Why I'm Doing what I'm Doing
Chapter 1: The Middle-aged Founder
I had a few challenging years - I know, who hasn’t, so just in a nutshell: two deaths, one pandemic, and one Tuscan wildfire. (Deaths not related to the aforementioned natural disasters, but let’s leave that for some other time.)
I want to focus on the good things first.
After a really rough stretch, things started to pick up again once I turned 50 last year.
Things got better with 50? Seriously?
I know, weird.
Especially for a woman, right?
So this is how it went.
Getting closer to the terrifying threshold, I could see three ways I’d be spending my next decade as a woman on the other side:
Writing a few more self-published books.
Complaining about the menopause.
Running my own film production company.
I chose 3, of course. But not just for the thrill of adventure.
The closer I got to midlife, the more I noticed the uncanny disappearance of women 40+ from our film and TV screens.
Where did they go? Did they leave of their own free will? And where are they now?
No wonder we’re terrified of midlife if all our female role models are escorted off the stage as soon as the first wrinkle appears. If that sounds a little drastic, here’s a graphic that sums up the research of the Malisa Foundation.
So, now you know why I became a startupper. I founded Zenka Films to make sure women can stay on screen as long as they want. No matter whether they’re pre- or post-menopause.
Here’s the website: zenkafilms.com
Go check it out. It looks neat, organized, and thought-through, inclusive mission statement, and all.
But since everything has two sides (or a hundred, really), it’s in this newsletter where I’ll give you the less polished take.
To give you an idea: yes, I received a couple of writing and development grants (was about time!) but I’m also still bootstrapping this whole business adventure. Case in point, the website above - I designed it myself. So please, if you don’t like the design or saw a couple of typos, don’t bother letting me know - there is no webmaster or editor I can refer you to. I mean, I do sometimes answer the phone pretending I’m my secretary, but that’s where my family draws the line. (It’s a shame though. He is a really nice and strapping fellow.)
But don’t be mistaken, I won’t give up any day soon. Founding is fun, I’m having the time of my life (most days), and I’m living proof that our society is getting women’s midlife and second half of life totally wrong.
Why?
The brilliant
puts it like this:“Especially as life spans and careers get longer, we hear more about careers with two phases: A steady, effortful climb upward towards commercial success, and then a second phase dedicated to service to others. But for many women, the reality is exactly the reverse. It’s the first half of their lives that is spent balancing professional growth with serving and caring for a variety of others — often children and family — and the second half that affords them the possibility of prioritizing their own voices and ambitions.”
You’re only 30? Avivah’s research will help you reframe things and relax a little. There is no deadline or midlife cutoff point.
You have time.
(OK, death is real, but as said above, we’ll tackle that some other time.)
Read Avivah’s article in the Harvard Business Review. And she’s got an awesome substack too.
In the meantime, I’ll be over here, challenging the patriarchy one TV script at a time.
See you next month,
Katja
(she picks up her phone)
“Xavier, I’m done here. You can put the investor’s phone call through now. Ah yes, why not, tea would be nice. And Xavier - quickly, please!”