About this episode This episode of the SustainHer podcast was recorded live at our monthly women in business gathering in Mount Barker, in the Adelaide Hills. Our guest speaker, Pam Reed, is a marriage and relationship coach who works with women navigating seasons of change, transition and rediscovery. Her award-winning talk, My Babushka Life, uses the babushka doll, where one doll sits inside another and another, as a picture of the layers women carry: business owner, mum, wife, carer, team leader, professional plate spinner. And underneath, someone quieter who has been waiting a long time. What you will hear Why SustainHer exists: a business community in the Adelaide Hills built on connection before transaction. Pam Reed's full talk, My Babushka Life, on identity, conditioning and the myth of the midlife crisis. The conversation that followed: how the good girl years show up later in marriage, work and business. A practical way to find what you want when you honestly do not know: start with what feels heavy. Why women in business isolate when things get hard, and what changes when you realise you are not alone. Is midlife really a crisis? Pam Reed argues it is not. In her words, midlife is a return: a return to who you were before the noise, the conditioning and the quiet weight of other people's expectations. The women she works with are not breaking down. They are stepping into their power and asking, after years of meeting everyone else's needs, can I just be me? How do I work out what I actually want? Start with what you don't want. Pam's advice in this episode: any time you feel heavy or flat about your work, your day or your life, treat it as a signal. Name what you don't want, then look at the flip side of it. That contrast points directly at your desire, and it is a practical first step for any woman feeling stuck in her business or her life. What is SustainHer? SustainHer is a community for women in business in the Adelaide Hills and Barossa, South Australia, meeting monthly in Mount Barker. It is intentionally different from traditional networking: no elevator pitches, no pressure, no raining business cards. Women connect as humans first, and business relationships grow from real connection. SustainHer follows a simple path: connection, then clarity, then action. Join one of our events This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit odettedebeer.substack.com/subscribe
