Are you ready to design your next chapter with intention? Our Second 50 years are a wonderful time to pause, reflect, and realign your life around what truly matters to you. We are running another Second 50 Life Design community program, kicking off on Monday, February 9, 2026. This transformational 12-week journey is co-created with Gill McLaren, a valued member of our Second 50 community, and a global expert in authentic life design.

Helen Jarvis’ long-standing career as a workplace and family mediator is now balanced with an unexpected (and more recent) Second 50 calling to be a social impact entrepreneur. It was Helen’s commitment and passion for raising funds for youth mental health that led her to establish Ripple Learning, a social enterprise and registered charity dedicated to facilitating effective workplace learning experiences and directing 100% of profits to youth mental health charities.

Second 50 has sparked and encouraged so many wonderful ideas, meaningful conversations and brave transformations. And over the past few months, we’ve watched one of the most extraordinary examples of what women can create when we support and encourage each other. Our first Second 50 Life Design program brought together women to consciously design a life that feels authentic, energising and aligned with who they are now, and who they are becoming.

Women have been showing up in our community circles, naming their Imposters out loud, describing them in colour and character, and even laughing about them together. It’s so good to see women recognising and understanding the noisy Imposter voice in their heads. Instead of shrinking back from their future, they know how to recognise their Imposter voice, ask better questions of themselves, and consciously move forward.

Lately, I’ve been rethinking what courage means, especially to women in our Second 50 years. My reflection was sparked by storyteller and creator of the Finding Courage project, Stephanie Hunt, who is on a mission to help people wake up to their own courage. Steph is shining a light on the courage of “ordinary people” which is a strength we often overlook, especially in ourselves.

This Second 50 community has prompted many changes in my life and one of the most powerful shifts I’ve made is letting go of time management and switching to what life design expert Gill McLaren calls ‘energy management’. To be honest, when Gill first explained to me the idea that energy can be a multiplier, I was a little bit sceptical. I have always assumed that when you expend energy, it uses up time. But I now know she is right. 

As part of my Second 50 journey, I’ve been on a mission to undo some of my energy-sapping household norms. One of these has been to banish the kitchen monster I created for myself.  It was January 2024 when I first did an ‘energy audit’ and I was shocked to realise that my dream kitchen had evolved into a time and energy-sapping nightmare. 

Last weekend, around 25 family members gathered to celebrate my extraordinary mum on her 95th birthday. As this milestone approached, it would have been easy to arrange a grand venue and draft a long speech. But, instead of going into default party-planning mode, I channelled what I’ve learned from Second 50 to create a celebration that was deeply meaningful to Mum and all who came along.

What do you do with an idea that won’t leave you alone?  Maybe it’s a new business concept, a creative project, a shift in purpose, or just a feeling that something is ready to grow in your life.  Wherever you are on your path — curious, just starting, or already building — the Second 50 Possibilities Lab is a safe space to explore what’s next. Led by Second 50 mentor and marketing strategist Karen Robertson, this Lab is an evolution of our original Solopreneur Mentoring Group.

Second 50 is full of women who have spent decades giving — to work, family, community, and causes we care deeply about. We are women who give a damn. But too often, in the process of doing so much for so many others, we leave ourselves running on empty. So, it was such a gift to welcome Dr Martha Druery to our recent Sage Advice Live session — not just to discuss the problem, but to show us a better way.

When a parent begins the move into residential aged care, it can feel like stepping into a maze of emotion, logistics and uncertainty. Whether you're already in the thick of it or quietly dreading what's ahead, you don’t have to figure it all out by yourself.

At our recent Sage Advice Live session, there was obvious consensus that when it comes to real estate and finance in midlife — whether we’re thinking about selling, downsizing, renovating, investing or buying — finance is just one element of a more complex — and sometimes vulnerable — bigger picture.

With dementia now the number one cause of death for women in Australia, and no cure in sight, it feels obvious that we should learn more about this disease and the how to protect our brain health. Founder of Dementia Doulas, Wendy Hall shares some invaluable facts, insights and examples to help busy women.

It’s 12 months since a group of diverse women came together to pilot the concept of a Second 50 community. What started as a simple passion project has evolved towards our goal of helping Australian women aged from midlife onwards feel valued and make positive changes for themselves and the world. To mark this incredible year of growth and connection, I’d like to share ten Second 50 insights. I hope some of them resonate with you and even spark some insights about your own Second 50 journey.

Have you got time for a cuppa while we have a small chat? If you do have a moment – even 5 or 10 minutes – then please go grab your favourite. OK, cuppa in hand? I’m keen to have a chat about women experiencing violence and isolation. We all know this is an important conversation, but it can also be a hard one. So, I promise to keep this short (ish) today.

Have you ever had a chance meeting that led to a profound conversation that’s left you with a completely unexpected new perspective? That is exactly what happened in July this year when I met Wendy Hall, founder of Dementia Doulas International and Dementia Doulas Australia.

Recently, two Sydney-based Second 50 women – mortgage broker Teresa Cahill and real estate vendor agent Bernadette Hayes teamed up to host a fabulous in-person evening workshop in Sydney: Real Estate and Finance for Midlife Women. Below I’ve shared four key takeaways from the workshop. The good news for Second 50 women is that these two experts will be running a virtual version of this workshop for our whole Second 50 community soon!

We’re used to the idea of spring cleaning your house, but did you know that the idea can fit perfectly for other elements of your life? Do you know that feeling when things start piling up and, suddenly, your once-clear path feels like it’s disappeared under a landslide of to-dos? I was right there a few weeks ago. Then, like a lifeline, a few prompts from the Second 50 community nudged me to pause, breathe, and make some shifts to get back on track.

Many people are uncomfortable talking about, thinking about, and planning for death and dying – which is natural and easy to understand. However, there is so much power in opening up conversations and planning ahead. If we understand the options and prepare for the end of life, it can help us make better decisions, lead to a better last stage of life and a better death - for ourselves and our loved ones. 

Second 50’s recent Sage Advice Live allowed members to benefit from the hard-learned wisdom of Annie Harvey about the risk of empathy fatigue when caring for others. Is it possible to care about others while also looking after yourself? Annie Harvey knows it is possible to manage emotional exhaustion and integrate self-care and self-compassion into our daily lives. But she learned this the hard way.