Each month, I gather up the best conversations with women over 40 doing remarkable things, the ideas fueling our courage, and what I can’t get enough of right now.
Hey, Uplifters!
July has been a delicious simmer of record-breaking heat and big cultural moments that seem to demand we step away from our screens and into time together IRL. My daughter graduated, tall ships from around the globe floated past my window, I got to play with Eliza Factor and Wendy Harrop on their farms, and with my friends Karen, Kyia, and Joanne in Minnesota, and the sports fans (who are not me) were very well entertained. It was a spicy, flavorful stew, and on this advice from Brian Jeansonne, I savored every bite.
🙌 Lift & Be Lifted: Our First Session
The highlight of the month, without question, was hosting our very first Lift & Be Lifted session for paid subscribers.
Women joined from New York to San Diego to Rochester to Fairbanks, Alaska. Each person came prepared to share not just what she’s working on, but what she needs: support, ideas, accountability, introductions. That second part is the one that made us squirm. We’ve been trained to carry it all ourselves and to look like we have it handled. But for most of human history, women did everything together. We soothed each other’s babies, shared the work based on who was good at what, and figured things out in community. This feels more like that.
The ripples have been remarkable. Every day since, I’ve been sending emails with the subject line: INTRO.
You can read the asks from our first session here, and jog your mental Rolodex to see if you can help any of your fellow Uplifters.
Our next session is July 28 at 7pm ET.
If you want in, become a paid subscriber and then register for July 28 here.
🗽 Let’s Meet Up IRL
If you’re in Manhattan, join me and other Uplifters at these events this month:
Wednesday, July 22: I’m heading to Manhattan for South, an acoustic solo musical by Florencia Iriondo, part of SheNYC Arts, the City’s premier festival showcasing new, original works by women, trans, & non-binary writers & composers.
Thursday, July 23: I will be at P&T Knitwear Books & Podcasts (180 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002) for the launch event and contributor reading of What Are You Waiting For? An Anthology, edited by Kathy Curto. The very uplifting Carla Zanoni is featured. Doors at 6:30pm, reading at 7pm. Tickets are $10 or the purchase of the book.
Comment below or reply to this email if you’re coming to either, and let’s make it an Uplifters meetup.
🏡 The Retreat is Back
I am absolutely giddy to announce our 2026 Uplifters Winter Retreat.
We’re heading back to Red Bird House in the Catskills, a stunning wellness house created by the legendary Wendy Bosalavage and Sallie Fraenkel, both of whom you may have heard on the podcast or met at Uplifters Live.
This is our third annual winter retreat, and it has become, for those of us who’ve attended, the most meaningful weekend of the year. It’s a chance to give ourselves the real gift of rest in the hectic holiday season, to connect deeply with other Uplifters, and to launch into the new year with clarity and momentum instead of scrambling to find our footing in January.
Kristy Jeansonne, who has attended the last two years, puts it this way:
“I will never not attend this retreat. Everything I put on my vision board and the plans I make there change the entire year for my business and my life. Instead of spending the first six months trying to figure out my priorities, I launch into the year refreshed and ready to go.”
Details and registration here. Spots are limited, as always. Don’t wait.
🎙️ On the Pod: Simmer Summer
This month’s episodes are leaning into the season. Consider this your invitation to turn the heat down on the hustle and let things get slow and rich and flavorful.
Coming next: Dara Steinberg, a licensed occupational therapist, certified peri/menopause coach, and functional pelvic health practitioner who helps highly sensitive women in midlife naturally ease symptoms of exhaustion and chronic pain and make new, aligned life choices from a place of authenticity.
📖 In the Newsletter: It’s Not Too Late
Over at the Substack newsletter, we’re continuing the It’s Not Too Late series.
📚 What I’ve Been Reading
The Substacks I Keep Coming Back To
I always read The Midst, but I was extra delighted this month to see two women I adore featured there. First, my pal Lakshmi Rengarajan, from episode 128 talking about AI and dating. And then the extraordinary Lisa Congdon, whose story of trusting the evolution of her creative life is one I keep thinking about. If you don’t subscribe to The Midst, consider this your nudge.
And every single issue of Closer to Home by Maggie Pouncey. Maggie founded my favorite small bookshop ever and now shares her life and design wisdom in a newsletter that aims to help us all feel more at home in our lives. I always feel better after reading it.
Books on My Nightstand
Perfect Unfolding by Kristy Halvorsen. I truly cannot overestimate my love for this book. Kristy is a firefighter-turned-coach who sold her house and everything she owned and has been living off-grid in an Airstream for seven years, moving with the seasons, and figuring out the most challenging wilderness is the one inside. It has me thinking deeply about how I show up in my day-to-day life, even though I am decidedly not living full-time in an RV. (Which was also super interesting to read about.) A perfect summer read
Was That Racist? by Evelyn R. Carter, Ph.D. A useful and powerfully written book that I think should be on everyone’s reading list right now. Dr. Carter is a social psychologist who offers clear, research-backed frameworks for navigating the questions so many of us are afraid to ask out loud. It’s rigorous and readable, which is a rare combination.
No Name Bastard by Tori DaCosta. Tori wins best title. This is a beautiful memoir meets practical leadership guide about learning to lead yourself well, the distinction between what you can control, manage, and influence, and how to stop carrying what was never yours to hold in the first place.
Shaken to the Core by Dara Levan. Fiction! And a total Uplifter journey. If you want a novel that will make you think and feel in equal measure, try this one.
A Weird, Wonderful Discovery
Gertie. I can’t tell you too much because I don’t want to ruin it for you. What I can tell you is that it’s a short weekly episodic that arrives in your inbox, it features spectacular photography from Sirli Raitma, and it has made me laugh and gasp and root for someone in a way I didn’t expect from something I can read in three minutes. Sign up and thank me later.
Please Celebrate These Women With Me
Two of the women who make this show possible through their support of the podcast recently released books!
CJ Lake’s Eugene Pioneers: Frontier to the American Heritage is out now. CJ is a Brooklynite and history buff who wrote and published a book in her 50s while teaching full-time in NYC public schools! I can’t wait to read it!
And I just ordered Wendy Richardson’s brand-new Real Estate Systems That Work. Here’s what she said when it landed: “My book is now published on ALL platforms! This is a labor of love and there were many times I wanted to throw it in the trash! My dream is now a reality.” She has an interview coming up on the pod later this summer, and I cannot wait to share her story.
💬 The Big Question
Someone dropped this in my brain, and I can’t remember who (if it was you, please shout so I can give you credit):
If you could take a year off, what would you do?
I’ve been sitting with it all month. Hit reply or comment below and tell us.
Until next time, let’s keep lifting and letting ourselves be lifted.
With love and good trouble, Aransas
Honored to be lifted up by you, Aransas, and among such good company. Off to listen, read and wonder further!