Meet Joanne Fiddy, a Confidence Coach reinventing midlife for women
“Dreams are going to be created, beliefs are going to be dismantled, the good girl isn’t so perfect anymore, and a newfound confidence is emerging.”
I am a Certified Confidence Coach who helps women in their 40s regain their confidence and vibe. I’m a Brit living in Munich, Germany, and I am the “geriatric” mum of two little pocket rockets under 5 years old.
I am in the midst of
Working on my business, Rise and Vibe Coaching, which empowers women in their forties to get their confidence back and find their smile again. The forties are a transitional time, both physically, with perimenopause, and emotionally, as a time of reflection. There is also an element of grief and reinvention that comes with moving into midlife and what that means for someone’s identity.
Growing up and living in an anti-aging culture, it can feel that after 40, women are expected to wither and wilt away. Not on my watch. I’m in the midst of helping clients realise that they have an entirely new chapter in front of them and the power to let go of limiting beliefs, write the script, and build resistance and body confidence to keep dancing through life. It is my passion and gets me up in the morning — that and my two little ones.
I am almost at the end of my training to become a Menopause Training Specialist. Serving my clients is what drives me, and I felt this was an important part of the journey to fully understand and support them and myself. I’m setting up something really exciting in person for International Women in Munich — watch this space.
I’m also raising two little bilingual girls who are almost 5 and 2 years old in Munich. Originally from the UK, I keep telling myself that this will be the year that I will finally become fluent. However, I have been telling myself that for several years now.
The best thing about my current age
At 43, I am fully in perimenopause and rolling those waves. Something, however, I do secretly love about the menopause transition and reaching my forties is the fire inside that says, ok, I have reached the halfway point (if I’m lucky), and things are going to change. Dreams are going to be created, beliefs are going to be dismantled, the good girl isn’t so perfect anymore, and a newfound confidence is emerging. It’s like my inner teenager met my inner wise older self, and they have got together and planned a reinvention revolution. Being in midlife is a wake-up call to dial up the self-care and self-love radio; science shows that fitness, nutrition, and managing stress are more important than ever in peri and post-menopausal women.
The best thing I’ve done for myself in midlife
Wake up. I realized that somewhere along this perimenopausal fortysomething journey, I had fallen asleep at the steering wheel of my life and became the bottom of my to-do list. There was a feeling of “I thought it would be better than this” and an element of unconsciously buying into the fairytale narrative script that women lose their value after 40. Once I realized what had happened, it led me down a glorious rabbit hole of rebelling and researching the beliefs women digested in the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s surrounding their worth, ageism, diet culture, and body confidence.
Our beliefs, whether you can hear them or not, become the soundtrack to our lives, an entire vinyl and CD collection passed down from generation to generation. Understanding my own beliefs through my research has enabled me to edit my own soundtrack that empowers me on my journey, and I hope some of the glimmers sprinkle down on my two daughters. The idea also sparked Rise and Vibe your 40’s coaching, as I realized through my friends and clients that I wasn’t alone in my thinking. There wasn’t much coaching around for the 40-somethings, so I decided to create one.
My midlife must have
Family, weights, laptop, podcast app, laughter, good music, delicious food, and fabulous company.
My Grown-Ass Lady heroes
My Grown-Ass Lady Heroes are the Gen X women in front of me, who have not only smashed the glass ceiling but are also dancing on it.
What’s next
A new project launching in Munich, a podcast that helps women in their 40s thrive, and continuing to work with wonderful women on their forties journey.
Follow me
Facebook: Rise and Vibe with Jo
Instagram: @riseandvibewithjo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-fiddy-7ba88030/
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