Welcome To Midlife: The Search For Meaning In The Middle

Lisa Steadman
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Nobody hands you a roadmap for midlife. One minute you’re following society’s script… and the next you’re standing there like, “Um, hello? Plot twist?” This is the chapter of creaky knees, reader glasses, zero f***s, and crystal-clear clarity. The season where wisdom hits harder, priorities sharpen fast, and you finally start choosing yourself—boldly, honestly, joyfully. Welcome to the conversations that make midlife feel real, hilarious, brave, and deeply human. Together, let’s turn this whole messy, magic adventure into the chapter you didn’t see coming—in the absolute best way.

  1. Jul 28

    S2 E22: Grown Ass Woman's Guide To Midlife With Jackie MacDougall

    In this episode of Welcome to Midlife, Gen X host Lisa Steadman sits down with Jackie McDougall, host of The Grown Ass Woman’s Guide, to talk about how to navigate midlife without the need for perfection, the desire to get stronger in midlife, and how navigate friendship, love, and empty-ish nests at this age and stage of life. They get real about aging, changing relationships, health challenges, female friendship and why women in midlife don’t need another expert telling them how to live. They need honesty, humor and permission to take up more space. #MidlifeWomen #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #GrownAssWoman #FindingYourVoice #WelcomeToMidlife #GenXWomen #Podcast

  2. Jul 20

    S2 E 21: Midlife Writer Resilience With Ashley Jude Collie

    From Wales to Hollywood: The Writing Journey of Ashley Collie Writer and journalist Ashley Jude Collie shares his journey from Wales to Hollywood, where his career has included writing for Playboy and Sports Illustrated, interviewing icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Anthony Hopkins, and authoring a book about film producer and former NYPD detective Sonny Grosso. Ashley opens up about screenwriting, celebrity interviews, independent filmmaking, and the realities of building a creative career in Hollywood. His story is an inspiring look at reinvention, resilience, and the power of embracing your unique voice as a writer.

  3. Jul 10

    S2 E20: Debunking Midlife Body & Beauty With Cheryl Girard

    What does it look like to stop fighting your body and start honoring the life it has carried you through? In this powerful episode of Welcome to Midlife, host Lisa Steadman sits down with artist, speaker, and body-acceptance advocate Cheryl Girard to explore beauty, aging, eating disorders, healing, and the freedom that comes from owning our bodies as Gen X women. Cheryl shares the deeply personal journey behind Flesh and Soul, her striking body of work created to challenge cultural beauty standards and invite women into a more honest, compassionate relationship with themselves. She opens up about binge eating disorder, what she has learned through her own healing, and the response from women who have seen themselves reflected in her art and message. Together, Lisa and Cheryl discuss: ✨ Body positivity, body neutrality, and self-acceptance ✨ Binge eating disorder and healing our relationship with food ✨ GLP-1 medications and the pressure to be thin ✨ Aging, beauty standards, and owning our age as Gen Xers ✨ How to support teenage girls struggling with body image ✨ The greatest joys and challenges of midlife ✨ Cheryl’s growing national speaking movement Subscribe to Welcome to Midlife: The Search for Meaning in the Middle for a new Season 2 episode every week. #WelcomeToMidlife #BodyPositivity #BodyImage #GenXWomen #MidlifeWomen #BingeEatingDisorder #EatingDisorderRecovery #GLP1 #AuthenticAging #WomenOver50

  4. Jul 1

    S2 E19: Midlife Sexual Shifts With Arielle Zadok

    In this Welcome To Midlife episode, host Lisa Steadman sits down with Arielle Zadok, a board-certified sexologist, intimacy coordinator, consent director, holistic health coach, producer, pole dancer, and host of Birds and Bees Don’t Fck. Together, Lisa and Arielle have an honest, stigma-free conversation about sex, intimacy, desire, consent, body confidence, and reconnecting with pleasure in midlife. Arielle shares why great sex isn’t about luck — it’s about language, safety, curiosity, communication, and giving yourself permission to explore what you actually want. They discuss how women can separate authentic desire from performance, navigate hormonal shifts and changing bodies, talk about sex without making it weird, explore sensuality without a partner, and rebuild confidence through erotic safety and self-trust. Whether you’re married, single, divorced, widowed, dating again, or simply wondering if it’s too late to have the sex life you want, Arielle’s message is clear: you have not missed your window. Subscribe to Welcome to Midlife for more conversations about reinvention, relationships, hormones, confidence, purpose, and thriving in the middle. #WelcomeToMidlife #MidlifeWomen #SexAndIntimacy #FemaleDesire #SexualWellness #MidlifePodcast #WomenOver40 #WomenOver50 #BodyConfidence #Pleasure #Consent #Menopause #Perimenopause #DatingAfterDivorce #GenXWomen ##GenXPodcast

  5. Jun 22

    S2 E18: Hormone Intelligent Leadership With Mariah Prince-Allen

    Midlife women are often told they’re burned out, stressed, or just tired. But what if the real issue is hormonal? In this episode of Welcome to Midlife, Lisa Steadman talks with women’s health expert Mariah Prince-Allen about Hormone Intelligent Leadership, a powerful new framework for understanding how perimenopause, menopause, and midlife hormonal shifts impact women at work, at home, and in their sense of self. Mariah breaks down why so many high-achieving women suddenly experience brain fog, fatigue, sleep disruption, mood changes, and a loss of confidence in midlife — and why traditional burnout advice doesn’t always help. She also introduces the idea of hormonal bankruptcy, what it means for women who are carrying careers, caregiving, relationships, and identity shifts all at once, and how workplaces can better support women through this chapter instead of losing brilliant talent. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re burned out, hormonally depleted, or simply in a season where your body is asking for a different kind of leadership, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we talk about: • What Hormone Intelligent Leadership means • Why midlife symptoms are often misdiagnosed as burnout • The workplace impact of brain fog, fatigue, sleep issues, and mood changes • What hormonal bankruptcy is and why it matters • How leaders and organizations can better support women in perimenopause and menopause • Why midlife women need more support, not more shame Subscribe for more honest conversations about midlife, reinvention, purpose, relationships, health, and what it means to become more fully yourself in the middle. #MidlifeWomen #Perimenopause #Menopause #WomenInLeadership #HormoneHealth #Burnout #WelcomeToMidlife #WomenAtWork #MidlifeReinvention #GenXWomen #Podcast

  6. Jun 10

    S2 E17: Coming Out Of The Midlife Closet With Rick Clemons

    What happens when midlife becomes the ultimate wake-up call? In this episode of Welcome To Midlife: The Search For Meaning In The Middle, host Lisa Steadman sits down with Rick Clemons, The Coming Out Coach, for a candid, compassionate, and deeply human conversation about identity, sexuality, relationships, career reinvention, and what it really means to come home to yourself in the middle of life. Rick shares his own coming out journey, the unique challenges men face when coming to terms with their sexuality in midlife, and how to find support when the life you built no longer fits the truth of who you are. Lisa and Rick also explore the biggest wake-up calls for men who are already out, the emotional and physical shifts men experience in midlife, and why career transitions, empty nesting, and “dead bed” relationships can force us to ask bigger questions about meaning, intimacy, and self-worth. Whether you’re navigating a midlife identity shift, supporting someone through their coming out journey, questioning what’s next, or simply trying to live with more honesty and joy, this conversation is an invitation to stop performing the life you think you’re supposed to want, and start honoring the one that actually feels true. Subscribe for more real conversations about midlife, meaning, reinvention, relationships, purpose, hormones, career, aging, identity, and becoming more fully yourself in the middle. #WelcomeToMidlife #MidlifeReinvention #ComingOutCoach #RickClemons #ComingOutInMidlife #LGBTQ #MidlifeMen #MensHealth #DeadBedroom #EmptyNest #CareerTransition #MidlifeAwakening #LisaSteadman #MidlifePodcast

  7. Jun 2

    S2 E16: Do It Scared With Erika Bryant

    In this episode of Welcome To Midlife: The Search For Meaning In The Middle, host Lisa Steadman sits down with Erika Bryant, showrunner, author, and storyteller, for a rich, funny, and deeply honest conversation about creativity, courage, identity, representation, and the magic of midlife. Erika opens up about what it means to overcome fear, trust your voice, and give yourself permission to live more fully, especially in a season of life when the old rules no longer fit. Together, Lisa and Erika explore the beauty of softness, the power of creative reinvention, and the freedom that comes when women stop performing and start listening to what they actually want. They also dig into Erika’s work as a storyteller and the importance of Black women’s stories being told from within — with nuance, care, truth, and lived experience. From unlocking character voices to claiming creative authority, this conversation is a love letter to women who are ready to stop shrinking, start creating, and let their next chapter blossom. In this episode, we talk about: Overcoming fear and choosing a bigger lifeWhy softness can be a strength, not a weaknessMidlife hormones, permission, and giving fewer f*cksCreative reinvention and trusting your voiceWhat it means to tell Black women’s stories from withinFinding character voice as a writer and showrunnerWhy midlife can be a powerful creative awakening Whether you’re a writer, filmmaker, author, creative woman, Gen X woman, or simply someone navigating reinvention in the middle, this episode is a beautiful reminder that your lived experience is not baggage. It’s wisdom, material, magic, and power. Subscribe to Welcome To Midlife for more honest conversations about reinvention, creativity, relationships, purpose, identity, hormones, aging, ambition, and what it really means to become more fully yourself in the middle. Connect with Welcome To Midlife YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@welcometomidlifepodcast⁩  Podcast: https://rebrand.ly/midlifespotify https://rebrand.ly/WelcomeToMidlifeApple Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisasteadman/ Connect with Erika Bryant Website: https://ironorchidmedia.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ebryant22/

  8. May 6

    S2 E15: Greenlight Yourself With Courtney Daniels

    What happens when you stop waiting for permission—and just make the thing? In this episode of Welcome To Midlife: The Search For Meaning In The Middle, indie filmmaker and author Courtney Daniels and I go deep into a conversation that feels like equal parts creative spark and midlife exhale. We explore the moment you realize you’re in midlife (not approaching it—fully in it), what it means to reclaim your voice after years of doing what’s expected, and the quiet (or not-so-quiet) decision to greenlight yourself. Courtney shares how she went from waiting… to making films on her own terms and how midlife didn’t slow her down, it sharpened her perspective. If you’ve ever felt like your most creative chapter might actually be right now… this one’s for you. In this episode, we talk about: The exact moment midlife hits (and what it reveals)Where ideas actually come from (hint: it’s not always pretty)Letting go of external validation and backing yourselfHow midlife changes the stories we tell and why they matter moreHow to curate a creative life without waiting for permissionCourtney’s book: Yes You Can: How to Make a Movie for Almost No MoneyThe underrated magic of being Gen X This is a conversation about creativity, courage, and claiming your voice in the middle of your life—not the beginning, not the end. Right here. Listen, subscribe, and share if you’re navigating your own “what now?” moment.

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Nobody hands you a roadmap for midlife. One minute you’re following society’s script… and the next you’re standing there like, “Um, hello? Plot twist?” This is the chapter of creaky knees, reader glasses, zero f***s, and crystal-clear clarity. The season where wisdom hits harder, priorities sharpen fast, and you finally start choosing yourself—boldly, honestly, joyfully. Welcome to the conversations that make midlife feel real, hilarious, brave, and deeply human. Together, let’s turn this whole messy, magic adventure into the chapter you didn’t see coming—in the absolute best way.

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