The Wobbly Middle

Pin It To Win It: The Neuroscience of Vision Boards
Bonus Episode: Investigative wellness journalist Rebecca Newman (Financial Times, The Guardian, GQ) draws on the work of neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart, author of The Source, to explain what’s going on in our brains when we make an action board and how they sharpen our sight line through the wobbly middle.
Then we head to the craft room, where theory meets practice - or rather, where scissors and glue meet cork board - as we make our own boards.
They are a way of keeping our goals front and centre, something we live with. A daily point of orientation, keeping us facing forward.
If you enjoyed this episode
If you enjoyed this bonus episode, check out our [] we opened the mailbag to respond our subscribers (occasionally panic-tinged) everywoman questions about navigating the midlife career odyssey.
And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review.
And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review.
THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode.
SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
READ MORE SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle
ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle.
THANK YOU: This episode was produced by Patsy Day and Rebecca Newman. Studio recording by The Pod Collective. Thank you also to St Bernard’s Road Craft Room and to Luke Rogers. .

Magistrate Pip Symington hands down her rulings on romantic break-ups (seek adventure), work break-ups (consult friends and therapy), and how to rebuild when the ground falls away beneath you.
When a long-term relationship ended in her twenties, Pip landed a job in Asia and set off to practise her Japanese. She loved her work as a risk consultant, but over time the lines between work, family and social life blurred, until her job became her whole identity - right up to the day she was made redundant.
That rupture forced a rethink. Turning to friends and a bit of therapy, Pip began redesigning the shape of her working life. She no longer wanted one all-consuming thing, opting instead for a combination that could sustain her. Today, that means family, study and service — sitting as a magistrate alongside raising her children and researching a PhD. And as for what the future holds? Well, that way lies adventure.
Interested in volunteering as a magistrate? You can find out more here: https://magistrates.judiciary.uk/how-to-volunteer/

If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll love our Season One episode From Lab to Lifeline with another Oxford-based guest, Dr Emily Connally. Emily is a an experimental psychologist who founded a food bank at the school gate that’s now reshaping how local networks respond to food waste.
And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review.
THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode.
SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
READ MORE SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle
ABOUT THE HOST:
Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle.
RECORDING STUDIO: Thank you to Jack and Hugo from The PodCollective.

Our new season launches on 19 January — Blue Monday — that mid-January moment when morale plummets, resolutions flatline and job searches spike.
So we’re sending in The Wobbly Middle to refuel your sense of possibility in the year ahead.
This season is hosted by Patsy Day, a lawyer navigating the wobbly middle of her own career. Patsy will be speaking to women who have forged bold new paths in their 40s and beyond — pivoting careers, returning after a break, building businesses, and finally taking their long-neglected dreams seriously.
Season 3 features:
Lynn Harris — award-winning journalist (The Washington Post, Salon, The New York Times, Glamour) and founder of comedy school GOLD Comedy
Julianne Miles MBE — marketer-turned-psychologist and founder of Career Returners, one of the world’s largest return-to-work platforms and author of Return Journey.
Pip Symington — risk consultant-turned-magistrate and PhD researcher.
Carri Simmons — drama teacher who returned to university at 38 to retrain as a psychologist
Jacquie Duckworth — advertiser and founder of Visible Start and whose mission to change the social narrative of midlife women and their role in society and the workplace.

Until then, if you’re new to The Wobbly Middle, get stuck into Season 1, Episode 1 with The Super Docs Navigating The Hormonal Highway, two brilliant doctors who founded their own hormone clinic after realising there was nowhere to refer patients who needed better support.
And if you like what you hear, please follow, share and leave a review.
THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Tuesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode.
SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at [email protected] — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs.
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle
ABOUT THE HOST:
Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam alongside The Wobbly Middle.

Actress, writer, podcaster, and mother of three, Salima Saxton joins The Wobbly Middle Season 2 finale to talk about reclaiming yourself. From centre stage to the school gate and back again, Salima shares what it took to reawaken her creative life after years on mute.
In this warm, frank conversation, she reflects on the disconnection so many women feel after stepping back from their careers - and how she wrote her way back into her multi-hyphenate roles. Together with hosts Susannah de Jager and Patsy Day, Salima dives into the messy middle of rediscovery, thrills at the power of women’s anger, and throws the idea of “balance” straight overboard.

If you’ve ever felt like you left parts of yourself behind, this one’s for you.

(00:00) - Welcome to The Wobbly Middle

(00:46) - Reflections on Fitting In and Being True to Yourself

(02:33) - Introducing Salima Saxton

(03:47) - Salima's Early Career and Family Life

(07:49) - The Challenges of Motherhood

(13:29) - Rediscovering Identity Through Writing

(16:25) - The Reality of Success and Failure

(20:27) - The Inception of 'Women are Mad' Podcast

(27:58) - Estrangement and Family Reflections

(31:45) - Final Thoughts

THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode.
SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us at [email protected]—your pivot might just be the nudge someone else needs.
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com
LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle
ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same.
Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025) and co-hosting, The Wobbly Middle, a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.

From olympic dreams to a digital sisterhood, Joy Foster traded a career in the City for a quiver of arrows, followed love across borders and then and then, somewhat accidentally, became a digital entrepreneur. 
Her creation, TechPixies, now serves as both launchpad and lifeline for women looking to pivot, re-enter the workforce, or start from scratch.
In this episode, Joy talks about what it means to bloom wherever you’re planted even when the soil is foreign or the sun unreliable. She shares her belief that confidence is a decision, reinforced daily through small acts of doing. From five-minute power moves to three-year plans, Joy’s practical, no-nonsense guidance is both energising and refreshingly doable.
If you’re stalled, stuck, or quietly simmering with ideas, this conversation will propel you from inertia to momentum. 

(00:00) - Welcome to The Wobbly Middle

(01:48) - Introducing Joy Foster

(03:28) - Joy's Philosophy on Confidence

(04:51) - Crafting a Vision for Your Life

(09:18) - Joy's Personal Bravery

(12:37) - Challenges in Switzerland

(15:20) - Resilience and Support Systems

(17:14) - Empowering Women Through Tech Pixies

(20:14) - Navigating Grants and Funding

(24:57) - Reflections and Advice

THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: NEW EPISODES drop every second Wednesday. Follow now so you never miss an episode.
SHARE YOUR STORY: Made a left turn in your career? We’d love to hear about it. Write to us at [email protected]—your pivot might just be the nudge someone else needs.
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER:  thewobblymiddle.substack.com
LEARN MORE ON SUBSTACK: thewobblymiddle.substack.com
FOLLOW US on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook @thewobblymiddle
ABOUT THE HOSTS:

Susannah de Jager has just relocated to Abu Dhabi, where she’s podcasting, consulting with start-ups, and occasionally advising on scale-up capital. After leaving her role as CEO of a boutique asset manager, she asked the all-important question: what next? Five years later, she’s following her curiosity —The Wobbly Middle is for her and every woman doing the same.
Patsy Day is a lawyer on a break. As an intellectual property specialist, she has worked on everything from anti-counterfeiting to publishing and from London to Ho Chi Minh City and back again. Patsy lives in Oxford and is currently immersed in podcasts producing SafeHouse Amsterdam (out 2025) and co-hosting, The Wobbly Middle, a podcast about women reinventing their careers in midlife.