TOOLS, STORIES, and MORE
Back to School Blues
I feel empty.
No more butts in the bleachers. Too much food in the fridge. No one raiding the pantry at 10 p.m. No one asking where their favorite hoodie is when it is sitting directly in front of them. It is like Mary Poppins is showing up, talking, singing and dancing about how change is in the air, except I am not quite ready for the song.
My youngest is beginning her last year of college today. And yes, I know, quarter systems are weird. Somehow this means I have one more year of college parenting before I officially become an empty nester. I cried writing this. The pain is still lingering, and I can feel it from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I love those kids so much.
And that is the thing about launching a child. It is not just about where they are going. It is about what their leaving stirs up in you.
What Messages Are You Challenging at Midlife?
We need women in the workplace. And we especially need senior women in the workplace. We need women in leadership, in boardrooms, in decision-making rooms, in the C-suite, in entrepreneurship, in every place where decisions are being made about the future.
And we need to say this loudly:
We are not finished.
We have worked diligently and HARD, dammit, to get where we are.
The Third Turn: What Horses Can Teach Us About Midlife
There is something about watching the third turn of a horse race that feels a lot like midlife. The horses have already covered much of the track. They have found their rhythm, burned energy, experienced the jockey's direction, and navigated the competition around them. Then they enter the third turn, and suddenly the finish line is in sight.
The horses are heading into the home stretch. Every stride matters.
That feels a lot like midlife to me.
We are no longer at the beginning of the race. We have lived enough life to know some things. We know what drains us and what energizes us. We know which relationships nourish us and which leave us depleted. We know what we have survived. We know what we are capable of. We have made mistakes, recovered from disappointments, changed our minds, raised children, built careers, ended relationships, started over, cared for aging parents, and perhaps even lost ourselves along the way.
Menopause and the Workplace: Why 41 Million Women Can No Longer Be an Afterthought
She is leading the meeting. Managing the budget. Mentoring younger employees. Caring for aging parents. Texting a college-aged child between presentations. And trying to remember why she walked into the conference room in the first place.
If this feels familiar, you are not alone.
More than 41 million women over the age of 40 are currently in the U.S. workforce. We are not talking about a niche population. We are talking about a significant portion of the talent, leadership, expertise, and institutional knowledge that keeps organizations running.
And here is the part that should make every employer pay attention:
The average age for a woman to assume her first executive leadership role is approximately 54.
The average age of menopause is 51.
Many women will spend 15 years or more of their working lives in the menopausal stage.
Nothing Fits Anymore
Not my jeans. Not my emotions. Not my schedule. Not even the life that used to feel so familiar.
For many women, midlife arrives quietly. At first, it's just a pair of pants that suddenly won't button. A favorite blazer that feels snug across the shoulders. Leggings that dig into your waist. Bras that pinch. The zipper that refuses to cooperate. You catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and wonder, When did this happen?
Then you pull at the waistband trying to smooth the muffin top spilling over your once-favorite jeans. You tug at your shirt, trying to disguise the fullness around your middle. You feel squeezed, compressed, constrained, swollen, puffy, uncomfortable, and somehow like a stranger in your own body.
You don't recognize yourself.
It isn't simply about gaining weight. It feels as though your body has started following a new set of rules without giving you the instruction manual.
One of the biggest reasons is estrogen.