Aging Out Loud With Katie Fogarty

Let’s put midlife in the limelight for a moment. Not just a time of major crises and changing hormones, these chapters of life can hold unique confidence, wisdom, and opportunity. Think about it—your contributions and words are backed with years of experience, thoughtfulness, successes, and yes, mistakes. Families, friends, mentees, coworkers, online friends, and neighbors—your closest circles and wider communities rely on your leadership, ideas, and support. You are living a full life, and there’s so much more to come. More than ever, your voice matters.  

Katie Fogarty, podcaster, pro-aging advocate, career coach, and business executive, has a lot to say on the subject. She talked with us about the ‘special sauce’ of midlife, how you can truly get more confident with age, how to navigate major life changes, and being a leader in your career and the communities you love.

What’s so special about midlife that necessitates change and pivots in midlife for women? 

Getting to midlife teaches us that nothing stays on autopilot. Things we took for granted in our 20s and 30s—endless collagen, great bone health, careers trending ever-upwards, even our relationships—all suddenly require fresh attention and effort.

Midlife is a clarion call. We have years of wisdom and experience under our belt, and enough sense to look ahead and realize that if we want to pivot or to realize a long-simmering dream, we need to get in gear and focus. For some of us, that’s career longevity. For others, its reinvention and the chance to swim in a new career lane. Others may want to take their foot off the gas professionally and reimagine other spheres: fitness, health, relationships, creativity, even a sense of fun. If you have always dreamed of running a marathon, writing a book, opening a yoga studio, moving abroad, or fill-in-the-blank, midlife is a time-stamped permission slip to go for it!

What’s your advice for women looking to make changes in their career in midlife? 

Mind your mindset. You need to believe that change is possible. Your career runway is longer than you think. We are living longer, healthier lives, with demographics that are on our side. Older workers (including those over 65) are one of the fastest-growing segments in the workforce. This means that you and your years of experience are a hot commodity. 

Here are some practical ideas for making changes in midlife:

1. Reskill and upskill to reposition your expertise.

2. Test out your pivot as a side hustle before a full-time leap.

3. Tap your networks for support to switch your career stride.

How would you define “success” in a career?

Aging has recalibrated my definition of career success—just as aging has shifted how I view virtually everything. At age 54, career success is defined as impact. 

I often take inventory of the impact of my work. Does my career coaching help connect people to work and professional opportunity? How does my work help or enhance the lives of others? Have I helped clients tell their professional story better? Have I provided the tools to communicate their way to continued career success?

My podcast, A Certain Age, launched in 2020 as a creative pandemic project. I could never have imagined having 190+ episodes and listeners in 127 countries. But when success is a numbers game, the numbers are never enough. I was hyper-focused on downloads and external measurements. Why not 128 countries? More downloads? More Instagram followers?

I had to give myself a talking to a few months ago to remind myself that success is measured differently—by notes from listeners telling me that the podcast makes them feel less alone, more visible, more excited about claiming the mantle of midlife. Hearing the impact of the show on real women grappling with real midlife issues is insanely gratifying.

Your turn: Is it time to redefine what success looks like in your life now, and for your future goals?

What are the keys to confidence in midlife? 

First, women need to get a handle on midlife body changes. They can do a number on your confidence and sense of self. Perimenopause and menopause are no joke—this hormonal roller coaster impacts every aspect of your body, mood, and mind. When you feel like your body has betrayed you, it’s hard to be confident. When sex is painful, your libido drops, bladder leaks, and brain fogs causing you to forget words, it’s hard to be confident.

But here’s the good news: for every bad news menopause symptom (and there are roughly 34 of them), help is out there. I’ve recorded 40+ shows on menopause with leading doctors. All say menopause is inevitable, but suffering is not. Find a medical care team that is committed to solving your challenges. Don’t have a doctor who *gets it*? I sit on the board of the non-profit Let’s Talk Menopause which offers resources for finding menopause-trained physicians.

Second, remember that confidence is a muscle. We build it through steady application over time. Here’s a hot take: we are not born with confidence, we earn it. Years ago, when I was deeply unconfident as a public speaker, I said to a friend with a wildly successful public speaking business, ‘You’re lucky you’re naturally good at public speaking.’

Her reply changed my life. ‘Oh no—anyone who’s good at public speaking has had to put the work in. I’ve really had to practice to get where I am.’ I took that lightbulb moment, hired a public speaking coach, then another; gave short speeches to small rooms, moved onto bigger stages, and then finally gave a keynote to 1,000 women in New York. Was I nervous? Of course. Could be nervous and do it anyway? Yes. Public presenting is now a big part of my career.

Remember, it’s normal to feel confident in some areas of your life and not others. Shine where you are strong. Either choose to forget about the areas where you lack talent or have zero interest in cultivating (accounting—not for me!), or commit to writing a new story and work to hone qualities, talents, or skills. You don’t have to be the woman you were yesterday!

Was I nervous? Of course. Could be nervous and do it anyway? Yes.

How can women develop their leadership skills in midlife? 

I believe that women are wired with tremendous leadership skills, even if some women don’t think of themselves in that way. It’s is often positioned as power, strength, and command. But when we see it as collaboration, problem-solving, listening, negotiating, or coalescing others around a shared goal, we see how women are already incredibly strong in all facets of leadership.

I’m reminded of the Diane von Furstenberg quote: ‘I’ve never met a woman who is not strong. They don’t exist.’ Women are innate leaders, conveners, and collaborators—we are strong in all the ways that our fractured and fraught world requires.

Do you notice more receptivity to women leading in midlife and beyond in corporate settings or other organizations?   

I think it’s a mixed bag. Today, more than 10% of the Fortune 500 are led by female CEOs—a historic high. Good on paper, right? But when you consider that women make up more than 50% of the US population and men hold almost 90% of the top corporate leadership spots, the math still doesn’t add up.

But, the cultural zeitgeist is shifting. Actresses like Michelle Yeoh and Jennifer Coolidge took home top acting awards, and magazines are featuring older cover stars like Helen Mirren and Gayle King. Women like Michelle Obama, Drew Barrymore, Naomi Watts, and Oprah are now “menopausing out loud,” helping to shift the cultural conversation around what it means to be a woman in midlife, and a woman who is aging. Aging is living, and we should not have to do it quietly.

What are the superpowers that women 50+ bring to the table in their professions, homes, and communities? 

Wisdom, perspective, judgment, and a finely honed sense of what matters and what doesn’t. In my online community  Age Out Loud, I ask women what they’ve let go of in midlife. Time and again, women say they have jettisoned perfectionism and the weight of others expectations. 

We have a sense of freedom and clarity, and a sharper focus on purpose, creativity, self-expression that makes us unstoppable.

How will you ‘age out loud?’