EP. 99 - Beyond Expectations: The Freedom to Stop Being Who Everyone Wants With Gaby Viteri

What happens when the life you've spent decades building no longer feels like yours? In this episode of Beyond the Quo, host Stacey Luces sits down with artist, curator, and cultural advocate Gaby Viteri for a refreshingly candid conversation about midlife reinvention, grief, divorce, motherhood, creativity, and the freedom to become someone new. Gaby married young, became a mother at 21, and spent much of her adult life identifying as a wife, mother, and businesswoman. Today, approaching 50, she's divorced, navigating an evolving relationship with motherhood, and finally comfortable calling herself an artist. But getting here wasn't exactly a smooth transition. The loss of her mother, the end of her marriage, career changes, and a series of personal challenges forced Gaby to question who she was and what she actually wanted. Along the way, she discovered how uncomfortable other people can become when you stop being the person they've always known. Stacey and Gaby explore what happens when we stop seeking permission to change, why grief doesn't need a neat inspirational ending, and how creativity can help us reconnect with parts of ourselves we've spent years neglecting. In this episode, we get into: •    Why midlife can feel like starting over, even when you've built a successful life •    Divorce, motherhood, empty nesting, and the identities women outgrow •    Sobriety, boundaries, and dealing with other people's opinions •    Why we sometimes abandon ourselves to keep everyone else comfortable •    The stories behind her exhibitions SPEED KILLS and All My Friends Are Birds •    Finding freedom, authenticity, and peace in the next chapter of life We also discover that Stacey and Gaby share an October 13 birthday, discuss the unexpected connections art can create, and have a few laughs about the wonderfully strange business of becoming ourselves. Gaby Viteri is the founder of Women's Art Week Palm Beach and First Female, creating opportunities for artists and expanding access to the arts. Connect with Gaby: Website: https://gabyviteri.com Instagram: @gaby\_viteri Connect with Stacey Luces: Website: https://staceyluces.com YouTube: @staceyluces 🎙️ About Beyond the Quo Hosted by Stacey Luces, Beyond the Quo explores what it means to redefine success, live authentically, and lead courageously, especially in the messy, exciting, sometimes uncomfortable middle chapters of life. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with someone navigating their own reinvention, and join the conversation below. Here's a question worth sitting with: What part of who you used to be are you still holding on to, even though it no longer fits who you're becoming? You've already done the quo. Now it's time to go beyond. #BeyondTheQuo #StaceyLuces #GabyViteri #MidlifeReinvention #PersonalTransformation #WomenOver40 #GriefAndHealing #AuthenticLiving See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.