This week, Alice and Josie discuss the social embarrassment of unexpected visitors popping in and finding crumbs on the surfaces, plates in the sink and pants on the floor.

Our special guest is podcast royalty and veteran journalist, Marianne Jones. She candidly talks about moving ‘kicking and screaming’ from London to Sevenoaks which she describes as a ‘Gilet, with a fun lining kind of a place'. She found herself bonding over a designer coatigan with mid-fluencer Kat Farmer. When Marianne interviewed Kat about her book, ‘Get Changed’ their chemistry was instant, and the number one podcast ‘Been There, Done That, Got The Podcast’ was born.

Before the podcast Marianne says she was busy having a burnout, having been an journalist since the age of seventeen, moving from local papers, to features editor at Marie Claire, then editor at More magazine, (which Alice fondly remembers for position of the fortnight). Eventually she was an editor at the Daily Mirror and then went on to launched Grazia in the UK and Stella Magazine for the Telegraph. But over the years, Marianne has seen huge changes in journalism and was brave enough to pivot into an exciting new career. She is a champion of the midlife demographic and how women shouldn’t just be defined by their hormones and the menopause. ‘We’re the very desirable filling in the sandwich,' she says and brands need to wake up.

Marianne adores jewellery and she describes her love of Tiffany. She touchingly tells us how her husband surprised her on her wedding day with a Tiffany heart ring and necklace. She talks bout Joe, her eldest son and how he discovered jewellery design through YouTube and has pursued a career, working in the oldest jewellery quarter in Birmingham. He designed what will undoubtedly be a precious family heirloom - a beautiful gold maltese cross for Marianne’s Maltese mother, for her eightieth birthday, sourcing gold and a ruby from Malta.

Warm, funny and wise, Marianne says that your love affair has to be with your work. She talks about how important it is to find your thing, and to not be afraid of getting there by unconventional routes. She's proof that unexpected joys come when you carry on being curious and learn something new, even if it’s scary.

@mariannejonesuk @ gotthepodcast, @doesmybumlook40 @tiffanyandco @sevenoaks_literary_festival @graziauk @elsaperetti.official

Hashtags #femalepodcasters #midlifeinfluencers #midlifewomen #midlife #midlifecareerchange #engagementring #neurodiversity #jewellerydesign #tiffanyheartnecklace

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.