Somehow I Became “G” | Season #2, Issue 6

Welcome back to No Filter Fridays - caffeine-fuelled and chaos-approved.

I’m sharing the warts-and-all reality of rebuildingThe Mama Assembly™ from scratch - because too many of us try to figure it all out alone.

Each week I pull back the curtain on what I’m trying, testing, and learning as I go - the stuff that might just save another small business owner a few headaches (or a few hours lost to Canva).

If you’re at the start or somewhere in the middle of your own build, this is for you.

(If you missed how it all began, catch up in Season 2, Issue 1: The Epiphany to Pivot.)

Season #2 | Issue 6: Somehow I Became “G” (A TikTok Live Where Everything Went Wrong)

On Wednesday at 2:29 p.m., I made a choice that can only be described as… bold.

I hit Go Live on TikTok.

Not because I was fully ready.
Not because I had perfect lighting.
Not because I had a plan.
But because the kids were due home at 3:15 p.m., and I had exactly 46 minutes to look like a woman who had her life together.

I was going to print four of my new Pocket Guides — live — as a behind-the-scenes moment for my tiny but mighty audience.

Simple, right?

Except I went Live with a glowing neon background straight from the set of a gaming streamer with a sponsorship deal.

Blue shelves.
Pink rectangle.
Mood lighting.
It looked like I was hosting a tech conference in the metaverse.

I did know the neon background was on — I just couldn’t, for the life of me, work out how to turn it off.

I tried once.
Clicked around like a mum trying to fix the WiFi.
Nothing.

Tried again.
Still nothing.

So there I was, printing Pocket Guides… inside what looked like the VIP lounge of a nightclub.

People were joining like, “Wow, this setup is… something.”
And I’m sitting there half-laughing, half-sweating, thinking,
“This is not the cosy mum-at-her-desk energy I was going for.”

On the second attempt, I finally found the setting and switched it off — instantly going from “DJ Jazzy Mum” to “woman in her office trying her best.”

The first Pocket Guide printed beautifully — every page crisp, clear, and honestly… I was a bit proud of myself.
I held it up thinking, “Look at me go. Professional printer woman.”

Then I moved on to print the cover of the second Pocket Guide.

That’s when the universe said,
“Cute. Let’s humble her.”

The printer whirred.
Thought about it.
Sighed loudly.
And then…
ran out of ink.

Mid-Live.
Mid-process.
Eighteen minutes in.

One gorgeous finished Pocket Guide, and one very blank cover page that looked like it had been submitted to HR for review.

Of course I had to end the Live early — because there’s only so long a woman can stand there holding a blank page like a hostage note with no demands.

And there I was, ending the Live holding up my one beautifully printed Pocket Guide… completely backwards, because of course TikTok flips everything like it’s trying to confuse future archaeologists.

I’m proudly showing off this gorgeous little book I just made — and to everyone watching, it looked like an encrypted message or a secret clue from The Da Vinci Code.

Honestly? Perfect metaphor for midlife reinvention:
you finally finish the thing…
and the camera insists on showing it backwards.

No likes.
No gifts.
No highlights.
A solid 100 viewers drifting through like, “She seems nice… but what is happening?”

But here’s the twist:

The same week this masterpiece of chaos occurred, someone from GravitasQ reached out wanting me in their creator program.

First the comment....

Then came the DM...

So let’s recap:

• I accidentally hosted a Live from inside a neon nightclub

• Printed one of four planned Pocket Guides

• Ran out of ink

• Looked like I was flipping through mirrored, backwards documents

• And STILL someone important thought, “Yes. Her. We want her.”

Honestly? Same, babes.
I’d want me too.

Which made me realise something: the right people will find you — even when your camera settings are fighting for custody.

Because this is what nobody tells you about starting something in midlife:

It’s always a little backwards.
A little rushed.
A little messy.
A little chaotic.
And still — somehow — absolutely right.

And the funniest part?
This wasn’t even my first mid-Live mum moment.

On Monday, during a casual test Live with my cohost for another series, my son wandered in on camera to say hello.
Cute.
Wholesome.

Then one of his 10-year-old friends — TEN — became our biggest gifter of the day:
✨ 10 diamonds
✨ 1 fluffy penguin

The next morning at school, they apparently talked about it like I was some sort of celebrity.

And my son tells me, very proudly:

“Mum, they think you’re G.”

I had to ask what that meant.
Turns out it’s short for “Good.”
Like… barely one rung below GOAT.

Honestly?
At this stage of midlife, with a printer that stages walkouts and a camera that mirrors everything, being called G by a pack of ten-year-olds is the greatest endorsement of my entire creator career.

I’ll take it.
It’s practically legendary status.

And just when I thought the week couldn’t get any more absurd... TikTok’s Weekly Search Insights casually informed me that my content appeared in search over 23,000 times this week — which is hilarious, considering I spent half my Live trapped inside a nightclub background and the other half holding my Pocket Guide backwards.

The Real Message Behind the Chaos

This week reminded me of something important:

You don’t need perfect conditions to start.
You just need to start before the school bell rings.

You can show up:

• with the wrong camera settings

• with half your planned items

• with a printer that quits

• and a timeline dictated by school pickup
  

And it still counts.

Not just “counts” — it compounds.
Because every time you show up messy, you build a muscle:
the “done is better than pristine” muscle.

And that muscle helps women reinvent themselves more than any vision board ever will.

Midlife women often wait for perfect timing, perfect tools, perfect confidence — but the truth is, most transformations start in the middle of real-life chaos.

👉TRY THIS: Your One Small Step This Week

Ask yourself:

“What’s one thing I could do for 15 minutes, even if it’s messy, even if the ink runs out?”

Then do that thing.

Don’t wait for quiet.
Don’t wait for confidence.
Don’t wait for the right lighting.
Don’t wait for the perfect plan.

Just start the thing.
The clarity comes later.
The ink can be replaced.

And who knows…
your kid’s friends might think you’re legendary by Monday.

✨ Stay in the Loop

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	💬 No Filter Fridays Real talk on reinvention, resilience, and rebuilding life after corporate. Every Friday, I share the messy, hilarious, and liberating reality of starting over. 👉Subscribe to No Filter Fridays
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Thanks for reading,

Gill x

Fuelled by caffeine, curiosity, and occasionally vodka.

If You’re Curious What I Actually Did This Week…

(Warts, wins, printer ink, and midlife magic below 👇)

If you think content creators “just jump on and post a video,” let me give you a small taste of what actually went down.

🧩 This week I:

• hosted another TikTok Live and printed an entire Pocket Guide… then ran out of ink printing the second one and had to end the Live 18 minutes in
• accidentally went Live inside a neon nightclub background → took me two attempts to turn it off → recovered mid-stream like a woman who does not have time for metaphysical lighting
• held my beautifully printed Pocket Guide backwards because TikTok flips the camera, which I’m now viewing as a personal attack
• discovered that after all this, GravitasQ still wants me in their creator program
• learned from my son that his ten-year-old friends now refer to me as “G” (stands for Good, but listen — I’m claiming near-GOAT status, it’s fine)
• TikTok Search Visibility: 23,000+ search appearances this week (via TikTok’s Weekly Search Insights — apparently my midlife chaos is ranking surprisingly well)
• cleaned up my TikTok follower list and watched my count go up… then down… then up again
• prepped more Pocket Editions for printing once my emergency ink arrives (tomorrow… hopefully)
• cross-posted across LinkedIn, Facebook, IG, Pinterest, and YouTube like a one-woman media conglomerate
• gained three new YouTube followers (!!) which is frankly a meteoric rise given I had one last week
• updated my Links page, my bios, my imagery, and aligned all my handles so the internet now actually knows who I am
• kept building The Mama Assembly™ ecosystem in public with alt text, CTAs, workflows, and all the invisible labour creators forget to mention
• juggled school runs, birthday planning, printer meltdowns, and the mental load of remembering whose socks belong to which child

Honestly?
I’m thriving. And I’m moving.

Because once you start showing up — even backwards, even chaotic, even out of ink — you realise you’re not the only one plotting something big.

📊 WOW (Week on Week) Summary = FULL TRANSPARENCY (feat. 23,000+ TikTok search appearances)

Because reinvention shouldn’t feel mystical.
It should feel measurable.

Progress isn’t always viral.
Sometimes it’s in the quiet metrics.

Here’s what shifted this week:

LinkedIn

• Gill Townsend followers: +5 (0.4%)

• Post impressions: +276 (15.6%)

• The Mama Assembly™ company followers: +3 (6.0%)

• NFF subscribers via LinkedIn: +2 (1.1%)

• Newsletter article views: +17 (26.6%)

• The Mama Assembly visitors: +15 (500%) ← tiny numerator, massive momentum

Other Socials

• TikTok: +13 followers (16.1%) and my first ever diamonds + fluffy penguin + flares

• Facebook: +1 (0.3%)

• Instagram: 0 change (holding steady)

• Pinterest: 0 change (still early days)

• YouTube: +3 (300% — meteoric rise from 1 to 4 🎉)

This Week’s Build-In-Public Check-In

Small numbers.
Real progress.
Zero fluff.

Every follow, every reader, every curious click matters when you’re building something from scratch — especially in midlife, when nobody expects you to start again.

It’s not viral.
It’s not dramatic.
It’s not the overnight success story social media tries to sell.

It’s steady.
It’s real.
It’s momentum.

And if you delete bots and watch your follower count go down?
Good.

You’re clearing space
for the people
who are actually meant
to be in your corner.

Progress isn’t always loud. But it is happening — consistently, quietly, and in ways I didn’t expect seven Lives ago.

Sometimes it’s hidden in spreadsheets, printer trays, and the quiet proof that momentum is happening — one tiny, perfect step at a time.

Here’s to more imperfect Lives, more ink, and more midlife women choosing to start before they’re ready.