Hi. I’m Malika. Welcome To The Thriving Lady!

I am so glad you’re here!

The Thriving Lady is a community for women aged 40+ who desire to live their best lives.

We are on the fringes of young and middle age.

We are still going strong in our careers, seeking a career change, or thinking about retirement.

We are happily married, never married or newly single.

We exchange busyness for simplicity, focusing on what matters most.

We were made to thrive, regardless of our age…let’s thrive together!

About Me

I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and I still call it home.

I love it here but I am open to wherever God wants to take me…except someplace really cold. I do not like cold weather!

I am single with no children, footloose and fancy-free as they say. I endeavor to live life to the fullest, spending quality time with family and friends, trying new things, and being fearless.

I’ve also enjoyed a 10 + year career as a clinical social worker. I am so grateful that I get to work in a field that is all about empowering people to live their best lives.

Most importantly, I am a fully devoted believer in Jesus Christ! My relationship with God is my foundation and I cannot imagine where I’d be without it!

The Why Behind ‘The Thriving Lady’

In March of 2018, I decided to test out my creative juices and start a blog.

The Thriving Lady began as a faith-based lifestyle blog, where I wrote about various topics like relationships, money, health, and wellness, intertwining my Christian beliefs into each blog post.

After about a year, I decided that this wasn’t working; I needed to separate my lifestyle content from my faith content. So, I launched Fearless | Faithful, an exclusively Christian-based blog.

At the time, I also began pursuing a minimalist lifestyle, and decided that The Thriving Lady would continue, with a focus on personal finance and minimalism.

#FAIL

That didn’t work. It took so much effort for me to write from an authentic place. Sure, I had a desire to rid my space of things I didn’t need, and was still passionate about personal finance. But, I felt like I was writing from a place of canned advice than from real authenticity.

I was also going through a bit of a transition myself. At the end of 2018, I left my then job due to severe burnout.

I was 39 years old, and my career was at a crossroads. I had placed so much of my identity in my role as a social worker that I really didn’t know who I was apart from it. My perceived failure in my career led to a distorted belief that I was failing at life!

I began feeling like time was running out. Like I had to hurry up and make things happen before it was too late. Quite melodramatic, but this is truly how I was feeling.

Then, in 2019, I turned 40. I was barely blogging, but still had a burning desire to write from my heart.

At the time, I had also started searching for lifestyle blogs for women in their 40s. This searching was not so much for blogging research, but to find answers to my own personal questions related to wellness, finance, and simple living.

What I found was that many of these women over 40 and midlife blogs were primarily focused on fashion and beauty. Sure, they were great blogs, but I was looking for something more. And I knew I couldn’t be the only one. So, I decided to create the community that I was searching for.

The Thriving Lady is a lifestyle blog for women 40+ seeking advice, tips, and realness as they navigate this thing called life.

The Thriving Lady is for you if you’re a 40+ woman who:

• Struggles with budgeting, consumer debt, and over-consumption
• Is at a crossroads in your career, unsure if you want to keep going or make a change
• Wants to better manage your time and be more productive, letting go of your busyness badge of honor
• Wants to simplify your life, letting go of possessions that no longer serve you
• Is on a path towards wellness of body, mind, and spirit

I plan to share authentically, with a combination of tips, advice, and personal reflections about how I’m thriving into my 40s and beyond.

I welcome you here and I hope you’ll find what you need to live your best 40+ life.

A Few Reads To Get Started

Why I’m Starting A Minimalist Lifestyle

4 Hidden Costs of Financial Anxiety + How To Overcome Them

Emergency Funds, Sinking Funds & Why You Need Both

Crush Your Goals With The 12 Week Year

The Thriving Lady YouTube Community

I started a YouTube channel in November 2017 as a creative outlet, sharing videos on topics such as weight loss, decluttering, and personal finance.

YouTube is a search engine (it is owned by Google!), a place where people go to find help on various topics.

I create videos related to the content published on this blog, but I also like to add in the occasional “fun” videos as well. Some of the posts you’ll find here will have an accompanying YouTube video. Feel free to subscribe to the channel!

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