Back and Better Than Ever!

Welcome to Season 2 of the School of Midlife podcast!

In this episode, Laurie discusses a couple changes to the format in Season 2...and you're going to LOVE them because you requested them at the end of Season 1. More interviews, solo coaching episodes that pair well with your already busy life.

Season 2 is on fire! Let's frickin' go!

LINKS + MENTIONS:

Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/schoolofmidlife

Your Next Chapter Book Club:
https://www.schoolofmidlife.com/book-discussion

📩 JOIN MY MAILING LIST
https://www.schoolofmidlife.com/newsletter

👉 CONNECT WITH LAURIE:
📩 Email Laurie

💻 Website

On Instagram

On LinkedIn

Work with Laurie

Transcript

0:01

Welcome to the School of Midlife podcast. I'm your host, Laurie Reynoldson. This is the podcast for the midlife woman who starting to ask herself big life questions. Like, what do I want? Is it too late for me? And what's my legacy beyond my family and my work. Each week we're answering these questions and more. At the school of midlife, we're learning all of the life lessons they didn't teach us in school and we're figuring out finally what it is we want to be when we grow up. Let's make midlife your best life Welcome back to season two of the School of Midlife podcast. It's been what six weeks. Something like that. We've been on sabbatical for a couple of weeks. And man, I have missed you. I know that sounds ridiculous because I'm just talking into a microphone and you're listening to the podcast episode, wherever you're listening. So it's not even like we're having a conversation. X, except that we kind of are right. But there was something about going live with you every week that man, I just missed it. And even though we're not talking directly with one another, the text message I received and the DMS and the emails from you. I just really missed all of you. So I'm super excited to be back. I know that there are a lot of new listeners here, so welcome. I'm so glad you're here. I would encourage you to take a quick listen to the trailer. It's it's only like three or four minutes long to get a better idea of what we're about here. I'll drop a clickable link in the show notes for you to listen to that, but suffice it to say we're, high-achieving midlife women who want to make midlife our best life. And. And we're really succeeding at it here. With the kickoff to season two. We're back with a new format because you might remember one of the things that I did at the end of season one was send out a survey. For those of you who responded to the survey: thank you so much for taking the survey for answering my questions for letting me know what you liked best about the School of Midlife podcasts in season one. It really helped me to put together the programming for season two. And there were two really big ahas that came out of the surveys. Number one, the format. So in season one, most of the episodes were just me talking with you. There was an occasional guest interview. I think there were probably, I don't know, four or five total of them. So. Less than 10% of all the episodes in season one. And I'm trying not to take it personally. But y'all love when there's a guest on and, and I don't blame you. I completely do too. So in season two, the episodes are going to be guest heavy. Lots of interviews. I have been recording my little heart out and having amazing, fantastic conversations with some incredible women. And I can't wait for you to hear those conversations. You're absolutely going to love each and every one of them. And because I'm always looking for new women to talk with on the podcast. If you know someone who has a great story. Who we should be spotlighting, whether they're working directly with midlife women or they have an interesting mid-life story or. Maybe that's you. Reach out to me. There's a clickable link in the show notes, send me a message. Let's get you or your friend or that woman that you know of on the podcast. Let's, let's figure out a way to make that happen. So more interviews, more conversations in season two. That does not mean that every episode will be an interview. In fact, there will be episodes just like this one that are just me. Talking with you. Like in season one, those episodes will be coaching heavy. And this segues into the second big change in season two. And that is the solo episodes. The coaching episodes. There'll be less step-by-step coaching. So less take out a piece of paper, grab a pen. We're going to go step-by-step and I need you to write down everything that I'm saying in the exact order. Because we did that in season one and there were a couple of very tactical coaching episodes. But in season two, we're going to do less of that because according to the survey, Most of you listen to the school of mid-life podcast while you're working out or on your morning walk or while you're driving in the car or running errands. So the last thing I want to do is create a podcast that you can't listen to while you're busy doing life. Right. I mean, this podcast should be a good compliment to your normal everyday life. One that gives you some things to think about one that helps you create your best life in midlife. Not one that creates another thing you need to find time for in your day. It should be a nice supplement to what you're already doing. Now having said that there will be some introductions to coaching opportunities. But most of those are going to be held off of the podcast in a masterclass format. So you'll be able to listen along on those topics. When it's convenient for you, but there'll be much deeper dives, more master classy format. So the coaching isn't going away, it's just kind of moving a little bit. There may even be a private podcast component to the masterclasses, but I'm still figuring that out. Um, so there'll be more on that when I have more to share with you. To kick off season two, I've saved up some of my favorite interviews over the last several weeks. You'll hear from a personal wardrobe stylist about creating a wardrobe that suits you in this season of life. There's a great conversation with the nutritionist who focuses on nutrition for midlife women. There is the most fascinating two part episode talking about human design and how that impacts the way we live our life. There's a relationship coach discussing midlife changes in our relationships, a mental health professional talking about the importance of understanding how the patterns we've grown so accustomed to living might be holding us back from reaching our true mid-life potential. And a boutique fitness owner shares her thoughts on the importance of functional movement in midlife, as well as why creating a supportive community impacts us, even after we leave the studio. And those are just the beginning. Season two is going to be fire. I can guarantee you that. I guess there is one last thing I want to mention and it's that I was at a retreat with my business coach a couple of weeks ago. One of the guest speakers was a voice coach, but not a voice coach in this is how you should sound when you're talking on stages or, you know, Deliver speeches or record podcast episodes. So, so not using your voice in that way. In fact, She was a voice psychologist and it was this most incredible and insightful discussion. Because one of the key topics was how our voice hides all of our insecurities and past little T traumas and all of those people, pleasing tendencies and peacekeeping, and yes, women habits that we learned so early on in life. And as I sat in that I felt like she was talking directly to me. Um, Because I've been all those things. People pleaser, lots of insecurities. Um, peacekeeper in my family. And according to her, when we use our voice in that way, in what she called this kind of masked way or this showing up in either a performer sense or an actor sense. It not only dilutes our message, but it also pushes people away. Like they can't quite figure out why your voice isn't pulling them in. They just know that they could hear something in it that is pushing them away. Um, so that was a big aha moment for me, because I feel like I've been doing that my entire life. That I have been performing and masking and acting when I deliver my message. And a lot of that has to do with the way I was raised. We can get into that in another episode, but, you know, I was also a commercial real estate attorney for the first 20 years of my career. So I had to show up in a certain way to be competitive in a male dominated career. And I mean, I remember being in very tense situations in my prior life thinking don't cry, don't cry. Don't cry because it was highly emotionally charged. And it was like, the worst thing that I could think about was showing emotion in front of a bunch of men, because then that would undermine my credibility. So. I'm listening to her, talk about how it is we show up and how we use our voice. And, and again, I feel like I've been this peacekeeping people pleasing all of that, my entire life. It's like I learned to be direct with people, but say it really nicely. Or be firm, but not too firm because I don't want them to think I'm a bitch. Like take a stand and be provocative, but not so much that you turn people off or push them away. And that one is particularly tricky in this cancel culture we live in. Or the number of likes and follows and podcast listens and Downloads are directly related to how nice you are. And I get that. And I certainly don't want to push people away, but at the same time, You can expect more what i'd like to call"Real Laurie" this season and i'm using air quotes around the"Real Laurie". Because i'm going to be sharing more of my opinions. All of them with you and i'm going to share them even if i think you might not agree with me Because it's my hope in doing so that we can have some More interesting Deeper level conversations here That we can call each other on our bullshit At that too i feel like i've been very careful with my language in season one."Real Laurie" has been known to drop an F bomb here and there and you can expect a little bit more of that too. So it season two, i'm so excited to be back with you. This is going to be a fantastic year thank you so much for being here! Let's fucking go.See what i mean about the f bombs? Um i'll see you in the next episode Oh, wait, one more thing. School of Midlife has its own Instagram now. Um, will you please go and give me a follow, um, so that all things midlife, this we're creating an incredible community on social media and I would love it if you would take just a minute and give us a follow. I will include a clickable link in the show notes so that you can just go right there and. And press the follow and then we can be lifelong friends, so, okay. That's it. Let's have a great Season Two. Thanks so much for being here! Do you ever wish you had a community of midlife women you could go talk to about those big life questions that seem to pop up in midlife? Like, what do I want? What's my legacy. What's next for me? A community of women to have candid conversations with about all the things that come at us in midlife that no one else seems to be talking about. Changes in our bodies related to menopause. Sure. But also changes in our relationships and family life and careers. Well, great news. The School of Midlife has launched a book club called Your Next Chapter. Each month we'll be reading and discussing books that relate to the unique experiences of midlife women. It's absolutely free to join. And we'd love to have you meet up with us and add your voice to these important discussions. And this isn't like other book clubs, because if you didn't have time to finish the book, but you're still interested in the conversation. Absolutely join us anyway, because you'll still get so much out of the conversation. The book club is free to join, but you'll need to sign up. Click the sign up link in the show notes and you'll automatically receive your invitation to join us. Get signed up, grab this month's book and start reading. And we'll look forward to seeing you at the next book club discussion we're together we're helping each other make midlife our best life