Middling Along

Middling Along is back after a longer-than-usual summer break, and we're returning with two guests who've spent nearly 15 years asking one question: what happens when men become part of the conversation on gender fairness at work, instead of standing outside it?

Brad Johnson is Professor Emeritus of Leadership, Ethics and Law at the US Naval Academy. David Smith is co-director of the Gender and Work Initiative at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Their new book, Fair Share: How Men and Women Can Create a More Equitable Workplace Together, is their third together, following Athena Rising and Good Guys. It moves on from individual allyship to the harder question of how to fix the systems that keep producing the same inequities.

This conversation is refreshingly blunt about what isn't working, and practical about what to do instead.

In this episode:

Why the workplace is broken for men too. Workplaces built for our grandfathers still assume women are natural carers and men are natural breadwinners. That fails dual-career families, drives men towards burnout, and leaves women carrying the load at home.

The surprising brain benefit of hands-on fathering. Engaged caregiving is linked to greater neuroplasticity and lower dementia risk in dads.

Stop treating gender fairness as a "women's issue." If all the progress in your organisation depends on an unfunded women's network and one person in HR, leadership doesn't own it.

Beyond the cupcakes-and-balloons International Women's Day panel. What leaders who mean it actually do: they stay in the room, share their personal "why", commit to measurable actions, and are open about the targets they miss.

"Fix the system, not the women." The story of a leadership award winner sent on her fifth women's leadership course, only to return to a workplace that hadn't changed at all.

Caring beyond childcare. Why new eldercare and caregiver leave policies go unused, and how coaching before, during and after leave changes that. Plus the leadership skills carers develop, and why returners are an untapped talent pool.

The DEI retreat. Some organisations rebranded, a minority walked away entirely, and some are rediscovering their courage.

A striking statistic. In the US, the share of men out of the workforce to provide eldercare tripled last year.

Takeaways for home and work. A domestic audit with your partner that covers the mental load, not just the tasks. Role modelling from every level of management. And a challenge to men: be willing to downshift your career for a season so your partner can step up.

If you're a sandwich carer, a manager trying to get beyond the performative, or you want someone in your life to hear this, this is the episode to share.

Links

Brad and David's work: workplaceallies.com

Fair Share, Good Guys and Athena Rising: https://workplaceallies.com/books/home

Brad Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wbradjohnson/ and David Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidgsmithphd/ on LinkedIn

Leah Ruppanner's MissPerceived podcast: https://www.leahruppanner.com/podcast

In this episode I chat to Kelly Keating: executive coach, master's student, and founder of new festival kid on the block, Wild and Wiser, a festival for women redefining success in midlife.

Kelly spent almost 30 years in corporate life before leaving at 47 to build a portfolio career around coaching, creativity, and connection. In this conversation, Kelly shares the story behind her reinvention, what finally pushed her to go all in, and why she decided to put on a festival.

 

Key topics covered

Kelly's squiggly career path from a grammar school girl labelled as "naughty" to account director, RNLI transformation lead, flexible working champion in financial services, and startup, before going all in on coaching

discovering a love of facilitation and bringing people together to improve systems using lean methodology

Flexible working advocacy and championing job sharing long before COVID, training hundreds of managers on job design

Her "fluid career": Kelly references the concept from Colin Newland: blending multiple strands of interest rather than following a linear path

The pivot point when her father died unexpectedly at 70, which became the catalyst: "What am I waiting for? Life isn't a practice run."

Why put on a festival? The convergence of Kelly's love of festivals, her wedding venue in Wareham Forest, the "Aspiring Women" network she'd built over 15 years, and a desire to amplify brilliant female voices

The Wild and Wiser ethos: by women, for women; embracing nature, intuition, and the wisdom you've always had

 

About Wild and Wiser Festival

Dates: 19–20 September 2026

Location: Wareham Forest, Dorset (glamping, camping, and day tickets available

 

Links & resources

Wild and Wiser festival: wildandwiser.co.uk

Instagram: @wildandwiser

Use Emma's code WWWKD10_EMMAT at checkout for a 10% discount on a weekend ticket

If life keeps speeding up and the demands keep stacking up (kids, parents, work, your own busy brain) then this one's for you.

In this episode I interview speaker, writer and self-development expert Lily Silverton about her book Prioritize This: A Practical Guide for Thriving in a World That Won't Slow Down.

We dig into three chapters that land hardest for the midlife squeezed middle: stress, overwhelm, and procrastination and some practical, brain-based tools for each. Lily is candid about her own experiences navigating the combination of a seriously ill father and young children, and why she has no time for self-help advice written for people with no heed for the demands of real life.

We discuss:

The two most robust, evidence-backed interventions — movement and social connection.

Building your own bespoke stress toolkit (the "pick and mix", not the prescriptive programme)

SITs and SATs: stress-inducing vs stress-alleviating thoughts, and turning the dial down on catastrophising

The multitasking myth — why it's really task switching, and what each switch costs you

Three questions to cut through overwhelm

Procrastination as emotional management, not time management - aka "what feeling am I avoiding?"

AI, the hamster wheel, and whether technology will actually save us time...

Resources and Links:

Lily's books: Prioritize This and The Priorities Method journal

Exercises and downloads at the Prioritize This website: https://www.prioritisethis.com/

Instagram: @lily_silverton

Website: lilysilverton.com

Substack: https://prioritisethis.substack.com/

Don't forget you can find out how to work with me and the back archive of this podcast at www.thetripleshift.org/starthere - and if you enjoyed this episode please do write us a short review to help others discover Middling Along!

We say "I've got nothing to wear" standing in front of a full wardrobe. Samantha Harman's argument is that the sentence has nothing to do with clothes — it's about not knowing who we're supposed to be.

In this episode I talk to best-selling author, stylist and former journalist Samantha Harman about her book Just Get Dressed: Why You Have Nothing to Wear and What to Do About It — a styling book with no pictures and no body-shape rules, built instead around the inner work most of us avoid. It's a conversation about generational trauma, the prehistoric brain, the martyrdom of the women in the squeezed middle, and why getting dressed in the morning is so flipping hard.

What we cover:

Why "nothing to wear" is never about a lack of clothes... and what your wardrobe is actually a manifestation of (beliefs, identity, class, politics, generational trauma)

The problem with the personal styling industry: more rules, more prescription, more exhaustion

Epigenetics and the prehistoric brain — why being a visible woman registers as dangerous, and why the fabulous outfit stays on the hanger

Clothing as a business tool — and why men have always been allowed to use it while women get judged for it

The "bag of potatoes" meeting: how an ill-fitting supermarket shirt quietly costs you authority, presence and opportunity

The compare-and-despair cycle and the social-media misery machine: and the reminder that all of it, even "authentic" personal brands, is marketing

Enclothed cognition: why what you wear changes the actions you take (and how you handle Barry from accounts)

Midlife as an opportunity, not a decline — finances, time, intelligence, and finding the rooms with brilliant women in them

Two exercises from the book: meeting the 5-year-old who's really running your wardrobe, and the letter from your 90-year-old self

Emotional spending, scarcity tactics and how retailers weaponise your feelings — plus the fast-fashion harm hiding behind "retail therapy"

The wardrobe edit as a non-negotiable business activity — and the one thing to do first: get rid of what you hate

Find Samantha here:

Just Get Dressed: Why You Have Nothing to Wear and What to Do About It - available on Amaz*n, or justgetdressed.com

https://www.instagram.com/styleeditoruk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-harman-style-editor/

Enjoyed this episode? 

Follow Middling Along wherever you listen, and consider leaving a review — it genuinely helps other midlife women find the show. For weekly research and commentary on midlife wellbeing, subscribe to Emma's Substack, The Messy Middle: https://middlingalong.substack.com/

Alex Perry is doing something unusual: he's a young man building a women's health-led underwear brand, and talking openly about menopause, mastectomy recovery and vulval health while he does it.

In this conversation, Emma and Alex explore:

How his company, Alexander Clementine pivoted from a sustainable fashion focus into women's health after customer reviews and his own mum's breast cancer journey revealed an unmet need

Why use seaweed (and specifically Icelandic seaweed harvested every four years) to make a fabric naturally antibacterial, anti-odour, temperature-regulating, moisture-wicking, hypoallergenic and rich in antioxidants

The environmental case against synthetic underwear, and why fibres made from petrochemicals are particularly concerning in a menopause context (carcinogens, hormone disruptors, trapped heat and moisture)

"Menopause-washing" — how to read the label and spot brands cashing in without using fabrics that actually help

How the underwear helps with external-facing symptoms of menopause — hot flushes, heightened sensitivity, dry and itchy skin, vulval discomfort — and where it fits in breast cancer recovery (two-to-four weeks post-surgery, not as an immediate post-surgical compression bra)

Why Alex believes men need to be part of the menopause conversation — and the response he's had from men his own age (spoiler: most know nothing about it)

Links & Resources

Alexander Clementine website: alexanderclementine.com

Instagram: @alexanderclementine (search Alexander Clementine)

Check out my earlier conversation with Jo and Rob, authors of Burning Up, Frozen Out — a book aimed at men with frameworks for having menopause conversations: https://www.thetripleshift.org/podcast/burning-up-frozen-out 

 
Note: Alex kindly gifted me a sample crop bra to try ahead of recording — there's no paid sponsorship, and as regular listeners know, I rarely talk about products on the podcast unless I've used them myself.

To find out more about ways to work with me please check out www.thetripleshift.org/starthere

You'll find me on Substack too https://middlingalong.substack.com/