Latest / Real STRength with Sarah Draper / Midlife Is Not Mid With Marsha McDaniel | #16

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Midlife Is Not Mid With Marsha McDaniel | #16 · Real STRength with Sarah Draper

• speaker-0: All have superpower. Numbers have to work, otherwise there's no business. I went and saw a different one, a guy, ⁓ went into the office and super short appointment, felt very dismissed. I ordered my first batch of inventory, got that, launched it on Amazon and sold out. Midlife is definitely not mid. speaker-1: Welcome to the Future Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Draper. Each week on the podcast, I explore tools to help you lead your best now and into the future, and I talk with top leaders to see how they stay focused when life gets cluttered. It's time to stop reacting to your life and start leading it. Welcome to Future Walk. Welcome to the Feature Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Draper, and I'm so glad you're here. And today I'm joined by Marcia McDaniel. Marsha is the founder and CEO of SwanSera, a science-backed skincare brand for women navigating perimenopause and menopause. Before founding SwanSera, Marsha spent two decades as a United States diplomat with assignments in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Mumbai. working at the highest levels of international commerce. I've had the pleasure of getting to know Marsha through the International Women's Forum, where we're both members, and through which she recently completed a one-year executive leadership fellowship. In addition to her impressive background and credentials, what I believe her makes Marcia's story so compelling and so important is that she had her third child at 44 and launched Swan Sarah at 50. And her message is really important for all of us. It's that midlife isn't mid. And she's living proof that the skills you build over decades can become the foundation for whatever's next. And she already uses this. Strategic future walk framework to filter the million of things she could be doing each day as an entrepreneur and focus on what will actually move her business forward. The future walk is about stepping out of the noise to connect with what matters the most. And Marcia is doing exactly that as she builds something entirely new in her life. I'm excited to explore her journey from diplomacy to entrepreneurship, what it takes to build something from scratch later in life, and why she chose To solve this particular problem for women. So, Marsha, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. I was so glad to have you here. I would love to just start with you. You've done the strategic feature walk. You've done some feature walk. Since we first started talking about this, as I mentioned, we're friends from the Nourish Women's Forum, and I was sharing this with you, and you tried it. So, what's been your experience with this so far? speaker-0: Thank you. Thank you, Sarah. So great to be here. Yeah, so you know, Sarah, I remember a few months back ⁓ when we first met, you had mentioned the future walk and I think we talked about it a couple of times and ⁓ and and it started to click with me because you know I do try to walk now and then ⁓ and now I'm trying to walk almost every day if I can, but I never really looked at it as a moment of pause and to think about strategy for my business. So when I started doing that, it really helped in a couple ways because as an entrepreneur, as you mentioned in the intro, there are So many hats that I wear every single day, and ⁓ I'm learning new stuff every single day. I'm not an expert on any of this, so I'm doing a lot with limited knowledge and experience, and ⁓ it's really important to focus on what moves the business forward. So with the Future Walk framework, the strategic ⁓ framework, I was able to go out and do some deep thinking and And as a result, that really helped me to circle back to my superpowers. So I think we all have superpowers. Everyone has their own unique superpower. and for me, from the business perspective, my superpower, it happens to be numbers, finance, bookkeeping, you know, cash flow, PL, all that stuff. And as a small business owner, that's actually crucially important. And so going on that walk kind of brought me back to the center and just said, hey, look, focus on these numbers. You know, that's number priority number one. Social media can wait. ⁓ you know, the other things can wait, but the numbers have to work, otherwise there's no business. So it really helped me to prioritize. speaker-1: ⁓ thanks for sharing all that. So I get like again that million things that are happening, so many things happening all the time in work and life and all of that. And it's really easy to get wrapped up in whatever's screaming the loudest. ⁓ and so maybe that's not the most important thing at that moment, but how do you differentiate that? So that's really good to hear it's been a valuable tool for you. Have you had any challenges doing it? Is there anything like, you know, the day the the day you go out there and you're like, wow, my brain is just really stuck somewhere. Have you had any of those experiences? Mm-hmm. speaker-0: No, on honestly, and well, okay, first of all, the it depends on the weather. Because walk when you do walk outside, obviously, ⁓ There were a couple days where the winds, it's very windy in eastern Idaho and the winds were just like practically blowing me over. So I would say on days where there's crazy weather or it's about to rain, you know, it's a little bit difficult to get focused because then I'm starting to think, okay, I think it actually is time to turn turn back around and and go back home at this point. But ⁓ no, I think ⁓ it's really helped just it's just this automatic clarity. It's like the minute my feet hit the ground and I'm outside, just everything clears up. in my brain and it's just this path of clarity. speaker-1: Path of Clarity. All right, path of clarity. I want to draw a path from diplomacy to entrepreneurial. Because speaking of paths, ⁓ there they seem to me to be a lot different, right? I can't I came out of the government, a different role in the government, but my experience was always a lot of structure and a lot of oversight and a lot of well-formulated and well-honed paths to walk. speaker-0: I should be. speaker-1: and processes that need to be followed, leaving room for the individual, of course, to do that, but still there's a lot of a lot of guidance on on what could be done versus entrepreneurship. It's like, whoa, where to begin? I mean, have you had that experience? speaker-0: Yes, yeah, definitely. And I was in the government for almost 20 years. ⁓ three different federal agencies, ⁓ the longest of which was US Department of Commerce, which is what brought me overseas. So very, very different. ⁓ we could do a whole podcast episode on differences between government and and being a business owner, but but ⁓ through my role at the US Department of Commerce, I was living and working overseas, and my job specifically was to help US companies enter those global markets. ⁓ I worked with a lot of companies. From small to medium to large in a number of different industries. So I really had exposure to ⁓ all sorts of industries, all sorts of challenges that these companies were facing, and really met some very inspiring entrepreneurs over the years, both from the United States and those who who lived in the countries where I was serving. So part of me, it was always in the back of my mind that someday I did want to. Be an entrepreneur in some capacity. I didn't know exactly what that was going to look like. ⁓ but it was always in the back of my head. So I think just having that experience with those companies over the years just reinforced that and maybe allowed me to observe some lessons as to, you know, what to avoid and maybe what to lean into. speaker-1: Did you just absorb that? Did you keep track in some way? Did you you have your little secret notebook where you kept ideas? Or were you able to just kind of remember all that? You're a numbers person, clearly. So did you have one of those minds that just remembers all that or did you have a practice you use? speaker-0: think with with those experiences it was definitely people driven so I vividly recall ⁓ the honestly the women entrepreneurs that I interacted with ⁓ those are the ones that that really stuck in my mind and and I just remember hearing about the challenges and wanting to help them get through those challenges to the extent that I could and ⁓ and just being inspired by these women. So I think those ⁓ those inspirational entrepreneurs really help to plant that seed and help to help me to grow that seed in my mind. speaker-1: So when did you start growing that seed? Now you launched your company at fifty, right? But like when did that start happening? What was what was the unfolding of that like for you? Yeah. speaker-0: So it all well, honestly, going back, it probably started in late 2024. I was 49 at that time and I had developed this unexplained rash. It was kind of like all over. ⁓ and it would come and go, you know, some days were bad, some days we're okay. And it just never went away. So finally I went to the dermatologist. And I usually see a woman dermatologist. However, she was booked out for several weeks. So I went and saw a different one, a guy. ⁓ went into the office and super short appointment, felt very dismissed. It was basically the advice was okay, change your laundry detergent, change your soap, and you'll be fine. And that was that. So I left, you know, feeling, you know, the that wasn't the answer that I was looking for. And then I just went on with my life. And it was months and months later that I was in the midst of ⁓ perimenopause research. So I was reading all the books, I was listening to all the podcasts, all the experts, and thankfully there are some amazing experts that are. Out there right now on Instagram, podcasts, everything. So there's loads of content. So I was reading up on all the content, listening to everything. And at one point I learned from one of the doctors that obviously perimenopause and estrogen levels impact your skin and it could, guess what, cause a rash. And I realized and that just clicked with me. I'm like, wait a minute. I went to the dermatologist and never once did we mention perimenopause. Never once once did we mention hormones. And so I was mad, you know. At the doctor, honestly. And then I was mad at myself because why didn't I have that knowledge in my brain? Like, why didn't I know that information before I even went into that doctor's appointment? So altogether, frustration. And then ⁓ I was so one of the doctors that I was listening to had mentioned estrogen cream is good for the face. And so I thought, well, I want that. And I went on Amazon immediately and was looking And I quickly realized that actual estrogen cream is by prescription only. So I thought, well, that I'm not ready for that. I will be someday, but today I'm not ready to go to the doctor and get a prescription and pay a copay and go to the pharmacy. I just wasn't ready for all that. So I just wanted something like kind of like a starter, a starter point. And ⁓ I had heard about phytoestrogens, which are plant-based estrogens, which are just they're they're just a nice little starter point. And I was looking for that on Amazon. was really disappointed by what I was finding available and decided, well, you know what? Why don't I just go and create it myself? speaker-1: And you created it. And we I know and I wanna get to that process in in a moment. Like that's not just like overnight in your kitchen, I'm certain. So the but I wanna get to that in a second, but I wanna go back to this really important point you hit on that. We weren't talking about this. Like this is one of those things now, thank goodness a lot of people are. I I sometimes I I I think it's only half joking. I'm like, I'm gonna do an episode or newsletter issue one day that is is menopause therapy and male friendships. Like these three things that we don't talk about, but once we start talking about them, we're like, ⁓ yeah, like so many people, like they're so important, everyone's doing it and they're all remarkable, right? And so so ⁓ we didn't talk about this back then. We don't We don't talk about it enough now still, but that conversation is definitely open up and people are starting to feel more comfortable because half the population they live long enough does go through this. So you felt dismissed. speaker-0: And speaker-1: And then you went seeking your own you felt dismissed but also uninformed, right? Yes. And so because there weren't these conversations about it to normalize this. ⁓ then you went seeking something and what you found was not available to you, at least at the formulation or that you wanted and and and the effort level that you had in your life to be able to make it. All right. So how did you make that happen? speaker-0: Yeah, you know, it's it's not as hard as you would think. ⁓ there are so many experts available ⁓ out there, and there are so many women entrepreneurs who launch skincare brands every day. So, so there's ⁓ you know, there's a path ⁓ and it's it's not that hard. But basically I worked with a dermatologist and I worked with a cosmetic chemist to come up with the formula and worked with ⁓ found a manufacturer, you know, spoke with several manufacturers, found a manufacturer, got some samples, you know, and and it was an iterative process. So, you know, we tweaked it into making it as perfect as possible. and I ordered my first batch of inventory, ⁓ got that, launched it on Amazon and sold out. ordered the second batch. ⁓ and that second batch is now almost sold out as well. So now I'm on the third batch, which is just Wild. It's crazy. speaker-1: That's fantastic. So so you've got a dermatologist, you got a a cosmetic ⁓ chemist and all these various other things. Right. That's I mean, that's amazing. To me, I'm like, I wouldn't even know where to begin to do a product, right? My entrepreneurial ship is a service and yours is this product. So so you've got what I I I love about your story, at least as I'm, you know, watching this ⁓ or hearing this is all your background, right? You spent a background watching other entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs, hearing their challenges, hearing their issues. You've lived overseas and cultures, undoubtedly, where we took care of our humans take care of ourselves in different ways, right? You spent a lot of time in Asia, and ⁓ maybe skincare was pretty prominent over there. I wonder if that was part of it as well. Like you just had this seed planted, and then you've worked in these highly technical worlds, and you're very ⁓ you're very detail-oriented. So you brought all this. together into what is just this really incredible product. And that's awesome to hear that you've sold out almost twice now. Yeah. So yeah, go on. I'm sorry. Go on. No. speaker-0: Yeah. You're right. And during those years living in Asia, I was absorbing some knowledge, not even knowing I would ever need or use that knowledge in the future. ⁓ obviously in Asia they're very, very serious about skin care and skin protection. So, for example, ⁓ when I lived in Hong Kong and other places, if I would go out for lunch, ⁓ every woman walking down the street would be holding an umbrella, a bright sunny day. That was the norm. ⁓ and so of course I was there holding my umbrella as well. Now, if I tried that in the United States, people would think I'm crazy. But ⁓ it was so common, and and I love that it's just all about protecting the skin, preventing you know any damage from occurring in the first place. ⁓ it's very common people would wear gloves, and ⁓ those who go to the beach, you know, weren't necessarily in a bikini, it was more of like full coverage and ⁓ a sun visor covering the entire face. It was all about protection, and I love that. ⁓ I also had an opportunity when I was overseas, I did. ⁓ have a little bit of interaction with the skincare industry. We were working with some US companies that were ⁓ attempting to, you know, find partners and and sell their products in in the Asian marketplaces. And so I did ⁓ have a chance to learn a little bit about the the industry and get to know some of the players. And again, I at that time it never occurred to me that I would ever need that knowledge or that I would myself someday be founding a skincare brand. That was just completely like not even in my mind. But now years later, yeah, I am able to think back on those experiences. speaker-1: So when how how did that happen? I mean, we've got the the what that was in place, right? You you went to a doctor that didn't really hear you. You didn't have a knowledge base yourself because we weren't talking about this. What was available to you once you started doing a little research was on Amazon. Like what prompted you at then 49 to like, I'm gonna solve this. I got this. I'm gonna be the one. I got I got this. speaker-0: It just became so crystal clear in my brain that yes, I'm going to do this. ⁓ I didn't know what you know, I didn't know I would sell out. I didn't know if anyone would buy the product. But I if I'm looking for this solution, then speaker-1: You're the speaker-0: so many other women must be looking for the same solution because in the United States, I think the statistic is 6,000 women enter perimenopause every day in the United States. And ⁓ yeah, and and so if they're starting down that road as I was and they're hearing things about estrogen as I was and they want to get started but they're not ready for a full-on, you know, give me a prescription, take me to the doctor, then Yeah, there there has to be a solution and I I was looking for that solution so I'm excited to be part of it. speaker-1: So Yeah, a big part of it, right? Six thousand women, that's that's amazing. But again, when you look at our our population based set, that's still really amazing. Six thousand people, a big percentage of them probably who've not had the opportunity to learn about their skin in this way, right? Where's sometimes you're like we're still battling the teenage woes and the 20 woes and the if you've had a kid, yeah I know you have, but like for the people the post kid woes, post baby woes, then all of a sudden this happens. So now you've got a whole new world to navigate. Can you share with us something that really helps educate people at a, you know, at a user level on what is happening to your skin as you enter, as you enter Perimenopause? speaker-0: Yeah, well and you know, I am not a I wanna clarify I'm not a doctor, dermatologist, ⁓ although I I really do want to take a lot of courses in skincare and and learn more now that I am in this industry. But ⁓ I think the main thing is right, estrogen obviously impacts every system of the body and for sure it impacts the skin. And in my case, it was causing a rash and ⁓ you know, that rash just wouldn't go away. It eventually did. But for other women, it's it's obviously the dryness, the lack lack of elasticity, thinning of the skin. I mean, all sorts of things. And, you know, I just was never exposed to that growing up. I I knew about the importance of sunblock, for example, and was religious about using sunblock every day from a young age. But ⁓ you know, when you think about it, there's, yeah, there's the young stuff, you know, the anti-acne, things like that. And then there's the anti-aging stuff, which ⁓ none of that is what I was looking for. I was really looking for a product that met me exactly where I was at this point in my life and again wasn't finding that solution. speaker-1: So you created that solution for for your challenges, ⁓ your skin challenges. Have you had? I'm just curious if you're willing to talk about it, any other estrogen-related woes? I will just share mine briefly because I again I think the more we talk about this, the better. Mine's been my ligaments and joints. I was a lifelong runner and I got to a point a few years ago where I could hardly hobble through some things and it wasn't until I went to my family practice doctor as a woman, and she's incredibly incredibly experienced that she she tied the or brought those dots together for me and I was like whoa so I don't know if you've had any other experiences or talking with other experts out there things that people that are at our same age or stage or around this point in life might just have that little bit of an aha. speaker-0: I think ⁓ you know, it's is obviously different with every woman. And, you know, as you mentioned in your intro, I actually had my third child at age forty-four. So I'm in a very weird zone of, you know, being a mom to a almost seven year old while also going through perimenopause. So sometimes so I do indefinitely have the brain fog, one hundred percent. But sometimes I wonder, is this perimenopause or is this because I have, you know, a seven year old who's all over the place? I don't know. speaker-1: Right, right, right. ⁓ speaker-0: But for sure, ⁓ so there's that. There's for sure the brain fog, ⁓ the body. I have definitely have that menopause belly, which I've had again since the birth of my third child. So I think it's also a combination of you know having the child, but there's also the changes of of estrogen levels obviously are pack ⁓ impacting ⁓ our our weight and our body composition so so there's that ⁓ those are the two challenges i would say that are hitting me the most ⁓ and i am really curious about the the hrt hormone replacement therapy that everyone's talking about i'm not on it as of yet but i am 100 going to do that when the time comes and i just wonder you know why we didn't know more about that when we recover like again growing up as a teenager in my 20s the the very little that I heard about it was kind of scary. So I I'm just so glad that now we're at a time where there's so much knowledge out there and it's really helping all of us. speaker-1: Yeah, and we can help educate each other too. Again, neither of us are medical professionals, right? We're we're just people that are going through this stage in life. I am an HRT. The hor the and it's it's been remarkable. Like my ligament and joint issues have cleared up. I've lost a lot of this for other reasons, but I can still get out there. I do a lot of walking, but I can still get out there and run a a little bit a week too again, finally, which is great. ⁓ so yeah, it's just the more I I think people can share these things and then talk to When it's appropriate a qualified medical professional to to share with that. Like again, mine, my doctor is awesome. I love her. ⁓ and I've been going to her for a very long time and she's the one that connected dots. I didn't even know we're on the same page, frankly. ⁓ so and and finding solutions like yours for skin and then others for other areas of life. there's there is information out there and there's more and more, and we just help each other when we talk about it. Yeah. So we don't feel so alone. I mean That's a big point of this podcast is leaders knowing they're not alone in their struggles, but any of us knowing we're not alone in whatever thing we're going through in life. And having the courage and willingness to share helps, I believe, helps other people who again might not have realized it's an an issue that other people are struggling with, and then help them figure out find some courage to be able to look for a solution for themselves. Absolutely. Yeah. So you're ⁓ You're also really big on advancing women. You're a very accomplished woman yourself. You've been a part of a lot of different organizations or in different leadership roles. You were the chair of the Idaho Women in Nuclear. You were on the advisory board of the Idaho Women's Business Center. ⁓ You're a leadership fellow, as I mentioned at the intro with the International Women's Forum. So this has been a big part of you. speaker-0: Absolutely. Yeah, I'm really ⁓ fortunate that I've been able to participate in a number of different activities over the years supporting women ⁓ in India, Hong Kong, Beijing, China. ⁓ I've worked on different projects, ⁓ spotlighting women CEOs, women business leaders, women entrepreneurs, women in aviation, women in nuclear. ⁓ And it's really inspiring. And there is a need. I think ⁓ It's particularly in other parts of the world, you don't see a lot of women in the upper echelons of leadership. ⁓ and and to a degree we have that problem in the United States. I, you know, read the Wall Street Journal every day, other publications, and often there's a spotlight on, ⁓ this is the new startup that's worth a billion dollars. And guess what? It's always two young guys who are in the picture. I'm always like, Well, where's the woman? You know, why can't women be doing the same? Where are they? And and I know they're out there. But why are they not being you know, why is there a light not shined on them? Because they're doing amazing things. So t in my own small way, if I can help move the needle on ⁓ helping to provide some visibility to the amazing women out there, then I'm privileged to do so. speaker-1: What do you think are some of the reasons that the awareness or the women aren't at those levels? Like from you you you live in Idaho, you live in eastern Idaho with this incredible global career, right? And so you've had s perspectives full scale, small town, big, huge cities, other side of the world, you speak Mandarin, is that right? I speak. speaker-0: I studied it and I studied a small amount, yes. speaker-1: Small amount you were able to serve well as a diplomat and ⁓ right and so so well enough and and you've got so many like such a broad experience. What do you think what do you think some of the issues might be? speaker-0: Well, I I think it does vary industry by industry. You know, if we're talking about the corporate world or ⁓ the startup world, the engineering world, but ⁓ I think from the corporate world because I knew ⁓ a lot of corporate executives during my time working overseas, ⁓ very senior US people who are they're leading operations in Asia, for example. and I think just the job description itself is not conducive to people who have family responsibilities, to be honest, because a lot of those very, very senior roles assume almost 90% travel. And that's a no-go for so many, not only women, but men too. I mean, so many people do not want to be away from their homes for that long. So there's obviously that part. ⁓ I think for the startup world from the you know the startups that I've interacted with, it's very Aggressive and it's almost like take it till you make it. And a lot of women, myself included, I I like facts. I don't want to make something up. I don't want to, you know, say, ⁓ yeah, in five years I'm gonna have this many customers when I don't know that, you know. I would like to, but I don't know that that's true. So I think women hesitate to ⁓ you know, overpromise and underdeliver that sort of thing. So I think you see a lot of that in the startup world. And ⁓ yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, you probably have some very interesting experiences with your background. ⁓ but yeah, there are a lot of different factors at play. speaker-1: Yeah, I I I mean I love I think it just goes to show why or illustrates w Why your product is doing so well, it's because you put that same level of care into it that you would this really like complicated diplomatic issue or something, you know, something else in your career, like you put that same level of care. You didn't just like design a product, you had a dermatology. You knew where your expertise existed and your passion existed, and then where it it wasn't, you brought those experts in. So that level of precision bringing that dermatologist and bringing that cosmetic chemist and those other experts in their fields to collaborate. I think that's an that's that's a superpower to to recognize that and then to find solutions for those things. And clearly the results are are showing for it, I mean your skin looks wonderful, of course, but like your products are selling and and and people are really interested in it because it's working. speaker-0: Thank you. speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So you mentioned at the beginning about a superpower. What is your superpower? speaker-0: Well, as I mentioned, for me, it is definitely the financial aspect of running a small business. ⁓ and I think that carries over for my personal life. I've always been really interested in personal finance and managing all those sorts of things. And that just has carried over into the small business world. So I think it really is important for any entrepreneur to know their numbers backwards and forwards, inside out, and constantly be paying attention to those numbers because a small business will live and die by the cash flow and the PL and It's ⁓ maybe not the funnest part, but I think it is just so important. And also I really like that aspect of the business because the numbers don't lie, numbers are not emotional, ⁓ numbers are just numbers and they guide your decisions. speaker-1: Yeah, that you are completely like it. That's been my lived experience as well. And the business side, that is not my strength. What's the opposite of superpower? I don't know. Right. But but still, like so that's that's your number one, like your business strength, superpower. What about as a human? Like when you look at your relationships or your connection, like your your creativity, your collaboration. I'm curious what you would think that superpower is. I could I just named a few that I think for you. speaker-0: I I don't know. I think ⁓ I think there's so there's a lot of ⁓ talk about luck and I've listened to a lot of podcasts on luck and some experts say there's actually no such thing as luck. There's about you know creating opportunities for yourself, putting yourself out there and putting things out into the universe, and those opportunities will come to you and maybe you label it as luck, but it's not necessarily luck. And there are again a lot of experts who have talked about this. There's books on this subject, but I really feel that's true. And I do feel that throughout the decades, I have put a lot of stuff out there in the universe, not really knowing where it would lead to, and maybe not even knowing that it would come back to benefit me in some way. But I think just putting things out there, putting yourself in in the right place at the right time, those opportunities will come to you. And I feel like I've ⁓ been able to live that experience. speaker-1: So when you put something out there in the universe, ⁓ that phrasing, what do you do? Like are you following a process of manifesting? Are you just kind of thinking about it? Or are you like what does that mean to you? speaker-0: Think for me it starts with curiosity. So I am super curious about all sorts of things. Hence, how do I go from diplomacy to skincare? You know, who does that? ⁓ so just being curious about, you know, different things, different subjects. I'm curious about a lot of things. So I will usually take any meeting. I mean unless it's, you know, something really off base. ⁓ but I'm happy to meet with all sorts of people involved in all sorts of different organizations, not knowing that we'll ever necessarily work together or collaborate together or whatever, but I treat each of those opportunities as a learning experience and ⁓ an opportunity to to help in some way. And then again, just putting putting stuff out there into the universe. And I read a lot. and yeah, I think just allowing myself to to yeah have that moment where I am open to new opportunities. speaker-1: That's that's great. So ⁓ I love that there's a lot of really solid advice in in what you've just shared there for other people who are especially women or or men at a stage in life where a lot of people are wrapping things up. You're just ramping it up. And ⁓ you're you're doing these you you're doing this because you've you've learned from all those lived experiences. ⁓ as I sharing earlier, I I I don't I don't necessarily prescribe to the idea of like a pivot as is ⁓ as in a sharp, you know, ninety degree or a hundred and eighty degree turn. I think of like these ⁓ transition periods, but also foundational blocks. And to me, it seems like your career has been built on these blocks that you've ⁓ even things that, you know, were just kind of somewhere in the back of your mind, these lived experiences that you didn't necessarily connect to or pull it forward until you started this entrepreneurial journey. kind helped direct that path for you a little bit. And I think there's a lot of really important wisdom there for anyone who's thinking about what is next in life for me. Right. Right. This career is is winding down. what might be next, how do I continue to find or make purpose, right? Life ⁓ what what you know when the the primary or initial career ends, that doesn't mean meaning has to. And you can continue to to build ⁓ on on what you've had, what you've experienced, what you've accomplished, what you've been challenged with. I love it. speaker-0: I love that. ⁓ the building blocks, I can visualize that. And it is true. yeah, I don't feel like ⁓ I've made a sharp pivot. I feel like I'm opening myself up to new knowledge and new experiences and and ⁓ scientific data talks about how important it is to challenge our brain every day and learn new things. Well, guess what? Starting a new business in a new industry, I'm I'm doing that. Check that box, I'm learning new stuff every day. yeah, I think. you know, if there is a message to all the women who who are in midlife, it is that midlife is definitely not mid. ⁓ again, I ⁓ knew I was going to wanted to be an entrepreneur in some capacity, didn't know what that would look like, but now here it is and I'm having the time of my life. It is so much fun. And yes, it's challenging, of course, ⁓ but it is a lot of fun. speaker-1: What are some of the challenges you've had? Just like talking about menopause, right? Or perimenopause. Let's normalize that's another big point of this, is like having challenges along the way. What are some of your challenges? speaker-0: So as a small business owner, and a lot of people can probably relate to this, but I'm a solo entrepreneur, so I'm on my own, and I am working with a team of different freelancers, which is fine, but but ⁓ you know I don't have like a team that I'm with day in and day out, so it absolutely gets lonely. the solution to that that that I found there are ⁓ some very supportive entrepreneurial communities, and I'm involved with a couple of them. ⁓ some are online, some are in person, that sort of thing. So ⁓ so I do think it's important ⁓ to find those communities wherever they might be. And obviously I'm very grateful for the International Women's Forum, which has been a fantastic opportunity to get to know women throughout the state of Idaho who otherwise I wouldn't have had an opportunity to meet, just like you, Sarah. We probably never would have met. So Yeah, ⁓ so I would say that's probably the primary challenge is just that sense of you know being alone, doing it all by myself. ⁓ and then the other is is definitely just learning the stuff every day. I've never been an e-commerce entrepreneur, so it's learning Amazon, learning Shopify, ⁓ all the things and learning how to work with influencers, and that's a whole thing. And I've never done that before, you know. And And then of course there's social media. So every entrepreneur unfortunately also has to be become like a social media micro influencer, which is not my comfort zone at all. But I'm finding I'm having to put myself out there, you know, put a video on Instagram, which, you know, months ago I never would have put a video on Instagram, but now I'm I'm putting some videos out there and you kind of have to do that. speaker-1: It's an interesting. I mean, even about three years ago when I was starting this, and again I my entrepreneurship is a service, ⁓ not a product, but there's ⁓ beyond that, everything you're saying is like this you know, it's it just completely resonates. 'Cause even three years ago, a lot of the advice I got at the beginning of this was it's word of mouth. Just word of mouth people will find you and ⁓ my goodness, how much things have accelerated in the last few years. Think I, you know, for me as well, super uncomfortable to get out there. But this is the space that consumers exist in. ⁓ and this is the space that humans exist in. I think is probably a better way of saying that is the people that, you know, we're we're we're both a service mindset and and orientation to provide something that's of good to someone else. And this is a place where people are, and then you meet them out in real life, real pure in-person events, but this is a place people are, and so finding a way to minimize the discomfort in that. I don't know if you know if we'll ever be completely comfortable in it. It's a very tight space, but like minimizing that discomfort ⁓ to be willing to do it, right? It is is almost become a necessity, I think, in this world. Yes. speaker-0: It is speaker-1: So those are some of your challenges you've had. So thank you for sharing that, right? And as you've taken on these challenges that some you probably anticipated, many I'm assuming just kind of showed up and blindsided you a little bit, you've learned how to work through them and learn from them and continue to grow. You said one of your strengths as well is that curiosity and and and as I've heard you talk is your collaboration, your ability to find the people who are the experts in the different spaces to help guide that journey for you. In your personal life, have you had, you know, as you've you shared, you've got a you've got a seven-year-old. You also have a soon-to-be college student, right? So like how how has this balanced out with your personal life? Is this more flexibility? speaker-0: I think it is. Okay. Yeah. I do have three kids. I has a husband and three kids. ⁓ one is about to go off to college, so he'll be leaving the house very soon. ⁓ and then my daughter, she is ⁓ 16 right now, so she's still around for a couple more years, thankfully. and then we've got the little one. So I think ⁓ no, it's great. I think you know, for them to expose them to entrepreneurship ⁓ is wonderful. They're seeing it in real time in real life. In my bait, they're seeing my products in my basement as I package everything. everything up and ship it off to Amazon. ⁓ And my little one was so cute, you know, the other day he said he wants to work for SwanSera someday. And I'm like, ⁓ that's so cute. So I think no matter what happens, just showing them, ⁓ you know, about entrepreneurship and the freedom that it that it can provide if done well and successfully, ⁓ I'm just so grateful to be able to share that with my kids. speaker-1: Yeah. ⁓ that's absolutely amazing. All right. So you've got, you know, we started this kind of thinking about the million different things that an entrepreneur has to do. If you were to distill all that down when you look at your life as you're living it, your personal life, as you're leading it as an entrepreneur, as you're serving others to your product, what are probably your top, I don't know, three or four, maybe even one, non-negotiables that you do to take care of yourself to make sure you stay healthy. and true to your values and your purpose. speaker-0: Yes, ⁓ for sure walking. definitely. ⁓ as I mentioned, I'm trying to walk every day. ⁓ it doesn't always happen every day. And obviously when there's travel, ⁓ you know, my schedule goes out the window. But ⁓ and now when when the snow starts, that's gonna be a different story. I don't know what I'm gonna do when the winter comes around. But ⁓ but for sure walking, ⁓ sleep. I'm really serious about sleep. ⁓ gotta get that eight hour those eight hours. ⁓ I do wear an aura ring to track the sleep ⁓ and to track yes, yes. Part of the club. I try, you know, I aim for the 10,000 steps a day. And I think that's just a a basic requirement of being a human being. I mean, we should at least be moving our bodies for 10,000 steps a day. That's not even a gimmick in my opinion. It's just like being a human. So there's that part. And I think just yeah, trying to eat healthy. ⁓ but again, when I travel, I definitely love to enjoy all of the adventurous cuisines from all over the world. So I'm not on like, you know, a strict diet or anything like that. But when I am at home, working from home, it's pretty much healthy. ⁓ so I would say those are the the non-negotiables for me. speaker-1: Thank you. Okay, so walking, sleep, ⁓ eating healthy. I ⁓ I want to ask about one last thing here that personally for me as an entrepreneur, I recognized this about a year and a half or so ago. it's really easy to get so focused in on the work and then the family, like it was work, work, work, it was family, it was work, work, work, bed, work, work, work, family. You know, like I s I was neglecting a social side. And I started I wasn't paying any, you know, as much attention as I needed to. And I realized that and I started to now correct that. Like I make intentional steps. I actually now often invite people to go on a walk or future walk together, or just a walk. walk-in talk sometimes at future-oriented one too, ⁓ just to like really build that social battery thing up which I think is really really important for all of us especially with the research shows is we do have an isolation epidemic and as more people more people maybe do end up like having these lives where they're entrepreneurial or they're multiple things in I don't even know it's the gig economy or whatever like that they're piecing things together to Still create intentional time to connect with other humans. Have you seen that or experienced that rather? speaker-0: That is so important. And that's definitely something that I did neglect over the years. ⁓ I think about my, you know, 30s, just work, work, work. And I and I didn't make time for those social interactions. and I've definitely gotten better. And and I do I agree, there's so much value there ⁓ for our mental health, our physical health. And just again, that's part of being a human. It's part of the human experience to have those those friendships and connect with other human beings that are not necessarily your family members. So Do I do try to make time for that ⁓ with the different groups that I'm involved with? You know, the International Women's Forum, for example, has been great because that at least gets a small group of us together ⁓ as often as we can here in eastern Idaho. ⁓ so yes, I agree 100%. That is so important. That is something that I do try to incorporate as much as possible. speaker-1: Good, thank you. Okay, anything else? Any last things ⁓ you would like to share with anyone who's at this point where like I'm really starting to think about what's next. What could be next? Well I'm yeah. speaker-0: Yeah, I'm just a cheerleader for them. I think ⁓ there is so much ⁓ more to achieve in life if that's what you want. looking at, you know, the second part of your life or the, you know, midlife ⁓ and beyond. So I I would my advice would be to just don't wait. Just go for it. speaker-1: ⁓ thank you. Just don't wait, just go for it. All right, there you go. Russian McDaniel. Thank you. How do people find you and how do they find your product? speaker-0: So my ⁓ product ⁓ so company website is SwanSarah.com. ⁓ we have an Instagram account, it's SwanSarah Skincare. I personally am on LinkedIn, so Marsha McDaniel, you can find me on LinkedIn. I think those are the the best ways to track me down. speaker-1: Great, thank you. So thank you for being here and sharing your story with us, what you're doing with Swan Sarah. So you're building this science-backed solution for the millions of women, 6,000 new women a day, right? Navigating perimenopause and menopause. It's it's really, really important. And love again your message that midlife isn't mid, and that we can build and create and launch in our 40s and 50s and beyond. ⁓ and in and it's launching off of that path. you've been developing your whole life, what you've learned, what you the skills you've gotten, the relationships you've made, those those inspirations that might just be hanging out dormant in the back of your brain, finding a way, like a future walk or conversations with a someone you trust to help bring those ideas forward and spending some time with that, letting it percolate, that who knows what it could become for for any of us. So you are a very, very good shining example, example of that. ⁓ and that you're living you're really living proof of it. So so thank you for your s time with us. And for everyone listening, ⁓ please do find Marcia at at SwanSara and she check out her product on Amazon. it's really exciting to watch her here at the beginning stage of this journey because I am confident this is just the beginning for her. And she's a wonderful example of for all of us of what you can what you can do with what life has helped you with so far and helped you learn an experience and then what's possible for us as we continue on into into midlife. And if you're finding value in this podcast, please follow so you don't miss any future episodes. And we'd love to hear from you. So leave a comment about what resonated most for you with this conversation with Marcia. This week you can take a strategic future walk yourself and ask yourself, what is that future I'm building towards? What will actually help me move forward towards it? So thank you for joining us on the Future Walk Podcast. And until next time, enjoy your walk.