Someone Had to Build It. So We Did.

By Cheryl Garcia & Jill Pakledinaz · Co-Founders, Midlife Secret Society

It didn't happen because of one life-changing conversation.

There wasn't a dramatic movie moment where the clouds parted and we suddenly knew exactly what to do. Instead, it happened the way most important things do, slowly and with several “re-dos”

Over countless conversations, phone calls, brainstorming sessions, and "Wouldn't it be amazing if..." ideas, we kept coming back to the same question- “what do we want?”

That question? It changed everything.

Not because it was dramatic. Because it was so ordinary. Because we'd both been thinking about what we could create for all midlife women. Once we started to answer the question of what we wanted, the ideas just kept coming- we just had to start planning.

And once we did — we couldn't stop.

The Problem Nobody's Naming

Here's what nobody tells you about midlife: you arrive here more interesting than you've ever been, and somehow the world has less to say to you.

A lot of the content we see- the algorithm our socials auto put us 40+ women in, is mostly about fixing things. Your hormones, your metabolism, your emotions. (insert eye roll). Yes, life is shifting, but when isn’t it?

We are getting older, our kids are getting older, our careers are changing- Yay retirement…eventually, right?

But that doesn’t mean we are ready to be put out to pasture. We finally have me time. It’s our Main Character Era as the kids say, I think…

So we won't be slowing down…unless we want to.

Because here's the truth nobody's making content about: women in midlife are extraordinary. We're funnier, more confident, less willing to waste time on things that don't matter. We know who we are. We've earned opinions. We've survived things. We've also, quietly and persistently, built lives that still have so much life left in them.

We just needed somewhere to talk about all of it. Somewhere to plan the next awesome adventure…and women to experience it with.

What We Knew We Needed

Not another networking group.

Not another “Here’s How to Fix Midlife” group (although there is nothing wrong with some self help love!)

We want fun. We want adventure. We want friendships that we can both laugh with when life is acting wild, and cry with when life is bittersweet.

This chapter of life has it all- the scary changes of age, jobs, family, etc. But it also has fun, adventure, and time. And we embrace it all.

We needed a community. A place where you don't have to explain yourself before you can

relax. Where the friendship is real and the conversation goes somewhere. Where it's okay to say I want more, more adventure, more connection, more fun, more depth, without anyone raising an eyebrow.

We needed a place that was honest about the hard stuff without making the hard stuff

the whole story.

We needed, frankly, a group chat with better production value.

So we built one.

Why Now

Women 40 and over are the most financially independent, life-experienced, boldly-themselves demographic on the planet. We're also the most underserved by modern media and community platforms.

That gap is not an accident. It is an opportunity.

This is the moment when a lot of women are asking the same questions: Who am I now that [the kids are older / the career has shifted / the marriage has changed / I've changed]? What do I actually want? Who are my people?

Those questions deserve better than an algorithm serving you anti-aging cream ads.

MSS is our answer to that gap. Built by women who are living it, for women who are living it

What You Actually Get

We built the Midlife Secret Society to house the things we wanted to do.

Welcome to our clubhouse!

Here's a taste of what's inside:

Between the Chapters — Our book club that's really a life club. We both realized we slowly had stopped picking up books, or talking about them with others. It's part literary, part therapy, part excuse to pour a glass of wine on a Tuesday.

Girls Trips —Just because. Truly don’t need another reason than that…but we always had one on why we couldn't take the trip. We want the trip. So we are taking trips!

Friendship After 40 — The honest conversation about how hard it is to make and keep deep friendships at this stage, and how to do it anyway. This one hits differently for everyone.

Midlife Bucket List — Not the skydiving kind (unless that's your thing). The me kind. The things we kept almost doing. The supplies for the crafts and projects we bought but never did, the sport we wanted to try (hello pickleball…we are coming soon!), that Mom and Pop store we drive by but never stop at, the waterfall hike we always wanted to take, the morning walks, workout ... ..insert activity here, we wanted to do. We're going to do them.

And there's more coming. A lot more.

Come On In

The Midlife Secret Society is officially open.

We built it because we needed it. We're sharing it because we have a feeling you do too.

Pull up a chair. You belong here.

Ready to join the Society?

The club you didn't know you were waiting for.

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