What if the “missing piece” of your story isn’t a flaw to fix but a new lens that finally makes everything make sense? Katie sits down with coach and community builder Natalie Sharp, who’s preparing for her own ADHD assessment at 40, to unpack why so many women are getting diagnosed later in life and how that knowledge reframes everything from school memories to motherhood.

We talk about the realities of assessment access—like the UK’s right to choose pathway and long waitlists—and the quiet ways inattentive ADHD shows up in girls who are praised for being “good” while struggling to focus, initiate, and finish without a deadline. Natalie explains how perimenopause can unmask symptoms, why rejection-sensitive dysphoria hits so hard, and how unmasking can feel messy before it feels free. The conversation moves from grief and validation to practical emotional regulation, kinder self-talk, and relationship language that lowers the stakes when tensions spike.

Then we go bigger: smashing boxes in education and work that were never designed for nonlinear thinkers. We explore interest-based motivation, hyperfocus, and the value of autonomy, plus the ADHD–autism overlap that can either balance or battle inside one person. Natalie’s support group for neurodivergent women defies stereotypes with its surprising calm—proof that being fully understood is a nervous-system balm. Finally, we turn to intuition. After years of outsourcing decisions to rules and experts, rebuilding self-trust becomes the anchor. Pair the brain’s brilliance with the heart’s whisper and you get alignment—strengths like empathy, creativity, and pattern recognition working on your terms.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “too much” or “not enough,” this is your invitation to step out of the box and into a life that fits. Subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the moment that resonated most—we’d love to hear your story.

Connect with Natalie on Instagram Here @intuitive.adhd and links to @step.outofthe.shadows

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Holiday magic feels different when you’re the one stitching it together. We open the curtain on the unspoken rules that push many of us to overfunction through December and show a livable way to trade performance for presence. From the drawer that won’t open to the calendar that won’t quit, this conversation moves from home organization mindset to holiday expectation triage, with practical steps for choosing what matters, skipping what doesn’t, and releasing guilt when you make things smaller on purpose.

We dig into how expectations get installed—family traditions, social media, cultural scripts, and our need to make it special for everyone else—and why midlife is often the first time we question the job description. You’ll hear a simple filter for decisions: non‑negotiables, simplifiable, or skippable. We talk about kid‑centered traditions where your presence isn’t mandatory, the power of naming invisible assumptions before they ruin a moment, and the difference between a meaningful ritual and a habit that just survived. Along the way, we get honest about disappointment, like a beloved Nutcracker outing that didn’t match the picture in our heads, and how speaking needs out loud can rescue the feeling we’re chasing.

If you’re craving calm, you’ll find scripts and strategies: set earlier end times, share hosting, buy dessert guilt‑free, protect sleep on the big nights, and let a half‑decorated tree stand as a love letter to real life. We model for our kids what adult holidays can be—warm, flexible, and human. Schedules change, bedrooms shift, traditions evolve, and that’s not failure; that’s growth. You’re not behind; you’re redesigning a season to fit the life you actually live.

If this spoke to you, share it with a friend who’s feeling the holiday pressure, then follow the show and leave a quick review. Your notes help more 40‑ish listeners find a calmer path through the season.

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A stranger’s outrage in a parking lot shouldn’t have ruined our afternoon—yet it did. That jolt of unfairness, the shock that steals your words, and the endless replay afterward can trap even the most grounded among us. We pull the moment apart with honesty and humor, tracing what actually happens in the body when confrontation hits out of the blue and why silence might be the smartest choice your nervous system makes.

We walk through freeze and fawn responses in plain language, explaining how the thinking brain goes offline and why the perfect clapback arrives hours too late. From there, we explore the deeper layers—midlife confidence colliding with old social scripts, the ache of not correcting the record, and the sticky mix of humiliation and anger that keeps the scene looping. If you’ve ever Googled the rules just to prove you weren’t wrong, you’ll feel seen.

Most importantly, we offer a practical five-step framework to stop letting strangers live rent-free in your head: state reality out loud, separate their behavior from your worth, give yourself credit for staying safe, practice closing the loop, and choose peace over being understood. Along the way, you’ll pick up simple nervous system resets, time-boxed rumination, and language you can use in the moment or on the walk back to your car. Share this with a friend who needs a calm, clear plan for the next unexpected confrontation. Subscribe, leave a quick review, and tell us: which step helps you reclaim your peace fastest?

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What if your forties were the start of your bravest chapter? We sit with marketer-turned-digital-nomad Lindsey Tague, who turned a layoff into a passport-powered reboot. She walks us through the messy middle—burnout, letting go of the “perfect job,” and the scary freedom of showing up online to land her first clients. Then she opens the curtain on real nomad life: Wi‑Fi checks, power outages, discipline amid beach days, and the mindset it takes to face constant newness without freezing.

The heart of her story is community. Mexico became home base, and Latin dance—salsa and bachata—became her entry point to belonging across cities in Mexico, Colombia, and Peru. We explore how hobbies create quick roots, why temporary connections still matter, and the rituals that keep creativity alive on the move. We also go deep on dating at 42: navigating apps abroad, cultural differences, language barriers, and the shift toward seeking a steady, values-aligned partner. Lindsay shares why she’s experimenting with U.S. cities, how she screens for emotional stability, and what a modern version of “settling down” might look like when travel is part of your DNA.

On the business front, Lindsay is pivoting again—this time to build Life by Design, a growing Substack and community for people crafting unconventional paths. Expect honest talk about imposter syndrome, energy management, and designing work that fits the life you want, not the other way around. If you’ve ever felt “behind,” this conversation will hand you a new map and permission to start where you are.

Enjoy the episode, then subscribe, share with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. Your support helps us keep these real, midlife reinvention stories coming.

Want to connect with Lindsey? Here is her SUBSTACK A Life By Design or follow her on Instagram

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Ever crave people and peace at the same time? That tension sits at the heart of today’s conversation as we unpack why adult friendships feel heavier in midlife and how to keep them honest, warm, and sustainable. We start with a candid detour through skincare—being intimidated by routines, navigating sensitive skin, and laughing at unopened products—because it mirrors the bigger theme: wanting to care well without getting overwhelmed.

From there, we break down the myth of the “effortless” friendship and explore what actually gets in the way: clashing calendars, caregiving, careers, mental load, and the constant triage that makes planning a single dinner feel like aligning planets. We name the common friendship types we rarely say out loud—the three-days-later texter, the hobby friend, the gentle fade, and the surprise adult friend who becomes a lifeline—and share how labeling these patterns reduces guilt and sets real expectations. We also talk about communication anxiety, tone in texts, and why many of us add LOLs and emojis for reassurance, plus practical ways to lower friction with voice notes, kinder assumptions, and explicit norms.

If you’re craving deeper connection while protecting your energy, you’ll get simple, low-lift practices: standing dates you can actually keep, walk-and-talks, five-word check-ins, meme trading as a love language, and honest scripts for slow seasons. The takeaway is clear: different doesn’t mean worse. Friendship at forty is about alignment and quality, not constant contact. When we show up in ways we can sustain, even small moments feel like a reset.

If any of this made you think “same,” tap follow, leave a quick rating or review, and share this episode with a friend who could use a gentle nudge toward connection. Your support helps more listeners find a community that feels like exhale.

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A black dress, a front-row seat in Milan, and a decade-long lesson in how to turn scrutiny into fuel—this conversation dives into Victoria Beckham’s first documentary episode and why her story hits so hard for anyone 40-ish and ready to rewrite the script. We trace her path from the awkward kid who found belonging on a stage to the woman who learned that silence could be armor and craft could be liberation, shedding the WAG label and building a name that stands in ateliers, not tabloids.

We revisit the Spice Girls era not as nostalgia, but as a study in identity design: how “Posh” became a protective persona and an early sketch of a designer’s eye. Then we follow the Milan lightning-bolt moment, when fashion shifted from costume to calling. Along the way, we unpack the press machine that framed her as cold and joyless, and the choice to meet that narrative with precision instead of noise. The episode highlights the grind behind the glamour—mentorship from Roland Mouret, perspective from Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, and Donatella Versace, and the patient work of fittings, edits, and castings that transformed skepticism into respect.

What emerges is a set of clear takeaways: public perception is often fiction; you get to define your identity at any age; reinvention is a practice, not a pivot; and being soft at home while steel in public isn’t fake, it’s survival. We also talk through the emotional resonance for women navigating midlife—labels that shrink, roles that flatten, and the courage to build a life that fits your form. If you’re searching for your own Milan moment—the spark that tells you where you belong—this is your nudge to follow it and do the work that proves it.

Love this breakdown? Subscribe, leave a quick review, and share it with a 40-ish friend who’s ready for her next chapter. What label are you shedding next?

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The house gets quieter, the calendar loosens, and suddenly there’s room to ask bigger questions: Who am I now, and what do I want next? In a warm, honest conversation with book editor and newly published author Jennia D'Lima, we trace the emotional edges of a child leaving for college—those “firsts from afar” that sting and swell with pride at the same time—while finding the courage to write a new chapter of our own.

Jennia shares how she moved from shaping other people’s stories to putting her name on the cover, launching her children’s picture book, Sunny and the Round Things. We dig into the real steps behind a midlife creative pivot: setting tiny weekly goals, walking into local bookstores to pitch, and letting momentum build one conversation at a time. Along the way, we talk about modeling ambition for our kids, inviting them into the creative process, and celebrating the unexpected proof that they’re thriving on their own—clean apartments, adventurous cooking, and thoughtful choices.

We also get practical about adult friendship. Without school hallways and sidelines, connection can feel scarce, so we unpack low-pressure ways to meet people: apps like Bumble BFF, niche Facebook groups, bookstore events, hikes, and hobbies that create natural conversation. If you’re introverted, bring an extrovert wing-friend, or open with a specific compliment and a small follow-up—memes, links, or local invites that keep the door open. The throughline is flexibility and trust: letting traditions evolve, releasing old expectations, and choosing what truly fits, from daily routines to the proverbial pair of pants.

If this resonated, follow 40-ish and Figuring It Out, share it with a friend in her own season of rediscovery, and leave a quick review to help more women find the show. Your next chapter is waiting—let’s write it together.

Follow Jennia @jenniaahava and www.jenniaedits.com

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If you grew up thinking 40 would come with matching containers and a neat life plan, you’re in good company. We’re kicking off a fresh season of honest, funny, and deeply human conversations about what it really means to be 40-ish: reinventing without apology, parenting through chaos, and choosing progress over perfection. I share the wake-up that came with turning 40 and the decision to create a space where we get to be beginners again, build confidence in small steps, and decide who we want to be now.

Across the episode, we map out the show’s rhythm—three drops a week blending intimate solo updates, interviews with women who’ve rebuilt careers and passions, and a Friday pop culture segment. You’ll hear why the Victoria Beckham documentary is our first breakdown: it’s a smart lens on public identity, private resilience, and the cost of performing for everyone else. We’ll explore identity shifts after 30 and 40, friendships in midlife, parenting teens and toddlers, starting over on purpose, and becoming someone you actually like.

The heartbeat here is permission. You don’t need your life figured out by 40, or ever, to live it well. I talk about my own perfectionism—wanting to be great on day one at podcasting or even embroidery—and the choice to swap pressure for play. Expect real life, real story, humor, growth, and a whole lot of grace. If you’re feeling behind, unseen, or simply ready for a reset, you’re in the right place.

Hit follow, share this with a friend who’s also navigating the in-between, and tell me: what are you still figuring out? Your voice shapes this community. Leave a review, send a DM on Instagram at 40-ish podcast, and let’s build this season together.

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✨ Promo Episode: Welcome to 40ish & Figuring It Out ✨
In this special kickoff episode, Katie introduces the heart and soul behind 40ish & Figuring It Out — a space for women who are navigating midlife with equal parts chaos, laughter, growth, and “oh my gosh, why did no one tell me this?”

From shifting identities and raising teens to rediscovering purpose, passion, and who you are beyond everyone’s expectations, this episode sets the tone for what’s ahead: honest conversations, unfiltered stories, expert insights, and the kind of connection every woman deserves in her 40s.

Whether you’re here for the relatable moments, the inspiration, or just to feel less alone in the figuring-it-out season… you’re in the right place.

Hit play, take a deep breath, and let’s do this — together.

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