The Most Powerful Creatures in the Universe are Women Over 40: with Amber van Moessner

I thought the 40 Portal was going to be sexy. Fun. Empowering. Green dress, great party, collect some wisdom. Plot twist: I actually had to go through it. The last ten months have been a real process of midlife transformation for me, and I'm only just now popping up from being pummeled by the wave going, "cool, I survived." The only way through is through. One day I'll tell you the whole story. For now: meet Amber. You definitely need to. Amber van Moessner is 38, almost 39, a therapist-in-training, activist, community organizer, reader, mother of two, cancer survivor, and the woman who will probably shut down the dance party. She is exactly the kind of woman this podcast exists for. My husband met her first and came home with a very specific report: you have to meet this woman. He was right. She is the kind of person who walks into a cocktail party and counts how many times someone asks "what do you do?" so she can avoid asking it even once. She identifies her archetype as the wounded warrior. She's a fellow Leo, fierce lioness and wears disco-glitter-bell-bottoms to our tiny town's annual Pride parade (which she co-founded a few years back after moving here and realizing there wasn't one). This conversation went exactly where it needed to go. In this episode:Why "what do you do?" is capitalism's most boring trick — and what to ask insteadFriendships of convenience vs. real ones: how COVID reshuffled the deck and what we do nowThe wounded warrior archetype and what it means to understand yourself through myth and storyThe scarcity mindset around youth, beauty, and desirability — and the deprogramming required to move through itWhy matriarchal societies had a a council of grandmothers — and what we've lost without itMoon time: the concept of the season of life when you are finally, fully on your own terms, post menopause And the submission that closed the episode: "My 40s are sexy, filled with a confidence, mystery, and swagger that twenty-something me would have killed for. We are not aging. We are a delight that has been simmering." Amber's response: tattoo it on my face. Me too, babe. Me too. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/oBzujLRkcj4Submit your portal wisdom: the40portal.com/contribute — Whichever side of 40 you're on, your voice belongs in this book we're building together. Join The 40 Portal Book Club on Substack: substack.com/@the40portal Work with Cath 1:1 — coaching spots open September 2026: the40portal.com/coaching New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe, rate, review — it genuinely helps more women find this show. Website: the40portal.com | catherinezack.com Instagram: @the40portal | @cathzack Hosted by Catherine Zack | Guest: Amber Van Moessner | Edited by Ruwantha Gunasinghe © 2026 The 40 Portal. All rights reserved.