Mimi Ison + Emily Wagner join Justina Blakeney of The Jungalow at The Midst LA

We’re excited to announce new speakers, including Mimi Ison (aka @heymiddleage), Heidi Clements, Emily Wagner, and of course, Justina Blakeney, founder of The Jungalow.

Get a ticket before they sell out!

• Friday, September 18, 2–6 pm

• Altadena Girls, 225 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA

• $55 per ticket • includes refreshments

• We’re expecting 100–150 people

• If you have a business or project you’d like to promote, bring your promo cards! We’ll set up a table to showcase everyone’s cards.

• You’ll get a cool tote bag filled with women’s health and wellness products!

Buy a ticket for only $55

Heidi Clements, 65, wants to change the way the world looks at women over 50. A former TV writer turned social media content creator, Heidi uses fashion and storytelling to help reframe the way people look at aging. Heidi has worked in both magazine news and entertainment news running shows like Entertainment Tonight, before moving into scripted television at 51.

After producing 100 episodes of Freeform’s Baby Daddy, Heidi decided to shift her script focus and decided to only write about women over 50. When those scripts never left her desk because no one is brave enough to make these shows she pivoted again to tiktok and Instagram to talk about the things that matter most to her — that aging is a privilege, that midlife is a new beginning and that the pursuit of happiness while crushing the patriarchy is a goal worth chasing.

@heymiddleage

Mimi describes herself as “an amateur 63-year old and an aging person in training.” She founded Hey Middle Age as a place to ponder comfy and uncomfy midlife stuff, and along the way she added the mission to upend ageist beliefs. After all, you’re either old or future-old, she says.

In her words from her website: “I come from a positive, pro-aging perspective because let’s be real, there’s no lack of messaging that aging is gloomy and pessimistic, but in my experience growing older has been expansive. With time, I embraced the belief that age is age, not a limitation.

I’m a chatty introvert, world-class procrastinator working to release lifelong perfectionism, and a fitness junkie. Come join me on Instagram where I might motivate you to shuffle dance, box, pick up a kettlebell, or jump rope.”

Read more

Substack: GROOMED LA by Emily Wagner • Instagram @groomedla

You might remember her from her role on ER as paramedic Doris Pickman. Now she’s a midlife health and wellness editor, writer, fitness trainer, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Groomed LA, where she covers wellness, fitness, aesthetics, menopause, and the realities of growing older through a smart, funny, and deeply personal lens.

For years, Emily has reported on the issues affecting women in midlife while also working directly with women as a trainer, helping them navigate changing bodies, strength, energy, confidence, and the often confusing flood of information surrounding this chapter. Her work brings together extensive editorial experience, firsthand knowledge, humor, and an understanding of what women are actually experiencing in their daily lives.

She is also the founder of Micropause, a line of daily wellness gummies made with functional mushrooms, adaptogens, and botanicals to support women through perimenopause and midlife. With products like Girls Gone Mild, So Mush Support, and All Glown Up, Micropause was one of the earliest midlife wellness brands to leave menopause beige behind and welcome women into their “Give Zero Fucks Era.”

A lifelong storyteller, Emily is currently creating Emily Is a Magnet for Miracles, a darkly funny short-form series launching on Instagram. The series explores what it means to arrive at midlife supposedly having everything figured out, only to feel completely lost, professionally invisible, and increasingly suspicious that everyone else received a script for adulthood that you somehow missed. Through comedy, it takes on reinvention, aging, online performance, self-worth, and the deeply human experience of still trying to become yourself while pretending you already know exactly who that is.

Instagram @justinablakeney and @thejungalow • jungalow.com

Justina Blakeney is a multidisciplinary designer, artist, and New York Times bestselling author whose work lives at the intersection of creativity, color, and culture. She’s best known as the founder of Jungalow®, a pioneering lifestyle brand that began as a personal blog and blossomed into a global movement grounded in the belief that home should be a reflection of who we are: vibrant, layered, and alive.

Raised in California by a culturally blended family with roots and seeds scattered around the world, Justina’s perspective has always been expansive, drawing on nature, intuition, and pattern as tools for storytelling and self-expression. She helped crack open the design world, making space for color, culture, and personal story in a field long dominated by minimalism and sameness.

Whether she’s painting, designing, making, or writing, Justina’s creative practice is an ever-evolving multi-magical experiment. Her newest works include a body of fine artwork that explores themes of identity and regeneration and Grow: Pathways to Passion, Purpose, and Peace, a book and oracle deck co-authored with her mother, developmental psychologist Dr. Ronnie Blakeney.

Justina’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Vogue, Architectural Digest, and Elle Decor, and she was named to Architectural Digest’s AD100 list. She’s shared her insights on stages and podcasts including: SXSW, New York Times Live at Home, Unlocking Us with Brené Brown, and We Can Do Hard Things. Through her art, books, speaking engagements, social platforms (where she’s built a combined audience of over 3 million), she shares not only her vibrant aesthetic but the deeper philosophies that fuel her work: joy as resistance, nature as healer, and creativity as a vital force for both personal and planetary wellness.

Meet a handful of the ticket holders …

Lives in: Los Angeles with my one adorable husband, three lovely children, and extremely loyal goldendoodle

I lead workshops and retreats that nurture the imaginative spirit and help others reveal their own inner wisdom, authentic voices, and singular stories. I believe everyone has something to say and the capacity to say it. I’m an alumna of Stanford University and UC Davis School of Law, and I stepped away from my legal career to focus on motherhood, community work, and creative pursuits. I serve on the faculty of several creative centers and have collaborated with The Huntington, The Hammer, SAG-AFTRA, Esalen Institute, and West LA Veterans Administration.

My debut novel, the thriller Have You Seen Him, is a project I worked on for 10 years, then spent 5 years revising and getting it published. It explores issues of family and belonging, with lots of suspense, corporate conspiracies, and characters running around L.A. It won two awards and I’m currently at work on the 2nd book of the trilogy.

Who I hope to meet: People who have reinvented themselves and are braving the naysayers in an integrity-driven, unexpected, and creative way—let’s lift each other up!

kimberlylee.me • LinkedIn • Instagram @klcreatrix

Read an excerpt of my book here on The Midst!

Lives in: Los Angeles

I’m the co-founder of Broad Collective, a membership network for women building businesses in midlife. We focus on support, strategy and practical solutions for creating content that grows audiences and revenue. Before this, I was an Emmy and Peabody-winning TV executive (Portlandia was one of mine!). After I left corporate life, I started the Hotter Than Ever podcast to work through my own midlife reinvention. I interviewed so many accomplished women building businesses around their expertise and realized we needed a place to share our collective wisdom and shortcut the learning curve for this next chapter. My dream is for women to own the future of our careers and be able to earn a good living from our hard-won expertise without having to follow anyone else’s rulebook.

I’m hoping to meet other women building businesses on their own terms!

broadcollective.substack.com • broadcollective.com • Instagram @broad_collective • Substack

Lives in: Los Angeles

I’m a versatile creative with a background in documentary filmmaking and photography. After becoming a mom six years ago, I now work alongside my husband (also an artist) as a creative director and a business strategist, bringing stories to life across different disciplines and fields.

I’d love to meet women who are bold, passionate and fearless that want to uplift and inspire each other.

vanessacrocini.com • Instagram @vanecool and @vanessabehindthecamera • Substack Vanessa Crocini

Read about more women attending The Midst LA here.

Buy a ticket for $55

The Midst is a community bringing together women over 40 who play by their own rules together. As a collective, we’re in the midst of life pivots, career and relationship upgrades, building businesses, perimenopause, and other juicy stuff. Together, we’re shaping the messy middle into a time of growth, exploration, and possibility.

On September 18, women from around the U.S. will meet in Pasadena to connect with new friends, share their ideas and experiences, and learn from inspiring leaders. Many of us are professionals, creatives, parents, partners, and community builders who enjoy connecting with like-minded women. A growing number of women in The Midst community are building businesses, a second rodeo, a body of work, or life as a solopreneur or portfolio worker.