As your host, Zoe, I've been on a transformative journey throughout this season, listening to the inspiring insights from numerous guests and reconnecting with my own adventurous spirit. Rekindling this spirit wasn't a spontaneous decision; it was sparked a couple of years ago by an event called Camp VC that reminded me of the thrill of seizing opportunities and taking risks. What's more, it made me question why a huge part of me that loved the outdoors and adventure had lain dormant for so long. I decided to bring it back by putting fun and playful disruption at the top of my to-do list, designing a life around MISCHIEF. That one word has changed the game for me and now I use to it to inspire these conversations, encouraging us to lead with fun and reignite our free spirits.
In this episode, we reflect on the impact the conversations of Season 2 have had and the birth of the Mischief Movement. The inspiring Fi O'Brien from Girls Who Grind Coffee, adventurous AJ a.k.a There Honest Biker and the creative British Designer/Maker Max McMurdo join us, demonstrating how they've tailored their lives around the things they adore. We also explore how engaging with the Mischief Movement can bring about significant changes in your life. Whether you're a newcomer or a seasoned mischief-maker, this episode promises to fuel your rebellious spirit against the ordinary, inspiring you to live a life filled with 'hell yeah' moments. Tune in, and let's wrap up the season with a bang!
Not long ago I felt trapped by the daily grind and all the mundane stuff and responsibility it brought. I wanted to escape but instead of running away, I decided to rebel against the ordinary, put FUN back on the agenda and do more of the things that made me feel alive. This podcast is one of them and through these conversations I'd love nothing more than to be able to help you do the same!
For more insights and inspiration on living your best life and rebelling against the ordinary, check out the blog or sign up to my newsletter at zoegreenhalf.com You can also find me on Instagram @themischiefmovement or LinkedIn and let's start a conversation. Who knows? Maybe we can shake things up and start making mischief together!
If you enjoyed this episode, please consider telling a friend or leaving a review (5 stars would be great! haha!) so that together we can spread the message that midlife ...
Zoe:
Hello, it's Zoe and welcome, or welcome, back to the Mischief Movement podcast, your weekly inspo for people looking for more hell yeah in their life. Consider this you are one way to get out of mid-life mediocrity towards fun and positive impact via playful disruption. Wouldn't you love to wake up and feel like a total badass? How about breaking some rules, throwing two fingers up to society and doing more of the things you love? I'm talking full on freedom, adventure and those meaningful connections I know you've been craving. Stop waiting for your amazing noise to happen and go get it. I'll be picking the brains of some true game changers and mischief makers so I can share what I find and hopefully inspire you to shake things up. Do more of what makes you feel alive and boldly rebel against the ordinary. I've no idea what I'm doing, to be honest, but I've got a mission and I'm here to start a movement. It's going to be quite the adventure. Care to join me? Okay, here goes. Hey there, mischief makers. The time has come to wrap up another season of the Mischief Movement podcast, and you have no idea how happy it makes me to say that. Not because we're ending here far from it but because it means I've now published more than 20 episodes, and I have no intention of stopping. I'll be taking a short break over the summer, but fear not, I'll be back in September with series three, which is already underway. So I'm excited for this one. Don't go anywhere In the meantime.
Zoe:
I wanted to leave you with some inspiration and motivation from the amazing guests who've shared their wisdom and experience with us over the past couple of months and, in doing so, help you lean into the idea of doing more of the things that make you feel alive. I start each episode by asking my guests what their mischief is. I love this question because the answer is so different for everyone, and it fascinates me how people interpret the term. It's so much more interesting than so what do you do? That I've now started asking it in real life too. Sometimes I'm met with a slightly confused look, but generally it's. You know. This surprising question gets people thinking differently and immediately establishes that sense of play that I love. I'm such an advocate of this word, and not because I've figured out how to incorporate play and live mischievously all the time. No, I'm still learning.
Zoe:
But the reason I care so much about leading with fun now is because over the years, I just became so bloody boring, and I didn't like it. Before having jobs that sucked the life out of me and kids that drained me of energy whilst loading me with growing responsibilities, I was a free spirit. I was into adventures, travel, connecting with like-minded people, doing challenging things to build confidence and making time for creativity, nights out, festivals and lots of laughter. Over the years, I let these things slide, something I'm still really annoyed about, but anyway, I'm determined to win them back. This is the message behind the mission.
Zoe:
It doesn't matter what age we are, what stage we are, if we've kids or not got kids. We're single. We've got partners. We don't have to accept a mundane life if it's making us unhappy. We can all choose mischief over mediocre. Seriously, I would like everything I do, everything I am, from this point on, to be based around putting fun first and leaning into the things I love, because I'm convinced that this is the secret sauce to a truly fulfilling life, closely intertwined with making a positive impact and a little bit of rebellion to keep things interesting. It's no surprise, then, that when I interviewed Fi O'Brien from Girls Who Grind Coffee, I was literally so giddy with excitement. Here is a woman who ticks all the boxes, wanting to do things on her terms and making a difference. She was incredibly inspiring to interview, as she said.
Fi O'Brien:
Yeah, I think it was really important to really cut through as well. There was no point in starting another coffee brand. There's enough of them out there now, or a coffee roastery. It was really important to have a strong message, but also to do it in our way, not to try and follow suit or mold into what the coffee industry was looking for. I wanted it to actually be nothing like what the coffee industry had seen or were even looking for in a way.
Zoe:
I first came across Fi at one of my favourite annual motorcycle and adventure events, Camp VC. I'm sure you'll have heard me mentioning it on the socials because I just love it so much. It's a whole weekend of awesome women doing awesome things, or, to quote The Red Bulletin, "motorbikes, mayhem and as much empty road as it's possible to ride. This is Camp VC, a place where women push boundaries, ride, skate, smash stereotypes and dance till dawn. Can you see why I love it?
Zoe:
Being asked to be involved back in 2021 was a defining moment for me because, after having two children in two years, it put me back in touch with the woman I'd once been, the woman who did things scared, adored adventure, loved the outdoors and dreamed of riding off into the sunset on her motorbike. It reawakened something inside of me that had laid dormant whilst I'd figured out this parenting stuff. But, my god, when it came, it was like I'd been punched in the face. This is who you are, I remember thinking, and this is where you belong Among these women living boldly, trying new things, feeling the fear and doing it anyway, empowering each other and creating a space in which everyone feels safe to be themselves and have fun. Time to step things up a gear.
Zoe:
I thought the reason I share this is because moments like this are rare, and it took me seizing an opportunity, saying yes and then figuring it all out later, which wasn't easy. But when opportunity knocks you've got to run towards it. If you lean into the things that light you up, you can't get it wrong. You'll discover more about yourself, you'll find a community that you never knew existed, that will have you back all through your endeavours, and you'll see how filling your time with things you enjoy spirals outwards to touch the lives of those around you too. It's infectious, it's a vibe, and it's hard to ignore a person who seems high on life. So I hope you manage to find your thing, or things that truly make you feel this way, because everyone has the right to live an amazing life.
Zoe:
Talking of amazing lives, my guest, Max McMurdo, was a brilliant example of someone taking life by the horns and designing it around. The lifestyle he wants to experience Fall to the brim, with stimulating challenges, designing making, being outdoors, philanthropic work and, of course, that tiny detail of also being on TV. I loved our conversation so much because I know what's possible. How did he get there? By leaning into the things he loves being authentic and being unafraid to take risks or make mistakes. We can take a life that feels ordinary, flip it on its head and make it extraordinary, and I will be forever grateful for the stories he shared and the mark those words left on me.
Max McMurdo:
The other thing I've realised is design your lifestyle to do the job you want to do. Don't do a job straight after school and then realise, oh wow, now I only have 7pm till 9pm to enjoy my actual life, and then weekends.
Zoe:
Oh, I love that. Design your lifestyle. Stephen Solademi was another guest who generously gave me so much wisdom and made me think differently. On the surface, we had little in common, yet he taught me how one conversation or connection can be really powerful, and I took his vision with me when he said;
Stephen Solademi:
ersus where you are after coming in contact with me, there's a difference in a positive sense. That's fundamentally who I want to be, and to me that's being a business owner who whoever wants to be in business can potentially look up to if they remotely look like me, am from where I come from and go anything is possible.
Zoe:
So I now find myself going into conversations and situations asking myself, when they walk away from meeting me, how can I leave this person feeling better than they do now?
Zoe:
It's powerful because it puts all the focus on the other person and being a good listener something I'm working hard at as I learn to coach and lead. I don't always go right, but it's a great way to approach meeting new people because it shifts the attention away from me and any nerves I might have, whilst making me the other person feel good and feel at ease. In fact, nothing gives me a better feeling than hearing my guests say that's a great question, or I hadn't thought of it like that, because it means I'm igniting a spark or challenging a belief, and that is really the beating heart of the podcast. Many of my guests have got to be where they are today, having worked through challenging situations. These could be health and mental well-being related, like AJ the Honest Biker or Emily from Deadly Desires Kink Art, who realised the need to put themselves first by doing more of the things that lit them up and leaning into that feeling of being slightly uncomfortable.
Emily Carrington-Ball:
I've fallen back on art and it's created this new, new thing that I need to do, that needs to be in the world and I'm the person to put it there. So, yeah, I think like everything happens for a reason. Things really, really suck, but I get to do this and show people themselves in a fetish look and show people that they're sexy and they're desirable.
Other challenging situations can be career pivots, like Alex Pett, who transitioned from lawyer to coach, and Clay Lowe, who went from the US military to UK training and development roles.
Alex Pett:
Just all about holding space, giving someone the chance to find that own way, because we're all capable of it. We're all capable of resilience, we're all capable of confidence and we're all capable of the things that we want in life. There's nothing that you can't do, really, if you set your mind to it.
Clay Lowe:
But after coming out of the army I didn't have that. So being a civilian, the civilian world is just not oriented on that bit.
AJ:
They're two different worlds, aren't they?
Clay Lowe:
Yeah, so that sense of serving others or serving something greater than myself, it was kind of a misunderstanding and corporate, I was just working to share all the value, wasn't it? How are we increasing profitability? Yeah, not the soul fulfilling.
Zoe:
Both believe in the power of building resilience to enable you to get as much out of your life as possible, and highlight that we all have it within us to do hard things and overcome problems, sometimes resulting in incredible positive results that surpass the original, seemingly negative situation.
Clay Lowe:
You know a bad thing happened, but out of that bad thing a good thing happened. So my whole life would have been a different life without that bad choice.
Zoe:
Clay and I also discussed the small things, the small choices, the small moments that change our lives in some way. I'm a huge advocate for making small changes, even if I don't always have the patience to wait around for the results. When you're implementing any sort of change, though small, slow and steady, wins the race. On a day-to-day basis, you're taking steps so tiny you can barely acknowledge them as progress, but when you look back over three months or six months or a year, you can really see just how far you've come. Take this podcast, for example. It took me years to get off the starting line, afraid of what people would think, unsure who I was talking to or what I was even going to talk about. Just by leaning into the things I love doing and then taking action from there, the fog started to clear and I could see how my vision might start to look. It can take a lot of effort to get past that perfectionism block and put something out into the world for people to scrutinise. But at 41 years old, I now say to myself in that situation, what's the worst that can happen? Sorry, I launched a podcast that's a bit rough and ready, but that's okay. Right, I'd choose the Rock'n'Roll bed hair over the polished Instagram pose any day, and I'd like to think that if you're here with me, you probably feel the same. Let's not forget it's the micromus gif. That's the real game changer which brings us to the end of the second season and ready to erase a third. In the meantime, please continue to share the episodes with friends you could use some more hell yeah in their lives and send me your thoughts and feedback so I can keep learning and improving.
Zoe:
I have a big vision where the Mischief movement is this amazing plurber, like-minded disruptors, mavericks and change makers, all rebelling against the ordinary and helping each other create an extraordinary life they don't want to escape from. I sometimes struggle to see the end point, but I just focus instead on taking the next right step and don't get bogged down with all the other stuff. This reminds me of my conversation with Hayley Dawson, founder of The Blocks, so I'll leave the last word to her, I think. "When I think back to that also, I like to share it because I think it's quite a powerful message for people, because we are all under so much pressure to figure everything out, whatever that means right, and in early adulthood especially, we think that we're a mess and we constantly beat ourselves up for not having it all together, but I think this is a myth that we're actually led to believe in adulthood, the myth being that one day we'll figure it all out. Don't forget I will be back in September and, in the meantime, always make more Mischief.
Zoe:
I hope you loved today's episode and you made you think differently or perhaps nudged you into changing something in your life that's not working for you. I'd love to give you a shout out right here on the podcast too, so let me know what you think, what you'd like to hear more of or how you've been inspired by what you've heard. Let's keep in touch over on Instagram @mischiefandhide, or sign up to my newsletter at zoegreenhalf. com. If you're enjoying being part of the Mischief Movement, please consider telling a friend or leaving me a review wherever you download your episodes, which will seriously help my mission to inspire and empower more people like us to choose Mischief over mediocre. Ciao.