I realized I could make her a video program that she could hear instead of calling me! It was brilliant! So I created a whole bunch that are on TheWifeExpert.com under videos that hundreds of spouses listen to every day to help them bring their husbands home!
4) A huge obstacle that I deal with on a daily basis is the Human Ego. It destroys marriages and it is the biggest block for people to connect back to each other. Because as much as I can teach you everything I know that will work, in the end, YOU have to put it into practice. People that have a strong ego, need to deal with this negativity first. I can show them, but if they aren’t ready or willing, things in their life will never change.
5) I learned NEVER give up. If you never give up, you will get what you want. It’s just how this works. I see it. Every day. Never give up.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I can come to your church or organization and speak to your group for a donation to my website to help others that need me! As a speaker, I’m good! Because prior to Coaching husbands and wives and getting marriages back together, I was a standup comedian for over 20 years! I spoke in front of groups as small as 50 and as large as 5000, all over the world! Writing and then Performing humor was just the background I needed to be able to convey everything I teach today so that it makes sense, they understand, and then they laugh! Life is not really meant to be taken seriously. Life is a journey that we all take and then choose whether we want to walk into our grave with a well-preserved body or slide in sideways smiling full of experiences and memories yelling, “Whoo hoo! What a Ride!”
That’s what I teach. You can’t control anyone but yourself. No one is perfect and that’s just fine! You live life being the best you can be.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have way too many to count;
1. Disney World with my parents the day it opened.
2. Traveling with family and friends – tons of memories.
3. My dad woke me up at 2am to watch the scary movie “the blog”.
4. My cousins moving in with us for a week.
5. My dad and mom invited my brother and I to dinner at our house – we got all dressed up and had to leave the house and walk around the block and come back in as guests!
6. Singing Christmas Carols with the neighbors door to door.
7. My neighbor bred St Bernard dogs – so so cool.
8. Hanging with my awesome neighbors who all had families of five to eight kids.
9. Kick-the-can and other games in our cul-a-sac for hours and hours and years and years.
I was blessed as a child. And regardless of what your past was or where you fear you may or may not go in the future, it’s all fantasy until I help you see the better future you will have by being your best you!
Contact Info:
- Website: TheWifeExpert.com
- Instagram: TheWifeExpert
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWifeExpert/
- Twitter: @TheWifeExpert
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thewifeexpert
