Member since December 2025
Heidi Hutchison is a TEDx speaker, former Chief Marketing Officer, and the founder of Third30™, a movement redefining midlife as a woman’s most powerful chapter—not the beginning of the end.
After more than 25 years rising through executive leadership roles across startups and Fortune-level organizations, Heidi found herself on the wrong side of a corporate merger. Despite deep expertise, proven results, and being at her peak potency, her job search was met with silence. No callbacks. No interviews. Just crickets. What she eventually recognized—and now speaks boldly about—was ageism hiding in plain sight.
Rather than shrink, sanitize her résumé, or pretend to be “less experienced,” Heidi called B.S. on the outdated narratives telling women that relevance expires at 50. She built Third30™ to help professional women reclaim their power, clarify their purpose, and activate what’s next with intention, confidence, and momentum.
Today, Heidi speaks to audiences of senior-level women, leadership teams, and organizations ready to tap into the most overlooked asset in the workforce: experienced women in midlife. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, identity, purpose, and reinvention—blending real-world executive insight with deeply human storytelling and practical frameworks audiences can use immediately.
She holds a JD/MBA from Emory University, a BA from Smith College, serves on nonprofit boards, and is living proof that midlife isn’t a slow fade—it’s a strategic advantage.
I am deeply passionate about empowering professional women in midlife to reclaim their confidence, visibility, and voice—especially in a world that too often sidelines experience in favor of novelty.
Equally, I am passionate about strategic marketing and personal brand-building in the age of AI and fierce competition. After decades as a CMO, I understand how influence, relevance, and trust are built—both inside organizations and in the marketplace. Today, I help women translate their hard-earned expertise into a clear, differentiated personal brand that cuts through noise, resists ageism, and positions them as thought leaders rather than “has-beens.”
I am fascinated by the intersection of human wisdom and emerging technology—how AI can amplify, not replace, the insight, judgment, and emotional intelligence that experienced leaders bring. My work helps women stay future-ready without chasing trends or pretending to be someone they’re not.
Outside of work, adventure keeps me alive and curious. This March, I’m fulfilling a lifelong dream by trekking in Bhutan—a reminder that growth, courage, and expansion don’t diminish with age; they deepen.
And finally, grounding it all are our dogs, Salt & Pepper (yes, they’re black and white). They’re a daily reminder that contrast creates clarity—and life is best lived fully present.
My best story is the moment I stopped accepting the lie that my best years were behind me.
For decades, I unconsciously absorbed society’s narrative that midlife marked the beginning of decline—less relevance, less opportunity, less power. And then I called B.S.
What I discovered on the other side was transformative: my experience wasn’t baggage—it was leverage. My emotional intelligence wasn’t “soft”—it was a strategic superpower. My wisdom wasn’t outdated—it was battle-tested and invaluable.
By reframing my 50s as my power years, I reclaimed a surge of confidence, clarity, and purpose—and I realized how many women were quietly waiting for permission to do the same.
My bold vision is this: professional women in midlife around the globe claim midlife as their power years and activate their next chapter with purpose, passion, and profit—not by reinventing who they are, but by fully owning who they’ve become.
My origin story began with a professional reckoning that many accomplished women quietly fear.
After more than 25 years rising through executive leadership to become a Chief Marketing Officer, I was laid off due to a company merger. I assumed my track record would speak for itself. Instead, my job search was met with silence. No callbacks. No interviews. Just crickets.
It took months—and a lot of self-reflection—to name the truth: it wasn’t my capability or relevance that was the problem. It was ageism.
Well-meaning advisors suggested I “soften” my experience, hide seniority, and focus on appearing more “energetic.” I found that advice not only absurd, but deeply insulting. I had never felt more capable, confident, or clear.
That realization became the foundation of my TEDx talk, Unleashing the Power of Women Over 50, which has since garnered over 145,000 views and sparked global conversations about aging, relevance, and women’s earned power.
From that momentum, I founded Third30™, a coaching and thought-leadership platform dedicated to helping professional women in midlife navigate transition, reclaim confidence, and activate their next chapter with clarity and courage. Since then, I’ve worked with clients across industries who’ve reinvented careers, launched ventures, stepped into advisory and leadership roles, and reclaimed purpose on their own terms.
I’ve also been featured as a guest on multiple podcasts and platforms, sharing practical frameworks and deeply human insights on reinvention, leadership, and purpose.
What began as a personal awakening has become a movement—and my life’s work.
This talk is for women standing at a crossroads—successful on paper, but sensing that the old definition of success no longer fits. Heidi guides audiences through the internal and external shifts required to move from quiet dissatisfaction or uncertainty into a consciously chosen, purpose-driven next chapter.
Using her proprietary transition framework, Heidi helps women understand where they are in the midlife transition process and why feeling “stuck” is not failure, but a signal that something new is forming. She then shows how to release outdated success scripts, reconnect with purpose, and translate that clarity into practical next steps—without blowing up their lives or starting from scratch.
This is not about reinvention for reinvention’s sake. It’s about repositioning wisdom, redefining success, and activating aligned action—professionally and personally.
Key Takeaways:
How to recognize the difference between burnout, fear, and a true call for change
Letting go of identities and roles that no longer serve without guilt or self-sabotage
Clarifying purpose and direction before making big moves
Turning experience into meaningful work, income, and impact
Designing a next chapter rooted in purpose, passion, and profit
Target Audience:
Professional women 45–65, women’s leadership conferences, coaching and transformation events, mastermind and retreat audiences
Description:
This talk reframes midlife not as a career liability, but as a strategic advantage in today’s volatile, AI-accelerated, and trust-deficient business environment. Drawing on her 25+ years as a CMO and firsthand experience navigating age bias, Heidi reveals why organizations that overlook women 45+ are leaving leadership capability, institutional knowledge, and emotional intelligence on the table.
Rather than focusing on abstract inspiration, Heidi delivers a clear, business-grounded framework that helps organizations and individuals recognize, articulate, and deploy midlife expertise where it drives the most value—whether that’s stabilizing teams, mentoring emerging leaders, leading through change, or shaping strategy in moments of uncertainty.
For women in the audience, this talk provides language, confidence, and tools to reposition their experience as an asset, not something to apologize for. For leaders and organizations, it offers a practical lens to rethink retention, succession, and leadership development in a multigenerational workforce.
Key Takeaways:
Why emotional intelligence, pattern recognition, and judgment matter more—not less—in the age of AI
The hidden cost of sidelining experienced women (turnover, lost mentorship, stalled leadership pipelines)
How women can confidently articulate their value without “dumbing down” experience
Practical shifts leaders can make to better leverage midlife talent immediately
Target Audience:
Executives, HR and DEI leaders, professional associations, leadership teams, senior-level women
Description:
This signature keynote confronts one of the most costly and underexamined issues in today’s workforce: the systematic undervaluing of professional women over 50—just as they reach peak capability.
Drawing from her 25+ years as a Chief Marketing Officer, her TEDx talk with over 145,000 views, and hundreds of client conversations, Heidi exposes how ageism shows up subtly in hiring, promotion, visibility, and “culture fit” narratives—and why it’s a strategic failure in a world defined by complexity, constant change, and AI acceleration.
Heidi doesn’t deliver a generic empowerment talk. She gives audiences language, frameworks, and a reframe that helps women recognize their earned power and helps organizations understand what they are losing when experience is ignored. She walks participants through the psychological shift required to move from self-editing and invisibility to confidence, influence, and activation—without asking women to contort themselves to outdated norms.
For organizations, this keynote sparks a mindset shift around retention, leadership pipelines, mentorship, and succession. For women, it creates a profound internal permission slip: You are not past your prime—you are entering it.
Key Takeaways:
How age bias quietly erodes confidence, opportunity, and organizational strength
Why women over 50 bring unparalleled judgment, emotional intelligence, and leadership stability
A practical framework to reclaim visibility, voice, and influence in midlife
How women can stop shrinking and start leading from earned authority
What organizations can do immediately to better leverage midlife talent
Target Audience:
Senior-level professional women, corporate ERGs, leadership conferences, executive audiences, organizations focused on retention and leadership development
My best story is the moment I stopped accepting the lie that my best years were behind me.
For decades, I unconsciously absorbed society’s narrative that midlife marked the beginning of decline—less relevance, less opportunity, less power. And then I called B.S.
What I discovered on the other side was transformative: my experience wasn’t baggage—it was leverage. My emotional intelligence wasn’t “soft”—it was a strategic superpower. My wisdom wasn’t outdated—it was battle-tested and invaluable.
By reframing my 50s as my power years, I reclaimed a surge of confidence, clarity, and purpose—and I realized how many women were quietly waiting for permission to do the same.
My bold vision is this: professional women in midlife around the globe claim midlife as their power years and activate their next chapter with purpose, passion, and profit—not by reinventing who they are, but by fully owning who they’ve become.
My origin story began with a professional reckoning that many accomplished women quietly fear.
After more than 25 years rising through executive leadership to become a Chief Marketing Officer, I was laid off due to a company merger. I assumed my track record would speak for itself. Instead, my job search was met with silence. No callbacks. No interviews. Just crickets.
It took months—and a lot of self-reflection—to name the truth: it wasn’t my capability or relevance that was the problem. It was ageism.
Well-meaning advisors suggested I “soften” my experience, hide seniority, and focus on appearing more “energetic.” I found that advice not only absurd, but deeply insulting. I had never felt more capable, confident, or clear.
That realization became the foundation of my TEDx talk, Unleashing the Power of Women Over 50, which has since garnered over 145,000 views and sparked global conversations about aging, relevance, and women’s earned power.
From that momentum, I founded Third30™, a coaching and thought-leadership platform dedicated to helping professional women in midlife navigate transition, reclaim confidence, and activate their next chapter with clarity and courage. Since then, I’ve worked with clients across industries who’ve reinvented careers, launched ventures, stepped into advisory and leadership roles, and reclaimed purpose on their own terms.
I’ve also been featured as a guest on multiple podcasts and platforms, sharing practical frameworks and deeply human insights on reinvention, leadership, and purpose.
What began as a personal awakening has become a movement—and my life’s work.
This talk is for women standing at a crossroads—successful on paper, but sensing that the old definition of success no longer fits. Heidi guides audiences through the internal and external shifts required to move from quiet dissatisfaction or uncertainty into a consciously chosen, purpose-driven next chapter.
Using her proprietary transition framework, Heidi helps women understand where they are in the midlife transition process and why feeling “stuck” is not failure, but a signal that something new is forming. She then shows how to release outdated success scripts, reconnect with purpose, and translate that clarity into practical next steps—without blowing up their lives or starting from scratch.
This is not about reinvention for reinvention’s sake. It’s about repositioning wisdom, redefining success, and activating aligned action—professionally and personally.
Key Takeaways:
How to recognize the difference between burnout, fear, and a true call for change
Letting go of identities and roles that no longer serve without guilt or self-sabotage
Clarifying purpose and direction before making big moves
Turning experience into meaningful work, income, and impact
Designing a next chapter rooted in purpose, passion, and profit
Target Audience:
Professional women 45–65, women’s leadership conferences, coaching and transformation events, mastermind and retreat audiences
Description:
This talk reframes midlife not as a career liability, but as a strategic advantage in today’s volatile, AI-accelerated, and trust-deficient business environment. Drawing on her 25+ years as a CMO and firsthand experience navigating age bias, Heidi reveals why organizations that overlook women 45+ are leaving leadership capability, institutional knowledge, and emotional intelligence on the table.
Rather than focusing on abstract inspiration, Heidi delivers a clear, business-grounded framework that helps organizations and individuals recognize, articulate, and deploy midlife expertise where it drives the most value—whether that’s stabilizing teams, mentoring emerging leaders, leading through change, or shaping strategy in moments of uncertainty.
For women in the audience, this talk provides language, confidence, and tools to reposition their experience as an asset, not something to apologize for. For leaders and organizations, it offers a practical lens to rethink retention, succession, and leadership development in a multigenerational workforce.
Key Takeaways:
Why emotional intelligence, pattern recognition, and judgment matter more—not less—in the age of AI
The hidden cost of sidelining experienced women (turnover, lost mentorship, stalled leadership pipelines)
How women can confidently articulate their value without “dumbing down” experience
Practical shifts leaders can make to better leverage midlife talent immediately
Target Audience:
Executives, HR and DEI leaders, professional associations, leadership teams, senior-level women
Description:
This signature keynote confronts one of the most costly and underexamined issues in today’s workforce: the systematic undervaluing of professional women over 50—just as they reach peak capability.
Drawing from her 25+ years as a Chief Marketing Officer, her TEDx talk with over 145,000 views, and hundreds of client conversations, Heidi exposes how ageism shows up subtly in hiring, promotion, visibility, and “culture fit” narratives—and why it’s a strategic failure in a world defined by complexity, constant change, and AI acceleration.
Heidi doesn’t deliver a generic empowerment talk. She gives audiences language, frameworks, and a reframe that helps women recognize their earned power and helps organizations understand what they are losing when experience is ignored. She walks participants through the psychological shift required to move from self-editing and invisibility to confidence, influence, and activation—without asking women to contort themselves to outdated norms.
For organizations, this keynote sparks a mindset shift around retention, leadership pipelines, mentorship, and succession. For women, it creates a profound internal permission slip: You are not past your prime—you are entering it.
Key Takeaways:
How age bias quietly erodes confidence, opportunity, and organizational strength
Why women over 50 bring unparalleled judgment, emotional intelligence, and leadership stability
A practical framework to reclaim visibility, voice, and influence in midlife
How women can stop shrinking and start leading from earned authority
What organizations can do immediately to better leverage midlife talent
Target Audience:
Senior-level professional women, corporate ERGs, leadership conferences, executive audiences, organizations focused on retention and leadership development
