What happens when redundancy hits in midlife — just as you’re already questioning who you are and what you want next?

In this episode of Midlife & Beyond with Jo Blackwell, I’m joined by author Sara King, who was made redundant at 54 after more than a decade in a senior role. Sara shares the shock of losing her job, the fear of being the main breadwinner, and the quieter grief of losing a professional identity later in life.

We talk about age, experience, perimenopause, freelancing after redundancy, and why reinvention in midlife is rarely quick or straightforward. Sara also reflects on writing and publishing her debut novel, Fragments of Her, and what it really means to put your work into the world after 50.

A thoughtful, reassuring conversation about change, courage, and beginning again.https://amzn.to/4s12jU5

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Do you fear growing older, or the losses we’re told come with it?

In At Peace with Growing Older, Jo Blackwell reflects on ageing, illness, acceptance, and the quiet emotional shifts that can happen in later life. Drawing on personal experience and a reflective piece attributed to Dame Patricia Routledge, this episode explores how peace, gratitude, and self-acceptance can slowly replace fear as we age.

Vicky Payne, Jo’s guest on this podcast, created an online book-club for women of all ages to read and discuss self-help and motivational books that we normally tend to read, then leave to gather dust on the shelf without taking action!

Why self-help books chosen with women in mind? Vicky says the self-help world is very “bro-centric”, which doesn’t always fit with women’s view of the world, or their energy cycles.

Though marketed as a book club for entrepreneurial women, women of all ages are welcome, whether working or not.

The Level-up Book Club: https://levelupbookclub.co.uk/join

Have you ever lost your glasses while you’re wearing them, or walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went there? Most of us put moments like these down to “getting older”, but are they really something to worry about?

In this episode, I revisit some of the most reassuring insights from my conversation with Dr Mitch Clionsky, who explains why everyday forgetfulness is usually benign, often linked to tiredness, stress, hormones, or simply having too much on our minds. We explore why dementia is not inevitable, why only a very small percentage is genetically caused, and how things like sleep, blood pressure, hearing, and lifestyle play a far bigger role than we’re often led to believe.

This is a calm, practical, and hopeful look at memory in midlife, and a reminder that there are many things we can do to protect our brains and live well as we grow older.

Your breath is like a remote control for your nervous system, and you have far more control over it than you think.

In this episode, Sam Adams explains why breathwork isn’t about doing something fancy or ‘woo’, but about learning how to signal safety to your body, especially in midlife, when stress, sleep disruption, pain and anxiety can quietly take hold.

From grief and trauma to menopause, chronic pain and brain health, we explore how conscious breathing can help us regulate our nervous systems, think more clearly, sleep more deeply, and feel more at ease in ourselves.

A calm, compassionate conversation about remembering something ancient - and learning to breathe again.

If you’re on a diet this year, there’s one thing I really want you to hear - and I’m going to say it straight away in this solo episode, not save it for the end.

If you’re dieting, you must start weight training.

So many of us have been dieting for decades. We’ve slowed our metabolism, lost muscle along the way, and denied our bodies the nutrients they actually need, all in the pursuit of being slimmer. But as we get older, hormones change the rules, and quick-fix diets stop working the way they once did.

Strength training isn’t about bulking up. It’s about protecting your bones, your muscles, your independence - and your future self.

Focus on strength this year, whether you're dieting or not. Your older body will thank you for it.

One of the most dangerous ideas is that exhaustion means you’re weak. In reality, burnout often happens to the most capable, conscientious people, the ones who’ve been holding everything together for years.

In this conversation, GP and burnout coach Caroline Steel explains why burnout isn’t a breakdown, but a warning. We talk about how overwhelm shows up in the body, why midlife can be the tipping point, and how many women are taught, from a young age, to put everyone else first and ignore their own needs.

From feeling paralysed by simple decisions, to losing touch with who you are outside of work, motherhood, or caregiving, this episode gently names what so many women experience but rarely say out loud.

Most importantly, it offers hope. Burnout is something you can recover from, and recovery doesn’t start with fixing everything. It starts with listening to yourself again.

Have you lost your sense of adventure? In this inspiring conversation, I talk with Louisa Swaden - The Existential Biker - about rediscovering courage, embracing fear, finding meaning through movement, and saying “yes” to possibility in midlife. From getting back on a motorbike at nearly 50 to racing on the Bonneville Salt Flats, Louisa shows that this stage of life can be bold, expansive and deeply alive, and that adventure doesn’t have to be huge to be life-changing.