The Midlife Entrepreneur

This week Jo sits down with Kate Waterfall Hill, a leadership coach, author, podcaster and creator of 'Linda the Bad Manager', to share three ways to attract more clients using TikTok. First, Kate advises making TikToks and shifting mindset by recognising that business owners and decision-makers are on the platform, then creating content that educates, entertains and engages without feeling high-handed. Second, she recommends finding a repeatable format that fits your brand, testing different styles, and sticking with what works rather than constantly switching when early posts get little engagement. Third, she stresses that consistency beats perfection: record and edit on your phone, repurpose across platforms, batch record, and keep showing up, noting that in her first year 97% of revenue came from TikTok and that visibility matters more than going viral.
00:00 Welcome to Masterclass
00:34 Tip One Mindset Shift
01:41 Facing TikTok Fears
03:35 Linda Origin Story
05:05 Building Linda Universe
06:18 Tip Two Find Format
07:11 What Is Linda
08:40 Sticking With It
10:03 Tip Three Consistency
10:23 Repurpose and Batch
11:25 Results and Revenue
14:38 Final Recap and Close
Support the show
Edited and produced by Jo Glynn-Smith 2025.
Recorded at Eight Works Podcast Studios, 1 Dysart Street, London, EC2A 2BX
For bookings: eightworks@eightclub.co.uk

Jo Glynn-Smith is an entrepreneur, professional coach, writer, and speaker from London, she is an expert in career transformation and change.

Instagram @jojoglynnsmith and @themidlifeentrepreneur
Contact: enquiries@joglynnsmith.com
www.joglynnsmith.com

MUSIC CREDIT Easy Money by REX BANNER licensed by Artlist.io
PHOTOGRAPHY by JONATHAN GLYNN-SMITH www.jonathanglynnsmith.com

This week Jo sits down with Anna Richards, founder and CEO of FrolicMe, to discuss building a female-led ethical erotica platform in midlife and redefining how adult content can centre female pleasure, consent, and authentic connection. Anna shares how a lack of erotic content reflecting women’s desires led her to start a blog in 2013–14, then launch FrolicMe in 2015 with 20 self-produced films alongside stories and galleries, funded with limited resources and without investors. She explains how she learned production by finding mentors and industry contacts, kept teams small and collaborative, and built growth largely through SEO because advertising options were limited, reaching 1.6 million monthly visitors and breaking even around year three. Anna describes expanding into audio in 2019, banking a year of content post-COVID, navigating age verification requirements, and the challenges of social media bans. 
 
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
02:08 Why FrolicMe Began
04:50 Fear and Going Taboo
06:00 Testing the Idea With a Blog
07:23 What Women Want From Erotica
10:20 From Stories to Films
13:34 Breaking Into Production
18:00 First Shoots and Self Funding
22:23 Ethical Erotica and Consent
24:54 Growing With SEO
29:21 Competition and Cultural Pushback
30:50 Early Website Panic
32:04 Organic Growth Milestones
33:24 Breaking Even Without Investors
35:04 Production Costs Evolve
36:45 Location Shoots Aesthetic
37:46 COVID Audio Pivot
39:30 Fantasy Storytelling Details
41:38 Age Verification Challenges
46:13 Marketing and Social Media
48:15 Family Reactions and Normalizing
50:07 Founder 321 Takeaways
55:48 Final Thanks and Wrap
 
Visit at www.frolicme.com 
Follow @frolicme_anna or @frolicme_offical
 
Support the show
Edited and produced by Jo Glynn-Smith 2025.
Recorded at Eight Works Podcast Studios, 1 Dysart Street, London, EC2A 2BX
For bookings: eightworks@eightclub.co.uk

Jo Glynn-Smith is an entrepreneur, professional coach, writer, and speaker from London, she is an expert in career transformation and change.

Instagram @jojoglynnsmith and @themidlifeentrepreneur
Contact: enquiries@joglynnsmith.com
www.joglynnsmith.com

MUSIC CREDIT Easy Money by REX BANNER licensed by Artlist.io
PHOTOGRAPHY by JONATHAN GLYNN-SMITH www.jonathanglynnsmith.com

This week Jo sits down with Thea Green MBE, founder of Nails INC. and Holler & Glow, to share three ways British brands can succeed in America. First, Thea says distribution is your best advert: focus on one key retail partner where you’ll get strong visibility, prove performance with clean data, and consider short-term exclusivity rather than spreading thinly across multiple retailers with poor shelf placement. Second, because it’s hard to outspend US corporates on advertising, she advises leaning into your USP and founder storytelling and using partnerships, collaborations, and retailer exclusives so bigger brands and retailers amplify your launch. Third, she recommends celebrating European heritage and quality—standards, ingredients, and manufacturing stories—to appeal to Americans’ perception of European-made products as premium and safer, while noting US retail buying cycles can be slower and require long lead times.
 
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
00:39 Advice One Distribution First
02:37 Win One Retailer
04:34 Advice Two Outsmart Ad Budgets
05:39 Partnerships and Collaborations
06:53 Advice Three Sell Europe
09:35 US Market Watch Outs
11:56 Retail Timelines and Seasonality
13:51 Recap and Closing
Support the show
Edited and produced by Jo Glynn-Smith 2025.
Recorded at Eight Works Podcast Studios, 1 Dysart Street, London, EC2A 2BX
For bookings: eightworks@eightclub.co.uk

Jo Glynn-Smith is an entrepreneur, professional coach, writer, and speaker from London, she is an expert in career transformation and change.

Instagram @jojoglynnsmith and @themidlifeentrepreneur
Contact: enquiries@joglynnsmith.com
www.joglynnsmith.com

MUSIC CREDIT Easy Money by REX BANNER licensed by Artlist.io
PHOTOGRAPHY by JONATHAN GLYNN-SMITH www.jonathanglynnsmith.com

Building Aspiga: Sustainable Fashion, Slow Growth, and ADHD in Entrepreneurship
This week Jo speaks with Lucy Macnamara, founder of Aspiga, an award-winning sustainable fashion brand built on ethical production and positive impact. Lucy shares how she started with 250 hand-beaded sandals from Kenya sold through friends while working full time, then left her charity role after gaining early wholesale traction. She explains Aspiga’s steady, long-term growth through wholesale, online and pop-ups, later moving operations to London and building teams, and how retail stores began unexpectedly during lockdown through low-risk landlord offers, eventually expanding to around 10 shops. Lucy discusses the realities of managing staff, cashflow, supplier problems, and crises, her ADHD diagnosis in her 50s and how openness helped the team adapt, and her focus now on creating a sustainable business that can rely less on her while maintaining long-standing investments in artisans and community projects in Kenya.
 
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:42 Slow Growth Mindset
02:49 First Product and Early Sales
03:32 Leaving Charity to Go Full Time
05:10 Wholesale Growth and Cash Flow
05:56 Early Money Struggles
06:46 Midlife Advantage and Self Belief
08:53 Hiring and Building a Team
11:33 Managing Staff Expectations
14:27 Going Above and Beyond
15:47 From Pop Ups to Stores
18:29 Retail Expansion Challenges
20:11 ADHD Energy and Routines
21:52 Sleep and Night Worries
23:34 Entrepreneurship Ups and Downs
24:25 ADHD and Crisis Mode
25:18 Late Diagnosis Realizations
26:34 School Struggles and Self Doubt
28:38 Leading Teams with ADHD
32:13 Future Plans and Ownership
34:12 Funding and Industry Know How
36:40 Three Two One Advice
37:01 Sustainability Roots in Kenya
41:15 Money Mistakes and AI Checks
44:40 Mentors and Asking for Help
46:26 Final Thanks and Wrap Up
 
Support the show
Edited and produced by Jo Glynn-Smith 2025.
Recorded at Eight Works Podcast Studios, 1 Dysart Street, London, EC2A 2BX
For bookings: eightworks@eightclub.co.uk

Jo Glynn-Smith is an entrepreneur, professional coach, writer, and speaker from London, she is an expert in career transformation and change.

Instagram @jojoglynnsmith and @themidlifeentrepreneur
Contact: enquiries@joglynnsmith.com
www.joglynnsmith.com

MUSIC CREDIT Easy Money by REX BANNER licensed by Artlist.io
PHOTOGRAPHY by JONATHAN GLYNN-SMITH www.jonathanglynnsmith.com

15 Minute Masterclass: 3 Ways to Increase Engagement on Instagram with Milla Richardson
This week Jo sits down with Milla Richardson, Instagram expert and founder of Pink Storm Social, to share three ways to increase engagement on Instagram, explaining that engagement now includes comments, saves, shares and DMs and directly impacts reach via the algorithm. First, Milla advises grabbing attention in the feed with strong visuals, curiosity-driving hooks/headlines, and faces or behind-the-scenes people content, noting Instagram is increasingly personality-driven. Second, she recommends starting more conversations by asking questions in captions, replying to Stories, using Story engagement stickers (polls, sliders, question boxes) with simple prompts, and using DMs to build relationships, even setting short daily engagement windows. Third, she encourages being more personable and relatable through storytelling, sharing experiences and business journeys without oversharing; Jo recaps and asks about planning, and Milla describes loosely rotating selling, connecting, relationship-building and useful content.
00:00 Welcome to Masterclass
00:39 Why Engagement Matters
01:58 Tip One Grab Attention
02:27 Hooks Visuals and Faces
05:51 Tip Two Start Conversations
07:27 Stories Stickers and DMs
09:30 Tip Three Be Personable
12:13 Storytelling Without Oversharing
12:55 Recap and Content Planning
15:19 Wrap Up and Subscribe
 
Follow Milla @pinkstormsocial
Support the show
Edited and produced by Jo Glynn-Smith 2025.
Recorded at Eight Works Podcast Studios, 1 Dysart Street, London, EC2A 2BX
For bookings: eightworks@eightclub.co.uk

Jo Glynn-Smith is an entrepreneur, professional coach, writer, and speaker from London, she is an expert in career transformation and change.

Instagram @jojoglynnsmith and @themidlifeentrepreneur
Contact: enquiries@joglynnsmith.com
www.joglynnsmith.com

MUSIC CREDIT Easy Money by REX BANNER licensed by Artlist.io
PHOTOGRAPHY by JONATHAN GLYNN-SMITH www.jonathanglynnsmith.com