Episode Details

Midlife is supposed to be the time when things settle down.

The kids grow up, careers feel stable, and life gets a little simpler. Right?

Well, that's not always how it plays out.

Careers shift, marriages strain, parents age, health changes, and suddenly you're rewriting the script entirely.

In this episode of Money & a Good Life, Steph and Ryan sit down with Kate Halfpenny — columnist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, founder of Bad Mother Media, and author of Boogie Wonderland, to talk about what happens when midlife doesn't go to plan.

Kate's memoir shares her sea change after COVID, her husband's struggle with alcoholism, navigating empty nesting and perimenopause, and starting a business in her mid-fifties after 40 years as an employee.

This conversation mirrors what many of our listeners are experiencing — the messy, beautiful, challenging reality of midlife transformation.

What we talk about:

• What drew Kate to journalism and her decades-long career
• The financial reality of being a writer that people misunderstand
• What inspired her to write Boogie Wonderland
• The sea change decision post-COVID and the gap between expectation and reality
• Realities people should consider before making a sea change
• How midlife forces you to work out what you really want and go get it
• Starting Bad Mother Media in her mid-fifties after being an employee for 40 years
• Why she chose the name "Bad Mother Media"
• What she's learned from running her own business
• Creating a life on her own schedule with no boss, no 9-5
• Writing a book late in life while managing clients and a business
• What she hopes people take away from her story

If you're navigating midlife transitions, career changes, relationship challenges, or simply wondering how to thrive when life doesn't follow the script, this conversation offers honest insight and hope.

Here's to your Good Life. And thanks for listening.

Find us at www.tribecafinancial.com.au

Our guest:

Kate Halfpenny, Columnist & Author 

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Visit Kate’s website 

Buy Kate’s book – Boogie Wonderland 

Our hosts:  

Ryan Watson, CEO, Tribeca Financial  

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Stephanie Coombes, podcast expert and media strategist  

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Tribeca Collective Pty Ltd, ABN 54 604 005 209 trading as Tribeca Financial has been appointed as a Corporate Authorised Representative (CAR No.1008603) of My Dedicated Advisory. My Good Life ® is a registered trademark of Tribeca Collective Pty Ltd.  

Advice given in this podcast is general in nature and is not intended to influence decisions about investing or financial products. Our listeners should always seek their own professional advice that considers their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.  

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