From Stay-at-Home Mom to Six Figures After Divorce

She had three little boys, no career to go back to, and family warning her she'd earn $30,000 a year. Kris

Mills left anyway — and built a life she couldn't have imagined from inside that marriage.

▶ Deciding whether to stay or go? Start here: https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-moving-on

▶ Connect with Kris: https://www.instagram.com/krisbmills

On this episode of Pulling Threads, Leslie Mathews sits down with her friend Kris Mills — former first-grade teacher, stay-at-home mom of three boys, and self-described “accidental six-figure earner” — to talk about starting over after divorce when a marriage looked perfect from the outside and felt lonely on

the inside.

Kris shares how she weighed her family's very real fears against a quiet certainty that she needed more, and why scary and right can be true at the same time. In the same season her ex moved out, she started

posting recipes to about 700 Instagram followers. That small, uncertain step became her full-time work.

In this conversation:

• Trusting yourself when the people who love you are scared for you

• The “who does she think she is?” voice — and Kris's reframe: if not me, then who?

• Expanders: borrowing hope from women a few steps ahead of you

• Jealousy as a compass that points to what you want

• Boundaries, losing friends after divorce, and why it's not personal

• What a personal brand really is, why you don't have to niche down, and how to sell by serving

• Why follower counts are a vanity metric — and what actually builds trust

Whether you're deciding to leave, rebuilding your identity after divorce, or wondering if you could build

something of your own, this episode is a reminder that you don't need certainty to take the next step.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome Kris Mills

01:45 Stay-at-home mom of three little boys

02:45 Leaving a marriage that looked perfect

06:45 Scary and right at the same time

09:45 “What will I do for money?”

11:15 The accidental career that started with recipes

14:45 The divorce glow-up is more than looks

17:15 Therapy, panic attacks & asking for help

19:15 Showing up online in your hometown

21:45 If not me, then who?

22:45 Expanders: borrowing hope

27:45 Jealousy as a compass

32:15 Strangers clap, people who know you watch

33:45 Boundaries & “it's not personal”

37:15 Losing friends after divorce

39:45 What a personal brand really is

43:15 Why selling yourself feels so hard

45:45 You're not selling, you're serving

51:00 Trusting your own way of doing business

53:00 You don't have to niche down

57:45 Followers are a vanity metric

01:02:00 Podcasting as a trust-building asset

01:03:45 Inside Kris's membership

01:07:15 Content hiding in everyday moments

01:10:45 Where to find Kris

Pulling Threads · Kris Mills · YouTube Package · 3

RESOURCES & LINKS

Mending or Moving On — for women who haven't decided yet: https://theloomlife.com/op/mending-or-

moving-on

THROUGH — Leslie's divorce program: https://theloomlife.com/sp/through-divorce-program

Mindful Untangling community: https://theloomlife.com/membership

Start your own podcast with Leslie (Press Record): https://leslieellenmathews.com/sp/podcast-course

Kris's personal-brand membership: [LINK — get from Kris]

Kris on Instagram: @krisbmills

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Leslie Mathews, JD, MSW, is a former attorney turned therapist and guide for women moving through

divorce and life's biggest transitions. Learn more at https://theloomlife.com

Instagram: @the.loom.life | TikTok: @leslieellenmathews

If this conversation helped, subscribe and send it to a friend standing at her own threshold.

This podcast is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for therapy or professional advice.

Keywords: how to start over after divorce, rebuilding identity after divorce, moving on after divorce at 40,

coping with divorce loneliness, divorce recovery podcast, personal growth podcast for women over 40,

building a personal brand

#DivorceRecovery #StartingOver #PersonalBrand #WomenInBusiness #PullingThreads