Doing Double Duty on a new Podcast!
The NEW Queenager Debrief with tips and insights for your midlife reinvention.
I'm hugely excited to announce this week that I’m now part of the Noon Queenager podcast. If you’ve been reading my newsletters for a while, you’ll have noticed me occasionally name-checking Eleanor Mills and her fast-growing community, Noon.
Eleanor set up Noon a few years ago. Reeling from the shock of being made redundant from her big job in journalism, she found there was nothing out there to support her through her midlife maelstrom. So, she decided to set something up herself. She also coined the term ‘Queenager’ to challenge the plethora of derogatory words that have long undermined women over 50.
I was excited from the get-go about Noon’s potential to support women through the highs, lows, and latent potential of midlife, and how it might reflect the very different journey we now expect and want at this stage. Immediately after reading about Noon’s launch I contacted Eleanor and proposed an article about my return to higher education in midlife for her website, which she commissioned.
I’ve since attended many Noon events and several retreats and have met an amazing array of incredible women. And what a joy to host The Queenager Jamboree this past week at London’s Covent Garden, where we surely had the most fun quiz on the subject of personal finance ever!
Eleanor actually launched the main Queenager podcast earlier this summer having banked interviews with high profile women from her impressive contacts book. But as a successful podcaster and longtime audio professional myself, I had some suggestions for taking the show further.
I wanted to really mobilise the wisdom from her guests - who include Carol Vorderman, Liz Earle and Martha-Lane Fox (upcoming) - in a way that would really speak to those listening. Inspirational stories are super powerful for sure, but I felt that actively connecting the lives of high-achieving and impressive women in the public eye to all women’s experiences would help support listeners to navigate their midlife reinventions in really targeted ways.
And as a woman with an eye for the big picture, Eleanor was on board. So I stepped in as producer, repackaging the main shows already released and devising and producing the new Debrief bonus episodes. Additionally, I’m wearing my women’s centred transformational coach hat. In each episode I identify three takeaways from Eleanor’s guest, and she and I discuss how they serve Queenager listeners.
I’m really proud of the Debrief. Because with my coaching know-how (and production skills!), Eleanor’s quality research on midlife and both of our rich experiences of this life-phase, the podcast really speaks to listeners’ own lives. It provides insights about how to best approach this time of change and challenge. And in so doing, the Debrief creates a powerful bridge between the stories from Eleanor’s wise, entertaining and fascinating guests, and listeners’ personal midlife experiences.
Because we all need to support one another as women - especially in midlife. This is when chaos can reign supreme. Or when we realise it’s time to act on that nagging yearning we’ve been neglecting for so long - which has perhaps got lost in a life of service to others. But we often don’t know how to make our dreams real and struggle to know what the path ahead looks like. So the more we connect to others and their experiences of midlife, the better equipped we are to make sound choices that serve our own unique journey.
“We can’t become ourselves by ourselves”, as my coach and mentor Dr Claire Zammit puts it. And it’s great to be sharing insights in the Debrief that enable listeners to see that others - including women with apparently perfect lives from the outside! - go through their own share of midlife agony.
Of course it’s not just about the tough times - indeed: my own midlife transformation continues to be extraordinary, and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. But I could never have forseen my present sunny outlook as I waded through my own challenges only a few years ago! So I know how hard it is to even contemplate there being a diamond in the rough when we’re knee deep in a midlife sh*tstorm!
And that’s all the more reason to tap into other women’s stories and understand how they got from point A to point B - and to see how it’s chaotic for everyone! It’s deeply reassuring to know that we’re all doing our messy best and that that’s ok. And as we learn to hold the deep truth that things can be both painful and full of potential - that buried in the agony is the possibility of ecstasy over the horizon - we can make our own way through, and start shaping life to fit us. Because it’s our time.
But do remember, there are no prizes for struggling alone on this journey. Everyone deserves the support they need - which can be hard to fathom as women. We’ve been conditioned to not show ‘weakness’ for fear of being judged harshly by both others and ourselves. But help and support is never weakness - and others want to help you!
So it’s time to toss aside the bullsh*t of noble isolation (that was historically imposed on us) that keeps us down as women. We’re not better off alone on this journey, and there’s help, support and resources available. Reach out to me if you want to chat and see how I might support you (more details below). And join Eleanor’s community at Noon.
As the Queenager podcast tagline says: it’s time to “Become the woman you’ve always wanted to be”.
Give it a listen and let me know what you think!
DFY Recommends…
Listen to this…
I also found time this week to visit the Union Chapel in Islington - my favourite music venue in London. Queenager Joan as Policewoman was on fine form performing alongside two outstanding musicians on drums and guitars. I’ve loved Joan for a while, and saw her perform at Heaven in London several years ago - though that gig was mainly memorable for the over-zealous smoke machine which forced my husband Hamish to leave early because it was knackering his lungs!
This week Joan still had the smoke pumping (Joan!) but Hamish endured, and we were rewarded with a stunning evening of music, including much of her new album Lemons, Limes and Orchids. Her sultry - sometimes Joni Mitchell-esque - vocals and jazzy arrangements suited the fabulous Chapel acoustics, and it was very different from the clubby show we saw at Heaven. Such soul food - and gorgeous to again be in my Happy Place.
Here’s a track from Lemons….
Book this…
My booking system for FREE taster coaching sessions is now live! Click here to book in with me if you’d like to explore your midlife reinvention - or get support to move beyond current life challenges.
You’ll leave your powerful 30 minute session with:
Your personalised goals and achievable outcomes.
A new awareness about your professional and personal skill gaps and what’s been holding you back (it might not be what you think!)
Renewed motivation to do things differently and take charge of your destiny.
A next-step action plan for exploring new options, acquiring new skills, and stepping into a new professional phase that aligns with your ambitions.
My coaching is grounded in the amazing Women’s Centred Coaching in which I’m foundations certified. It’s evidence based and proven to specifically tackle the ways in which women are held back from success.
So whatever success looks like to you - raising your game professionally, finding true love, following your neglected dreams - and yes, releasing your fears! - I can personally vouch for how this is genuinely transformative coaching.
It’s likely the missing piece you didn’t know you were looking for.
Visit my website to find out more about me and my coaching: www.dramafreeyou.com
And email wendy@dramafreeyou.com with any questions you don’t see answered there.
What are you waiting for?
It’s time to reset your midlife - let’s do this!
That’s it for now - keep on reaching for your best self, and reaching out to those who might help you.
Because Drama belongs in the movies, not in your life.
Until next time,
Wendy