The Wobbly Middle: Women's Career Crossroads In Midlife

It's Baby Loss Awareness Week, and host Patsy Day tells the story of the unexplained stillbirth of her and her husband Wil's baby, Jack.

Patsy shares a piece she made at First Person Health, an audio storytelling workshop run by the award-winning journalist Golda Arthur, where people learn to tell the stories of their bodies and their health in their own words.

In her 40s, with children, work and a changing body, Patsy found that a loss she thought she had dealt with “pretty well at the time” had come rushing back tied up in anxiety affecting all aspects of her life, not least her working one.

In the piece, she goes back to Jack's paperwork, where the hospital letter shows no cause, and asks why stillbirth research is so underfunded.

If you or someone close to you has lost a baby at any stage, please take care as you listen.

About Golda Arthur and First Person Health

Golda Arthur has been an audio storyteller for 25 years, reporting and producing for organisations including the BBC and Vox Media. She runs her own production studio and hosts Overlooked: Women's Health Can't Wait which features immersive personal storytelling and in-depth conversations about women’s health.

Her First Person Health workshop teaches people to tell their health stories in their own words, and each participant comes away with a professionally produced audio piece.

Links

• Overlooked: Women's Health Can't Wait: https://overlookedpod.com/
• Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity: https://www.sands.org.uk/support-you
• Donate to Sands during Baby Loss Awareness Week: https://tinyurl.com/SANDS-Charity
• This American Life "One Last Thing Before I Go": https://www.thisamericanlife.org/702/one-last-thing-before-i-go/act-one-7

If you need support

The Sands helpline is free for anyone affected by the death of a baby. Call 0808 164 3332 or email [email protected] or go to their website: https://www.sands.org.uk/support-you

The Wave of Light

On Thursday 15 October, families around the world light a candle at 7pm local time, in memory of all babies who have died. As 7pm reaches each time zone, the candles make a wave of light that travels around the world.

ABOUT THE PODCAST: 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 the restless feeling for what it 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.

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.

SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it - your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. Email us at [email protected]

FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle

WATCH ON YouTube @thewobblymiddle

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com

A midlife career change that began with perimenopause: Danni Hewson was an experienced BBC journalist who could take anything in her stride — until her body had other ideas.

Perimenopause slammed her in her thirties, the brain fog wearing her down and undermining her confidence on live television. So she made a plan, moving to the early-morning microphone of Radio Five Live's Wake Up to Money, where she could keep her notes in front of her.

Then Covid came, and with yet another restructure, the BBC were asking people to do even more with less. Danni finally made the call - and surprised herself more than anyone when it led her to the world of finance.

Now Head of Financial Analysis at AJBell, Danni talks to Patsy about her career crossroads, transferable skills and how to look differently at what you've spent years building up. They also get into money. Danni breaks down the gender pension gap, explains why women's financial journeys diverge from men's at age twenty-eight, and gives us a good push to show our pensions some love.

What We Cover

• How a chance meeting in a Mexican restaurant in Leicester led to a career in radio
• What local journalism gave Danni and what we lose as local newsrooms shrink
• Perimenopause in her late 30s and fighting to be believed
• The conversation that opened the door to AJ Bell
• Transferable skills: how to break down what you do every day into something someone else values
• The gender pension gap: why women’s financial contributions diverge from men’s at age 28
• What to actually do when you open those pension envelopes for the first time
• The snowball effect of compound interest and the benefits of combining pension pots
• Pension options for freelancers, the self-employed, and women not currently in work
• The Lifetime ISA: what it is, who it suits, and why it’s underused

Useful Links

• AJ Bell Money Matters: https://www.ajbell.co.uk/investment/women-and-investing?utm_source=moneymatters&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=wobblymiddle
• Government Money Helper (pension guidance): https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk
• Check your State Pension forecast: https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

If You Enjoyed This Episode

If you enjoyed this episode, you might want to go back to two earlier conversations about leaving journalism behind:

• Helen Wright spent a decade as a broadcast journalist before redundancy — while pregnant — pushed her to build something entirely her own: Nine to Three, a recruitment agency for women looking for flexible work; and
• Aundrea Cline-Thomas, a three-time Emmy-winning journalist, left the newsroom to found Mountain Court Media and The Rewrite, a platform helping media professionals find their next chapter. Both are well worth your time.

Coming up: Lisa Logan, who went from practising law to composing opera. I promise that is exactly as surprising and wonderful as it sounds.

Help Us Grow

If this episode resonated with you, the best thing you can do is tell one person about it. Word of mouth is how independent podcasts like this one find their audience.

You can also:

• Leave a review on Apple / Spotify — it takes two minutes and makes a real difference
• Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep38-danni-hewson

Find out more about The Wobbly Middle:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep38-danni-hewson

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.

Read: Move Well For Life: Unlock the life-changing power of everyday movement by Wendy Welpton

Wendy also mentioned: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Visit Reclaim Movement's website here.

• Reaching a career crossroads in midlife without choosing it
• A maternity leave career gap, and three or four senior interviews that ended in a quick no
• Keeping an entrepreneurial drive alive at home: knee patches, a wellbeing business, and a park campaign that raised £50,000
• Career change after injury, and what four years of chronic pain does to your sense of the future
• Going back to study in midlife
• Retraining in midlife when you have no formal background in the field
• What natural movement actually means, and the other fifteen hours of the day
• Why the body is at its best moving frequently and through its ranges
• Building a business on Instagram, and what happens when a reel goes viral
• Small steps, trial and error, and building confidence through action
• Second career after children: turning a personal problem into a business

The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643

The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep37-wendy-welpton

New 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-welpton

If 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.

If 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.

Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected], Your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.

Join 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.

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.

Starting 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 life

Flexible working — hiring on ability rather than hours or postcode, job shares, school hours, and part-timers who became full-timers as their children grew

Female founders — how female-founded businesses deliver higher returns and why women should not be scared to knock on the doors

Scaling up — inflection points, the multiplier effect past £10 million, and why each step gets bigger rather than simply doubling

10% braver — a philosophy that can mean building a company or can mean getting out of bed and taking one small step

Purpose before profit — "you can't have profit without purpose", and changing the workplace for good

Trusting your gut — "your gut instincts are your guardian angels", and asking what's the worst that can happen

ISON Travel: https://isontravel.com

The SuperScalers: https://www.superscalers.world — Sam Smith's programme for female founders scaling their businesses, which Helen discusses in the episode

Everywoman: https://www.everywoman.com

The Women's Chapter: https://womenschapter.com

The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643

The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep36-helen-cannon

Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep36-helen-cannon

We'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.

If 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.

Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected], Your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.

Join 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.

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.

Links

You 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 Episode

You 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 Grow

If 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-makepeace

New 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-makepeace

Thank you for listening and for supporting independent podcasts.

“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 Jones

Dolly 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.

Links

• Leaving the Ladder Down: https://www.4thestate.co.uk/products/leaving-the-ladder-down-dolly-jones-9780008431402/ — Dolly’s book, published by 4th Estate
• Also mentioned: Julia Samuel, psychotherapist; June Angelides, venture capitalist
• Dolly’s summer read: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Where to Follow Dolly Jones

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dolly-jones/
• Instagram: @dolly_jones

If You Enjoyed This Episode

You 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-jones

Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep34-dolly-jones

Help Us Grow

If 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 Story

Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.

About The Host

Join 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.

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.

Links

Toppsta: 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-searle

Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searle

The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643

The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv

Help Us Grow

If 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 Story

Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.

About The Host

Join 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.

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 Searle

Bea 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 Topics

• From 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 job
• The 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 advice
• School 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 Haribo

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-searle

Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searle

The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643

The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv

Help Us Grow

If 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 Story

Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.

About The Host

Join 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.

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 at mermaid school and waited four years for a place among the Legendary Sirens to open up. Now she runs adult mermaid camps for women who come from all over.

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?

THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. 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.

New episodes every other Tuesday.

ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a recovering lawyer navigating her own midlife career crossroads. 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.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE:

You 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.

Links

Where to find out about mermaid camps at Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida — :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/id1767850643

https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep31-rita-king

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep31-rita-king

TIME STAMPS

- 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 to mermaid school: the four-year wait 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 sunshine

HELP US GROW

If this episode resonated with you, there are two simple things that make a real difference:

• Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — 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, send them this one. Sometimes knowing you're not alone is all it takes.

SHARE YOUR STORY

Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.

This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.

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 who went back to mermaid school in her 60s and now runs adult mermaid camps. 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.

Welcome 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 returned to mermaid school, in her 60s, to become one of the legendary mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida. (And she now runs the adult mermaid camps but hurry - they sell out soon).

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.

If 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 crossroads

Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly inspiration between episodes: thewobblymiddle.substack.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=s4-trailer

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The Wobbly Middle is hosted and produced by Patsy Day. For press enquiries: [email protected]