Eleanor Mills

Eleanor Mills is one of the UK’s leading voices on midlife, female empowerment and reinvention. A former Editorial Director of The Sunday Times, Eleanor has spent more than two decades at the forefront of British journalism, shaping the national conversation on politics, culture and women’s issues. Today, she has turned her attention to championing women in midlife, reframing this stage of life as one of opportunity and power. Her work through NOON.org.uk, the media platform and thriving community she founded, has made her a go-to commentator for organisations seeking to engage and understand midlife women.

Eleanor began her career in journalism at The Daily Telegraph, where she became the youngest ever Features Editor, before moving to The Sunday Times in 1998. Over her twenty-three years at the paper, she rose to become Editor of The Sunday Times Magazine and later Editorial Director. Alongside her editorial roles, she served as Chair of Women in Journalism UK from 2014 to 2021, leading campaigns on newsroom diversity and launching a mentoring scheme that benefited more than 500 young women. These roles gave Eleanor a unique insight into the challenges and opportunities facing women across generations, shaping her passion for creating a more inclusive narrative around midlife.

In 2024, Eleanor released her bestselling book Much More to Come: Lessons on the Mayhem and Magnificence of Midlife, published by HarperCollins. The book quickly became a Times bestseller and has been celebrated for its empowering message about embracing change and transformation in midlife. Through NOON, she has led groundbreaking research projects including Fearless and Thriving with HSBC, which explored the rise of midlife female entrepreneurs, and The Rise of the Queenager with Accenture, which shed light on the economic power of women over 45. Eleanor also coined the term ‘Queenagers’ to celebrate women in midlife, and her Substack newsletter, The Queenager, is now a bestseller.

As a keynote speaker, Eleanor brings journalistic rigour, warmth and inspiration to the stage. She has interviewed some of the world’s most prominent leaders – from Mikhail Gorbachev to Sheryl Sandberg and the Dalai Lama – and uses her storytelling skills to help audiences find their own voice. Her talks explore the untapped spending power of midlife women, the art of reinventing yourself and how businesses can better harness the skills of midlife talent. Eleanor leaves audiences motivated to embrace change and organisations equipped to engage a demographic that controls over 70% of global wealth.