Amanda de Cadenet on reframing ambition and success in midlife

The Shift with Sam Baker

My guest today has lived a lot of lives in her 50 years.

If you were knocking around in 1990, Amanda de Cadenet burst into your world when she became presenter on the seminal late night TV show, The Word, at 18 and appeared most days on the front of the British tabloids.

Like many young women trapped in the public gaze, she has spent the rest of her life wresting back control.

Since then she has achieved international success as a photographer (she was the youngest woman ever to shoot a Vogue cover), created and hosted The Conversation podcast series in which she’s interviewed the likes of Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and Jane Fonda… And founded GirlGaze, which saw her named one of the Most creative people in business by Fast Company.

But what does 50 look like when you’ve been in the public eye since the age of 16?

Amanda joined me from her home in LA to talk about the lifelong project of reclaiming her own narrative, surviving on-stage perimenopause moments, going back to basics after losing her dad, Not having a five year plan for the first time in her life And why The new love of her life is a camper van.

We started by talking about the impact of being constantly shamed by the British press in her teens…

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