
What a Near-Cult Experience Taught One Woman About Identity, Leadership, and Midlife Freedom
From The Uplifters by Aransas Savas
April 16, 2026 · 41 min
About this episode
Blair Glaser discusses her journey of self-discovery and leadership after her experiences in a near-cult, focusing on midlife challenges and identity ownership.
What happens when a midlife woman decides to stop segmenting her identity and start owning her whole story? In this episode of The Uplifters Podcast, leadership consultant and memoirist Blair Glaser joins host Aransas Savas to explore one of the most common midlife reinvention challenges: the courage to be fully known. Blair's memoir, This Incredible Longing , follows her years inside Siddha Yoga, a near-cult spiritual organization, and what she discovered about herself, her gifts, and her capacity for change. For women over 40 navigating second act career changes, identity shifts, and the particular vulnerability of perimenopause and midlife transition, Blair's story is both a permission slip and a road map. In this conversation, Blair and Aransas dig into the "lily pad" career path, the financial reality and soulful satisfaction of following your own signal through multiple vocations across decades. They also explore why midlife women are uniquely primed to look back as a way of moving forward, and what it actually takes to silence the inner bully that shows up at 3 a.m. before every brave act. If you've been circling a story you haven't told, a pivot you haven't made, or a…
People in this episode
Host: Aransas Savas
Guest: Blair Glaser
Topics covered
- midlife reinvention
- identity
- leadership
- personal growth
- career changes
- women over 40
Keywords
- midlife
- identity
- leadership
- career transition
- women
- self-discovery
- perimenopause
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Siddha Yoga
Books & works: This Incredible Longing
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