Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
After 14 years of marriage, Randi Lambert will finalize her divorce from her husband next month. But first, the mother of two said she plans to head to this weekend's Start Over Smart Divorce Expo in New York City.
“I want to make sure I know anything and everything... [So] I won’t have to look back and say I should’ve, I could’ve," she said during a "Today" show segment about the expo Friday.
Lambert won't be the only one. On March 31 and April 1, people from all over the country will converge at New York City's Metropolitan Pavillion for the inaugural Start Over Smart Divorce Expo, an event that will focus on navigating the divorce process and its aftermath. (Huffington Post Divorce, the media sponsor for the event, will host a panel on infidelity Sunday.)
Though the divorce rate hovers around 50 percent in the U.S., the sobering breakup process is all too often faced alone, said Francine Baras, a family therapist who co-founded Start Over Smart with her daughter, Nicole Baras Feuer, a mediator.
"Divorce is still in the closet. We think we talk about it but when you're facing it yourself, you're facing it alone," Baras told "Today" correspondent Amy Robach.
Hoping to change that, the mother-daughter team created the expo where men and women in various stages of divorce can come together and attend panels featuring a wide range of experts -- from attorneys and financial advisors to life coaches and style gurus. On Saturday night, professional matchmaker Amy Laurent will host a cocktail party at the same venue for the many newly-singles attending the event.
"Meeting other people going through a divorce is a huge part of the expo," Baras Feuer, a recent divorcee herself, told the Huffington Post earlier this week.
To learn more about the Start Over Smart Divorce Expo, watch the "Today" show segment above and visit StartOverSmartNY.com.