Books and Chocolate: Tech entrepreneur Georgina Atwell on values-led, commercially minded change

Books and Chocolate: Tech entrepreneur Georgina Atwell on values-led, commercially minded change

Values-led and commercially minded Georgina Atwell turned a career crossroads moment and her knowledge of the publishing industry into two book businesses that give back. Georgina grew up with chocolate and books running through her veins — a family chocolate business on one side, a lifelong love of reading on the other. She spent eight happy years at Penguin, then was made redundant while on maternity leave. From her kitchen table she built Toppsta, a platform where children recommend books to each other, now home to more than 160,000 reviews. She did it on a shoestring: starting on Facebook, teaching herself newsletters, social media and the "dark art" of SEO from an online course. Now Georgina has launched Readerama, a second-hand books marketplace that channels funds back into authors, festivals and schools. Listen for her advice on starting something new, building businesses on a shoestring, the power of SEO and, of course, our best 2026 summer reads. If you enjoyed his episode: Make sure you follow us so you don't miss our episode with Wendy Welpton who tells us how she used social media to build her Reclaim Movement Programme. You might also love The Accidental Influencer: Hut-to-Hut Hikes, Night Trains and Going Viral with Bea Searle (Season 4). Like Georgina, travel blogger Bea built an online business from scratch around something she genuinely loved. Links Toppsta: https://toppsta.com/ Readerama: https://readerama.com/ Georgina Atwell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georginaatwell/ Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes are released every other Tuesday. You can find out more on our Substack page: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searle Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searle The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643 The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv Help Us Grow If this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference: Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts. Share this episode with a friend— if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum. Share Your Story Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. About The Host Join recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward. Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it. This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.

The Accidental Influencer: Hut-to-Hut Hikes, Night Trains and Going Viral | Bea Searle |

Travel blog income, going viral on Instagram and hut-to-hut hiking with kids - Bea Searle turned school holiday travel into a midlife career. Bea Searle has never quite known what she wanted to do but she is totally at ease with that. A part-qualified accountant who escaped the Big Four, she worked in top-end travel until her second child made the five-week India trips impossible. In lockdown, she started a travel blog, Wild Bee Outdoors, for the joy of it but as the world opened up so she left it go. Eighteen months ago she restarted it properly - an SEO course, a rebuilt website, a focus on train travel in Europe and the adventures she and her kids actually do. Then one post about an independent trip to Finland went viral, and 1,000 Instagram followers became 54,000 in a week. This is about travel as joy rather than logistics, hut-to-hut hiking in the Dolomites, cycling Austria's river paths on a Haribo economy and how an "accidental influencer" is now replacing her old salary by virtue of the freedom of her blog. If you know a lot about something, Bea's advice is simple: just start. BONUS EPISODE WITH BEA: For members of The Wobbly Middle Club over on Substack [https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/], there's a bonus episode (release date: 8 July 2026) where Bea gets into the nuts and bolts of blogging: why she chose WordPress as her blog building platform, engagement differs from Facebook to Insta to Pinterest, and how ad income actually works on a blog. Bea also shares the details of that SEO course that changed things for her. More about Bea Searle Bea Searle of Wild Bee Outdoors [https://wildbeeoutdoors.co.uk/] is a family travel blogger specialising in active, sensible-budget European adventures — hut-to-hut hiking, multi-day cycle routes and train travel with kids. A former Deloitte accountant and luxury tour operator, she restarted her lockdown blog eighteen months ago, went viral on Instagram in January, and is now replacing her former part-time salary with income from her blog and brand partnerships. Key Topics * From Deloitte to the departures board— scraping the accountancy exams, the Big Four's "half day" culture at 6:30pm, and why Bea has never regretted leaving a job * The lockdown blog that became a business — restarting with an SEO course, affiliate links and brand partnerships, and what travel blog income really looks like (one kids' hiking backpack sold a day) * Going viral on Instagram — 1,000 to 54,000 followers in a week, the freak-out about her kids' faces, and her husband's billboard advice * School holiday travel her kids can actually do — hut-to-hut hiking at the Tre Cime in the Dolomites, Austria's traffic-free Radweg cycle paths, and a snack-per-kilometre ratio powered by Haribo Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. New episodes are released every other Tuesday. You can find out more on our Substack page: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searle Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep32-bea-searle The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643 The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv Help Us Grow If this episode resonated with you, here are two ways you can make a real difference: Leave a review here — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts. Share this episode with a friend— if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, please send this to them. Knowing that they are on this road with others can help build momentum. Share Your Story Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. About The Host Join recovering lawyer Patsy Day as she navigates her own midlife career crossroads in real time. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been having was returning ambition, and she began actively questioning her direction. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward. Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. In Season 4, she's speaking to the women who changed direction in midlife to build the things that make our summers: the holidays we book, the books we read, the swimwear we brave, and the financial confidence to enjoy it. This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.

Legendary Mermaid, Rita King, On Going Back To Mermaid School in her 60s

Rita King is a Legendary Siren - a mermaid at Florida's Weeki Wachee Springs - who returned to the water after a whole working life away. She first performed in the famous mermaid shows as a teenager in the late 1960s, then raised a family, taking the sensible route to pay the bills. But the pull to the water never faded. When she retired from the US Postal Service at 60, Rita retrained at mermaid school and waited four years for a place among the Legendary Sirens to open up. Now she runs adult mermaid camps for women who come from all over. This Season 4 opener is about intrinsic motivation and reclaiming the part of yourself you set aside. Have you drifted from something you once loved? THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. New episodes every other Tuesday. ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a recovering lawyer navigating her own midlife career crossroads. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been feeling was returning ambition. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward. IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE: You might also love our episode on how to make an action board: Pin It To Win It: The Neuroscience of Action Boards with Rebecca Newman (Season 3, Episode 2). If Rita's story is about honouring a wish or a dream you've held inside you and finally going for it; the Rebecca's is about the science of holding that wish in front of you and acting on it. It's an opportunity to be playful, to cut and stick and to start. Links Where to find out about mermaid camps at Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida — :https://weekiwachee.com/ Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643 https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep31-rita-king Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep31-rita-king TIME STAMPS - 02:30 — Becoming a mermaid in the late '60s and the magnetic pull to the water - 03:30 — Mermaid myths: custodians of the springs, manatees, and Columbus - 04:30 — Inside Weeki Wachee: the aquifer, the current, the underwater caverns - 06:00 — What it's really like to swim in a mermaid tail - 07:00 — "It spoiled me for any other job" and the rural swamp mail route - 07:50 — Going back to mermaid school: the four-year wait to become a Legendary Siren - 09:00 — The performance schedule and underwater safety for the young swimmers - 09:40 — Conservation: algae blooms, chemicals, and 17 springs that dried up - 10:00 — Adult mermaid camps: who comes, and how the women transform - 13:50 — The bond between the mermaids, across every age - 15:00 — Inspiring women of every age and size from the theatre - 17:40 — "How do I find the water baby in me again?" - 18:30 — Soul-searching, determination, and how badly you want it - 22:30 — What the little girl driven to Weeki Wachee would think now - 23:50 — Advice to her younger self: "Be more patient" - 24:00 — Season 4 preview: the women who bring us the sunshine HELP US GROW If this episode resonated with you, there are two simple things that make a real difference: * Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts. * Share this episode with a friend — if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, send them this one. Sometimes knowing you're not alone is all it takes. SHARE YOUR STORY Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective.

S4 Trailer: The Women Who Bring The Sunshine

For women rethinking their careers in midlife, Season 4 of The Wobbly Middle is here and this summer it belongs to the women who bring us the sunshine. The holiday you book. The book you pack. The swimwear you brave. The financial confidence to enjoy it. Host Patsy Day speaks to women who have navigated a career crossroads in midlife and gone on to build businesses, solve overlooked problems, or finally pursue long-neglected dreams. Like the mum of five who built a multi-million pound travel business and the US postal worker who went back to mermaid school in her 60s and now runs adult mermaid camps. There is also the Vogue editor leaving the ladder down for others to follow. Season 4, the Summer Edit, drops Monday 22 June, then every second Tuesday. SHOW NOTES Welcome to Season 4 of The Wobbly Middle — The Women Who Bring Us the Sunshine. This is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife - that in-between space where you know what you don't want to go back to, but haven't quite worked out the path forward. That's the wobbly middle. If you're at a career crossroads in your 40s or 50s, wondering whether a midlife career move is still possible, please give our pod a listen. We speak to women who have changed direction, backed themselves, and built things when the market didn’t provide. Together, their stories make the case that that restless feeling we have (call it our returning ambition?) is… well…normal. This season features: Rita King — A US postal worker who returned to mermaid school, in her 60s, to become one of the legendary mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs, Florida. (And she now runs the adult mermaid camps but hurry - they sell out soon). Helen Cannon — A superscaler who started building the multimillion pound Ison Travel when her fifth babe was wee. Bea Searle — The accidental influencer who became a go-to guide for families travelling Europe on a budget, and one of Cycling UK's 100 Women in Cycling 2025. Dolly Jones — Former digital editor at Vogue.co.uk, Digital Strategy Director at Condé Nast, and author of Leaving the Ladder Down on what she learned and why she's determined to bring other women with her. Danni Hewson — BBC business correspondent turned Head of Financial Analysis at AJ Bell. She swapped the newsroom for the analyst's chair to help make the world of finance more accessible for women. Georgina Magnotta — She faced redundancy, then founded Toppsta, the UK's biggest children's book review platform. Now she's launching Readerama, a new home for second-hand books. Sarah Jordan — Former Head of Digital Strategy at Oxfam, turned underwear entrepreneur and founder of Y.O.U Underwear. Purpose-led from the start. New episodes drop every second Tuesday from 22 June 2026. HELP US GROW If The Wobbly Middle has ever made you feel less alone in your career thinking, please share it. Tell a friend who needs a little career sunshine this summer. Leave us a review - it helps more women find us at their career crossroads Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly inspiration between episodes: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=s4-trailerthewobblymiddle.substack.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=s4-trailer [https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=s4-trailer] Follow us @thewobblymiddle on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. The Wobbly Middle is hosted and produced by Patsy Day. For press enquiries: press@thewobblymiddle.com

Going back to study: Executive MBA for Women | Urmi Dutta-Roy & Louise Welch

Executive MBA, going back to study as a mature student, and finding your tribe in midlife with Urmi Dutta-Roy (CFO, The Folio Society) and Louise Welch (ex-PlayStation, now working fractionally) are executive MBA alumnae and good friends. In this conversation they talk about the difficulty women have creating space to investing in themselves; about stepping away from the nine-to-five, and how "the 100 year life" changes our attitudes towards learning and the shape of our careers. They are honest about the trade-offs (financial, practical, emotional) and the rewards too of going back to study: community, confidence, a lens on the world that a job title alone will never give you. If you are feeling a career plateau, wondering whether it's too late to go back to study, or simply looking for your tribe in the wobbly middle, listen listen listen. THE WOBBLY MIDDLE is a podcast for women rethinking their careers in midlife. Each season, Patsy sits down with women who share their career pivot stories — leaving corporate life and building businesses, breaking back in after career breaks, going back to study, and taking their long-neglected dreams seriously. New episodes every other Tuesday. ABOUT THE HOST: Patsy Day is a recovering lawyer navigating her own midlife career crossroads. A penny dropped for her when she realised that the restless feeling she'd been feeling was returning ambition. The Wobbly Middle is that in-between space where we know we want change but don't know how to move forward. THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS AJ BELL Thank you to AJ Bell Money Matters for supporting this episode. The AJ Bell Money Matters podcast is created for women by women, featuring news, information and inspiring interviews to help build your knowledge and confidence around finances. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Please click here to show your support and find out more about AJ Bell: https://www.ajbell.co.uk/investment/women-and-investing?utm_source=moneymatters&utm_medium=partnership&utm_campaign=wobblymiddle Key Topics Executive MBA for women — why Urmi and Louise did theirs, the financial and time trade-offs, and why women in their cohorts had to work harder to justify the space Permission to succeed — the internal and external negotiation women do before investing in themselves, and why men in the same room didn't seem to need to Going back to study as a mature student — the joy of learning for its own sake when you are no longer 19 and chasing a grade Fractional working — what it looks like, why society struggles to classify it, and why "what do you do?" is a rubbish question we should start relishing Identity beyond job title — Louise on the first day of her MBA cohort, watching everyone introduce themselves by job title, and realising she didn't want to Women in male-dominated industries— Louise on gaming in the early 2000s, and the message younger women absorbed that to succeed you had to "be like a man" Asking for help — Louise on unlearning the baby-boomer "keep your head down" mentality, and discovering that most people want to help Links - The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643 - The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv - Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep29-urmi-louise - Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep29-urmi-louise If You Enjoyed This Episode You might also love Season 3 Episode 8 Shefaly Yogendra, another conversation about non-linear careers, portfolio working and the gatekeepers women meet in midlife. If this episode made you think about what your next chapter might look like beyond a traditional job title, Shefaly's boardroom journey is the natural next listen. HELP US GROW If this episode resonated with you, there are two simple things that make a real difference: * Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it only takes a moment, and it's one of the best ways to help new listeners find the show. Every review counts. * Share this episode with a friend — if you know someone who might be in their own wobbly middle, send them this one. Sometimes knowing you're not alone is all it takes. SHARE YOUR STORY Made a left turn in your career? We'd love to hear about it. Write to Patsy at patsy@thewobblymiddle.com — your story might just be the nudge someone else needs. This episode was produced by Patsy Day. Studio recording by The Pod Collective. Thank you for listening and for supporting independent podcasts.