The Surprising Truth About Women Over 50
today
i’m going to reveal to you the
surprising truth
about women over 50 but first
i’d like to invite you to come with me
on a journey to a beautiful park called
lake meadows
it’s the long hot summer of 76
we can see a girl sitting under a tree
with her boyfriend
like love’s young dream and as we get
closer
we can hear her chatting away about
exciting plans
college then uni with a year out in the
middle for traveling
and studying abroad we’re looking at me
my 16 year old version and then
in what seems like a blink of an eye
that girl’s here today
talking to you the 60 year old version
of myself
you may be watching this in your teens
or twenties
you may be able to identify with that
girl sitting under the tree
you may be her at this moment in time
thinking about the limitless
exciting possibilities that lie ahead
perhaps you’re already much older and so
what i’m saying
really resonates even more poignantly
with you
it doesn’t matter how old you are now
everyone listening
has been younger than they are at this
very moment
aging is something isn’t it that we
don’t really think about when we’re
younger
yet the passage of time steals our youth
and creeps up on us silently during our
distracted decades depicted
by the myriad of opportunities that turn
into responsibilities
relationships marriage career family
elder care divorce
new relationships remarrying the ups and
downs the joys and pains mask the speed
at which we hurtle through life and
hurtle
i did juggling three kids with three
decades as a linguist turned
entrepreneur
running my own training and management
consultancy while stuck in an abusive
relationship
and suddenly as though i wasn’t really
expecting it
i arrived at 50.
looking back i clearly recall having a
feeling of
utter disbelief when i hit that birthday
my new husband and my three children
took me away to istanbul for a long
weekend
i sobbed i can’t honestly tell you
exactly what i was fearing
i think it was more a sense of regret
about the speed of the passage of time
how had i got there so quickly had i
given my best to everything
and everyone could i have achieved more
how could i one minute be that girl in
the park
and soon after the ambitious graduate
with everything going for her
and then incredulously arrive at that
monumental birthday
what would be the societal perception
and expectations of me
what would i expect of myself how would
i flout the stereotype that’s pervasive
you know the one i mean of a woman who’s
frumpy
a shadow of her former self not tech
savvy
unwilling to learn unable to get on with
younger colleagues at work
refusing to take instructions from
younger bosses or clients
the 50 plus woman who’s out of touch and
out of step
studies from the national bureau of
economic research point to older women
suffering age
and sex discrimination with age
detracting more from physical appearance
for women than for men so at that moment
of turning 50
what i couldn’t imagine then is where i
would be a decade later
standing here about to reveal to you the
surprising truth about women over 50
and that surprising truth is that we are
reinventing
and reinvigorating ourselves we are
flouting the stereotype
type we are debunking the myths you see
today women over 50 are not ready to be
put
out to pasture you won’t find us in the
rocking chair
we want the second bite of the cherry
and why do we want that second bite of
the cherry
well never before has the woman over 50
face
so many challenges and yet so many
opportunities
that are driving us to become later life
entrepreneurs
you see against the backdrop of age and
sex discrimination at work
there’s a need and want to overcome the
depletion of resources we may be
suffering
now there are many causes of the
challenges and changes that can happen
at this time in our lives
these may include loss of value in
investments
redundancy early retirement adult kids
living at home
divorce second or third marriages young
kids in later life
and of course elder care for some they
may even find themselves trying to run
and fund a four generational household
unprecedented in the western world
that’s where there’s us as the parents
our elderly parents
our kids who have left home and
boomerang back with their kids
yes really and all under one roof so you
can see why we women over 50
may be feeling the financial and
personal pinch
things certainly aren’t what they used
to be and of course conversely many
other women over 50
will be reaping the rewards of
successful careers
they will have kept hold of considerable
savings generous pension provision
divorce settlement
stable relationships inheritance or
redundancy payments
equity and property maybe and time on
their hands
as the kids fly the nest now these
pressures
and the opportunities play a huge part
in this baby boomer demographic
bulge of ours often referred to as the
pig in the python
and are creating an unprecedented wave
of entrepreneurialism
there’s a proliferation of reports and
studies worldwide from the iod
oecd mit to name but a few all
confirming a huge rise in
over 50 entrepreneurs particularly women
and that we’re making a huge economic
impact
but it’s not just about the money at
this time in our lives we are feeling
the need to do something for self
counterbalance perfectly by our desire
to do something altruistic give back
learn grow and debunk the myth of the
stereotype of the woman over 50.
so we’re not going to be over 50 and
overlooked
we’re going to be over 50 and become the
very best version
of ourselves that we’ve ever been we’re
not about survival
we’re about thriving making the most of
the so-called bonus round
what binds us together though is an
overwhelming desire to be in control of
our own destiny to feel relevant
respected and that we still count
no more than that that we’re a force to
be reckoned with
we want to be working towards our own
priorities making our mark
feeling vital connected and financially
independent
with a reputation for being trailblazers
in the 60s and 70s
we want to do our own thing and if we
can change
lives and improve the world in some way
as a result of our endeavors
even better this new opportunity to
reinvent and reinvigorate
starts with not just seeing age as a
barrier but
conversely as purely a measure of our
life experience and talents
it’s not about retiring but about
restarting or refiring
these are the words used frequently by
the women that i connect with a mentor
we’re rebelling against the stereotype
which dents our looks our image our
focus
and our energy and how do we
restart or re-fire by defining what we
stand for
let me share with you how several years
ago i
embarked on my own journey of
reinvention which happened
as many things do by chance and changed
my life
i was sitting in a taxi at the time i
was on my way to heathrow for a business
trip to jakarta
i just given a talk at senate house in
london to 400 young dentists
about cv writing and interview technique
in fact i’ve been reflecting during that
journey to the airport about how lucky
those young people were
new life ahead starting out endless
possibilities
i’d even describe my mood as wistful
after more than two decades of running
my own training and management
consultancy i was feeling a bit
bored wondering what if any new
opportunities would come my way
i was fed up with the travel i wanted a
new challenge i was mid 50s
but 30 years away from slippers in a
rocking chair
the ping of the email popping up on my
phone woke me from my reveries the cab
weaved through the traffic dear ali
you’ll probably be as surprised to
receive this email as i was when i found
myself at my laptop composing it
but before i explain further i want to
thank you for the last three months of
performance coaching that you’ve given
me
which has enabled me to transform my
success as a chief executive
the thing is though and this is so
awesome that i felt you had to be the
first person in the world to know
i’m going to resign i want to be like
you
i’m 50 i have a whole new life ahead of
me i want to be my
own ceo not someone else’s
i want to set and achieve my own
objectives i don’t want to continue
working nine to five in the rest chained
to a desk
embroiled in politics and worrying
constantly whether i’m going to be
perceived as
past it at any moment so i’m going to do
what you’ve done ellie
for most of your career i’m going to be
my own boss
i’m setting up my own business and i’m
super excited about taking this next big
step in my life
in fact it’s not just the next step it’s
an entrepreneurial
leap of faith and it’s going to change
and transform my forever after
thank you for everything you’ve done to
spur me on my journey
you’re my inspiration love susanna
it’s said isn’t it that we all have an
epiphany epiphany moment in our lives a
flash of sudden or great revelation
that usually changes us in some way
well that was one of mine it was such a
well moment in my life it was the
aha i’d been searching for see i knew
immediately i’d found my message that
this was my new opportunity going
forwards
we all want a new opportunity don’t we
at whatever age we are but especially
over 50.
i was determined in that instant to
reinvent and reinvigorate myself to help
women over 50
not waste another second to help them
become their own ceo
with their very own businesses and be in
control
of their lives going forwards at work
and play
in a flash of inspiration the concept of
becoming a boom boss came to me
a play on the words baby boomer and boss
i was going to empower women over 50 to
become boom bosses
to finally become their own ceo at work
and play running their very own
businesses
and living the lifestyle they finally
deserve it was an
awesome revelation for me i was a woman
on a mission
just like my coaching client susanna i
went on to build a community of
thousands of women over 50
sharing what i’d learned over the last
three decades of being my own boss
and furthermore this surprising truth
about women over 50
is that we have a superb competitive
differential advantage
it’s what i call our seek the skills
experience
expertise and knowledge that we’ve
gained and honed during our 50 years
plus
on the planet these amazing women have
learned how to translate what they have
to offer into products and services
that will help others that will create
meaningful change in their lives
and the wider world they’ve become
coaches
mentors trainers therapists consultants
advisors
and other specialists so whereas
relatively recently the phrase
invest in your future was largely the
domain of parental figures for the
younger generation
today it has become the rallying cry for
the incredible number of women over 50
who are creating a new wave of
entrepreneurs
they no longer have to regale against
the sex and age discrimination that
is out there because the only glass
ceiling they
need to break through is their own
having been on that entrepreneurial
journey myself from the 1st of october
1990 when
as a young new mom i handed back the car
to keys to my employers
and left my well-paid job i know that it
is a privilege
to have time income and location control
working when i want where i want and
being able to determine
how much i earn now for women over 50 as
first-time entrepreneurs it’s
life-changing to have these benefits the
opportunity to use
their life’s experience skills expertise
and knowledge
but with the flexibility to do more the
things they realize they’ve been missing
out on during their career
hobbies friendships family doing the
things they love
they don’t want to be locked to the nine
to five chained to a desk
working to pursue others objectives and
giving their all just to make someone
else rich anymore
they want instead to be in control of
their own schedule and priorities
to be financially independent choosing
to earn and spend their money
in the way they desire they want to be
their own person
and what they really want is to feel
relevant
make their mark stand for something and
have their own identity
doing something they were born to do to
feel vital and connected
using their life experience to help
others
and to be really successful doing it
just imagine for a moment what it feels
like to be able to reinvent yourself
to feel empowered to live your life on
your terms
have your very own business working when
and where you want
for clients you love who respect you for
your talents and experience
and who will pay you very handsomely for
these
the women i’ve worked with are more
likely to have their head in marketing
funnels
and live zoom calls than the wi
gardening or flower arranging this isn’t
a pipe dream this
is the new reality this is a new reality
for the thousands of women
in my community whom i’ve supported
daily
and for millions of other women over 50
worldwide
reinvention and reinvigoration is
invaluable
and always possible it’s given me a
whirlwind romance with being in my 50s
and a love affair with once again being
an entrepreneur
it enables us to enrich our lives and
those of others that we interact with
at work at home and play it leaves a
legacy
ultimately it contributes to a better
world
what could be better than that potential
doesn’t have to diminish with age
being 50 plus now sounds more exciting
doesn’t
it thank you