TIme of Your Life

Meredith's client tried to kill her, but how did she move on from that place to reinvent her life, master the fear of the everyday and end up in a place where she now mentors midlife women? Listen in to what I think is one of the most interesting interviews I've done, with a woman who tells us what the midlife crisis is really about

Finnish-born international skincare expert, makeup artist, and beauty director Riku Campo has worked as a makeup artist since 1988 and has lived in the United States since 2003. His work has been featured in major fashion and beauty magazines and ad campaigns for L’Oreal, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Smashbox, Guess, and others, and he has worked with some of Hollywood’s most renowned actresses. Riku is passionate about showing the beauty of many different women by highlighting their own personal style. Instead of following strict rules, he believes in using makeup to bring out joy and confidence and in this podcast he tells us exactly what to use, how to create a great lip look, why skincare is so important and how all women over forty can look amazing with just a few products.

This amazing woman is Michele Paradise. Michele Paradise is an international speaker and personal development coach on Deepak Chopra's digital wellness platform Jiyo. She has 20 years experience working with people from all walks of life who want to make changes in their lives but are still stuck after trying every other option. She works quickly and thoroughly to get the results you want and need so that you can move forward with your life. Before she began helping people to make profound and lasting changes in their lives she was an international runway model and you may be wondering how she made such an extreme life change. When Michele was a model she suffered from anorexia nervosa and there were very few people around who knew how to help her and many of her colleagues were also suffering, so she embarked on a journey to figure out what she could do to free herself from the 'monkey on her back'. She was always interested in human behavior and at that moment realized that she wanted to help others get the 'monkey off their back'. After years of studying several methodologies such as NLP, Hypnotherapy and Havening Techniques, she had the tools to make a difference in people's lives with issues around weight, anxiety, trauma and most importantly their relationships with themselves because that's where it all begins. In this show we talk about the menopause, our relationship with ourselves and how we can use this to create better relationships with those around us. It's a fantastic show (if I say so myself) so listen in HERE Contact Michele at: info@changeyourmindforgood.com www.micheleparadise.com YouTube: michpara

In this podcast I talk to Amy Schmidt. Amy is also a podcaster, author, public speaker, blogger, Founder and CEO of Fearlessly Facing Fifty. Her mission is to empower and encourage women over forty to go all in and not lose their identity or become invisible. Her family has moved many times over the years for her husband’s career and she was the CEO of home and family. Now it’s her time, and she’s written her book Cannonball, available on Amazon, which came out in June this year. In this programme we talk about why we both want to help women in midlife embrace the next two decades of their life fully, our own experiences of midlife and Amy's key mission to help midlife women let go of fear and fulfil their dreams now. Amy can be found at www.fearlesslyfacingfifty.com and her book Cannonball, is out on Amazon now.

Judy Schoenberg and Linda Lautenberg are co founders of EvolveMe, a company that helps midlife women transform and reinvent their careers. Linda returned to work after an eighteen year break and Judy pivoted her career in midlife so they brought two different stories to their work. Both found the process isolating and so created EvolveMe to ensure that the help was there for other women wanting to do the same. This show explores the challenges that face midlife women either changing career during these years or returning to work but also the solution that these two amazing ladies have found. I love their work and hope you do too. www.evolveme.work

Severine Menem is a registered Nutritional Therapist and Health Coach for women over 40 struggling with weight loss and menopause symptoms. She is also a Menopause Trainer for Financial Services organisations looking to establish menopause initiatives designed to support their female talents going through the menopause. In this podcast we talk about how miraculous food can be in helping defeat the symptoms of menopause, how it sets women up for later life and exactly what makes the perfect menopause diet. www.severinemenem.com

Our October box is packed with products from one of my favourite brands, Code Beautiful. In this podcast co-founder Sarah Cross talks us through each product in the box, how she created it and why it is the ultimate in class. Sarah talks about finding recyclable components, ultimate colours and perfect products for you and me to get our make up done fast and still look fantastic!

David Lieber has been involved in health, beauty and wellbeing his whole life. This passion led him to own and run health clubs, gyms and spas where he was at the forefront of creating wholly holistic experiences for his clients. David transformed the French aromatherapy skincare brand Decléor and helped build it into the global brand it is today but it is the distillation of this integrity, dedication and knowledge, which is poured into every drop of Slow Ageing Essentials. In this podcast we talk about his career in beauty, his beliefs on living well and self care plus creams for “celluleeet”, as they call it in France!

Tina Malhamé has journeyed far and wide in her career as a clothes designer. Tina was named by the high street guru, George Davies, as the most prolific designer on the High Street. A career spanning many years she has designed collections for well-known stores, Next, Monsoon, Laura Ashley, Anokhi, Daniel Hechter in Paris, Per Una and more. This success brought countless awards for design, including the Christian Lacroix Award for International Linen Design. In this programme we talk about how she got started, how she juggles life, her work with Terence Conran and George Davis before setting up her own business www.nologo-chic.co.uk. These days, Tina creates beautiful designs that are perfect for midlife women, but she's also fascinating and I think you'll love her.

In the final part of my series on Age Gap Friendships Carol and I talk about her time abroad as a teenager, her training as a nurse at Barts and reconciling with an estranged daughter in her hospice. I hope you find her testimony as moving as I did and I hope that this encourages you to explore your own age gap friendships - they are one of the most rewarding types you can have.

In the second of my two programmes on age gap friendship I interview my friend Carol, who is seventy three years old to my fifty seven. She talks about her time as a nurse at St Barts in London, moving to the USA on an exchange programme in her teenage years and what life has taught her. While Nancy is at the stage in her life where it’s all before her and all to play for, Carol has reached the stage where she is in a hospice. Whereas with Nancy, I talked about how are relationship compares to that she has with her mum, this programme talks about how Carol’s conversations with me differ from those she has with her daughter and how midlife women connect the generations.

Back in 2019, before “furloughed” was even a word, I wanted to write a book called 20/20. The idea being that the more I look at life, the more I think it important that every woman (frankly every man as well) should have one friend that is twenty years older and one that is twenty years younger. 2020 put paid to publishing that book as so many other issues seemed far more important, not least of which our individual health, but I wanted to revisit this subject. Of course, we have relatives with these age gaps, but it’s not the same as a friend and we can learn so much that helps our other relationships from our 20/20 friends. In this first programme of two, I interview my friend Nancy, now twenty three. We talk about why we are friends, her life, what influences her and how we have mutually influenced each other. We also talk about how she should marry one of my sons but that’s a different thing all together! Age gap friendships are the key to spanning the generations and how midlife women pull it all together.

Karen Ruimy is a multi-disciplinarian in the truest sense of the word. Born in Morocco and raised in Paris, she spent eight years working in the finance industry until, at the age of 28, she experienced the spiritual awakening which prompted her to trade it all in. She has been devoted to her soul’s calling ever since – and that trajectory has carried her through spiritual healing, writing, dance, music and philanthropy. It’s an unusual trajectory, but an organic and authentic one, underpinned by a passionate pursuit of self-discovery and wellbeing. Now, as the founder of Kalmar, Karen has created a holistic wellbeing experience which allows others to access some of what she has made her life’s work, realigning the mind, body and soul through energy and intention-setting, allowing every individual to move forward on their own unique journey to wellbeing. In this programme we talk about how her career in finance wasn't making her happy, how everyone - including her parents - thought she was mad to walk away from it and how you recreate the feeling of joy in a fragrance. Karen is a real free spirit in the beauty world and her new innovations of sprays for yoga mats and more will surely be one of the huge successes in years to come.

Rebecca Hopkins has always been passionate about British beauty and started making her own products with her sister Clare after spotting a gap in the market for natural skincare that delivered true results. Fifteen years on, their commitment to beauty that works naturally remains the same and Balance Me has grown into an international brand with over 65 industry awards and a cult following of beauty editors and celebrities. In this podcast we explore how she got started, the midnight drive (when eight months pregnant) to rescue stock for a John Lewis order and how roses remind her of her parents and home.

Lucy Tucker has been in the nail industry for over 25 years with her passion and creativity second to none, she remains highly regarded in the industry and a major Instagram nail star. Over the last 2 decades, Lucy has gained a vast amount of celebrity clients these include Julianne Moore, Rita Ora, Cate Blanchett, Gal Gadot, Anne Hathaway, Olivia Coleman and Lucy was the manicurist on The Spice Girls tour last summer. In this show we talk about how she became a celebrity nail technician, simple nail art for you to try at home, the fact that we’ve both worked with OPI and the latest Chanel nail colours – it’s pure beauty from and expert.

Scott Hutchison-McDade is the founder and visionary behind Wellbeing Radio That's it, that's all he gave me as background on him which must be about as Zen Buddhist as you can get, but this programme probes why he started Wellbeing Radio, what he wants it to achieve, who his favourite broadcaster is (I'm just saying, she's really, really good) and why he's now crowdfunding to expand. In short, if you fancy getting involved with Wellbeing Radio with a donation to Wellbeing Radio's Crowdfunding, then this programme gives you a little insight, beyond your favourite programmes, as to what we're all about.

Helena Biggs began her career at Scratch magazine in 2009 and holds the position of commercial editor, overseeing all editorial in the UK office and masterfully established the Scratch Stars Awards as the nail event of the year. As a highly regarded nail and beauty journalist, Helena has appeared on TV shows such as Sunday Brunch and ITV’s Daybreak and June 2013 saw Helena’s first book, Nail Art: Inspiring designs by the world’s leading nail technicians sold over 100,000 copies in the first six weeks. Named a finalist in the B2B Beauty Journalist of the Year category in the Fashion & Beauty Monitor Awards 2014 and again in 2015, Helena’s unwavering enthusiasm for the industry is infectious. In this programme we talk about how the woman with the longest nails in the USA uses the bathroom, the benefits of cuticle oil, how nail salons intend to reopen and your top colours for 2020 - it's all about beauty this week!

Zoe Oughton is an expert reflexologist, but was in corporate travel before taking up this career. Her own experience as a reflexology client was so impressive that she switched careers but extended her learning into relexology for fertility, maternity and hand reflexology. In this show we talk about how reflexology helps midlife women with the menopause, anxiety, stress and coming out of lockdown. Zoe’s practice covers Manchester and Cheshire. www.relaxingreflexology.com

Jane Scrivner is an expert in organic oil skincare and her incredible range wins awards left right and centre. She is quite happy to say that she created the range for herself, but there's no doubt that it works for so many other women. This podcast explores how she came to launch her own range, what organic means to her and why oil. She is a visionary in modern skincare and I hope you love her as much as I do.

Fay Afghahi started her career in beauty at Elizabeth Arden, but that wasn’t going to be where she stayed. In short, Fay had a meteoric career becoming Managing Editor of Elle magazine Arabia before she gave it all up to start her own brand, Kerahealth. Fay’s passion is hair loss in women (men too) as she knows how that feels and how it impacts mental health and wellbeing at any age. In this programme we explore how she got to hair loss, an unsexy end of the beauty market, but an area that is just so impactful for so many women, particularly in midlife. Fay talks candidly about her own struggles with thin hair and why this is so important to bring into everyday discussions. www.kerahealth.com

Lyndell Mansfield has won every award going in her home territory which culminated in The Australian Hairdresser of the Year in 1998. She’s worked around the world with an expert reputation in colour, working on catwalk shows for Alexander McQueen, Jean Paul Gaultier, Valentino and Louis Vuitton’s shows. Her celebrity client list includes Kate Moss, Liberty Ross, Paloma Faith, M.I.A, Jess Glynne and Beth Ditto to name just a breathtaking few. Lyndell’s here with us today as the UK ambassador for the Schwarzkopf LIVE colour range and to talk to us about midlife hair roots, how hair cut and colour affects our mental health and how to make the best colour choices in lockdown. Oh yes, and she also did Helen Mirren's hair recently so we talk about jaw-dropping grey as well.

After family breakdown, Tammy Banks became homeless at 15 and lived in a hostel for the rest of her teenage years. Despite leaving school at 14 with no qualifications, today she works in the Houses of Parliament, as a lay member of the special committee that upholds MPs' standards. In this podcast we talk about the incredible journey she's been on to make that switch from homeless to the House of Commons, how kindness is key in society and how she was one of the lucky ones, when there are so many more to help.

Serena Gordon is the Managing Director of Hoffman Institute in the UK. They are now in their 25th year of putting on the Hoffman Process - a seven-day residential personal development course attended by anyone who is 'fed up of being fed up'. The Hoffman Process has been embraced by celebrities such as Katy Perry, Goldie and Thandie Newton who have all chosen to talk about it in public, testifying to the benefits of the process and being open about their own mental health struggles. Before running her own business, Serena was an actress appearing in loads of TV and theatre and even spent a few minutes of screen time with Pierce Brosnan sitting in an Aston Martin in the James Bond film Goldeneye. Serena has two sons and lives in Sussex with her husband Adam.

Sue Peart is a journalistic legend. She is one of the UK's best loved journalists having worked on Cosmopolitan, the Daily Express, edited the Sunday Express Magazine, The Times Weekend Section and You Magazine for eighteen years. This programme was taped on the first day of lockdown where we talk about how strange the situation is, what Sue's advice is and how she was perhaps the only person in the UK with no fridge, no freezer and empty cupboards as she was expecting to move. I think it's an interesting conversation when all of this was new, weird and overwhelming, but Sue's advice is fantastic and - 4 weeks into lockdown - we can see she's spot on. A wise woman indeed.

A-lister Make up Artist Nadira V Persaud is one of the most in-demand make up artists in the UK. Good skin is always the place to start for a make up artist, which is what led to Nadira writing her own book, Press Here! Face Workouts For Beginners. A firm believer that many of our skin issues (lines, wrinkles, black bags under eyes) can be vastly improved withou face workouts, she's brought all her knowledge to bear in her new book.

Mette Skjaerbaek was a highly successful model in New York for over a decade, but when she retired she chose to return to her native Denmark to create her amazing beauty brand Karmameju. In this programme she talks about how the brand came about and her love of both body and facebrushing, how it is a superb, natural treatment and how she incorporates it into daily life.

Jayne Sterland is an amazing woman. Having grown up on a farm, Jayn went into the world of commerce before becoming the UK Managing Director of one of the world's most trusted natural beauty brands, Weleda. In this podcast we discover what Weleda means, what the difference is between natural and organic skincare, why it's so challenging for you and me to understand and the values behind her brand. If natural and organic skincare is your thing, this is a great listen from a women voted - again - the #1 most influential person in UK natural beauty (Jayn, not me!)

Meg Matthews and Her Menopause by Karen Davis

Tracey Woodward is an amazing woman. Illiterate until the age of 14, a child shoplifter with her mother, Tracey turned her life around to create the Urban Retreat Spa at Harrods, become Head of Beauty at Marks and Spencer as well as the CEO of Aromatherapy Associates. She completely has her finger on the pulse of the future of beauty worldwide and in this interview is completely honest about her journey, her role as a Prince's Trust Mentor and how passionate she is about selfcare for all.

Marishka Dunlop is an amazing women taking the supplement world by storm. Having looked at supplements she felt that there was nothing on the market that worked for her as a midlife woman wanting to relieve stress and generate energy in her life, so she decided to create her own. In this podcast she talks about how she decided which ingredients to go in, how she doesn't use fillers and that her supplements are gluten, dairy, yeast, artificial flavour, sugar, colour and preservative free as well as being Vegan. Oh yes, and they work too!

Tracey McAlpine is one of the original women on social media advocating ageing well over fifty. Her Twitter feed was phenomenal and now she's branched into Instagram, Facebook and her own website www.fightingfifty.co.uk In this podcast she talks about what she's learned about ageing well, how to deal with a roomful of boys talking about the NHS and which perfume she's gutted has been discontinued. In short, we shoot the breeze on a lot of subjects, but it's such fun!

Dr Björn Örvar is a very bright man. A scientist, he's been to two universities, and specialises in plant molecular biology. Besides this he's a thoroughly nice man and the founder of BioEffect, a skincare company that around ten years ago took the beauty industry by storm and has remained a go-to product for anyone serious about their skincare. In this podcast he talks about his brand standards, sustainability, how to use for best effect and why hydration and skin thickness are so important as we age. If you're interested in skincare from a company that wants proven data on efficacy rather than just "feel good" factor, this is a great podcast for you.

Sarah Cross is an accomplished young woman. Not only does she run Code Beautiful, a beauty company that specialises in creating hero products, but she also runs another business at the same time as well as bringing up a young family. Accomplished. However, Code Beautiful is one of the most unusual brands I've encountered. Currently, it has three products in its portfolio and that's it. A mascara, lash treatment and a lip liner/colour/plumper in ONE colour. It's unheard of, but the way Sarah describes it makes perfect sense. In this podcast we explore how the brand was created, Sarah's values, who the brand works best for and what the future holds for Code Beautiful, so if you want a beauty exclusive listen up right here.

Geraldine Tuck - ukactive talks midlife women and exercise by Karen Davis

Let me introduce you to Colin Milner. He's an unusual choice as we're about midlife women at TOYL, but what this man doesn't know about how to age well isn't worth knowing. Colin's the CEO of the International Council for Active Ageing (ICAA), an organisation he founded in Canada, which is now in 37 different countries. He tells us straight, he tells us exactly what the stats on ageing well are and he tells us our odds. All we have to do is do it. Colin's a friend but more than this, he's approachable, knowledgable and not unfeeling about how hard it is to put in place the blocks to age well, but this podcast has everything you need to know to get started. Find out from THE international expert on ageing what you should be doing now that ageing isn't defined by years, but by how independent you are.

God she looks fit, doesn't she? Claire Davis is a 40 year old personal trainer and coach who specialises in getting us midlife women fit out of Marbella and Ibiza on fitness retreats. In this podcast she talks about why she is passionate about fitness in midlife, why sometimes going away can kick start your fitness habit and how going to one of her retreats on your own is a total option these days, without you feeling like a freak. She also talks every day fitness, how midlife women can feel guilty about wanting more out of life and the perfect exercise programme for women over 40. Yes, you've still got to actually do it....

Maleka Datto is the Founder of skincare brand Merumaya. She's also one of the most outspoken people in the beauty industry that I know. Hear her take on starting a brand, how she felt about John Lewis when she was stocked on their shelves, what she thinks is wrong with beauty commentators such as influencers and magazines. She also gives you and me feedback on how we should take a bit more responsibility for how beauty brands treat us. Listen in, it's one of the most fascinating podcasts I've done.

Beautiful Holly is just 42. She's also an award-winning Funeral Director of www.hollysfunerals.co.uk Her attitude to death, caring for those left behind and honouring the dead are about to shake up the world of funeral care giving us options and ways to celebrate past lives that we didn't even know about. Listen to how her husband's doodle on a train ended with her as one of the most forthright, caring and loving voices in a world traditionally dominated by the big funeral care chains and how her views might shape your own on us passing from this world to the next.

At the top of her career in the finance sector, Lauren was in a high powered, well paid position when she contracted "dementia". She could not longer remember simple things, was exhausted and was in her thirties at the time. She had a young son and decided to quit her job, go home, take care of her boy and set matters straight for the ride deeper into her disease. However, it transpired - to her amazement - that she didn't have dementia, she was early menopausal and so shocked was she by how debilitating this period of her life was, she changed career to ensure that companies treated peri and menopausal women well and that women learnt how to actively manage their health to minimise symptoms as much as possible. Simple. In this podcast Lauren explains why companies have no choice but to be interested in this subject, what she believes we can do to help ourselves and what your employer ought to be doing to help you during this time. I think she's an amazing woman, but see what you think here. To find out more, Lauren's website is www.womenofacertainstage.com

Wow, Sunbeds are emotive! No, not the ones that holiday companys now allow you to book in advance so there's no more running down with the towel early doors on hols to ensure your spot, I mean the electric ones in salons. Why do we find sunbeds so difficult and yet burning on the beach "part of the holiday"? Here, I interview Gill Perkins of The Sunbed Association to get her view on tanning, the risk of Melanomas and a whole host of other things that I did not know about tanning. If you're in the sun this summer, listen to this first. You'll understand why sunburn is just so bad for your skin long term.

Karen, a 60 year old member of ToyBoyWarehouse.com talks about divorce, dating younger men, sex after 60 and how being dumped after 50 is no cause for bitterness. Part 1 of our look at dating over 40.