Starting Over

I'm Karen Knox-Cox, of Starting Over, season one. I love to read all the comments on this show. What a wonderful life experience it was. It did not change my life, but it certainly gave me a chance to re-direct my life. I am proud to be a part of a show, that obviously touch so many lives. I always said I'm the luckiest girl in the world! I too, agree, that the show lost a certain something after the first year. Replacing Rona,was the shows first down fall. With the first season, the women in the house, had no idea what to expect. The second year, it seemed the women in the house,"knew what the show needed", so it was not as natural. That is sad, because most of the women needed, some type of help. I think Starting Over could have survived longer, had they replaced the coaches on a regular basis...keeping it fresh.

A true reality show - real women working on re-inventing themselves and their lives.

The premise is simple - a house full of six women, living together but each with their own goals. They live together and support one another, along with 2 "life coaches" who visit them daily giving them exercises to do, challenges to face, and so on.

Just the process of living in a household of women gives them lots of opportunity for growth. Many of these women have never lived with roommates, in a communal environment. Sacrifices must be made, cooperation is key, and clashing personalities must make amends.

The goals of the women vary widely. Learning to drive, starting a new career, learning to separate from family members, starting over after divorce and so much more. All, of course, women's issues -- and definitely issues which we can relate.

The life coaches, Rhonda and Rana, dream up very visual exercises to illustrate key problems in the women's lives. The coaches support, confront and challenge the women daily. Each day is a new adventure with new experiences and assignments.

Each woman in the house learns (or doesn't learn!) at her own pace, but usually spends 2-4 months in the house. They can leave the house by their own choice, by graduating, or by being asked to leave the house. One of the best things about this show is that the women aren't treated like children. They are asked to actively work towards their goals, or they will be asked to leave the house.

Seeing the women supporting one another, even if they are very different (cultures, viewpoints, political stance, economics, etc) is truly beautiful.

This show is for any woman who would like to re-invent herself and wants to see women just like herself do it!

I have to admit that I am addicted to this show. Having said that, I would like to send my opinion out there. It seems to me that the life coaches are, as others have written, "know it all's". They are not very specific at times, leaving the anxious ladies (probably too intimidated to ask if they can get help from the other women, quit, etc...) receiving negative feedback from the coaches. I think there is a bit of evil in Rhonda's eyes now and then.......she would scare me to death if I got on her bad side. Just once, I would like to hear an "I apologize, I was mistaken" from the coaches! I realize we all have had problems in our past, as did Rhonda and Iylana, however, they sometimes appear to have forgotten their past. When someone is "down and out" (as with the women who come and go through the house), they certainly don't need to be screamed at and humiliated. However, the change for the positive is remarkable in most of the women when they leave the starting over house!!!

I started out watching starting over during it's first season in 2003. For some reason there are certain episodes that are not available and I have no idea why. So I cannot re-watch some of the episodes I found most interesting.

I truly prefer the earlier seasons when Rana Walker was a Life Coach and the house was in Chicago. The move to California was just fine. However, I do not understand why Rana was replaced. She was genuinely kind, compassionate, nurturing, caring, inspiring and EVERYTHING those ladies needed in a life coach. Not ONCE did she ever resort to BULLYING, INSULTING, MOCKING, DEGRADING or EXPLOITING any of the women in the house.

I can only find episodes from season three online. Season three is very hard to watch. There's also an episode from Audrey and Brenda Starr's season that I wanted to see but it never aired. It's also not available online. Why that is only Bunim-Murray Productions knows.

The counseling sessions in the California house were truly teeth grinding to watch and hard to endure. My heart truly went out to Tess. I don't think she was a bad person at all. I think she was just super defensive because she had a lot of pint up hurt and frustration from being taken advantage of and having people spit on her kindness and throw it back in her face. I used to be that way myself as I too know the pain of my kindness being taken as "weakness" by those of lesser character.

It was also difficult to watch some of the other women in the house misunderstand her and put her on trial for PRACTICALLY everything she said and did. I honestly lost all respect for Meg when she questioned why Tess was wearing her headphones while cleaning the kitchen. Maybe she wanted to listen to music to UPLIFT herself as she felt like a black sheep who constantly needed to tiptoe around the other women jumping on her case every other day about the pettiest of issues and the two insensitive Life Coaches joining in with them.

God bless her. Cause regardless of what my Husband thought I would have left that house in the middle of the night after the first gang up session. Had Rana been there, I think things would have gone a lot more smoothly for Tess and she would have felt as if she had at least ONE good ally on her side. Poor girl.

I know she's glad it's all over and I hope she's doing great. There are some truly great Counselors and Life Coaches in the world(Rana Walker especially). However, some of them can be very know-it-all and uppity at times as the Starting Over experience proved. They don't perceive themselves as having a God-complex though many of them do.

I am a stay at home mom who has herself overcome a terribly painful past, with the help of Starting Over. Y'all have seen the opener...."this house changed my life"....it is true for me, and I never even walked thru the doors, although i would crawl on my tongue for the opportunity for that kind of healing!! Things those "Know it all" coaches have said come up in MY everyday life, and people have noticed a change in how I react to things around me, because of those awarenesses. It all comes down to how OPEN YOU ARE!!!! I feel those of you who are angry at the life coaches, have a reason to be, as they bring up those emotions, (whatever they may be) in you so they may be properly dealt with, and you aren't even aware of it. That is the job of a life coach, to dredge up the ugliness we refuse to deal with daily!

BIG HUGS to Iyanla, and Rhonda, and Dr. Stan too!!

Peace Y'all!