Welcome back to another insightful episode of the Style and Strategy Podcast. Today I have the privilege of sitting down with the lovely Jo Clark, who's a presenter, coach and mentor specialising in guiding women over 40 and above through major life transitions. Joe's journey from an accomplished educator, including roles as principal, senior teacher, and now to her current passion in supporting women through midlife challenges is both inspiring and transformative. With her dedication to empowering women to lead purposeful, energized and healthy lives in their second half of life. Jo, brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to our conversation today. Jo, welcome to the Style and Strategy Podcast.
Thank you so much for having me Sonya. I'm looking forward to our conversation that we're going to be having today.
Yeah, definitely. So Jo, you are the host of the highly acclaimed podcast redefining midlife and so why don't you tell me a little bit about the podcast. I know it's hit sort of the top 5% of sort of listens and so forth. Why don't you tell me how did you even get into starting a podcast on this particular topic?
It went hand in hand with the work that I was doing Sonya, because for me, I love nothing more than learning. So I've got to I've got a growth mindset myself. I love sharing information as well with others, because that obviously comes from my teaching background. And I also love listening to the stories of women. I just find people's lives fascinating, and I learned so much from hearing other women's stories. So for me, it was having a mix of me teaching that's via some solo episodes, also by having guest experts in who are specialists in the area of of women's health and wellness. And also just having your everyday woman who you know most of us at this stage have lived quite extraordinary lives and very different lives, and just hearing how they got to where they are today. I just find absolutely fascinating, and wanting to share the fact that not everyone's path is the same. We all come from so many different walks of life and experiences, and just to hear that midlife can be amazing, no matter where you started and where you are now. So
tell me a little bit. I know there's a like this confusion out there around midlife. You know, people will kind of shudder and go, am I in midlife? No, what is midlife to find it isn't that like in your 60s or seven? Like, when's midlife? Yeah,
and that's a really interesting thing, because people either qualify, think they qualify as being a midlife person, or they disqualify themselves. But really, when you have a look at that stage and another way of putting saying the word midlife is middle essence. It's also another term that's used, and it's between the ages. And this is what's some people find staggering between 40 and 65 and some socio some sociologists even will extend that to 35 to 75 years, which is massive. So if you think, yes, so, if you just think of the midlife term as used with the 40 to 65 that's a big chunk of your life, like this is a marathon that we're we're looking at. It's not just a small point in time. And because people are living longer, yeah, 100 years ago, our life expectancy, or the 1900s so the early 1900s the life expectancy was around about 55 today it's around about 86 and if you're in good health, you are going to be living longer than 86 so we have got a whole second half of life to start to think about and to we can just design it and work out how we want to live. And for some people, particularly when you've been handed a life script at a younger age that you are going to be, you know, this is what my life is going to be unfolding. You're 1819, and you go to university, and then you might do a bit of travel, you settle down, you have a career, the kids are growing up, and then all of a sudden you get to a point you go, Oh, my life script is not exactly what I want to have for the next 4050, years, 30 years, whatever it might be, and so then to decide how it's going to look. So it's a really interesting time for a person's life, particularly for a woman, because in that 40 to 65 age bracket, there is a lot a lot of transitions happening.
Yeah, definitely. It's so interesting. So tell me a little bit if I take a step back and, you know, maybe redefining your midlife was part of it as well. But what really inspired you to transition from being an educator and, you know, principal etc, to pursue this passion in supporting women,
probably because I was going through a lot of transitions all at once. And for some people, they're this, they're a bit staggered, you know, they don't all happen all at once. But for me, it was just like, I'd get up and I'd be knocked down by something else. It was, number one, a burning out from my workplace education. Had changed a lot in the three plus decades that I had been working in education. It was a very different beast, and it wasn't one that I was happy to be a part of anymore. I just found that really conflicting with how I believe education should look and how it was actually being rolled out, and what I was forced to work in so that I found difficult. And the same time my father died, my mother in law was helping her nurse nurse her last few weeks at home with her through her death. She had motor neurone disease, so that was a long, progressive, unpleasant decline for her, and helping her through that. So we had, you know, dealing with all of that. And then my own mother, she was frail and ill for quite a long time. She died slowly. So it was also and we'd moved a whole different area as well. We moved from where we were to a completely different area. And so it was dealing with all of that. And then she passed. So it was dealing with her death and being with her when she died, there was a lot going on. Then my children, there was the empty nest happening. They were getting older and weren't needing me anymore, so suddenly I wasn't, you know, mum anymore, in that the really busy years of being a mum. So what am I going to do now with my kids aren't home, and then also going through perimenopause and the changes that I was experiencing within myself. And with all of those comes a lot of learnings, some dark times, but it's also if you go again, because I've got such I've got a growth mindset set, and I work on myself. It's also an opportunity that you can use those to really think about where and how you want your life to look. So where do I want to go? How do I want it to look? Am I happy with where it is right now? Well no, so what am I going to do about it, and then it was a lot of learning. I had big decisions to make. It wasn't something that happened overnight. It took some time, and it also took a lot of learning on my behalf, personal growth and also just seeing and experimenting. What could I possibly do? Because there's so many options
that is really inspiring. Jo, I'd love to understand like you've spoken about some really key life events that really happened within a short span of time, sort of from the burnout to losing loved ones, and then to decide, well, what's actually for me next stage and a lot of the time, as you say, we kind of park things to the side, because we think, okay, we're working at the moment. Yes, this is the way it is. I've just got to sort of deal with it. What would you say would be the number one sort of steps you would take to actually go, how do you reassess at that point? How do you take that first step to be able to understand because there's so many decisions and so much emotions attached to all of that
there is, and the decisions that you make can impact on others as well, and you've got to be really mindful of that. But I think, as I said earlier, we've been living a script that no longer suits our life and the stage of life that we're in, and we've been on a treadmill. A lot of women will identify with this is that it's busy your 30s and your 40s, and you know, to a certain extent, your 50s, they're super busy. You've got a lot of moving parts. You're spinning a lot of plates. There's lots and lots happening in your life, and you don't have time just to stop and to think about what you might like, because, and again, you know, as women, we are usually the primary caregiver. The buck often stops with us, with a lot of things, and we take on that personal responsibility and have done for a long, long time. And so the needs of everybody else, whether it be family, friends, work, they all come first, and you put yourself down the bottom. So really, the first thing that you've got to do, which isn't easy again, because it's something that's we've lived with for a long time, is to find some time and space for yourself. And there's no one who is going to tell you what to do and be by are aware, if they do, you really it's finding some tools and a structure that you can start to work through. And for me, again, because I'm an educator, I like to research, and I like to look at things and to find out what can work and what was working for me, and now what I find works for the ladies that i i have in my world. It's just one small step at a time, but find that time and space and ask yourself that big question, and you won't know right away. Maybe you've got an inkling, but really, just spend time with yourself. It's not indulgent. It is a necessity, particularly, as I said, midlife goes for a very long time. We're going to be, God willing, alive for decades yet to come. So you don't want to rush it. Yeah,
that's right. I think taking that time out, you know, for self care, yourself to actually even just think without someone at you either side all the time, becomes really, really important. And so if you're thinking about the ladies that you've worked with in that midlife side of things, what are some of the top issues that are coming up that is really challenging them right now,
there's nagging feelings that something's not quite right. They're not really happy. They can't put their finger on what it is, but they know they want to change. They don't know how to change, where to start, what to do, what might come next. So for them, there's, you know, what do I do? How do I get going? Like, what's most important? How do I prioritize? And it's looking at different parts of their own life that they may not have had the time nor the headspace to think about, and so it's bringing awareness to a lot of those areas as well. And for women, again, in this this middle age group, and again, if we talk about 40 through to the 50s, we're talking about major changes within our own bodies, going through perimenopause and then post menopause, how that looks. So it's dealing with for a lot of women, variety of symptoms that take them totally by surprise and a reckoning that you are changing. You are no longer a young woman, you are becoming an older woman, and with that, your body starts to look different. It starts to feel different, and and society. It's not particularly positive towards women as I age. I mean, we come from a very ageist anti, or basically anti aging society. So it's coming to deal with how you're looking as well. And you know, it's a great term that I heard age fluidity is that sometimes I which you hear that I know and I just love it. I really want to explore this a lot more. So we hear about gender fluidity. Age fluidity is when you get to and you've probably found this yourself too, Sonya, you know you're getting older, but damn, you don't feel older. I mean, I feel like I did sometimes when I was in my 20s, my 30s, my 40s, sometimes I might feel like I'm in my bloody 80s, you know, depending on so I can but other people might see me. They might look at me and they box you into you. Are this, you are that because of what your exterior is. But as you get older, you grow so much on the inside, your inner wisdom just starts to blossom because you've been through a lot of, you know, a lot of Really, by the time you get to a certain age, you you've had a lot of things happen, and so with that, you can't see that inner wisdom, it comes through in different ways. So I just, yeah, there's lots of things that women come to deal with, but there's all that nagging feeling. Some choose to work with it. Others choose to ignore it. And, you know, ignore it, your own peril is what I say. Yeah, yeah.
No, that term age fluidity. I love that. You know, it's really interesting, because I do obviously keep an eye on the brands and who they've got in their marketing and so forth. And it's actually also come up recently where I did read an article that, you know, brands are missing out on a huge chunk of revenue because, you know, they're really being pitching to those, maybe under that 40 mark, and, you know, ignoring, really, the 50 plus kind of market who actually have the purse strings to be able to afford on a regular basis, a lot of the garments and so forth in those particular products. So you're starting some of them, starting to see some of them actually recognize that, and thinking, How do I now tilt my marketing in that direction? And I know we've had a few, obviously, in here in Australia, you know, big brands like country road and so forth, where we're actually seeing some beautiful models. Who are, you know, a little bit older, you know, there's obviously the diversity element as well, and it's beautiful to see that, because I think it ties in with you want to see yourself reflected in whatever it is that you might be looking at, or what a store you might be working at, or anything like that as well. So seeing more of that and trying to promote more of that is really beautiful. It's gotta be a
good thing, doesn't it? And women to like embracing. You see a lot more now women embracing going great, yes, and they've had enough of it. I want to go gray. I don't want to be told that I've got to have my hair colored for the rest of my life. This is who I am, and really embracing that, that new identity. So when we start to see that, it is in a slowly becoming more common, but over time, I look at my you know, for our daughters, because you've got a young daughter as well, how different. Hopefully growing older is going to be for them and as well. I think as women in our midlife we've got a responsibility. We've got a responsibility to live our best lives and be role models for the younger women coming behind us.
Absolutely so in. Now, if I tilt a little bit to personal brand and style, how do you think your personal brand and style have really evolved through the decades of change in your career and then moving into entrepreneurship?
Yeah, well, I never had really a personal brand. Besides, I was a teacher that was my brand for a long time, and my style was, I suppose, depending on the role that I had within education at the time. Was dependent upon what I would my style choices would be. And I've mentioned to you before that I also spent a lot of time in rural and remote parts of Queensland. And so your style is also shaped by where you live. And that was truly, yeah, I can work out, I can walk into a room and work out exactly, probably, where somebody could be from, or what they would do according to the almost like a uniform that they had. And I suppose that happens within the corporate world as well as that there'd almost be a corporate uniform you can probably buy. I go, Oh, yeah, I know that. Where they might be from and what branch where they there's account versus a lawyer. You know? I imagine that that's within every profession as well. Now, when I'm looking at my own personal brand as an entrepreneur now, and the area that I'm working with is really my branding is all about empowerment, and empowering women of a certain age to find their purpose, their health and their passion again. So all of those things that I'm trying to put together is revolving around that, and when it comes to my own personal style, to be honest on you, I'm sure we're going to have a few more questions about that. That is also evolving, because I'm getting older, how my body feels and looks is different. The clothes that I want to wear may not fit like they used to. So how does that start? You still want to look good, yeah, but you know, your things are different, so it's probably getting having more examples and on what you do as well that the work that you do can provide for women who are in that midlife era and how they can look. So, yeah, it's all about empowerment, feeling comfortable looking good, and being that pro aging that is just so important for me. And so then, when
the women that you work with, though you're working with them on helping them through life's transition, how important do you think having or for them to really understand as they transition into that next life stage them understanding their sort of brand or style or and how that can potentially impact how they're feeling about themselves. Yeah,
so midlife is the ultimate opportunity to reset. So a lot of that comes with mindset. It's understanding and acceptance that you aren't a certain age anymore. God knows when you were 40, you're not going to look like you did when you were 20. When you were 20. So when you're 60, you're not going to look like when you're 40. It's just that that acceptance, self acceptance, does take some time, particularly if you've been harsh on yourself for a number of years, or been an environment where Your looks are super important. Number one, I think, for women to understand is their health, is their wealth, really? They need to be focusing on these critical years so they are going to live well into the future and not die slowly have a living a frail life, because for a lot of women, the last 10 years of their life isn't pretty. So to change the whole you don't have to look a certain way. You have to feel a certain way. Let's work on making ourselves feel good, feel good with how we feel about ourselves, but also feel good in our body and be strong and to be flexible and to be able to do things every day that you want to be doing, and your body is going to take you on amazing trips. Our best days haven't arrived yet. So let's get ourselves and our thought process around that.
Yeah, it's so important. It's, I guess I imagine it as a or I visualize it actually as like a bit of a pie chart, to some extent, to go well, we've got our brand, we've got our style, but if I don't have all these other pieces kind of lined up as well. So it's the holistic you, it can just really it means you you're never reaching that full potential of what that future could really look like for you, and setting yourself up for success.
That's so true. It's like this is an opportunity for for all people in midloth, but I'm talking specifically for women to do almost like an inverted commas and edit of your life like we've accumulated our earlier years, is accumulating things, accumulating things. And you get to the point where you go, Do I really need all of that? And so when I work with lasers, it's to work out. Well, do you really need all that? What's going to be working for you? And let's start small. It's those bite sized chunks. So for example, in my membership, we look at micro habits and to fit in for Title point. Everyone comes with different health needs, different lifestyles, time constraints and so forth. So let's work on some microhabits. Let's work on a recipe that's for you. What can we do in small chunks to make a difference? Because little by little, a little becomes a lot. That old saying, you know, you can get a lot done by doing something small every single day. So it's editing out the things that you no longer need and bringing in the things that are going to support you and nurture you through, you know, today, tomorrow and well into the future. Yeah, and
I like that terminology of micro edits, because I think today we're always so busy, you can get quite overwhelmed with a lot of things happening and just taking that little micro step, whatever that looks like for you as an individual, can just make such a big change and then building on that as you kind of go forward.
Also Sonya, it's those little steps that you have as well, but it's also the people that you surround yourself with. You know, one of my biggest pieces of advice for women is to surround yourself with people who are also pro aging, who do want to have a mindset of improving themselves and seeing this as a golden opportunity, and coming back to that point that you said before about those little you know that when you edit and taking those steps forward to be small, we know that massive change and trying to do too much to all at once, it fails. Yeah? So if you've got a supportive community around you as you're starting to take these smaller steps, it will make the world of difference. Yeah,
definitely. So, Jo, I always ask my guests three quick fire questions, and so my first question to you will be, what is now or recently your signature style piece? So signature style that truly feels like it represents your brand, and why is that an essential part of your wardrobe? I
now live on the Sunshine Coast. I'm in the Nusa hinterland area. So for me, it is comfort in the heat. So linen, and you will notice where you recently visited news that linen features predominantly so I think for me, my signature pieces are lovely, loose linen tops and pants, and that way I can mix and match, coordinate, and I feel great in them. They look good, they're comfortable, and they can take you anywhere. I
love it. I love a bit of linen, especially so then I know you are a huge reader, so I'm looking forward to this. But for our listeners who are looking for inspiration, what book are you currently reading or listening to that has a significant impact, maybe on your journey or personal brand in any way?
One of the books that I have read recently, and I've bought the after listening to it on audio, and in fact, I've listened to it three times. Wow, it's nice and short, but I also bought the hard copy. It's a book called wolf pack by Abby Wambach, and it's talking about leadership for women, and it doesn't mean that you have to be a leader of a large group. It's just leadership, I think, for any woman, because a lot of leadership books are written for men, and with those eyes of what what it's like, women are different, and how we communicate is completely different. And I just loved listening and listening, as I said, I've done it three times now on my walk, I want a bit of an old I'll pop that on again. So that book for me has really given me a lot of food for thought. Okay, I will have to put that one on the list because I haven't read that one. Actually, I do. It's an easy read with it. And again, because I love a physical book as well as audio books, I just wanted it to have so I can flick through the pages when I wanted to and find it straight away. It's all highlighted and highlights, yeah,
yeah. Definitely, definitely, my kind of reader. And then finally, from a mindset perspective, we all have those days where we need an extra boost. What's your quick mindset ritual that helps you feel empowered and ready to tackle anything
I meditate twice a day. So yes, it's 30 minutes, twice a day. I'm a Vedic meditator. So I start my morning. That's the thing I do. First thing in the morning is to meditate. And if it's not 30 minutes, 20 minutes is the absolute minimum. And then I do it again later in the afternoon. It is an amazing reset for me, it was probably the biggest thing that gave me the clarity. And that time, it's a time for yourself, for your thoughts. Meditation is not meant to be you don't have any thoughts. In fact, it's the absolute opposite. It's like saying Don't breathe. It's just naturally going to happen. So for me, meditation, without a doubt, hands down. And so for the. Listeners
who maybe aren't familiar with that form of meditation. How do you spell is it Vedic? Vedic,
V, E, D, i, c, Vedic meditation. It is a very old form of meditation that came from India. It is mantra based you have to be taught by a teacher who has been taught the ancient wisdoms of Vedic or the Alpha Vedas, which is other the books from India, and you have a personalized mantra that you don't disclose to anybody. Your teacher will give that to you. So when my husband and I both learnt meditation at the same time, we've never disclosed our mantra to each other. And since then, we've also been given an advanced mantra which takes you into an even deeper meditation or meditative state, and there's no way that either of us would disclose. We tell each other everything. We're just about everything, but that is that one is off the table. We would never disclose our mantra. Oh, I
love that. I have never heard of that style, so I think that would be very interesting for listeners to look into Joe. So tell me if someone would love to get in touch with you and find out more how you can help them, sort of navigating, you know, redefining their midlife how would they find you? I'm
on Instagram at at Joe Clark coaching. I am also on LinkedIn. I'm on Facebook as well, and my website, Joe clarkcoaching.com,
and, of course, your amazing podcast.
Thank you for reminding me my podcast, redefining midlife. You can find that on all the major platforms as well.
Amazing. Thank you so much, Joe for sharing your wisdom and really opening our eyes to what midlife really is and some of those transformational changes that can actually happen through that time. My favorite
thing to talk about, Sonya. And thanks so much for having me on today. Take care. You too. Bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
