The Midlife Audacity Project
What can we learn from women who make bold moves in midlife? We're conducting original qualitative research all over the world — and sharing what we discover through case studies, in the women's own words.
MEET THE RESEARCHERS
Katy Mogal
Founder · Researcher · Certified DYL Facilitator
Katy brings decades of experience as a facilitator and coach, creating spaces where people uncover insights they can turn into real opportunities. She's worked with teams at Google, students at California College of the Arts and Stanford Continuing Studies, and entrepreneurs in social impact. After uprooting her family to move to Italy and leaving the corporate world for solopreneurship, Katy is passionate about helping women navigate transitions and reimagine what's possible. When not facilitating, you'll find her travelling Europe, at the crossfit gym, or hiking a mountaintop.
Katherine Lovasano
TITLE
BIO
Too often, the narrative around midlife for women is one of loss — of youth, opportunity, relevance. The Midlife Audacity Project pushes back on that story.
We're interviewing women who chose a different path: who started businesses, changed careers, moved continents, left marriages, wrote books, or simply decided to stop living for everyone else. Through in-depth qualitative interviews, we're building a body of research that documents what boldness actually looks like — and what makes it possible.
Findings are shared as case studies — readable stories grounded in real research, written to inspire as much as to inform.
EARLY FINDINGS
Community matters more than courage
Bold moves rarely happen in isolation. Women consistently credit a small group — often other women — who believed in the possibility when they weren't sure they did themselves.
"Midlife" is a narrative, not a number
The women we interview don't define midlife by age — it's more often a moment of reckoning: is the life you're living the one you actually want?
Permission is the hardest part
Many women describe a moment of consciously deciding they didn't need anyone else's permission to change. That shift — however it came — seems to be a prerequisite for bold action.
CASE STUDIES
Cathy
𝗖𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗶𝗲𝗴𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝘃𝘆 𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗟𝘀.
“𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯?”
Candela
The opportunities that came didn't arrive through formal applications. They came through the conversations. She talked her way into a new life.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯...𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?"
Alana
The seed was planted at age 20, on top of the Acropolis, where she stumbled across an exhibit about the absence of female heroes in classical mythology. It sparked an idea. "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰."
“𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺."
PARTICIPATE
Are you a bold woman in midlife?
We're looking for women to interview. If you've made a bold move — or are in the middle of one — we'd love to hear your story. Interviews are on Zoom and take about an hour.