Latest / The Midlife Pivot / Midlife Lessons from Kristin McGee: Yoga, Motherhood, and the Courage to Start Over
Transcript
- Amanda: Today's guest is someone whose career and life really embodies what the midlife pivot is all about. Kristen McGee has spent nearly three decades helping people become stronger, more grounded, and more connected to themselves through yoga, Pilates, meditation, and movement. Many of you may know Kristen from her six years at Peloton, where she was one of the founding yoga instructors and helped build not only the yoga program, but Pilates, prenatal and postnatal classes, meditation, and so much more. But Kristen's story didn't begin or end with Peloton. Long before that, she was building an incredible career in wellness, teaching yoga, working with celebrity clients, appearing on television, and becoming one of the pioneers in bringing yoga into people's homes. Along the way, she became a mom to three beautiful boys, navigated the realities of balancing motherhood with a demanding career, and ultimately made the very personal decision to step away from a highly visible and successful role at Peloton to create space for what came next. Today she's doing exactly that: building Kristen McGee movement and creating a new chapter in her own terms. And that's why we wanted Kristen here today. Because the midlife pivot isn't just about changing careers, it's about recognizing when something in your life is shifting, having the courage to listen to that feeling and being willing to ask yourself, what do I want this next chapter to look alike? To look like. Kristen, we're so happy. to have you here. Welcome to the Medlife Pivot. kristin: thank you so much. That was such a lovely Amanda: No. kristin: introduction. I really appreciate that. Amanda: You are so welcome. Well, it embodies everything that I know of you and who you are and have been so impressed with for so long on the platform. I will start off by saying you are sorely missed. I am excited to hear about what this next chapter has brought you, but your presence is definitely missed in my daily routine, and I wanted to make sure that you knew that because it is the truth. kristin: I appreciate that. I miss everyone so much as well. And it was such an incredible six years. And the community I feel like I'm still connected to. So many people I constantly am still messaging and DMs and having this opportunity now to speak with you is incredible. So I just feel like it really i as large of community as it is, it's also very small. There's so Amanda: Small. kristin: many it's just so wonderful the connections. Amanda: Absolutely, absolutely. Well, we are gonna go ahead and kick it off with some questions that we have put together to ask you. And Mum, why don't you go ahead and kick it off? Okay. Kristen, let's start with a question at the heart of our podcast. When you look back kristin: Okay. Amanda: at your life so far, what do you consider to be your biggest pivot? And did you recognize it as a pivot while you're going through it? kristin: That is such a great question. I think there have been def different pivotal moments for sure. Two that I could name right away. First one was I started school in Southern California, University of California, Irvine, and I met this professor named Clayton Garrison, who was an absolutely fabulous theater professor. At the time I was a biology major, and I was taking neurobiology classes, and I thought I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps and go into medicine. And Clayton said in a theater class, I'm bringing a group of students to New York City who wants to audition and join this program where every third quarter of the year we go to New York and spend a month. I auditioned. I went to do my first year of study in New York. fell in love with the city. I was so I was like, this is where I need to be, this is where I need to live, this is what I need to be doing. So after my second year of doing it, my sophomore year, I said to my parents, I I think I need to move to New York City. I just love it there so much. It just felt like that was where I needed to be. So I auditioned for NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, got into the program, transferred from California to New York. And I feel like that was one huge pivotal moment for me because I listened to my gut and my heart and there was something about the energy of the city that just matched my energy and was this launching ground for creativity and Everything about it, it just felt like there's this energy in the street. Like I plugged in my cell phone. I didn't have a cell phone back in those days, Amanda: Ha ha ha. kristin: but it's like charging your cell phone, you just get this Amanda: Right. kristin: instant hint of energy. So moving to New York, I think was definitely one of the first big pivots. And I didn't see it, you know, now looking back, I would have never realized that that one move would have made such a difference in my life. And then the second one, I think, was landing the MTV yoga video. I was pursuing my acting career. That's why I went to New York University, it was for theater. But in my acting classes, I was doing yoga. We were practicing yoga as a warm-up and becoming more. immediate and present just like a theater actor needs to be. So the two are so I think very like such great good training grounds the yoga presence and breath work and staying in the moment. And then I was auditioning throughout New York City, but I was also teaching yoga to support my acting career. And when I was approached by this MTV producer and asked if I wanted to lead the very first MTV yoga DVD it shifted me from really continuing to pursue acting full-time into pursuing fitness, wellness, following my passion for yoga and wanting to share that with as many people as I could. Amanda: Wow. And I think what what resonates with me with what you're saying is that, you know, I I kind of created this podcast with this midlife pivot, because that's where I am in my life and I've had all these kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: pivoting roles. But it's so interesting to hear you certainly weren't in your midlife when you made, you know, both of those two initial pivots. kristin: Yes. Amanda: And yet that's what I'm trying to show folks is that you don't have to be, I mean, the age really is just a number, and one doesn't have to be at a certain point in their life. We make so many different pivots in our life in making these choices, whether they be career moves or social moves, whatever we decide to do. and I actually didn't know that about you. I didn't know that you had started out in California and kristin: Yes. Amanda: and had made that switch and was kind of looking at an acting career. And it is interesting how you get to learn things about people all the time. So I have just kristin: And then when you think about the midlife time, I was I think I was 46. So Amanda: Yeah, yeah, three. kristin: that's that's midlife, if you think about it, or or right? And Amanda: Yeah, absolutely. Mm-hmm. Yes. kristin: I was with one of my really good friends. She and I had done a teacher training together with Rodney Yee and Colleen Seidman in 2009. And I vividly remember Lisa and I sitting down at my table in my apartment and we were looking at some of Colleen's yoga videos on this Peloton app. That wasn't even, Amanda: Right. kristin: you know, very familiar with. And Lisa said, Why don't you ask them to do yoga? Because there's just a few classes here. Why wouldn't they do more yoga? And I had worked with Robin in 2015 at a for Champion. it was their target brand, C9 by Champion. So Robin and I had done a campaign together. So I reached out to Robin and I said, is Peloton interested in doing yoga? And at first she was kind of like, I don't know. And then a month later she brought me into audition at Peloton. So I feel like obviously that was a huge pivot as well because up until that point I was running around Amanda: Course. Yeah. Yeah. kristin: the city teaching a ton of yoga privates and classes. Amanda: Well that's actually that that was really my next question, is that or my next statement was that your career in wellness really did start long before Peloton. kristin: Long before Palaton. Amanda: so so take us take us back to the beginning. what was it about yoga that it kind of initially drew drew you in? And when did you realize this could actually become your life's work? kristin: I yoga was a very similar experience for me as was New York City. It was so interesting. When I got to New York, I just felt like, wow, I really love the energy here and I really want to be here. When I took my very first yoga class, it was a similar like wow. This is exactly what I need. I absolutely love it. I love the breath work. I love having to really be in uncomfortable positions and figure out how to breathe. It was so good for my anxiety, for my nervous system regulation. I'm a dancer and I always love choreography and movement and seeing how things can flow together. So I loved that whole aspect of yoga sequencing and how shapes can become, they just grow and change and evolve one on time. So there were so many aspects of the yoga practice that just felt like, this is exactly what I need. I love it. And I was, even though I had played tennis in high school and I was always athletic as a kid, I never had like a group sport or a something that kept me moving as I was going. I I think it's really nice when you can find an activity or an outlet or some sort of exercise, even though yoga I feel like is more of just a lifestyle or a almost like I to me now, yes, and to me now Amanda: a lifestyle. I do look at it as being yeah. kristin: my yoga practice is my practice where like my workouts are my workouts. I kind of always think of my Amanda: Correct. kristin: yoga as just a practice, but I think That having that way of having a movement and something I could do and breath regulation, all of that was really amazing and important to me. And because it was having such a profound effect on my psychological state, my emotional state, my physical state, I just think it was a natural thing that I wanted to keep sharing it with people. I wanted people to s discover just how incredible this. This thing was, you know, that this yoga was like, it was my dad even at the time was like, What? Yoga? I think so many people back in when I first started w weren't even sure like what I was doing. It was still kind of a very on the fringe. It was like, you know, Amanda: Yeah. kristin: mid-early 90s, mid-90s, and there was a lot of little yoga studios around, but it had definitely not gone as mainstream as it has, you know, in these more, I'd say, past 20 so years. But I think that yoga Amanda: Yeah, yeah. kristin: was just it almost felt like it found me, if I was to be you know honest. Amanda: Well I I just want to interrupt you for one minute, you know. I'm eighty-five years old. So when I was when I was in my kristin: Goodness, you look amazing. Amanda: 30s in South Africa, kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: my friends all decided they wanted to do yoga. Okay? So the yoga that I did, you would laugh at. I couldn't do it. they used to make me put my head on the ground against the wall, put your legs up. I could never get my legs up. kristin: Yes Amanda: I thought I can't, I'm gonna die. What am I doing? This is not exercise. Well, today it's just a way of life. It's wonderful. Well, you always taught me something too. But you always kristin: Isn't that incredible? Amanda: taught me something, and you always used to say to me, and I used to say, I'm I'm not a yogi. And I remember you always used to say to me, Your practice is your practice, and how you do it. And I love kristin: Yes. Amanda: that just sense of purpose. No, purpose is not the right word. That that just that sense of Freedom. Freedom. In being able to a to do kristin: Yes. Amanda: something and of course it's, you know, now been six years since I've been doing yoga and it's been the most incredible experience. But it was you kind of giving me that right of passage. I remember right from the beginning, you and Ross Were the two that had said to me, stop worrying about whether you're doing it correctly. There's no correct in yoga. It's how you kristin: Yes. Amanda: feel. It's all coming from within. And, you know, that turning inwards. And and that was yeah, that was a great a great thing. Yeah, I have a little question. It's okay. kristin: One hundred percent. It's the journey. And I love that you are way ahead of your time if you've been practicing since you know you discovered it in your thirties. Amanda: my goodness, yes. But it was yoga. It was like criminal yoga. I mean, you know, I used to say, I can't never do this. All these poses, you put your leg on top of this and I gave up and I've never started again. Anyway, my next question to you is, I think we we actually are rolling one into the other, which is great. But my next question is, when Peloton came along and you actually reached out to them about yoga, what did you see in Peloton at that time? And what was it like helping to build something that ultimately became so much bigger than anyone could have imagined? I like that. kristin: that is such a good question I remember at the time seeing I I would go by the studio on 23rd Street, their cycling studio, and I think again it was my friend and I who saw a teacher who I would look up to. Colleen is an incredible yoga teacher and she's been teaching for many, many years. And Rodney Yee, if you think about Rodney, like he was like the the yogi and yoga journal every month on the cover, and he had been studying and practicing yoga and for so long, and I always loved. studying with these teachers that have been around for a long time and have such great insights. And to this day I wanna continue to study with as many people as I can. I think it was the fact that I saw Colleen on this app and was very curious as to wow, I love that she's doing yoga on this app that is for athletes, that's for mostly cyclists and how Amanda: Cyclists. kristin: Right. And how great would it be to get more on it so that people could have that cross training and just see how important yoga is for everything. And so and also the connection with Robin, then when I was like, yeah, and I know Robin and I knew Rebecca from many years ago, and Andy and I used to train at the same gym and Christine and I both taught at the same gym for a year. So again, it's like we were talking about earlier, as big as the fitness world is, it's also very small. Amanda: Small. kristin: And so I just think I Peloton would grow like it would, but at the time I was just really excited to go into something new and be in a place where they were combining the things that I love. Theater, because I have the theater background. So being on stage, doing production, having that camera experience. I love, love, love being in production and in a set and on stage or their stage. And then movement, which you know, I'm all about I pinch myself every day that I get paid to work out. It's just such a blessing. It's like Amanda: Right, right. kristin: my favorite thing. And then playlisting, the music. I grew up in a musical family and music is amazing. So all of those things combined was like the dream job come true. I don't think I would have ever ex expected in a million years for Peloton to take off like it did. Or it, you know, for us to have a world pandemic and for things to just can automatically shift to that where it was at the time. So I feel again very, very, very, very blessed to have been in a place and at a time where I could offer something that I think helped people a lot because it was such a scary time. There were so many unknowns. Everyone felt isolated and Peloton was one way to bring people back together and build community even when people were in isolation. Amanda: Yeah, yeah. Well, you alluded to it before and I'll and I'll bring it up again, but you did become incredibly connected to the Peloton community, which kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: which must have made the decision to leave even more complicated. How did you know it was time to walk away from something that was still successful and that you still loved? kristin: isn't that such a hard one? Because there's never black or white. There's always so much gray. And we can always hold two truths at the same time. So instead of an or, it's an and. I love Peloton. I love the community. I love the job. I love the instructors. I love everything about it. And I also was in this position where I love my boys so much, and I really needed to figure out what would be sustainable, how I could raise my kids in a way that was actually even doable for me at the time. And so it was such a hard decision, but ultimately I was like, I really think as much as I I love this career, and it I am so successful here, and it is so incredible. There's a time where I just had to look and say, you know what? I have to put my family first and do what's right for us in this immediate moment. And also not even knowing that maybe the doors might not ever open up again, or maybe there'd be opportunity again, but at that very time in that place. And it was the only reason why it was opportune at that time and place too was because they were going through contract negotiation. So we were trying to look at ways to Figure things out and it just ultimately boiled down to like, you know what? For my family right now, I think the best decision is for me to. Do what I'm going to do, you know, take take this step, take this, Amanda: Absolutely. kristin: take this break. but it's very, very, very hard. There's times where I'm still like, man, you know, and you always wonder, like, did I Amanda: Yes. kristin: do the right thing? But I'm s my boys are so happy right now, and we're in such a good place, and I think it was ultimately the right decision. And it is very scary to be back on my own, but it's kind of where I was before I joined Peloton. I've always been an independent contractor, I've always been kind of my own boss, I've always been you know, doing my own like privates and videos and classes and a lot of those things. So it's it's funny. It's like kind of just going back to what I had always been doing prior. just not having the platform and exactly Amanda: Right. And that had kind of given you a launch pad. That had given you kind of a launch pad to continue and grow, et cetera, moving forward. Absolutely. kristin: Exactly. Like all these little things along the way were launch pads. MTV was a launch pad. Amanda: Yeah. kristin: Doing a video with Bethany Frankel was a launch pad. Working on the home shopping network was a launch pad, writing for Health Magazine, like all these little things, joining Peloton. And then Now I'm at Tonal, which I think is such a cool opportunity because they're also, I almost feel like they're Peloton before Peloton became Peloton because they're in this place where strength training is so important and so pivotal, especially in midlife and especially for women. And it's Amanda: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. kristin: in it teaches, it helps women actually have progressive overload and build the muscle that they need to in order to stay fit, to have longevity, to have bone density. So it's like taking all the guesswork out of strength training and making it very accessible. So I I think it's just an awesome piece of equipment and super cool. Amanda: I was going to ask you, I think this is something so many women in midlife struggle with. When so much of our identity becomes connected to a career, a marriage, motherhood, and you explain that or a particular role. And again, how do we figure out who we are? When the role changes. Did you experience any of that after leaving Paloton? kristin: Yes, quite a bit because there was I think what happens too is and and also it's it's a good a good thing to remember no matter where we are that we are still ourselves within the company or within the marriage or within the family that sometimes it is so hard not to lose your identity and go full in fully into whatever it is. But at the end of the day, again it's one of those and like Peloton gave me so much, and I also brought so much to them. I think together is how we made things successful. And so it was both of us working together and at the right time and at the right place. And so I'm still me. I'm still, I still can bring everything that I had to offer them into my next. things that I'm doing. Like I'm always gonna have the same kind of work ethic and drive and creativity and vision and all of those things that I brought. And those are the things that I can then pivot into whatever I'm doing next. So I think people need to remember that if they can pinpoint the qualities in themselves that are so valuable and incredible and maintain integrity like those things are gonna just keep carrying you into every next phase of life or or your next marriage or your next career or whatever it may be, Amanda: the word is ethics. Yeah. As long as you've got ethics in life, you can only go upwards and succeed. Yeah. Yeah. kristin: Ethics, yes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Amanda: All right. So you've spoken a lot about your boys, and raising them surely is as challenging as it is for anybody raising kids. but my question to you is: raising three boys while building this next chapter of your career, how Has motherhood changed your definition of ambition and success? And has what you want from your life changed as you've gotten older? kristin: One hundred percent. And I think that's where we do sometimes mistake success. So you you look at like maybe, you know, all of the things that I had when I was at Peloton and incredible and so great and all these opportunities, and while I'm building this next chapter I want something that's sustainable and I want something that allows me to make a comfortable living while spending as much time with my boys as I possibly can. While also bringing them into adventures if possible when there's an excursion or a retreat that I can lead and they can come along. How cool is that? And let them see the world and also remind them how important it is to have a job that you love, that you wake up and you're excited about. They see me doing these things and they're like, mom, you you're so good at yoga. You really love yoga. Like they can see that I'm passionate about what I do and with fitness and there's so many ways to I think doing incorporate them into what I'm doing or at least lead by example and show them how much I love what I'm doing. So I think just reminding myself that at the end of the day I really want to be with the people I love as much as possible, but also feel at peace and also feel like I'm doing something purposeful. I think when we have a purpose in life, it's so important. And as long as you have that purpose, it really kind of doesn't matter where you are Or even how much you're making as long as you're making enough to really provide for your family and and do things that you love. Especially if you don't you know, 'cause if you're if you're Amanda: An exceptional role model. But what an exceptional role model it kristin: yeah, thank you. Amanda: is. I mean, that's what it's all about. And I've tried to instill that in my kids, you know, over time. To yeah, money's great, but you've got to be passionate about what you're doing. And kristin: Yes. Amanda: that's the most important thing. And I know how I, you know, how I felt in in my career, but absolutely, and being that role model and giving, as my mom said, work, you know, that ethics, whether it be a social ethics kristin: Yes. Amanda: or a work ethic, but having that ability to show your passion. And you have you embody, you know, your passion over your profession. Which is just phenomenal to see as an outsider, kristin: thank you. Amanda: for sure. All right, my next one is one thing we talk about a lot on the Midlife Fervet is that getting older can actually bring an incredible sense of freedom. What do you know about yourself today that you wish you had known at 30 or 40? and what have you finally stopped worrying about? kristin: I think this is a hard one, but it's one that I'm trying to get better at every day is just not worrying so much about what other people think. I take it to heart. Amanda: yeah. kristin: I really do. Even know Amanda: It seems to be a thread. It seems to be a thread over the people that I've interviewed on the show so far. kristin: Really? Amanda: my goodness. I think that's what we learn the most as we do get into that, you know, second chapter of our lives. Is, you know, and Mel kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: Robbins is a is a huge, you know, such an incredible role model for all of us in teaching us to just let them and not having to worry. And I've kristin: Yes. Amanda: used this now in a couple of the interviews that I've done because yeah, we really shouldn't care about what anybody says. But yeah, it's interesting to see that that has been a threat that has been carried forward. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. kristin: Yes. It's so hard. And it's also something I think that as we do get older and we enter this midlife phase, we're so much more comfortable in our skin. And so automatically it's a little less of a default because we Amanda: Yes. kristin: already do the things that we know we want to do and that feels so good and the things that make us happy and helping other people. But then there is times too where people are just going to paint you in any way they want to and project or deflect or whatever it is. And so a lot of times you have to realize that, you know, it might just not be you and it might just be a place that they're coming from and also try and see where they could be coming from, but then not take it so personally. Amanda: Absolutely. All right. Well, movement has been such a constant throughout your life. For women entering their 40s, 50s, and beyond, how should our relationship with exercise change? what should we be doing now, not simply to look good, but to feel strong, mobile, and confident in the decades ahead? kristin: That is such a great question. I think functional training is one of the most important things we can do. I wrote a ma a Substack and a mantra recently about how the stronger I get, the stronger I get. Like as you build strength, you have more strength. And it's just this amazing snowball effect. He's same with the flexibility and the mobility. The more flexible I become, the more flexible I become. Not just in my body, but in life. Like I'm able to go with the flow more and I'm able to find space in my body. And so just doing those things that we already know are so important: one, strength training, two, mobility, flexibility. Because if you don't use it, you lose it. I Amanda: Use it, lose it. kristin: mean, I just was about to write a piece as well on Substack about frozen shoulder being one of the symptoms of menopause that a lot of people don't even talk about. There's random things that start to happen as you enter midlife that you wouldn't even know. And then I know strength is having a moment, but obviously heart health is important as well. So doing those cardiovascular activities that you love to do, whether it's going for daily walks or if you do like to run or cycle, ski, tennis, all of those things. And then I think things like sleep, protecting our sleep. I personally have noticed that alcohol has become pretty much like non-existent in my life as I've gotten into midlife. It was always like love to enjoy Amanda: Me too. kristin: a glass of wine with my girlfriends, but I just don't, my body doesn't know. Yep. Amanda: Don't enjoy it anymore. Right. It's that's so interesting. Yes. It's so validating hearing it from somebody, you know, somebody else. because you kristin: Yeah. Amanda: kind of think, my god, am I like what's happening to me? But I love that you've just said that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's kristin: Yes. Yeah. I feel so much better without it. I feel so much more clear and I have energy and I yep. Amanda: Me too, me too. And and at first, you know, I did I did a stint where I did stay I was off alcohol for two years while I was trying to lose some weight and and getting, you know, drinking again, as you just said, made me feel just so lethargic and and awful that why? You know, you c I I'm kristin: Yes. Amanda: I'm fine without the alcohol, so why have it? kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. I love that. kristin: Same yes, I have just as much fun and I exactly Amanda: Exactly, exactly. I still enjoy my glass of wine every now and then. That's okay. And at the same time comes my sciatica. Pain in my knees. you know, the alcohol basically is poisoned. It is power. At my age. Yeah. Yeah. kristin: Little bit, but I think all s you're conscious of it. And again, yes, I think having a glass of wine is perfectly fine. And I do wish that it didn't affect me as much as it did. I wish that you know I could have that glass of wine and not feel Amanda: Me too, yeah. kristin: as like, you know, wake up in the middle of the night. And there are some times where I just know, like, hey, I might feel this tomorrow, but it's an occasion and I wanted, you know, I'm in in you know, France leading a tr a trip in Bordeaux retreat last year, and I'm definitely having a glass of wine. Yeah. Amanda: Yeah. Enjoy it. In the moment. In the moment. Absolutely. Right. I'm having my wine. I love that. Absolutely. Absolutely. you also talk a lot about breath work, meditation, kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: and mindfulness, which I'm very, very fond of, let me tell you. When life feels uncertain, which is often during a pivot, how can those practices help us quiet the noise enough to hear what we actually want? kristin: I love that. Breath work and meditation are to speaking to it's a good segue from the wine because you said you gave it up when you're trying to lose some weight. I gave it up when I did this meditation course because my meditation teacher asked us to go 30 days without and then it just became longer and longer and longer and longer. But because kind of in a sense that when we do start to numb out with whatever it is, even exercise can be a way to numb out sometimes and not connect, or with drinking or with food, whatever it is, we're You know, not really giving ourselves the chance to listen in. And so I feel like with meditation, we're quieting our mind, we're listening to ourselves. I always tell people not to worry about getting lost in thought. That's part of the process. Not to worry about thinking when you're in meditation. That's just what you'll you'll be doing. But we'll find these moments of clarity where there's a little bit more space between the thoughts, or where we can a little golden nugget will come up. A lot of times that's where my mantras all of a sudden come to me is in my meditation practice. And I do two 20-minute practices a day. So first thing in the morning and then one mid-afternoon. And Because we are the only ones who can breathe for ourselves, our breath is so important. And it works on it works on a physiological level as well. When our exhalation is full and complete, it relaxes the parasympathetic nervous system. When we slow down the breath and when we breathe in and out through the nose, same thing. Puts us in that rest and digest state. So it actually is working, not just like, woo-woo, but it's actually working on a physical level. So our breath is Amanda: Working. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I yeah. kristin: able to calm the nervous system. So I think that's what people don't realize that it's not some you know woo-woo magic. It's actually like a scientific thing that our breath can help regulate our nervous system. And so when we can tap into certain types of breath work or to even just slow down and take a deep breath, it helps our nervous system relax. Amanda: I agree. It's changed my life, and I think that I've tried to instill that in you. I mean, I've no I've said it to you many a time when we've been together on vacation and we've been a say I said, Mom, just come sit and just do a meditation. Because sometimes the noise is so loud around us. And I think certainly for me in these last five, six years, in where there has been so much in my life that has pivoted, I truly believe that meditation is something that I absolutely worship my my time every and I'm like you I do it morning and evening but I kristin: Mm. Amanda: Wake up every morning with some form of meditation, anywhere between 10 or 15 minutes, and then I cannot go to sleep without meditating. it's the last thing I do. My phone goes off, I kind of get, you know, ready for bed. And yeah, I went to bed with you last night. I figured I was going to be I was going kristin: I love that. Amanda: to be speaking with you today. So Kristen was in my ear for 30 minutes. I don't probably didn't hear most of it because five minutes into it I was probably asleep. kristin: you fall asleep? Amanda: But I almost cannot fall asleep without meditation practice and it just gives me that sense of turning inwards, grounding and kind of getting kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: ready to say goodbye to the day. and being ready for the next day. And my sleep hasn't been great. I had a great night's sleep last night. So thank you. It was it was thanks to kristin: I love that. Amanda: you. And and yeah, I was a little anxious about today and doing this. I've been so excited about wanting to get you kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: on. And it just gave me that, you know, you're you. You're just the most incredible human. And and that's kristin: thank you. Amanda: you know, hearing you before I went to bed was really an opportunity for me to say, my goodness, you're my friend and I'm gonna talk chat to my kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: friend tomorrow and and that was kind of how I, you know, how I felt. So thank you for that. Thank you for that. All right kristin: thank you. That almost probably made me cry too. I think like that's really at the heart of it all though, that's what I think about. Like we it's just community is what matters the most, right? And building those friendships and building those connections. And that's what I've noticed even just it does. Amanda: And life gets busy. You know, life does get busy and we all have, you know, you have ki we have young kids, we have stuff that's going on. I have kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: parents, you know, that that we're managing and wanting to work with and that's what I loved about giving my mom this opportunity and being able to do it. Because I said, kristin: Yes. I love that. Amanda: You're eighty five years young There's nothing old about kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: you. You are, you know, doing this with me. So it's being able to find that that grounding. That grounding. All right, so now moving forward, you're building this Kristen McGee movement, and I want people to know about it. And you're doing things on your own terms. kristin: thank you. Amanda: What has surprised you most about starting over at this stage of your career? Has it been more exciting, more frightening, or maybe even a little bit of both? kristin: Definitely both. And I'll tell you what is the most frustrating for me is I am my birthday's soon. I'm a Virgo. I'm a perfectionist. And those couple days apart. August 31st. Amanda: Just like me, we're I think our birthdays are a couple days apart. W you're that what are you, the tw you're the Okay, okay, and I'm September twenty first. kristin: I think for me, I have and these are the mantras that I have to keep teaching myself, is I have a very hard time with patience around learning new. processes and skills. So I love to teach, I love to show up in front of the camera. Do I like to operate a camera? No. Do I understand audio? No. Do I understand editing? No. Do I like website maintenance? No. You know, like all those things, marketing? No. Like all of those things that someone else takes care of when you're at a big corporation that now fall on your shoulders, but you're trying to do it scrappy because you're the one man show. I I have to have patience with myself. And I also have to remind myself that again, I'm so lucky that I get to do the work that I love. But in any job, there's always going to be things that aren't very fun. Even Amanda: Perfect. kristin: the job of a mom, like, yeah, it's so amazing to be with your kids, but are you like loving folding clothes and washing dishes and you know, scrubbing carpets? Like not waking up at 2 a.m. if someone throws up. You know, those are the things that you have to remind yourself that like it's good. It brings me back to earth and reminds me that like Okay, there's still a lot of things that I need to learn and I could get better at, but I also can't stop myself from putting it out there until I'm ready. That is the other hard part. It's like sometimes you wanna just wait till everything's perfect. And if you don't do it, you're never gonna know. Like if you don't publish something that maybe the audio was bad on and then someone tells you, you wouldn't have known how to fix the audio. Amanda: Right? kristin: So it's all these little learning things along the way. that I think are sometimes frustrating to me, but also I just have to remind myself we're a work in progress and I'm growing. And even my cousin who helps me a lot of times will say, like, look at how much better it is from when we very first started. So it's it's like good. Amanda: Yeah. Right. I love that. Kristen, for the woman listening who knows something in her life needs to change, but is afraid to take the first step, what would you tell her? How do you distinguish between fear and telling you stay where you are or your intuition telling you it's time to move forward? kristin: A very complicated one because sometimes I think it can take a few times before you actually. understand what you're meant to be doing or what's not right for you because there's something inside your gut that constantly tells you like this just doesn't feel right. This just doesn't seem right. And your mind will try and talk you out of it. But I think if you can l like we were talking about with the meditation practice, if you can just take time daily to really connect your head and your heart. I often say, well like drop out of my head and into my heart or how do I listen to what my body is telling me because your body never really lies. It will tell you if there's Amanda: Yeah. I know. kristin: and you'll start to like tap into those areas where you tend to have those knee jerk reactions. Maybe it's your stomach that acts up, maybe you have headaches or you get tension in your shoulders. So I think trying to tap in and listening to what your body's telling you is always a good sign and usually doesn't lead you wrong. And then it's just your mind having to jump on board and say, I know this is gonna be scary, I know this is gonna be tough, I know it's gonna probably be worse before it gets better, but I need to do it anyways. Amanda: Yeah, for sure. Thank you. That's lovely. All right. Well, we love to end with this. What does your own midlife pivot look like right now? And what are you most excited about in the chapter still ahead of you? kristin: My midlife pivot right now looks like strength. I feel really strong because I've been dedicating more time than usual to building a strong foundation in my body, and I feel like that is helping everything else in my life. Reminding myself that I'm strong enough to get through hardships, I'm strong enough to deal with the crashes, you know, when things don't always go right. I'm strong enough to keep going. All these different things in my life, my my midlife pivot. Like a lot of times you it's funny too 'cause you see some some of those old school like memes or whatever, like women getting older and they start to get weaker. And I'm like, no, I think women getting older are are starting to get stronger. I think there's this huge shift. In life and midlife, showing women just stepping into their selves and being really strong. And so I'm happy to be strong and be able to really stand up for myself and just keep getting stronger. Amanda: we want to end off with something just fun. We are going to throw out some rapid fire questions at you. Just one word kristin: Okay. Amanda: answers, just to kind of end it all off with. So I am gonna go ahead and kick it off. Are you ready? All right, morning or evening workout. kristin: Okay, let's see. Morning. Amanda: Coffee or tea? kristin: Coffee. Amanda: Beach or mountains kristin: Both. Amanda: Meditating or journaling? kristin: Meditating. Amanda: Favorite yoga pose? kristin: Headstand. Amanda: my worst. kristin: Or or pigeon, but I really love a headstand. Amanda: Book you've gifted the most. kristin: what I'm reading right now is it's It's Theo. Theo of Golden. And I've been telling Amanda: Okay. kristin: everyone about it. So I haven't physically given a bunch of copies out yet, but Theo of Golden is such a good book if you haven't read it yet. And talk about like midlife pivot. I think he wrote the book when he was 70. And it's a New York Times bestseller. It's wild, it's really good. Amanda: wow. Wow. Wow. Okay. We'll have to look at that one. A habit every woman over forty should have. kristin: I'll say strength training. Amanda: What's something people misunderstand about yoga? kristin: I would say that it's that's a really tough one. I would say the one that I used to get the most was that it's just stretching. I think people don't realize that it's an entire system. It's an entire Amanda: So much more than that. kristin: practice, yes. Amanda: I love that. I love that. Well, th those were just amazing, and I love that you were so quick on being able to answer them. In closing though, if you could leave every woman listening with one thought about getting older, reinventing yourself and embracing what comes next, what would you want her to remember? kristin: You know what I say a lot now at the end of my tonal workouts is you deserve to feel strong. So I think when women remind themselves that we deserve to feel strong. We deserve to be powerful. We deserve to step into ourselves. We deserve to be who we are. We deserve to follow our passions, our dreams, our purpose, our goals. we talk a lot about strength training for women, it's so important. And you can hear that. But when you allow yourself you know, I deserve to be strong, like it's not just me doing this because people are telling me, it's do it's me doing this because I feel great and it is empowering and I deserve this. I think it shifts the mentality and and brings you into right. Amanda: Amazing. What amazing adv it does. Absolutely does. We are the most inspiring woman that I have spoken to to date. Really, you just kristin: thank you. Amanda: you just come out with everything that's correct and right and should be doing. And you're gonna be a great, great help to everybody listening to you. Because, you know, you are for kristin: I really appreciate it. Amanda: everybody, you know. They've got to understand. That you look the way you look only because you work hard at it. And I think that's an important message, Mom, kristin: Well thank you. Amanda: and I like that. I do. I believe that. And look, when I originally was kind of going over who I'd like on the show, it was you came to mind immediately because you really did pivot at the stage. It was such a huge pivot for you. But I knew that you had so much more to offer the listeners and and those that are watching. So I really appreciate you. giving us your time and being able to have this, you know, fun and important conversation about those that are listening and what makes moving into this next chapter in our life so important. I mean we've walked away with so much good advice. A lot of it, you know, just validates validated me certainly in a lot of what I've know is right. And I'm trying to instill it in our everyday and try and bring it into your life. Right. where I'll say to my mom, Just take the few minutes just to meditate, just to give some time back to yourself. Try and move your body all the time. I mean, she, you know, I'll have her go to physical therapy twice a week, just to move her body and be able to continue, kristin: That's great. Amanda: you know, getting strong. Because we joke about it and you, you know, you'll hear it, you'll hear it again today. She's not going anywhere until she's 100. So we've got 15 more years to work on this. So there's no kristin: Yes, yes. Amanda: stopping now. And I think Kristen's given you some brilliant advice. I don't expect you to start doing handstands and and and and intense intense yoga, but we're kristin: No, you never need to do a headstand. Amanda: we're gonna continue moving your body. Kristen, thank you. Thank you so much for giving us your time and for giving us an opportunity kristin: Yes, thank you. You're both so lovely. thank you. Amanda: to bring you to those that are hooked now on the midlife pivot. as I end. kristin: I'm so excited for you too. I can't wait to see this continue to grow. It's so important. So Amanda: Thank you. Yes, yes. Thank you. I really hope that it does, because we want to be able to just bring a candid, relaxed point of view once a week to folks about how this is not, you know, we we've said it in our intro, my mum said it in a couple of the episodes. This is not a crisis. This is a crossroads. kristin: No. Amanda: And it is purely a crossroads in our life, and it's making a decision as to how we move forward with the best intention. It's not gonna be perfect, kristin: Mm-hmm. Amanda: but we're gonna make it the best that we want to make it. And that's the message we wanna leave everybody with. In and you've just, as I said, you've kristin: Exactly. Amanda: just validated that. So thank you. kristin: Love that. And I saw an acupuncturist recently, and I just want to share this really quick before we go. That she said menopause is a second birth. It's like Amanda: Yes. kristin: when you have puberty and you start something, it's like this is your second opportunity. They don't, I Amanda: Rebirth. kristin: can't remember where she said. Maybe it was in like Chinese medicine or culture or something, it's a new beginning. Right? Which is so neat. Yes. Mm-hmm. Amanda: Right. Right. It is a new beginning. And we embrace it and we figure out the best way that we can embrace it. And I think people are so afraid of moving into that stage of menopause. an Obi G.Y.N. shared this with us. Menopause is not a beginning and an end. It is now this next chapter of your life. And you're going to be in menopause right through the day you die. And it's not as like, kristin: This next chapter. Mm-hmm. Amanda: I'm in menopause for five years or three years or two. It is going to be the next chapter of your life. kristin: Exactly. Amanda: And we have to embrace it. So you're you're absolutely right. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Kristen. Thank you. It was wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much. And for everybody that has spent the kristin: Thank you. Thank you both. Have an amazing day. Thank you. You're most so cute. Amanda: time with us, we appreciate you tuning in, listening, whether it's be listening or watching on all those podcast platforms. Make sure that you like, subscribe, continue to follow us and comment. If you want to know more about Kristen, where can they find you? kristin: yes, at my website kristenmagegee.com. It's Kristen with an I. A lot of times people spell E. And then Kristen McGee on Instagram. And my substack is Kristen McGee as well. And my movement app is Kristen McGee Movement. Amanda: Beautiful. And that substack is phenomenal. And I don't go without reading it every time I it drops in my inbox. So thank you so much for that. Well, everybody, we kristin: thank you. thank you. Okay. I appreciate that. Amanda: will wrap this up. And again, thank you for tuning in. And we will see you next time. Next time.