Episode #056 How to Organise a Menopause Summit with Guest Andrea Clare

How often have you had an idea… a potentially great idea – then quickly talked yourself out of why it’s doable? You stop yourself taking the next step. You've limited your vision.

If you’ve been wanting to organise an event for like-minded women, then this episode is just for you because I’m delighted to be joined by my guest Andrea Clare The Creative Pause Coach, founder of Andrea Clare Art and Founder of The Scottish Pause Summit to talk about How to Organise a Menopause Summit.

Andrea shares insights and inspiration as she talks through how she turned her vision into reality, from celebrating cheerleaders to getting over the overwhelm. And find out how you can get involved for 2026. 

Connect with Andrea

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

https://scottishpausesummit.co.uk

https://www.facebook.com/andreaclareart

https://www.instagram.com/andreaclareart.uk

https://www.facebook.com/scottishpausesummit

https://www.instagram.com/scottish_pause_summit

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:01

Welcome to Midlife Unlimited, the podcast for women who want more. I'm your host, Kate Porter, the Midlife Metamorphosis Coach, and I know what it's 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 Midlife how it really is. Nothing is off limits because together there's no limit to what we can achieve. So, welcome to today's episode. Now, how often do you have an idea? A potentially great idea. Then quickly talk yourself out of why it's doable. It's just not feasible. You're thinking too big again. You stop yourself taking the next step, you limit your vision. Now, so many women I speak to are doing just that, especially when it comes to organising events that bring like-minded females together. So, if you've been wanting to, meaning to organise an event, then this episode is just for you. Because I'm delighted to be joined by my guest today, Andrea Clare, the creative pause coach, founder of Andrea Clare Art and drum roll, please, listeners, founder of the Scottish Pause Summit, Glasgow's biggest ever menopause event. To talk about, well, what else are we going to talk about? How to organise a menopause summit. So welcome, Andrea. I am bowing down to your fabulousness because it is fabulous to have you here. Thank you for the welcome and for having me. Oh, my absolute pleasure. Because you epitomize basically everything that Midlife Unlimited is all about. So, firstly, from me and all the listeners, congratulations. How are you feeling?

SPEAKER_00: 2:18

Um, I'm actually I'm coming out of a bit of a slump. So I'm feeling good. Um, I'm pleased that the event is past and that it was a success. And I'm basically focusing on next year and the next event.

SPEAKER_01: 2:37

So for those for those listeners who I won't say under a rock, because obviously if if they weren't necessarily in your world, they may sadly have missed out this time, but we've got news. When was it? Where was it?

SPEAKER_00: 2:50

Okay, so don't be fooled by my accent, but it was it was last month on the 25th of October, and it was in the centre of Glasgow because I've lived in Scotland for the last 40, 34 years. Um, so yeah, that's you know, it was uh a lovely location right in the middle of uh the city of Glasgow.

SPEAKER_01: 3:18

Fantastic. And before we go any further, so I don't forget, but obviously all your details will be in the show notes and on the Midlife Unlimited podcast website. But tickets, early bird tickets are on sale already for next year. So before I for me, don't forget, can you just give it a quick plug now for next year? Yes, of course.

SPEAKER_00: 3:37

So next year the event is going to be bigger and even better, and it's actually going to take place on World Menopause Day, which is always the 18th of October, um, which next year is a Sunday. And you can get the tickets via the website. Um, there's an early bird deal on um with uh full day tickets for£30, and the website is uh Scottishcawsummit.co.uk.

SPEAKER_01: 4:11

Fantastic. And obviously, we're going to be talking about that again at the end. So if you didn't get a chance to write that down, don't worry, you won't miss out. And also, I'm delighted that Andrea is going to be sharing her top tips, lessons learned. Now you've had a bit of time to percolate if that's the right word. It probably isn't, but it sounds good. Um, later in the episode. But I just want to talk about it because we I said in the intro, we all have ideas, and sad well, not sadly, that's not the right word, but quite often I do it. We think, oh, really, Kate. And especially now we're having a bit of brain fog. We're having a bit of um, who do we don't know who we are, let alone whether our ideas I mean, I can have an idea and mention it to my other half, and he'll go, really? But I'll mention it to a girlfriend and they'll go, bloody yes, Kate. That's a great idea. So where do the I mean you're a very creative person, so the whole on the whole idea of creating something must be second nature to you. But where do you start? Was it were you in the bath, were you in the car? What was it? A con was it a conversation?

SPEAKER_00: 5:21

Um, so it kind of relates back to my history with the menopause um myself because um I'm now 60. And so my I know it's great. Um, so my perimenopause was um about 10 to 15 years ago when nobody was talking about the menopause.

SPEAKER_01: 5:46

Oh mine, I mean my was late 40s, I mean I'm 56 now. Yeah, and it was like unheard of.

SPEAKER_00: 5:52

That's right. So I was I had all sorts of things going on um in my body physically and also mentally, and when I actually reached a very low point mentally, I was taken to the doctor by my now ex-husband, and I was told, Oh, you're depressed, and I was medicated accordingly, and then uh in about it must have been 2021, I saw the first Davina McCall documentary about menopause. And I mean, that just that literally changed my life because I thought, well, I'm not I'm not going crazy, I'm not um, I haven't got early onset dementia. Uh I I'm not bipolar, you know, all the things that I was imagining because I couldn't understand why I was the way I was. Anyway, um, I then at that point thought, oh, you really need to share this message with other women because I'm sure there's other women feeling the same way as me. But that's when imposter syndrome set in because I thought, who's gonna want to listen to little old me? Um, which it's kind of ironic now because everybody's talking about the menopause on the likes of TikTok. Anyway, um I then uh discovered as well that I'm I'm good at art, um, and I started painting pet portraits, and I thought my ideal uh job would be to combine the two, so that's kind of when my my business started, although it didn't actually know the corporate background, haven't you?

SPEAKER_01: 7:29

But very much you were organizing massive events as part of that, weren't you?

SPEAKER_00: 7:33

Yeah, well, I historically my background was in IT training, so I was used to organising training events and running training events um and writing training courses, and then latterly um I was working at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow, organising conferences and um other training events. So, yes, so I had that background. So at the end of last year, um I was aware that there's a massive uh menopause event down in London, and I'd actually looked into attending um and also exhibiting there with my business because I'm in the you know working in the menopause arena. Um, but the logistics and the expense was a lot, and then I thought, well, you know, what's going on in Scotland? Um, what uh menopause events are happening? So there's there's quite a number of local support groups, which is absolutely fantastic, yeah. But there wasn't um a big menopause event. So my wisdom, I decided, right? Well, we need one. So I started doing yeah, I started doing some research. Um I sent out a survey within um different menopause uh groups on social media to see if there was an appetite for an event. Um and I'd I'd been along to or I'd attended um a menopause event a couple of years ago on online through a big Facebook group that exists in Glasgow called Glasgow Girls Club. So I'd kind of started identifying people working in the menopause arena. So at the beginning of this year, I was still kind of had this idea percolating, like you say. Um, and I think if I'd not spoken to anybody, I would have probably talked myself out of the idea. Um, but I actually mentioned it to um to actually the leader of Glasgow Girls Club, because I'm part of the the businessman who's appearing. Her name's Laura McGuinness. And she was like, Yes, right, you're doing it.

SPEAKER_01: 10:02

So that was kind of accountability. We like accountability. No, once you put it out there, once you've put it out there, now one thing immediately that sprung to me, and you mentioned about online, there are so many online events, summits, which are great, but that's a very different beast, isn't it? Yeah, because the whole idea, and it's something that scares me. I've toyed, and I do use the word toyed because I haven't pursued it seriously, but I I have toyed with the idea of having a day event, an in-person event linked to Midlife Unlimited. But the idea, I've seen how bloody hard it is to flog tickets, and you can have a whole wonderful feedback and women, or I will say women because this is something aimed at women, going, God, that's a bloody brilliant idea. I really want to be part of that. I want to exhibit, I want to do this. But when push comes to shove, actually getting people to part with hard-earned cash to actually physically buy tickets to come along or to actually exhibit as well. I would find that I won't use terrifying because that's that's overwhelming it, but tough, tough, isn't it? It's a jump from people saying, Yeah, that's a great idea, Andrew. I want to be part of it, to okay, give us your pennies so that I can make this a reality.

SPEAKER_00: 11:26

Yeah, that's I mean, that's really interesting, and we need to talk because I am actually planning something else next year, in addition to the the pause summit, which I think you might might be interested in it, and it kind of uh, you know, we can uh share on the other.

SPEAKER_01: 11:41

Listeners, you heard it here first. You heard it here first. What's this space?

SPEAKER_00: 11:45

Yeah, I um I'm scared to mention it because then it means it's got to happen. But um, yeah, it's gonna I'm gonna pull it out of you. I'm gonna it's very interesting in my experience. The people that said, Oh, yeah, that's an amazing idea, they were not the people at my event. It was it was a lot of the people at my event I'd never ever met before, whether that be in person or online. Um, so so yeah, it was it was interesting. So something else just popped into my head, then you know, usual brain fob, it's it's completely uh disappeared. So I think that might happen quite a lot during this conversation. But um it's real, Listen, though. It's real, yeah, it is, and um, you know, yeah, it's it it you really do have to sort of stay in your own lane and and stay focused on on what you're doing. And the one piece of advice that you hear a lot when it comes to your own business is to to focus upon the people that are gonna uh are gonna benefit from your event. Oh, and the oh I know what I was gonna say that I've that I've um that popped out my head there. But what I've noticed with events is if it's an event that potentially is gonna enable you to make money so it's business oriented, those events seem to sell um better than events that are focused on your health. And I I find that with coaching.

SPEAKER_01: 13:24

Yes, it's because I'm not a business coach, but everything I do will impact your business. That's it. People are still reticent to they think they can justify investing when it's business, but when it's them, and it's the wrong way around. That's what we need to be. We're getting menopause out there, we're getting perimenopause out there. We need to be, and I know you and I are both advocates of this, we need to be shifting the focus from investing in your business to investing in you.

SPEAKER_00: 13:55

That's because if you break, yeah, and you've got your own business, your business is going to break, you know, your business is not going to function. And that's actually one of the my lines of promotion. Um, when I, you know, I was advertising my events was that you know you are the most important person, you know, you're the most important part of your business because without you, there is no business. But yeah, it's it is a change in mind mindset, and I think we're slowly things are shifting. I've just seen a little, sorry, I've just seen a little mouse or shrew run across in my garden because I'm in my art chair looking out into my garden. It was interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 14:43

I think that I want to I want a shed like this. You've you've got your wood-burning stove, you've got a little place for your dogs, it sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_00: 14:50

It looks fantastic to be as a I'm I'm very lucky, I'm very lucky. Um, so yes, and um, you know, there's certain parts of the UK where um it's it's known that women or people in general are less likely to invest in their health, and unfortunately, I'm in one of those parts of the UK, but it's not gonna it's not gonna deter me. So um, so yeah, um this it is a very interesting phenomenon, people saying, yeah, that's a great idea, but then you find that they don't actually support you. But you know, that's that's life, you know. Um so yeah, so that's how the uh the summit came about. So that was last uh January, February time was when I this year when I started to really, you know, investigate venues. Um, and then I had a bit of a wobble in March where I was thinking, can I actually do this? You know, um and I think if I had truly thought about everything that I needed to do um at the very beginning, I maybe she would have um you know walked away from it. But I was lucky I was working with a lovely lady. Um she's not necessarily no, she's not a business coach, she's more of a life coach. Um, and she was one of my uh speakers at the event, and she said, No, Angie, you've got to keep going because you've got all these people that are relying upon you. Um so you know, that was the the pet talk I needed. So I suppose that is kind of one of the my top tips is that if like me, you are on your own terms, I haven't got a partner. I've also decided early on that I was gonna organise it myself because I started with a working group and then there's such there were some disagreements within the working group, and I thought, you know, I can't have that sap my energy, I'm just gonna do it myself. I've been used to organizing things on my own in the past, but it is important to have a cheerleader, somebody that you can go and you know offload to when times get tough, but also celebrate, you know, successes with. Um so yeah, that really, really helped me um to stay focused and stay on track. Um so yeah, that's that's how the event came about. I called it Scottish Pause Summit because it's in Scotland, because summit summit denotes importance. Pause is obviously an abbreviation for pre-peri post-menopause, and also I like to stress the importance of pausing.

SPEAKER_01: 17:49

I was gonna say that for you. Yeah, yeah. The whole this is about us. This is about taking that me time and investing time and money, yes, but it's the time that's the main thing, isn't it? Uh that one thing that obviously structure wise, you've mentioned speakers, um, but was there that almost kid in a toy shop, kid in a sweet shop? Oh, I want to have all these people exhibiting, and I'm or were you very, because you you've come from that background, were you very focused on right, I'm gonna have 30 exhibitors, 10 exhibitors, I'm going to have a stage with this. Were you very yeah, structured with your structure? Did you strict with yourself is what I'm gonna because I know I'd be like, oh, I want you, I want you, I want you, I want you, da-da-da-da-da.

SPEAKER_00: 18:38

Yeah, I mean it's ironic because I I've got ADHD. I'm a typical creative, so you know, I I suffer from shiny object syndrome, but I'm terrible with that. Yeah, I um I decided up front that I didn't want to align the event to Big Pharma, which in some ways was a little bit naive because I could have got a lot of money in from Big Pharma sponsoring the event. So I took that decision. Um, and that is kind of a lesson learned. Although I wouldn't go with Big Far, I still wouldn't go with Big Pharma. It's important to get some finances up front because I self-funded the whole project. Um, so my focus at the moment is getting sponsorship for next year. That is really key because it takes the pressure off of um, you know, obviously you want to sell tickets, but you want to cover your costs, and the big expense for me was the venue. I'm guessing quite a lot of the cost is up front as well. Well, I was lucky with the venue that I chose, you didn't pay up front, you paid afterwards, which that is actually a top tip. If you can find a venue like that, that makes such a huge difference, but be really clear on cancellation policies and if you need to reduce numbers, which is something that I I tripped up on um quite late in the day. Um, so yeah, so what was the question? Sorry, Kate.

SPEAKER_01: 20:15

We were talking about well, basically, I say I know that I would be the whole magpie shot. I mean, I would have planned probably my first thing on my list would have been goodie bags or something pretty and creative. I I'd be like, oh, I want the logo.

SPEAKER_00: 20:29

I'd have been straight in there with the logo and the colours, and it's like yeah, I mean, that is the side of it that I absolutely love doing. I was lucky because I had a list of women that I wanted to speak, and I had kind of, I suppose because I I'd organized a few uh conferences in the job that I actually gave up at the beginning of last month. Um I had an idea of a sort of structure, that kind of thing comes naturally to me. It used to come naturally naturally to me when I was organizing training events or a training course, that just just happens, you know. Um so I had my I had you know a good idea of the um who I wanted to speak, and I also had already identified that I wanted the theme to be related to lifestyle choices, which was ironic because that end ended up being the theme of World Menopause Day for 2025, but I didn't know that at the time. Yeah, wow. I'm I'm a visionary, yeah, absolutely. Anyway, um I uh so I've got that structure in place, and then I'd also taken the decision that with my exhibitors, um, I wanted them all to be related to menopause. I I had the venue I'd chosen, I could have a maximum of 10 exhibitors. So I mean, again, I could have got money in from people who, you know, likes of network marketers, which I've done but myself, you know, they're always looking for events. I could have had all sorts of different products for sale, but my focus was getting on exhibitors, which would be beneficial to those who were attending. So, as well as you know, all the great speakers I had, I wanted the exhibitors to be part of the whole package, um, because it was like a holistic approach to to menopause. Um now, you know, other events it you know, it's a different situation, absolutely. Um, but my I suppose my motivation wasn't on uh bringing in uh that initial money. Um whereas this year I'm gonna stick to that um, you know, my requirement that the exhibitors are menopause related and that this the sponsors are actually, you know, um aligned to my vision. But I'm gonna bring that in earlier. I'm gonna focus on that earlier rather than um you know selling tickets, although obviously I want to sell some early bird tickets um before uh for the end of the year, which I have already done, which is great. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01: 23:28

Are you looking similar numbers to this year? Bigger. Oh, so what what was the numbers to put it in perspective for the October this year?

SPEAKER_00: 23:39

So I could have had a maximum of 140 people in the room at a at a push. I had, I think it was between 70 and 80, um, which um was a lovely number. Um, and it was a realistic number for a first event because somebody said to me, Oh, well, I know of a really popular medical conference, they started off with 10 delegates, and now you can't get tickets for love and money for the conference. So, you know, the first time you run anything, people are always a little bit dubious and they want to, you know, they like to, they're watching, aren't they? They want to see absolute success, you know. Yeah, so um, so yeah, and I had trying to think how many exhibitors I had. I had about eight exhibitors, I think, in the end. Um, but I had uh there was 14 experts in total, so I had a really well it was it was a jam-packed program, you know, great speakers. Um and um so yeah, that's kind of how it all all came about. It was I didn't spend loads of money on um stuff for the tables, um you know, like pamphlets and um in terms of goodie bags, that like you say, that's the fun part. I decided that I wasn't gonna fill goodie bags, I was just gonna give people an empty gift bag and they could go and take the stuff that they wanted.

SPEAKER_01: 25:13

So that's a really good idea.

SPEAKER_00: 25:15

I got I got loads of freebies from um the likes of Menopause Matters and um company called Yes, and other other companies were more than happy to send me stuff. So I had loads of stuff, you know. I didn't I started gathering that at the beginning of the year. I didn't appreciate how much stuff I had, but the the benefit of doing it that way is it cuts down on the stress immediately before the event. Equally, I've been to events, and I'm sure you have where you look at the goodie bag, you're really excited about the goodie bag, and then you actually look what's in it, and there really isn't anything in it, you know. Um, so so that's what I did in terms of the goodie bags, but the fun bits are the bits that I did on Canva because I did all my own, I did all my own. Well, I love the design.

SPEAKER_01: 26:02

Never pronounce it, the mandala designs are beautiful in the pinks. Ah, I can see it everywhere. We're gonna make sure obviously it'll be it's on your um profile on our graphic for the episode as well. But uh, I mean, were there any surprises then? Obviously, you it sounds like you know, organization for this despite in spite because of your ADHD, it's something that you've really honed. But you can't plan for everything. Were there any pleasant surprises?

SPEAKER_00: 26:37

The pleasant surprises um were on the day actually. Well, there was a couple actually thinking about it. Um I I've done a huge amount of networking um this year, um, not just to both to raise my profile but also to promote the event. And I was at an event shortly before um my summit, and I met this lady, and I wasn't exactly 100% sure what she did, but then we had a we had a one-to-one chat, and she ended up doing all the photography and videography on the day for me, and I didn't have to pay for it. Um and the company that she works for, who are called World TV, they do lots of big high-profile events doing all the videography for them. But they also work with not-for-profits, and trust me, my my event wasn't for profit. Um and they awarded me a some um time, the equivalent of£1,500 for a video to be put together of all of the video excerpts. So, I mean, that is that was an amazing gift and such a bonus because um, you know, on the day, there was no way I was gonna be able to take photographs. And um, yes, so she did an amazing job. And um, as I say, you know, I'm getting this compilation video, and that's gonna be fabulous for sponsorship going forward as well. Oh, definitely. Um, and I've seen the first edit of it, and it it does look really good. So um I I'm excited to to get the the final piece, and I can put that up on my website, and I can um, you know, like you say, I can use it for uh promotion elsewhere. So that was a real bonus, and then my two school friends came up from Suffolk for the weekend. They've been talking about coming up, coming up for a long time, and I said, Well, why don't you come up and uh you know come along to the to my event? And as that drew close, I was thinking, what have I done? Because I was having to get the house all ready for them arriving. But do you know what, okay? It was amazing having them there because they just worked away in the background. So, you know, they they got all the tables set up for me, and at the end of the day, when I was still talking to people and thanking people, they were clearing everything away for me, and you know, it that was that was such a bonus, and then I had another couple of friends who are local, and they came along and they were um registering people, although I I made a point at the beginning of being there when people registered, and I wanted to give everybody a hug if they wanted a hug um and make them feel welcome, but then they were there for the late arrivals, and then one friend, because the uh building that the event was in, um you came in the front door and then you went straight up in the lift to the ninth floor. My friend went down and was at the lift welcoming people and just making sure. That they were okay, and then she brought them in the late arrivals into the room because there was a as always happens, there was trouble with the trains on the days. Always, yes. Things out things outside your control. Yeah, so you know, all those little things that my four friends were doing for me, and then the Kirsty who was doing all the videoing, oh my goodness, you know, that was just such a bonus. And I hadn't even thought about the need for that because I'd done so much of the prep work for myself, and I knew that things would run smoothly on the day, but it's all those little hidden things that you know, when you think, oh, well, I've got two hours to get ready before the event, that two hours goes so quickly, you know, and there's always you know things that crop up or people who want to talk to you. So I would recommend to anybody who's doing an event, make sure you've got those little helpers who are there, who are happy to just do things in the background. Yes, you need to be clear on what you want them to do, but oh, I mean, that was just an added bonus for me. So I've told my friends, you're coming up next.

SPEAKER_01: 31:17

No, absolutely. I remember when I was um when my son Finley was at juniors or primary school, I was chair. Obviously, Kate, it's the kind of thing that I do. I was chairman of the PTA, parents and teachers association for those organizing balls, organizing summer events, and you're absolutely right, it's the nitty-gritty, and it's the clearing up. Everyone's like, oh, that was fabulous, thank you so much. Bye. And I'm like, chairs, putting out chairs takes and it's heavy, and you bash your shins.

SPEAKER_00: 31:50

Yeah, yeah, no, so you know, they were a real a real bonus, so they were the things, the great things on the on the day, and just the atmosphere in the room as well was amazing, you know. It was just and actually, I was asked before I did the event, what is the one thing that you want to get from the event? You know, what's that your main focus? And that was it. That atmosphere in the room, women feeling comfortable, supported, chatting, laughing. We had a few tears, which was anticipated, but you know, just that relaxed feeling. So so yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 32:37

Yeah. So I mean, obviously, I will ask your highlights a minute, but can you talk us through the the speakers and you know what what topics? And obviously, how do you narrow it down?

SPEAKER_00: 32:49

Well, you know, I said um before the event I could have filled two days with speakers.

SPEAKER_01: 32:57

Yeah, I can imagine.

SPEAKER_00: 32:58

But I I was very strict about uh the topics I wanted to cover because I knew that the because I'd done some research, but then equally based on my own experience and from you know learning more and more about the menopause, I knew the air the key areas that we needed to focus on. Um so I made sure that the speakers were aware of that. Um and I had a I had a couple of speakers drop out, which was a little bit of a um, it was a bit of a shock, but um fortunately I had people that I could call upon to to fill in the gaps. Um and I think the other thing that I I did which I'd learned from uh working at the college was that if people are going to be using slides, incorporate them all into one slide deck into one presentation because um I uh knew that my laptop worked and the guys at the venue were really good, they you know made sure that everything cabled up okay to the screen and what have you. Um, but I didn't want all this chopping and changing with technology and having any blips, so that is one thing that I would recommend is that if people are submitting slides, that you get them to submit them at least a week before the event, which it was like herding cats. I was you know, people were last minute with with slides, but I kind of as long as I had the majority in the other thing with slides is check the quality of them as well. And I mean, I'm from a um tray an IT training background, I've trained people on PowerPoints, so I know what works when it comes to presentations. Um, and another thing as well that you know, one of the speakers said to me, she said, I'm not actually going to utilize because I want people to actually listen to what I'm saying, not just be focused on the slide, you know. And I um I think that is a a downfall of some speakers. Um and another prospective speaker who I'm who I um connected with late in the day, she said to me, uh get people to rehearse or do a run-through with your speakers. Now I didn't have the luxury of being able to do that, but I was I heard a couple of the speakers before, so I knew that they were going to be good. Um, but I was very lucky that on the whole there weren't any issues with the speakers um in terms of their their ability. And you know, everybody enjoyed their their sessions. But yeah, if you have got the if you can um if you can do a run through with the speaker, or um how if you've got time to actually look at their slides, you might not understand the the topic, but just to be even if it's something I would imagine that you could perhaps do as a Zoom chat beforehand, even if you can't meet face to face, because obviously I know it was the Scottish Summit, sorry, Scottish Pause Summit.

SPEAKER_01: 36:31

Um, but uh people might be traveling or their diaries just might be chock a block.

SPEAKER_00: 36:37

Yeah. Um so yes, um, but I just I was as I say, I was very specific with the topics and I didn't I I wanted to avoid duplication because that was feedback. That's that's what I was thinking.

SPEAKER_01: 36:51

How do you how do you make not make me it doesn't it's not the end of the world, but make sure that people aren't just talking about the same together.

SPEAKER_00: 36:59

Yeah, yeah. And you know, I've been to other events where there's you know a lot of crossover between talks. I think that as an event organizer, it's part of your duty to ensure that the audience is getting best value. Yeah, and yeah, there might be key messages that you want to be um you know emphasized several times throughout the day, but that it's it's laziness, I think, on the part of the organizer if there is a huge amount of duplication, yeah. Because you know, I've sat at events before and I thought, you know, I've heard this all once already today. Why am I, you know, hearing it again? Um, so yeah, that's you know, one of one of my tips is you know, being clear on what you want, and what I'm gonna do for uh next year is I'm gonna have a speaker contract so that um we're clear on who's responsible for what and you know the importance of getting the slides in. Um on the whole, my speakers did not do a lot of self-promotion, and I was okay with that at like at the end of their presentation, but then there was a couple of them that were speaking about their business throughout their presentation. Now that wasn't the focus of the event. I was happy to promote, I was happy to promote the speakers, but um, you know, there's what I do here, you know, Midlife Unlimited, it's not a business podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 38:33

Yes, at the end, my wonderful guests get to say what they do and you know connect, but no, it it's it's not a sales, you weren't doing this for people just to be able to sell their products or their services. No, no.

SPEAKER_00: 38:46

Um, so yeah, so I'm gonna have a speaker contract. Also, I mean, this is kind of um linking in with some of the lessons that I've learned, but I um I got people who were a m who were amazing in their field. But uh the other thing that you need to be conscious of, and it sounds a bit mercenary, but you need to look at their social media following because um people that I had um you know who who spoke who were amazing, but they either didn't have a social any much social media following, so they weren't really promoting it. And also um I had people who work online and their audience are down south who or elsewhere in the world, which is brilliant, but would they um you know travel to Glasgow for this event? So you have to be a bit strategic and um yeah, and a bit more prof I it's not that I wasn't professional, but it was just I was a little bit it's putting your PR hat on as well, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 40:01

Yeah, I mean did did you manage to get any local press or radio coverage?

SPEAKER_00: 40:06

Um I was on a couple of local radio stations, I've been on um a few local podcasts, um, but that is an area that I would probably need to uh focus a bit more on next.

SPEAKER_01: 40:23

Anyone out there listening that can is you know local that thinking already they're salivating game, yes, I want to get my hands on this. We're gonna get this promoted. So we'll be sharing your details again later on in the episode.

SPEAKER_00: 40:37

Thank you. I uh I spoke to one of the or the equipment of ITV. Um I had I've got a contact there, but she said because it was a commercial project, they couldn't cover it. But I am gonna I'm gonna wheedle my way in in some way. I'm sure there's a hook. I'm sure, yeah, there must be a hook. Yeah. Um so uh so yeah, that was you know, lessons learned. Um and uh speakers, I'm just thinking of other things, it's something else popped into my head there, so I just need to note that down so I don't forget it. Um so yeah, that's kind of how I came in with a structure, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 41:19

So obviously, you know, you've you've had a little bit of time to decompress and are there an outstanding highlight, or was it just certain things throughout the day? How were you feeling on the day? We were you nervous, were you thinking it's gonna be good? Were you like whatever happens, I've done it, it's out of my hands to a certain extent.

SPEAKER_00: 41:44

Uh it's interesting because um we went into the venue the afternoon before and dropped everything off and got the room set up, which was great. And that is you know, that's important to be able to do that. And when I first said I was going to do that at the venue, I was told I was gonna be charged for that. But then what I would say is just hold off and uh don't always take the first response as gospel because I didn't have to pay pay for that, but it's really important to do that because there was a little bit of a breakdown in communication regarding the setup of the venue, and you do not want that happening on the morning or just before your your event. Um, when I first uh I got up on Saturday morning before my event, I said to my friends, oh, I said, I can't wait for this to be over with. I was feeling a bit sick actually. I just thought, oh goodness, but then as soon as I got there, you know, I was I was on form, and it was amazing seeing all the women arriving and just getting to meet women and realizing how much benefit they were going to derive from the event and how much they needed it and wanted it and appreciated me having organized it. That was a big deal for me, you know. Um, it wasn't about ego or anything, it was just realizing that what I've done and all the work I've put in over the last 10 months, I've done it for the right reasons.

SPEAKER_01: 43:26

It's truly life-changing, and I'm using that, I'm using that phrase in in its real sense because you've you've made the all this support and all this information accessible. And the actual face-to-face in-person impact is really powerful.

SPEAKER_00: 43:43

Yeah, and that's the thing you were saying about online events, they're great, you know. And I I'm gonna be doing some free webinars, offering some free webinars between now and the next event. But nothing beats getting women into a room together, but it's the connections that you forge as well.

SPEAKER_01: 44:02

It's not just listening to the speakers, it's not just the exhibitors, it's the conversations over a coffee. Yeah, it's meeting people that you may never meet, or you've been connected perhaps on Facebook or or wherever. Yeah, but actually that five-minute conversation in real life, and I don't mean business-wise necessarily, I mean in terms of women together, having a good old conflab.

SPEAKER_00: 44:28

I know, I mean, my my school friends, I was a little bit nervous about them being there because I thought, well, they don't know anybody, and are they you know going to be able to understand people because Scottish people do talk really fast, and I'm so used to it. And you know, I saw them and they were just you know mixing in with everybody, which was lovely, and then I know of at least two collaborate which are business-related collaborations, which have happened as a result of the summit. But I also know of you know, friendships that have that have formed. Um, I love that. So, you know, people exchanging numbers and like on well, because originally my event was going to be on World Menopause Day, and then someone said to me, Oh, it's you know, it's the end of the school holidays in Scotland. So I put it back to the 25th, and then um I actually went round on World Menopause Day and supported three different um events, and one of them was a lady who uh totally voluntarily she sets up stalls and she gets materials from uh Diane Dansebrink, who's one of the Menopause pioneers, she's her charity is Menopause Support, and she sits and has got all this literature for Menopause Support. I went along to hers and I was chatting to her, and there were two ladies uh at her stall, they were strangers uh they'd never met before, and I said to them, I'd love to invite you along to my event, and I gave them free tickets. Um, they were really nervous about coming along, but they came together, so there's a friendship formed, and it was just lovely to see them there, you know. So for me, those are the highlights, those connections that people make. Um, and I had one of um the exhibitors is somebody that I've met through uh Glasgow Girls Club, and she does all natural skincare, and she was, you know, I saw how popular her stall was. That that means a lot to me to see other people thriving. Um, so yeah, those were really my my highlights, you know. Yeah, all the speakers were great. I felt like a proud mum when all the speakers were on. They were so they were so good. Um and yeah, that and just see all that it all happening and people getting so much from the event. And I did actually enjoy the day. The only thing that I didn't enjoy was the fact we ran over around for time a bit, and it was it was hard to stop people speaking because the stuff that they were sharing was so important.

SPEAKER_01: 47:18

Yeah, it's how do you go? Nope.

SPEAKER_00: 47:20

So that really was the that was the only thing that for me was a was a big learning point, and it's something that I'm gonna address with my event next year. Um I'm so excited about it. No, it was it was it was yeah, it was good.

SPEAKER_01: 47:37

It was good. I'm gutted I wasn't there. I'm gonna have to, I'm gonna be heading up yeah, heading up right. Yeah, we will be giving your details in a minute about how we want not just ladies and men if you want to, but not just ladies who want to come along. We want sponsors to get in touch with you, we want media outlets, we want magazines, we want papers, we want radio, everyone to get in contact with you. So I will be giving your details in a minute. But before we do, I'm gonna ask you, completely unrelated, but maybe inspired by your three questions that I ask each of my fabulous female guests. So the first question is firstly, what is your midlife anthem? And secondly, was there a piece of music? Did you play your midlife anthem at the summit?

SPEAKER_00: 48:27

It's an interesting question because I did think about having music at the summit, but it would have been an added stressor for me. And I did start to identify some really powerful female singers and you know, appropriate uh songs of theirs. But then I thought, well, what if um it triggers people in the room, or you know, I had to just think about everybody in the room. Maybe next time I will have it um before um people go into the into the rooms. Um but when it came to picking my anthem, I I mean uh music is very emotive and it is very powerful. And I thought, right, what is mine? Because there's a lot, there's I've got so many such an eclectic taste in music, and there's so many uh pieces of music which have been important to me during life. But the one that I've picked is actually a very recent piece of music that I've become familiar with, and you've probably not heard of the singer because they're Scottish, but I went to a concert uh last month on my own because that's what I do. I don't wait for you, I don't wait to be invited or I'm quite I'm quite happy to go along, and it's actually a singer that when I first moved up to Scotland at the very naive age of 24 was really popular, and she had an amazing um an amazing uh album out at the time. Um it's oh god, I can't remember what it was called, but she was playing those tracks, and I sat in the audience and I actually got quite emotional because I was thinking back to me when I was 24.

SPEAKER_01: 50:20

It does, it just transports you, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 50:22

And at that age, there was no way I would have organized the this event. Anyway, she had a new track and it's called Superpower, and the name of the um singer is Horse MacDonald, which is a very Scottish surname, isn't it? Yeah, and no, you wouldn't have done like this. I'm gonna be straight onto Spotify afterwards. Oh no, honestly, because she has got an amazing voice, but I don't know if she's made a conscious decision not to um you know hit the big time lights in the same as uh Louis Capaldi has. But let me just I just googled it actually, uh, because I listen to it all the time in my in my car because I bought her CD and that will also link into what my the name of my autobiography, but it actually says when you Google her, it says it's described as an anthem of female empowerment, resilience, strength, and self self-belief, which I think is very important appropriate, yeah. So because we've all got a superpower, it doesn't have to be you know that you can run a 5k in less than 30 minutes, or you know, you're great at baking cakes and doing all the fancy um icing on them. We've all got a superpower, and her superpower she sings about is her singing, dancing, although she says she's rubbish at dancing, but it just it fitted in nicely with the song loving and giving. And I just think that's so please, if you can, listen to superpower by Horse McDonald.

SPEAKER_01: 52:09

We will all be heading over there, over there. Oh, I love that. I love new things, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 52:13

I love learning new things, yes. Her and her other her track. Um, I can't remember it's something sky is her CD that I was listening to when I first came up to Scotland. And then, so I'm gonna can I jump to question three?

SPEAKER_01: 52:28

Yeah, and then don't let me forget. Yeah, we'll we'll jump to question three, then we'll we'll loop back to question two. Yeah, so your autobiography.

SPEAKER_00: 52:37

So my autobiography would be called The Road Less Travelled, because I have kind of lived my life doing things slightly differently. Um and um, you know I've done things that a lot of people don't have the don't have the confidence to do. And I can't believe that I've done them because when I, as I say, when I was younger, I was so shy, I was so lacking in confidence. But I kind of, if somebody says to me, Oh, you can't do I will try and do it, you know. Um so yeah, so the roadless traveled, I really think I I've I'm really excited by that that journey, and ironically, her horse McDonald's CD, her latest one, is called The Roadless Travelled, and again, that is complete coincidence.

SPEAKER_01: 53:32

Goose bumps, goose bumps, yeah, which leads me then back to question two, so I don't forget because I'm bound to because I'm having a really big brain frog day today, I'm afraid. What is your midlife mantra?

SPEAKER_00: 53:46

Gosh, this was a really tricky one as well for me to think of. Um, but it's something actually that I used to jokingly say to my children, and for anybody who knows me, I am very uh it's the word straight lace, but I stick to I stick to the law, and I, you know, I'm very well, I respect um authority, but my my venture is rules are meant to be broken.

unknown: 54:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 54:20

Which is a bit of the rebellious smash the mould, smash the mould. Yeah, yeah, and I think it kind of links in with the road less travel, doesn't it? It's just the fact that you know you don't have to do things the way that you're you're necessarily told to do them. So for instance, I am um I've done a lot of project management. I mean, organizing an event is project management, and I went on the Prince 2 course for project management and it meant nothing to me. I have my own style for organizing things. Yes, it may be a little bit chaotic, it's typically ADHD styly, but it works for me. So yeah, I think sometimes you need to you need to um adapt the rules to to suit you.

SPEAKER_01: 55:08

I love that. I love that. I'm with you, I'm with you. Right, the moment that listeners have been waiting for. How can they all connect with you? Now, obviously, your details are in the show notes and on your guest profile on the Midlife Unlimited podcast website. But over to you to verbally talk us through how we can get in touch with you.

SPEAKER_00: 55:29

Well, I'm I'm all over social media, although you know I'm still developing my audience, but you can find me, I'm Andrea ClareArt.uk on uh Instagram, um, and I'm Andrea Clare Clare on uh Facebook, Claire Without an I. And then um my website is Andrea Clareart.uk. Um, I'm on LinkedIn as as well. Um again as Andrea Clare. Claire is my middle name, by the way, but I've adopted it as my my post post-divorce surname. And then um if you want to find out Summit, is there a website or yes? I was gonna say if you want to find out about Scottish Pause Summit, you'll find there are pages on Instagram and on Facebook called Scottish and on LinkedIn actually called Scottish Pause Summit. P-A-U-S-E, not P-A-W-S, not like dog pause, yeah. Captions that always, you know, auto-generated captions, they always come up with that option. Um, and then there's the ScottishPawsummit.co.uk.

SPEAKER_01: 56:43

That is fabulous. And I say all these links are in the show notes and on the website. And listeners, I'd love your feedback on today's episode because thank you, Andrea. It's been fabulous. There is so much information there. I think everyone's going to be inspired. Um, yeah, so leave a review, or you can email or text me via the link in the show notes and come and join the Midlife Unlimited podcast Facebook group, wouldn't you? Again, link in the show notes where you'll find the link to the website where there's details of my VIP Midlife Metamorphosis coaching offer and my one-to-one popular podcast cherry offer, too. So thank you for joining me today, Andrew. It's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you for listening. I look forward to you tuning in next week because don't forget Midlife Unlimited has a new episode every Thursday available wherever you listen to your podcasts. So here's to being fabulous and flourishing together and living Midlife Unlimited. Thanks, Andrew. You've been brilliant.