Becoming A Change-Maker At Midlife - How To Find Other Women Who Care

You know that feeling when you have an idea that could actually make a difference in the world, but you're sitting there staring at your laptop screen, completely paralysed by where to even begin?

That was me in 2020. I had this vision of growing flowers and sharing them with people in my community who needed a little brightness in their day during COVID. It seemed so simple in my head—plant seeds, grow beautiful things, make people smile. But when I actually tried to turn that dream into reality, I felt completely alone and overwhelmed.

And here's what I've learned since then: that feeling of isolation isn't unique to flower projects, or even to small community initiatives. It's the universal experience of women who want to change the world, whether that's through starting a nonprofit, creating sustainable solutions, advocating for social justice, or simply making their corner of the world a little better.

The Hidden Cost of Going It Alone

When I started my flower project, I thought working out what to do by myself was the way to go. I'd figure it out myself, learn as I went, and avoid the complications of working with others. But what I actually discovered was something much more challenging than I'd bargained for.

The practical questions felt endless and Google wasn't cutting it. How do I start? What equipment do I need? Where is the best place to give my flowers? Each question led to three more, and pretty soon I was spending more time researching than actually growing anything.

Procrastination trumped action.

I was also plagued with insecurity. So-and-so is growing flowers way better than I ever could? Who am I to take on a project this size? Will this actually make a real difference? I nearly pulled the whole thing many times.

Doubt trumped action.

But the emotional toll was even harder. When you're the only person you know working on something you care deeply about, every setback feels personal. Every small victory feels hollow because there's no one who truly understands why it matters. You start questioning whether your idea is actually good, or if you're just being naive about what's possible.

Isolation trumped action.

I found myself making excuses not to work on the project. "I'll start again next month when I have more time." "Maybe I should wait until I understand the regulations better." "Perhaps this isn't really needed in my community anyway."

Sound familiar?

What Changes When You Find Your People

Everything shifted the moment I connected with other women who were also working on their own projects. Not because they all had flower projects—they didn't. Gilly was helping osteopaths create a world without pain, Narelle was supporting fiction-writers to make a living.

But what we shared was something deeper than our specific projects. We all understood what it felt like to care so much about something that you'd risk looking foolish to pursue it. We knew the frustration of having a vision but not knowing the next practical step. We'd all experienced that moment of wondering if we were mad for thinking we could actually make a difference.

Suddenly, I wasn't the only person staying up late working on the things I cared about, and when I had tech or business questions, they jumped in with an answer. We started an accountability chat on whats app that helped clarify my three needle-movers to work on in any one day. We brainstormed. We became firm friends.

But more importantly, when I started doubting whether anyone actually wanted flowers from a stranger, these women reminded me why I'd started in the first place. They helped me remember the difference this was making to people’s lives, and they encouraged me to trust that small acts of beauty and connection do matter.

How Sisterhood Actually Accelerates Your Impact

Here's what I didn't expect about finding my community of world-changers: it didn't just make the journey more pleasant - it made my actual project better and more successful than I ever could have achieved alone.

You get to learn from other people's mistakes instead of making your own. When I mentioned struggling with a particular piece of tech, Maria immediately warned me about the scheduling app she'd tried that had been a disaster, and recommended one that had worked beautifully for her own project. I saved months of trial and error.

Your perspective expands beyond your own experience. Working with women from different backgrounds and addressing different issues helped me think more creatively about my own project. Jennifer's project to work with teenagers made me realise I could invite teachers and schools to get involved with my project. 

Accountability becomes natural instead of forced. When you're surrounded by women who are also showing up for their projects every day, you don't want to be the one who gave up when things got hard. It's not about judgment—it's about knowing that your project matters to people beyond just yourself.

Your confidence grows from seeing what's actually possible. Watching other women navigate challenges, celebrate wins, and iterate on their ideas showed me that world-changing doesn't require perfection or having all the answers upfront. It requires persistence, creativity, and the willingness to learn as you go.

The Ripple Effect of Working Together

Five years  later, my personal floral project has grown into something I never could have imagined on my own. There are now thousands of us across the country that sow, grow and donate our flowers together. None of this happened because I had some brilliant master plan - it happened because when women support each other in making a difference, the impact multiplies in ways you can't predict.

Your Project Needs Its Sisterhood

If you're sitting there with an idea that could change your community, your world, or even just one person's day, but you're feeling overwhelmed by the isolation of it all, I want you to know something: you're not meant to do this alone.

Your vision matters, and it deserves the support, wisdom, and encouragement that can only come from other women who understand what it means to care enough about something to risk failure in pursuit of it.

The world needs what you have to offer, but you need your people to help you offer it.

Sisterhood creates action.

Ready to stop feeling alone in your mission to change the world? I created One Thousand Women specifically for women like you - women who have big hearts and important work to do, but who are tired of trying to figure it all out in isolation.

Join us, and let's turn your solo dream into our collective reality.

Join One Thousand Women