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Next-Gen Leadership Breaking Barriers + Brand Building Via Social Media

by admin | Oct 13, 2025 | Exemplar, Female Empowerment, Female Leaders, Female Podcast

A masterclass on breaking barriers, self-reflection + building brand YOU.

Lana Samuels represents the future of leadership: fearless, curious, and unafraid to step into spaces still dominated by men. In this conversation, we explore her journey from graduate to global thinker, the role of social media in building her influence, and how she balances authenticity with professionalism while inspiring others online.

You’ll here:

➜ How Lana built her leadership career and carved out opportunities in male-dominated industries.

➜ The pivotal role of social media in amplifying her profile and shaping her success.

➜ Insights on balancing authenticity with professionalism online.

➜ Whether glass ceilings still exist for the next generation of women leaders.

➜ What drives Lana’s reinvention and her vision for the future of leadership.

Lana said:

“Social media wasn’t just about posting — it became the platform where I built my credibility.”

“Authenticity isn’t the opposite of professionalism. It’s what makes leadership relatable and real.”

“Glass ceilings? They only exist if we stop pushing against them.”

💥 New episodes drop every Monday to power your week.

📖 Read the full transcript of this conversation here.

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

DI GILLETT – HOST (00:00)

So be remiss being the Power of Women podcast not to talk about females in a male-dominated industry. And I don’t want to overplay it, but it is in the wheelhouse of Power of Women. And particularly at the top end, which is where you’re playing, it’s largely male-dominated. How hard has it been breaking into that space? And how have your competitors responded?

LANA SAMUELS (00:27)

Great question. It has been hard. There’s one situation that really stands out as soon as you ask that question. I had a bit of a moment last year. I had a very good client of mine come to me and say, I had a bit of a moment with a competitor of yours the other day. And I said, really? He said, yeah, you know, I brought you up and he was a friend of his and he said, you know, Lana’s doing really well. You know, she’s sold recently for a friend of mine. There was some sort of,

story that he was saying and the male agent said, yeah, it’s because she’s a little bit too close to the husbands, if you know what I mean. And it broke my heart hearing that and still even saying that now really upsets me.

DI GILLETT – HOST (01:10)

So that’s the throwaway male line that’s got to be sex implied for a female to be successful.

LANA SAMUELS (01:16)

female in my industry to be successful. And it’s not something that I’ve really supposed

DI GILLETT – HOST (01:22)

are you angry or emotional?

LANA SAMUELS (01:24)

emotional about it and I was angry as well and I really I kind of fought back hard I thought do I call this guy

Lana Samuels, White Fox Director here this afternoon. It’s an absolute pleasure to be here. It’s been a long time coming, Di. When I think about my philosophy in business, I think it’s pretty simple. It’s do the right thing, never do anything illegal, and if you say you’re going to do something, make sure that you deliver. So I’ve always been in the ethos of under-promise and over-deliver and really nurture relationships because you’ve got one shot.

and reputation’s everything. Once you lose it, you never get it back.

DI GILLETT – HOST (02:02)

I’m Di Gillett and welcome to the Power of Women podcast. We’re a platform that showcases and celebrates the strength, resilience and achievements of women from all walks of life. And this is a shout out to join the Power of Women community because it is growing and it’s growing through our followers and our subscribers of the podcast. And we’ve also got our YouTube channel, which I’d love you to jump on.

I love exploring the journeys that shape remarkable careers, the choices, the sacrifices, the mentors and the lessons learnt along the way. Today’s conversation is a special one for me because my guest Lana Samuels quite literally grew up next door. I’ve had the pleasure of watching her journey, hearing her proud parents in all that she has achieved.

because what a journey it has been. And the reason I asked Lana to join me on the podcast, her success delves into what it really takes to rise in a competitive industry. Her ambition is fueled where resilience is tested. And in so doing, being recognized by her peers as an exemplar in an industry that doesn’t always get a great rap.

And it’s also an opportunity to get into the weeds about stepping into spaces still dominated by men and understand how Lana has been so successful in navigating that landscape, building credibility, earning respect and leading with both strength and authenticity. Lana Samuels, welcome to the Power of Women podcast.

LANA SAMUELS (03:45)

Thank you, Di. What a beautiful introduction. You’re going to make me a little bit emotional.

DI GILLETT – HOST (03:49)

And I know it’s only for us on camera today, but ⁓ your gorgeous mother is listening just outside the studio.

LANA SAMUELS (04:00)

is I’ve got my beautiful entourage with me today, my beautiful women. I’ve got Mum, who’s obviously a good friend of yours and my support system and my beautiful assistant Nellie. So the girls are all here celebrating one another and supporting. Beautiful.

DI GILLETT – HOST (04:15)

So as I’ve said, you’ve grown up next door to me and I have watched your career rise. But it’s not so much that I want to draw that part of the story today, but there are so many aspects of what you have done that are going to be inspirational, particularly for younger women starting out on their career and breaking barriers. I would love to…

Start out with your early years, Lara. What or who shaped your drive and ambition?

LANA SAMUELS (04:50)

think my mum is the person that always shaped my drive and ambition. mean, you know, our journey as a family, you know, we went through some very difficult times growing up and it’s really funny even just driving here and parking today and being outside the South Melbourne market. That’s where I worked from the age of 14 to 18. know, mum and dad always instilled a really strong work ethic in myself and my brother growing up. And if you want something,

You need to go out and get it. Nothing’s going to be delivered and, you know, given to you on a silver platter. So definitely mum and dad. Also, I’d say mum, just as a really strong female, she really showed me what it was to work hard from a very young age. And, you know, it’s, it’s an amazing thing to have a strong female mentor in your life. And, Di, I’m not just saying it because I’m sitting here, but having you as a neighbour, I don’t think you realise, I remember so vividly finishing year 12 and speaking to you about.

I don’t know if you remember. do. Mum and dad said, speak to Di. Di will give you some great advice. I remember it was the lead up to finishing VCE. I had a conversation with you about which direction to go into because I was so confused. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. You are giving me some beautiful advice. I’ve been really blessed in my life having such beautiful, strong, empowering women around me.

I think it’s just so incredibly special to have that in your life and I’m really lucky that I’ve had it.

DI GILLETT – HOST (06:17)

Did you always imagine yourself in a career like this?

LANA SAMUELS (06:21)

I thought I would be in event management. That’s where I thought I would land. I’ve always been a hard worker, really intense. I love throwing myself in the deep end. I get bored really easily and I don’t think I would have survived an office job. I love being with people, trying new things and having new experiences. So did I think I’d get into real estate? No, I thought I’d probably be.

DI GILLETT – HOST (06:44)

Remember we had that discussion when you came back from the UK and asked whether in fact you should.

LANA SAMUELS (06:48)

And I

was in tears one day speaking to you. I’ll never forget that moment. I asked you if I should get into real estate because we obviously, a bit of background on me, came back from the UK eight and a bit years ago. I moved back to Australia to join White Fox, which was a very small agency back then with only four of us. And I had a really rude awakening because I had no experience, no database.

no contacts after being in the UK for so many years. And I really just jumped in with a new brand that was trying to create noise. And funny enough, your other neighbor is now my business partner, Marty Fox. But to kind of unpack where I’m leading with this is I jumped in and drowned and I’m sure we’ll get to that in a moment. But I came to you in tears, really not sure what to do. And I remember you gave me some really great advice.

And I think it was along the lines of just keep going. You know, it’s not going to happen overnight. You know, if you love it and you love where it’s leading you and the right people, you know, you can do it. But nothing good comes easy.

DI GILLETT – HOST (07:51)

No, it does not. So let’s, as you said, wind back because it was almost happenstance that you ended up working at White Fox. What’s the story?

LANA SAMUELS (08:04)

It’s a crazy story. So I was living in London for 10 years. was coming back. I was in sales. So interesting story. I’ll go through it very quickly with you because it’s a long story. at the age of 18, I met my husband. I fell in love. He was from the UK. I told my mom and dad I was moving to the UK to go and do a year just to test it out.

DI GILLETT – HOST (08:10)

doing in

LANA SAMUELS (08:29)

told them that I had $10,000 in my bank account and I think I only had about $1,000 because I knew that they wouldn’t let me go. I never get, mom was like, how much money do you have savings? And I said, I’ve got over 10,000 and I didn’t, but I knew that, you know, I’d make it work, you know, sink or swim, just jump in and make it happen. So moved to the UK when I was 18, worked in sales in Mayfair for 10 years, working in five-star hotels, Michelin-star restaurants.

doing drink sales. I was doing all the big drinks distribution contracts for some of the best, biggest hotels, you know, and Mayfair night clubs. Having an absolute ball, came back for a holiday. Dad said to me, I’ve got to introduce you to our next door neighbor, a guy called Marty Fox. And I’ll never forget, I said to him, who’s Marty Fox? And dad said, he’s a real estate agent. And I rolled my eyes and said,

DI GILLETT – HOST (09:04)

the FMCG sector.

LANA SAMUELS (09:22)

Why do need to meet him? And he said, no, you’re looking to buy a property. Should meet him. He’s a lovely guy. He’s a go getter. ⁓ and I think you’ll get along with him really well. So dad introduced me to Marty, who was on the other side. So you’re on the right hand side of mom and dad. Marty and Charlotte were on the left hand side of mom and dad. we connected. Isn’t it? Well, straight, poor Melbourne. Everyone’s interconnected. Yeah. And met Marty, got along like a house on fire, bought my first property from him that day.

DI GILLETT – HOST (09:39)

insist

LANA SAMUELS (09:51)

in Elwood and as we were signing contracts, I remember him saying to me, Lana, I’m about to launch a brand in a few weeks called White Fox. He showed me the logo, the first office on Coventry Street in South Melbourne. he said, you’re going to come work for me. I’ve just got this feeling. And my husband said to me on the way home that day, you need to go and work with this boy. He is special. He’s entrepreneurial. He’s got magic about him and he’s going to do great things. So we went back to the UK.

And I started to watch the business unfold through social media and I was watching no suits, no ties, beautiful marketing. And they were really emotionally connecting with their audience. And I was the first client. I was the very first person that bought a property through the business before they launched. And as a customer, I was on the journey and I was completely engrossed in it. long story short, Marty said to me, you’ve got to come and move to Australia. Like I need you to join the business. And we kept in touch and.

I was watching and I said to my husband, think if we’re going to do it, we do it now. Whilst the business is young and I have some really good training and we don’t have kids yet. ⁓

DI GILLETT – HOST (10:59)

…a risk because,

LANA SAMUELS (11:02)

I know and I really took a big punt there, Di. You know, we packed up our whole world and moved back to Australia after 10 years, which is a big jump. It is. And moved in with Mum and Dad, next door to you. And the journey began.

DI GILLETT – HOST (11:14)

Next door to me?

So what role did you start as?

LANA SAMUELS (11:20)

So I made a huge mistake. So I jumped straight into the deep end. I jumped in as a standalone agent straight away and it was a disaster. know, brand new brand, really young team backs up against the wall, trying to create business, trying to create noise and never been in before. my girlfriends and my friends were younger, you know, we’re in our mid twenties and they weren’t doing the transactions. My best friend’s dad, you know, is one of the

founders and owners of one of the biggest agencies in Melbourne. So all of my friends’ parents were transacting with the agency that, you know, they had credibility in relationships and deep rooted relationships with. So I kind of just was in the middle of nowhere and had a full breakdown. I threw in the towel, I quit. After my first six months, you know, I really struggled coming in as a standalone agent, went to Marty’s house, on his kitchen floor, bawling my eyes out.

This probably would have been off the back of a conversation with you, die. So hard. No one’s given me an opportunity. There’s not many women out there that I really knew of or looked up to or anyone that was mentoring me in the industry. And I really struggled. So I threw in the towel and Marty said, you’re not throwing in the towel. You’re to come in and be my EA and I’m going to teach you everything that you need to know. You need to start with the basics and learn and build.

DI GILLETT – HOST (12:39)

How did that feel? You’d already established a career so then to step back.

LANA SAMUELS (12:44)

It was

quite confronting and my ego stepped in and I really hesitated there for a moment and I thought well hold on I’ve just had this incredible career in the UK, a huge team, I worked with billionaires, were travelling and they were flying me everywhere for business opportunities over there and had this incredible lifestyle. Why do want to be in EA? And I’m going to be back to the bottom of the ladder. So that was a really hard decision and a really difficult moment for me and it was quite confronting.

But I had to swallow my pride and I had to listen to somebody that was incredibly good at what they were doing and someone that I really looked up to and trusted and still do. And I had to back him and he made the right call there because it changed everything for me. It’s the best thing that I ever did. I started again and I had to step it back.

DI GILLETT – HOST (13:32)

So how long was that trajectory from EA? Because today you’re a director. Managing director.

LANA SAMUELS (13:38)

Managing director.

The journey was, it was a good four years. Yeah, it took me four years. That’s nothing. But the four years, it’s really funny. I spoke about it earlier this year, was a keynote speaker at the biggest real estate conference in Australasia. Yep. Correct. Eric. So I spoke in front of six and a half thousand peers within the industry.

And I was actually the only female keynote speaker other than Kamala Harris, which is pretty mind blowing. But I spoke about the journey in the four years. I don’t think she has either. But the four years that I did as an EA, I would say is equivalent to about 15 years in the industry. That was a supercharged crash course. that’s a hundred miles an hour. And don’t forget real estate is 24 seven pretty much. You’re seven days a week. There’s no off button.

DI GILLETT – HOST (14:12)

She sold any real estate.

LANA SAMUELS (14:32)

And I think for me, jumping in the early days, you know, and starting off in a brand that was just really beginning to build, I got exposed to a lot of things that no one would ever get exposed to now. Now we have 15 offices across Australia and New Zealand, but back then there was one office, second one opening, and I got to see every layer of the deal, every layer of recruiting, everything that was going right, everything that was going wrong.

DI GILLETT – HOST (14:56)

And you had more of Marty’s time. So he was more available back then.

LANA SAMUELS (15:00)

It was

perfect. It was really good timing. I’m very lucky that I got that opportunity, but I really grabbed it with both hands. I made the most of it.

DI GILLETT – HOST (15:09)

So title today of Managing Director, are you where you envisaged you would be at this point in your career?

LANA SAMUELS (15:18)

Yes, further along than what I thought, but I always had a really clear vision in my mind. So my gut is never wrong. I always trust my gut feeling. I knew there was something incredibly special about Marty and what he had in mind. He told me the journey trajectory from the very start and everything that he promised that he would do, he’s done and more. So

DI GILLETT – HOST (15:24)

Tell me about that.

LANA SAMUELS (15:45)

Along the journey, I knew that some pretty big opportunities were coming. And I knew very special. He’s like my brother, you know, absolutely adore him. I always said to Marty that I wanted to be a director within the business, but before I was 40. So and I’m now 36. I had that really clear goal. Hit it early. Yeah.

DI GILLETT – HOST (15:52)

special relation.

You’ve hit it early.

I don’t know many 36 year old managing directors, Lana. Female.

LANA SAMUELS (16:16)

There you go. There’s not a lot.

DI GILLETT – HOST (16:17)

That is amazing. So you’ve also built not only an impressive career, but a really strong personal brand and social, your social media presence, it’s engaged, it’s polished, it resonates and it draws ⁓ a high attention out there in the world of Instagram. How intentional was that from the beginning?

LANA SAMUELS (16:40)

Thank you.

Intentional. Yeah. So I knew that I had an uphill battle because I didn’t have contacts when I joined the business and when I got into real estate and I didn’t have a big following on Instagram when I came back to Melbourne. many did I had about 500 people. ⁓ Yeah it was a small following. was friends, family, people from the UK. And today? 12 and a bit thousand. Yeah.

DI GILLETT – HOST (16:56)

Any digital?

LANA SAMUELS (17:08)

So I knew that if I wanted to really create noise, build credibility, get attention in the right way and build my networks and my relationships that I would have to think bigger and I would have to think smart because I’d been away for so many years. So to put myself on a platform and to create a story, which is what real estate is all about, it’s about storytelling and connection. I knew that I wanted to create a bit of a brand online and a presence.

and I knew that that would fast track and amplify my career in a very short period of time if I did it correctly. And when I first began, I looked around and I don’t really have any females within my industry that I looked up to. Real estate was very different back then. was, you know, and that’s not long ago. This is, I’m talking eight years ago. know, very corporate, you know, the females always in Navy or black and

the traditional approach and you know which I love Navy of Black, don’t get me wrong. ⁓ was just, there was uniforms almost and no one was pushing the boundaries and I was lucky that Marty was pushing the boundaries in his way with his fashion you know the loafers, no suits, no tires, no socks and you probably remember it watching him jump out into the car on Port Melbourne as a neighbour.

DI GILLETT – HOST (18:07)

But not good.

LANA SAMUELS (18:29)

But I thought, hold on, why can’t I have fun with it? And I’ve come from a fashion background. Mum’s been in fashion. I love colour. I love experimenting. So I started to really be playful with it. And I started to be myself and I’m in a bright pink dress today. This is how I dress for business. But at the time, no one was doing it in property videos and in real estate. So I thought, I’m just going to be me and just have fun with it. And then I started to try and be a little bit more strategic with it. I started to match my properties. And that became a thing.

and I’ll never forget I had a big beautiful listing in Turok and it was my first trophy listing that Marty put me on. He said I’m going get you to do the video here, 16 million dollar house in Turok and I walked into the kitchen and there was a beautiful duck egg blue because the internal carcass of the kitchen was a Stephen A. Kirst home, extraordinary, was duck egg blue and I thought I’m going to go and buy a duck egg blue dress. Where am going to find a duck egg blue dress and I don’t know where I found it.

DI GILLETT – HOST (19:27)

can’t think of a male going, I’m gonna match my tie to…

LANA SAMUELS (19:31)

But

I started to do it and I went out and bought shoes and a dress that matched. was something so small but as soon as it went live and it went out on social media and it went out to the meta universe, people really stopped and you know, started commenting on it and it got a lot of attention and then that started to roll and then I started to match property videos moving forward and then now I have clients asking me, what are you wearing for our video? They’re excited by it.

It shows that you care and it ensures that you’re memorable and it became my thing. was it strategic? Yes, in a way it was. Did I expect that it would go to this level? No, but I was just being myself. has exceeded your expectations.

DI GILLETT – HOST (20:11)

Yeah. And therein lies the danger for any employers because it’s which brand walks through the door first. And that’s been the same in my industry and I think it’s the same in any service industry. And if I could leave that as a message for any listeners, in developing a brand, sometimes the brand that

is above the door isn’t as powerful as the brand that walks through the door. And therein lies a challenge for employees and employers as to how one manages that scenario. your online presence was intentional. Is anybody else doing the same as you in the marketplace? have they started to follow you?

LANA SAMUELS (20:52)

Absolutely.

Now,

it’s funny because as a brand, we were ridiculed in the beginning with our social media. You know, I remember so clearly other agencies against us in listing appointments with Laugh and Snigger and White Fox, you know, you can’t sell through social media. This was so early in the piece. We were the only ones who really took it to the next level. We were having such fun with it and being so creative and pushing boundaries and really disrupting the industry from the traditional.

way of doing things and introducing cars, introducing fashion, introducing beautiful video music content. You know, I did a video not long ago where I had, and it sounds ridiculous, five outfit changes for one video, a big home in Brighton, but I wanted the buyer experience to move through the home with me and really feel how you can live in the home, you know, from the poolside down to the area downstairs, which is the speak easy bar, changed outfits to make it memorable.

But then we’ll also know that I care, but it’s also about having fun with it. So we always did push the boundaries and have fun and do things differently. At the start, they did laugh and ridicule and now they’re trying to copy. So it’s funny we giggle. You know you’re winning. You know you’re winning, but you’ve got to keep pushing the boundaries and being nimble and changing. So like we were discussing before we jumped online, you’ve got to constantly be fresh thinking of new ideas and people do catch up, but we’re still doing things that no one’s ever done before, which is really cool.

DI GILLETT – HOST (22:31)

So have you found any female mentors in the industry? Marty’s clearly been in industry, but have you found other women prepared to mentor

LANA SAMUELS (22:39)

I have, I found some beautiful, powerful women and again, back to the power of social media, connecting through socials, know, meeting incredible operators from all across Australia. I’ve got two beautiful mentors in Sydney that have been in real estate for 20 odd years that are phenomenal operators that I really look up to and lean on for advice. I’ve got incredible women in Melbourne, people overseas that I connect with that I’ve met through social media. It just really unlocks.

so many powerful relationships. So this world through my phone has really opened up a completely different pathway for me and connected me with some extraordinary women out there that are really inspiring.

DI GILLETT – HOST (23:20)

That’s fantastic. Well coming out we’re going to talk about breaking the glass ceiling. Yes. And the cost of success. If you’re loving the Power of Women podcast, be sure to jump on to our YouTube channel and hit that subscribe button to ensure you never miss an episode.

Glass ceilings Lana, and I have a controversial view on glass ceilings that isn’t always ⁓ well received by my female peers. Do you feel there that they exist? Do you feel you have one?

LANA SAMUELS (23:51)

Yeah

I feel that they do exist and they’re there to be smashed.

DI GILLETT – HOST (24:03)

There we go, straight up. So what about your peer group and your friendship group of women of similar age? What are they saying about glass ceilings in the industries that they’re working in?

LANA SAMUELS (24:05)

You

think for me personally, my girlfriends have chosen careers where they’re quite different to mine, not as male orientated, if I’m being completely honest. Majority of my girlfriends are in the design space and they’re in spaces where there’s a lot more female successful operators. So I wouldn’t say that I’ve had the exposure from like, they’re in fashion, they’re in the creative space.

They’re in design and typically speaking has a lot more females within that world. I wouldn’t say that the glass ceilings have been as

within my friendship circles. For me, think I’ve probably seen it the most out of all of us.

DI GILLETT – HOST (25:04)

So reflecting back on starting out and pushing through, when did you first start to hit it and have to… Your words smashed…

LANA SAMUELS (25:10)

So, yeah,

Smash Through would have been about three and a half years ago. So I came out of being an EA into what’s called a standalone agent role three and a half years ago, close to four.

DI GILLETT – HOST (25:22)

How hard was that transition? Because often transitioning within an organisation is difficult because garnering respect from one role to the next role can be really hard to

LANA SAMUELS (25:34)

Well, it was really hard for me because I was always, you on the side with Marty. He was the lead. So I was the EA, absolutely loved it, built some incredible relationships. But you were the second wheel. when it was funny, Marty actually sat me down one day and said, hey, as much as I would love you to be my EA until I’m 90 years old, because we just have a ball and we work so well together, I would be doing you a disservice to keep you in this role when you

DI GILLETT – HOST (25:46)

With a second wish

LANA SAMUELS (26:03)

are writing the numbers that you’re writing. You should be a top female operator in Australia. And this is your moment to go. Like, I’m going to have to cut you off, unfortunately. That’s so… Very selfless. ⁓ does Yeah. I was so upset because real estate’s hard. You know, it’s…

DI GILLETT – HOST (26:14)

That doesn’t happen so many times.

LANA SAMUELS (26:27)

It’s very up and down. It’s not a stable industry. And if you do it, you’ve to be 150 % dialed in. you can’t do it part time. It’s really quite difficult. he didn’t hold me back. It was the best thing that he ever did for me at the time I was upset because I didn’t want to have that responsibility, but I just did it.

DI GILLETT – HOST (26:47)

correlations between real estate and the recruitment and search world that I came out of. It’s very similar.

LANA SAMUELS (26:52)

It’s very similar. So I jumped in to a standalone agent role and opened an office within the space of two weeks, hired a team of 10 males within the same week and hired my beautiful EA. So there was a million things that happened at once that I just jumped into. And that was how I broke out to become a standalone agent. But to go back to your question about, you know, when did I feel the ceiling? Like, what was that moment? It would have been when I…

went out and started to have to pitch a business by myself as a female with all of sudden all of this responsibility with a team to train, with mouths to feed, know, with salaries to pay for and essentially being on commission only, which is what you are as a

DI GILLETT – HOST (27:36)

running a profit centre. Correct.

LANA SAMUELS (27:38)

Yeah. So that was the moment and really going in and competing only against men, which was what was happening when I first started. was EAs that were females, but I wasn’t going head to head with female standalone agents.

DI GILLETT – HOST (27:54)

Did the marketplace respond if you were going out and pitching to a potential client and the client was male? How did that go for you?

LANA SAMUELS (28:01)

Well, I had a beautiful experience and I’m really blessed to say that. I always say to my clients 90 % of the yes. And it’s also knowing when to turn away business, which I’m very good at doing. Not everyone’s going to be on your same wavelength and respect you and you meet people from time to time where you’re like, oh, you’re not for me and that’s okay. Real estate is quite intense because you’re in someone’s home.

DI GILLETT – HOST (28:09)

That’s down to you.

LANA SAMUELS (28:26)

And it’s an intense process because you’re across the emotions, the finances. Like, you’re in their world and their space. So you see a lot and you see the good. So my experience going in was incredible. You know, I am a hard worker, as I think you know. You know, I never stop. If I’m in, 100%.

DI GILLETT – HOST (28:36)

Dabbing the ugly

LANA SAMUELS (28:48)

And I started off small and built my way up from there, but I started off, I was very lucky that I tapped into my past clientele that I’d been nurturing over the four years of being an EA. And I tapped into my network of people that I’d been building and then making the change and, you know, the standalone agents through social media had a lot of people reaching out to me and saying, hey, why don’t you come and have a look at my house? So I was really lucky. they were coming to you? Yeah, it started, it of came out of nowhere.

But I’ve been doing so much work behind the scenes for years. Next to Marty, you know, we’d be taking on clients, he would list, he would sell, but I’d be nurturing on the buyers and building those relationships. And then all of a sudden, they were needing to transact, buy or sell again. So it’d be coming to me. So I was really lucky, but it was a lot of strategic work in the background to nurture those relationships so that when it was time to kind of move out, everything started to fall into place for me.

DI GILLETT – HOST (29:42)

So you’ve seen, look, this is all the upside and this is all the positives, but there’s absolutely sacrifices that come with success. Can we talk about what some of those have been?

LANA SAMUELS (29:55)

Missing my best friend’s wedding last year and being a bridesmaid. ⁓ Not being able to go overseas because it’s peak season in real estate. Being spring really hard. That was a really difficult decision for me to make.

DI GILLETT – HOST (30:08)

received by the people on the other end.

LANA SAMUELS (30:11)

understanding but really hurt, like devastated. ⁓ And that was purely I had to make a business decision. We were in a very difficult space as a market, you know, all the interest rates, I had to claw back business and being a high performer and managing a team. I could not step away for three weeks and leave my team like that.

DI GILLETT – HOST (30:31)

anniversary performance results to deliver.

LANA SAMUELS (30:35)

And clients that wanted, you know, that have expectations they list with me, they’re expecting me at the front door. can’t just tap out.

DI GILLETT – HOST (30:42)

be seen in a photo across the world.

LANA SAMUELS (30:44)

Exactly,

drinking a cocktail. Sometimes you can. It’s a very hard one though, Di, because you need boundaries and you need to have a life. But I had to make that decision, unfortunately, that I had to put the business first in this occasion. She knows I love her and, you know, that it wasn’t an easy decision, but there’s been sacrifices of big milestones and moments, but little things, you know. I was working seven days a week for the first five years.

DI GILLETT – HOST (31:10)

How is he still working now? ⁓

LANA SAMUELS (31:12)

I’m doing big hours. It’s six days a week now. I have Sundays that are a non-negotiable. It is what it is. And I love it though. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Like for me, it’s not work. you. Yeah, it fuels me. It’s a pleasure. You have your moments, your good moments and your bad moments. But if you’re looking at your watch in this industry, it’s not for you. it. It’s just not. The phone starts at 7 a.m. It will probably stop at about 10, 30, 11 o’clock for me because by the time people finish work,

DI GILLETT – HOST (31:17)

No.

Yeah.

LANA SAMUELS (31:41)

They’re wanting to have those conversations with you, so you’ve got to be available and that’s very hard.

DI GILLETT – HOST (31:46)

And I heard a few of those over the fence. know how long the hours are. And the search world’s the same. I used to work on an international time clock. International time clock was 24 hours.

LANA SAMUELS (31:58)

Yeah, exactly. Nonsensical. It’s intense and you can only do it if you love it. Otherwise you hit breaking point and then you just phase out.

DI GILLETT – HOST (32:07)

So were there ever moments or have there been moments where you feel you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?

LANA SAMUELS (32:14)

Weekly.

DI GILLETT – HOST (32:16)

Well there’s clarity. What are the sorts of things that trigger that feeling? What could it be? As small as what and as big as what?

LANA SAMUELS (32:17)

⁓ Daily.

you know, it’s, don’t think anyone prepares you on as much as I love it. How hard it is managing people and managing a team. know, for me, I’m… Great. No one warned me at how hard it would be. No, I love my team, but it’s a lot of responsibility. can have all sorts of different shapes and sizes. So for me, I think one of the biggest challenges is time. I’m listing, I’m selling, I’m dealing with people’s most, you know,

DI GILLETT – HOST (32:33)

That’s why there’s a whole industry.

LANA SAMUELS (32:54)

their biggest assets and some of the biggest moments in their lives and it’s money, you know, it’s important. So I’m doing that and I’m generating, I’m the biggest generator in my office and running my business and my clientele and then having 10 people that I’m managing on a daily that can be up, that can be down, that need this, that need that, they need support, they need deal mechanics, they need a problem fixed or a code crack. So for me, I think my biggest challenge is time. But I’m really trying to be mindful of it.

and use my time really wisely, but I’m very emotional and it’s something that I’m trying to improve on. I want everything to be perfect. is. Attention to detail perfectionists. So I’ve got to sometimes learn to pull back, but that’s the thing that I struggle with at the moment. I want everyone to be happy, perfect, everything on point, but there’s only so much I can do.

DI GILLETT – HOST (33:30)

of your coaching.

Leave that at the door!

And that perfectionism trait, and I know it, only too well, leaves you being your own toughest master and worst enemy. However, not delivering to that level or presenting to that level or showing up at that level is more stressful.

LANA SAMUELS (33:57)

Yeah, very true

Very much.

Very true. I couldn’t say it better myself. I’d rather have that pressure than not do it, because if I wasn’t doing it, I probably wouldn’t be able to get out of bed.

DI GILLETT – HOST (34:17)

So you’ve been recognised as one of the top 100 agents in Australia now. Yes. You’ve got to that level. How much pressure comes with staying at that level?

LANA SAMUELS (34:29)

I think it’s what you put on yourself. No one puts pressure on me like I put on myself. So it’s a huge accolade, something that I’m incredibly proud of because there’s not many females on that list and not many females under 40 on that list. Not the stats off the top of my head, but from when I looked at it, I thought, wow, there’s not a lot of women in here and there should be a lot more because there’s so many incredible operators within my industry. Look, it’s, it’s an incredible,

DI GILLETT – HOST (34:44)

Do you that’s

LANA SAMUELS (34:59)

accolade as I said, but the pressure is you just got to perform for your clients daily and those awards and those celebrations come along the way. It’s not why I do it. Exactly right. Exactly right. So it’s great, but you keep it moving. It’s on to the next.

DI GILLETT – HOST (35:08)

Then you’re only as good as you last year.

So be remiss being the Power of Women podcast not to talk about females in a male-dominated industry. And I don’t want to overplay it, but it is in the wheelhouse of Power of Women. And particularly at the top end, which is where you’re playing, it’s largely male-dominated. I could reel off the ones in our neck of the woods, and they’re all male. How hard has it been

breaking into that space and how have your competitors responded?

LANA SAMUELS (35:52)

That’s a great question. It has been hard. ⁓ There’s one situation that really stands out as soon as you ask that question. had a bit of a moment last year. I had a very good client of mine ⁓ come to me and say, I had a bit of a moment with a competitor of yours the other day. And I said, really? He said, yeah, you know, I brought you up and he was a friend of his and he said, you know, Lana’s doing really well. You know, she’s…

So recently for a friend of mine, there was some sort of story that he was saying and the male agent said, yeah, it’s because she’s a little bit too close to the husbands, if you know what I mean. And it broke my heart hearing that and still even saying that now really upsets me.

DI GILLETT – HOST (36:38)

That’s

the throwaway male line that’s got to be sex implied for a female to be successful.

LANA SAMUELS (36:43)

young

female in my industry to be successful and it’s not something that I’ve really spoken about.

DI GILLETT – HOST (36:50)

Free all emotions.

LANA SAMUELS (36:52)

emotional about it and I was angry as well and I really I kind of fought back hard I thought do I call this guy I told my husband he was horrified and so upset because he’s seen the sacrifices and he’s seen you know the hours that I do and the tears along the way and all the things that we as a team have sacrificed for me to be sitting where I am. Team, and Yeah such a slap in the face and just such a low blow.

I started really kicking his ass in listing appointments and taking more business from him. I to mom, I spoke to dad and I spoke to people within my nucleus and said, what would you do? And think it was mom that said, don’t do anything, just silence and show him how good you really are. That’s, you know, it was very,

DI GILLETT – HOST (37:26)

Money speaks fully

LANA SAMUELS (37:43)

easy to pick up the phone and make that call I was very close and I thought, no, I’m going to be a real lady about this. I’m going to show you. I’m going to show you how good I actually am. And, you know, it’s funny. I think he knows that I know. We have never had the conversation. I’m really polite to him when I see him because reputation is everything. I said earlier, you’ve got one shot and I want to be. Yeah. I just think, look, you’re going to say that because you’re threatened. And mum always says it’s when they stop talking about you. That’s when you should be worried.

DI GILLETT – HOST (38:11)

That’s exactly right.

LANA SAMUELS (38:12)

You

know, so if they’re talking it’s a good thing. When they stop you might be in bit of trouble.

DI GILLETT – HOST (38:18)

So do you feel the industry is shifting now?

LANA SAMUELS (38:21)

Definitely. And I’ve really seen it in our business. We’ve got over 50 % of our agents are female within the company, which is amazing. Marty. Marty’s been a driver and pioneer of really amplifying women and pushing us and.

DI GILLETT – HOST (38:33)

Who’s driving that?

And he has sticked.

LANA SAMUELS (38:42)

getting us as much limelight as we can. I all the women are pushing it and we’ve got incredible female auctioneers and just so many beautiful personalities and strong independent women within the company.

DI GILLETT – HOST (38:53)

don’t think I’ve seen a female auctioneer in action.

LANA SAMUELS (38:57)

They’re very good. Yeah. See our girls are unbelievable. yeah, it’s definitely changing diet. You know, even when I look back five years ago, even in the business, there was only a handful of us females, a lot of men, but there’s a lot of women coming through the ranks now and a lot of women.

DI GILLETT – HOST (39:13)

And your social media will be playing a significant role in that.

LANA SAMUELS (39:18)

Thank I get a lot of women from across Australia messaging me, know, saying, you’ve really inspired me. I got into real estate because of you and you’ve, you know, shown me that I can be myself and that’s so touching and beautiful to hear that. And, you know, I get messages daily. Nellie’s started creating a bit of a scrapbook of all the beautiful messages that I’ve received over the years and it’s really, really special.

DI GILLETT – HOST (39:42)

So what would you like to see change still? What still needs to happen?

LANA SAMUELS (39:47)

We’ve definitely made a lot of movement. I think it’s getting a lot better. I think women across the board in high-powered positions in real estate could really open up and change. There’s still a lot of the old school mentality out there. Us as a business, we’re very different, but I think as an industry, I think we need to open up the floor for more strong female operators and more opportunities at the top.

DI GILLETT – HOST (40:14)

Yeah. So real estate aside, what advice would you give to any young woman starting to her career, pushing into a male dominated space?

LANA SAMUELS (40:29)

beautiful strong mentors around you, people that inspire you.

Don’t take no as an answer. And I would say, if you want it, you can make it happen. There’s nothing that is out of your reach. I look at where I started and what I’m doing today. I knew where I wanted to go. I set a really clear timeline of what I wanted to hit and I made it happen and I got my head down and did it. So nothing’s impossible. If you want it, go and get it.

DI GILLETT – HOST (40:38)

Yeah. ⁓

My last question for you today, Lana, is what is a phrase that defines you?

LANA SAMUELS (41:07)

what is the phrase that defines me? That’s a great one.

I think just I’m a hard worker. Anyone that’s worked with me knows that I give 150 % to everything I do and if I can’t, I won’t do it. I’m all in. Yep.

DI GILLETT – HOST (41:27)

Brilliant. Lana, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. know hearing what you’ve done and how you’ve done it is going to be inspirational for so many women listening to this because age aside, you’ve broken into a male-dominated space. You have done it in record time to the level of managing director and you have

held your head high and taken the high road when individuals from the not so fair sex have been not so fair. Thank you. And I have no doubt that you’ll be taking their business away from them any time soon. So congratulations.

LANA SAMUELS (42:14)

Thank you for all your beautiful support over the years. From the bottom of my heart. ⁓

DI GILLETT – HOST (42:19)

It’s easy to give, So that is absolutely wonderful. But it is a reminder of how sort of blending my past career with my new career in amplifying women’s voices comes together. And you’re a great example of that. thank you. And thank you for listening. Until next time.

LANA SAMUELS (42:36)

Very special.

Connect with Di:

Find Lana Samuels at:

Website https://www.whitefoxrealestate.com.au/team/lana-samuels/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lana.samuels/?hl=en

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5 Everyday Biohacks to Live Well Longer

by admin | Sep 29, 2025 | Female Podcast, Health & Wellbeing, Healthy Aging

On Episode 84 of the Power Of Women Podcast, I sit down with Azra Alagic, biohacker, Behaviour Change Specialist, and founder of BiohackHer. Together, we explore how women can move beyond the obsession with living longer and instead focus on living well longer.

Azra’s story is one of transformation. From chronic fatigue, gut dysbiosis, and migraines to a thriving health span built on science-backed biohacking practices. She believes there’s no such thing as “can’t” and that women must empower themselves to make conscious lifestyle choices that support vitality, clarity, and resilience.

This conversation dives into the practical, everyday actions that make a difference: from morning sunlight to mindful breathwork, and reframes aging not as decline, but as power.

In this episode, we explore:

➜ Why health span matters more than lifespan

➜ Retirement as a mindset trap and how to avoid it

➜ The science behind biohacking and women’s health

➜ 5 Everyday Biohacks: Morning sunlight, cold exposure, sleep optimisation, intermittent fasting, mindfulness & breathwork

➜ Why biohacking must be adapted to women’s hormonal cycles.

Azra said:

“Women’s health needs to be valued as much as men’s health. We should not accept disease as inevitable.”

“Biohacking is backed by science. There are countless studies and trials — it’s not a gimmick.”

“Ageing well is about taking control of your own biology so you can live well longer.”

💥 New episodes drop every Monday to power your week.

📖 Read the full transcript of this conversation here:

AZRA (00:00)

I believe women’s health needs to be valued as much as men’s health. That we should not accept disease as inevitable and that women should empower themselves to make better lifestyle choices so that they can live well longer.

DI (00:16)

I’m Di Gillett and welcome to the Power of Women podcast. We’re a platform that showcases and celebrates the strength, resilience and achievements of women from all walks of life. And this is your invitation to join the conversation. So please be sure to follow or subscribe to the podcast and make sure you’re part of every fearless, unfiltered, inspiring story we’re here to tell at the Power of Women.

Today I want to muse on something we’re all wrestling with, aging. And it’s inevitable, but it’s not an excuse because too often we put ourselves last, we’re juggling far too much, and we tell ourselves we can’t. My guest today is Azra Elagic. And Azra says there’s no such thing as can’t. And that plays into my mantra because I’m on the same page. I often say I can’t do something.

yet. Azra is a biohacker, a behavior change specialist and founder of Biohack Her. And she believes that small daily hacks can transform how we age and how we live. So together, we’re going to explore five everyday biohacks that are going to feel like superpowers. Azra Olarjic, welcome to the Power of Women podcast.

AZRA (01:44)

Thanks, Tigray, to be here.

DI (01:46)

Azra, you talk about healthspan versus lifespan and I’m absolutely there with you. But the distinction between those two things plays into your own story. Tell us about that.

AZRA (02:03)

certainly does. I remember it getting to my mid-40s and starting to feel age kick in. wasn’t as fit

DI (02:14)

It’s

home memory, Ezra.

AZRA (02:19)

But then I got to that milestone birthday die when I turned 50 and it became even worse. I was suddenly confronted with my mortality and I thought hang on a minute, I have lived maybe more than half of my life and that was really confronting to me and it wasn’t that I was afraid of getting older, it was that I was concerned about

ensuring that I could continue to do the things that I love to do and to be able to do those things with my loved ones. And I had watched family that are close to me deteriorate around me, other women in my life, like my grandmother. And these ladies had died, you know, at a relatively young age and I didn’t want to be like that. And so…

it occurred to me that I needed to do something about it, to be more proactive about it. And So when we look at lifespan versus healthspan, healthspan is very much about ensuring that we can be as healthy for as long as we possibly can. And that’s what I’m all about. It’s about making sure that I’m proactive in my lifestyle choices so that I can really nurture myself, put myself first. As you mentioned, lots of women don’t tend to do that.

And we need to give ourselves permission to be able to do that. So we can be there for our loved ones as we get older.

DI (03:40)

You also talk about the impacts of focusing on retirement versus living powerfully now. And I’m of the view that retirement is a slippery slope if we retire out of society, retire out of what we’re doing. And whilst there’s a bit of a desire to slow down and live differently,

Is retirement in the truest sense of the word detrimental to our health?

AZRA (04:19)

I think it is in the truer sense and I think it comes down to mindset. When we think about retirement, we often think that that’s the time for us to slow down, that’s the time to stop being creative, that’s the time to stop critically thinking and it’s almost like in my mind I see people giving up on life and I don’t want to give up on life.

Yes, it’s nice to be able to slow down and have a little bit more space, a little bit more time to be able to do things that you’re more passionate about. But I think we need to be careful about our mindset when we do go into retirement. We need to adopt what I call a longevity mindset. So it’s not about slowing down, it’s actually going into a full kilt and really ramping it up even more and living life with passion.

and energy and vitality and that’s why it’s so important to ensure that we continue to live longer and that we look after our health so we can do that because I don’t know about you but I don’t want to end up with a chronic disease and I don’t want to have to walk around with a Zimmer frame in my 80s and 90s. I want to as I always say continue to dance on the tables as long as I possibly can because we want to be able to live life as fully as we possibly can.

DI (05:34)

And you’re living up in Queensland and you’ve got lots of vitamin D and I think that plays into to well-being and mental health as well. I think ⁓ getting a dose of sunshine as you dance on that tabletop might be a good thing to do.

AZRA (05:50)

Sure does. Well just came back from overseas in Europe where I did bit of dancing on the tables in the Italian fries. there you go. Got lots of vitamin D over there.

DI (05:58)

Fabulous.

So as we’re talking about, ⁓ and you say, lifespans are increasing, but not our health spans. And I think we’ve only got to look out in society to see that. mean, we can see evidence of so many people not aging well, whether that’s through choice of diet, whether that’s attitude, whether that’s inherited diseases or other.

circumstances, but I think a glance, you know, day to day in community would tell us about that. We’re going to get into biohacking, which is your point of specialisation. However, some people listening might be sceptical about that and think it’s a bit of a trend or perhaps even a gimmick or, you know, health advice off Instagram. What would you say to those who

doubt the value of biohacking. before we define just what that might be.

AZRA (07:02)

Sure. I understand that it’s a new and potentially novel concept and that some people might think that it’s a gimmick. But when we think about history, we’ve often seen that those that are the early adopters, that are the disruptors in many different industries. are The ones that have paved the way for others. And I would suggest that before people close their minds to what biohacking can do for you,

and how powerful it can be, but they look into the science and the research and the fact that a lot of the biohacks that we embrace as biohackers are backed by science and it is backed by evidence. So there are lots and lots of studies and research papers and clinical trials that have been done for many of the biohacks that a lot of biohackers do such as myself and I think it’s important to have an open mind. Remember about we need to embrace that longevity mindset.

And this is where we need to push ourselves outside the comfort zone. And while people often say that we don’t like change, women in particular, I think, are absolute powerhouses at change because we deal with change every single day from our families to our work environment to our homes. We’re constantly having to evolve and change and shift. And so really having that open mindset and looking at the science and do your own research. If you don’t believe me, if you don’t believe other biohackers,

Go away, check it out yourself and look into it and see what the studies show.

DI (08:35)

And how do we find those out there in communities? So you’re talking about yours is backed by science, but how do we know we’ve landed on the right practitioner?

AZRA (08:47)

I think it comes down to personal choice when we’re referring to a particular practitioner. Because for me personally, I found that at times Western medicine let me down and certainly Western medicine has a place. Absolutely do not disagree with that. But for me, I had leaky gut syndrome, I had inflammation in my body, I had severe migraines, I ended up with an autoimmune condition. I was diagnosed years later in celiac which was missed earlier on.

So there are a lot of things that weren’t picked up and I only discovered those as a result of going down the biohacking arm and working with functional medical practitioners and alternative therapists. And so I think it comes down to the individual and you need to listen to your body and really do what’s right for you because what works for me is not necessarily going to work for you and it comes down to that individuality and it’s really important to ensure that you’re comfortable.

with who you are engaging with to guide you with your health because your health is so critically important. You only get one body, so you need to look after it as they say. And so it’s really important that you get this right.

DI (09:57)

How long in your own situation, Azra, did you try and find solutions to what was your ill health at that point in time?

AZRA (10:08)

years Di I suffered from migraines since my 20s and it just continually got worse to the point that when I got to my 50s I was getting migraines every three days debilitating migraines that were causing severe nausea I was bedridden it’s a bit

DI (10:27)

This is 30 years without a solution.

AZRA (10:30)

Yeah, yeah and when I’d go to the doctor they would just keep prescribing stronger medication and for me that was not something that aligned with my values and it also ended up destroying my gut health as well as a result of being on medication that was prescribed to me and so you know we know that we have the gut-brain axis and the importance of how the gut health

⁓ works with the rest of our body and why it’s so critically important to maintain good gut health so that we can have good health overall because it’s so closely connected with everything else. And so once I understood that through working with alternative medical practitioners, I was then able to identify a pathway that was right for me, that worked for me, that helped heal my gut.

I ended up doing a complete six month detox where I cut out refined sugars, gluten, dairy, alcohol for six months and a whole heap of other foods as well to be able to detox my body, to reduce my inflammation, to be able to heal my gut. And following on from that, I have not had a migraine since. And so if that’s not a testament to how alternative treatments can help, then I don’t know what.

DI (11:44)

Yeah, so of those four key things that you took out of your diet, what have you brought back in?

AZRA (11:52)

alcohol.

DI (11:56)

You don’t have to apologize for that, Azra. That’s okay. It’s just the amount.

AZRA (12:00)

Hey, I have a European heritage and it’s very difficult. It is my vice and I do like, you know, a nice glass of red on a cold evening in front of the fireplace. ⁓ But I must say have cut back on alcohol significantly and I have to be aware of that and I’m conscious of the decisions that I make when I do choose to drink alcohol. So I cut it right back to only drinking socially. I don’t drink when I’m at home. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t drink alcohol so it makes it really easy for me.

DI (12:27)

My world’s very similar. My husband’s not a drinker and the same thing. I’ve taken out all drinking at home and only drink socially and it makes a massive difference.

AZRA (12:41)

It does, it does, doesn’t it? I think my, as an example, my skin has…

DI (12:46)

And you’ve got to designate a driver and your husband and that’s a good thing. ⁓

AZRA (12:51)

for sure, 100 % is so great having my husband as a designated driver. But it is about making those conscious choices and then also putting in hacks that help to counteract some of the damage that might be being done as a result of having that occasional social drink. So for me because I’ve had gut dysbiosis, I know as an integrative nutrition health coach that alcohol is not great for my gut lining wall. I know that.

But you’ve also got to live life as well. So it’s not about being perfect, it’s about implementing small hacks that are workable, that can be sustainable, and being real about it, as I am, and then understanding how those choices may impact you. So then you can implement other hacks to try to counteract that. So I have certain supplements that I take to help ensure that I protect my gut health lining more.

⁓ gut lining or other so it’s it’s really about being cognizant of that and making those those choices to help

DI (13:52)

to prevent some that. And tell me about taking out sugar because, and you know, that’s one of my, one of my bugbears. I had to get to 59 years of age before I had the strength and resilience to say, okay, I am done with processed sugar, but it has been the most life-changing, transformative decision I have ever made in my life. The flow on effects, the positive.

flow on effects from that of no inflammation in the body. ⁓ Weight loss is, it’s not a breeze, it’s a discipline, but it’s certainly made a massive difference and taking up processed sugar means you clean up your act in general because you review how you eat, what you eat, and all that processed food just falls away as part of it. I’d love to hear

How that played out for you taking up processed sugar.

AZRA (14:54)

It was difficult. I won’t deny that. Absolutely. do have a sweet

DI (14:57)

Yes, so do I. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.

AZRA (15:02)

No. And so for me it was about education and I think that’s where I come back to what I mentioned earlier about empowering ourselves. So once we can educate ourselves around a why we should cut out refined sugar and why it’s bad for us then also looking at well what can we replace it with what are the swaps that we can then implement so we feel don’t feel like we’re missing out.

And from a behavioral change perspective, it’s really important that we set ourselves up for success. So I often talk to clients about controlling your environment so you can set yourself up for success. So go through your pantry, go through your fridge, clean everything out, get rid of anything that’s got the refined sugars, get rid of high processed foods, and aim to have whole foods. But then also bring in other items, other ingredients that you can swap in. For instance, example organic maple syrup is a great alternative.

know instead of having refined sugar or you could use stevia. I’m not a huge advocate of stevia so I feel it’s a little bit processed.

DI (16:03)

Yeah, me too, because to your point it comes back to processed again.

AZRA (16:09)

That’s right. And so there are natural alternatives honey is another example as well and that you can Implement into your diet that are healthy for you that don’t make you feel like you’re missing out but for me it was critical that I cut out the refined sugars because That was also contributing to my poor gut health. And so when we look at dysbiosis, it’s about having a ⁓ Imbalance between the good bacteria and the bad bacteria in our gut

And so refined sugar can contribute to that by feeding the bad bacteria and creating candida as well within the gut. And so that then creates further inflammation within the body. And so we need to look at, what can we do to cut those refined sugars out so that we can start to reduce that inflammation and get the balance back again and feed the good bacteria so that you’re not craving the sugar either, because it’s the bad bacteria that’s actually making you

DI (17:06)

you ever get a craving for sugar? Is there a weak moment that that hankering comes back?

AZRA (17:13)

sure my weak moment is always after dinner at night. Yeah right. something sweet and again that’s because for years and years and years my body was in tune to having dessert after a meal. You that’s how I was brought up and so my bacteria. switch. It does. It gets. Yep it does. It gets less. The craving is significantly less.

DI (17:32)

Over time though.

It’s Liz.

AZRA (17:41)

but it’s still there and it’s something that I’m very conscious of and it’s something that I have to work on on a constant basis to be able to resist that and so I look at other ways of trying to minimize that craving so it might be having a piece of fruit you know after dinner so that that mitigates that craving and it’s a healthier option but you’re getting a little bit of a sweet.

DI (18:07)

Yeah. I smiled when you said about controlling your environment. I think it’s my A-type personality approach to life is I work on controlling me and less so about working on controlling the environment. So, because that’s the one thing I can control. I can’t control my environment, you know, in a broader sense. tapping into that A-type, I can control me.

And it takes discipline. It’s not easily done, is it? mean, nothing comes easily. We’d be lying if we tried to promote that some of these changes don’t require some serious commitment to make that change.

AZRA (18:58)

for sure and it’s even more difficult when you have a family at home, you have a partner at home and they’re not in alignment with what you’re trying to do. So that makes it much more difficult because the temptation is there.

DI (19:10)

Yeah, we can’t quite control them. And nor should we. And nor should we.

AZRA (19:12)

No, you can’t.

No, no, but when my children were living at home and I was trying to implement more healthy choices, there was a lot of resistance from my boys in particular because they were, no, we want to be able to eat McDonald’s and we want to be able to eat as much meat as we want and I was trying to incorporate more plant food, but you know, they have to learn that themselves.

DI (19:38)

So coming up, Five bio hacks to improve your energy and your focus.

If you’re loving the Power of Women podcasts, be sure to jump onto our YouTube channel and hit that subscribe button to ensure you never miss an episode.

So Azra, let’s run through five everyday biohacks that one, don’t cost a fortune to do. They’re not about adopting any extreme lifestyle ⁓ changes. And there’s something that’s within reach of all of us. So I’ll just run through the list and then if we could do a deep dive into each of those, if we could. So on that list of five, we’ve got morning sunlight.

We’ve got cold exposure. We’ve got sleep optimization, intermittent fasting, and then the fifth one being mindfulness breath work. Let’s start with morning sunshine as a biohack.

AZRA (20:44)

It’s one of my favorite bio hacks and as you said these are cost free buy hacks which are so easy to implement and this goes back to ancestral days and this is something that our ancestors have been doing intuitively for you know many many years but we’ve lost the art of exposing ourselves to morning light because of the fact that we live indoors so much now.

and morning light benefits our health significantly because it helps to improve our circadian rhythms and so we are often exposed to significant amounts of blue light like we are today we’re sitting in front of computers and blue light we know is really bad for our circadian rhythms which is why we need to expose ourselves to that morning light so we’re getting

the right light in the morning to help reset our circadian rhythms. And so I’ve recently been traveling a bit and been in different time zones. And One of the first things that I do when I hit the ground in a new country is that I try to go outside as early as possible and as soon as possible so I can get that early morning sunlight into my eyes. to be able to signify to my body, okay, this is the time zone that I am in and this is what’s going to reset that real master clock in within my brain to be able to say,

this time of the day my cortisol levels should be up so that I can be functioning and alert and vibrant and my melatonin levels should be going down at this time in the morning where then in the evenings we want to limit our exposure to the blue light and dim lights or have red light ⁓ on in our homes or candle light even so that we’re signaling to our

to our circadian rhythm that hey it’s time to wind down so then the melatonin levels will come up and our body will start to realise okay it’s rest time it’s rest and recovery time and then we can get into that regular sleep routine. So this the morning light is really important for helping to reset that circadian clock.

DI (22:47)

So is that a reset for ⁓ jet lag as well once you get into? so re going out, getting that morning light in your eyes in the new time zone is a reset to assist with jet lag.

AZRA (23:04)

Yep, absolutely. And you only need about 10 to 15 minutes of light exposure in the morning. Yeah. And take your glasses off, so we don’t want to be wearing sunglasses or our eye glasses. We have to have the light going straight into our eyes to be able to get the benefit of it. And also doing the grounding as well. So if you can, get your shoes off and get onto the grass, walk on the grass, walk on the beach on the sand so that you can actually then…

recharge in that time zone and that really helps to ground and really significantly improve how our nervous system is operating as well because that gets impacted as well when we travel and when we experience jet

DI (23:42)

Yeah, brilliant. Cold exposure. And I’m playing around with this at the moment. so I’ll be really interested in what you have to say.

AZRA (23:52)

So how are you going with it? Are you enjoying it or is it a challenge?

DI (23:56)

So,

what I am doing every morning now, and I’ve spent my life jumping into the shower, running around the outside, avoiding the flow of water until it’s warmed up. That’s been my… and I would think most people would do that. However, now, and where I live, I’m in the middle of winter, and I think I said to you before we started recording, some of the mornings have been one and two degrees, and… ⁓

when you turn on that cold water, the water that comes out is cold, But in actual fact, if you walk into the flow, it gets colder again before it gets warmer. So I have trained myself through again, power of control of me, not the environment for the last two months to walk straight into that cold blast flow of water in the shower. And it’s a deal breaker.

wakes you up, I don’t feel I need the rest of the shower to run as hot as I used to because the contrast now between hot and cold has changed. And instead of having that groggy feeling, if you haven’t had a, you know, perhaps the optimal sleep, it sparks you into action.

as hard as it is to do on some mornings, because some mornings it feels like the last thing you want to do. And it’s only a matter of seconds, so it’s probably only 15 to 20 seconds. But I wouldn’t not do it now, any day, jumping into the shower, because it gets me going, it wakes me up, and it brings me to a point of consciousness that I can’t get by jumping under a steaming hot shower.

AZRA (25:48)

Well well done because it takes a lot of mindset shift and built up resilience to be able to do something like that. And so with cold therapy or cryotherapy you know there’s different terms for it. I have a differing view on it to what I used to have in my 40s and that’s because the research has moved on. And so we’ve often seen all of these men these tech bros that have been out there and

know Bim Hof is is an iconic you know person that’s been advocating cold therapy and that’s all great for the boys but we are different women are different we’re cyclical beings and we have to take that into consideration when we are doing cold therapy and so cold therapy is really important

for us in terms of making sure that we can increase the cortisol levels, which is what you experience by going into the shower in the morning and waking you up, you get the dopamine increase and the serotonin increase, and yet, bam, we’re up and ready, we’re ready to go. But we need to factor in our hormonal fluctuations, we need to factor in what stage are we.

within our cycle and When should we actually been doing cold therapy and we should be we shouldn’t be doing cold therapy at the same temperature as the boys. So for the boys they’ll go down to five degrees. and I’ve done that. Absolutely I’ve done that. But I now know that’s bad for me because it can impact my adrenals. Can

impact my cortisol levels and send them skyrocket, which is not something that we want because we know that high cortisol levels and ongoing chronic stress is bad for us. It actually ages us faster. And so it’s really about taking into consideration about as women, what phase are we in our life and when is the appropriate time to be able to be doing the cold therapy. And so I would only recommend that we’re doing it one to two times a week.

and that we’re doing that in our follicular phase for those that are still menstruating. But for women that are menopause, ⁓ postmenopause, perimenopause, again we take a different approach there as well. So it really is about understanding what’s going on with our hormones and listening to our bodies again to ensure that we’re doing that type of treatment, that type of bi-hack at the right time because we don’t want to increase those.

those cortisol levels and to mess around with the hormones or our adrenals either because that can happen. So we just need to consider that individually.

DI (28:28)

Here’s the irony. So the cold therapy conversation is only relatively new. But yet again, we jump in and treat men and women from the outset when they started as the same, and the same as we’ve done with medical research and medical practices. And I’ve talked about this on this podcast with Hima Prakash from Ponte Health and with Professor Nada Hamad, who’s ⁓

renowned haematologist of this whole ⁓ misconception that we can approach healthcare for men and women in the same way. We’re different beings.

AZRA (29:11)

We so are and this is something that I’m really passionate about because historically we have seen a lot of the research that’s been done, the scientific studies that have been done, have been done on men or a small group of women at certain ages and so we need to be investing more in women’s health in terms of the research and the scientific studies that are done so we can understand what is right for women as opposed to what is right for men and so when we look at cold therapy

My recommendation, what I do now is to do my cold therapy at a higher temperature, more around 13 degrees rather than five degrees.

DI (29:47)

I wonder what my cold shower is. I know it’s just bloody freezing. don’t know what that equates to in degrees.

AZRA (29:56)

You’ll have to try and check that. But it’s, you know, the way that you’ve done it, you know, some people might be thinking about, how can I look at embracing cold therapy? And I would say do it exactly the way that you’ve done it through cold showers, but you don’t necessarily have to jump in and do it full on straight away. You can start off with a hotter shower and then split it over to a colder temperature for 30 seconds and then go back for 30 seconds and…

alternate for a little while and that helps you to build up the mindset and the resilience so that you can get to the point where you can have a cold shower completely without the hot water.

DI (30:31)

Well, and I have to admit, Azra, it wasn’t plunging my whole body in the first instance under that flowing water. was, you know, it started off with a little bit of a side and a leg. It took some serious, you know, working up to being able to walk into the flow of cold water. So, and that took about a month. So, it’s not for the faint-hearted.

AZRA (30:58)

take a while.

So all the mindset and breath work is really important in leading into cold therapy as well. For me I really have to get into the right mindset.

DI (31:10)

There’s a few curse words that come out with that breath work some mornings. depends on cold it is. So biohack number three, sleep optimization.

AZRA (31:23)

Sleep is so vitally important and it is absolutely critical. We need to ensure that we’re getting the right amount of deep regenerative sleep and as women we often don’t get that. And I will put my hand up as being one of those women who struggled with sleep for many, many years. And it’s probably only in the past couple of years to be honest that I’ve got on top of my sleep and really.

got it to where it should be. I think it’s because I’m a mum of three kids and I taught my body to be on for many, many years so that I became a very like. Yeah, exactly. You know, so that you can wake up if your child wakes up in the night. You want to be able to get up to care for your child. So there was that. I’m also was also a night owl for many years as I was studying, having my children or working full time. I had no choice but to stay up late at night.

DI (32:00)

Sleep up.

AZRA (32:19)

and study. I remember sitting up to 2am, 3am in the morning to be able to get my assignments done when I was studying my degrees and so I had to reverse all of that to be able to get my sleep patterns back to what they should be now at my age now and so we know that if we don’t get the right amount of sleep that that can age us faster.

DI (32:41)

So what is the right amount of sleep? Is that the same amount of sleep for everybody or do we all have different requirements?

AZRA (32:49)

we do all have different requirements and there are studies that show this but on average the science shows that we should be getting anywhere between six to eight hours of sleep every single night and so if you’re there are a minority few who are able to function on four to five hours. I’m not certainly not one of those people by any means. I would wake up feeling like I was drunk if I only got four

DI (33:14)

Yeah,

under six hours is where the wheels fall off in my world.

AZRA (33:19)

Yeah. Yeah and I turn into a really cranky person if I don’t get enough sleep. That’s one of the things that my husband knows to not interrupt as she’s sleeping because if she wakes up she’s going to be cranky as. So it’s really important. We know that this that sleep is important for regeneration as well for healing for cellular regeneration. I like to think of it as a as the garbage truck that comes through while we’re sleeping and it

cleans out all the toxins, it cleans out all the waste. a simplified way of explaining what how the how the body works while we’re sleeping. and So we see that glymphatic cleansing that happens and it comes in this garbage truck comes in if we’re getting the right amount of sleep and we’re getting into that deep sleep so that we can get rid of those

toxins and the waste out of our body and we can get that cellular regeneration that’s so important. And we know that when we don’t get that sort of regenerative sleep that it impacts our cognition we start to see that we might experience a little bit more of brain fog or we’re waking up and we’re feeling really sluggish and it takes us a little while to get cracking in the morning and that’s because we haven’t got it right yet we haven’t got

sleep routine right. and so when we’re looking at getting the right amount of sleep it’s really important to implement certain biohacks and that is like I mentioned before about getting ⁓ the lights down low and making sure that we’re not exposing ourselves to blue light trying to ensure that we don’t eat three hours two to three hours before we go to sleep at night so the body doesn’t think that it’s actually in digest mode

that we are looking at a regular sleep routine so that we’ve got those cues, those signals every single evening to be able to trigger the body to say, yep, it’s wind down time. So for me, it’s after dinner, we do the dishes, we turn the lights off, we turn all of the devices off and we’ll, you know, have some red light that we will read a book, you know, with and then you go and have a shower and

that hot water, that nice hot shower sends a signal to the body that it’s time for us to start to slow down and wind down and go to sleep. And going to sleep and waking at the same time as well is really important as good signals to the body too. So for me, I’ll go to bed by around 9.30 at night most of the time. So obviously if I’m out and about socializing, I’m not always going to achieve that. But the body likes routine and so if we can try to stick to a routine.

For me, as I said, go to sleep at 9.30 at night, wake up at 5.30 in the morning. And then you’re getting that indication there all the time in signaling the body of when you should be waking up and when you should be going to sleep. And your melatonin levels and your cortisol levels will start to play nicer for you.

DI (36:07)

And if we have any doubt, can remember being on a business study tour, traveling, cities quickly every couple of days a few years ago. And I remember getting to London and I think I probably landed in London with a few hours sleep on a plane and then we kept going. And that afternoon I got a message that came through from my health monitor on my wrist to tell me that my cognitive impairment

was similar to being drunk because I was under four hours sleep. And so if we’ve got any doubt, that’s how it impacts us.

AZRA (36:46)

Yeah, 100%. And it can be dangerous as well. We don’t want to be going off and driving a car if we haven’t had sufficient amount of sleep because the science shows that the effects of poor sleep are the same as being under the influence of alcohol because cognitively we’re not functioning at 100%.

DI (37:02)

Yeah. So, biohack number five, intermittent fasting. This is another one that I’ve implemented in my world in more recent times.

AZRA (37:14)

there are different theories out there around intermittent fasting. Women? Yes and what works for men and what works for women. And again it’s because we’re cyclical beings and we need to be choosing the right times to be able to be fasting. So for me I was intermittent fasting a lot back in my 30s and my 40s and it worked really effectively for me. Intermittent fasting

DI (37:18)

for men and for

AZRA (37:39)

has significant longevity benefits for the body because it triggers autophagy and that cellular cleaning process and it helps to get rid of excess fat and so on because your body goes into ketosis and there are different types of intermittent fasting that we can do. But again for women we need to be really considerate about when we are intermittent fasting.

When we are in our follicular phase we want to be ensuring that we’re looking after ourselves, that we’re nurturing ourselves, that we are replenishing ourselves nutritionally. And so it’s important not to be intermittent fasting during those those times because it can mess with your hormones as well and it can mess with our hormones as perimenopause and menopausal women as well. And so we need to take that into consideration.

Again, I always come back to saying listen to your body, your body will tell you whether it’s right for you or not. These days I am very considerate about when I intermittent fast because as an older woman I want to ensure that I’m not impacting my muscle regeneration either as well and my muscle building. And so we know from the latest studies that are out there and there are a number of prominent female doctors that are saying this as well that we shouldn’t be fasting when we’re working out in the morning.

So if I’m doing my strength training in the mornings, I’m not going to be fasting that day because I need to ensure that I fuel up in the morning so that I can get the most out of my workout in the morning and then I can get that muscle growth that I need to get in order to ensure that I age well, that I reduce my likelihood of osteoporosis and so on as I get older. And so it really is important for us to consider the individual person.

what time they are in their phase as well and looking at whether they’re in that menopausal phase or perimenopausal phase. It’s different for everybody.

DI (39:38)

What about the last one, mindfulness and breath work? I will predict that that is one that is more standardized across the board, whoever you are and whatever age we’re at.

AZRA (39:51)

Yeah, it’s so powerful, mindfulness and breath work. Again, women can be high strung, women can suffer from anxiety, women can suffer from high cortisol levels. We have rushing women syndrome, we’re always on the go. And so this is an excellent tool for us to be able to embrace, to help to bring those cortisol levels down so we’re not doing the damage from increased cortisol levels. on an extended period of time.

For me, I use breath work a lot before I go to sleep at night. It is a way that I signal to my body that hey, get into that parasympathetic nervous system so that we can calm down and we can really start to rest and regenerate. And so I will do either the box breathing which is four by four by four or I will do the inhaled sigh breathing where you take a deep breath in and do another short breath and then exhale through your mouth.

way and do that a few times and that it works so quickly. just love how quickly it works and within minutes I’m asleep. I fall into a beautiful deep sleep. ⁓ you know I think meditation, mindfulness, these are all tools that we can use on a daily basis and I know that there are a lot of people out there that think that it’s difficult to do things like meditation or mindfulness because

their mindset is not quite there and I’m one of those people.

DI (41:19)

And I think when we’re rushing and we’re busy and we’re under pressure, if we really did for a moment stop and focus on our breathing, I think we’d probably acknowledge that half of it seems to stop here and it doesn’t get down into the depths of our bodies.

AZRA (41:37)

Yeah, we’re shallow breathers. We breathe from here often and we don’t even realize that we do it. We do it all the time. And so even using your phone to maybe set a reminder several times during the day where it can go off and you can then stop and think, okay, I’m going to do some deep breathing now.

DI (41:58)

Yeah, I have calendar reminders to remind me to do exactly that.

AZRA (42:02)

how powerful is that in helping to reset for the day if you’ve had a stressful meeting or you’ve been really busy with the kids. It’s an opportunity to take five minutes, ten minutes out for yourself to stop, pause, breathe, reset. Your body will love you for it and the benefits will be absolutely amazing for the in the long term.

DI (42:27)

Fantastic. So when you look at these bio hacks together, Azra, and it’s not about chasing youth per se, it’s about building power, building our energy, improving our overall wellbeing. If we look at an overarching philosophy around that, what is your philosophy to ageing well? you could…

put that down into a short succinct positioning statement for somebody listening.

AZRA (43:01)

For me, ageing well is about taking control of your own biology, to be able to implement biohacks so that you can optimise your health to live well longer. It’s as simple as that. I know that if I was to look back at my younger self, that I would say, hey, put yourself first. Because if you’re not looking after your health, and if you’re not looking after yourself, you can’t be there for your family. I’ve had friends recently who have gone through some significant health issues.

and they’re all having aha moments when they’re realizing that hey when you get taken out like that you can’t be there for your family. So yes we need to prioritize ourselves and we should not be apologetic at all for doing that. We should be embracing doing that for ourselves and taking the time out and Empowering ourselves to be able to proactively manage our health.

so that we can continue to live well longer and so that we continue to stay healthy for as long as possible.

DI (44:02)

And I think one of my takeaways from what you just said there is I think in the past we’ve been conditioned to push through and be stoic and ignore what’s going on where we really need to celebrate those who stop, listen, respond, as to your point, prioritize ourself because stoicism’s probably been our worst enemy.

in terms of ignoring, pushing through when we’re ignoring what’s going on in terms of our health and wellbeing.

AZRA (44:38)

sure and I I think that also like I did in my 40s and my 50s that when you’re starting to get older there’s a resistance there in our mindset about aging and we have to pause to stop to look at that and consider why is there that resistance and it might be for a number of reasons. It might be that we are scared of losing our identity who we think we are in our mind at a particular time that

DI (45:05)

stoic workaholic not necessarily doing us any favors

AZRA (45:09)

Or it might be that we are experiencing some current health issues at the moment and getting older, oh my goodness, it’s only going to get worse. If I’m experiencing it now and I’m struggling now, I might be a diabetic or there might be some other chronic health issues that I’m currently experiencing and as I get older we think that that’s inevitable but it’s not necessarily inevitable and a lot of the chronic illnesses that we experience as a result of aging.

can be reversed if we make the right lifestyle choices. And the other thing as well is that I think that people sometimes are scared of getting older because of that, because of the fact that, we’re going to get chronically ill or I’m going to end up with cancer or I’m going to lose my mobility or I’m going to lose my cognition and I don’t want that to happen to me. So the answer is biohacking. The answer is taking your power back, taking control of your own health.

implementing simple hacks as we’ve discussed today so that you can limit those detrimental effects of aging and you can reverse some of those aging effects and to ensure that you can stay vital and healthy for as long as possible.

DI (46:21)

So how can somebody find you if they want to tap into what you do at Biohacker, Azra?

AZRA (46:26)

Well, they can find me on any of my socials, so all my website, buy hack her health. ⁓ And I’m also going to be speaking at the Wonderlust event as well in October. So they can come along to see me at that. ⁓ And Instagram, Facebook, any of those socials that can reach out to me.

DI (46:46)

So five everyday bio hacks that can become your superpower. Sunlight, cold therapy, more sleep, the right approach to intermittent fasting, and probably the easiest and one of the most powerful of all being breath work and mindfulness. All affordable, all transformative, and all within reach of everybody every day.

So Azra, thank you so much for joining me on the Power of Women podcast today. know coming in I might have had some question marks about Biohack being gimmicky, it’s not. It’s grounded alternative therapy or alternative approach that you can take an integrated approach to East West Biohack, marry it together and determine what works well for you. ⁓

about not necessarily living longer, but living a healthier, longevity. Let me redo that again, Daryl. It’s not necessarily about living longer, but it’s about living well for longer. And that is absolutely the key to it. Until next time.

Connect with Di:

Find Azra at:

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/azra-alagic-77794526/

Website https://www.biohack-her.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/biohackher_official/

If you’re ready to take back control of your health, stop apologising for prioritising yourself, and embrace everyday hacks that make you stronger – this episode is for you.

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How To Reclaim Pleasure and Power in Midlife

by admin | Sep 22, 2025 | Female Empowerment, Female Leaders, Female Podcast, Female Power

Midlife doesn’t have to mean burnout, invisibility, or decline. It can be the moment you reclaim your pleasure, power, and presence.

In this Power Of Women Podcast episode, I’m joined by Natty Frasca, Pleasure Coach, rebel rouser, and founder of The Feminine Rebellion. Together we unpack why so many high-achieving women feel unfulfilled despite “having it all,” and how the key to transformation lies in reconnecting with pleasure in all its forms.

From the neuroscience of pleasure to challenging the myths of aging, Natty shares why visibility is an act of rebellion, and how every woman can own the room she walks into. Not through performance, but through presence.

If you’ve ever felt numb, disconnected, or pressured to keep “holding it all together,” this conversation is the reminder that midlife isn’t your crisis ~ it’s your revolution.

We explore:

➜ What pleasure really means beyond sex

➜ Why aging is a superpower, not a decline

➜ How visibility can transform your confidence and power

Natty said:

“Aging is our superpower.”

“Stop apologizing for wanting more.”

“The most powerful thing a midlife woman can do is trust herself so fiercely that she stops waiting for permission and just goes out to live the freaking life she wants to live.”

💥 New episodes drop every Monday to power your week.

📖 Read the full transcript of this conversation here:

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

NATTY (00:00)

So I am Natty Frasca, rebel rouser, pleasure coach for midlife women. I’m obsessed with helping women live turned on lives. I’m a mom of three. I’m a total nerd, lover of science, pleasure and sisterhood, especially at this stage of our lives. I believe our age is our superpower. ⁓ And I believe that it’s time women stop playing small.

And I’m also the founder of the Feminine Rebellion.

DI (00:33)

I’m Di Gillett and this is the Power of Women podcast. We’re a platform that showcases and celebrates the strength, resilience and achievement of women from all walks of life. And this is your seat at the table. So hit follow and the subscribe button and make sure you are sure to be part of every bold, unfiltered, game-changing story we tell here at the Power of Women podcast.

Today my guest is Natty Frasca and she is a fierce advocate for midlife as your revolution. Joining me from Boston, she’s here to flip the script on aging, on success and what it really means to feel alive again. So where are we going to talk about the neuroscience of pleasure, reclaiming your power at any age and how to own every damn room you walk into. Natty Frasca.

Welcome to the Power of Women podcast.

NATTY (01:33)

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for having me here. It’s my absolute pleasure, and I mean that.

DI (01:40)

Nettie, for those who are just meeting you in my part of the world, all for my international followers, tell us a little about who you are.

NATTY (01:50)

Yeah, sure. So I’m the founder of the Feminine Rebellion. I am a coach for midlife women who look like they have it all on the outside, but feel little numb, burned out, or like something is missing. And I help these women unbind from all of the BS conditioning about

how women are supposed to behave, ⁓ who we should be and help them connect with their own pleasure, with power, with presence. ⁓ Yeah, I believe when a woman comes alive, she becomes completely unstoppable. And there’s a massive ripple effect to that. ⁓ It changes families, communities and the world. So I’m here for big things.

DI (02:43)

Fabulous. So could we start with just a little bit about your story? Because you were in the corporate world, married, three kids, beautiful home, successful career. But as I understand it, there was a pivot point for you because it didn’t all gel.

NATTY (03:01)

It didn’t all gel. was, it happened over a few years where I just started feeling really numb. I remember lying in bed and thinking, you know, there’s something off. Why aren’t I happy? I feel like I have all of this, you know, why aren’t I grateful for it? And there was actually quite a bit of shame and guilt attached to that.

I actually asked for a divorce at that time. I thought if I just burned down my marriage, ⁓ I would be free to do what I wanted. Well, it’s a we had been in couples therapy for years and it’s a really interesting story and this is probably like the pivot point for me. ⁓ We were in a couple therapy session and I just decided I wanted out and I wanted to kind of start a fresh life and

DI (03:41)

How did that go?

NATTY (04:00)

My therapist, our therapist said, so, you know, what do you want? And I said, you know, a condo in the center of town, someone to shovel my walkway, you know, a nanny and, you know, probably like a lover or two. And he laughed and he’s like, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant. ⁓ Let me ask it a different way, Natty. ⁓ How do you, how do you want to feel? How do you want to feel? And I was like, wait.

I don’t understand the question. How do I want to feel? I was completely stumped. you know, grew up in the youngest of three kids, Italian American family, very, you know, Catholic, really learned how to work hard, how to hustle, how to keep up with the boys. I never thought about how I wanted to feel.

⁓ But I paused and what came to me was a vision and it was this vision of myself at my kitchen counter stirring like a pot of my grandmother’s ragu. Jerry Garcia is on the radio. I’ve got three little kids. They’re dancing wildly and my husband comes up behind me, rests his beard on my neck, puts a glass of Cabernet next to me and like wraps his arms around my waist.

And I started to cry. And I was like, that’s, I described what I saw and I said, that’s how I want to feel. I want to feel seen, adored, taken care of, revered like a queen. I want to be the center of your universe. I want to feel. And it was, as I was saying those words, I was so, I was kind of embarrassed.

DI (05:46)

You felt how far you were from that?

NATTY (05:50)

Well, no, I was embarrassed because I thought of myself as this real hustle go-getter feminist.

DI (05:57)

And that’s not what you’re asking for. Yeah.

NATTY (06:00)

Yeah. And what I, when I paused and dropped in and thought about what I really wanted and it just came to me, it was the opposite of what I thought I wanted. You know, I had a high powered career. I was a, you know, it was like a Girl Scout leader. I was, you know, cooking organic meals from scratch and batching them in my, I mean, I was like,

Martha Stewart meets, I don’t know, whatever, you know.

DI (06:32)

On steroids. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

NATTY (06:34)

Yeah. And I like didn’t care about, you know, I was like, I can’t believe I actually, all I want is love. And all I want to do is slow down. And then that was like, cracked something open in me. And I thought I’ve been doing all of this wrong. And in that moment, my husband said to me, well, I can’t believe you’re saying this. Like, I want to give that to you, but you won’t let me.

DI (07:01)

way.

NATTY (07:03)

And I was like, what? And so that was the beginning of us kind of repairing our marriage. But really, it was the beginning of my own personal journey. That it was like, I don’t need to be so tough. I don’t need to be so fierce in that way only. I can also be like fiercely, I can be an advocate for myself.

And that, you know, wanting to slow down, wanting to be loved, wanting to be touched, wanting to be adored. So that was 10 years ago. Yeah. So it’s been a journey of unbecoming, unbinding from all of these narratives that I had inherited ⁓ and, you know, reclaiming pleasure for myself, for no one else, stopping people pleasing.

really becoming so beautifully selfish ⁓ and just coming alive. So that’s a long answer to your question.

DI (08:00)

Yeah.

And can I ask, did the marriage make it or did you?

NATTY (08:12)

Yes, my god, yes. Wow. Yeah, so we’re 23 years in.

DI (08:16)

congratulations. That’s pretty cool because you were right up against the glass of walking away by the sounds of it.

NATTY (08:24)

I had a lawyer. Yeah. I was, yeah, I was, I was ready to go and, you know, he said, let’s, you know, let’s, let’s try it a different way. And, you know, I don’t believe in sunshine and rainbows and unicorns and everything’s perfect. You know, it’s just, that’s bullshit as far as I’m concerned. So I’ve, ⁓ committed this marriage. We are friends. We have shit. Of course. Right.

DI (08:51)

Have a shit. Yeah.

NATTY (08:53)

I’ve coached hundreds of women and even ones who were happily married. You know, we all think about burning it down from moment to moment, to month. I mean, come on.

DI (09:10)

We do. I’m just about to hit 20 years and you know, right? You’d be lying if you said it was all good. That’s just not how the world works.

NATTY (09:20)

be lying. But this is the thing is that like people do lie and people do pretend. And that is what I’m here to help dismantle is that the more women that can actually tell the truth and show their cards and be honest.

about where they are in their lives, I mean, the stronger their collective becomes, right? We don’t have to do this work alone. It’s like we’ve been taught to pretend. We’ve been taught to like say, I’m fine. It’s all good. When on the inside, we’re dying. And that’s where it was 10 years ago. You know, everyone thought that I had it all.

DI (10:05)

So with the work you’re doing with high achieving women and them getting really honest with themselves, is there a common thread going around and the narrative of commonality or is it all unique?

NATTY (10:21)

It’s pretty common. It’s pretty common. It’s, it’s, I’ve checked every box, but I still feel empty. I miss feeling sexy and free and alive. I’m exhausted from holding it all together for everyone. ⁓ I want more, but I don’t even know what that looks like. They’re all carrying so much and

They’re terrified that wanting more makes them selfish or a bad person or ungrateful. ⁓ But they’re really craving a life where they feel fully themselves, where they feel purposeful, where they feel on fire, where they feel free. ⁓ So it’s really same, same.

DI (11:12)

Yeah and in terms of, mean I’m asking this almost knowing the answer but I’m often surprised. What is the common age where the wheels start to fall off?

NATTY (11:24)

45, 46 when they start to fall off. ⁓

50 when they decide something has to change. Yeah.

It’s like a magic moment. It’s I don’t know whether it’s like it’s just the halfway point. It’s a really clean line. But 50 just seems to be like a switch.

DI (11:40)

Mm-hmm.

Sure is, but…

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So let’s talk about pleasure because I know that’s one of your ⁓ big calling cards. Yeah. Why do so many women disconnect from it? What’s the reason?

NATTY (12:10)

Well, we live in a patriarchal society that has completely disconnected us from pleasure because we’re taught from a very early age

DI (12:21)

perform.

NATTY (12:24)

Yeah, exactly. To perform, to slap a smile on our face, to produce, to please everyone around us but ourselves. And those narratives, you I call it the patriarchal pathway. So, you know, it’s a very well-worn pathway for how a woman should be in the world, right? So you should do well in school.

You should dress like a lady, cross your legs. Notice my legs up on my desk. I’m actively rebelling. ⁓ You know, do well in school. ⁓ You know, level up in your career. Find a man to marry, have children, continue, you know, please take care of, be the epicenter of this family. Take care of everyone else. Be the emotional caregiver and the physical caregiver. And

You know, it doesn’t stop, right? We emotionally care give our male partners. you know, we just never have, has anyone taught us to be in touch with what we want or what turns us on, right? And

you know, when I talk about pleasure, people’s minds immediately go to the hypersexual. Yeah. But it isn’t just about sex. That’s one part of it. That’s one end of the spectrum. But really pleasures anything that lights you up, anything that engages your senses and makes you feel alive. It’s it’s dancing to your favorite music. It’s eating.

your lunch, you know, outside on your stoop in the sunshine, right? It’s deep belly laughs with like your sisterhood. It’s also maybe stillness in the forest. It’s so unique, right? But pleasure is also deep presence with yourself. It’s like the moment where you drop out of your head and into your body. And

you learn over time as you practice pleasure and you pump more of this into your life, you know, what turns you on? What are the things that make you feel alive? And then that way, becoming present to pleasure becomes super powerful because we can begin to shift. We can use it as a compass to kind of begin to shift our lives in that direction. And, ⁓ I you can start small,

But then, you know, I’m 10 years in and, you know, I’m like going dancing in Ibiza next month with a group of girlfriends, you know, I’m going to see a concert in Amsterdam in three months. it’s like I’m just can’t stop won’t stop because it feels so good.

DI (15:18)

Yeah.

So when you’ve got these women in the room that you’re coaching Natty and you ask them, do they have pleasure in their lives? What’s the answer? What are they saying?

NATTY (15:33)

⁓ Well, it’s a mix of answers mostly like know what is pleasure. I don’t know what you mean, you yeah

DI (15:39)

That’s what I thought it would be. Yeah. Because there would be a word that isn’t in their vocab.

NATTY (15:44)

Well, usually by the time people work with me, they followed me for a while. So they know a little bit about what I’m, what I’m saying. But if someone’s brand new to my world, there’s a little bit of education that’s happening. And, you know, oftentimes I’ll ask the question, what did you love to do when you were a kid? So, you know, maybe it’s, you know, playing in the woods, maybe it’s dancing and we look for ways to.

bring that back into the surface of their everyday lives. Right? If you love to dance when you were a kid, you know, go take up a shuttle lesson. You know, see if you can get that feeling back in your body. We’re the same person. Yeah. The things that turned us on at seven are going to turn us on at 57.

DI (16:30)

So for the woman listening who hasn’t tapped into that yet, what’s one small thing she could do to turn up the dial?

NATTY (16:40)

I love this. ⁓ One question I love for women to ask themselves regularly, and I would encourage your listeners to do this, is to take 60 seconds, take a deep breath, close your eyes, come into your body and ask yourself the question, what would feel really good right now?

It’s so simple. But when I’m feeling a little bit off or I know I need a break or I’m sitting at my desk too long and I say, you know, what would feel really good right now? ⁓ Sometimes it’s just like stretching on my yoga mat next to my desk. Sometimes it’s like hitting my favorite Spotify playlist. Sometimes it’s a hot bath or like I always have a hot cup of tea.

So starting to tune in. Your body is brilliant and she will respond. It could be as simple as go get a glass of water.

DI (17:49)

Yeah.

NATTY (17:50)

But just that one question.

DI (17:52)

Yeah, interesting. So coming up, let’s talk about redefining aging and visibility.

If you’re loving the Power of Women podcasts, be sure to jump onto our YouTube channel and hit that subscribe button to ensure you never miss an episode.

So touching on aging, what’s the biggest misconception people have about it? How long have we got?

NATTY (18:19)

Yeah, this exactly. The biggest misconception is that aging is the decline, that it’s loss, that it’s, you know, irrelevance. It’s complete bullshit. Aging is our superpower. Yes. mean, aging is my wisdom, right? It’s my sharper boundaries. It’s giving fewer fucks about what other people think. It’s

you know, finally feeling free enough to just be yourself. mean, most of us are taught to dread aging, but I mean, I woke up, you know, at 40 and realized I’d been following these rules, all these rules that hadn’t made me happy and decided to stop being smaller, younger, quiet, you know, stop.

being the smaller version of myself and what I’ve realized now almost a decade later is all the fires I’ve walked through and that every single woman I’ve ever worked with has walked through. Like if you look back in your life and you look at all of the portals of transformation, like leaving people, changing jobs, know, moving house, raising children maybe, and like the hard crunchy moments, that is wisdom.

That is deep, deep wisdom. feel like I have never been smarter than I am or wiser than I am right now.

DI (19:50)

Yeah, he’s to that.

NATTY (19:52)

Yeah, and every woman I work with is so damn wise, so I’m just like, age, bring it on.

DI (20:00)

So you’ve come from the world of advertising. How much of that world hasn’t caught up? Because if I see another ad for an aged care home for saying women in their 50s look gray and finished, I mean…

NATTY (20:17)

I don’t know if we’re ever going to break free from that narrative, to be honest. mean, I think we’re in the middle of something right now that feels really powerful. This reclamation of the feminine, of feminine power, the reclamation of aging women, the reclamation of midlife. I mean, it’s in the water right now. And that’s fricking amazing.

DI (20:45)

I mean just jump on Instagram. It’s being shouted. I mean…

NATTY (20:49)

Yeah,

it is being shouted and I think it’s going to take us. Now it’s going to take more of us. that’s, you know, that’s one of the reasons why I do this work. It’s like the ripple effect of this work. The more women that I can work with, the more people I can connect with to, you know, show them, you know, the bullshit rules that we have been living under and how and to start disrupt them.

you know, the better off we all will be. But I mean, the beauty industry, let’s face it, it’s, I mean, how many billion dollar industry is it? You know, I haven’t looked it up recently, but it’s got to be in the hundreds of billions, right? Yeah. I think the most power that I have and anyone who has children, like I’ve got two daughters who are 21 and 20. And, you know, we just have these conversations all the time.

DI (21:44)

the men around you saying as they see what you’re doing and what you’re advocating? Are they on board? Are they challenged? What are they saying?

NATTY (21:54)

The people in my life are all about it. I mean, they are, you know, my fierce advocates. ⁓ My husband is a feminist. He is, you know, really at my back. ⁓ My dad, who is a 78 year old Italian American guy, thinks this is really fucking cool. And ⁓

You know, it gets a little uncomfortable when I use the word pussy. But, you know, but he’s on board. You know, I have two brothers, you know, I know they’re proud of me. ⁓ So and to be honest, I don’t have anyone in my life who isn’t on my side. I’m done with that. Yeah. Like the people in my life are

DI (22:44)

Yeah, they don’t need.

NATTY (22:53)

My kind of people.

DI (22:54)

Yeah, brilliant. So for women listening who might not feel that power yet and still pleasures and still feel the pressure that they have to toe the line, what’s a shift around redefining how they age appropriately? Because I mean, that’s a phrase we grew up with.

NATTY (23:19)

Yeah, I guess it would start by maybe asking yourself or even journaling on this question, like, what have I gained with age? Great question. Instead of counting their wrinkles, count your courage. Like, actually look back.

It’s a great practice because we’re survivors. Yep. We’re survivors. I mean, it’s just in our DNA.

DI (23:56)

And visibility is one of these huge topics that I think as the midlife woman approaches that certain age that they struggle with. I doubt that you struggle with visibility. It’s not one of my things that I struggle with, but I’m sure you’re talking to women every day who feel like they’re shrinking from view. How do you walk into a room

NATTY (24:21)

Yeah.

DI (24:25)

and really start to show up and change that narrative both literally and in your own mind.

NATTY (24:35)

I think when we think about visibility sometimes, or we think about owning a room, ⁓ we have a picture in our heads of a very masculine way of owning a room. owning a room in the way we’ve seen people own rooms before is this kind of power over idea, know, like, ⁓ yeah, kind of in an arrogant kind of way. And

Women, think, have a very special power, is that we can own a room just by our presence. We don’t need to jockey for position. It’s just being deeply present and walking into a space and feeling like I belong here, being grounded in your body, making eye contact.

speaking slowly, not trying to prove yourself, right? Letting your authenticity shine, your quirks, your humor, your wisdom, your truth. And there are some small shifts that women can make before walking into a room, taking a really deep breath, standing up straight.

rolling your shoulders back, you know, lifting your chest a little bit. And, you know, instead of thinking to yourself, I hope they like me. One question that I ask myself is, do I even like them?

DI (26:20)

Yeah, that’s gonna say flip the narrative. And the latter opens you up. The former shrinks you down physically.

NATTY (26:29)

Yeah, it does that the latter is curiosity, right? It’s like huh and thinking about like who in that room would I like to connect with? Mm-hmm instead of thinking they’re walking into a room of 30 people Who am I curious about? Yeah, and connect with that one human being

DI (26:46)

Yeah.

When did you walk into a room and really feel that sense of presence and that sense of groundedness? How old were you?

NATTY (27:01)

When I felt presence and groundedness, hmm. I think I rea- to be honest, I ha- I felt that way my whole life probably until I got into a boardroom.

And when I got into a boardroom, I thought to myself, I’m not smart enough to be here.

And I don’t know enough. I don’t know enough about financials. I can’t add anything to this conversation. And it’s actually regretfully ended up leaving that position ⁓ because of that. I think I mean, I told my son. Yeah. It’s man, do I regret that. But I just.

I do. mean, and that was probably, you know, 12 years ago. I think I was overwhelmed. had small kids. I told myself I couldn’t ⁓ handle the time commitment, but really it was me feeling like I didn’t belong.

You were invited there for a reason.

People want you there because of who you are and what you bring to the table. And we are so conditioned to believe that our worth is tied up with how many degrees we have or ⁓ what’s on your resume. But really, our power comes from how we think outside the box, how we connect with other human beings.

And in retrospect, I’m really great at those two things. And that’s probably why I was invited into the room.

DI (28:47)

Yeah, you missed the cue. Yeah. So I’m going to, I typically do a one bold question and answer to close, but Natty, I’m going to change it up a little bit with you because I think this is kind of your jam. So if we could do a couple of rapid fire responses, I would love your thoughts on three questions.

NATTY (28:50)

I miss the cube.

Okay, okay, let’s do it.

DI (29:17)

So what one rule midlife women should break immediately?

NATTY (29:22)

Stop apologizing for wanting more.

DI (29:26)

Love it. What brings you pleasure right now?

NATTY (29:31)

Dancing in my kitchen with my husband.

DI (29:35)

And if you could finish this sentence, the most powerful thing a midlife woman can do is…

NATTY (29:43)

Trust herself so fiercely that she stops waiting for permission and just goes out to live the freaking life she wants to live.

DI (29:56)

And there you have it. Natty, fantastic and you’re absolutely right, this village of women out there promoting midlife women, there’s plenty on my side of the globe and there’s plenty on your side of the globe. And we’ve got to get out there and shout from the rooftops because

We’ve got to change that narrative of the misconception of what midlife looks like. It’s a starting point, it’s not a finishing point.

NATTY (30:27)

Mmm, it is. It’s a launch pad. It’s a launch pad.

DI (30:32)

Absolutely. And I mean, you would have seen it where you are. I mean, it’s why there are so many 50 plus year old female entrepreneurs just burgeoning because we’re sick of following the rules. We finally understand what we’ve got to offer and we’ve got the confidence, the wisdom and the lived experience to get out there and do it.

NATTY (30:55)

We do, we do. Amen.

DI (30:59)

Amen. Brilliant. Nadi, an absolute delight to have you on the Power of Women podcast. It’s taken us a couple of goes to get there, but we finally have.

NATTY (31:11)

Thank

you for your patience.

DI (31:15)

⁓ you’re welcome. And I put it to anybody listening to today’s episode of ask yourself what is bringing you pleasure. Until next time.

Connect with Di:

Find Natty Frasca at:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thefemininerebellion/

Website https://thefemininerebellion.com/

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Judy King | Reclaiming Her Life After Childhood Trauma

by admin | May 12, 2025 | Blog, Conqueror, Female Author, Female Entrepreneur, Female Podcast, Podcast For Women

Judy King is the first octogenarian guest on the Power Of Women Podcast — and she is nothing short of extraordinary. Now living her best life in Mallorca, Judy’s story is a powerful journey of success and healing, after unearthing repressed childhood memories.

Our conversation is a true emotional rollercoaster. We celebrate Judy’s remarkable achievements, including her domination of the Paddington real estate market in the 1960s — a feat few women could dream of at the time. But behind the success, Judy battled hidden demons: repressed childhood memories that left her overwhelmed by a persistent, haunting sense of failure. In recent years, therapy helped Judy unlock deeply buried truths — a harrowing history of undiagnosed trauma, sexual abuse, abandonment, emotional deprivation, and lifelong impacts on her mental health.

Judy shares her raw and courageous story with us, offering hope and wisdom for anyone who has faced darkness and fought their way back to the light.

Her full journey is captured in her powerful new book, AGNES – A Childhood Betrayed and Reclaimed.

Content Warning: This episode discusses topics related to child sexual abuse, trauma, and mental health.

In this episode:

Judy King is on a mission to help adult survivors of child abuse.
Her childhood experiences shaped her problem-solving skills.
Judy’s entrepreneurial spirit was driven by a desire to survive.
Judy became a recluse to focus on her personal issues.
Buddhism provided her with kindness and a new perspective.
Confronting her childhood trauma was a pivotal moment in her healing.

New episodes drop every Monday to power your week.

Connect with Di:

Judy’s book is available:

Amazon https://www.amazon.com.au/Agnes-childhood-reclaimed-Judy-King/dp/1761096974 and at major bookstores.

10% of author royalties will be donated to the Blue Knot Foundation: https://blueknot.org.au/

Debbie Lee | So You Want to Write a Book? Here’s How.

by admin | May 5, 2025 | Blog, Female Author, Female Entrepreneur, Female Podcast

So, you want to write a book? Debbie Lee on how to get published.

If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming an author, this episode of the Power Of Women Podcast is a must-listen!

The world of publishing is evolving, and today’s authors must do more than just write—they need to promote themselves through podcasts, social media, literary festivals, and every opportunity that comes their way. As publishing veteran and owner of Ginninderra Press, Debbie Lee understands this shift firsthand. Bequeathed the company by its founder, Stephen Matthews, she carries the deep responsibility of honouring his legacy while navigating the industry’s modern challenges.

In this episode of the Power Of Women Podcast, Debbie and Di dive into the multifaceted world of publishing. From the crucial role of professional editing to the expanding formats of books, they explore the key elements every writer must consider. They also discuss common pitfalls in manuscript submissions, the realities of book-to-screen adaptations, and the growing impact of censorship on literature.

Plus, with more women than ever finding their voices in publishing, self-promotion has never been more important. Authors can no longer hide behind their pages—it’s time to step into the spotlight.

New episodes drop every Monday to power your week.

In his episode, we explore:

How print on demand technology has revolutionized the publishing industry, allowing for more flexibility and accessibility for indie authors.
The indie publishing landscape is changing, with authors needing to adapt to new realities.
Authors must invest in the editing and design process to ensure their book is of high quality.
Engaging a qualified editor is crucial for authors.
Women authors are increasingly finding their voice in the industry.

Connect with Di: