Recently, I had the joy of joining four fellow entrepreneurs on a women’s workation trip in Portugal. Our days were filled with creativity, connection, and wide-open conversations about business and life. One of the entrepreneurs is Lisa Schermerhorn. Lisa has over 20 years of experience as a transformational leader, author of the bestselling book, In Every Belief is a Lie, and expert in the fields of human behavior, the unconscious mind, and quantum healing. She has an awesome podcast.

One day, while we were travelling in the Douro Valley Wine Region of Portugal we took a wrong turn. What a wrong turn it was! The road was SO SCRARY! Hairpin turns, gravel, cliffs all the way. The scenery was INCREDIBLE, for those who were not completely freaked out in fear. There were tears, hyperventilating, meditating, praying and more happening as we drove along this road for 45 minutes. Lisa decided we had to do a podcast on this and I totally agreed.

So that evening, we recorded a podcast titled “Five Women and One Wrong Turn: The Unplanned Adventure.” You can listen to it here.

What happened during that drive became an unexpected — and powerful — lesson in perspective.

The Same Experience… Five Different Reactions

What began with a simple wrong turn on a winding Portuguese road turned into something far more interesting. In the car, each of us reacted differently:

One person felt fear.

Another felt exhilaration.

Someone else felt completely calm.

Another felt free.

And another felt a mix of curiosity and adventure.

Five women.
One moment.
Five totally valid emotional experiences.

And this is exactly what I see every day in my work with co-parents.

Why This Matters in Co-Parenting

Co-parenting isn’t just about schedules, emails, or agreements.
It’s about perspective.

Two people can experience the exact same event — a change in routine, a disagreement, a decision about the kids — and feel completely different things. And all of those feelings are real. All are valid.

The challenge is that when emotions collide, judgment often follows:

“Why are you so upset?”

“You’re overreacting.”

“You shouldn’t feel that way.”

But the truth is this:
There is no single “right” way to feel.

Just like the women in that car in Portugal, everyone processes moments through their own history, personality, and emotional lens.

The Skill That Changes Everything

When co-parents learn to recognize this, something powerful happens:

Communication gets calmer.

Conflict gets shorter.

Compassion increases.

And children feel more secure and supported.

This is what I teach every day:
How to understand each other’s perspective without judgment, and how to make decisions that put the kids first.

Not because you agree on everything, but because you respect that each parent is having their own emotional experience — just like those five women on one unexpected detour.

A Wrong Turn That Ended Up Being the Right One

That afternoon in Portugal reminded me that shared experiences don’t have to be shared interpretations. And when we embrace that truth, we open the door to harmony, empathy, and healthier co-parenting relationships.

Thanks for being here.  I appreciate you!

~Anna