The 40 Portal Project

What happens when women share real wisdom and honest stories about aging with each other?

We Reclaim The Narrative. We Embolden Ourselves And Each Other. We Transform the World Around Us.

The Story

It all started the night before my 40th birthday.

I love collecting wise words from other women and building connection through the stories we share.

So I decided to hold court (in my emerald green satin slip dress!) at the local wine-bar in our little Hudson Valley village. I issued a siren call to my female friends, acquaintances, and beloveds — “I’m holding court from 5-7pm. I’d love to have you join. This is not exclusive, share this out, can’t wait to sit together.”

As I got ready to head to my “non-party party” (Any other women love to deflect and downplay their own spotlight? yeesh!), I grabbed a blank copy of 8x11 sketch book that I use in my own daily Morning Pages practice. Like covering your text books in grade school with paper grocery bags, I handmade a new “The 40 Portal” cover for my book.

I wanted to ask the women who came to my celebration to fill it with their lived wisdom, if they were over 40, and their vulnerable questions, if they were not yet 40.

I hesitated. This was kind of silly and stupid, right? Like “Please Sign My Year Book.”

But I knew I would REGRET it if I had not asked. If I missed this moment to gather these wise women and ask them to share their stories. I’d regret it. Something potent and powerful and radical was brewing — I could feel it in my heart.

F*ck it, I thought and said out loud to myself:

“Commit to the bit of being yourself.”

So I brought my little note book and humbly asked the women there to start leaving their words of wisdom and vulnerable questions in reply to my prompts —

“If you have passed the threshold over 40, tell us what you know, trust, have learned & earned & burned. It can be short & sweet, silly & irreverent, sexy or serious — I’m here for all of it.”

— or —

“If you are not yet 40, what’s an open question you’re living? What longing, dream, dear, desire, do you want to put out into the universe?”

The responses I got in the book that night were nothing short of ASTOUNDING.

So I began sending handwritten letters to women across the country — friends, colleagues, blood and soul sisters and sisters-in-law. I asked them to respond by hand, to take time with their truth, to share what they wished someone had told them about becoming, about aging, about all of it.

What came back changed everything.

Letter after letter arrived filled with raw honesty I had never heard before. Women responded with ferocity and felicity. With grit and grace. With humor and sage advice. With open questions and boundaries claimed.

They wrote about crossing thresholds—stepping into their 40s, leaving careers, ending relationships, choosing courage over comfort. They revealed so much courage, depth, curiosity, and playfulness than we might ever imagine is hiding beneath the surface when we look at each other (or make quick judgments about women we don’t know).

Reading their handwritten words on my back porch, I cried. Not from sadness, but from recognition. Each letter felt like a woman raising her hand and saying, “Me too. I've been there. You’re not alone.”

That’s when I realized: this isn’t just a collection of letters. This is a portal.

When one woman tells her truth, she gives other women WILD permission to tell theirs.

The responses I’ve received aren’t just letters — they're healing balm, soul medicine, and radical acts.

They’re proof that:

  • You’re not alone in how you feel, even if you’re lost, still wandering, or doubting yourself when everyone else seems to have it “figured out” by now (spoiler: the juiciest women I’ve received letters from ARE still experimenting, creating, making, seeking, iterating no matter the decade they’re in!)

  • It’s normal to outgrow the person you used to be or who you THOUGHT you were supposed to be

  • Transformation is terrifying and necessary and beautiful and we’re all still learning

  • We need each other's courage to cross the thresholds that matter. We need to reclaim the narrative and tell our own stories. Our connections are key and require a courageous vulnerability that we are all capable of, especially when we embody that with each other.

Here’s what I promised the women that night: 

“I’ll try to do something beautiful with this little book of blessings.”

Now, I’d love to hear from you.

READY TO SHARE YOUR HANDWRITTEN WISDOM?

Click the button to access the contribution form where you'll receive detailed guidelines, mailing instructions, and give permission for your anonymous voice to be part of this transformational collection.

All contributions are kept completely anonymous. Only your wisdom will be shared, never your identity.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS

Contribute to the Portal

Your story—whatever stage of life you’re in—has the power to help another woman remember who she is beneath all the armor.

Maybe you’re:

  • Standing at a threshold, ready to step into something new

  • Looking back on a transformation that changed everything

  • In the middle of becoming, not sure what comes next

  • Carrying wisdom you wish someone had shared with you

Your voice belongs in this collection.

How to Contribute:

Write by hand - Pen and paper, not computer. There’s magic in the connection between heart, hand, and page. Fill out the form below so you can see where to mail in your contribution!

Share your truth - If you are over 40: What have you learned, earned, or burned? What do you wish someone had told you? What threshold are you now crossing? If you are not yet 40: What’s an open question you’re living? What longing, desire, dream, or fear do you want to put out into the universe?

Be honest - This isn’t about inspiration quotes. It's about real experiences, messy truths, hard-won wisdom.

Send it in - Your handwritten contribution becomes part of something larger than any of us alone. Fill out the form below so you can mail in your contribution.

The 40 Portal Project

Something extraordinary happens when women stop performing and start sharing their real stories.

What began as handwritten letters for my 40th birthday has become a revolutionary collection of multigenerational wisdom—women’s authentic voices creating medicine for other women’s becoming.

When we tell the truth about ourselves in our own voices, we grant wild permission for other women to do the same.

Your voice—whatever threshold you’re standing at—might be exactly what another woman needs to remember who she really is.


This isn’t just a book project.


It’s a quiet & powerful revolution of women choosing truth over armor, presence over performance, and collective wisdom over isolated struggle.

How I Serve People

Corporate Speaking

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Transform your teams by teaching folks how to become anchors of calm instead of sources of escalation. Perfect for high-pressure industries ready to move beyond surface-level stress management.

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Are you standing at the threshold of becoming?
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India Pilgrimage
March 2026

Northern India | March 1-14
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What Cath’s Clients Say:

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Welcome,
Welcome,
Welcome.

I'm Catherine Zack, but you can call me Cath.
I work with people who are ready to listen for the sound of their own voice.

I see you—you’ve spent a lifetime checking the right boxes, collecting the degrees, climbing the ladders. You've achieved what others call success.

And yet... you’ve reached a moment where you’re ready to ask: Are these choices really my own? Is there better alignment between my inner landscape and my outer reality?

As a former Big Law attorney who walked away from the partnership track to find something more sustainable and true, I understand the complexity of transformation without abandoning excellence.

My approach bridges ancient wisdom with modern life—because sustainable leadership requires more than strategy. It requires connection to something timeless and true.