With guest Csilla Gergely, writer of Feminine Energy for Midlife Women

What does it actually take to build a meaningful presence online after 40, without losing yourself in the process?

In this episode, Kiran sits down with Csilla Gergely, a former corporate finance executive turned pole dancer, choir singer, and Substack writer based in Spain. Six months ago, Csilla had three subscribers, one of whom was herself. Today she's building a quietly powerful community of midlife women, one joyful, honest conversation at a time.

Together, Kiran and Csilla pull back the curtain on what actually moved the needle for both of them, and it wasn't the algorithm.

They talk about the co-authored article that changed everything for Csilla, why easy questions get the most honest answers, and the compound effect of ten women showing up together. Kiran shares her own turning point, the moment she stopped performing as the expert and started writing from the messy, real, 3 am version of herself. And what happened when Instagram and Facebook suspended her accounts without warning, and why it turned out to be something of a gift.

This is a conversation about vulnerability as strategy, connection as currency, and what it looks like to build something that genuinely belongs to you, not to a platform that could disappear tomorrow.

If you're a woman over 40 writing into the void and wondering if it's worth it, this episode is for you.

In this episode:

• Why Csilla went from 3 to 145+ subscribers by asking one simple question about joy
• The mechanics behind a co-authored article that actually builds community
• What made Kiran finally drop the expert persona, and what happened when she did
• On vulnerability online: healing, not oversharing
• Why focusing on one platform changed everything
• The truth about algorithms, suspended accounts, and building something that's actually yours

Links mentioned:

• Csilla's Substack: Feminine Energy for Midlife Women
• Joy Over 40: Part 1 & Part 2
• Kiran's series: 85 Weeks to Fifty
• Midlife Circle membership: £8/month or £80/year

In this episode of Midlife by Design: Curating Your Next Chapter, I’m sharing the audio version of my very first Substack Live: a beautiful conversation hosted by Lana Jean Telles on Worthy and Wild, alongside Rosanne from Well This Is New.

The conversation, Women on Identity: When Who You’ve Been No Longer Fits, explores one of the most tender and truthful parts of midlife: the moment you realise that an old identity, role, routine, or way of living no longer feels like you.

Together, we talk about identity shifts, becoming, visibility, community, and the quiet courage it takes to admit that something has changed within you, even before you know exactly what comes next.

This episode is less of a polished interview and more of a real-time conversation between women navigating and witnessing the many layers of midlife. Honest, reflective, and deeply human, it’s an invitation to listen in and perhaps recognise your own becoming in our words.

For more reflections and support, visit Kiransinghuk.com and join me on Substack at Midlife by Design: Curating Your Next Chapter.

In this episode of Midlife by Design: Curating Your Next Chapter, I’m talking about the quiet but powerful work of curating your life, not in a perfectionist or picture-perfect way, but as an act of alignment.

Midlife has a way of showing us what no longer belongs: the old routines, clothes, digital spaces, business profiles, cupboards, habits, and identities that once made sense but now feel like quiet friction. And sometimes, the reason we feel overwhelmed isn’t that our lives are too much; it’s because we’re surrounded by too many things that no longer fit who we are becoming.

This episode is an invitation to look at your life with fresh honesty: your home, your wardrobe, your phone, your pantry, your calendar, your business, your to-do list. Not to overhaul everything overnight, but to ask one simple question: “Does this still belong to the woman I am becoming?”

We explore why curation is not superficial; it’s self-respect. It’s about creating a life where the things around you feel chosen, useful, beautiful, supportive, and true. It’s about giving your future self room to breathe in your present life.

If you’ve been feeling cluttered, stuck, or quietly out of sync, this episode will help you begin gently: one drawer, one shelf, one app, one routine, one honest decision at a time. Because curating your next chapter isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about choosing what gets to come with you, and letting the rest go.

If this piece stirred something in you, I’d love to know.

Tap the ♡ below, leave a thought in the comments, or share it with a woman who might need these words today.

And if you’re ready to go deeper, you’re warmly invited to join The Midlife Circle, where I share reflections, private audio, prompts, and gentle guidance for women navigating midlife with greater intention and self-trust.

You can also buy me a Matcha Latte as a small thank-you for the work I pour into this space. Every single one is received with so much gratitude.

Mostly, though, thank you. For being here. For reading. For reflecting. For walking this season with me. It means everything to know these words are landing somewhere real x