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The Wobbly Middle: Women's Career Crossroads In Midlife: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Patsy Day
Join recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. The Wobbly Middle explores that moment when we recognise that restless feeling, that midlife angst, for what is - returning ambition - and begin actively questioning our direction. It's that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward. Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories about leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. Guests have included a teacher-turned-psychologist who went back to uni at 40, a lawyer who made it to MasterChef: The Professionals, a midwife turned fem tech founder, and a journalist who started a comedy school. In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it. These wise women tell us that clarity comes from doing and that readiness grows as you go. The message is don’t wait to feel ready to begin. Dip in a toe and see where it leads.
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- 5 days ago32 min
When Your Body Speaks: From Chronic Pain to Natural Movement and a Second Act | Wendy Welpton
One night Wendy Welpton woke up in agony. She was a fit and healthy runner who had always taken good care of herself. Four years of chronic pain followed, with no clear answer from anyone on how to fix herself.What eventually changed things was a book, a lot of reading, and going back to study in midlife: first anatomy and physiology, then a movement certification. Out of that came Reclaim Movement and her book, Move Well For Life.This a conversation about noticing the signs and about making changes through small shifts.LinksRead: Move Well For Life: Unlock the life-changing power of everyday movement by Wendy WelptonWendy also mentioned: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der KolkVisit Reclaim Movement's website here. Key TopicsReaching a career crossroads in midlife without choosing itA maternity leave career gap, and three or four senior interviews that ended in a quick noKeeping an entrepreneurial drive alive at home: knee patches, a wellbeing business, and a park campaign that raised £50,000Career change after injury, and what four years of chronic pain does to your sense of the futureGoing back to study in midlifeRetraining in midlife when you have no formal background in the fieldWhat natural movement actually means, and the other fifteen hours of the dayWhy the body is at its best moving frequently and through its rangesBuilding a business on Instagram, and what happens when a reel goes viralSmall steps, trial and error, and building confidence through actionSecond career after children: turning a personal problem into a businessMore from The Wobbly MiddleThe Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIvSubscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep37-wendy-welptonNew to The Wobbly Middle? Find out what we're about: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep37-wendy-welptonIf You Enjoyed This EpisodeIf you enjoyed it, I'd recommend going back to Season 1 for our conversation with menopause doctors Susanne Hooper and Mel Hacking. Or, if you're exploring how to find your purpose, then the episodes with teacher turned psychologist Carri Simmons, and former CEO to hypnotherapist Heather Makepeace will certainly nourish you.Help Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend — if you know someone who might be at a midlife career crossroads, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Thank you for listening and for supporting independent podcasts.Share Your StoryMade a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com, Your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.About The HostJoin lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward.Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously.In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it.This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.
- 2 weeks ago29 min
Turning a conversation into a £68m business: Helen Cannon on super-scaling from a people-first, purpose-led position and changing the workplace for good
How do you turn a conversation into a £68m turnover business? Helen Cannon started a managed travel co in her late 30s (with five children at home!) off the back of a conversation in a restaurant. While the whole industry was pushing clients onto booking tools and stripping out the human contact, Helen saw that her ability to build good, lasting relationships would set Ison Travel apart.In a little over a decade, Helen has grown Ison into a super-scaler operating across five countries, with a workforce that is 70% women. Within that, 25% are over 55, and 5% over 65.We discuss Helen’s people-first, tech-second philosophy and building a high-growth business on the basis of a flexible working, part-time workforce.Helen shares precious insights into what’s holding women founders back from scaling their businesses and how we all need to be 1-% braver.She also reflects on how the pandemic, which paralysed the travel industry, became the inflection point on which ISON took flight.Listen to bolster your entrepreneurial resolve and to help you be a little braver.The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes every other Tuesday.Key TopicsStarting a business in midlife — middle-to-late thirties, five children, a six-month-old, and the realisation that no employer was going to be able to cope with her lifeFlexible working — hiring on ability rather than hours or postcode, job shares, school hours, and part-timers who became full-timers as their children grewFemale founders — how female-founded businesses deliver higher returns and why women should not be scared to knock on the doorsScaling up — inflection points, the multiplier effect past £10 million, and why each step gets bigger rather than simply doubling10% braver — a philosophy that can mean building a company or can mean getting out of bed and taking one small stepPurpose before profit — "you can't have profit without purpose", and changing the workplace for goodTrusting your gut — "your gut instincts are your guardian angels", and asking what's the worst that can happenLinksISON Travel: https://isontravel.comThe SuperScalers: https://www.superscalers.world — Sam Smith's programme for female founders scaling their businesses, which Helen discusses in the episodeEverywoman: https://www.everywoman.comThe Women's Chapter: https://womenschapter.comMore from The Wobbly MiddleThe Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIvSubscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep36-helen-cannonFind out more about The Wobbly Middle: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep36-helen-cannonIf You Enjoyed This EpisodeWe've had other extraordinary female founders who have built boldly. Listen to Debbie Wosskow OBE (Season 1), who has founded and exited multiple businesses, and Rachael Newton (Season 2), a hedge fund lawyer who walked away to found period care company, Nixit.Help Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend — if you know someone who might be at a midlife career crossroads, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Thank you for listening and for supporting independent podcasts.Share Your StoryMade a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com, Your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.About The HostJoin lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward.Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dre
- Aug 18, 202627 min
Hypnotherapy Career Change: A Purpose-Led Second Act, Identity Shifts and the Antidote to Imposter Syndrome | Heather Makepeace |
After over a decade in the family business, Heather took the painful decision to close its doors and change careers. The decision was long in the making but the relief was quick in flooding her senses. Now in her 40s, Heather retrained as a hypnotherapist, starting from scratch with zero clients and, in her words, imposter syndrome through the roof.Propelled by her purpose-led approach, Heather now works with everyone from burnt-out professionals to Comrades ultramarathon runners.In this episode Heather and Patsy talk about what hypnotherapy actually is (nothing to do with being made to cluck like a chicken); they pop the lid on confidence issues; and discuss how a purpose-led life gives you something to navigate by when you're at a career crossroads or the imposter voice starts up.LinksYou can find Heather at https://mindofpeacehypno.com/Heather's Book recommendation for practical tools to work out your own purpose: There Is a Reason You Are Here by Gavin Lund.If You Enjoyed This EpisodeYou might also love The Wobbly Middle Episode with investigative wellness journalist, Rebecca Newman, on the neuroscience of action boards (Season 3).We've also been lucky enough to have other remarkable South African women on the show, like Carri Simmons, who left teaching to retrain as a clinical psychologist. and Donna Crous — a stay-at-home mum and self-taught photographer who became Nikon's first-ever food photography ambassador. Both conversations are well worth going back for. Until next time.Help Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here. It only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend. If you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Want more from Patsy between episodes? Subscribe to the newsletter — it's where the conversation continues: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep35-heather-makepeaceNew to The Wobbly Middle? Find out what we're all about:https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep35-heather-makepeaceThank you for listening and for supporting independent podcasts.
- Aug 4, 202629 min
Leaving the Ladder Down: Vogue, Motherhood and the Mental Rolodex | Dolly Jones
“From the very earliest point of your career, you're building a wonderful mental Rolodex of people who might roll into any future part of your life, and I could've been more confident with that.” Dolly Jones, former editor of vogue.com, now an author building a portfolio career, reassures and encourages those of us at a career crossroads to get in touch with old friends and colleagues for encouragement and guidance.For twelve years Dolly Jones ran vogue.com, at exactly the moment the fashion world looked most like The Devil Wears Prada. When she returned to work after her first baby, she was ready to go but could not find a roadmap to help her navigate the way forward.That experience became Leaving the Ladder Down: How to Combine Career and Motherhood, from the Women Who’ve Done It, a book built on the voices of women who’ve made it work, and on the euphoria of working parenthood that needs to be celebrated.In this episode Dolly and Patsy talk about returning to work; the confidence to say “this is my livelihood” when it comes to money; women’s professional networks and why building your network in midlife is less daunting than it sounds; and the bedtime trick a therapist gave Dolly for quietening the voices in your head.About Dolly JonesDolly Jones is a journalist and digital strategist who edited British Vogue’s digital platforms running vogue.com before being promoted to Content & Strategy Director across Condé Nast’s wider portfolio. She left Condé Nast in 2018 after two decades to set up her own consultancy. Her debut book, Leaving the Ladder Down: How to Combine Career and Motherhood, from the Women Who’ve Done It, was published by 4th Estate. She is a trustee of Advance, a charity supporting women and young people affected by domestic abuse, and a primary school governor.LinksLeaving the Ladder Down: https://www.4thestate.co.uk/products/leaving-the-ladder-down-dolly-jones-9780008431402/ — Dolly’s book, published by 4th EstateAlso mentioned: Julia Samuel, psychotherapist; June Angelides, venture capitalistDolly’s summer read: The Correspondent by Virginia EvansWhere to Follow Dolly JonesLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dolly-jones/Instagram: @dolly_jonesIf You Enjoyed This EpisodeYou might also love our episode Books and Chocolate with Georgina Atwell (Season 4). Georgina was made redundant while on maternity leave and built two book businesses from her kitchen table.Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes are released every other Tuesday.You can find out more on our Substack page: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep34-dolly-jonesSubscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep34-dolly-jonesHelp Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend— if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Share Your StoryMade a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.About The HostJoin recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward.Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously.In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it.This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.
- Jul 21, 202628 min
Books and Chocolate: Tech entrepreneur Georgina Atwell on values-led, commercially minded change
Values-led and commercially minded Georgina Atwell turned a career crossroads moment and her knowledge of the publishing industry into two book businesses that give back.Georgina grew up with chocolate and books running through her veins — a family chocolate business on one side, a lifelong love of reading on the other. She spent eight happy years at Penguin, then was made redundant while on maternity leave.From her kitchen table she built Toppsta, a platform where children recommend books to each other, now home to more than 160,000 reviews. She did it on a shoestring: starting on Facebook, teaching herself newsletters, social media and the "dark art" of SEO from an online course.Now Georgina has launched Readerama, a second-hand books marketplace that channels funds back into authors, festivals and schools. Listen for her advice on starting something new, building businesses on a shoestring, the power of SEO and, of course, our best 2026 summer reads.If you enjoyed his episode:Make sure you follow us so you don't miss our episode with Wendy Welpton who tells us how she used social media to build her Reclaim Movement Programme.You might also love The Accidental Influencer: Hut-to-Hut Hikes, Night Trains and Going Viral with Bea Searle (Season 4). Like Georgina, travel blogger Bea built an online business from scratch around something she genuinely loved.LinksToppsta: https://toppsta.com/Readerama: https://readerama.com/Georgina Atwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginaatwell/Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes are released every other Tuesday.You can find out more on our Substack page: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searleSubscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searleThe Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIvHelp Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend— if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Share Your StoryMade a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.About The HostJoin recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward.Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously.In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it.This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.
- Jul 7, 202625 min
The Accidental Influencer: Hut-to-Hut Hikes, Night Trains and Going Viral | Bea Searle |
Travel blog income, going viral on Instagram and hut-to-hut hiking with kids - Bea Searle turned school holiday travel into a midlife career.Bea Searle has never quite known what she wanted to do but she is totally at ease with that. A part-qualified accountant who escaped the Big Four, she worked in top-end travel until her second child made the five-week India trips impossible. In lockdown, she started a travel blog, Wild Bee Outdoors, for the joy of it but as the world opened up so she left it go.Eighteen months ago she restarted it properly - an SEO course, a rebuilt website, a focus on train travel in Europe and the adventures she and her kids actually do. Then one post about an independent trip to Finland went viral, and 1,000 Instagram followers became 54,000 in a week.This is about travel as joy rather than logistics, hut-to-hut hiking in the Dolomites, cycling Austria's river paths on a Haribo economy and how an "accidental influencer" is now replacing her old salary by virtue of the freedom of her blog.If you know a lot about something, Bea's advice is simple: just start.BONUS EPISODE WITH BEA: For members of The Wobbly Middle Club over on Substack, there's a bonus episode (release date: 8 July 2026) where Bea gets into the nuts and bolts of blogging: why she chose WordPress as her blog building platform, engagement differs from Facebook to Insta to Pinterest, and how ad income actually works on a blog.Bea also shares the details of that SEO course that changed things for her.More about Bea SearleBea Searle of Wild Bee Outdoors is a family travel blogger specialising in active, sensible-budget European adventures — hut-to-hut hiking, multi-day cycle routes and train travel with kids. A former Deloitte accountant and luxury tour operator, she restarted her lockdown blog eighteen months ago, went viral on Instagram in January, and is now replacing her former part-time salary with income from her blog and brand partnerships.Key TopicsFrom Deloitte to the departures board— scraping the accountancy exams, the Big Four's "half day" culture at 6:30pm, and why Bea has never regretted leaving a jobThe lockdown blog that became a business — restarting with an SEO course, affiliate links and brand partnerships, and what travel blog income really looks like (one kids' hiking backpack sold a day)Going viral on Instagram — 1,000 to 54,000 followers in a week, the freak-out about her kids' faces, and her husband's billboard adviceSchool holiday travel her kids can actually do — hut-to-hut hiking at the Tre Cime in the Dolomites, Austria's traffic-free Radweg cycle paths, and a snack-per-kilometre ratio powered by HariboFind out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes are released every other Tuesday.You can find out more on our Substack page: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searleSubscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searleThe Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIvHelp Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend— if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Share Your StoryMade a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.About The HostJoin recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward.Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking bac
- Jun 22, 202625 min
Legendary Mermaid, Rita King, On Going Back To What You Love In Midlife
Rita King is a Legendary Siren - a mermaid at Florida's Weeki Wachee Springs - who returned to the water after a whole working life away. She first performed in the famous mermaid shows as a teenager in the late 1960s, then raised a family, taking the sensible route to pay the bills. But the pull to the water never faded.When she retired from the US Postal Service at 60, Rita retrained and waited four years for a place among the Legendary Sirens to open up. This Season 4 opener is about intrinsic motivation and reclaiming the part of yourself you set aside. Have you drifted from something you once loved?If You Enjoyed This EpisodeYou might also love our episode on how to make an action board: Pin It To Win It: The Neuroscience of Action Boards with Rebecca Newman (Season 3, Episode 2). If Rita's story is about honouring a wish or a dream you've held inside you and finally going for it; the Rebecca's is about the science of holding that wish in front of you and acting on it.It's an opportunity to be playful, to cut and stick and to start.LinksWeeki Wachee Springs, Florida — home of the Legendary Sirens:https://weekiwachee.com/Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep31-rita-kingSubscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep31-rita-kingHelp Us GrowIf this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference:Leave a review here: it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts.Share this episode with a friend: if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum.Thank you for listening and for supporting independent podcasts.Timestamps- 02:00 — Welcome to Season 4 and meeting Rita King- 02:30 — Becoming a mermaid in the late '60s and the magnetic pull to the water- 03:30 — Mermaid myths: custodians of the springs, manatees, and Columbus- 04:30 — Inside Weeki Wachee: the aquifer, the current, the underwater caverns- 06:00 — What it's really like to swim in a mermaid tail- 07:00 — "It spoiled me for any other job" and the rural swamp mail route- 07:50 — Going back: the four-year wait and the training to become a Legendary Siren- 09:00 — The performance schedule and underwater safety for the young swimmers- 09:40 — Conservation: algae blooms, chemicals, and 17 springs that dried up- 10:00 — Adult mermaid camps: who comes, and how the women transform- 13:50 — The bond between the mermaids, across every age- 15:00 — Inspiring women of every age and size from the theatre- 17:40 — "How do I find the water baby in me again?"- 18:30 — Soul-searching, determination, and how badly you want it- 22:30 — What the little girl driven to Weeki Wachee would think now- 23:50 — Advice to her younger self: "Be more patient"- 24:00 — Season 4 preview: the women who bring us the sunshineShare Your StoryMade a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.About The HostJoin recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been feeling was returning ambition. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward.Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously.In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it.*The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes every other Tuesday.*This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.
- Jun 16, 20260 min
S4 Trailer: The Women Who Bring The Sunshine
For women rethinking their careers in midlife, Season 4 of The Wobbly Middle is here and this summer it belongs to the women who bring us the sunshine.The holiday you book. The book you pack. The swimwear you brave. The financial confidence to enjoy it. Host Patsy Day speaks to women who have navigated a career crossroads in midlife and gone on to build businesses, solve overlooked problems, or finally pursue long-neglected dreams. Like the mum of five who built a multi-million pound travel business and the US postal worker in her 60s who became a mermaid. There is also the Vogue editor leaving the ladder down for others to follow. Season 4, the Summer Edit, drops Monday 22 June, then every second Tuesday. Show NotesWelcome to Season 4 of The Wobbly Middle — The Women Who Bring Us the Sunshine.This is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife - that in-between space where you know what you don't want to go back to, but haven't quite worked out the path forward. That's the wobbly middle. If you're at a career crossroads in your 40s or 50s, wondering whether a midlife career move is still possible, please give our pod a listen. We speak to women who have changed direction, backed themselves, and built things when the market didn’t provide. Together, their stories make the case that that restless feeling we have (call it our returning ambition?) is… well…normal. This season features:Rita King — A US postal worker who, in her 60s, returned to become one of the legendary mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida. Helen Cannon — A superscaler who started building the multimillion pound Ison Travel when her fifth babe was wee.Bea Searle — The accidental influencer who became a go-to guide for families travelling Europe on a budget, and one of Cycling UK's 100 Women in Cycling 2025. Dolly Jones — Former digital editor at Vogue.co.uk, Digital Strategy Director at Condé Nast, and author of Leaving the Ladder Down on what she learned and why she's determined to bring other women with her.Danni Hewson — BBC business correspondent turned Head of Financial Analysis at AJ Bell. She swapped the newsroom for the analyst's chair to help make the world of finance more accessible for women.Georgina Magnotta — She faced redundancy, then founded Toppsta, the UK's biggest children's book review platform. Now she's launching Readerama, a new home for second-hand books. Sarah Jordan — Former Head of Digital Strategy at Oxfam, turned underwear entrepreneur and founder of Y.O.U Underwear. Purpose-led from the start.New episodes drop every second Tuesday from 22 June 2026.Help Us GrowIf The Wobbly Middle has ever made you feel less alone in your career thinking, please share it. Tell a friend who needs a little career sunshine this summer.Leave us a review - it helps more women find us at their career crossroadsSubscribe to our newsletter for weekly inspiration between episodes: thewobblymiddle.substack.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=s4-trailerFollow us @thewobblymiddle on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. The Wobbly Middle is hosted and produced by Patsy Day. For press enquiries: press@thewobblymiddle.com
About The Wobbly Middle: Women's Career Crossroads In Midlife
Join recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. The Wobbly Middle explores that moment when we recognise that restless feeling, that midlife angst, for what is - returning ambition - and begin actively questioning our direction. It's that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward. Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories about leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. Guests have included a teacher-turned-psychologist who went back to uni at 40, a lawyer who made it to MasterChef: The Professionals, a midwife turned fem tech founder, and a journalist who started a comedy school. In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it. These wise women tell us that clarity comes from doing and that readiness grows as you go. The message is don’t wait to feel ready to begin. Dip in a toe and see where it leads.
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