An entrepreneurship podcast for women in midlife and beyond.
What if the most powerful thing you could do right now — for your finances, your freedom, and your future — was to stop waiting for someone else to hand you an opportunity and start building your own?
Build Your Own Boat is the podcast for women in midlife and beyond who are done playing by rules that were never written with them in mind. Hosted by award-winning 3x entrepreneur Janine Vanderburg, each episode features real conversations with women in midlife and beyond who made the bold decision to bet on themselves — launching businesses and creative ventures, building wealth, and rewriting what entrepreneurship looks like in the second half of life.
This isn't a podcast about hustle culture or overnight success stories. It's a roadmap — built from lived experience, hard-won wisdom, and the kind of honest conversation you rarely hear anywhere else. Guests include founders, consultants, creatives, coaches, media makers, and civic leaders who are proving every week that midlife isn't a ceiling. It's a launchpad.
Whether you're just beginning to wonder if entrepreneurship is for you, actively building your business, or simply looking for proof that it's not too late — you'll find it here.
Every episode, you'll discover:
1. How real women in midlife launched and grew successful ventures — and what they wish they'd known sooner
2. Practical strategies for building financial independence and freedom on your own terms
3. Honest conversations about the challenges of midlife entrepreneurship, and how to navigate them
4. Inspiration that's grounded in reality, not motivational posters
The Encore Economy is booming — and women in midlife are driving it. Build Your Own Boat is where their stories live.
Subscribe now and join a growing community of women who are building something that's entirely, unapologetically theirs.
And do SUBSCRIBE to Build Your Own Boat on Substack as well, to read the full stories of our guests, and their best tips and resources. https://buildyourownboat.substack.com/
Listen to the Trailer
Latest Episodes
Leaving Chiropractic for Health Coaching in Midlife: Dr. Sam Graber on Rebuilding Your Identity and Your Business
Episode SummaryDr. Sam Graber spent decades as a practicing chiropractor before walking away from disease-focused medicine to build a health and life coaching business...
What Happens When Caregiving Interrupts Your Midlife Business? A Conversation with Wendy Green
Episode SummaryWhat happens to your business when an aging parent moves in and needs your care? Wendy Green, founder of Hey Boomer and host of the Boomer Banter Podcas...
How Do You Turn a 20-Year-Old Business Idea Into a Movement for Girls? Featuring Jacqui Fishman of This Girl Can! Change the World
Episode SummaryJacqui Fishman spent decades as a creative marketing strategist before reviving a shelved apparel line into This Girl Can! Change the World, a mission-d...
How Do You Build a Financial Plan for Midlife Entrepreneurship? Cindy Morris on The Benson Agency and Women Who Changed the World
Episode SummaryHow do you build a strategic financial plan for entrepreneurship after 40 — one that includes retirement savings, catch-up contributions, and a paid-off...
How Do You Turn Perfectionism Into a Leadership Superpower After a Midlife Layoff? Kristen Harris on Building Her Own Boat
Episode SummaryAfter more than two decades leading global technology teams at Oracle and serving as VP of Services at an AI-driven consulting firm, Kristen Harris was ...