How to Swim not Sink as a Midlife Woman with Guest Amanda FitzGerald

Get roar and real with Kate Porter and her leopard print sister Amanda FitzGerald in Episode 012 of Midlife Unlimited®, the podcast for women who want more, as they wave goodbye to January in style talking about How to Swim not Sink as a Midlife Woman.

Join Kate and Amanda for philosophical ponderings, killer arms and brain-fog moments as they shake things up, smash stereotypes and tell Midlife how it really is. 

Amanda shares how diving out of her comfort zone and discovering cold water swimming became her Midlife salvation, empowering her through a Covid divorce and helping her raise thousands of pounds for vital causes. If you fancy dipping your toe in the water and giving cold water swimming a go, don’t miss Amanda’s insights, inspiration and advice.

And, with her Major Visibility cap on, Amanda shares her top tips for getting visible for all the right reasons by harnessing the power of PR.

Connect with Amanda at 

http://www.amandapr.com/

http://www.instagram.com/amandaprexpert

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandafitzgeraldpr/

For more details of the International Women's Day Big Swim visit https://www.internationalwomensday.com/Activity/20053/The-Big-Swim-2025

Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:03

Hello and welcome to Midlife Unlimited, the podcast for women who want more. I'm Kate Porter, the Midlife Metamorphosis Coach, and I know what it feels like to feel stuck navigating the midlife maze. I've looked in the mirror and thought, who is that woman? So Midlife Unlimited is here to let you know you are not alone. You don't have to put on a brave face and put up with it. You don't have to play it safe. Midlife Unlimited is all about ripping off that mask and telling it like it really is with raw and real conversations, smashing stereotypes, busting myths and misbehaving because our second spring is our time to shine our way. So welcome to today's episode. Now, I think you know by now that leaping out of our comfort zone and taking me time are two things I advocate. And my guest today is a rather fabulous example of bringing the two together. So I am delighted to be joined by my leopard print sister. And if you could see us now, we're both wearing green and leopard print. It's amazing. And PR powerhouse, Amanda Fitzgerald, the ultimate door opener to get raw and real talking about how to swim, not sink. Amanda, welcome to Midlife Unlimited. Please introduce yourself. And will you be using your nail it in eight?

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Oh my goodness, you are the most incredible person who knows all my little catchphrases, my PR toolbox. I help entrepreneurs to get game-changing press coverage. How's that for my nail it in eight? I wouldn't expect anything less from you. But being such an incredible student of mine and beautiful client, let's hear yours.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

I help. Women transform from invisible to invincible.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Oh, I just love that. When I saw that first, I thought, oh my God, that is just one big fat mic drop moment. Congratulations, because you really do. You help people. You help transform people's lives. People who are stuck in their midlife feeling a bit, is this it? And then you mentioned we roar. This is roar. And what's your catchphrase about the roaring business?

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Roaring real conversations.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

But how are you spelling your roar?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

R-A-W, I should actually be spelling it R-A-W, shouldn't

SPEAKER_00 2:49

I? Yeah, we need to just change that slightly. I'm going to help you change your marketing on this very podcast. Let's go for raw, like woohoo! I'm

SPEAKER_01 3:00

writing that down now, it'll probably pick up on the microphone. Now, it would be rude then really, wouldn't it, to have you as my guest today, and not ask you to share your top PR and visibility even tips. So we'll be delving into that later on and we'll be sharing our gems, well not my gems, Amanda, I use them though, with you later on listeners so you won't want to miss out. But first, Amanda, brave, bold you are, tell me about open water swimming, cold water swimming, Wild swimming, which is it?

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Well, do you know what? Let's stick to wild to stick to our fantastic leopard print addiction. Yes. So I call it wild swimming. It is cold water swimming. It's very cold when you get in the water. However... If you are wearing the right booties, you've got your neoprene booties on and your neoprene gloves, you can actually do it. You might have to put a wetsuit on, but you don't always have to wear a wetsuit. So yeah, that has been such a midlife metamorphosis moment. Me being gifted my wetsuit when I was 50. Celebrating my 50th birthday. Well, do you call it celebrating when it's in lockdown? When I'm meant to be going to Ibiza on a wild weekend with all my mates. That didn't happen. But not the boobie prize. I think the best prize really was being gifted this wetsuit. And it has literally transformed my life. Whose

SPEAKER_01 4:35

idea was

SPEAKER_00 4:36

it then? Was it a

SPEAKER_01 4:36

complete... Because I think you've swum... Well, no, your sporting career started with lacrosse, didn't

SPEAKER_00 4:43

it? Yes, so I used to back in, well, back in the day when I was at school, you know, from the age of 12 upwards, I played, you know, quite serious. Well, lacrosse, it got serious. I joined actually the under 18 England team when I was 12. No, under 21s, actually. I think I was 18, got selected for that team. I used to play for the Midlands, for the schools. I was a captain. I love sport. It's so important for, you know, your mental health and just for getting out there, getting those endorphins and also being able to eat what you like. I do like my food. So being able to do your sport, knowing damn well that you can come back and have a massive, you know, I used to row when I was at Oxford Poly. It's now called Oxford Brookes University. And I used to devour with my boyfriend at the time. We used to devour a whole white loaf. Okay, of bread with Robinson's marmalade. That was my treat. But anyway, we've got over the white bread phase, darling. It's not very good for your midlife metamorphosizing, is it?

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Well, I'm a former rowing mum, so I know all

SPEAKER_00 5:50

about rowing. Oh, are you?

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, well, you know. Sunday mornings. Saturday mornings, no weekends, six o'clock starts.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yeah, early start. So yeah, so sport has played a massive role in my life throughout my life. But I never actually realised I was a swimmer. So I was playing lacrosse quite seriously. And then I actually, you don't know this about me, I joined the officer training corps, the OTC. Oh, I didn't know that. At Oxford Poly. So that's why I'm quite good at doing my salutes. I'm putting on my hat now. You can't see it, but I'm putting on my Captain PR hat and I'm doing the three fingered salute. And yeah, so I was at Oxford Poly. I joined the OTC to, you know, have a fun thing to do over the weekends and also to earn a bit of money. I used to get paid for showing up and yeah, it was really great fun. So there was a skiing trip to Andorra. So I signed up for that and I was bobbing down the hill, you know, sliding down the hills on the ski slopes. and I suddenly managed to bugger up my ACL, anterior cruciate ligament, which is quite a common injury. So that literally put a kibosh on my lacrosse career. I was really gutted. So then I had to take up sports, which meant I didn't do any dodging, you know, because it's like football players, you know, they have to take, you know, a whole year off. Anyway, it took me 12 years before I had my actual operation to get my knee fixed. Had that done when I was 32. And so therefore I discovered other sports, one being triathlon. meaning i could run swim and cycle and the other sport was rowing so yeah but anyway but then i totally put all my swimming to bed when i had my children and so yeah so i spent many years of actually not never getting into a swimming costume until i got divorced in 2020 and i was gifted this wet suit and i've never looked back and it's just literally been swimming has been my my life-saving activity

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Because it was, I mean, obviously divorce in itself, I've never actually got married, so I've never actually been through a painful, emotional rollercoaster like that. But not only that, it was lockdown as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

It

SPEAKER_00 8:04

was a big relief to be getting divorced. It was a big relief. But let's just say the actual process of divorce is, you know, sometimes it can be highly unamicable, whatever the word is, toxic or whatever. Yeah, so it was a hard graft and being in lockdown. So, yeah, it was a very, very challenging period, which is why the wetsuit and the wild swimming were just amazing new additions to my life.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

So where did the idea come from? And did you know people that had done it or did you just think, sod it? I'm gonna go and give it a go.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Well, it's because, and I just, my mum found a video of me being really mad. I, you know, we, me and you quite do often videos and I did a video in lockdown and there I was in, I was in my house and I was saying, oh my God, the swimming pools have closed down. It's my last ever David Lloyd trip. Boo hoo. Because we didn't know how long, you know, lockdown was going to last. And so I used to go swimming every day to David Lloyd or every other day. That shut down. That's, and I used to swim in the outside pool. People think I'm mad for doing that, but it's like, it's still here. heated so you know even though it's freezing cold to actually walk into the water get in there and do your swim um so yes so I was literally doing that and um I've actually lost my thread is this going to be edited

SPEAKER_01 9:20

no we don't need to edit it just you were talking about what it was about your mum you did a video and your mum said why don't you try open water swimming Oh, yeah. Sorry. God, I'm

SPEAKER_00 9:32

sorry about my. This is my.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

This is what it's all about. This is why it's raw and raw and real conversations, because we do get moments where we think what the blink and heck will be talking about. I know, you know, I was. You're going to be thinking I did that just now. And I'm glad to know that the fabulous

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Amanda does it, too. Oh, my God. I think I learned that from my mum as well. I think I've just mentioned my mum and she threw that. Yeah, she was giving a talk. It's a businesswoman's event and I was attending it. This is when she ran a very, very successful business. And she goes, Amanda, what was I talking about? And my mind was also elsewhere. I said, Mum, I can't remember. I'm really sorry. But anyway, going back to the video she shared of me being crazy, I was saying, OK, everybody, we can't do, I can't do any swimming nowadays. So now I'm going to have to just do swimming on a bench. And there's me literally swimming on my kitchen bench. It was crazy. Anyway, so then... It's like, how the hell am I going to swim? How am I going to keep fit? It was not all very well walking the dogs every day, but I also needed something which is going to be quite, you know, mega activity boosting. So fast forward to my birthday in June and I am given this wetsuit by my sister-in-law and my brother. And, you know, and they also gave me like a changing robe thing. Like, why don't you call it? There's like ponchos, a changing. Oh, the

SPEAKER_01 10:50

dry robes.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

No, not a dry robe. It's actually a changing poncho. Yeah, it was a towel that you kind of put on, you slip It's literally like a poncho. They gave me that. Then I looked up wild swimming or I, you know, things kept on popping up online as things do. And it said, come along to, you know, to this class. And then I just did a class about learning how to swim safely in a river, which I did. This is probably when we're actually allowed to get out. And then, yeah, and then literally the rest is history. And I joined up with a group of friends and they became really great mates. And there's a bunch of three of us and we used to go swimming in rivers, lakes and the sea.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

So you mentioned something and I think that might be an issue that does hold women back maybe because it is it's a growing trend and I think there is research being done to show that there are a lot of health benefits particularly for midlife women in terms of helping with menopause symptoms but also more importantly like you said the whole mindset the whole focusing your mind but you did mention about safety issues I'm guessing are there certain areas where it's like do not go swimming there or is there a list of places that you can go I think more Yeah,

SPEAKER_00 12:06

not really about where you should or shouldn't go swimming. It's more how to be safe when you're swimming. So if you're going to take it up, you don't just suddenly hop straight into the water, you know, because you need to kind of get acclimatized and spend about a good two minutes, you know, just getting used to it, getting used to it before you bomb off up the river. But nowadays, it's really sad. I used to swim loads in rivers, but because all this blooming sewage, I can't. I haven't swam in a river for like two years now. So it's going to be sea swimming or lake swimming.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

You know what I'm just remembered now. Could you share the story of when you were practicing last year and you went out and you thought in the sea and you thought, yeah. I won't spoil it. What happened, Amanda?

SPEAKER_00 12:50

So I was training because once a year I do a big fat swim in order to raise money for the people of Afghanistan. And I'm based in Colchester. So the sea is about a 30-minute drive away. And I went to Brightling Sea with some friends. So they were going to be spotting me, as in watching me, making sure that I'd be safe. And one of the friends is actually a trained lifeguard. I thought, great, I'm going to be really safe here. It was a very still day. and I thought, great, you know, I don't need to worry about them watching me too much. Meanwhile, I go up, I go down, I'm doing my lengths up in this like small, calm harbour in the sea. And then suddenly I put my hand, you know, because what I'm doing is I'm going up from the shore and then you go, it was like a 700 metre swim to this I can't remember how they call it. It's a groin, I think it's called. Basically, it's a massive pole and it's got a triangle on it. Oh, yeah. That was my marker where I was going to swim up to and back and up to and back. So I kept on doing it. I thought, this is a really great swim. This is going really well. Next minute, I go up to that marker point or nearby. So I thought it was. Excuse me. And then... I put my, you know, I'm doing front crawl, so I put my hand in the water, hand, you know, hand in the water, breath, hand in the water, hand in the water, right hand in the water. And suddenly my hand is enveloped by this warm, sludge, dense, warm, sludge, dense. I'm not laughing. I thought, what animal have I just put my hand into? And I leapt and I screeched and... If they'd have been watching me on the shore edge, they'd have seen me almost like a jumping fish jumping out of the water. Oh no, they're too busy chitchatting. So my spotters were doing a really shit job. I'm really sorry. I actually had to have little words in my mouth. I said, guys, I could have been drowning. You weren't even watching me. Where was the, you know, where was the lifeboat sent out? And anyway, so I put my hand in this and I bombed it back. I've never swam so fast in my whole life. Bombed it straight back to the shore. I thought, I'm not going to carry on doing that. I don't know what it is. Is this animal following me? Is it a seal? Because there are seals nearby. And I just put my hand inside a seal's tummy. I didn't know what I had done. Anyway, so I get out of the water, puffing and panting, heart beating like this. And I said, guys, what were you doing? Oh, we're just chatting. Are you all right? I said, can't you see I'm white as a sheet? No, I'm not all right. Anyway, I got changed. And then there was a girl going out on her paddleboard. And I said, by the way, What creatures live near here? Oh, she said, you mean? And I said, yeah, I mean, I just put my hand in something really warm and it felt really alive. And she goes, oh, that's just the effluent pipe. It'll just be all the warm water comes out and you put your hand into all the moss which grows around it. I can still feel it now. Gross. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

But on a flip side, you did tell or you conjured up another wonderful image of being in the sea, but looking up at the sun. How does that make you feel?

SPEAKER_00 16:09

That's incredible. So I remember I really distinctly remember that feeling when I was going through the divorce in lockdown, swimming in a sea. in the AC, in the sea. And then just literally, you know, when you do your breaths, you look up and you can see either a moon because it's the evening or you can see the sun. It's just, I just felt like a little minuscule blot on the horizon thinking, wow, I'm in the earth. It's a really strange feeling. I felt really at one with nature. Um, I don't know. It's just an awesome, incredible feeling. So if anybody can ever be tempted, don't listen to my seal story. Listen to the other. Just keep, you know, make sure your friends are watching you. But no, it's just the feeling of that oneness with nature, being in the sea and just thinking about you. And just imagine, is it 10,000 feet view? And then just seeing this little dot on the horizon. That's me, little dot in the sea. That's me. That's my life. That's who I am. Imagine. And then can you just imagine that? Looking down from the moon, looking down to this person, Amanda, swimming in the sea, and then looking about all the ripples that I affect other people's lives, my children's lives, my family's lives, my partner's lives. You know, amazing. It is incredible.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

It's incredible. Humbling as well. Isn't

SPEAKER_00 17:31

it? Yeah. Yeah. It was a really humbling experience.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Oh, I've got goosebumps. I've got goosebumps.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

And then think about this. So then you have the goosebumps, then literally get the goosebumps coming out of the water. But every time you get out of water, this is why people are addicted to it. You get this high, it's called the cold rush. And you just get really ecstatic and high and it's amazing. So, oh my God, I'm a PR for cold water swimming.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

And another thing you mentioned that is a real win-win is your killer arms.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Oh, my killer arms. Yeah. Move over, Madonna, baby. This girl, she's got biceps, you know. Basically, when I was a kid, we have some pictures of me. I've always been a tomboy and I was really proud of my biceps, even when I was like three and four. years old so I've always been proud of my toned arms and basically swimming it keeps them arms toned I don't need to do any weight training anything like that because effectively when you're swimming the water is like concrete you're kind of swimming through you know so you're pushing a massive

SPEAKER_01 18:38

resistance yeah

SPEAKER_00 18:39

yeah so really keeps your arms toned that's another great benefit

SPEAKER_01 18:44

but I love as well obviously the passion that you've got really comes through and the fact that it has been perhaps your salvation, I don't know if that's too strong a word, but maybe your mental salvation through the rough patches, which we all get. But what I love as well is you've turned this release into hard blinking cash for good causes as well. Right. So I know, and this hasn't always been plain sailing, has it? And I know that You're moving to Brighton soon. I say new year, 2025, new midlife adventures for Amanda. Correct. And being near sea lions, not sea lions, I'm thinking about just now, sea lanes is one of your non-negotiables.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

But there's a big event coming up in March isn't there that you're part of the PR for?

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Yes so number one I raise hard cash for Afghanistan to date I've raised just under five grand over the three years of doing it and every year it's been a challenge like I set myself a massive challenge so first year it's like oh should I sign up and she's like can I actually swim beyond a thousand meters can I swim beyond 2k so I think yeah so for two years I have done a three-point 8k swim So that's pretty hardcore. And then last year I signed up to do a 5k swim and it's like, oh my God. Anyway, but you know, you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. So people very, very kindly sponsored me. Thank you everybody who did. And it's brilliant because the money goes straight to the people in Afghanistan. So that's number one. Number two, moving to Brighton to be near sea lanes. Yeah. So I currently, I'm not really doing much open water swimming at the moment. I'm just literally going to wait until I get to Brighton to get back in the groove because I'll be by the sea because at the moment it's very difficult, you know, to get into the river. I used to swim in the river. Anyway, so yeah, to go near sea lanes because I've got a 50 metre swimming pool, which is actually where I did my 5k swim back in July. That was incredible. Yeah, so that's what I'm going to be doing and it's just going to be outstanding living by the sea and being able to swim daily. or if not every other daily. There are some people who literally do it every day. So I'm going to try and do that.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

I'm going to have to invite myself down, I think.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Well, you're going to be very welcome. But we have in March, it's the International Women's Day Swim. And this is going to be the third year of it happening. It's March the 8th, which is International Women's Day. The first year, 250 people were invited and joined us. Last year, 500 people joined us. And this year, we're also looking for 500 swimmers. There's a wait list already for people to actually come. I mean, people loved it so much. That was another incredible, humbling moment. You know, everybody whooping and whooping, getting into the water in Brighton Beach. It's literally by Beach Box Sauna, by sea lanes. So we all get into the sea. Everybody's in a fancy dress or really bright. I

SPEAKER_01 21:53

remember all the

SPEAKER_00 21:54

pictures. It was amazing. Yeah, I was wearing my funny... You know, my wings, my butterfly wings going in there. Bit of a metamorphosis moment there happening. Yeah. So what am I going to wear this year?

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Oh, I can't wait

SPEAKER_00 22:06

to find out. I think I know what it's going to be, but hashtag just wait and see. So if anybody wants to come along to that, please do. It's a wonderful experience. We have people coming. I drive all the way from Essex to come there. People come from far and wide to take part in this awesome event. And I actually helped to PR it. So last year we had a lot of coverage with the BBC on the radio, on the TV. And also we actually made the Brighton Argus, I think, page three. That was pretty amazing.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Yeah,

SPEAKER_00 22:35

but the local press goes a long, long way. Oh, and the radio we made as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Well, we're going to be getting on to your top PR and visibility tips in a minute. But just before we do, to recap then, the three reasons if someone said, why should I try wild swimming? I know you said the first one definitely comes across as the mental health boost. But another one you said, which I thought was very interesting, is... don't be put off by the thought of the cold so is it easy to find these booties and gloves is it are they easily

SPEAKER_00 23:11

available it's a really really cheap sport you know they cost the booties cost uh you can get boots and gloves for 15 quid a pop from amazon neoprene gloves 15 quid and they are amazing and mine have lasted all these years four years amazing So I really recommend that. And then another huge benefit, I just want to say, is the whole sorority, you know, the whole sisterhood, getting together. When I moved to Brighton, I've done it a few times with my friend Nikki. Every Friday, I think it's at 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock, there's a whole group of people who join, go for a dip in the sea and then go to the Beachbox Sauna for a good old natter.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Now, that sounds good.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

So that's great. So, you know, wherever you are. So I'm going to be moving to Brighton. If I was going to move wherever, I'd obviously live within 30 minutes drive from the sea. But there will always be a wild water swimming club or group that you can join.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Love that. And I look forward to hearing more about your move. Thank you. Now, I'm going to pivot slightly because I want to know more about your top pick. PR and visibility tips because I've said before it would be rude not to pick your brains and I know just how fabulous they are now we mentioned our nail it's innate earlier and people might have thinking what on earth are they talking about but listeners this is pure genius as far as I'm concerned. You've probably all heard of an elevator pitch, you know, when you have the space from the first floor to the management floor in the lift with someone you want to impress to sell yourself. And I don't just mean in business terms, because the joy of this, if you can use it in social events, it just gives you that confidence to know who you are and what you want to say. And Amanda's take on this. Well, I'll let you explain, Amanda, because it's your baby.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

You mean the Nailist Nate?

SPEAKER_01 25:16

Yeah. Before we go into more, we'll start with the nail it in aid, if you don't

SPEAKER_00 25:20

mind. Well, it's a magic formula to imagine suddenly you're in the lift with Richard Branson and you're not going to go up 65 floors. You're literally going to go to the second floor because that's where you're vented. How are you going to impress him when he goes, hey, what do you do? You literally need eight words. I do give people up to 12, 15 megamax. But literally, you need to be able to describe what you do in eight words. And the formula goes something like we or I help or Thanking you. Richard Branson would just go, oh, all right, can you come to Necker Island and train a bunch of my people? So, yeah, that's what

SPEAKER_01 26:25

I do. I love it. I absolutely love it. And it is about the simplicity as well, because we can all get so going round and round in circles, thinking about what we do and trying to explain it and by breaking it down to its most simple but impactful terms.

SPEAKER_00 26:44

And jargon free. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Oh, absolutely. It's

SPEAKER_00 26:47

got to be jargon-free because journalists, and you're a former journalist, Kate, I hear this time and time again from the journalists I interview, and they say, never assume knowledge. So never, ever put an industry expression or word in your elevator pitch because otherwise you're just going to be excluding people.

SPEAKER_01 27:06

And it's not sexy either.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

It's not sexy.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

No, it's not sexy. Talking about sexy... Your top PR and visibility... I will be able to say that word one day. Visibility tips. Now, the first one... Can

SPEAKER_00 27:21

we just call them PR and invincibility tips because we're on your podcast?

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Oh, I think that's even better because I can hopefully say that better as

SPEAKER_00 27:30

well. Come on then.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

First one. What have I done today to promote myself? And you're going to start singing now, aren't you?

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Oh my God. So she wants me to get out my purple microphone. So this is like, do you remember Miranda? What have I done today to promote myself? Yeah, okay, that's me. Love it. Okay, because I'm also going to then make another reference to RuPaul's Drag Race. If you don't promote yourself, then who in hell is going to be promoting you? You know when he says, if you don't love yourself, then who in hell is going to love you? So if you have not done one self-promote activity a day, How are you going to be promoting yourself? How are people going to know? So today, I've got a great list. It's 31 self-promote activities. And today, I have gone for number two. Ask a client to recommend you to a friend. So I was on a VIP call with my clients and I asked one of my clients, I said, please, would you be very kind and recommend me to one of your friends? She goes, Amanda, I've already done that. I did that yesterday because somebody was saying, how come you're getting so much amazing press coverage? So that was already happened. Yesterday, an activity I did, number 21, publish a post on LinkedIn. So another post is apply to speak at an event. So I'm going to do that tomorrow. Basically, you have to do one activity a day that's going to push your business or you or your personal brand out there. So Kate, what are you doing today to promote yourself?

SPEAKER_01 29:04

I have got more interviews lined up brainstorming after I speak to you, but I did put a host promoting the podcast yeah um out today because I am quite active on social media but no it can be tough it can be tough and there can be days and you think oh but I did it yesterday and I did it the day before does anyone really they must be sick of the sight of me but the chances are that they may not have even seen what you've done

SPEAKER_00 29:32

exactly

SPEAKER_01 29:32

and and knockbacks are to be learnt from. You know how I feel about failure. Failure isn't, it's an opportunity. It's an experiment. So the more you ask, the more you're likely to get. And it doesn't mean that you're going to get it every time. Like you said about asking for a testimonial, what's the worst that can happen? She says, well, actually, no, I'd rather not. But she might, as she did, say, yeah, of course, I've already done it. So it is getting that confidence to to a be able to say exactly what you do and b push yourself out there be proud shine in your brilliance because we don't especially as midlife women gen x women we're so used to putting ourselves in the shadows and not standing up and not saying look at me i'm blinking good at what i do

SPEAKER_00 30:26

exactly

SPEAKER_01 30:27

we just get on with it and now come on ladies let's just Pat ourselves on the back a minute.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

And no permission required. Just go and do it. Stop worrying what everybody else is thinking, because if you ain't going to do it, then nobody else is going to do it for you.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Which leads me brilliantly to the captain's hat that you've already mentioned. Put on your captain's hat, pull up those big girl's pants and try it.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Just do it. You've just got to put on whatever is something that makes you feel good, comfortable, empowered, or even just sit and do the superwoman pose, just sitting in your chair. Just do something before you press send on your email page.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

Oh, I do that. I love an empowering pose. I'm doing the now. The other morning, my son came into the lounge and I was doing like the kind of arms open, embracing the sun. He's like, mum are you trying to be Michael Jackson I went no I am embracing this is my sun stance I'm embracing the day

SPEAKER_00 31:29

amazing that's you know exactly you have to do something which is going to really help you feel empowered and I do that I actually I think people in my local area my village think I'm mad because I go for a dog walk the sun is out and I stand and I do three sun salutations

SPEAKER_01 31:44

and leopard

SPEAKER_00 31:45

print sets me up for the rest of the day it's amazing So put on your captain's hat, pick up your purple microphone, whatever you're going to do, be sure to do something. If you don't do anything, nothing's going to happen. You ain't going to shift that dial.

SPEAKER_01 32:00

Because that is your third point. It is all about visibility.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

Consistency.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

Persistently consistent.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Yeah, that's where you've got to do it. And just don't be afraid of a no, because I say no. and I'm taking this from a woman on The Apprentice many years ago. She says, null stands for no opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 32:21

I've not heard that, and I like that.

SPEAKER_00 32:25

Well, you know, you just mentioned the fail word. I read this the other day. Fail stands for first attempt in, and I can't remember what the L stands for.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

Life. Life. We can turn it into life. If any of you wonderful women out there know what the L in that stands for. Or we can invent it. Drop

SPEAKER_00 32:44

a comment. Here it is. I think this is what it is. First attempt in learning.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Well, that's even better. Does

SPEAKER_00 32:51

that sound better? I

SPEAKER_01 32:53

think let's just make up our own ones.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

I think life. Whatever. Who cares? Let's learn to fail.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

Yeah, let's do it fabulously. Here's to failing fabulously.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Well, hang on. Okay, do you know what? I'm going to change it up already. F stands for fabulous. Fabulous attempt in living.

SPEAKER_01 33:13

Boom. How about that? Love that. Are you getting the T-shirts printed this week?

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Yeah. Fabulous attempt in living. Oh, my God. I think the one I read the other day. That's crap. We're going to use this one, aren't we, Kate?

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Yeah. Yeah. We've got the T-shirts. Leopard print letters, though, I think.

SPEAKER_00 33:32

Yep. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

Well, you know where I'm going to steer the conversation now. I have my three final questions for you. And I've loved today. I've loved this.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Your

SPEAKER_01 33:43

first one, you don't have to sing. I've

SPEAKER_00 33:47

still got a warm hand from my story about the seal.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

So what is your midlife anthem? The song or piece of music that fires you up, that when you hear it, you think, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

I ain't going to sing it, but I did it the other day as a bit of a karaoke laugh. And it is, I will survive.

SPEAKER_01 34:13

Oh, you've got to love Gloria.

SPEAKER_00 34:14

You know, a bit of Gloria. I will survive and I will thrive.

SPEAKER_01 34:21

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

So that's such a great one.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

No, it is. Throw

SPEAKER_00 34:25

away that key.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Yeah, walk out that door. Don't turn around now. Just off you trot.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

and because it's me living my fabulous self

SPEAKER_01 34:38

our way on our terms yeah so now second question i i'm over over excited now to hear your midlife mantra the phrase that you rock your midlife by

SPEAKER_00 34:52

well i just say jfdi darling Okay. The polite way of that, of just fucking do it, is carpe diem. Carpe diem. Seize the day. I've got another one as well. Go on then. I might have two. You can. Hashtag don't ask, don't get. Always ask and get as much as you can. No.

SPEAKER_01 35:17

So true. So true. What we were saying just now. What is the worst that can happen?

SPEAKER_00 35:22

They can just say no and then it's just like a new opportunity. Yeah. Jog on.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

And I know we might be making it sound simple, but it can be difficult. It can be difficult to put yourself out there. But like Amanda was saying, by taking the small steps, and that's what I do with my coaching as well. People think, oh, you've got to make these grand gestures. You've got to take these huge, great leaps. But you don't. It's the culmination of the small... It's like a dripping tap that fills the sink. Just by keeping at it, by just keeping chipping away. And if you miss a day, it's not the end of the world. Don't beat yourself up. Just... start again or take a new tactic absolutely

SPEAKER_00 36:08

that's why people need you in their lives

SPEAKER_01 36:11

I'm in your life I'm here I'm sending hugs across the airwaves love it now your final question my darling what is the title of your autobiography because I want to read it

SPEAKER_00 36:26

oh darling this is going to be a good one okay

SPEAKER_01 36:29

it's

SPEAKER_00 36:31

better late than never

SPEAKER_01 36:35

oh yes

SPEAKER_00 36:36

how does that sound

SPEAKER_01 36:38

I love that I love that because I'm always talking about never too late never too old yeah we're sick of being told we can't do things and we're just as guilty of telling ourselves that we can't do them we don't you know we often don't have to wait for someone else to say we can't we jump right in there and go oh I can't do that

SPEAKER_00 36:57

oh I know exactly yeah so it's better late than never and that applies to every element of my life so yep It's great. Life is great.

SPEAKER_01 37:07

It is. Now, these wonderful women out there that have been listening to you and thinking, I need some Amanda in my life. How can they contact you? And to get more details of the swim as well, I don't know if you could

SPEAKER_00 37:22

Oh, yes. I don't know if I'm going to do one this year. You know, I need to decide because I don't know. I mean, Kate, I'm going to ask your advice. What do you think? I've been doing it now for three years. Have I rinsed everybody? Are they just sick and tired of me banging on about raising money? No.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

Never.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

What do you reckon?

SPEAKER_01 37:40

No, no,

SPEAKER_00 37:40

no. You know, I... The first year I set a goal of two and a half K. Last year, I think it was one and a half. And then, yeah, you know, the year before was one and a half and then it went to one. Even if I could raise 500, maybe I just need to do it. Maybe I just need a JFDI and stop thinking about it.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

Well, what we need is everyone listening. If everyone listening just donates a pound or everyone listening just comments on the posts that we'll link them to, magic can happen. midlife unlimited no limits

SPEAKER_00 38:12

yeah okay anyway yeah

SPEAKER_01 38:14

back to the question how can they get in contact with you

SPEAKER_00 38:18

oh yes sorry yeah so the question is uh they can go swing on over to my website which is amandapr.com or find me on instagram at amanda pr expert or find me in linkedin amanda fitzgerald pr

SPEAKER_01 38:38

Brilliant, brilliant. And read Amanda's posts and see her videos because they are always exceptional. What a surprise. And I would love listeners to hear your feedback on today's episode because I've really enjoyed myself. So drop me an email, Kate at SecondSpringLifeCoaching.com or visit the podcast website, MidlifeUnlimitedPodcast.com or let's connect on LinkedIn. So all that remains is me to say thank you again for joining me today. Oh, she's saluting. I'll salute you back for joining me, Amanda. I've loved it. Thank you for listening to Midlife Unlimited. And here's to being fabulous and flourishing together.

SPEAKER_00 39:24

Thank you so much for the amazing invite.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

Take care. Bye.