Before you decide something is wrong with your brain, hear this: it isn't failing you. It's asking for different inputs.

This week, Angela continues the brain series with a look at BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a protein she describes as fertilizer for your brain. It helps brain cells survive, grow and form the connections that let you learn, remember and bounce back from stress. She also introduces "hope molecules," the messengers your muscles release when you move.

Angela explains why BDNF tends to drop after menopause, when estrogen, which supports it, falls away. Long-term stress can lower it too, which is why things you once handled easily can start to feel like too much. The good news is that brain chemistry can change. Drawing on Dr Kelly McGonigal's work on myokines, and on Dr Mindy Pelz's description of BDNF as a "personal trainer for your brain," Angela walks through how a brisk walk, lifting heavy and time in nature all send your brain the same message: grow.

Angela also shares a personal story of the time she was overwhelmed and walked away from it all on a multi-day hike. The clarity and solutions she found there are the same mechanism at work, whether you're hiking, gardening or out on the water.

Perhaps your brain fog isn't a warning that you're slipping. Perhaps it's an invitation to step away from the desk. Perhaps the clarity you're searching for is waiting on the other side of a walk.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• What BDNF is and why it's often described as fertilizer for your brain
• How the drop in estrogen after menopause, and long-term stress, can lower BDNF
• What "hope molecules" (myokines) are, and how muscles send your brain the message to grow
• How irisin and lactate travel to the hippocampus, your memory centre, to switch BDNF on
• Why even a brisk walk, and especially resistance training, can lift BDNF levels
• Why movement in nature and morning sunlight take the benefits further
• Five simple invitations for supporting your brain, with no extreme exercise required
• When memory changes are worth raising with your doctor

Questions to reflect on:

1. When did you last feel your mind go quiet, and where were you?
2. How often do you move your body in a way that raises your heart rate?
3. Where is your "place," the spot where you can move your body and rest your mind?
4. What would it take to book that time in your diary so no one else can claim it?

This week's invitation is simple: Choose one thing, whether a brisk walk in nature, a morning in the sunlight or a few heavy lifts, and notice how your brain feels afterwards.

A note from Angela: if you notice sudden or fast-worsening memory changes, or you're worried, especially with a family history of dementia, please speak with your doctor. If you have injuries or are recovering from surgery, check with a physio or personal trainer before starting new exercise.

Catch up on the brain series:

• Why Brain Fog Might Actually be an Identity Crisis: https://wisewomensconversations.substack.com/p/why-brain-fog-might-actually-be-an-001
• Why Your Sleep Broke after Menopause: https://wisewomensconversations.substack.com/p/why-your-sleep-broke-after-menopause-b62

Books and resources mentioned:

• The Menopause Brain by Dr Lisa Mosconi
• The Upgrade by Dr Luann Brizendine
• Age Like a Girl by Dr Mindy Pelz
• The Joy of Movement by Dr Kelly McGonigal

If that's a familiar scene, you're not broken — your hormones have just changed jobs.

This week, Angela continues the brain series with a deep dive into the hidden relationship between estrogen and melatonin, and why so many women find that even after doing "all the right things," sleep still doesn't come easily in postmenopause. This episode builds on [last week's episode on how the brain changes through menopause]* — so if you haven't caught that one yet, it's worth going back to first.

Angela explains the science in plain terms: estrogen and melatonin work as a team, with estrogen acting as coordinator for your brain's internal clock — the pineal gland and the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). When estrogen was abundant, it kept this clock running smoothly. Once estrogen drops, that signalling weakens, leading to what researchers call circadian dysregulation — which is exactly why so many postmenopausal women find themselves wide awake at 2am for no obvious reason.

She also shares her own experience of hitting a burnout-driven sleep crisis about 12 months ago — sub-5-hour nights, a racing heart, and a mind that wouldn't switch off — and how recognising disrupted sleep as a signal from her body, rather than a personal failing, led her to make real changes. At the heart of it all, Angela reframes the goal: it's not about replacing estrogen, but about teaching your nervous system it's safe enough to produce melatonin on its own — something our ancestors managed without estrogen too, simply by living in sync with light, temperature and rhythm.

Perhaps the problem was never that you're broken. Perhaps your nervous system is just waiting for permission to feel safe again. Perhaps sleep isn't something you have to force — it's something you can invite back in.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why estrogen and melatonin are tightly linked, and what happens to your sleep when estrogen drops
• What the pineal gland and SCN actually do, and why they need estrogen to function well
• What recent research reveals about circadian dysregulation in postmenopausal women
• Why disrupted sleep also disrupts your brain's ability to detoxify and rewire itself overnight
• The role cortisol plays in blocking melatonin production
• Why honoring your own personal circadian rhythm matters more than following generic sleep advice
• Four practical, hormone-free ways to support your body's natural melatonin production
• Why timing your meals affects your ability to fall — and stay — asleep

Questions to reflect on:

1. When you wake in the night, is your body signalling stress rather than a "sleep problem" to fix?
2. Are you currently working against your natural circadian rhythm, or with it?
3. Which of the four melatonin-supporting habits could you realistically start with this week?
4. What would it take for your nervous system to feel genuinely safe enough to switch off at night?

This week's invitation is simple: Get outside for 10 minutes of direct morning sunlight within the first hour of waking, without sunglasses — and if you can, catch the sunset too.

*Catch up on last week's episode on how the brain changes through menopause here: https://wisewomensconversations.substack.com/p/im-64-and-i-dont-feel-old-so-what-5c7

If your brain feels like it's betraying you right now, you're not broken — you're renovating.

This week, Angela kicks off a new series diving into what's actually happening in the brain through perimenopause, menopause and beyond — starting with the big picture: why your brain feels chaotic right now, and why that chaos is temporary.

Drawing on two books that changed how she understood her own experience — The Menopause Brain by neuroscientist Dr Lisa Mosconi, and The Upgrade by psychiatrist Dr Luann Brizendine — Angela shares the science behind what so many women describe as "losing their mind," and why it's actually the opposite.

She unpacks Dr Mosconi's research on brain "pruning" — a process the brain goes through three times in a woman's life: puberty, pregnancy, and menopause. Just like a home renovation, things get pulled out and rewired before they settle into a new normal. Angela shares her own rock-bottom moment during perimenopause — nearly walking away from a business she'd built for years — and how understanding this pruning process, well after the fact, finally made sense of what she'd been living through.

She also explores Dr Brizendine's concept of the brain "upgrade": as oestrogen (the "people-pleasing hormone") drops, women often become less focused on managing everyone else's needs and more focused on their own — a shift that can bring a sharper sense of purpose, but can also shake up relationships, careers and identity along the way.

Perhaps your brain isn't declining. Perhaps it's rewiring itself for exactly who you need to become next. Perhaps the fog isn't the end of clarity — it's the renovation before it.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why brain fog and forgetfulness are so common in perimenopause and beyond
• The concept of brain "pruning" and the three life stages it happens in
• What Dr Lisa Mosconi's imaging research revealed about grey and white matter changes
• Why these brain changes are temporary, not permanent
• How oestrogen's drop reshapes people-pleasing tendencies and personal boundaries
• Why Dr Luann Brizendine calls this shift an "upgrade" rather than a decline
• How this rewiring can trigger identity shifts, relationship strain, and career reassessment
• One simple, practical starting point for supporting your brain right now: sleep

Questions to reflect on:

1. Where in your life have you noticed yourself becoming less inclined to people-please?
2. Has a shift in your priorities or sense of purpose caused tension in any of your relationships?
3. What would it look like to treat your current brain fog as temporary renovation rather than permanent decline?
4. How are your sleep habits currently supporting — or undermining — your brain health?

This week's invitation is simple: Get outside for a few minutes of morning sunlight, without your sunglasses on, and let it reset your body's clock for the day.

Books referenced in this episode:

• The Menopause Brain by Dr Lisa Mosconi
• The Upgrade by Dr Luann Brizendine

I'm 64. By most official measures, I'm creeping toward "old" — the top box on the form, the pension I still don't love the word for. And most days, I don't feel old at all. So in this episode, I'm unpacking what actually makes someone old — because the more I've looked at it, the less it seems to have anything to do with age at all.

It started at a morning tea for women over 50, where I found myself thinking "everyone here is old" — until I realised several of them were younger than me. It wasn't their age creating that impression. It was something else entirely: an energy, a posture, a quiet belief that they'd said out loud without meaning to — I'm too old for that now.

I share the story of a client from years ago who seemed decades older than she was, right up until I checked her date of birth and found she was a month younger than me. I talk about my mother, who's 85 and has chosen to stop moving through the world — and about the women I hiked alongside in Cornwall, some in their seventies, who hadn't made that choice at all. And I get honest about my own version of this: a moment twelve months ago where I decided, quietly, that 72 would be "too old" to still be running my business — and what I've realised that thought was actually asking me.

Perhaps old was never a number to begin with. Perhaps it's a belief we picked up somewhere — from a form, an advertisement, a room full of people who decided it before we did — and never thought to question. And perhaps the real question isn't how old you are, but who's actually been deciding that for you.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why a room full of women over 50 left me thinking "I don't fit here" — and what I got wrong about why
• The real story behind being labelled a "geriatric" pregnancy at 40
• What separated the women I hiked with in Cornwall in their 60s and 70s from the women at that morning tea
• A story about a client who was younger than me but seemed decades older — and what actually gave that away
• The research on "subjective age" — and why how old you feel may matter more than how old you are
• My own honest reckoning with a belief I've quietly held about turning 72
• Why the word "retirement" carries more of a verdict than we realise
• The one shift that changed how I think about ageing altogether

Questions to reflect on:

• Where have you already decided you're "too old" for something — and is that actually true, or borrowed from somewhere else?
• Who in your life seems "old" to you, and is it really about their age?
• What would you be doing right now if no one, including you, had put an age limit on it?
• If ageing is partly a belief, which of your beliefs about getting older are actually serving you?

This week's invitation is simple: just notice — once — the moment you catch yourself thinking or saying "I'm too old for that." Don't judge it, don't fix it. Just notice where it came from.

Want to keep exploring this one with me? Visit my Wise Women's Conversations Substack to continue the conversation

Wise Women's Conversations — with Angela Counsel

In this episode, Angela sits down with naturopath, international speaker and TEDx speaker Jen Jeffries for a rich, honest conversation about ageing, identity and the reclamation of the "crone" — a word our culture has taught us to fear, and one Jen believes we desperately need to take back.

Jen has been on stages for around 30 years, and last year she stood on the ultimate one — TEDx — delivering her talk Who Killed the Crone. It was the culmination of a story that began 37 years earlier, when a young Jen first learned about the suffragettes while training as a naturopath. That seed grew through decades of work, a Facebook group called Ascendants of the Feminine, a program called Smart Sassy Seniors, and finally, at 64, a global TEDx call-out asking for ideas that could "disrupt."

What we cover

• The story behind Jen's TEDx talk — how a message she'd carried for 37 years finally found its stage, and why she cried both before and during her talk
• Why "crone" became a dirty word — the witch trials, colonisation, and how the five worst countries for honouring older women (UK, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand) all trace back to the same history
• What matriarchal cultures get right — Angela and Jen compare notes on a reed-village matriarch in Lake Titicaca and the Chinese phoenix, Fenghuang, who rises "with grace and certainty" rather than through destruction and rebirth
• How to start reclaiming the crone — Jen's simple, practical starting point: gather mindfully, share stories that matter, and let your voice be heard
• Rites of passage — why Western culture has none for menarche or menopause, and what's lost when we don't mark these transitions
• Identity exhaustion — the term Jen coined for what happens when we keep running on the attitudes and beliefs of our 20s and 30s long after our biology, and our lives, have moved on
• Learning to be quiet — how stillness, not striving, is what lets the wise woman already inside each of us finally come through

Memorable moment

Jen shares the story of her mother turning 50 — and being devastated when Jen sent her a card calling her a "crone." It's a small moment that captures exactly why this conversation matters: the word was never the problem. What we've been taught to believe about it is.

About Jen Jeffries

Jen Jeffries is a naturopath and speaker with three decades of experience on stages around the world. In 2025 she delivered her TEDx talk, Who Killed the Crone, and now hosts the Present Day Wise Woman podcast, where she explores ageing, identity and what it means to stand fully in the wisdom of this stage of life.

Links & resources

• 🎤 Watch Jen's TEDx talk, Who Killed the Crone: jenniferjeffries.com
• 🎧 Listen to the Present Day Wise Woman podcast: jenniferjeffries.com
• 📥 Free download — Jen's Crone Circle cheat sheet, for gathering your own circle of women to share stories that matter: jenniferjeffries.com

Now, she's deadlifting a 40-kilo grandchild.

Somewhere between those two moments, something in her shifted.

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela sits down with Peta Gillian — trainer, mentor, and author of an upcoming book on ageing with strength — to talk about what it really means to stay strong as we get older. Peta pushes back on the "look good, feel good" messaging so many women have absorbed their whole lives, and reframes strength as something far more foundational: the ability to get up off the floor, carry your own groceries, keep up with your grandkids, and stay independent for as long as possible.

Peta shares deeply personal stories — including helping her own mother rebuild her strength and mobility after a serious illness, and the small, everyday signs (a smaller bottle of laundry detergent, dishes left in the sink) that quietly reveal a decline in strength long before it becomes a crisis. She and Angela talk candidly about the outdated obsession with the number on the scale, why BMI doesn't tell the full story, and why building muscle later in life is something to celebrate, not fear. Peta also opens up about her own journey — from a quietly rebellious kid teased for having "a boy's name," to a woman who has learned to listen closely to her body and now helps other women do the same.

Perhaps strength was never about how we look.

Perhaps it's about what we're still able to do — and who we get to be while doing it.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why Peta believes women need to become more aware of their own bodies — and why that awareness is often uncomfortable
• The real foundations of strength as we age: power, balance, and core stability
• Why the number on the scale (and BMI) can be misleading measures of health
• The everyday warning signs — like smaller detergent bottles or dishes left in the sink — that reveal declining strength
• How Peta helped her own mother rebuild mobility and independence after a serious hospital stay
• Why "being small" is often mistaken for being healthy, when it's actually a sign of frailty
• Peta's simple two-step approach: build awareness first, then establish your baseline
• How to find small "windows of time" throughout the day to build strength, even without a formal workout

Questions to reflect on:

• Am I listening to what my body is telling me, or am I tuning it out?
• What's one everyday task I want to still be able to do independently in 20 years?
• Is my sense of health tied to a number, or to what my body can actually do?
• Where could I find two minutes today to move with intention?

This week's invitation is simple:

Take a moment to ask yourself:

"What do I want to still be able to do — and what am I doing today to make sure I can?"

The answer might surprise you.

Connect with Peta Gillian:

Ageless Confidence Website - https://agelessconfidence.com.au/

Grab your FREE Guide to Ageing with Intention - https://go.stronghealthywomen.com.au/ageing-w-intention

She'd walk into a room and forget why she was there.

And she didn't connect any of it to menopause — she just thought she was busy.

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela talks with Suzi Dafnis, CEO of The Growth Network (formerly Her Business), about the collision between menopause and business leadership — and what happens when the identity you've built your whole life around stops fitting the way it used to.

Suzi shares her own experience of brain fog, disrupted sleep and situational depression that crept in during perimenopause, and how she initially had no idea it was connected to menopause at all — she assumed it was simply the pressure of running a business. She and Angela talk candidly about the women Suzi hears from constantly through Her Business and The Growth Network: successful, driven women who've built extraordinary businesses and lives, who now find themselves quietly asking, "I don't know who I am without this." Suzi opens up about her own transition over the last 18 months — stepping back from the model of relentless hustle, learning to delegate, training for a marathon, and giving herself permission to rest without guilt — and shares why she now believes the old idea of pushing through everything is exactly what needs to be released.

Perhaps the fog isn't a sign that something is broken.

Perhaps it's an invitation to write the next chapter.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why menopause is as much a brain transition as it is a physical one — and why that's rarely talked about
• Suzi's personal experience with brain fog, memory changes and situational depression during perimenopause
• Why so many successful women quietly think "I don't know who I am without this business"
• The moment a mentor challenged Suzi's belief that her "best days were behind her"
• Why "surrender" isn't the same as giving up, and how reframing it can change everything
• The practical shifts Suzi made to her business model, team and mindset in the last 18 months
• Why pausing and creating space is often the most important first step in any transition
• Suzi's advice for any woman quietly wondering if her best days are behind her

Questions to reflect on:

• Have I mistaken the pressure of "pushing through" for who I actually am?
• Where in my life or business am I clutching the steering wheel instead of trusting the road?
• What would it look like to give myself permission to slow down without guilt?
• Am I trying to read the next chapter while still standing in this one?

This week's invitation is simple:

Take a moment to ask yourself:

"What am I ready to let go of, so something new has room to begin?"

The answer might surprise you.

Connect with Suzi Dafnis:

Join the Her Business Growth Network - https://herbusiness.com/

Follow Suzi on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzidafnis/

Then, on a second date, she asked a man to take her for a ride on his motorcycle.

She had no idea it would change the entire shape of her life.

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela sits down with Bridget Hallam — founder of Throw Your Leg Over, motorcycle adventure guide, and professional speaker — to talk about reinvention, courage, and what it really means to say yes to something uncertain.

Bridget shares how a single motorcycle ride around Mount Coot-tha 14 years ago sparked a passion that eventually became a business — guiding riders through the European Alps and beyond. But this isn't just a story about motorbikes. Bridget opens up about how hard it still is to ride solo, the fear she sees in others when they're offered the chance to step outside their comfort zone, and why she now speaks professionally on the courage it takes to make uncertain, life-changing decisions — in business, leadership, and life. Angela and Bridget also explore the quiet role nature plays in working through big decisions, and Bridget offers her own wisdom for any woman standing at that "there's something more" moment, wondering what comes next.

Perhaps reinvention doesn't require a dramatic leap.

Perhaps it starts with one small, courageous yes.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• How a second date on the back of a motorbike sparked a completely new chapter of Bridget's life
• Why solo riding is still a challenge for Bridget, even after years of experience
• What it takes to build a business and a life around adventure and courage
• Why Bridget believes making a big change is an evolution, not a loss
• Her two practical tips for women who feel like something more is calling them
• Why nature — whether on a hike or the back of a bike — helps ideas and clarity surface
• How Bridget's speaking career grew out of watching others hold themselves back from bold decisions
• Why courageous decision-making matters just as much in leadership as it does in life

Questions to reflect on:

• Where in your life is fear quietly holding you back from something you actually want?
• Do you see change as loss — or as evolution?
• When did you last give yourself quiet space to let an idea bubble up?
• What would it look like to take one small, courageous step this week?

This week's invitation is simple:

Take a moment to ask yourself:

"What's the small, courageous yes I've been putting off?"

The answer might surprise you.

Connect with Bridget Hallam:

• Website: https://www.bridgethallam.com
• SBS Article: I was a single parent trying to survive. A new hobby changed everything.
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bridget-hallam-speaker
• Curves Motorcycle Podcast for Women: Listen on Apple Podcasts

The one who solves problems.

The one who holds everything together.

Whether you're leading a business, managing a team, supporting your family or caring for others, you've probably become the person everyone depends on.

But who supports you?

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela explores why so many successful women find it difficult to ask for help and the hidden cost of always being the strong one.

Inspired by a simple moment during a mindful movement class, Angela reflects on the different kinds of support we need throughout life. She shares why asking the right people for support matters, why being understood is often more important than being given advice, and why the support we give ourselves is just as important as the support we receive from others.

Through stories from her own life, including running a business, spending time in nature and the lessons she's learnt along the way, Angela invites you to rethink what strength really looks like.

Perhaps true strength isn't carrying everything yourself.

Perhaps it's knowing when to let someone else help carry the load.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why successful women often find it difficult to ask for support
• The difference between being surrounded by people and feeling truly understood
• Why asking the right person matters
• The importance of supporting yourself through sleep, nourishment, movement and rest
• What nature has taught Angela about resilience and strong foundations
• How to recognise the weight you've been carrying alone
• Why receiving support is a strength, not a weakness

Questions to reflect on:

• Who do you turn to when life feels heavy?
• Are you asking the right people for the support you need?
• How are you supporting yourself?
• Where in your life are you carrying a weight you were never meant to carry alone?

This week's invitation is simple:

Take a moment to ask yourself:

"What support do I need right now?"

The answer might surprise you.

As children, we were constantly learning. Every day brought new experiences, new challenges and new skills. But as we get older, life becomes more familiar. We develop routines, create habits and become incredibly efficient at doing what we've always done.

While those habits make life easier, they can also keep us stuck.

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela explores how living on autopilot can prevent us from seeing new possibilities. Inspired by the Japanese concept of Shoshin, or beginner's mind, she shares why approaching life with curiosity rather than certainty can open the door to growth, resilience and new opportunities.

Drawing on personal stories, from changing the way she exercises to learning pottery and discovering a new way to approach mindful movement, Angela invites you to consider what might happen if you gave yourself permission to be a beginner again.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why our brains naturally create habits and routines
• How living on autopilot can keep us feeling stuck
• The difference between having expertise and remaining curious
• What the Japanese concept of Shoshin (beginner's mind) can teach us
• Why trying something new doesn't require perfection
• Lessons learnt from pottery, movement and learning new skills
• How curiosity can help you navigate the next chapter of your life

Questions to reflect on:

• When was the last time you did something for the first time?
• Where in your life are you relying on old habits that may no longer be serving you?
• What could change if you approached one area of your life with curiosity instead of certainty?

This week, Angela's invitation is simple:

Choose one small thing and do it with a beginner's mind.

You might be surprised by what you discover.

For much of our lives, we've been taught that success is measured by external achievements: promotions, qualifications, money, business growth and recognition. We're encouraged to keep striving, keep pushing and keep climbing.

But what happens when the things that once motivated us no longer feel as important?

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela reflects on her own relationship with success and how her definition has changed over the years. From climbing the corporate ladder and building successful businesses to raising children and navigating life's many transitions, she shares the moments that made her stop and ask a deeper question:

What does success really mean now?

As women move into their 50s and 60s, priorities often shift. Freedom, health, connection and purpose can begin to matter more than titles, income and external recognition.

This episode is an invitation to pause and reflect on the version of success you've been chasing and whether it still aligns with the life you want to create.

In this episode, Angela explores:

• How our ideas about success are shaped from childhood
• The pressure to keep achieving and striving for more
• The difference between external and internal success
• The challenges of balancing career, business and motherhood
• The hidden costs of success and ambition
• Why freedom, health and meaningful experiences matter more than ever
• How Angela's definition of success has changed over time
• What success might look like in the next stage of life

Questions for reflection:

• What did success mean to you in your 30s and 40s?
• Has your definition of success changed?
• What matters most to you now?
• When do you feel truly successful?

Perhaps success isn't something we earn. Perhaps it's something we intentionally create.

For many women, particularly those running businesses, leading teams or caring for others, the pressure to keep going can feel relentless. Even weekends can become another item on the to-do list, and holidays often seem too far away to make a difference.

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela shares five simple practices that can help you create small moments of rest and reset throughout your day. These aren't grand gestures or lengthy self-care rituals. They're practical strategies designed to help calm your nervous system, reduce stress and bring you back to yourself.

Because sometimes, the most powerful changes come from the smallest pauses.

In this episode, Angela shares:

• Why stress plays such a significant role in how we feel, particularly during and after menopause
• How taking short breaks can improve productivity and decision-making
• A simple breathing technique to calm the nervous system
• The importance of creating space between meetings and tasks
• Why asking yourself "What do I need right now?" can be transformative
• How mindless scrolling increases stress and what to do instead
• Creating evening rituals that help you switch off and sleep well

The five simple resets:

✔ Take two minutes every couple of hours to breathe.

✔ Create breaks between meetings and tasks.

✔ Ask yourself what you need right now.

✔ Replace mindless scrolling with mindful activities.

✔ Develop an evening ritual to help you wind down.

Reflection question

What is one small change you could make this week to create more calm in your day?

Sometimes, the answer isn't doing more. Sometimes, it's simply pausing long enough to take a breath.

But what if there is another way?

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, Angela reflects on a simple phrase from her somatic movement class: "You only need to go to 70%." That idea sparked a much bigger question about how many of us, particularly high-achieving women, have been conditioned to believe that we always need to give 100% or more.

Drawing on her own experiences in banking, business and motherhood, Angela explores the tension between striving and surrender, masculine and feminine energy, and what it might mean to embrace the "melt" instead of the push.

If you've spent years leading teams, building a career or caring for everyone else, this episode invites you to consider whether slowing down might actually be the key to moving forward.

In this episode, Angela explores:

• The difference between pushing and melting
• Lessons from somatic movement and gentle exercise
• Why many successful women struggle to slow down
• How school, work and business teach us to strive for perfection
• The hidden cost of constantly achieving
• Angela's journey through banking, business ownership and motherhood
• The challenge of accepting that 70% might be enough
• How to reconnect with your body and let go of perfectionism

Reflection question

Where in your life could 70% be enough?

What would happen if you gave yourself permission to ease off the pressure and trust that you don't always need to push harder?

When was the last time you stopped and thought about what brings you genuine joy?

For many women, especially those who have spent years building businesses, leading teams, raising families or caring for others, fun often slips to the bottom of the priority list. We become so focused on responsibility that we forget to ask ourselves what actually lights us up.

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, I explore my own relationship with fun and why I've never considered myself to be a particularly playful person. Instead, I've discovered that fun doesn't have to look the same for everyone.

Drawing on my understanding of genetics, hormones and personality, I share why some people thrive on play and connection, while others find joy through adventure, creativity, movement or simply being immersed in nature.

The important question isn't whether you're having fun in the same way as someone else.

It's whether you're making space for the things that bring you pleasure, lightness and joy.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why many successful women struggle to prioritise fun
• Rethinking the traditional definition of fun
• How our biology and dominant hormones influence what we enjoy
• Why comparison can stop us recognising what genuinely brings us joy
• The difference between play, pleasure, adventure and connection
• How hiking, dance and spending time with my dogs help me reconnect with myself
• Simple ways to bring more lightness into everyday life

Reflection Question

What does fun look like for you?

Is there something you've been putting off because it doesn't seem "productive"? What small step could you take this week to bring a little more joy into your life?

In this episode of Wise Women's Conversations, I share the deeply personal story behind why I made the difficult decision to close a successful business, step away from programmes that were changing women's lives, and embrace a season of uncertainty.

As someone who loves having a plan, learning to sit with "I don't know" wasn't easy. But taking that step created the space I needed to reconnect with myself, spend more time in nature and discover what was waiting beneath the surface.

One of the most powerful lessons came while hiking. After a controlled burn-off in my local national park, I watched new life begin to emerge through the blackened earth. It became a beautiful reminder that even when life feels as though it's been burnt to the ground, new beginnings are often quietly taking shape.

If you're experiencing change in your career, your business, your relationships or simply wondering what comes next, I hope this conversation reminds you that you don't need to have all the answers today.

Sometimes your next chapter begins by simply trusting yourself enough to take the next small step.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why I chose to close a successful business
• The discomfort of not knowing what comes next
• How identity changes as we move through our 50s and beyond
• Why many successful women struggle with uncertainty
• The lessons nature has taught me about growth and renewal
• The importance of self-trust during times of transition
• Why looking after your health creates the foundation for everything else
• Taking small steps instead of waiting for the perfect plan

Reflection Question

Where is your happy place?

Where do you feel most like yourself? Where do you find clarity when life feels uncertain?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

After nearly 300 episodes of the Menopause Conversations podcast, I knew it was time for something new.

This podcast isn't just about menopause. It's about what comes next.

For many women, reaching our 50s and 60s brings a new set of questions. Our children may have grown up, our careers may have changed, and we finally have the opportunity to ask ourselves:

What do I want for this next stage of my life?

In this introductory episode, I share why I stepped away from my previous business, what I learnt during that time, and why I felt called to begin this new conversation.

We'll be exploring health, wellbeing, mindset, purpose and the wisdom that comes with experience. Most importantly, we'll be talking about what's possible as we age, because I believe this can be one of the most fulfilling chapters of our lives.

Whether you're a business owner, a leader, or simply a woman wondering what comes next, I hope these conversations encourage you to think differently about ageing and inspire you to create a life that feels meaningful and true to you.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why I decided to finish the Menopause Conversations podcast
• Stepping away from burnout and creating space to reflect
• Why I chose to return with a completely new podcast
• The questions many women ask as they move through their 50s and beyond
• Why ageing doesn't mean becoming invisible
• The importance of continuing to challenge ourselves and pursue new adventures
• What you can expect from future episodes of Wise Women's Conversations

I'd love to hear from you

What conversations would you like us to have?

If there's a topic you'd like me to explore in a future episode, I'd love to hear from you. Simply send me an email (angela@angelacounsel.com) and let me know what's on your mind.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another woman who might enjoy joining these conversations.