News flash: We all age! Every day! And yet the world can be tough on us for doing just that. So how do we move forward with joy and learn to celebrate all our phases of life as women? And might we be inadvertently contributing to ageism in our society without even realizing it?

I’m so happy to get to share such a thoughtful conversation about reclaiming aging joyfully, thanks to leadership coach, speaker, and author Karen Walrond, who shares insights from her award-winning Radiant Rebellion: Reclaim Aging, Practice Joy, and Raise a Little Hell (Amazon, B&N, bookshop.org).

It’s a great discussion about the history of our society’s journey toward devaluing aging, the impact of marketing, the importance of gratitude, tips for checking our language and biases,  and overall, a wonderful and honest perspective on how we all — and especially women — can reclaim aging as something to aspire to and celebrate. – Liz

I realized was guilty of saying things like “I don’t feel old.”
Ashton Applewhite asked if I meant things like unsexy and invisible, and I said, yeah.
She said, “well, I don’t know about you but I felt unsexy and invisible at 13. Those aren’t age-related terms.” – Karen Walrond.

Take a listen right here, or on your favorite podcasting app. – Liz

Get to know Karen more: Subscribe to her Substack The Chookooloonks Make Light Journal, and follow her on Instagram @heychookooloonks. Also check out this info on her remarkable retreat and workshop coming up this August at MEA in Santa Fe: Join the Radiant Rebellion & Reclaim Aging with Karen Walrond & Chip Conley

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Our Cool Picks of the Week: Karen is in love with the Shimpo pottery wheel — but at a studio. They’re spendy to buy for yourself! She also credits her Trinidadian upbringing (and her husband’s British one) for her insistence on having a good electric kettle at home (even if it’s an electric kettle under $50) and she can’t imagine how anyone can live without one.

Liz loves reading Sari Botton’s Oldster Magazine interviews of all kinds of fascinating people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond….including Karen Walrond! Also: In light of lots of recent hacks and data breaches, she highly highly recommends the 1Password app. She’s even gotten her own parents using it.

Our sponsor: Phyla Phortify Probiotic Serum 

Links and Helpful References From Today’s Episode:

• Ashton Applewhite, one of Karen’s mentors and experts on women, aging, and ageism.
• Ashton’s website, Yo, Is this Ageist?
• Rachel Sherman’s article on pre-teens taking Sephora hauls to summer camp (NYT Gift article)
• About Lisa LaFlamme, the Canadian news anchor fired for going grey — and the outrage from women that ensued.
• Tips for growing out your grey…if you are thinking about it. But no pressure whatsoever!
• Our interview with Karen about How to make change in the world, without losing your joy.

If you want to chat about today’s episode, pop into the Spawned Community on Facebook — or find me on Instagram at @coolmompicks or @mom101. Be sure to subscribe to Spawned wherever you get your podcasts and thank you for listening!