On our recent episode of Off Record, On Point: The Digital Voice Podcast Unzipped, hosts Julia and Kasey had an incredible chat with Maria McDowell of lollipop mentoring, a mentorship program for mid-level Black women in marketing and advertising. They spoke about her journey,founding a mentorship program, challenges Black women face in their careers every day, and the vital changes to the working world that still need to happen to reach a state of equality for everyone. Maria also talked about the beauty of getting older. 

In her mid-forties, she’s an indomitable force of a woman. Maria is positive, driven and committed to making a difference, whether she can help two people or two thousand. She founded lollipop amidst the blues of the pandemic, and she finds the concept of a mid-life crisis to be an empowering phenomenon.

Whatever age you are, it’s overwhelming to be struck by the feeling you’re not where you’re supposed to be in life. Many people find themselves losing confidence as they get older, or feel disappointment about what they’ve accomplished. It’s common to lose your sense of identity and direction. And, as Maria explains in Off Record, On Point, that comes with a lot of pain.

But at the same, there’s a unique opportunity in identity crisis to discover who you really are. You can focus on being authentic, whatever that might mean to you. For Maria, despite the pain, her crisis became an awakening.

Identity isn’t one solid thing, nor is it a fixed point. It’s made up of many facets, and is in constant flux, changing with our experiences of the world. In his brilliant book, “The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything”, world-renowned creativity expert Ken Robinson talks about tapping into your natural energy and finding your deepest passion as a journey of self-discovery.  By following your heart and finding what you love to do, you’ll discover who you really are. “You can't do this if you're trapped in a compulsion to conform,” says Robinson. “You can't be yourself in a swarm.” The key is to let yourself feel that pain that comes with uncertainty, and stop worrying about what others think of you. 

Whether you’re in the middle of a moment of crisis or you’re completely comfortable with where you are right now, we can all take something away from the idea of an awakening. Regular self-reflection should be a part of everyone’s career journey, because even if you’re already in your dream job, there’s bound to be changes you can make to improve your day to day satisfaction. It might be learning to manage your time better, or setting boundaries to keep from taking on a larger workload than you really want to. Maybe it’s voicing out loud to the right person that you’d like to work towards a promotion, or try something new in your role. If you’ve been sitting on an idea, now is the moment to bring it to life. It’s time to wake up and see how you can bring more passion to your daily life!

After all, passion is the key to satisfaction. Some people say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life, but those of us who are already doing what we love know that isn’t true. Having passion for your work doesn’t mean it’s never stressful, or that you finish the day feeling like you haven’t lifted a finger. If you’re doing something you love, by the end of the day you might be physically tired, but you’ll be spiritually energised. Productivity will bring you joy. 

For Maria McDowell, her passion comes from helping others. The satisfaction of doing a good thing for someone else makes her feel aligned with who she is, and with lollipop, that was the starting point for her personal awakening. Everything else fell into place when she followed that drive to do good, and now she’s soaring.

So feel the pain, and look inwards to find what you need to wake up to in order to find your own passion. And if you’re feeling a midlife crisis, always remember the golden rule: you haven’t failed at anything until you’ve given up. Now is your chance to become the very best version of yourself. It’s time for your awakening!

Feeling enlightened? You can hear our whole conversation with Maria on Off Record, On Point: The Digital Voice Podcast Unzipped Episode 2!