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Psychologist and founder Julianne Miles lets us in on what makes people lucky, gives me hope about neuroplasticity (my personal favourite!), and shares the research on how work and family can be allies rather than competing demands. Julianne knows firsthand what it takes to return to work after a break: she went back to university to retrain as a psychologist, and from there co-founded Career Returners, a social impact enterprise and community dedicated to making career breaks a valued part of a lifetime career. Along the way, she’s also shaped how employers and policymakers think about return-to-work practices. Whether you’re just considering a return or already taking steps, this conversation will make you think differently about luck, opportunity, and starting again. Thank you for listening to The Wobbly Middle, a podcast for women rethinking their careers. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU HEAR please follow, share and leave a review. RETURN JOURNEY: You can find Julianne’s book Return Journey How to get back to work and thrive after a career break here https://careerreturners.com/return-journey-book/ And here is more information on the free or pay-if-you-can Career Returners Professional Community: https://community.careerreturners.com/ JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com READ MORE SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle. This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.

Pin It To Win It: The Neuroscience of Vision BoardsBonus Episode: Investigative wellness journalist Rebecca Newman (Financial Times, The Guardian, GQ) draws on the work of neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart, author of The Source, to explain what’s going on in our brains when we make an action board and how they sharpen our sight line through the wobbly middle. Then we head to the craft room, where theory meets practice - or rather, where scissors and glue meet cork board - as we make our own boards. They are a way of keeping our goals front and centre, something we live with. A daily point of orientation, keeping us facing forward. If you enjoyed this episodeIf you enjoyed this bonus episode, check out our [] we opened the mailbag to respond our subscribers (occasionally panic-tinged) everywoman questions about navigating the midlife career odyssey. And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review. THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com READ MORE SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle. THANK YOU: This episode was produced by Patsy Day and Rebecca Newman. Studio recording by The Pod Collective. Thank you also to St Bernard’s Road Craft Room and to Luke Rogers. .

Magistrate Pip Symington hands down her rulings on romantic break-ups (seek adventure), work break-ups (consult friends and therapy), and how to rebuild when the ground falls away beneath you.When a long-term relationship ended in her twenties, Pip landed a job in Asia and set off to practise her Japanese. She loved her work as a risk consultant, but over time the lines between work, family and social life blurred, until her job became her whole identity - right up to the day she was made redundant.That rupture forced a rethink. Turning to friends and a bit of therapy, Pip began redesigning the shape of her working life. She no longer wanted one all-consuming thing, opting instead for a combination that could sustain her. Today, that means family, study and service — sitting as a magistrate alongside raising her children and researching a PhD. And as for what the future holds? Well, that way lies adventure.Interested in volunteering as a magistrate? You can find out more here: https://magistrates.judiciary.uk/how-to-volunteer/If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll love our Season One episode From Lab to Lifeline with another Oxford-based guest, Dr Emily Connally. Emily is a an experimental psychologist who founded a food bank at the school gate that’s now reshaping how local networks respond to food waste.And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review. THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com READ MORE SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle. RECORDING STUDIO: Thank you to Jack and Hugo from The PodCollective.

Our new season launches on 19 January — Blue Monday — that mid-January moment when morale plummets, resolutions flatline and job searches spike. So we’re sending in The Wobbly Middle to refuel your sense of possibility in the year ahead. This season is hosted by Patsy Day, a lawyer navigating the wobbly middle of her own career. Patsy will be speaking to women who have forged bold new paths in their 40s and beyond — pivoting careers, returning after a break, building businesses, and finally taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. Season 3 features:Lynn Harris — award-winning journalist (The Washington Post, Salon, The New York Times, Glamour) and founder of comedy school GOLD ComedyJulianne Miles MBE — marketer-turned-psychologist and founder of Career Returners, one of the world’s largest return-to-work platforms and author of Return Journey.Pip Symington — risk consultant-turned-magistrate and PhD researcher.Carri Simmons — drama teacher who returned to university at 38 to retrain as a psychologistJacquie Duckworth — advertiser and founder of Visible Start and whose mission to change the social narrative of midlife women and their role in society and the workplace. Until then, if you’re new to The Wobbly Middle, get stuck into Season 1, Episode 1 with The Super Docs Navigating The Hormonal Highway, two brilliant doctors who founded their own hormone clinic after realising there was nowhere to refer patients who needed better support. And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review. THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle.

Actress, writer, podcaster, and mother of three, Salima Saxton joins The Wobbly Middle Season 2 finale to talk about reclaiming yourself. From centre stage to the school gate and back again, Salima shares what it took to reawaken her creative life after years on mute. In this warm, frank conversation, she reflects on the disconnection so many women feel after stepping back from their careers - and how she wrote her way back into her multi-hyphenate roles. Together with hosts Susannah de Jager and Patsy Day, Salima dives into the messy middle of rediscovery, thrills at the power of women’s anger, and throws the idea of “balance” straight overboard. If you’ve ever felt like you left parts of yourself behind, this one’s for you. (00:00) - Welcome to The Wobbly Middle (00:46) - Reflections on Fitting In and Being True to Yourself (02:33) - Introducing Salima Saxton (03:47) - Salima's Early Career and Family Life (07:49) - The Challenges of Motherhood (13:29) - Rediscovering Identity Through Writing (16:25) - The Reality of Success and Failure (20:27) - The Inception of 'Women are Mad' Podcast (27:58) - Estrangement and Family Reflections (31:45) - Final Thoughts THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us at [email protected]—your pivot might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOSTS: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025) and co-hosting, The Wobbly Middle, a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.

From olympic dreams to a digital sisterhood, Joy Foster traded a career in the City for a quiver of arrows, followed love across borders and then and then, somewhat accidentally, became a digital entrepreneur.  Her creation, TechPixies, now serves as both launchpad and lifeline for women looking to pivot, re-enter the workforce, or start from scratch. In this episode, Joy talks about what it means to bloom wherever you’re planted even when the soil is foreign or the sun unreliable. She shares her belief that confidence is a decision, reinforced daily through small acts of doing. From five-minute power moves to three-year plans, Joy’s practical, no-nonsense guidance is both energising and refreshingly doable. If you’re stalled, stuck, or quietly simmering with ideas, this conversation will propel you from inertia to momentum.  (00:00) - Welcome to The Wobbly Middle (01:48) - Introducing Joy Foster (03:28) - Joy's Philosophy on Confidence (04:51) - Crafting a Vision for Your Life (09:18) - Joy's Personal Bravery (12:37) - Challenges in Switzerland (15:20) - Resilience and Support Systems (17:14) - Empowering Women Through Tech Pixies (20:14) - Navigating Grants and Funding (24:57) - Reflections and Advice THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us at [email protected]—your pivot might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOSTS: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025) and co-hosting, The Wobbly Middle, a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.

...and how to build a brand. Liberating and taboo-busting, Rachael Newton (former hedge fund lawyer turned entrepreneur) is part of a new wave of founders, thinkers, and advocates throwing open the bathroom door and reshaping the policies, products, and possibilities of period care.  In this episode, Rachael tells us how she designed Nixit, the revolutionary, reusable menstrual disc after she realised her tampon waste took so long to break down it would likely survive the apocalypse alongside the cockroach.  Rachael assessed the alternatives in the market and found them wanting. (Hell, there are more gadgets to poach an egg than there are period products). So she started from scratch designing a new type of reusable menstrual disc that could be worn for 12 hours. In doing so, Rachael has not only changed how people manage their periods but also how they relate to their bodies. She also tells us about the moment she put down her law books to become a femtech founder, about the risks and the loneliness along with the pinch-me moment of the pinging of sales.  If you’re curious about starting something new, building a brand with purpose, or simply rethinking your period, Rachael’s story is a smart, grounded reminder: you don’t have to go with the flow. Not in your career. And definitely not with your period. To find out more about Nixit: https://nixit.com/pages/menstrual-disc (00:00) - Welcome to The Wobbly Middle (00:17) - Personal Updates and Reflections (00:39) - Discussing Period Stigma (01:54) - Introducing Rachel Newton (03:38) - Rachel's Career Journey (05:14) - Challenges in the Legal Profession (07:55) - Relocating and Career Shift (10:00) - The Birth of Nixit (15:11) - Developing the Product (26:09) - Branding and Marketing (30:51) - Entrepreneurial Insights (33:39) - Final Thoughts and Farewell THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us at [email protected]—your pivot might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOSTS: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025) and co-hosting, The Wobbly Middle, a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.

Where female investors bring the values—and the returns. Experienced fund manager Leila Kardouche knew that to keep doing what she loved—investing—it had to be on her own terms. So she co-founded Variis Partners, a women-led firm that’s diverse by name (Variis means “diverse” in Latin) and by nature, built on a culture rarely found in traditional finance. In the high-stakes investment world, Leila is confident about what sets the foundation for success: her age, experience, financial stability, and wisdom—along with the complementary strengths of her co-founders. On taking bold steps later in life, she says: “You have a much higher chance of success. We are healthier, we're living longer, we want to be engaged for much longer professionally and therefore doing something like this at 50 is not late at all. It's about the right time.” In this episode, we talk about building a values-led business, choosing the right partners, and busting tired myths about women, risk, and what makes a great investor. (00:00) - Culture Club: Good Karma Only (01:09) - Introducing Leila Kardouche (02:23) - Leila's Career Journey (05:46) - Challenges for Women in Finance (07:25) - Motherhood and Career (10:11) - Founding Variis Capital (12:34) - Building a Diverse Team (19:43) - Balancing Optimism and Pessimism (26:28) - Women and Risk in Investment (31:23) -  What Would You Tell Your 30-Year-Old Self? (33:10) - Final Thoughts and Farewell THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us at [email protected]—your pivot might just be the nudge someone else needs. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOSTS: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025) and co-hosting, The Wobbly Middle, a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.

Sophia Champion de Crespigny loved physics. She studied civil engineering for 8 years, fascinated by structure and design. In the workplace, however, she found herself wading through actual sewage in the field - and the more metaphorical kind in the office. Engineering may have been the plan but it turns out it wasn’t the fit. When Sophie finally quit, she left without a grand plan, just with the instinct that there was something else out there for her. (00:00) - Setting Her Own Stones: Building a Life-Shaped Business (00:22) - Balancing Life's Demands (01:01) - Transferable Skills for Lawyers (01:43) - Introducing Sophie Champion de Crespigny (02:49) - Sophie's Journey from Engineering to Jewelry (04:23) - Challenges in a Male-Dominated Industry (08:00) - Leaving Engineering Behind (09:29) - Starting a Kombucha Business (11:53) - Motherhood and Business (18:55) - Launching Sorsa Jewelry (27:23) - Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs (28:24) - The Importance of Authenticity  In this episode, Sophie talks about how she began again - first fermenting a kombucha business in her London flat, and then forging Sorsa, a jewellery brand built around sustainability, beauty, and family life. It is a celebration of women’s businesses of every shape, scale, and intention and the importance of their place and space be it round the kitchen table or the boardroom. THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: whether you're in the wobbly middle or have made it through to the other side, we’d love to hear from you — we’re building a library of midlife plot twists! Email us at [email protected] SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOSTS Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break—and a podcast producer. She’s worked everywhere from London to Ho Chi Minh City, but these days she lives in Oxford. Patsy is knee-deep into podcast production for SafeHouse Amsterdam (launching 2025) and co-hosting The Wobbly Middle. 

We’ve got mail. Susannah and Patsy open the mailbag and respond to some of your excellent (occasionally panic-tinged) every-woman questions about navigating midlife career change. This means, Patsy, who usually prefers to hide behind the microphone (and strong opinions about editing), has to sit in front of it. Susannah on the other hand is already on her second podcast of the day—just casually interviewing biotech CEOs before breakfast—and brings her usual mix of energy and insight. They discuss:→ How do you find space to even think about change when life keeps getting in the way?→ How do you resist the gravitational pull of the familiar when change is hard?→ And what if tech has run ahead of you… can you still catch up? It’s all a bit looser and a bit more Wobbly than usual. But that’s kind of the point. (00:00) - Bonus Q&A (01:44) - Innovative Career Pivots (03:28) - Listener Questions: Overwhelmed in OX2 (03:53) - Tips for Tackling Overwhelm (05:30) - Focusmate and Task Initiation Tools (06:14) - Listener Questions: Tech Skills for Career Change (07:08) - Upskilling Resources and AI Tools (09:45) - Listener Questions: Staying the Course (10:11) - Aundrea's Empower Framework THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: whether you're in the wobbly middle or have made it through to the other side, we’d love to hear from you — we’re building a library of midlife plot twists! Email us at [email protected] SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle About the Hosts: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break—and a podcast producer. She’s worked everywhere from London to Ho Chi Minh City, but these days she lives in Oxford. Patsy is knee-deep into podcast production for SafeHouse Amsterdam (launching 2025) and co-hosting The Wobbly Middle. 

When Hannah McCracken returned to advertising after a career break raising her children, she anticipated going back at the same level, with some flexibility. She was met with a “no” — neatly packaged as professional advice: expect less. Less responsibility. Less pay. Less relevance.  But for Hannah, time out never meant value lost. She had built her career at some of the world’s top ad agencies. She knew her worth—and wasn’t about to apologise for the years spent mothering. She rejected the tired narrative that stepping away from work somehow erases your talent, ambition or potential. Instead, she came back clearer, sharper, stronger. This is a story about pushing back against other people’s limits. About holding onto your belief when the world tries to shake it loose. And a reminder for women that they have every right to want what they’ve already earned. (00:00) - Break. Return. Rise (01:40) - The Eisenhower Matrix: A Tool for Prioritisation (02:21) - Hannah McCracken's Journey (03:31) - Hannah's Career Beginnings and Advertising Insights (08:08) - Balancing Family and Career (09:01) - The Decision to Step Away from Work (13:11) - Reentering the Workforce: Challenges and Strategies (15:50) - The Importance of Self-Belief and Support Systems (21:14) - Recognising and Valuing Non-Traditional Skills (24:30) - The Role of Flexibility in Career Growth (27:41) - Final Thoughts and Reflections JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode. SHARE YOUR STORY: whether you're in the wobbly middle or have made it through to the other side, we’d love to hear from you — we’re building a library of midlife plot twists! Email us at [email protected] SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle About the Hosts: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break—and a podcast producer. She’s worked everywhere from London to Ho Chi Minh City, but these days she lives in Oxford. Patsy is knee-deep into podcast production for SafeHouse Amsterdam (launching 2025) and co-hosting The Wobbly Middle. 

We get the inside scoop on what it was really like producing a live, chaotic political interview with then-candidate Donald Trump — the pressure, the reputational stakes, and Aundrea’s strategies for the toughest of interviews. This bonus episode is packed with big energy, behind-the-scenes moments plus Aundrea’s “Wobbly Middle” Go-Bag essentials. Listen now! Don’t miss the full conversation with Aundrea Cline-Thomas in our main episode, Lights, Camera...Pivot! Stay up to date with our newsletter.  To hear more from Aundrea, listen to her totally energising podcast The NEXT Best Thing.  Have you navigated your own midlife career wobble? We want to hear EVERYTHING. The disasters, the triumphs, the moments you thought "I've made a terrible mistake" before realising it was actually GENIUS. Email us at [email protected]. Seriously. Tell us EVERYTHING. We want to hear your story—whether it’s messy, magnificent, or still mid-wobble.  Email us at [email protected] and join the conversation. About the Hosts: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break—and a podcast producer. She’s worked everywhere from London to Ho Chi Minh City, but these days she lives in Oxford. Patsy is knee-deep into podcast production for SafeHouse Amsterdam (launching 2025) and co-hosting The Wobbly Middle.

Newsrooms collapsing. Journalism jobs vanishing. Three-time Emmy winner and TV reporter Aundrea Cline-Thomas saw the signs flashing like a breaking news ticker: the industry she loved was falling apart live on air. Stepping behind the camera, Aundrea launched her own production company, Mountain Court Media, as well as the community initiative The Rewrite to help other journalists navigate their own pivots. With the poise of a prime-time pro and the candour of a hot mic, she shares the behind-the-scenes on walking away from a career in front of the camera to build a new career — and how others can identify their hidden strengths and skills to do the same. (00:00) - Lights, Camera... Pivot! (03:38) - Aundrea's Journey into Journalism (05:48) - Challenges and Triumphs in Journalism (10:31) - The Impact of Empathy and Upbringing (11:43) - The Decline of Traditional Media (13:27) - Transitioning from Journalism (17:10) - Empower Framework for Career Transitions (20:37) - Building Confidence and Facing Discomfort (26:33) - The Importance of Community and Networking You can find out more about The Rewrite here. To hear more from Aundrea, listen to her excellent podcast The NEXT Best Thing.  Have you navigated your own midlife career wobble? We want to hear EVERYTHING. The disasters, the triumphs, the moments you thought "I've made a terrible mistake" before realising it was actually GENIUS. Email us at [email protected]. Seriously. Tell us EVERYTHING. We want to hear your story—whether it’s messy, magnificent, or still mid-wobble.  Email us at [email protected] and join the conversation. About the Hosts: Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break—and a podcast producer. She’s worked everywhere from London to Ho Chi Minh City, but these days she lives in Oxford. Patsy is knee-deep into podcast production for SafeHouse Amsterdam (launching 2025) and co-hosting The Wobbly Middle. 

Do you feel a pull towards something new but aren’t sure what’s next? So do we! Following a No. 1 ranking on Apple Podcasts GB Careers chart, hosts Susannah de Jager and Patsy Day—who leapt off their own corporate career ladders—return for Season 2 on Wednesday, April 23 with more inspiring conversations about bold career shifts, unexpected opportunities, and the skills we’ve been quietly building all along. This season, they sit down with women who’ve made remarkable career moves, including: An Emmy-winning reporter who stepped behind the camera to launch her own media companyA civil engineer who swapped steel beams for gem stones and built a thriving jewellery coA lawyer who laid down the law to create a game-changing period care empire. Whether you’re making a big leap, a strategic shift, or a slow-burn transition, The Wobbly Middle is here to help you recognise the value of what you already know and use it to build what comes next. This season also brings bonus content—extra interview snippets, behind-the-scenes moments, and practical career advice to help you take your own next step. JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode.  SHARE YOUR STORY: whether you're in the wobbly middle or have made it through to the other side, we’d love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com  LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle ABOUT THE HOSTS: Susannah de Jager is consulting to start-ups and occasionally advising on scale-up capital having left her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager. She is also host of Oxford+, a podcast exploring the myths and truths of the Oxford investing landscape. Patsy Day is an intellectual property lawyer on a break. She has worked on all things IP from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is producing the podcast SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025). 

Donna was in her 40s when she picked up a camera. A stay-at-home mum in a new country, she poured her passion for food into a blog to fill the long school days. Good photos were essential, so—like every resourceful mother—she taught herself. The result? Drool-worthy, award-winning images that launched a stellar career. Now in her 50s, professional food photographer Donna Crous has cancer. With the same creativity, determination, and heart that shaped her career, she’s using her Diary of a Booby Queen to educate women about secondary breast cancer and to give them the courage to advocate for themselves. (00:00) - Introduction (00:16) - Susannah's Week of Perspective (01:20) - Patsy's Small Steps Approach (02:11) - Introducing Donna Crous (04:57) - Donna's Journey: From Banking to Baking (09:47) - The Leap into Food Photography (22:12) - Facing Cancer: Donna's Story (25:46) - Advocacy and Final Thoughts This is the final episode of Season One. Thank you for your support and encouragement. That the response has so far exceeded our expectations shows that The Wobbly Middle is striking a chord. Women are recognizing themselves in these stories of career reinvention, and they’re feeling seen, heard, and inspired to reimagine the shape of their own careers. We’re committed to continuing this conversation and energizing women to seek purpose, passion, and fulfillment in their midlife chapters. Season 2 is coming soon. In the meantime, you can stay up to date by signing up for our newsletter on Substack. You can also find us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle. About the hosts:Susannah de Jager has just moved to Abu Dhabi. She is podcasting, consulting to start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital, having left her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager and asked, "What next?" In the last five years, she has forged a new path following her passions and interests. This podcast is for her and for all those like her. Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts, producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025), and co-hosting The Wobbly Middle.