If not now, then when? Miranda Mitchell on forging your own path

AWAN WOMEN | Conversations with women doing life their own way

After more than twenty years helping global brands tell their stories, Miranda Mitchell is ready to take charge of her own.

She's led major creative agencies, managed a £10 million P&L and a 100-person team, and navigated the complex world of corporate leadership. Today, she's building her own consultancy, mentoring female founders and preparing to launch Bardette, a storytelling podcast and platform celebrating women's voices.

But what makes Miranda's story so interesting to us isn't just all that she's achieved. It's what she's choosing to do next.

At a stage in life when women have accumulated decades of experience, knowledge and connections, far too many find themselves becoming less visible in the job market. While men are often celebrated for their seniority, influence and experience, women of the same age can find themselves battling a very different narrative.

But something is changing.

More and more women like Miranda are refusing to play along with that outdated script. They're building brilliant companies, championing female entrepreneurship, challenging ageism and redefining what ambition and success can look like in midlife.

And perhaps most importantly, they're showing other women what becomes possible when we unapologetically forge our own paths.

 

The confidence to back yourself

Moving from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship might look like a natural progression. But as Miranda explains, it's a very different experience when the responsibility rests entirely on your own shoulders.

"Entrepreneurship builds a different kind of confidence."

Having led large agencies and managed significant budgets, she discovered that building something independently required another kind of courage.

"When you build something yourself, there is nowhere to hide. You have to make the decisions, figure things out and take responsibility when something doesn't work."

And yet, that responsibility comes with freedom.

For Miranda, one of the biggest lessons has been learning to trust her own ability to figure things out, even when she doesn't immediately have the answer.

Perhaps that's something many of us discover with age. Confidence isn't necessarily about knowing everything. It's about knowing ourselves well enough to trust that we'll find a way.

What does success look like in the next chapter?

After years in demanding leadership roles, Miranda is thinking differently about how she wants to spend her time.

Her future, she says, is likely to be more entrepreneurial and multi-hyphenated, bringing together creative work, writing, storytelling and projects that genuinely interest her.

She's also a mother of two, and being present for her children matters as much as having time for her own pursuits.

It's an interesting shift in perspective. Rather than measuring success solely through career progression, she's creating a working life around what she values.

And there is something liberating about having enough experience to make that choice.

From building other people's brands to telling women's stories

One of Miranda's next adventures is Bardette, her new female storytelling podcast and platform.

After years creating stories for major brands, she's turning her attention to the experiences and perspectives of women whose voices deserve a wider audience.

Her work mentoring female founders comes from a similar place.

Having spent much of her career with large corporate clients, Miranda became increasingly interested in entrepreneurial businesses and the female founder movement. She wanted to understand the realities of building companies from the ground up, and became particularly frustrated by the funding gap facing women entrepreneurs.

For her, supporting female founders combines professional expertise with something more personal: a desire to champion women building businesses on their own terms.

The value of being yourself

Having spent her career creating memorable brands, Miranda has some thoughts on what makes people connect with them.

Her answer is surprisingly simple: conviction, humanity and a willingness to be yourself.

The brands people love, she argues, have a genuine point of view. They don't dilute their identity to appeal to everybody.

It's a philosophy that applies just as much to people as businesses.

Perhaps one of the privileges of getting older is becoming less interested in fitting somebody else's definition of success, and more comfortable embracing our own.

Miranda describes herself as a mother, business leader, creative and sometimes poet, still dancing on tables.

We're all for that. 😉

If not now, then when?

When asked what she wants the next five years to look like, Miranda's answer isn't about returning to the top of another corporate ladder.

It's about making more space for her own ideas, interests and ambitions.

After decades helping other people build their businesses and brands, she's embracing the confidence she's gained in midlife to create something of her own.

And perhaps the most compelling part of her story is the question she's asking herself:

"If not me, then who? And if not now, then when?"

AWAN Women is our ongoing series of conversations with women whose stories, choices and perspectives inspire us. Because what we wear is a reflection of who we are.