Our mission is to empower women in their 40s and 50s to live on their terms

Jumble & Flow is a new lifestyle brand and philosophy that empowers GALs (Grown-Ass Ladies) to kick serious ass and live healthy, inspired lives in their middle-ish years

We strive to provide multiple perspectives about life in our prime, women’s health, career fulfillment, and relationships. Yes, we’re tackling perimenopause like a boss, but we’re about so much more than that. We’re about letting go of perfection and accepting that pretty good is pretty great. Shooting high but loving the little things too. Making smart money decisions, of course, but also treating yourself every now and then. Connecting with other women going through similar experiences, digging into tough topics, and enjoying doable, down-to-earth self-care. And making change where change is due.

Over the hill is so over and done with

This ain’t your grandmother’s middle age. It’s high time to reinvent middle age — whatever that means to you.


Did you know?

• The oldest Millennial turned 42 in 2023.

• 25% of Americans are now women 40 and older.
• Women are living longer than ever before. A woman’s life span is almost 8% on average longer than a man’s. According to a 2020 U.S. Centers for Disease Control report, the average American man will live to age 76, while the average America woman will live to age 81. 

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Accept the jumbles of life

Essentialize what’s most important

Find your fulfillment at this new stage of life

Go with your flow — whatever your version of “flow” may be

Our principles move you forward

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Hiya! Meet our team

I’m a writer and parent of twin girls who’s navigating the ups and downs of midlife and perimenopause. I live in the Chicago burbs with my husband (Martin Cuevas, a social worker) and our daughters Lydia and Isabel. In addition to Jumble & Flow, I currently work full time for Unusual Ventures. I've previously worked or written for Etsy, Minted, HarperCollins, West Elm, NYLON, and Pitchfork.


I’ve been to Venus and back
I started my first business, Venus Zine, about women in music and DIY culture, as a freshman at Michigan State University. Thanks to the big hearts of hundreds of talented creative people, I scaled Venus bootstrap-style, from a fanzine into an internationally distributed magazine. After a decade of running the show, I sold my company to an independent publisher, and moved from Chicago to New York to start a new chapter. 

Finding my Jumble & Flow 
I began developing what it means to live a Jumble & Flow life about three years after having twin girls, moving from Brooklyn to the Chicago area to be near family, while holding down a full-time job and putting my husband through college. During that time, our daughter Isabel was diagnosed with Pitt Hopkins, a rare genetic syndrome that causes inability to walk and talk among many other symptoms.

To deal with the complexities of daily life, including undiagnosed perimenopause and navigating what it means to be “in my prime” at the same time, I started learning coping strategies, ranging from mindfulness and therapy to transcendental meditation and minimalism. I also created the Adventures in Perimenopause series to get to the bottom of this misunderstood state that millions of women face.

Crushing on: Journalist-activist Jemele Hill because she's fearless. We worked together at our Michigan State University paper and I’ve enjoyed watching her navigate her career with boldness.

Now that I'm in my 40s, I wholeheartedly believe: I’m in my prime — that what I do now will pay off in my decades ahead. In so many ways, I feel like I’m just getting started with coming into my own. I’m on a mission to redefine, reinvent, and disrupt what midlife means, and I’ll be damned if anyone stops me.

You'll never find me without: black clothing and coffee with stevia and almond milk.

Amy Cuevas Schroeder

Founder & CEO

Hannah Shadrick Hummel

Columns Editor

When I was 12 years old, I saved up my allowances and bought myself The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. I've fancied myself a writer ever since. These days, I mostly write for the internet: content designer for a grocery retailer by day, and managing editor at Jumble & Flow by night. 

If I'm not writing, I'm reading. Probably romance. Or, a cookbook. I spend most weeknights in the kitchen making gluten free ginger scones — because Hashimoto's — while watching the Great British Baking Show. I never miss my two daily walks in Austin, Texas, with my husband. 

Let's connect on: LinkedIn

Crushing on: Madonna, because I need to see models of women changing their minds and loving themselves more for it.

Now that I'm in my 30s: I wholeheartedly believe in forgiveness. I didn't say I was good at it! But, I do believe expanding your heart to include forgiveness is good for you.

40 is the new 30
After I turned 30 (I'm 31 now), I started feeling like I had something to say. I mean, I'm a certified Pelvic Floor Yoga™ instructor, as well as a certified Personal Finance Nerd™. I'm from the rural South and I make my living as a UX writer. Surely, I have something interesting to say out of all these sides of me? 

Amy and I worked together previously at a start-up and I'd always admired her professionalism and true-to-herselfness. Shortly after we both left the company, I reached out and asked if I could write about my pelvic floor, and Amy promptly replied, "Absolutely." It's been peaches ever since.

Life-changing jumble: Meeting my now-husband. I was engaged when we met, which made things inconvenient. I disappointed people. I grieved my ex while falling in love with him. And, ultimately, I grew up in the process of becoming his wife.

You'll never find me without: my dog.

Rev. Bonnie Ho

Columnist, Living in the Third Eye

I'm a spiritual counselor, energy & tarot reader, and author of the Living in the Third Eye column for Jumble & Flow. After spending most of my adult life trying to prove my worth through an analytical career, I found a spiritual path that led me back to myself and my own heart. Now, I help others heal their wounds, find their joy, and embrace their intuition and true desires, in a grounded, balanced way. I'm available for spiritual guidance and energy readings — visit bonniehoinsights.com to learn more.

Crushing on: Lady Gaga. Her type of music isn’t my go-to, but I appreciate her humanitarianism, authenticity, and vulnerability — especially in her speaking out about her mental health challenges. In these volatile times, we need someone with a big voice to stand up and show her pain, so that the world can know that they’re not alone. I love that she's been so revealing about her inner battles with her celebrity status, which just shows: We all have jumbles, no matter how things may look from the outside.

Life-changing jumble: In my late 20s, I was in a toxic, on-and-off emotionally abusive relationship. This one jumble has brought me many invaluable lessons. First, it allowed me to know my own power by standing my ground to leave it, amidst my fear. As I healed, I began to see how the relationship was also showing me hidden emotions, beliefs and strategies that do not serve me. Seeing this allowed me to take ownership for my contribution in the toxicity of the relationship. By owning my whole self, even the unsavory parts, I came to fully love myself and learn the meaning of forgiveness and acceptance. All of this wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have this terrible experience.

Let's connect on Instagram: @the.divinefeminist

Now that I'm in my 40s, I wholeheartedly believe: in leading my life from my heart. Up until a few years ago, I was living from my head, and I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t happy! Now I know that we can’t find joy from our heads, because joy is a feeling! When I follow my joy, it feels so good that even when others judge me, I just keep on, keepin’ on. If this is wrong, I don’t want to be right!

Dixie Laite

Columnist, Age Against the Machine

Let's connect on Instagram: @dixielaite

I've been a second-grade teacher and mechanical bull operator, and for the past 25 years I've worked for a variety of TV networks as a writer, editorial director, trainer, advice columnist, even an on-air personality. But primarily I've trotted around New York City in one cowboy shirt or another, lurking around flea markets, gyms, and anywhere they’ll hand her French toast.

I'm currently lounging around my apartment with one husband, one dog, five parrots, and roughly 2,000 pairs of shoes.

I write two columns for Jumble & Flow: Age Against the Machine and Dear Dixie.

Crushing on: Wanda Sykes because she's just so funny and smart, and her skin is such a gorgeous caramel color. It would be a struggle not to dry-hump her leg. But I also have major girl crushes on dozens of yesteryear dames for their courage, humor, and glamour — too many to name. (That's why I started Dametown.com!) 

Life-changing jumble: Learning that I’ve been my own worst enemy all along, not my various jumbles. 

Now that I'm in my 50s, I wholeheartedly believe in: 1) tenacity, 2) kindness, and 3) not caring about what idiots think about you. 

You'll never find me without: I would have said lipstick before March 2020. But now I can actually be without it without hyperventilating. 

Lauria Locsmondy

Beauty & Wellness Editor

I believe that beauty is in everyone. Everyone. 

I also know that the media and advertising have long been telling us to feel bad and to look “better.” That buying a red lipstick isn’t just a boost quicker than espresso — it’s a story of liberation, a color palette of inclusion, and a finger back at the male gaze. 

I bring this media literacy and feminist lens to the articles that I carefully curate. This is my angle. But we’ve come too far to not also have some fun.

Along with a personal mission to empower women, I share a lifelong love affair of the beauty industry, where decades of dedication define my profile, both literally and professionally. I’m a self-taught makeup artist, who refined her skills in the theater, on set, at the MAC counter, and with cancer survivors. Here, I’ve witnessed beauty’s power to transform.

I also love to write. I studied journalism and received my MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where I founded the indie publication, PISTIL Magazine. Stories of beauty, fashion, health and even horoscopes comprise my bylines, along with a long run as Beauty and Editorial Director at Walgreens. 

I share my home in Chicago with my young son, a born artist, my loving partner, and his amazing teenage daughter who visits often. My longtime wish to rescue every senior pet in the city maxes out at two pups and a cat in our fabulous rental — a constant work of art with my obsessive rotation of vintage gems — supported by my daytime gig, of course, directing copy.

What’s the best part of being in your forties?
Confidence. The unwavering confidence to live contently and share my truth without fear — because living authentically is the (very hard and) very real expression of beauty.

Let's connect on LinkedIn


Gretchen Kalwinski

Editor At Large

I’m a Chicago-based writer of creative and UX copy for a large health and wellness retailer. My storytelling background is hybrid: I've worked as a magazine editor, have an MFA in creative writing, and my writing has been anthologized in publications including Chicago: Rust Belt Anthology. My work has also appeared in The Chicago Reader, Time Out Chicago, The Dodo, and Orbitz.

I’m both compelled by and skeptical of wellness culture including yoga, breathwork, herbalism, ancestral healing, and aromatherapy. (I was meditating long before it was cool.) You can find me Tweeting about feminism and literature and Instagramming about my dog and baked goods.

Let's connect on Twitter

You'll never find me without: a packet of turmeric-ginger tea, Aveda’s essential-oil “stress-fix” perfume roller, mints, hand lotion, gauzy scarf in case of a chill, and a packet of dog treats. And, if I’m being honest, my dog, Cody.

Now that I'm in my 40s, I wholeheartedly believe in: radical transparency and vulnerability (with the right people), and my own intuition, which never leads me astray. I believe that you can give more freely to others once you learn to practice healthy boundaries. I’m also happy to report that the cliche about how you stop caring about what other people think of you the older you get is true! I can’t believe how much time I wasted in my youth being crippled by self-consciousness and worrying about what others thought of me. Letting go of that is the best part of aging, by far.  

Bonnie Broeren

Advisory Board Member

I’m a mom, wife, lawyer, and writer partial to mission-based companies, scrappy startups, and social justice warriors. I began my career as a young, idealistic attorney with a deep love of research and writing. I spent time practicing in both the public and private sectors, handling every subject imaginable, from divorce and custody to administrative agency review cases. 

Eventually, my love of New York and all things handmade led me to Etsy, a platform that supports makers and micro-entrepreneurs. At Etsy, I spent nearly six years writing and advising on content moderation policy, government relations, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. Most recently, I moved my family back to Chicago, where I continue to work in the e-commerce space, focusing on policy around user-generated content. 

Visit my site: bonniebroeren.com

Crushing on: Michelle Obama. Whenever I'm stressed out, misunderstood, or unsure of myself, I read something she wrote or watch clips of interviews she's given about impostor syndrome, and it gives me the courage to face my fears. Most notably, her “secret” that she has sat at some of the most powerful tables in the world, and “they’re not that smart” always makes me smile and reminds me that no matter how impressive or intimidating someone is, they're still just as human as I am. 

Life-changing jumble: Leaving the traditional practice of law. In 2012, I took a chance on a little known company at the time (Etsy) in a role no one had heard of before (Trust & Safety Policy) in a city I had only visited a couple of times (New York). Lawyers are generally not early adopters or risk takers, but I am, and I needed to create space for myself to still be true to who I was within my chosen profession. I took a huge risk, and there were times when I was not sure how it would pan out. I worried that I had ruined my career. Nearly 10 years later, I could not be happier with the direction my career has gone, the amazing people I have met, and the opportunities I have had. I am grateful that I trusted myself enough to take a chance on something in which most other people did not yet see potential. 

Now that I'm in my 40s, I wholeheartedly believe: that you are never too old to start something new, learn something new, or pivot in your life. When I decided to pivot in my career, I worried that at 34 I was “too old,” and now that seems silly to me. I am still constantly learning new skills and new subjects, and now think of myself as a constant work in progress rather than a person trying to achieve some state of perfection. 

Dr. Stephanie Levi

Advisory Board Member

I'm an assistant professor of biology at Oakton Community College, where I focus on the needs of first-generation, low-income, underrepresented, non-native students and students with disabilities, among others. I am a first-generation student from a low-income background, and earned my Ph.D. In Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago in 2009. After receiving my degree, I declined a post-doc at Harvard because I would not have been able to focus on expanding opportunities for others in STEM fields. I’ve found that taking an unchartered path can yield wonderful results.

These days, when I'm not spending time with my husband, my sweet beagle named Bagels, family and friends, I’m building my marijuana-focused site, Plants to Pipes. Originally from the great city of Dayton, Ohio, I now live in North Avondale in Chicago.

Let's connect on: Instagram

Julie Smith Schneider

Writer & Former Managing Editor

After spending 11 formative years on staff at Etsy, where I served as senior editor, writer-editor, and DIY editor, followed by a few years with CreativeMornings, I’m currently a freelance writer, editor, and journalism grad student. I cover the creative world, community, entrepreneurship, and women’s health, with an eye for big-hearted, human-centered stories and helpful, informative content. You can find my writing on Hyperallergic, Taproot Magazine, The Center Magazine, and elsewhere.
 
I was raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and I’ve called Brooklyn, New York, home since 2006. You might find me biking around the city donning big sunglasses, wandering museums notebook in hand, or dreaming up a new project — maybe a quilt or a hand-crafted GIF — in my cozy art studio. I always have a pile of craft projects in progress.
 
My life-changing jumble: I’ve experienced a few jumbles over recent years, including caring for my partner through the aftermath of sudden cardiac arrest. Since then I’ve also navigated my own medical journey of getting diagnosed with endometriosis and endometrial cancer in quick succession, plus the mountain of decisions that accompanied these revelations. My partner has been by my side through it all, and I’m happy to say that we’re both still kicking!
 
You'll never find me without: A notebook and multiple writing implements. I’m always ready to scribble down an idea, a phase, an overheard quote, a haiku, a doodle, or whatever bit of creative lighting might strike me.

Let's connect on Instagram

Liz Jones-Dilworth

Advisory Board Member

Liz Jones-Dilworth is owner and vice president of JDI, a marketing and design firm that serves precedent-setting science companies. Her mission at JDI is to build and foster an environment that supports an intensely creative team. She oversees company finances, individual and team health, learning and development, and recruiting. She loves solving problems, and there are plenty of robust challenges to address while building the business of her dreams.

Liz's extracurricular life includes serving on the board of directors for Welcome Table, an organization that provides critical resources and community to people in East Austin, as well the Rude Mechs, an avant garde theater company in Austin. She's a founder and inaugural member of the Core Curriculum Alumni Advisory Council at Boston University. She's also a member of the Beam Advisory Council, which supports female entrepreneurs.

Outside of work, Liz can be found practicing the craft of creative writing, taking long walks with good friends, and baking cookies every full moon.

Even Chen

Operations Manager

I am many things. A reader. A writer. A wife. A mother. Honestly, I am still figuring out everything that I am and will be. In my twenties I spent most of my career in the publishing industry. After having children I paused my career for a little while, diving head-deep into the murky waters of raising multilingual and culturally diverse children in America.

In addition to helping to run the show at Jumble & Flow, I work as a freelancer, volunteer when I can, and pursue hobbies in my spare time. The superpower that comes with midlife is I care a lot less about possibly failing at something and a lot more about making the attempt. 

Olga Rosales Salinas

Columnist, Thriving While Anxious

Olga Rosales Salinas is a content writer and freelancer who produces poetry, short stories, and essays. Her debut collection of poetry and prose, La Llorona, benefits The Rosales Sisters' Scholarship, a scholarship that she co-founded for first-generation or immigrant students on the central coast of California, where Olga and her five sisters grew up.

Olga is passionate about all of her creative endeavors, including motherhood, mental health, fitness, writing, and wife life. Find more at www.OlgaRS.com.

Amber Drea

Contributing Writer

I’m a writer, editor, storyteller, and record collector who lives in the Chicago suburbs. I’m also the mother of a 6-year-old boy who is nonverbal and has autism, cerebral palsy, and other developmental disabilities. After earning a BA in English and creative writing at the University of Miami in Florida, I attended graduate school at Columbia College Chicago, where I received an MFA in fiction and worked as an editor for Venus Zine and UR Chicago before moving to New York City and worked for beverage alcohol trade publication Market Watch for nine years. 

Over the course of my two-decade journalism career, I’ve contributed to Spin.com, The Chicago Reader, AM New York, Chicago Magazine, Anthemmagazine.com, Time Out Chicago, XLR8R, BPM, Punk Planet, Rockpile, and the Miami Beach Sun Post. My fiction and essays have been published by McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Akashic Books, Hypertext Magazine, The2ndhand.com, and others. As a storyteller, I’ve appeared on live shows and podcasts like Risk!, Mortified, The Volume Knob, Lost & Rewound, Talking Chopped, and The Virgin Chronicles. My writing is currently focused on dating, sex, and relationships among divorced people in their 40s and 50s — with and without kids.

Liz Winston

Communications Strategist

I’m a communications consultant, writer, and community builder in New York City. I love working with entrepreneurs and leaders to start conversations about their work and help them attract the people who want what they’ve got. I specialize in media strategy, too, helping growing companies get media coverage in publications like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, and even once, Perez Hilton.

I started my career as a writer, writing about women’s issues, books, politics, and entrepreneurship for publications like Fast Company, the Economist, USA Today, Newsday, the Christian Science Monitor, the Huffington Post, and Ideas by We, the online magazine published by WeWork. I pivoted into entrepreneurship in my mid-twenties: I love the process of building something that didn’t exist before. I feel energized working with people who look around the world and ask, “What challenges am I interested in solving? Where do I see the opportunity to solve this in a really helpful way?” I love working with entrepreneurs, business owners, and startup founders because I think the idea of starting something new is inherently optimistic. No one launches a new venture or a company because they have mixed feelings about whether it will work. People launch things because they’re curious and passionate and confident that they have uncovered something really special and that something big is in store. I describe myself as being selectively but wildly excitable.

I’m crushing on Danielle Laporte, the thought leader and business writer who wrote The Fire Starter Sessions, a wonderful, soulful book about creating a passionate, fiery life. In the book, she asks the reader to explore, “How do you want to feel?” She argues that we have goal-setting backwards. We set goals because we think that accomplishing “x” will make us feel a certain way. So often, reaching that goal doesn’t make us feel the way we thought reaching the goal would make us feel —– this is arguably why there are so many depressed doctors and lawyers and movie stars. We could save ourselves a lot of grief, and striving, and student loan debt, if first, we got really clear on how we wanted to feel and then we set goals that would be more likely to make us feel the way we want to feel. I try to re-read The Fire Starter Sessions at least once a year for a tune-up and to see if anything has changed, in terms of how I want to feel!

You’ll never find me without stray threads all over me. I have been sewing casually for a few years —– I spent the pandemic listening to podcasts and stress-sewing homemade masks —– but I recently started taking sewing classes where I learned to sew from a pattern. I’m obsessed now. Sewing is like alchemy, where you take all these pattern pieces that do not look like they go together. You follow the directions and trust that the pattern-maker knows what they’re talking about. Often, at the very last step, you turn the garment inside-out, and it’s a transformation! You have a dress! With pockets!  

Asia Thomas

Social Media & Business Development Manager

I’m a problem solver with an acute affinity for all things social media and business development. Prior to starting my career in marketing, my background was in finance and real estate where I worked at a handful of Fortune 100 companies such as The Boston Consulting Group and Berkshire Hathaway. During the later half of my college career, I decided to trade in my Excel spreadsheets for Photoshop and pursued the other half of my finance and marketing degree. Though the initial goal was just to make some extra money to get myself off the good ole ramen noodle diet, I ended up finding a career path that I loved. 

After graduating at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, I found myself in a difficult position. All of my job offers had been rescinded due to COVID and I was left with no choice but to start from square one. That’s when I decided to marry my passions for marketing and fashion and began selling clothes online. Throughout this time, I was showcasing my journey on social media and began to attract the attention of various business owners who asked me to lead their marketing efforts. This marked the beginning of my agency, Midmay Marketing, and now years later I’m proud to say I get to wake up and do what I love every day. 

What are you most looking forward to in your forties? 
Absolutely everything! What’s not to look forward to? Now in my 20s, I have no idea what I’m doing half the time. But your 40s? Honestly, I think it’s the age I look forward to most! Your 40s are a time when you know who you are, what you want, and how to get it with the confidence only experience gives you. What I love the most about The Midst is the team of GALs kicking butt and taking names every day. They are mothers, business owners, wildly talented writers, and highly decorated career women disrupting what it means to be in your 40s. Every day I’m reminded of the strength, wisdom, and pure bad*ss behavior that comes with being 40 and I can’t wait to experience the years to come. 

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