Beyond Gen Z: The $45 Trillion Opportunity That Could Redefine Growth
For more than a decade, we’ve chased youth.
Every brand brief starts the same way:
“We need to reach Gen Z.”
We’ve built labs, dashboards, and decks decoding Gen Z slang, but while we were looking down at our phones, a different audience was quietly reshaping the world: women aged 35 to 65.
They are redefining health, wealth, leadership, and meaning and yet, in boardrooms and brainstorms, they remain invisible.
The contrast couldn’t be clearer.
One generation has been studied, segmented, and celebrated — the other, underestimated.
While Gen Z dominates headlines, women 35 + are driving half of global spending, reshaping health, and redefining what growth looks like in real life.
From Disruption → Regeneration
The last decade was about disruption — youth, speed, novelty.
The next one will be about regeneration — wisdom, balance, renewal.
Midlife women are not an “aging” segment; they are a regenerative force:
Re-architecting careers around purpose and impact.
Reframing health from appearance to vitality.
Redefining success from growth at all costs to growth that lasts.
They’re not slowing down — they’re rewriting the script.
What Brands Haven’t Understood
Longevity is the new innovation frontier.
Women 35+ will live, lead, and spend for another 40 years.
Women now live ~81 years (CDC) — with 1.3× higher lifetime healthcare costs than men and twice the lifespan of 1900 (Our World in Data).
50+ consumers drive > 50 % of U.S. spending but receive only 5-10 % of marketing budgets (WARC).
Women control ~75 % of discretionary spending by 2030 (NielsenIQ).
They already influence 70-80 % of consumer purchases (Capital One Research).
And when companies support menopause transitions, workforce retention rises ~20 % (Bank of America Workplace Report).
The Future Pipeline: Gen Z → Regenerative Women
The first wave enters midlife ~2044, and by 2060 100 % of Gen Z will join the regenerative-woman economy.
Today’s Gen Z innovation labs are tomorrow’s midlife markets — a $ 45 trillion force in waiting.
Why I’m Writing This
Because the future of growth won’t come from chasing the next viral trend.
It will come from seeing what’s been unseen — the women who hold families, teams, and economies together while navigating profound biological, emotional, and societal shifts.
At Netra CRB, we call this movement the Regenerative Woman Economy.
It’s not just a demographic; it’s a design principle for the next decade of brand innovation.
An Invitation
Over the coming months, I’ll share insights on how brands can design products, policies, and narratives that truly support women 35 +.
This is the beginning of a new conversation — about maturity, reinvention, and the kind of growth the world actually needs.
Iris Coldibelli | Founder, Netra CRB — Regenerative Brand & Innovation Consultancy
#LongevityEconomy #WomenInInnovation #BrandStrategy #RegenerativeGrowth #NetraCRB
