Magnificent Midlife

Celebrating episode 150 of the podcast with a very special guest. Ann Marie McQueen is a journalist on the world stage, focused on menopause and on a mission to cut through misleading narratives and dodgy data. She founded HotFlash Inc in 2020 to cover the latest clinical studies, treatments, products, guidance and more via a weekly research letter, podcast and across social media. She's also one...

Carolyn Parry is the founder of Career Alchemy, helping early-stage and established professionals escape from a job they hate and create a career they love, on purpose. She's an award-winning career coach, a TEDx speaker and host of the Change Your Story podcast. She is the President of the Career Development Institute and based in Wales. We talk about: - Carolyn's own career crisis - Knowing what...

Something very different for this podcast – five guests on one show! Five of my fellow founders of MenoClarity, the knowledge hub for menopause set up in 2023. I'm talking to Pat Duckworth, Prof Joyce Harper, Clarissa Kristjansson, Kate Codrington and Ann Marie McQueen about why we've come together and what we hope to achieve with MenoClarity. This is a wild and at times hilarious conversation! We...

Dr. Cathleen Brown is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist who has spent much of her career caring for female soldiers and their dependents. She was honorably discharged from the US Army after 12 years of meritorious service. She now provides gynecology services specifically for women at midlife during the menopause transition. We talk about: - What was it like being an army doctor - Ho...

Julia Brewer Daily wrote her first novel, No Names To Be Given, when she was over 50. This book was inspired by her own experience as an adopted child from a maternity home hospital in New Orleans. She's also the host of the Authors Over 50 podcast. Her mission is to encourage those in mid-life and beyond to live their best lives in what she calls Life's Sweetest Third. This is a fascinating conve...

A solo podcast from Rachel with more midlife musing on life, the universe and everything in between! Let's lean into midlife and our wisdom years! She talks about: - The new BSI Menstruation and Menopause in the Workplace Guide launch with Mariella Fostrup - How we need a revolution in how women especially older ones are viewed in the world - The inaugural MenoClarity Live summit in September - Ou...

Niamh Daly is the founder of Yinstinct Yoga and focuses on creating yoga practices to help especially with menopause, training teachers around the world in this. She also runs courses in Menopause Awareness and Strategies for fitness professionals, nutrition and health coaches as well as accredited courses for Psychotherapists and Counsellors. We talk about: - Why Niamh is so passionate about yoga...

Liz O'Donnell is the founder of Working Daughter, a global community for women balancing eldercare and career. She's the award-winning author of Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Earning A Living, which is a brilliant book. She's a longtime marketing executive who's become a recognized expert on caregiving and in 2020, she created National Working Daughter's Day. We...

Meet Mia Maugé, a 57 year old model championing broader representation in the modelling industry. She burst onto the scene in 2020 in the midst of the global pandemic when she was picked up by a modelling agency, allowing her to leave her career in digital marketing and PR . She's passionate about occupying spaces previously reserved for those who look nothing like her, be that her hair texture an...

Jessica Kupferman is the CEO and co-founder of She Podcasts, the largest women's podcasting community and organiser of She Podcasts LIVE. The She Podcasts brand currently supports over 20,000 female podcasters. She Podcasts Live Virtual is happening 20-22 June 2023. I've been a member of this brilliant community for years so it was great to sit down with Jess. We talk about: - How Jess got started...

Dr Sharon Blackie is an award winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. She's the author of the best selling, If Women Rose Rooted and more recently, Hagitude: Reimagining The Second Half Of Life . I love both books. They completely re-envision how women fit in the world. Hagitude is a wonderful analysis of how women used to be in later life, before the modern era, and the inspiration we can t...

Rebecca Wrigley is one of the founders of Rewilding Britain, and now its chief executive. She has worked in the voluntary and public sectors for 23 years, and is passionate about engaging local communities in decision-making about their land and resources. There is so much we can all contribute to protecting the environment, starting with rewilding, often on our doorstep. We talk about: - How Rewi...

Dr Kathryn Mannix has devoted her life to the palliative care of the dying. In this episode, she talked about death, the process of it and how we can all prepare better for it. She also wrote a remarkable book called  With The End In Mind  which everyone should read! It was such a pleasure to talk to her about death! This is a much longer interview than usual but I thought the topic deserved it. K...

Tania Elfersy is a transformative coach, speaker and award-winning author, specializing in midlife women's health. She's spent years researching what causes and what can relieve symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause and became free of her own physical and emotional symptoms naturally and simply. Rachel quoted her extensively in her own book. Tania set up The Wiser Woman project in 2...

Rachel's back with a solo update on what's been happening in her world and the exciting launch of  MenoClarity . She talks about: - An update on her mum post breaking her hip - Adapting to a new way of living - The fluctuation of mental capacity - Digital exclusion and Internet upgrade issues - Levels of customer service for older people and how those need to change - The wonders of the Amazon Ale...

Sam Walker started her Sam Walker's Desert Diaries podcast to document her move from Manchester, UK to Phoenix, Arizona. Sam is a master storyteller, an award-winning radio and TV broadcaster, a multiple podcast producer and presenter, a writer, and a woman who encountered coyotes, snakes and scorpions in the desert. This is such an inspirational gem of a podcast, I just had to re-release it! We t...

My guest, Professor Martha Hickey, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Reproductive Sciences at Yale University. She is in active clinical practice with a research expertise in menstrual disorders and menopause. This is such an important conversation about normalizing menopause. It may be difficult for some...

Another gem from the podcast archives. Julie Owen Moylan is the author of That Green Eyed Girl and 73 Dove Street, and currently working on her third novel. But when we recorded this interview, she had yet to get her first book deal! Her interview is a master class in believing in yourself and staying the course in pursuit of your dream. It was a real joy interviewing Julie about life, writing, ag...

Clare Fuller talks about the importance of later life planning and what that can look like. Clare is a Registered Nurse with 30 years' experience in End-of-Life Care for which she is a Care Quality Commission Specialist Advisor. She campaigns for proactive Advance Care Planning and is the host of the Conversations about Advance Care Planning podcast. Most of us leave these tricky issues until it's...

I interview Makeda Smith, celebrity publicist, pole and exotic dancer. She began her pole and aerial training at the age of 50 and created her own exotic dance brand called FlyingOver50. She's over 60 now and still pole-dancing! We talk about: - How Makeda came to start pole dancing at age 50 - How pole dancing changed her life - Why sexy never gets old - The Everybody Visible movement on social m...

Dr Amanda Hanson is on a mission to revolutionize how women age and how society feels about older women. She believes midlife should be a time of power and joy, rather than crisis. She's a clinical psychologist and coach. She's the high profile Midlife Muse on social media. We talk about: - Recognizing and fighting the narratives about women and age - The role of misogyny - Breaking free of societ...

Karen Newby is a nutritionist who's been practicing nutritional therapy for over 10 years. Her area of specialism is women's hormonal health, especially menopause. She's the author of The Natural Menopause Method, a nutritional guide to perimenopause and beyond. This woman knows so much about nutrition and women's hormones. This is a brilliant and empowering conversation. We talk about: - How we c...

Maryjane Fahey is a creative director, writer, storyteller, published author, and founder of Glorious Broads. Her mission is to inspire older women to live full authentic lives with no limitations. And younger women to live free of fear of getting older. This is a funny and inspiring conversation about how to be a glorious broad! We talk about: - Ageism and how it impacts healthcare - The insidiou...

I've talked about death on the podcast but not yet grief, so I was delighted to welcome Silke Herwald to talk about this important topic. Silke is an experienced grief specialist and hypnotherapist, working especially with subconscious processes. She's assisted hundreds of clients with grief and anxiety often drawing on her personal experience. Grief is often a big part of midlife. The more we lov...

A solo episode with Rachel, musing about midlife and what's been happening in her world. She talks about: - How difficult it can be when we have to pivot in how we interact with our older loved ones - The beginning of her journey into studying Gerontology - What successful aging really means/ looks like - Finding strategies to cope with loss as we age - The importance of thinking creatively about...