Ready for a career change? This age is a good time to upgrade

August 31, 2025

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Ready for a career change? Midlife is the right time to upgrade

This is an excerpt of the book Midlife Upgrade: A Girlfriend’s Guide to Finding Your Power in the Pause.

The truth is, many of us have inherited a narrow definition of success—one shaped by a patriarchal system that offers only a shallow vision of what’s possible.

You Are Worthy

“There is something so special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world. It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, fearlessness, and the nerve to never take no for an answer.” —Rihanna

The menopausal years can be a time when you choose to reassess your goals and priorities. Perhaps you are in an unfulfilling job or your career path isn’t panning out the way you thought it would. Menopausal symptoms can play a big role in that. This is also the time of life when retirement may feel nearer—all the while, you may still have a mortgage, tuition expenses, or an aging parent’s needs for support. Midlife women, in particular, face different hurdles and concerns than midlife men. While this time of life may present some unique challenges, we are going to dig in and share how to use your inner wisdom to mindfully navigate this transition.

Career

“In our third act, it may be possible to circle back to where we started and know it for the first time.” —Jane Fonda

As the population of empowered, second- and third-generation career women ages, contemporary thinkers like Avivah Wittenberg-Cox have been inspired to examine what she calls the “longevity revolution” and how personal transformation over a lifetime impacts our careers.

Many women in midlife find themselves at a pivotal juncture—a time of introspection and awakening, when a deeper sense of meaning and purpose in work begins to matter more. At the same time, the work landscape itself has shifted dramatically in recent years, especially since the pandemic. The old rules of success no longer apply—and that opens up exciting new possibilities. People are redesigning their jobs to accommodate work-life balance, including dialing back their work hours or working remotely. More and more people are searching for work with meaning and are choosing to forego traditional achievements like job titles or big salaries in exchange for careers that feed their souls. The truth is, many of us have inherited a narrow definition of success—one shaped by a patriarchal system that offers only a shallow vision of what’s possible.

There are over forty-one million women over forty in the workforce, and on average, we will spend over twenty-four years of our working years in the menopause life stage. One in every ten women will leave their jobs due to menopause-related symptoms.And menopause costs American women $1.8 billion in lost working time every year. Perimenopause begins when we are usually at the top of our game in our careers, requiring us to have the energy and brain power to perform well. And the symptoms of menopause can derail our professional opportunities and our futures. Not great timing.

Midlife women in the traditional workspace face obstacles, and unfortunately, employers aren’t doing enough to address the issues—yet! As the menopause conversation becomes normalized, we are hopeful for change. Some women have shared feelings of shame about experiencing brain fog and not performing at their full potential. Some choose to leave their careers in search of roles that better accommodate their symptoms—while others opt out of the workforce entirely.

Besides the obvious physical symptoms, there are other reasons women may decide to make a midlife career change.

● Fulfillment and purpose: Women may feel they want to align their careers with their passions or values.

● New challenges: Yes! Some women may feel bored and ready for something new. That’s not uncommon at this age.

● Life changes: Women who become empty nesters or who need to care for aging parents might seek different career opportunities as their priorities shift.

● Finances: Making any career change comes with financial considerations, and in midlife, some women may be reassessing their financial futures.

● Work-life balance: As mentioned earlier, more and more employees are seeking better work-life balance.

Are you ready for a career upgrade? Are you longing for something different but feel you’re not quite up for it? According to a Forbes article by Judy Schoenberg and Linda Lautenberg, women reaching fifty have the following fears regarding their careers:

Is it too late?

What do I have to offer?

Am I too old?

Will my skills be relevant?

Will I be perceived as unable to keep up with the latest technology?

The decision to pivot careers in midlife is truly an act of courage. You are declaring you are not bound by your past but are driven by the vision of what your future may hold. By embracing the unknown, you might just uncover your true self. Now, is this easy? You may have doubts, you may worry about ageism, or you may fear the uncharted waters of a new career. These are all valid, as they would be in any new experience! However, in times like these, you may discover some of your greatest strengths.

In following their dreams, their imaginations, and the memories of what they were most inspired by as younger women, many of our clients and friends are thriving in new adventures and pivoting to more fulfilling careers. And you know what that means: You can too!

We have our life-changing midlife career story: Post-pandemic, we were at an event together, and after the event, we began discussing midlife. A few days later, we met for lunch—and found out we were experiencing telepathy! Both of us were considering launching some kind of program to support women in midlife, and Julie asked a lot of questions about Pam’s sex life, but that’s a story for our podcast! We decided women need to know what we know. So we launched our Midlife Upgrade business. Both of us are qualified for many different careers, but we felt called to build this movement to support midlife women.