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, 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 include 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. d54c6eaa9bb37ff199bd6b9b38eb491ac2df2c77

The Wobbly Middle: Women's Career Crossroads In Midlife is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Wobbly Middle: Women's Career Crossroads In Midlife, a business show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #7

  When Your Body Speaks: From Chronic Pain to Natural Movement and a Second Act | Wendy Welpton

  Sep 14, 202633 minS4

  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. Links 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. Key Topics 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 More from The Wobbly Middle 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 This Episode 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. 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 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 Story Made 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 Host 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.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #6

  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

  Aug 31, 202629 minS4

  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 Topics 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 Links 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 More from The Wobbly Middle 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 If You Enjoyed This Episode 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. 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 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 Story Made 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 Host 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.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #5

  Hypnotherapy Career Change: A Purpose-Led Second Act, Identity Shifts and the Antidote to Imposter Syndrome | Heather Makepeace |

  Aug 17, 202628 minS4

  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.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #3

  Books and Chocolate: Tech entrepreneur Georgina Atwell on values-led, commercially minded change

  Jul 20, 202629 minS4

  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 patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — 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.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #2

  The Accidental Influencer: Hut-to-Hut Hikes, Night Trains and Going Viral | Bea Searle |

  Jul 6, 202625 minS4

  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 patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — 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.

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on The Wobbly Middle: Women's Career Crossroads In Midlife. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.