👋 56. Retired. Starting over.

For four decades,
I had the answers.
Now I have time.

Time to try the things I always put off. Time to be bad at something. Time to figure out who I am when I'm not defined by what I do.

So here I am. Novice Again. And I'd love you to come with me.

▶  Watch on YouTube Read the Story
Start Fresh Bake Boldly Learn Always
N/A
Not Applicable · Novice Again
"Our culture quietly tells women over 50 that we're invisible. Off the radar. Past our prime. Not on this channel."
40
Years in corporate life
56
Age. Just getting started.
0
Prior expertise required
∞
Things left to try
"No expertise. No perfection. No apologies. Just a woman with the audacity to begin."
Adventure #1 Sourdough 🍞
The Story

I was the expert.
Now I'm the beginner.

For 40 years I was the one with the title, the identity, the answers. I knew what I was doing. I was good at it. And then I retired — and for the first time in my adult life, I had no idea what I was doing.

That's terrifying. It's also, it turns out, brilliant. Because being a beginner means everything is interesting again. Every small win matters. Every failure teaches you something. And nobody expects you to be perfect.

Novice Again is the honest account of what happens when you decide — later in life, with no particular expertise — to try things anyway.

About the name — N/A

There's a double meaning. Novice Again, yes. But also N/A — Not Applicable. That's what our culture quietly tells women over 50. That we're invisible. Off the radar. Past our prime. This channel is a direct, cheerful, unapologetic refusal of that idea.

🌱
Start Fresh No prior knowledge required. No experience expected. Just curiosity and a willingness to begin — wherever you are, whatever your age.
🔥
Bake Boldly Try things. Make mistakes. The point isn't perfection — it's the doing of it. The flat loaf isn't a failure. It's data.
📖
Learn Always Every attempt teaches you something. We're just paying attention to what that is — and doing it again, a little better.
"Subscribe and come be a beginner with me. No expertise. No perfection. No apologies. Just an open invitation to begin."
Adventures

One thing at a time.
More things to come.

Novice Again isn't about one skill. It's about the habit of trying. Sourdough is where it started — but this is a place that grows with every new thing picked up, attempted, and (sometimes) mastered. Watch this space.

🍞

Sourdough Baking

Growing a starter from scratch. Baking the first loaf. Logging every attempt — the good ones and the flat ones. There's even an app.

Live now
🌿

Next Adventure

Something new is being attempted. It will probably go wrong at least once. That's entirely the point.

Coming soon
🎨

And Another

The list of things to try is longer than the time available. That's a good problem to have at 56.

Coming soon
✨

Who Knows

Retirement means the schedule is open. Suggestions welcome. Failures expected. Progress guaranteed.

Coming soon
Adventure #1 — Sourdough

The app that's helping
the first loaf happen.

Sourdough is the first Novice Again adventure — and it has its own dedicated app. Built for complete beginners and experienced bakers alike. Follow the guided first loaf, bring your own recipe, or get help with a bake in progress.

🌱

Starter Tracker

Record every feed, track your ratios, and let the app learn your kitchen. It tells you when your starter will be ripe — based on your own history, not guesswork.

🍞

First Loaf Guide

A 7-step guided workflow for complete beginners. No assumed knowledge, no jargon. Just the next thing to do, explained simply and without fuss.

✍️

Recipe Builder

Bring your own recipe or build one from scratch. Customise hydration, flour blends, and timing. Your recipe, tracked alongside you.

📸

Bake Log

Every bake you log — with photos, notes, and ratings — lives in your account and follows you across every device. Your baking history, always at hand.

🔍

Check My Bake

Mid-bake and something looks off? Get help with a bake in progress. Describe what you're seeing and get clear, practical guidance.

📊

Progress Tracking

Watch your baking improve over time. Your notes, your patterns, your wins — all in one place. Because every loaf is a lesson.

Free during beta — try it now

The app is free to use during the beta programme. Sign in to save your bakes, recipes, and notes across every device — or just start as a guest. No download needed.
Pricing will be introduced after beta. Early users get in first.

Open the App → ▶ Watch First
Watch

The honest version.
On YouTube.

The Novice Again YouTube channel is where the real story lives. No polished expertise. No pretending it went right the first time. Just an honest look at what it's like to pick something up and learn it — at 56, in retirement, with no particular head start.

Sourdough is the current chapter. Watch the starter get fed, the dough get shaped, and the loaves come out — good ones and bad ones both.

▶  Watch @noviceagain on YouTube
👩
The story behind Novice Again 40 years corporate. Now this.
🌱
Growing a starter from scratch Day by day, from flour and water alone
🍞
Baking the first loaf The full process — no steps skipped
😬
When it goes wrong Flat loaves, sticky dough, and what I learned
N/A
Not Applicable  ·  Novice Again

"A woman with the audacity to begin —
and an open invitation for you to begin with me."

Novice Again is for anyone who's decided — at whatever age, for whatever reason — to start something new. To be bad at it first. To keep going anyway. You don't need experience. You just need to begin.

Start Fresh Bake Boldly Learn Always
▶  Subscribe on YouTube