Ep 100. Ordinary Is Optional - How To Feel Alive Again

Episode 100 is a stopping point, not a surrender. I’m closing this chapter of the Mischief Movement Podcast with a look back at the ideas that have helped so many of us step off autopilot and into intentional living, especially when midlife starts whispering that there must be more than ticking boxes.

We revisit some of the moments that shaped the show: treating true fun as a North Star rather than a reward, protecting creativity as part of identity, and letting big life wake-up calls sharpen what matters. I also pull through some of my favourite guest lessons, from backing yourself and asking boldly, to designing your lifestyle first instead of squeezing your real life into evenings and weekends. That gem came from one of my favourite episodes with Designer-Maker & TV Presenter, Max McMurdo.

Along the way we touch on late-blooming ambition with Designer Liz Mosley, modern career paths like UGC with Megan Spencer, and why “the worst someone can say is no” can be the start of everything.

You’ll also hear how unexpected friendship and community grow from a single conversation, plus what’s next for me beyond the podcast: deeper coaching work, tarot as a tool for reflection, and a new space I’m sketching out for curious, adventurous humans who want to feel more alive. If you’ve been waiting for perfect timing, take this as your sign. Subscribe, share with a fellow mischief maker, and leave a review that tells me: what are you starting now?

Transcript

Welcome To Episode 100

Zoe Greenhalf 0:00

Hey there and welcome to episode 100 of the Mischief Movement Podcast. I'm Zoe, and for the past three years, I've been your guide on this little adventure to shake up the status quo and find the courage to design a life on your own terms. If you've ever felt disconnected, stuck on autopilot, or trapped in a life that feels more like a treadmill than an adventure, you're in the right place.

SPEAKER_08 0:27

And if you've just stumbled across this podcast for the first time, welcome. You've just discovered a back catalogue of 100 episodes of Quiet Rebellion waiting for you.

Closing This Podcast Chapter

Fun That Makes You Alive

Zoe Greenhalf 0:38

But if you're an original mischief maker who's been here since the beginning, thank you. Truly, I am so grateful that you've been part of this journey with me. Because this podcast has always been about something simple but powerful. The moment when you look around at your life and realize, hang on a second, this isn't quite the life I'd imagined. And while change can feel scary, if you're listening to this, you probably already know something important. The little rebellious voice inside you is getting louder. The one that knows you're not just here to tick boxes, follow the script, and call it a day. So around here, we like to turn down the fear and crank up the fierce. Think of me as your playful partner in crime with one simple mission: to help you ditch the rule book, reawaken your rebel spirit, and design a life that actually makes you feel alive. Because I believe something wholeheartedly, ordinary is optional, and midlife should feel magical. Now, whether you start here at episode 100 or head right back to the beginning when this movement first kicked off in 2023, I'm thrilled that you're here. And who knows? This episode might just be the spark that ignites the fire you've secretly been wanting to start. By the way, don't you just love the word mischief? Let's dive in. This episode feels a little different because this is episode 100, and it's the final episode, or chapter least, of this podcast. Now, before anyone panics, nothing dramatic has happened. There's no mysterious disappearance. It's just a moment that feels right to kind of pause and take stock and leave this chapter of the show in a place that matters. And that place is right here, right now. Over the past hundred episodes, we've explored dreams, identity, fear, creativity, adventure, and the subtle ways that we hold ourselves back. We've talked about the dream blockers, the waiting, the postponing, the searching for clarity before you start. And we've had some incredible conversations along the way. Conversations that have made me laugh, think and occasionally sit there afterwards feeling like my mind had just been blown open a little bit. One of the first ideas that changed how I thought about life came right at the beginning of the podcast in episode two. I'd just discovered a book called The Power of Fun by Catherine Price, and it completely reframes something that I realized I'd been taking for granted. I'd always thought of fun as something extra, something you squeeze in when everything else is done. But that had been the problem. I wasn't having any. And real fun, the kind that puts you in a flow state and makes time disappear isn't optional. It's a signal. It tells you what lights you up and what kind of life actually feels good to live. That episode really made me get honest with myself about what true fun felt like for me, and then start bumping it up the priority list.

SPEAKER_08 4:03

Catherine also wrote there is a reason that our moments of true fun stand out in our memories. True fun makes us feel alive. And I was like, oh my god, I need more fun in my life.

Creativity That Keeps You Whole

Zoe Greenhalf 4:18

And you know, I want to feel alive again too. Another quote that Catherine said in the book was, If we want our own lives to be satisfying and joyful, true fun isn't optional. It shouldn't be an afterthought. It should be our guiding North Star. So then I'm like, well, what if I make fun my guiding North Star? Where would it lead me? And not long after that came my very first interview on the podcast. Episode three with Gemma Freyer. Gemma very kindly agreed to be my guinea pig when I was still figuring out how on earth to run an interview. And we ended up having the most brilliant conversation about creativity and identity. She reminded me of something that I think a lot of creatives quietly forget. Creativity isn't a luxury, it's part of who we are. We can fuel our lives with creativity, or we can fuel our creativity from the things in our lives. But either way, when we stop making space for it, something in us starts to fade. Watching the energy and playfulness that she was channeling through her brand, Jeff Leppard, reminded me how important it is for creative people to keep creating.

SPEAKER_10 5:45

I've got so much stuff in my brain, all this like pent-up energy that I've had from 10 years working in a job that I like, but I don't really love. And I just I needed to do something for myself as well. Because I think you know, you know, when you become a mum, you suddenly become this other role that you don't recognize and you have to learn really quickly, and you're suddenly like this, you know, you have to be a different person to who you were before. And I don't feel like some people say they lost lost themselves when they became a mum. I don't feel like that, but I do feel like I wanted to also keep myself in there. You know, what do I love? Like I can be a mum and I can still do all the things that I love.

Life Is Finite Choose Intentionally

Zoe Greenhalf 6:28

And then there are the conversations that stop you in your tracks and remind you just how fragile and precious life really is. One of the most powerful moments on the podcast came in episode four when I spoke to Sophie Umhofer, a survivor of stage four bowel cancer. Talking to Sophie was incredibly moving because she spoke so honestly about how quickly life can change. In a single moment, the things we take for granted can be taken away from us. And it made me think about something that I believe is quietly heartbreaking. That so many people leave this world with their dreams still inside them.

SPEAKER_06 7:20

And what I felt before was that, yeah, I know oh I'm married now, I've got kids, um nearly 40, you know. It just kind of well to me, I felt like I was just, oh, you know, I don't need to worry, you know, I don't need to why do I need to work on things? I'll just be happy plodding along doing this. Um and now it feels like actually I've got a second life. I mean, I literally know, I literally do. I've I've been given this new life because I'm in remission and I was told I was gonna be dead by this point. So it does make you feel a bit like, oh, you know, sod it, why why would I not go and do this thing that I actually, yeah, maybe I do want to do it.

Zoe Greenhalf 8:06

That idea, that reminder that life is finite is exactly why this podcast has always been about living intentionally. Because most people don't fail because they lack potential. They stall because they haven't yet decided to step into their lives on purpose. Decision and intention. I think that's where everything begins. Once you get intentional about how you want to live your life, everything starts to shift. You stop coasting along on autopilot, you start questioning the rules and the patterns that you've been following. You start asking whether the path you're on is actually yours or just the one you ended up on because it was expected. And over the years, I've had the chance to speak to so many people who have done exactly that. One of the most popular episodes of the entire podcast was my interview with full-time artist Ian Cook. Ian's story is such a brilliant example of what happens when you fully back yourself, when you stop waiting for permission, when you have the courage to ask for opportunities, promote your work, and be unapologetic about your talents. Talking to him really reinforced something powerful for me. That sometimes the difference between dreaming and doing is simply the audacity to believe it might actually work.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

You put paint down or put pens down. And people were watching me paint and draw in this shop unit. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. Well, if they're interested, the local press will be interested. And that time, like there wasn't like Twitter and stuff, or you couldn't just ask somebody, you know, you know, jumped on my phone and find out who was the local press. Like what happened. So I just rang them up and went, who's this? And you've got 30 seconds to be like, what it is, why, and what's it called? So I I just rang them and went look a painter shot me in it, come down, uh people watching it's causing a bit of a fuss. And I got the I got the newspaper down. I get the newspaper down, like you could probably get the TV down.

Zoe Greenhalf 10:24

I love how your mind works.

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Like, I was like, what I mean at the other day, the worst, the worst somebody can say is no.

Zoe Greenhalf 10:32

Like that's if you don't ask, like exactly another conversation that really stayed with me was with designer, upcycler, and TV presenter Max McMurdo. That episode ended up being one of my absolute favorites to record. Because Max is living proof that you don't have to squeeze your life into evenings and weekends around a job you tolerate. You can design your life first and then build work that fits into it. As a kid, Max never imagined he could make a living designing and building things. But he did exactly that by following curiosity and allowing his career to evolve in unexpected ways. And it's such a good reminder that the careers we end up loving often don't exist in the form we imagined when we were younger.

SPEAKER_08 11:26

So I guess my first question is what is your mischief? Because you've got your hands in so many different pies.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

That's a good question. What is my mischief? I think my life is quite mischievous actually, and I guess the role of a designer is probably to be mischievous and to ask questions constantly. I think I've always done it. I'm very fortunate. I've never had a career change, I've never had a moment of midlife crisis where I've had to re-jig and retrain. I've always just enjoyed being creative and doing things differently and asking, what if we did it differently? So one of my favourite situations is particularly on a building site or a site full of traditional tradespeople where they say, We've always done it that way, mate. Like, what? No, that's a very good reason to change the way we're doing it. So, for example, I live in a floating shipping container, which sounds bizarre, but actually that was me being mischievous and asking, should we live in bricks and mortar? Do we need to live on land? Am I enjoying the place where my cottage is located? Do I want to live in this exact house in this exact location? Or actually, do I want something mobile and portable? And I think this is a very fortunate time to grow up in as well, where we can be mischievous, we can think differently, we can challenge the status quo. So, in short, which wasn't a very short answer in reality, I guess my entire life and my career is just based around being mischievous.

SPEAKER_08 13:00

Which makes you the most perfect guest for this podcast. Because as you're telling me this thing, my face is just lighting up because our ability to be able to think differently is, you know, ultimately what's going to lead us towards living a better life. If we just sit there and accept everything is red, we lose that kind of sense of curiosity, and it feels like you have curiosity in abundance.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

I think that's possibly my only skill. Someone asked me the other day what my title was, what what my job was. And I said, Oh, um, I'm not entirely sure. I'm not a woodworker or a metal worker or a fabricator of any particular material. I just like asking questions, being a little bit provocative at times, and uh seeing if there's another solution to the to the norm. So I now, when I'm filming a show, always think 15-year-old me is sat there disinterested, doesn't feel worthy, doesn't feel valued at school with the traditional school system. Can I get that person excited by engineering or thinking differently or design or one of those subject matters? So I uh when we're filming these shows, I just think is there a 15-year-old lad sat there feeling inspired by what I'm doing? If not, why not? What can I do to make that exciting for that person to engage and maybe feel that they have a career, they have a future, they have something that they can get their teeth into and enjoy as an adult.

SPEAKER_08 14:29

I love that. And it's interesting, isn't it, how you know you describe your 15-year-old self as not feeling worthy.

Zoe Greenhalf 14:37

And I do remember being this kind of societal expectation of well, it will be harder for you because you're creative. Not wow, you've got something extra about you. It's almost like, well, you're not gonna go into marketing, you're not gonna go into this, you're not gonna probably make any money.

SPEAKER_08 14:56

But it's great that you found something that you're really passionate about. Well done, you know.

SPEAKER_03 15:00

Yeah, or the other thing is um, oh, that'll be a lovely hobby. If you want to make artistic furniture out of rubbish, that'll be lovely. Do that in the evenings and weekends and go and become an accountant during the day to pay the bills because you must have a mortgage. Well, I haven't got a mortgage because I've deliberately built my own house out of a shipping container, so I don't have that. So the other thing I've realized is design your lifestyle to do the job you want to do. Don't do a job straight after school and then realize, oh wow, now I only have 7 pm till 9pm to enjoy my actual life and then weekends.

SPEAKER_08 15:32

Oh, I love that. Design your lifestyle.

Design Your Lifestyle First

SPEAKER_03 15:35

Yeah, design it the other way around. So I deliberately don't have them all. Yeah, and that's the role of designers.

Zoe Greenhalf 15:41

So there were also moments during this podcast where life felt like it had come full circle. One of those was when I interviewed graphic designer Liz Mosley, who hosts the Building Your Brand podcast. Her show had actually been one of the inspirations for me starting this podcast in the first place. I remember listening to her episodes years earlier while taking my youngest to nursery, wondering quietly to myself whether I would ever feel fully alive and creative again. So sitting down years later and interviewing her felt incredibly surreal. And what I loved about Liz's story was her honesty. She spoke about feeling like a misfit in the design world, about not even considering starting her own business until later in life and becoming a mum. And it's such an important reminder that ambition doesn't have an expiry date. You can start something new at any stage of life. And when you do, you bring a lifetime of experience with you.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

And interestingly, like I wasn't really very ambitious in my career, like I enjoyed it, but I was just sort of quite happy ticking along with my nine to five job. Um, like really appreciated being able to just sort of switch off when I got home and not think about it too much. And then when I start I started to take on my own clients and got a bit of a taste for running my own business. And when I started doing stuff myself, um, I then got really ambitious. And I think that's quite interesting how it sort of feels a bit like a weird time to become ambitious because I feel like often that happens at the beginning of your career and you really push hard and you try and like grow.

New Paths At Any Age

Zoe Greenhalf 17:41

Recently, another conversation that really expanded my thinking was with Megan Spencer, also known as Meg the Creator. Before speaking to her, I'd never even considered user-generated content, UGC, as a career path or side hustle. But Megan has found a way to earn money doing something that she was good at in a way that worked around her life as a mum and a wife. And it really opened my eyes to how many possibilities exist now that simply didn't a few years ago. It's one of those moments where you realize you don't know what you don't know. And sometimes just hearing someone else's story can suddenly expand your sense of what's possible.

Megan Spencer 18:25

It's kind of like one of my slogans. I say, like, anyone of any age can do this because there's brands for everyone. There's brands for teenagers, there's brands for people my age. I'm in my 30s, there's brands for people my grandma's age that's in her 80s. Like I literally was just scrolling one of the um job boards the other day, and I saw they were hiring people 60 to 80 years old. And I'm just like, what? Like I just love that, you know, I love seeing it. So yeah, and that's the other thing too, is I have people in my course of all different ages, all different genders. Men do this too, you know. And so I just think it's so fun that like anyone can do it. And I think that's what makes it so accessible. And yeah, you know, I don't want to say easy, but I do like to say it's simple. Like it's a simple process of what you're doing, but it's nothing that's like easy. Like you have to learn it, you know, you have to get better at it and practice just with anything. But it's definitely a confidence booster for sure. Yeah, I can imagine.

She Who Dares Wins Energy

Zoe Greenhalf 19:25

Finally, one of the conversations that turned into something more than just an interview was my episode with Michelle Hans, founder of She Who Dares Wins. Michelle's story is such a brilliant underdog story. After spending 17 years in the construction world, she ended up creating a movement that encourages women to take bold risks and back themselves. What started as an Instagram page slowly grew into something so much bigger. And somewhere along the way, we also became friends. Now we regularly support each other when it comes to bringing ideas to life and navigating all the weird and wonderful twists that midlife throws our way. And honestly, that's one of the unexpected gifts of doing this podcast. The connections that have grown from a single conversation.

SPEAKER_05 20:17

Halfway through one particular job that was quite um hard, someone said to me, you know, why do you still do this? And I was like, Wow, she dares wins. And actually, I was a huge um and still am a fan of only fools and horses. So I think that's kind of where he dares rudders. And I and I I very much have the underdog, like I think he's the male version of me, um, where I'm the female version of him. Uh, that underdog always trying new things. So I was like, you know what, I'm gonna change everything to she who dare's wins, and now it's become less about me and my story, and more about kind of daring women to win. Because I think the one thing that I realized over time was like, well, how did I get through these experiences and stuff I've done? And it's just turning up and daring to win. So I now kind of want to encourage a lot of other women through trying to empower them and inspire them by other women's stories as well.

Zoe Greenhalf 21:16

Of course, it hasn't just been guests who've made this podcast special, it's also been the people listening, the quiet mischief makers out there who have tuned in week after week. And over the years, I've been lucky enough to receive messages from listeners and guests who shared how these conversations have landed in their lives. So before we wrap things up, I want to share a few of those voices with you.

SPEAKER_07 21:41

Hello, my name is Joe Fiddy, motivational speaker and menopause mentor. And firstly, congratulations to Zoe. 100 episodes. That is magnificent. Congratulations. And I had such a fantastic time on your show talking about how we Are not entering our pause and posters as women as we go into menopause. And just that moment when we were talking about that age of belief that's created where it's expected that women are supposed to slow down, and actually, it is rebelling, it is creating mischief, it is having an impact on the world no matter what your age. And I absolutely adore your podcast, it is so inspirational. I'm wishing you another a hundred episodes. Lots of love.

Zoe Greenhalf 22:30

I want to tell you a secret. Joffy D might just well be working on her own podcast coming very soon. So keep your eyes peeled for the Pressing Play podcast.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Hi, Sylvie. This is Sylvia. I love your podcast because it's such a safe space to be authentic and a little whimsical and quirky and real. And that is or feels mischievous in and by itself. And I've loved listening to all your guests fully jumping into their authenticity and doing the same myself when I recorded the last one with you. So thank you.

SPEAKER_11 23:13

I'm sorry. I'm not getting time broke for the food part of the ball, but I'm still broke. I'm afraid. Oh my god, how much do I put my podcast? Mr. Money. At the time I felt confused about what the future looked like. Sorry and I guess help me rediscover my mother. Open my mind to new possibilities. Inspire me to be bolder, to become the most authentic version of myself. And that's right, to be even more unapologetically mischievous. Sorry, you're not only incredibly curious and really you have the biggest heart and always seem to know exactly the right question to ask at exactly the right time. Not only has the mystery moment help me more ways than I can count. I've unexpectedly made a friend. Someone I know, I can always reach out to for encouragement.

oaching Tarot And The Lifeloft

Start Now Final Send Off

Zoe Greenhalf 24:17

Special mention to my good friend Phil Jones there, who has been such a huge support. He has always been there reposting my episodes, listening to every single one. His words of encouragement have been so precious to me, and I'm truly grateful to now call him a friend. Hearing those messages, that's when it really hits me just how special this little corner of the internet has been. When I first started the Mischief Movement Podcast, it was honestly pretty scrappy. I didn't have a big plan. I didn't have a studio. Still don't. Uh I didn't even really know what I was doing. I just had a microphone, an idea, and a quiet feeling that there had to be more to life than just sleepwalking through it for me. Over the past three years, this podcast has grown into something I could never have predicted. A hundred episodes, dozens of brilliant guests, thousands of conversations happening quietly in people's headphones while they walk the dark, drive to work, or just sit with a cup of tea wondering what comes next. You've ever been one of those people listening along the way. Thank you. Thank you for your curiosity. Thank you for your messages, and thank you for being brave enough to question the script. Because that's really what this whole podcast has been about. Not blowing your life up overnight, not quitting everything and running off romantically into the sunset. But simply remembering that you are allowed to ask a very powerful question. Is this the life I want to be living? If the answer is not quite yet, then you're also allowed to start changing it little by little, experiment by experiment. Micro mischief by micro mischief, now, as for the podcast, this is where this particular chapter comes to an end. But the journey definitely doesn't. Behind the scenes, I've been putting more and more of my energy into coaching, into the conversations I have with people who are ready to stop living on default and start designing a life that actually fits them and fits the person they want to become. I've also started exploring tarot, which is so exciting. And it's turned out to be a really fascinating and surprisingly powerful way of helping people to reflect and question and see their lives from a different angle. And then there's something I've been quietly sketching out in the background for a while now. Something that at the moment I'm calling the lifeloft, industrial kind of space for curious, adventurous humans who know they're not just here to go through the motions, but to experiment, connect, and design a life that feels a little more alive. So while the mischief movement might be finishing here, the mischief itself is far from over. If you'd like to keep in touch, follow along, or maybe even work together, you can find everything you need through the links in the show notes. Oh and while we're speaking things into existence, if anyone out there happens to be looking for a podcast host or a radio voice or someone who loves creating thoughtful, slightly mischievous conversations in audio, well, you know where to find me. Now, before we close this chapter, I want to leave you with one final thought. Imagine yourself a few years from now, looking back at this moment, ordinary Tuesday afternoons, the quiet ideas tapping you on the shoulder, the dreams that felt just a little too big to say out loud. Imagine that future version of you leaning back through time just to whisper one small thing. Start now. Start now, not when everything is perfect, not when you finally feel ready. Now because the life you're dreaming about isn't waiting somewhere far away. It begins the moment you decide to step toward it. You only get one wild life.