Do you want to run your life, rather than be run down by it?

If you’re one more decision, one more To-Do, one more bloody responsibility away from feeling your life is a constant sh*t show, you’ve come to the right place.

What if one powerful hour could cut through the chaos in your brain long enough to figure out what the hell you actually want and need—and give you the clarity, calm, and courage to make the change?

Your life is not a trial run. But it can really run you down.

It’s time to grab your life by the love handles and have a breakthrough, not another head-melting breakdown.

Breakthrough Empower Hour.

1 hour 1:1 coaching session to help you find clarity, direction and a plan in your hand.

I'm ready for one powerful hour!

For the woman caught between her kids and her parents?

If you're one more appointment, one more "Mum, can you…", one more bloody WhatsApp away from losing it, you've come to the right place.

This is 90 minutes to untangle the care, the money and the guilt, and figure out what you need to get through the sandwich years with yourself, and your relationships, intact.

You can't fix the care system on your own. But you can stop being the only person in your family it lands on.

The Sandwich Years Session.

A 90-minute 1:1 coaching session, in person in Dublin 12 or online, to help you care without carrying it all..

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You wake up worrying about your kids and go to bed worrying about your parents. In between there's work, and somewhere at the very back of the queue, you.

Because let's be real. The sandwich years are A LOT.

The endless logistics of two generations: appointments, lifts, meds, exams, dinners
The emotional labour of keeping everyone else okay, and the guilt when you can't
The sibling who lives further away, the partner who'd help "if you asked", the teenager who needs you more than they'll admit
The voice wondering whether to go part-time, and what that would cost you
The quiet grief of watching a parent get older while you're too busy to just be their daughter

You're not bad at this. You're living the collision: children later, parents living longer, and a care system built on women's free labour that was never rebuilt when we went out to work. The care didn't disappear. It landed on you.

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This isn’t just a “chat” or a motivational pep talk.
It’s a breakthrough.
A recalibration.
A moment where everything suddenly makes sense.
And it could be the first hour in a long time that’s 100% about you.

Because let’s be real. Life can feel A LOT sometimes.

The endless mental to-do list that never lets up and the constant emotional labour of keeping everyone else happy.
The mind-messing pressure to be the “Good Girl”—nice, capable, self-sacrificing when all you want to do is give waaaaaaay less f*cks for just one minute
The voice in your head that whispers “Is this really it?” but you don’t know what choices you have?
A change that has knocked you for six, and you're not even sure who you are, never mind what you want next?

Book an Empower Hour with Alana

What we'll work through

Not a chat. Not a pep talk. A proper look at what you're carrying, and what you're going to do about it.

Every session is shaped around what you bring. We might work through:

The work question

Should you go part-time? And if you do, how do you protect your career and your financial future?

The hard conversations

With siblings, partners, teenagers and parents, about who does what, while you navigate the shitstorm.

Care without carrying it all

You're responsible for their care, not their happiness. Learning the difference changes everything.

Boundaries

For yourself and for everyone else, so the relationships survive the care.

Capacity, not just capability

What you're able to do versus what you have room for, and the dream outcome versus the real one.

Supporting yourself

So you, and your relationships, come out the other side of the sandwich.

You'll leave with the tangle untangled and a written plan in your hand.

“I honestly didn’t think one session could do that much. I walked in burnt out, unsure, and stuck. I left with clarity, direction, and the biggest sense of relief I’ve felt in years.”

– Sarah, 49

This isn’t life coaching with a side of fluff.

This is bold, practical, brain-clearing clarity - backed by real-life tools, a coach who gets it (because I'm in it) and zero bullsh*t.

You walk in carrying everyone. You walk out with a plan, some boundaries, and a bit of you back.

“Alana helped me see through the fog. I now have boundaries I can actually stick to, and I’m making choices for me.”

– Aisling, 58

Here's what you get inside the Sandwich Years Session:

A pre-session background questionnaire, so we use every minute in the session on what matters most
90 minutes of focused 1:1 coaching with me, in person in (Dublin 12) or on Zoom
A personalised plan: the conversations to have, the boundaries to set, the supports to chase
A recording of our online session
Your copy of my Care Without Carrying It All check-in, to keep using afterwards

Hi, I’m Alana Kirk....

and I've lived the sandwich years.

I wrote The Sandwich Years: A memoir of love, loss & dirty dishes, an Irish Times bestseller, about the years I cared for my dying mum while raising three small daughters and trying to get my career back on track.

Since then I've coached hundreds of women through midlife, I speak to companies about exactly this pressure, and most recently I joined David McWilliams on EY's On The Money to talk about how longer lives are reshaping Irish families.

I know the 11pm kitchen maths of trying to fit it all in.

Let's do it together.

This is for you if...

⚡️ You're caring for parents and children at the same time, or minding grandchildren on top
⚡️ You're thinking about cutting your hours, or already have, and you're wondering what it's costing
⚡️ You're the default carer in your family and you've had enough of being the only one who says yes
⚡️ You need help with the hard conversations: siblings, partner, teenagers, parents
⚡️ You want practical strategies, not a reminder to take a nice bath
🚫 This isn't for you if you want someone to sort your family out for you. I'll help you do it, but it's your work.

Care needs don't get smaller on their own. The months roll on, and you keep carrying.

You don't need more time.

You need 90 minutes and a plan.

Book your Sandwich Years Session now, and take the first real step towards caring without carrying it all.

I'm ready.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions.

How much does the Sandwich Years Session cost?

Where and how is it done?

How is it different from the Breakthrough Empower Hour?

Do I need to have decided anything first?

Will we talk about money?

This what Helen said after her Session:

“I realised that I have choices and the power to change things and that I’m not as wedded to my situation as I thought. It's about having the courage to ask what I want and facing up to the fact that things may need to change to deliver that. This has helped me with two recent decisions I've had to make. I found Alana to be empathetic and strong, and she guided me to gain some clarity and perspective.”

Helen (45)

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Alana Kirk, Coach, Speaker about midlife, Writer, Dublin

Sure, I can't sort out the care system in 90 minutes (if I could, I'd be running the country).

But we fit a LOT in. You'll leave seeing your situation clearly, knowing what's yours to carry and what isn't, and with a plan you'll actually use.

Book your Sandwich Years Session now.

Not ready to book?

Start with your free Sandwich Years Check-In

15 questions to help you care without carrying it all.

Download it free