Flourishing Over Fifty: How Jen Rigley Turned Her Midlife Awakening into a Global Movement
- Nov 21
- 5 min read
When Jen Rigley turned fifty, she never imagined that her own period of upheaval would one day inspire a movement touching women around the world. The founder of Flourishing Over Fifty has become a beacon of hope and empowerment for women navigating the complexities of midlife. What began as one woman’s struggle to rediscover joy and purpose has transformed into a global mission to help others flourish emotionally, spiritually, and personally.
Like many women entering midlife, Rigley’s fiftieth year was marked by profound shifts. “The life changes came fast and furious,” she recalls. Professional, health, and family issues collided all at once. Her children were leaving home for college, physical changes were setting in, and she faced new questions about her identity and future. “I reached a point where I was just surviving, striving hard to make it through the day,” she explains. “Typically optimistic, I had reached a point where I would lie in bed at night wondering, ‘Is this really what life is?’”
After decades of dedication to career, family, and the constant pursuit of excellence, Rigley realized she had lost sight of her own joy. Her once bright spirit was dimmed by exhaustion and disappointment. “I was stuck in a pattern of unhappiness mixed with a negative attitude,” she says. “I knew I had to make a change.” What she didn’t know yet was that her personal awakening would ripple outward to touch thousands of other women walking the same path.
Rigley’s transformation began with a commitment to shift her mindset. “I called myself out for participating in a pity party for one,” she says with characteristic candor. Determined to rewrite her story, she began to look inward, confronting her thought patterns and intentionally cultivating gratitude and positivity. As she began to heal, she noticed something powerful—everywhere she turned, women her age were expressing pain, frustration, and loneliness. Online groups were filled with stories of burnout, loss, and uncertainty. “I was struck by how often women in midlife were struggling,” she recalls. “I knew I had to help change that narrative.”
Her calling was clear: to guide women from merely surviving to truly flourishing. Drawing upon her decades of leadership experience, she began developing a structured approach to transformation that addressed mindset, healing, and joy.
Rigley’s empathy and insight didn’t come from textbooks; they were forged through lived experience. The loss of her father at just ten years old taught her how deeply early trauma can shape a person’s journey. “Every challenge we go through, including early in life, impacts how we show up in the world today,” she reflects. “It’s the accumulation of these traumas and challenges that lead us to a place in midlife where we are weighted down by all life has put upon us.”
This understanding became a cornerstone of her work. In her programs, Rigley emphasizes the importance of recognizing and processing unresolved grief and trauma as essential steps toward personal freedom. “Spending time recognizing and addressing early traumas is an important part of transformation,” she says.
The turning point that led to Flourishing Over Fifty was born out of profound challenge. For years, Rigley had considered leaving corporate life to pursue something more purpose-driven. Then, as she puts it, “the universe spoke.”
Within a short period, she was downsized from her executive management position, her mother became seriously ill, and she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a perfect storm, one that could have broken her. Instead, it became the catalyst for her greatest transformation. “It was only after overcoming each one of these challenges that I realized I had a message to share with the world,” Rigley says. “We can overcome significant trauma and challenges and begin to flourish again.”
Out of this revelation, she created The Flourish Journey, a guided framework designed to help women reclaim their joy and rewrite their stories.
At the heart of Rigley’s approach is The Daily Joy Practice, a simple yet profound three-minute ritual she calls the Joy Triangle. It begins with Sit in Stillness, a minute of quiet breathing and grounding. Then comes Set Your Intention, not about productivity or checklists, but about emotional resonance and how one wants to be. The final step is Hold Gratitude, a minute of reflecting on, writing, or even drawing what one is grateful for.
“These three steps may seem small,” she says, “but they can completely change the trajectory of your day and your life.”Over time, these daily practices help rewire the brain toward optimism, self-compassion, and emotional balance.
Before becoming an empowerment coach and community leader, Rigley spent years as a top-performing sales and marketing executive. That background proved invaluable as she built her new brand and mission. “My professional experience gave me the confidence to know I could build a business,” she says. It also taught her the importance of structure, creating frameworks that make complex ideas accessible and actionable.
Today, those skills fuel her ability to lead workshops, online programs, and retreats that reach women across the globe. Her blend of corporate acumen and heartfelt authenticity allows her to connect with women from all walks of life, helping them find their inner strength through vulnerability and shared experience.
Asked about the most powerful transformation she’s witnessed within her community, Rigley doesn’t single out one story. Instead, she sees success in every woman who completes her program. “It’s that renewal of confidence,” she explains. “When I see a woman begin to live life more fully on a daily basis, that’s the transformation.”
Through Flourishing Over Fifty, women rediscover their worth, reignite passions long forgotten, and reclaim joy in everyday moments. They learn that thriving in midlife isn’t about external success; it’s about internal peace, purpose, and connection.
When Rigley speaks to audiences, she doesn’t shy away from sharing her own struggles. “Vulnerability and strength go hand in hand,” she says. By being open about her experiences with loss, illness, and reinvention, she allows others to see themselves in her story. “I want them to know I understand where they are,” she explains. “It takes strength to overcome challenges, and I want them to know they have that strength within them.”
Her authenticity resonates deeply.
Women often approach her after events, expressing how her story gave them hope and courage to take their first steps toward healing.
The challenges of midlife—career transitions, empty nests, health issues, and the invisible weight of unspoken grief—are universal. But Rigley believes they don’t have to define us. “The flourishing process doesn’t happen overnight,” she acknowledges. “But it can start today, in small, intentional steps.”
She encourages women to begin simply, with a journal. “Write down how you want to feel, what you want your day to look like, and what’s not serving you,” she advises. “Then ask yourself: if not now, when?” That question has become a quiet rallying cry within her community, a reminder that reinvention is always possible, no matter your age or circumstances.
Since launching Flourishing Over Fifty, Rigley’s own healing journey has continued to evolve. “Healing is an ongoing process,” she says. “An important part of that is identifying how you want to spend your days and who you want to spend time with. This work feeds my soul.”
Her mission today extends far beyond personal coaching.
Through online courses, community events, and her growing global network, Rigley is redefining what it means to thrive in midlife. Her message is simple but powerful: your past does not have to dictate your future.
“You can create a new story for your life,” she says with conviction. “It’s never too late to flourish.”
Through Flourishing Over Fifty, Jen Rigley continues to remind women everywhere that midlife is not a time of decline, it’s an invitation to rise, renew, and rediscover joy.
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