Menopause & Money: Amy Porterfield's Two Weeks Notice as Midlife Power Pivot 📚🚀
Upskilling as a Midlife Solopreneur with Some Inspiration From the 'Dollyverse'
Fellow Empresses,
How the hell are you? Welcome to part one of our Menopause & Money series.
When we first analyzed the results of The Empress Mindset Survey, what became abundantly clear… the thing that concerned US women most about moving into this next phase of life was “the prospect of menopause combined with a chronic health condition resulting in medical bankruptcy.” This was the #1 concern for the thousands of you who participated in our survey.
And so, I knew that beyond just curating which pajamas helped get us all through night sweats in a more pleasant way, we also needed to have a deep conversation about money and health. And when I was listening to Mel Robbins's podcast with Amy Porterfield about her new book, TWO WEEKS NOTICE, I couldn't help thinking that Amy's book might be the perfect place for us to start.
Whether you are a woman in midlife feeling undervalued in the workplace or struggling to get hired as a 50-something woman or maybe you are stuck in a job that you hate or you are facing a layoff, TWO WEEKS NOTICE has a tremendous tool set for women in our demo.
One of the concepts she goes through is how to identify your personal sweet spot. How do you figure out what lights you up and what it is you're really good at because oftentimes the things that come most easily to us are also the things we undervalue the most and that we could be doing as amazing solopreneur careers.
And when I started thinking about iconic figures in our culture who could be the grown-ass poster woman for Amy's book, the first person who sprang to mind was Dolly Parton.
Why, Dolly?
If you think about it, she really is the queen of solopreneurs. She's like a serial side hustle gal of the century (who is also the Empress of IDGAF Island, lol). Never mind that she’s an award-winning singer/songwriter and actress who is also a coal miner’s daughter. In addition, she’s a theme park owner, a thriller writer, a Duncan Hines cakeboss, a COVID vaccine funder, and an original producer of the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The point is… whatever lights her up, she goes for with the attitude that's very much aligned with TWO WEEKS NOTICE, which is “I may have never done this before, but I'm smart enough to figure it out, so just watch me!” And it's exactly this kind of energy and creativity that we, as women, also need to bring to our own money narratives as we head into midlife.
Because the reality is... there's a lot of uncertainty for a woman in her 50s in the job market because not only are we dealing with menopausal symptoms that hamper our day-to-day functioning, but we may also be dealing with other chronic health conditions such as hypertension, arthritis, anxiety, or depression. And so, we need jobs with greater flexibility, which hold enough space and work-life balance for adequate self-care when it's needed.
Working for yourself enables that flexibility, which is why I want to encourage everyone to explore the entrepreneurial and marketing tools set out in TWO WEEKS NOTICE. Whether you realize it or not, we are at an age and phase of life where we have a great deal to teach other generations. It may also be highly specialized and unique types of knowledge that would be otherwise lost and consequently extremely valuable.
But this is just one strategy in a whole book you could write on menopause and money. When I first sat down (years ago) with Sallie Krawcheck, who was starting ElleVest, there were so many ways to think about how to better serve women in the space of investing, banking, credit, insurance, and wealth building that we hadn't even begun to contemplate. At the end of the day, whether it's starting your own solo gig or figuring out how to best recalibrate your portfolio, it's all about what lights you up and gets you vibrating at your highest frequency, at your most imaginative, as if you were creating your own Dollyverse... Because it's so clear how much fun that woman having right now and it's so clear how much good she's doing for the world—it's this kind of abundance and energy that's more important than ever as we move into midlife and the Empress Age.
To catch Amy on Mel’s podcast, listen here. It’s really good!
Ok, that’s the skinny this week. Stay tuned for our next dispatch on Menopause and Money. You won’t want to miss our discussion about Fiduciaries and Cancer Insurance—Yep, we’re going there. Until next time.
Yours in Grandeur,
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Thank you!!! I so appreciate it!
Great piece! I posted it on Post as well. Rock on!