258 - Your Closest Friends Might Be Holding You Back

Healthy relationships require honesty, reciprocity, and the courage to stop self-silencing. In this episode of *Life Happens*, Barb and Michelle sit down with Alex Elle to unpack what it really means to outgrow people, rebuild trust, and tell the truth in your relationships before resentment takes over.  They discuss her new book, “The Company We Keep” which just launched today and can be found here: The Company We Keep -- Book link: https://bit.ly/4fe0kbw The Company We Keep tour link: https://sites.prh.com/alexelletour  This conversation will help anyone navigating changes in friendship, people pleasing, divorce, boundaries, and the painful reality that growth sometimes means letting go. Together, Barb, Michelle, and Alex explore why saying yes when you mean no creates disconnection, how reciprocity shapes healthy friendship, and why “clarity is a radical act of love.” If you’ve been questioning your friendships, struggling to use your voice, or trying to understand what trust and alignment actually look like in real life, this episode offers both the emotional validation and the language to begin. - Learn how to recognize self-silencing and people-pleasing patterns - Understand the difference between growing together and growing apart - Get language for hard conversations about friendship, trust, and capacity - Reframe honesty as an act of love instead of conflict - Build healthier, more reciprocal relationships without abandoning yourself If you’ve ever stayed in a friendship longer than you should have because you didn’t want to be the one who left... this episode will meet you right there. Alex’s book, The Company We Keep, is available on May 19, 2026. Don’t miss it. 💗 Connect with Alex: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex\_elle/  Substack: https://alexelle.substack.com/  💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one. 📅 **Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday** for another heartfelt episode of *Life Happens with Barb and Michelle*! 💕 **🎙️ Host by:** - https://www.instagram.com/peaceful\_barb/ - https://www.instagram.com/michellemaros/ **Join our community⬇️** **YouTube:** www.youtube.com/@LifeHappensThePodcast **Instagram:** https://www.instagram.com/lifehappensthepodcast/ **Substack:** https://lifehappensthepodcast.substack.com/ **TikTok:** https://www.tiktok.com/@lifehappensthepodcast **Listen to our podcast anywhere→** https://michellemaros.com/podcast/  🎙️ New episodes of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle are released every Tuesday **✨ Available Now✨ Order Dear Friend to receive daily doses of clarity, hope, and heartfelt encouragement.**💌 https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.