I’m 42, married to my best friend, and mom to two boys who keep me humble on a daily basis.

For nearly two decades I built a career in corporate America. I climbed, I delivered, I showed up. And somewhere in there, I also built something I didn’t expect to matter as much as it did: a community of women who had my back.

Turning 40 cracked something open. I went back to school for my Executive MBA at the University of Michigan, because apparently midlife crises look like spreadsheets and case studies now. I sold the suburban house and moved into a scrappy little lake home from the 1980s that needs more work than I probably admitted to when I bought it. And then, just to keep things interesting, I got laid off.

You’d think that would knock me down. Instead, it kicked open a door I didn’t even know I was standing in front of.

Here’s where I landed: I’m done. Done shrinking, done performing, done saying yes to things that drain me just because I’m “supposed” to. This is my next era, and I’m the one writing it. I’m only doing work and projects that actually bring me joy, full stop.

That community of women I built for 20 years in the corporate grind? I’m not letting go of it. I’m growing it. Because I know I’m not the only one going through this. Redefining what success even means once the corner office loses its shine. Navigating perimenopause and wondering why nobody warned us it would feel like this. Rebuilding after a divorce, or a layoff, or a marriage that looks different once the kids are gone. Figuring out who you are when you stop performing for everyone else’s expectations. Finding your people again after 40, when making friends suddenly feels like a full contact sport.

I don’t have this all figured out. I have a mess, and a lot of it. But I’ve decided my mess is my message, and I’m here to talk about it out loud, with the women who are standing in their own version of it right now.

Welcome to The Encore Era. Let’s build the next act together.