Podcast Summary: We’re Out Of Time

Episode: Amanda Kloots on Resilience, Grief & Healing Through Fitness
Date: September 23, 2025
Host: Richard Taite
Guest: Amanda Kloots

Episode Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Richard Taite welcomes TV personality, fitness instructor, and Broadway performer Amanda Kloots for a candid exploration of resilience, entrepreneurship, grief, and the healing power of movement. With raw honesty, Amanda reflects on her personal tragedies—including the loss of her husband, Nick Cordero, to COVID-19—her evolution post-divorce, the drive behind her fitness and wellness entrepreneurship, and her commitment to building uplifting communities for widows. Their conversation balances humor and depth, offering insights on grief, post-traumatic growth, and hope.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Evolving Through Adversity

• Resilience Through Change

  • Amanda credits her continual evolution to a combination of necessity and grit, especially during transitional moments like her divorce:

    "I've had to, I've always had to take care of myself. So I just, I've had, I've had to keep evolving." —Amanda (01:40)

  • Starting her fitness business emerged out of a pragmatic need to support herself after becoming single in New York.

• Starting Over and Building Character

  • Both Amanda and Richard discuss the formative, humbling experience of “toughing it out” in early adulthood, from cheap meals to hustling for rent.

    "It builds such character, doesn't it?" —Richard (02:44) "It does, and it helps you to really remain grounded and grateful for everything you have in life, the highs and the lows." —Amanda (02:50)

2. Fitness as a Mental Health Tool

• Movement as Healing
  • Amanda’s mantra—move your body every day—took on deep meaning during her divorce, when physical activity became essential for mental health:

    "That was the first time I clocked fitness as like a mental health tool... I would be crying as I'm walking to the fitness center… Three hours later, I'd leave… smiling and I was happy and I was full of joy. And it was because I moved my body." —Amanda (03:13-04:22)

  • Richard reinforces the mind-body connection, emphasizing its under-recognition.

3. Transforming Grief: Divorce and Betrayal

• Navigating Infidelity
  • Amanda openly shares about her first marriage, which ended due to ongoing infidelity. She discusses the journey from pain to compassion:

    "He cheated on me our whole marriage, so there was that... I understand it now in a way that I didn't at that point in my life." —Amanda (05:02, 05:24)

  • Both host and guest reflect on how understanding others' demons promotes healing.

4. Entrepreneurship & Creating Wellness Brands

• Product Development and Purpose

  • Amanda recently launched "Proper," her supplement and wellness brand, designed to be accessible, visually inspiring, and non-judgmental:

    "I'm a big manifester...if they're all out on your counter, it's a rainbow effect." —Amanda (07:09)

  • She describes her continual creation of products, including her innovative jump rope:

    "The handles have embedded rubber...the handle is perfectly sized to fit your hand...the rope is adjustable without knots..." —Amanda (08:36)

• Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

  • Amanda stresses personal responsibility in small business, while encouraging help-seeking:

    "No one's going to care about your business more than you. You will work harder on it than anyone else...But ask for help...You can't do it all on your own." —Amanda (09:52, 10:21)

5. Facing Profound Loss: Grief, Faith, and Parenting

• Losing Nick Cordero

  • Amanda shares the raw pain and subsequent lessons in resilience after her husband’s death from COVID-19:

    "You just have to keep going...In that Broadway training, you just have to come back the next day. So I think that's where I was taught resilience." —Amanda (13:03)

  • She credits their young son Elvis and her strong faith for providing motivation and grounding:

    "Faith—I don't know how somebody goes through loss without putting the trauma somewhere higher than yourself." —Amanda (16:01)

• Parenting Through Grief

  • Amanda makes a conscious effort to keep Nick’s memory alive for Elvis through stories, photos, and music:

    "I've never kept that door closed. That door has always been open since day one. He has to know who his dad was." —Amanda (14:45) "We not only talk about Nick on a daily basis, we listen to his music a lot...his one man show recorded...Elvis can listen and understand and process it." —Amanda (23:30)

6. The Widowed Community: Connection and Identity

• Redefining "Widowhood"

  • Amanda discusses her dislike of the label "widow" and her effort to rebrand the identity more positively:

    "I hate the word widow so much...I changed it to the word 'renovoir'...empowering forward." —Amanda (21:03)

• Supporting Others in Grief

  • Amanda proactively meets with new widows for “widow walks,” combining movement and support:

    "I try to take widows on walks. I call them widow walks, and we go on walks." —Amanda (20:26)

• Key Advice for Young Widows

  • She passes on words that helped her:

    "Elvis will save you, and his smile every day will make you want to get up and live." —Amanda (22:09)

7. Maintaining Positivity & Building Community

• The Power of Positivity
  • Amanda posts daily positive thoughts (the "AK Positive Thought of the Day") to inspire her followers:

    "I started my fitness company and I posted a positive thought of the day on my Instagram page when I woke up to something very negative. And I decided in that moment to turn the negative into a positive." —Amanda (26:21) "I get a lot of feedback, a lot...almost every day somebody DMs me and says, I really needed that today. Thank you." —Amanda (27:07)

8. Future Plans and Creative Drive

• Next Chapters
  • Amanda continues to generate new creative projects (film, books, wellness):

    "I'm really trying to get my own projects made...trying to write another book with my sister...I love creating things." —Amanda (27:48)

  • She reflects fondly on her time as a co-host of ‘The Talk’ and the supportive structure it brought during her early days of grief and motherhood.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Resilience:

  "You just have to keep going...you come back the next day, ready to go." —Amanda (13:03)

• On Faith Amid Loss:

  "I don't know how somebody goes through loss without putting the trauma somewhere higher than yourself." —Amanda (16:01)

• On Community:

  "We gotta help each other." —Amanda (20:23)
  "I try to take widows on walks. I call them widow walks." —Amanda (20:26)

• On Parenting Post-Loss:

  "He has to know who his dad was." —Amanda (14:45)

• On Positivity:

  "I decided in that moment to turn the negative into a positive." —Amanda (26:21)

• On Entrepreneurship:

  "No one's going to care about your business more than you. You will work harder on it than anyone else." —Amanda (09:52)

• Humor and Connection:

  "I want mine to suffer. Suffer and be lonely. Don't sleep with anybody else. Well, I can't. I'm watching, baby." —Richard (14:15)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Resilience through Divorce & Beginnings in Fitness: 01:40–04:31
• Reflections on Divorce and Infidelity: 04:39–06:24
• Launching ‘Proper’ Wellness Brand: 06:27–07:43
• Entrepreneurial Mindset & The Jump Rope Story: 07:54–09:41
• Advice for Entrepreneurs & The Role of Help: 09:52–11:09
• Grief, Resilience, and Parenting after Loss: 12:38–14:54
• Faith and Grief Processing: 15:53–16:44
• Widowhood Identity & ‘Renovoir’ Community: 20:26–21:39
• Advice to Other Widows: 22:09–22:58
• Keeping Nick’s Memory Alive for Elvis: 23:30–24:10
• Daily Motivation & Instagram Community: 26:21–27:31
• Amanda’s Current Projects and Creative Life: 27:48–28:29

How to Connect and Learn More

• Instagram: @AmandaKloots
• Business: Proper Health - ProperHealth.com, also available at Target and Amazon
• Fitness: Amanda Kloots Fitness on Instagram

Amanda’s episode stands as a powerful expression of living with purpose after profound loss, the liberating effects of movement, and the strength of community. Her honesty and humor, even in the hardest moments, make this a must-listen for anyone facing adversity or seeking inspiration.