5 minutes 13 seconds read

Barbara in her book The Middlescence Manifesto highlights one of the key challenges for midlife professionals and that is breaking the stereotypes of the over 50s as ‘past our prime’.

Barbara argues that our longer expected life span has given us the gift of time and not at the end of our life but right in the middle. The question is how do we harness this gift?

8 minutes 35 seconds read

When friends told me that Victoria had left publishing to become a nurse I knew I had to speak to her. The idea of going back to school in your mid-40s and starting right at the bottom again seemed slightly crazy and extremely brave. As Victoria admits it was very scary but also invigorating. Victoria is proof that we can do hard things at any age.

11 minutes 30 seconds read

Jo talks about always feeling like the girl that never lived up to her potential. That changed in her early 50s when she discovered paddleboarding and became the first woman to paddleboard coast to coast. The experience expanded her idea of what was possible and resulted in a book, a podcast and numerous speaking opportunities.

12 minute read

Yvonne Maclean-Howard never envisaged a 17-year career break but that’s what happened when she stepped out of the advertising world to start a family. Turning 50, realising her kids needed to be more independent and feeling she wasn’t done were some of the reasons she wanted to return to paid work but where do you start?

6 minute read

We talk to Lisa Murphy - mindset coach, digital content strategy consultant, writer and founder of the 50 Forward Club, about how to create a life that allows you to try new things and pursue different interests. Lisa reminds us that our 50s can be a time to rethink what we want to do next, break from the status quo and make wild career changes.

8 minute read

How do you go from a corporate career working for British Airways to owning and managing a successful restaurant in central Rome? We talk to Lorenzo Cuttica about his career journey and how by being open to possibilities and refusing to limit his thinking he was able to start a new career in a new industry in his mid-50s.

In 2015, Jane applied for over 180 jobs and got 5 interviews. After a 30-year successful career in advertising, she found herself in her early 50s, seemingly unemployable. Rather than moan about it, she decided to fix it and created The Uninvisibility Project to shine a light on the issue and get more midlife women hired.

Juliet Warkentin, Co-Founder of Mpoweredwomen.net is using all the experience she gained in a wide career that covered journalism, communications strategy and marketing to provide women with better information about menopause, sex and beauty in midlife.

Lisa has spent her career growing some of the world’s most exciting businesses including Ebay, Moo.com, Wool and The Gang and Starling Bank. She was there at the early stages when these companies were shaking up their industries. And she is doing it again - helping to reshape the way we think of women’s health as CEO of Daye.

Victoria’s artistic career is an example of pace and modulation, creativity, ingenuity and persistence. By always keeping an eye on her end goal, she was able to manage the detours that inevitably happen when you are juggling work and a family and still find new ways to be creative.

Lucy is an occupational psychologist by training and the founder of Brave Starts. A new community of professionals helping to make our (i.e. us 50 plus-ers) latter work years some of our best work years yet!

It was Avivah’s writing in Forbes that first caught my attention, specifically her articles about The 4 Phases of Women’s Careers. Her writing felt so true to my life - the ambition I felt in my 20s, the wall I hit in my 30s, the impatience of 40s, and the hopefulness of possible peak career years in my 50s and 60s.

Stefania is an Italian journalist living in Thailand. She’s also the the author of The Age Buster, a blog she created “to decode the cultural conditioning about aging”. We talk about embracing change, clearing the clutter of your life and also the importance of showing up every day, doing the work and nurturing what you sow.

Lots of people have spoken about the importance of trying new things but Alex was the first to talk about the joy that comes with being a beginner. And she should know. As a professional sports photographer, Alex documents older athletes, many of whom started competing in their 60s, 70s and even one in their 90s!

Sometimes you just have to say F**k it and do it anyway. That’s what Katie did n 2011. She left her VP role in a big New York Ad agency and co-founded her own agency. One run and owned by 100% women (that puts Fancy in the 1% of agencies).

It’s easy to hit 50 and think your most productive years are behind. Andrea reminds us, that’s not necessarily the case. Often, it’s the opposite and we have more time ahead.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed when you are trying to make a change. Or fail because you have set yourself too big of a target. That’s when it is good to remember that small changes every day can make a big difference.

Rachel asks “If not now then when?” Reminding us that waiting for this moment where the stars align is a fool's game. Because there's never going to be a perfect moment. You’ve just got to start! Read how she started again.

About this time last year I wrote a post entitled “Paused” about what to do when life comes to a standstill. Twelve long months later, I am finally feel ready to write its bookend “Push Play” about how to find opportunities in a post Covid world.

Does being 50 need a rebranding? Business ethics expert Dr Bettina Palazzo thinks so. She wants to encourage more women to see their 50s as something great, as a chance to harvest their experience and reap the compound benefits.