After more than 20 years working across events, marketing and consulting globally, Ness Heckscher is doing what many professionals her age are contemplating: transitioning into what comes next whilst building something meaningful on her own terms.

That "something" is writing—sharing the practical frameworks she's used to navigate life transformation, build a consulting business, working internationally and design a life that prioritises freedom over status.

Why She Writes About Midlife Reinvention

Ness didn't set out to write books about career change. She set out to solve her own problems.

How do you leave a secure corporate role and build a consulting business? How do you work internationally without sacrificing flexibility? How do you monetise skills you didn't know were valuable? And how do you approach retirement without losing your sense of purpose?

She figured it out by doing it—spending nearly a decade living and working in the Middle East, building a freelance consulting practice, delivering major projects across multiple industries and eventually returning to Australia to design what comes next.

Now in her 50s and approaching retirement, Ness writes to help other professionals do the same: reinvent their careers, monetise their expertise and build second acts that are better than their first.

What She Brings to the Conversation

Ness has worked in sales, travel and tourism, sports marketing, events and freelance consulting—managing multi-million dollar projects globally and learning what actually works when changing direction after 40.

The Midlife Reinvention Series bridges traditional wisdom with today's realities. Ness combines 20+ years of experience with the practical challenges of the current landscape—AI transforming industries, hybrid and remote work creating new possibilities, and contract work replacing permanent roles.

She's lived it all: building a business before remote work was normalised, navigating periods without contracts, adapting as technology reshapes entire industries. These books show you how to use these same forces to your advantage—building careers and lifestyles that are more flexible, more profitable and aligned with how you actually want to live.

Whether readers want to consult, change careers, work remotely, monetise hidden skills or design a purposeful retirement, Ness has either done it herself or is in the process of doing it.

Beyond the Books

Ness lives in Sydney with her partner and their two cats, Steve and Alan, who generously allow her to live in their house and occasionally assist with writing by sitting on the keyboard.

She's a storyteller, avid traveller, beach enthusiast and someone who knows exactly how to get an elephant to the 21st floor of a ballroom (ask her).

Ness writes for people navigating the same questions she asked herself: What's next? How do I get there? And can I actually pull this off? (Spoiler: you can.)