For years, I wanted to make a Substack about living in a female body in midlife and feeling less FEMPOWERED than like a sentient pile of dust. I didn’t know what to name it or what color to make it and these things stopped me for…forever. Then one day while googling/procrastinating/brain-fog drifting, I came across a page on color theory: “The color purple is used to represent power, ambition, creativity, extravagance, dignity, grandeur, independence, pride, peace, mystery, and magic“ and I thought HELL YES I want to write a newsletter about: power, ambition, creativity, extravagance, dignity, grandeur, independence, pride, peace, mystery and magic. And here we are.
free subscribers have access to
occasional essays
paid subscribers receive all free content plus
curated lists of good and terrible things
subscriber only chats and advice
beauty recommendations from my day job (need the best LED face mask? this is the place for you. Each month, I test dozens of new products and treatments for “mature” skin)
my forever gratitude for directly supporting me and my work
about me
I’m a longtime writer and editor and podcaster and speaker/pontificator about women and work; author of the books AMBITION MONSTER and WEIRD IN A WORLD THAT’S NOT: A CAREER GUIDE FOR MISFITS, a former tech executive, chief content officer and editor in chief of women’s lifestyle sites owned by famous people you know and the creator of the critically-acclaimed documentary podcast STIFFED with Crooked Media.
I’m also middle-aged mom with ADHD. I’m from Philly, live in Los Angeles, but spent most of my adult life in NYC. I cohabitate with a surly/delightful neurodiverse teen, a male writer everyone loves (including me) and one poorly socialized pet.
