For Grown-Ass Ladies
Introducing The Midst, the gateway drug for the modern 40-something experience
Guess what? We’re getting ready to change our name to The Midst!
But not just yet. We’re taking our sweet time before we retire our first GAL, Jumble & Flow. Before we re-launch our new brand and website, we’re taking small steps toward making sure we build something really good for you. For now, we’re “soft-launching” The Midst here on Substack: themidst.substack.com and eager for your feedback. In fact, we’re inviting readers to vote for their favorite Midst logo here.
The Midst team is the same team behind Jumble & Flow, and we’re bringing on more writers and team members to help us grow to become a mightier platform for women in their 40s and 50s. Our goal is to transform the conversation about these [pick your own adjective] years. No one is “over the hill” — we’re in the prime of our lives. We publish thoughtful stories that empower women in the midst of life to reimagine this period as a time of growth, exploration, and possibility.
All Jumble & Flow newsletter subscribers have already begun receiving the free version of The Midst weekly newsletter, which includes highlights of both our free and paid content. It’s up to you whether you upgrade to enjoy the full experience on Substack for $5 per month or $50 per year.
Why are we changing our name from Jumble & Flow to The Midst?
Nothing against Jumble & Flow, but we’ve evolved since I started jumbleandflow.com as a wee personal blog covering my Adventures in Perimenopause in 2019. Back then, at 42ish, I was frustrated as hell that I couldn’t get a doctor’s diagnosis for what I knew was clearly perimenopause.
Fast-forward to 2023 and everyone’s talking about peri and menopause — from The New York Times to Christina Applegate’s character in Dead To Me. Now at 46, I’ve nearly nailed my hormone treatments and want to help other women navigate their menopausal journey (Margaret Cho likens it to a gateway drug to clarity and confidence), along with all the other *mind-blowing* experiences of midlife. … Like our evolving bodies and desires, widening perspectives, ditching shit (and people) who no longer suit us, empty nesting, career editing, gratitude for our younger-year screw-ups, and redefining what the second half looks like. According to you.
Whereas Jumble & Flow tells a chunk of the midlife empowerment story (Own your jumbles, find your flow), we believe the best is yet to come in building a fully fledged health, wellness, and truthful lifestyle brand for women in their middle-ish years.
Together, WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF REWRITING MIDLIFE, truly in the thick of it. No, we’re definitely not just getting started in our 40s, but we can choose to start over completely, or partially, or just keeping on trucking on our terms.
Why are we keeping The Midst kinda hush-hush for now?
It’s not so much hush-hush as it is word-of-mouth growth. The way we see it, we’re building The Midst with you, for you.
All of our growth with Jumble & Flow was organic — from zero to 75,000 monthly pageviews — without advertising or flashy campaigns. Just women like you reading our content, signing up for our newsletter, and then sharing with friends. Plus plenty of feedback from our readers and contributions from cool GALs like Terri Trespicio, Samantha Dion Baker, Shaina Feinberg, and Nina Lorez Collins.
With your support, we hope the same thing’ll happen with The Midst — but with more velocity once you help us pick a logo and get the conversation rolling here in our Midst Substack.
If you’re thinking, Amy, this is scrappy, you’re right
Let’s call it “polished scrappy.” Which is how I start most of my projects, ranging from Venus Zine to Etsy seller education to the DIY Business Association to Jumble & Flow and now The Midst. Because everyone’s gotta start somewhere.
I realize it’s kind of confusing to keep track of which site you go to for what thing. Here’s the answer: The Midst Substack is our focus now. You’ll be able to view some of our content in full on jumbleandflow.com for the time being, while we’re building the-midst.com.
Ready to help us build The Midst?
I appreciate your support and look forward to hearing from you soon. Feel free to contact me directly at amy@the-midst.com or share your feedback here in comments.
High fives!
Amy
P.S. What should we call ourselves? Midsters?
Amy Cuevas Schroeder is the founder and CEO of Jumble & Flow, the new lifestyle brand that empowers women to thrive in midlife. By day, she works as the director of educational content for Unusual Ventures. She started her first business, Venus Zine, in her dorm room at Michigan State University, and later sold the company. She now lives in the Chicago area, and is raising twin girls with her husband, Martin, a social worker. Between Venus and Jumble & Flow, she’s worked as a content leader for Etsy, Minted, and Abstract, and has written for NYLON, Pitchfork, The Startup, West Elm, and more.
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