Women Who Choose To Challenge - Our Podcast Guests

The Magnificent Midlife podcast is all about challenging outdated sexist narratives about women as we age. We interview women who choose to challenge existing notions of what is possible and appropriate for women in general, as well as themselves as individuals. Here are some of our podcast guests who truly epitomize the 2021 International Women’s Day theme of “Choose To Challenge.”

Sailing the world and smashing boundaries with Tracy Edwards

Tracy Edwards MBE captained the first all-female yacht crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989, coming second in their class. She has always chosen to challenge what is possible for women. She continues to challenge today as a social activist, running The Maiden Factor Foundation to raise awareness and improve education for girls around the world.

Ending ageism with Ashton Applewhite

Ashton Applewhite is an author, speaker and anti-ageism activist. She chooses to challenge the accepted notion that ageing is decline and somehow shameful, and that we are less valuable when older than in our youth. Ashton got a standing ovation when she did a main stage Ted talk called Let’s end ageism and has spoken at the UN. Her wonderful book is This Chair Rocks, A Manifesto Against Ageism.

Confronting anti-Black racism with Kimberly McCormick

Kimberly McCormick joined Rachel to talk about understanding, acknowledging and taking action against anti-Black racism. She is choosing to challenge white people to get active about being anti-racist rather than taking a back seat and hoping for the mess to go away. She says, if you want to break the ice, you have to be willing to be the ice breaker.

Putting on a sell-out show about menopause with Claire Hodgson

Claire Hodgson MBE is a diversity campaigner, theatre director and performer. She chooses to challenge perceptions of what disabled people can achieve, especially in the creative arts. She also challenged us all to see menopause differently in the fabulous play Mid Life, which had a sell-out run at the Barbican in London. She’s the founder of Diverse City, the Bristol theater company behind this production and the co-founder of Extraordinary Bodies, the UK’s leading professional integrated circus company.

Fighting for social justice with Iffat Shahnaz

Iffat Shahnaz is a lifelong campaigner committed to social justice and equality. She works with organizations committed to social change and tackling social exclusion and discrimination. She’s choosing to challenge women especially to embrace the power and wisdom that comes with age, and use it to have more of an impact on society.

Fighting invisibility with Jane Evans

Jane Evans is the founder of the Uninvisibility Project and campaigning to end the invisibility that hits women as we get older. She is choosing to challenge the notion that we get less relevant especially in the workplace, as we age and is fighting to get the world to make the most of its wise women.

Fighting fashion ageism with the-Bias-Cut founder Jacynth Bassett

Jacynth Bassett is the founder of online fashion boutique, the-Bias-Cut, and an avid anti-ageism activist, despite being still in her 20s. She’s on a mission to stop discrimination on the basis of age with a particular focus on fashion and how older women are represented in the media.

Women and leadership with Dr Joanna Martin

Dr Joanna Martin is the founder of One of Many, a women’s leadership community. She chooses to challenge what it means for women to lead, showing women how we can lead from feminine power rather than emulating the masculine. She challenges women to achieve great things for ourselves and the world in ways that suit us and without burning out.

Creating the Feminista Film Festival with Laurie Mucha

Laurie Mucha is the founder of the Feminista Film Festival. She chooses to challenge the world to sit up and take much more notice of films created by and about women.

Pole dancing over 50 with Makeda Smith

Makeda Smith is a celebrity publicist, pole and exotic dancer. She began her pole and aerial training at the age of 50 and a decade later is on a mission to enable all women to unleash their inner goddess. She chooses to challenge how society expects older women to behave, and what is physically and emotionally possible for us when we relax and embrace our innate feminine power.

First time modelling in your 40s with Rachel Peru

Rachel Peru is a silver haired curve model, body confidence activist, influencer and host of the Out of the Bubble podcast. Rachel chooses to challenge the accepted norms of what women should look like at any age and particularly as we get older. She is flying the flag for misunderstood and misrepresented women everywhere.

The magic of menopause with Darcey Steinke

Darcey Steinke is the author of Flash Count Diary. She chooses to challenge the existing overwhelmingly negative narratives around menopause showing that, while there are elements of loss to this transition, it can also be a time of immense positive transformation.

Talking about death with Dr Kathryn Mannix

Dr Kathryn Mannix has devoted her life to the palliative care of the dying. In her remarkable book With The End In Mind, she chooses to challenge us all to talk more about death, and gives us the tools and inspiration to be able to do that. Coronavirus has made it even more important that we start having conversations about death before it’s too late.

Just doing it and living the dream with Jo Moseley

Jo Moseley was the first woman to complete a North of England coast to coast stand-up paddle board challenge at age 54. She chose to challenge her own perceptions of herself and what she was capable of. Never sporty in her youth, she has become a beacon of encouragement for older women struggling with the menopause transition, who can find inspiration in getting more active and setting themselves challenges.

Professional bodybuilder at 48 – Amy Sutter

Amy Sutter, aka Sutter Girl, achieved her dream of becoming a professional body builder at the tender age of 48! She chooses to challenge the extent to which we can all follow our dreams and fulfill our potential regardless of what age we may be, or difficulties we face.