I think a lot of people are ignoring the gendered context of the narrative she's presenting: the cultural notion that, as a woman, your value is measured in terms of your attractiveness and fertility.

Those decline as you get older, and so does your value. When you are in your 20s you need to "make hay while the sun is shining", leveraging that to get where you want in life before the clock runs out.

It's not a healthy narrative, nor one I agree with. But you can see why she might feel the way she does; she has really squandered the opportunity provided by her youthful beauty.

I feel it myself (as a 36yo transwoman), compounded by a tech industry I work in that also has weird ideas about the value of youth.

She needs to not just "get out of a rut" - she needs to realize that her value to the world is not being attractive, fertile, or wealthy. She needs to get to a place where she feels like she's providing value to others that goes beyond that.

It's an uphill climb, as some of the posts here make very clear - there are a lot of people who view a woman's worth in a similar fashion.