As her oldest child was applying to college, Julie realized she needed to plan for her next act. She rekindled her passion for fashion and launched J. Markell Designs, with the goal to provide more reasonably-priced exotic-skin handbags and accessories.
When her beloved brother-in-law, Curt, passed away too young, Susan reevaluated her life, got involved with restorative justice, and opened Curt’s Café, with the mission to help at-risk, underserved young adults coming out of the prison system. Three years later, she opened a second location to help teen mothers as well.
When an unexpected illness hit her daughter, Eva chose to reconsider her path and craft the second half of her life in a way that’s true to her passions. She has launched Indigo, a VIP membership club that connects older adults with opportunities, experiences, and connections that enable them to thrive.
As a specialist in the relationship of the built environment to the well being of seniors, what trends are you seeing?
First, finally people across society are beginning to see the importance and impact of good design. More builders are reporting having clients asking for features that enable successful aging in place.
Lucinda grew up with an abusive mother and married a narcissist. It took her daughter’s plea for her to leave everything behind, including her husband, and start over. She recounts her life, full of abuse but also adventure and comic moments, in her memoir, Walking Over Eggshells.
A narrow escape from a charging stallion would cement Margaretha’s love of horses, but it would take her deteriorating eyesight after 20 years as a medical doctor for Margaretha to combine that love with her therapeutic training—and begin hosting transformational retreats in the Gascony region of France.
When Cecil was postpartum at age 40, she was distressed at the state of her hair, skin, and waistline, and shared her dismay with her sister, a gynecologist specializing in hormonal wellness. They formed a partnership to help women achieve hormonal balance and vitality through their lifetime, with VENeffect.
Your book focuses on professional reinvention. When thinking about my audience of women in midlife, what challenges do you see them struggling with midway through their careers?
I think the biggest struggle is that many mid-career professionals assume – erroneously – that it’s too late for them to reinvent. As I discovered in the course of researching my book Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future, it’s entirely possible to reinvent yourself professionally at any age. Of course, there are important factors to be considered; if you need to keep earning a robust salary, you can’t turn on a dime and jump into an entirely new career right away. But you can certainly begin to position yourself for a positive change.
At 40, when Lee thought she was finally launching her next act, her husband left her and their daughter for an old girlfriend, after having squandered all their money. It would nearly ten years of working two or three jobs at a time for Lee to get back on her feet and relaunch her dream with a new book, where she somehow finds humor in her misadventures.
