Brand Building in Midlife: Why Your Body Is Rewriting the Script

Brand Building in Midlife: Why Your Body Is Rewriting the Script

Episode Description:

What happens when the woman you’ve always been starts to shift, and suddenly, the way you’ve been showing up in your brand no longer fits?

In this episode, Jama gets real about one of the least-talked-about parts of brand building: what happens when your body starts changing right alongside your business. From perimenopause and hormone shifts to brain fog and burnout, Jama opens up about how midlife can feel like a “second puberty” and why that doesn’t mean you’ve lost your edge.

Instead, it’s an invitation to realign. To stop pushing and start listening. To build your brand from the place you are now not where you used to be.

If you’ve been feeling off, disconnected, or like your old strategies don’t work anymore, this conversation will help you reconnect with yourself, your purpose, and your brand with more ease and authenticity.

In this episode, Jama shares:

• How midlife transitions impact your energy, creativity, and confidence
• Why physical and emotional changes affect how you show up in your brand
• What it looks like to build a business that honors your season of life
• How slowing down can actually strengthen your message
• The truth about “second puberty” and what it’s teaching us about alignment

Because the strongest brands aren’t built on constant hustle, they’re built on wholeness.

Timestamps:

 – Hook: When your body feels under new management
– The connection between midlife and brand identity
– Jama’s personal story: feeling off but realizing it’s evolution
– Why perimenopause and burnout show up together
– Reframing strength and visibility in midlife
 – How to let your body guide your business strategy
– Final thoughts: your brand evolves when you do

Key Takeaways:

• Midlife isn’t a setback, it’s a recalibration for a new kind of strength.
• Your body’s changes can actually make your brand more authentic.
• The more aligned you are personally, the more magnetic your brand becomes.
• “Second puberty” isn’t the end, it’s the start of a wiser, more grounded version of you.
• Building a brand in midlife means honoring your body, your boundaries, and your bandwidth.

Closing Note:

Your brand doesn’t need the version of you who could do it all, it needs the version of you who knows what actually matters.

When you learn to align your message with your body’s wisdom, everything you create becomes more powerful and sustainable.

From Kena:

Hey beauty,

You’ve done it all…
the roles, the responsibilities, the giving.

Now it’s your season to receive.
To rise.
To return home — to you.

🦋 Join me for First You: Come Home to Yourself, a free 3-day activation (Nov 18–20, 11am ET).

Because when you choose you first,
everything else begins to align. 

https://midlifebutterfly.ca/firstyouactivation

https://www.jamapantel.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Naming The Midlife Shift
• 0:47 From Health Scares To Clarity
• 2:33 Identity, Confidence, And Brand
• 3:40 Slowing Down As Strategy
• 5:10 Wisdom As Your unfair Advantage
• 5:36 Closing And Pod Sisters Tease

Transcript

Jama Pantel: 0:00

What if the reason you've been feeling off lately, unmotivated, emotional, maybe even invisible, isn't because you've lost your edge, but because you're evolving. Hey y'all, it's your podcast Bestie Jama again, and today we're getting real about something that hits women hard, especially those of us like me, building businesses or those leading teams, or just trying to keep it all together. That weird in-between stage where your body, your energy, and your emotions all start changing, and you barely recognize yourself. Some people like to call it perimenopause. I like to call it living life in middle age. Or frankly, a second puberty, because honestly, that's what it feels like. And while this might sound like a total detour from brand building and what I normally talk about, I promise you, it's not. Because how you feel in your body directly impacts how you show up in your brand, in your business, or in real life. I started this podcast to talk about the real life stuff that I don't think enough people are talking about. So let me tell you, I have been there. Honestly, I'm in the middle of all of this myself. I used to be that person who could train and run marathons, run a business work, do all the things, and still feel unstoppable at the end of the day, and what am I going to tackle next? But lately, this year especially, the energy dips are real. The moods are unpredictable, the brain fog don't even get me started. And there are days I catch myself staring at my screen thinking, what am I even doing with my life right now? It's easy to think something's wrong with you, like I have thought all year. And as you know, I've had every test known to man. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but I have had test after test done on me this year because I was sick or so I thought, and I honestly got zero answers from all of the doctor's appointments I've had, and they still have me going through follow-ups, but I've figured it out on my own. It is this stage in life, it is perimenopause. I feel like I've lost my spark, my drive, and my clarity most days. But here's the thing, if you're going through this too, you probably haven't lost yourself, you've been recalibrating, your hormones are shifting, your body's changing, and your brain is literally rewiring how it processes stress and creativity. Of course, all of this feels so weird to us after being who we thought we were for so long. If you look at the studies of women in this stage of life, I mean, this is where most relationships or marriages end. This is where women leave the job force because they don't feel fulfilled. I have had so many conversations with women my age or those older who have already gone through this this year alone to know that I am not alone anymore. And that's why I wanted to talk about this and why it's so important to me. When we talk about building a brand, we usually focus on strategy, showing up consistently, sharing your messaging, staying confident on camera, all the things. But what happens when your confidence feels like it's evaporating from inside out? Because that's where I have been this year. And that's the part that no one prepares you for. How physical changes in midlife can shake your identity. You're not just managing a business, you're managing a body and a brain that are quietly reinventing themselves. But here's the good news this season is not a breakdown, it's a realignment. Your body is trying to pull you toward a different pace, a deeper purpose, and a more sustainable way of leading. So if you too have been feeling scattered, emotional, brain fogged, or even disconnected from your own ambitions, you're not losing your edge. You're in the process of redefining it. You might not be able to go at the same speed as you used to, but what if that's actually a gift? What if slowing down actually allows you to show up more powerfully, more intentionally, and as the woman you are now? The truth is your brand evolves as you do. And I should know this because my photography business has evolved so much throughout the years, so of course this is normal. And part of living the whole picture means honoring the season you're in, physically, mentally, emotionally, and letting it inform how you show up, not derail what you do. So yes, midlife might feel like a second puberty, unpredictable, emotional, messy, but it's also one of the most powerful seasons of your life because now you have wisdom, boundaries, and perspective on your side, something you didn't have back then. You've built things, you failed more times than you care to admit, and you have learned how to survive and have learned what truly matters. And you learn to bring that energy, the calm confidence of a woman who's learned to listen to herself and to her brand and to her business. That's when you become magnetic. So if you've been wondering why everything feels different lately, maybe it's because you are different. And that's okay. You're not meant to show up like you used to. You're meant to show up like the woman you've become or are becoming. That's the real brand evolution. And honestly, it's the most powerful part of the whole picture. And that is all I have for today. Um, but stay tuned and listen a little bit longer because I'm gonna share a couple of things that I have some amazing friends in the podcast community, my pod sisters, are up to, and I'm gonna share them with you guys because I think y'all might be interested as well. So stay tuned. Bye for now.