October wordy round-up

Thoughts worth thinking, stuff worth reading

Sue Moore

Oct 09, 2024

Hot takes for you, following the month of Fresh Starts -

The world's biggest recruitment company insulted the over-55s. Arguably the over-45s as well. Indeed they did.
Is Freddie Flintoff the nation's wisest father?
Would you consider singing your retirement speech?

✍🏻 Reading round-up

Ever used that job-finding site, Indeed?

Then you'll be interested to know that for a brief moment they published a guide (since removed) to career stages, with ages 21-25 labelled as Exploration, 25-35 as Establishment, 35-45 as Mid-Career, 45-55 as Late-Career and the over-55s labelled as (wait for it) Decline. Yes, just one word. And they picked Decline. It's a ludicrous misrepresentation of the midlife women I know who are building thriving businesses. If that's you, stick around and we'll do the opposite of declining together. (Thanks to Sharon from Best Before End Date for drawing my attention to this).

A mild rant about emails - How (not) to do marketing to midlife women.

I've unlocked some paid posts on copy psychology.

Are you an Early bird or night owl?

Do you coffee-shop solo? I went to Strandfield near Dundalk last week and had a blast people-watching (and fig-watching) with my flat white.

Busy summer and in the mood to cosy-up this autumn? This workshop from Gina Torres-Perryman on creating cosy spaces in your life through boundary-setting offers perfectly serene cues for hectic writers.

📺 Twisties, Freddie & Brat Summer

You had opinions on cheerleading after I wrote about the Dallas Cowboys show on Netflix. I can see why. In that overused word, problematic.

My summer of sport has rolled into autumn with an episode of You're Wrong About, covering the story of a woman who cheated in the Boston Marathon.

I also watched the Simone Biles documentary on Netflix, and found out the meaning of twisties. Scary.

And my best watch recently was Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams on Tour. Have you seen it? What a heart-warmer.

When Kellie Harrington retired after winning Olympic Gold in Paris, she chose to sing her farewell message instead of making a speech. Gutsy, and I like it.

Here's a fantastic podcast recommendation for you - The Rest is Entertainment with Marina Hyde and Richard Osman. I've speed-listened to quite a few recently. The one about Matthew Perry and the Dark Hollywood Underbelly was good. And I finally found out what Brat Summer was in an earlier episode.

Now they see us …

If you’re interested in the crossroads where marketing and midlife women meet, I’ve got a whole new section on my Substack, which looks like this.

PS Midlifer? Ready to work on your messaging?

🐦‍⬛ Then you're ready for Birdsong, my messaging workshop for midlife women. The next one is online on Thursday 21st November at 1230 (bring your coffee). We're going to practise and fine-tune how you talk about your business, by actually working live on your own messaging. So you finish up with an intro or one-liner that you're confident to share. It costs £32 and there's space for 5 women. Love to hear your voice there. Here's where you book.

Decline, Indeed? Certainly not.

Anything you’d like to recommend? Feel free to share in the comments. Your stuff or something else.