Midlife is Your Power Move

Several months before I gave my TEDx talk, I got laid off.

Not in a blaze-of-glory, epic-meltdown kind of way. No, it was the quiet kind. The kind where your boss casually tells you the organization is going through a merger and politely shares that you are not part of it. End of story. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

After the shock wore off a bit, I thought to myself, Heidi, you’ve always landed top jobs easily. No big deal, right? I’d been a CMO, a builder of brands and teams, a driver of growth—for decades.

So I did what most high-achieving women do: I opened a spreadsheet. I updated my résumé. I polished my LinkedIn with just the right amount of “resilient leader excited for what’s next” energy. And then, in the dark silence that followed, I unraveled.

Not because I didn’t know how to get another job. But because I didn’t know who I was without the job.

Here’s what no one tells you: when you’re a woman in your 50s, the world starts treating you like your best chapters are behind you. Like you’ve peaked, plateaued, or should consider “winding down.” Even if you’ve still got fire in your belly and value to offer. 

This isn’t just my story. In my TEDx talk, Start Your Most Fulfilling Chapter: Thrive in Your Third30, I called it the triple trap: 

• External ageism—a culture that prizes youth over wisdom.
• Internalized self-doubt—the stories we tell ourselves about it being too late.
• Cultural invisibility—the slow fade from being seen to being dismissed.

The real gut punch? We’re living longer, healthier lives than any generation of women before us. One hundred years ago, the average life expectancy for a woman was just over 60. Today? It’s climbing toward 90.

So why are we still clinging to an outdated script that says midlife is the beginning of the end?

That question haunted me.

As I sat in my post-layoff fog—between job alerts and pints of acai sorbet—I realized I didn’t want another role just to prove I could get one. I didn’t want to squeeze myself into a box that never really fit me in the first place.

I wanted more.
More purpose.
More meaning.
More alignment.
More joy.

And that’s how Third30™ was born.

Not as a fully-formed business plan, but as a whisper in my soul: What if this is the beginning—not the end?

Third30 is now a movement, coaching platform and community for professional women in midlife who are ready to redefine what success looks like in this new season of life. It’s for women who have nothing to prove—but still so much to give. Women who want to stop apologizing for their ambition and start living with purpose.

It offers one-on-one coaching, group masterminds, expert speakers, and the most powerful ingredient of all: connection. Real, raw, no-bullshit community. Because when women support each other, we rise—faster, stronger, and more joyfully.

But I didn’t get here in a straight line.

When I was spinning in circles, wondering who I was without my lofty title and considerable salary, I needed something to ground me. Something concrete to work toward. Something with a finish line.

So I signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon.

Yes, an actual 26.2-mile, who-do-you-think-you-are race, along with my brother, a Colonel in the Marines.

The last one I had run was in London over 20 years ago. But I needed something that would push me, structure me, and remind me of my strength. I used Jeff Galloway’s run-walk-run method, trained in the early mornings, cursed at the hills—and kept going.

The marathon became a metaphor. Every training run, every mile marker, was a step back toward myself.

Crossing the finish line wasn’t about speed or time. It was about reclaiming a sense of accomplishment. In a world that constantly tells women over 50 to slow down, I chose to speed up. To push harder. To take up more space.

Now, running is part of my rhythm. So is strength training. So is growth.

Because here’s what I’ve learned:
Reinvention doesn’t have an age limit.
Power doesn’t fade—it evolves.
And your third thirty years might just be your most impactful chapter yet.

On LinkedIn, I share the highs and lows of this journey—the launch of Third30, the fear of starting over, the power of showing up for yourself even when no one’s clapping. I talk about ageism, ambition, purpose, burnout, joy, and everything in between.

What I hear in response, over and over, is: “Thank you. I thought it was just me.”
It’s not just you.
It’s not just me.
We are a generation of women who have been underestimated for too long.

We are not done. We are not winding down. We are just getting started.

Third30 is my way of helping other women step out of the shadows and into their earned power. It’s the movement I wish existed when I was flat on the floor, trying to figure out how to begin again.

So if you’re there—flat, foggy, or just furious—I see you.

And I’m here to tell you: You don’t need permission. You need momentum.

Start with one brave step. Then another. Then another…
Apply for the TEDx talk.
Sign up for the race.
Say the scary truth out loud.
Build the thing you wish existed.
Call the friend who always makes you laugh.
Write the damn post.
Take the nap.
Say no without explaining.
Say yes to something you’re not sure you’re ready for.

Your Third30 is waiting.

And it’s going to be f*cking glorious.

-Heidi H