Midlife this week? Brain fog, broken gates, drinking less, saying no more often — and apparently blaming absolutely everything on menopause.

Gill and Barbara catch up on what’s actually happening in their lives right now: why late nights have lost their appeal, how their relationship with alcohol has changed, the revolving door of perimenopause symptoms, forgetting conversations that may or may not have happened, and getting much better at saying no.

There’s also a broken gate, an Aldi sofa-cover incident, a Bengal cat with strong opinions and one important family debate:

Can you really blame everything on menopause?

We think you’ll be surprised. 😂

Midrising Conversations is about what life really looks like in your 40s, 50s and beyond — careers, relationships, families, money, health, getting older, starting again and everything nobody really prepares you for.

Midlife. No filter.

What if life really does unfold in chapters of roughly 25 years?

In this episode of Midrising Conversations, Gill is joined by publisher and corporate historian Jaqui Lane to explore her idea of The 25 Rule.

The first 25 years are about growing up, learning and becoming independent. The next 25 can become a blur of careers, relationships, children, caring responsibilities and keeping everything moving.

And then something can shift.

Jaqui talks about reaching her 50s and feeling some of the energy and freedom she remembered from being 25 — this time with decades of experience, confidence and perspective behind her.

Gill and Jaqui talk about:

• What shapes us during our first 25 years
• Why 25–50 can carry such an enormous load
• Careers, children and the “club sandwich” generation
• Why “buy help” was some of the best advice Jaqui received
• How life changes as children become more independent
• Why women can become braver and less impressionable with age
• Feeling the energy of 25 again, with decades more wisdom
• Choosing whether your next chapter becomes bigger, simpler — or both
• Why taking time to work out what you actually want matters

The question at the heart of the episode:

What do you actually want from your next 25 years?

Midrising Conversations is the podcast for women in the middle of everything — real conversations about midlife, work, health, relationships, identity, reinvention and what comes next.

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/xZ51k7B5Rik

Midrising:
https://midrising.com.au

Your head is full.

Work. Kids. Parents. Relationships. Health. Life admin. What comes next. And probably another ten things you’ve just remembered.

In this solo episode of Midrising Conversations, Gill works through five questions designed to help clear some of that noise and get clearer about what actually deserves your energy now:

1. What’s taking up the most space in your head right now?
2. What doesn’t need your energy right now?
3. What feels harder than it should?
4. What are you ready to stop carrying?
5. What do you actually want now?

Along the way, Gill talks about building a company at 50, the difference between being busy and feeling drained, quitting vaping, changing friendships, ageing family and a conversation with an old school friend who wants something very different from this stage of life: fewer responsibilities, more travel and a simpler life.

You might want to build something enormous. You might want your world to become quieter. You might still be working it out.

The five questions explored in this episode come from Clear Your Head, part of the Stabilise stage of the Midrising framework.

Free 5-Step Reset:
https://www.midrising.com.au/pages/the-5-step-reset

If You Feel Restless, Start Here – free guide:
https://www.midrising.com.au/products/if-you-feel-restless-start-here

Explore Stabilise:
https://www.midrising.com.au/pages/stabilise

Watch Midrising Conversations on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/CPXrI8oDkyA

When did being healthy become another full-time job?

Midlife seems to arrive with an ever-growing checklist: eat more protein, lift weights, walk your steps, take your supplements, remember your hormones, look after your cholesterol, improve your mobility, do some cardio, sleep properly... and somehow fit all of that around an actual life.

In this episode of Midrising Conversations, Gill and Barbara ask whether we really need to optimise the sh*t out of midlife.

We talk protein obsession, the mythical 10,000 steps, strength training, cardio, frozen shoulders, supplements, changing bodies and the strange shift from exercising because you want to look good to exercising because you want to be strong, mobile and independent at 70, 80 and beyond.

But we also get into the other side of wellness culture: what happens when looking after yourself becomes yet another list of things you feel like you’re failing at?

There’s plenty of talk about perfectionism, self-compassion, longevity, tearing up the to-do list and accepting that sometimes showing up and doing something is more than enough.

Because maybe midlife isn’t about becoming the most optimised version of yourself. Maybe it’s about looking after yourself well enough to actually enjoy it.

This episode shares our personal experiences and opinions and isn’t intended as medical or nutritional advice.

At some point in midlife, you stop wanting to audition for your own life.

For years, we play the roles expected of us: the capable one, the successful one, the good mother, the dependable friend, the easygoing partner, the woman who always has everything under control.

Then something shifts.

In this episode, Gill Townsend and Barbara Scalzi talk about what happens when you start caring less about being liked, saying yes because you “should”, making yourself smaller at work, or chasing things you’re not even sure you want anymore.

We talk about friendship shake-ups, FOMO, being told you’re too direct, too passionate or simply “too much”, the mental load of being the person who remembers everything, and what happens when you become so good at playing a role that you lose sight of yourself inside it.

Maybe one of the greatest gifts of midlife isn’t wisdom or confidence.

Maybe it’s permission.

Permission to stop proving. Stop pleasing. Stop performing.

And just be who you are.

What does a career look like when you no longer feel the need to prove yourself?

In Episode 10 of Midrising Conversations, Barbara puts Gill in the hot seat to talk about stepping away from a highly paid corporate role, building something of her own and redefining success in midlife.

They discuss how financial independence shaped their careers, why moving sideways can be just as valuable as climbing upwards, and how decades of experience can become the foundation for an entirely new chapter.

This episode explores:

• leaving career survival mode
• using transferable skills to build something new
• starting a business in midlife
• redefining ambition, success and financial independence
• imposter syndrome after decades of experience
• why starting again does not mean starting from nothing
• knowing when to climb another wall — and when to knock it down

This conversation is for anyone questioning what they want from the next stage of their career, considering a change of direction or wondering whether it is too late to begin again.

Hosted by Gill Townsend and Barbara Scalzi.

Midrising Conversations is honest conversation about midlife, work, identity and everything in between.

Why do younger women seem to be approaching life, work and success so differently?

In this episode, Gill and Barbara explore what midlife women can learn from the generations coming through behind us.

From boundaries and confidence to entrepreneurship, career progression and family choices, younger women appear to be playing by a different set of rules. Many aren't waiting for permission. They're backing themselves earlier, setting expectations more clearly, and creating opportunities on their own terms.

But experience still matters.

Gill and Barbara discuss what years of navigating careers, workplaces, relationships and life transitions have taught them, and why both generations have something valuable to learn from each other.

A conversation about confidence, courage, change and the evolving role of women at work and in life.

"You can declutter your house and still feel completely overwhelmed."

Because the real clutter isn't on your shelves. It's in your head.

Episode 8 of Midrising Conversations. Gill and Barbara talk about the mental load women carry — the constant to-do lists, the decisions that never get made, and the invisible weight that builds up over time.

This isn't about tidying up your home. It's about clearing space in your life.

What we cover:• The difference between physical clutter and mental clutter• Why decision fatigue is the real exhaustion• The 46 tabs nobody talks about• What "putting it down" actually looks like• Why decluttering tools alone don't fix this

Not a productivity hack. Not a tidying guide. Just two women working through what's actually weighing women down in midlife.

Topics: mental load, midlife exhaustion, the middle shift, women in their 40s and 50s, decision fatigue.