The One Where I Talk To Author & Founder of Savvy Auntie, Melanie Notkin

Melanie is an entrepreneur, author, media contributor, speaker, marketer, and a leading voice of childless, often single, women and men. In 2008, she founded ‘Savvy Auntie: A Celebration Of Modern Aunthood,’ a multiplatform lifestyle brand for cool aunts, great-aunts, godmothers and all women who love kids. Melanie is author of two books, ‘Savvy Auntie: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers and All Women Who Love Kids’; and ‘Otherhood: Modern Women Finding A New Kind Of Happiness.’

In this episode, Melanie and I talk about how she set up the Savvy Auntie community in 2008; her six nieces and nephews (including two sets of twin girls!); and how she coined the term PANK (Professional Aunt No Kids).

We discuss Melanie’s journey of not having children, and how she always had a vision of what she thought her life would be, which included a wedding in her back yard and twin girls; how in her mid-30s she went through an incredibly difficult time as she realised she may not have children of her own; how she wrote about her grief of not having children in her book, Otherhood, and how her desire for children felt like an ‘existential yearning.’

Melanie also talks about being happy that she never had her eggs frozen; how feelings of desperation and anxiety around not having children can come to an end with the arrival of menopause; and how those women who aren’t willing to settle for a ‘lesser love’ - the ‘reinvented spinsters’ - tend to be at a certain level of success in their lives.

Follow Melanie on Instagram: @savvyauntie
Follow Melanie on Twitter: @SavvyAuntie

UK Link to Melanie’s book, Savvy Auntie: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Savvy-Auntie-Ultimate-Great-Aunts-Godmothers/dp/0061999970

UK Link to Melanie’s book, Otherhood: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Otherhood-Modern-Women-Finding-Happiness/dp/1580055710/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CCW1PZSI3BZ4&keywords=otherhood&qid=1663096908&s=books&sprefix=otherhood%2Cstripbooks%2C80&sr=1-1

US Link to Melanie’s book, Savvy Auntie: https://www.amazon.com/Savvy-Auntie-Ultimate

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And thank you so much for listening!