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More Than Your Business Card - Lead, Thrive, and Love Every Stage of Your Life
Episode 10917th July 2024 • Seasoned Women Serious Business • Isabel Alexander
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Welcome to another episode of Seasoned Women, Serious Business! I'm your host, Isabel Alexander, and today we delve into who this podcast is truly for. If you're a woman entrepreneur aged 45 to 75 (or beyond), juggling the complexities of business, leadership, and family, this is your space. But don't worry, if you're outside this demographic, you'll still find plenty of wisdom and applicable life lessons here.

In this episode, I outline the demographics and characteristics of our audience, sharing insights from my own journey and those of countless women I've encountered. We explore the various stages of our lives and businesses, from balancing family responsibilities to contemplating legacy and succession planning. This podcast celebrates seasoned women who are driven by an unquenchable desire for knowledge, a passion for making a difference, and a commitment to financial autonomy.

Join us as we discuss the unique challenges and triumphs of seasoned women entrepreneurs, from navigating technology and market cycles to balancing personal health and business demands. We'll also talk about the joys and struggles of wearing multiple hats, the importance of putting ourselves first, and the continuous journey of self-discovery.

Tune in for candid conversations, real experiences, and a sense of camaraderie. Together, we'll explore how to create our next best selves and make a lasting impact. Subscribe, share, and join us on this exciting journey.

00:00 Introduction to Seasoned Women Serious Business

00:07 Who This Program is For

01:23 Demographics and Audience Insights

02:51 Global Network and Diverse Experiences

03:48 Business Types and Categories

04:48 Challenges and Common Experiences

06:06 The Seasoned Woman's Journey

08:12 Balancing Business and Personal Life

08:57 Financial Security and Future Planning

09:37 Desire for More and Personal Fulfillment

12:06 Embracing Technology and Change

12:34 Personal Reflections and Evolution

15:39 Creating the Podcast for Seasoned Women

16:58 Conclusion and Community Building

Who Am I Now Book

Crossroads Clarity Solution

About the Host:

 

Isabel Alexander

Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst

 Isabel Alexander's journey from modest beginnings to global recognition epitomizes entrepreneurial resilience and innovation. With over five decades of experience spanning diverse industries, she has become a driving force in shaping economic landscapes worldwide. Noteworthy accomplishments include founding a multimillion-dollar global chemical wholesale business and earning accolades such as Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

As a mentor and advocate, Isabel empowers women entrepreneurs through initiatives like the Lift As You Climb Movement and podcasts, guiding them from startup to maturity. Serving as Chief Encore Officer of The Encore Catalyst, she dedicates herself to coaching and educating emerging entrepreneurs. Her involvement in organizations like RenegadesReinventing.com and Femme on Fire underscores her commitment to leadership and business development.

Additionally, Isabel's advisory roles with government bodies and trade associations, such as Chair of the Canadian Association of Importers & Exporters, highlight her influence in shaping trade policies and fostering international relations.

Driven by her mantra, "Lift As You Climb," Isabel embodies the ethos of mutual growth and empowerment. With dual citizenship in Canada and the United States, she values her extensive family and embraces global connections through travel and professional engagements. Isabel Alexander's narrative serves as a beacon of inspiration, illustrating how visionary leadership and strategic advising can drive global entrepreneurship and economic independence forward.


Founder:

The Encore Catalyst Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/TheEncoreCatalyst )

and

Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.

also

Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ https://whoaminowbook.com/


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabelannalexander/

 

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If you have questions about this episode, please send me an email at Hello@TheEncoreCatalyst.com

 

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Transcripts

Isabel:

Thanks for joining me on Seasoned Women Serious

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Business - Wise enough to want more.

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Before we dive in to the content and the heart of this program, I wanted to take

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a moment first to establish who this program was created for, when I named the

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show, Seasoned Women, Serious Business.

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because if it isn't for Where you should be, although you may find us all highly

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entertaining, and I guarantee you there are applicable life lessons to be learned

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from all of my guests and all of the episodes; I want you to know for sure.

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That this program was designed for you if you are a woman entrepreneur,

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you are in the age range of 45 ish to 75 ish and beyond.

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It does not mean that you are excluded if you are younger.

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Nor does it mean that you are excluded if you do not identify as female,

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because again, the lessons, the wisdom, the lifetime experience, the incredible

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collective wisdom that will be presented on this program will help anybody.

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The demographics of this group, generally speaking, is that if you're in the 45

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to 54 year old bracket, you may still be balancing your family responsibilities

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changing dynamics with your own physical health, maybe some changing relationship

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issues, and really on the first part of the curve that we're talking to.

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And if you're in the mid tier of our audience, you're probably 55 ish to 64.

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And this is the time when you are starting to really think about legacy and

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succession planning and your priorities may be shifting from accomplishments, task

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oriented, to more personal fulfillment.

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If you're in the top tier of age of this audience, generally speaking,

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65 years plus, then your focus is a little different in that

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you're in that curiosity phase of, "Hmm, what might I do next?"

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"Hmm, what have I put off that I may now have time for?"

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And you're very, very decisive, about what you don't want to do anymore.

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Predominantly, this program will be based on evidence and experience

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in North America and Europe, because, that's my larger life

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experience and my larger network.

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However, I am delighted to say, each and every year, and this is very purposeful

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on my part, I expand my network.

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I very consciously have expanded and curated my network over the past five

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years to include more seasoned women and entrepreneurs on other continents

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and other cultures, and really adding to the richness of the diversity

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of the collective wisdom of my life experience, my own resources, but also

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to bring that to you on this program.

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The stats say that generally most women owned businesses are in the professional

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services area, retail, e commerce, big growth in that area, health and wellness,

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creative, education and coaching.

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But hold on, I'm going to be bringing to you Many guests who are outside

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of that traditional statistic group of business type and category.

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And how great will it be to invite conversation with women who have

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grown businesses in the exceptional or traditionally non female sectors.

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I had an industrial chemical business long before it was, evident that other

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women were there that I could network with and I could grow with in the industry.

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Also, our audience is likely to be categorized as small and medium sized

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businesses, small and medium sized enterprises, or SMEs, generally the

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annual revenue of our audience and the clients I work range from half a

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million to five and ten million dollars.

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The interesting thing is that, the bigger the business, same problems.

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They just tend to grow proportionately to the size of the business.

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And sometimes there's an inverse rule in effect.

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Also, statistically speaking, our audience in North America, the majority

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have been in business for over 10 years and I certainly can relate to this,

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have experienced various market cycles.

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We have a wealth of practical experience from hands on.

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We're going to talk about how those cycles affect our appetite for continuing to

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stay in business and how it's helped me and others change and transform our

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business and our roles in our business.

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Who is the seasoned woman we're talking about?

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Who is she?

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I think if you're here listening to the program, she's you.

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The thing that I have noticed that seems to be consistent that runs

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through the veins of the seasoned women that I know is an unquenchable

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desire for knowledge and learning, an irrepressible curiosity a great

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humbleness in terms of being of service, but yet passion and drive to do things

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well and to really make a difference.

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Pretty much uniformly, all of you are very strongly motivated to be

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financially autonomous, so that you are paying your own ticket.

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You are not dependent on anybody else.

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And most of you are also providing the bread ticket for many other

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people, whether it's staff, family members, or contractors.

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We also tend to be generalists in our business because our

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businesses are small to medium size.

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it means that we do a great deal of most things, which leads us to feel overwhelmed

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often by business demands and not enough time in the day to get enough done.

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Consistently, the conversations are about, Oh my God,

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technology, I can't live with it.

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I can't live without it.

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And it is always changing.

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That combined with the changes, the ebbs and flows of market and competition

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really keeps us on our toes All the time.

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And so it's a sense of never feeling really solid, but always, needing

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to be nimble, and not ever having a chance to go, let me take a few weeks

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off and just contemplate my navel.

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Of course, also, we share that most of us are balancing our business

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responsibilities with our personal health and our family needs.

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and not necessarily in that order.

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Generally, what's coming first is either the business or other people's

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needs, and we leave ourselves to last.

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And I'm happy to say that as we come together and we talk about this, more and

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more of us are recognizing that is not sustainable and we're becoming more aware

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of opportunities to put ourselves first, recognizing the value in doing that.

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Unfortunately we all have this t shirt, and that is concerns about financial

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security, and planning for our futures.

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And so talking about that, and certainly, the model of a few decades

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ago of "We'll just work hard for a few decades and put away some money, and

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then we retire, and there's no worries."

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Well, that went out the fucking window, didn't it?, with repeated

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attacks on the world economy and, other events that rocked our boats.

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I also feel that, our priorities, mirror each other.

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This is why we are here.

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We recognize that we now want more.

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We've done probably decades of really putting everything all in to

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building our business and raising our families and supporting, our

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extended families in our communities.

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One day, all of us started waking up from this exhaustion and going, wait a second.

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Is this all there is, Alfie?

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When is it my turn?

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I'm really not feeling fulfilled with what I'm doing right now.

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And I have a longing inside me to figure out what I want and how to get to that.

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I feel the other uniform condition is this challenge of having clarity

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and making time, to come up with a solid vision for what we want our

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future to be, or at least the next phase of our lives and our businesses.

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We've been homogenized as seasoned women with our businesses, haven't we?

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When we think about, I want more and what does that more include?

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It must always include personal well being and reducing stress and certainly

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having a lot more fun because oftentimes we had to sacrifice that while we

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were chief cook and bottle washer.

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Not only do we have our business and our family life, but we also tend

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to be very involved in community and philanthropy and helping other

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professional or charitable organizations.

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Pretty much consistently, I feel that we share a desire to travel more.

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have more rich cultural experiences.

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I'm pretty sure the majority of us would say, I wish I had more time

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to read, to call up friends that I haven't talked to for a long time,

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to just reflect quietly and meditate.

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You're not alone, and we're all working at getting better at that.

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The other very cool thing about us, gals, is that, oh my god, can you

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imagine what our life would have been if we had not embraced technology?

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And that even thinking back to when we were in high school, life

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did not include the computer in our hand or a purse or a pocket.

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In the past three years.

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there's been a lot of change and transition in my life, as, I divorced.

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I stopped and started some businesses.

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I coached some very diverse client businesses, traveled quite extensively,

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globally and met and became friends with other seasoned, women and business owners.

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I got to think more about what was important to me and really

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what I wasn't going to tolerate anymore and what I wanted to pursue.

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Five years ago, I published my first book, about this evolution

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as a woman, figuring out after reinvention, after reinvention, after

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reinvention in my life, who I am now.

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In fact, that's the title of the book, "Who Am I Now?

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Feminine Wisdom.

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Unmasked, Uncensored".

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At the time of that publication on my 65th birthday, I thought, well,

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that was, pretty comprehensive and pretty conclusive work.

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But five years later, I am wiser, and I know a great deal more, and I've

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experienced a great deal more in terms of loving me more for who I am at this

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age and stage of my life and recognizing that rather than retracting and slowing

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down or stepping back, I feel very motivated, very inspired to expand and

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to grow in different and greater ways.

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I am thrilled to say I'm not alone!

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What I am discovering there is a wave effect that happens, with

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women entrepreneurs in their 50s where they go, "okay, if I can just

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make it to this date, that's it!

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Sister, I am selling this business, closing it up, walking away, letting

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other people run it, whatever."

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And thinking that will be a satisfactory milestone.

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And then there are so many of us that rode that wave and came out the

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other side, me included, because I sold my largest business in my late

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50s thinking Hallelujah, Easy Street.

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Life of Leisure Time, Here I Come!

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Turns out that was way less satisfying than my imagination.

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In fact I've found that now m My big adventure of every day is

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recognizing there is no playbook.

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This me never existed before, and this way of living as a woman who

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is approaching 70 now has a vision for the next decade of my life.

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I would never have guessed that 20 years ago that I would want to be starting

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more businesses and expanding and.

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podcasting and youtubing and writing more books, etc.

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All of this and more was the catalyst for creating this new

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podcast specific to seasoned women.

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with entrepreneurial experience and ambition that also have realized what

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I have, that thinking that, well, it's, it's over, it's done, the parade will

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be leaving town and then we can just relax and chill, would be satisfying

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enough, would be enough, for us.

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It's not true.

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That is definitely a fallacy.

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even if you say, well, it's okay, I have a lot of hobbies.

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Fine.

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As long as you recognize that you cannot be who you are, without being mentally

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stimulated, purposely stimulated, feeling like you have value, which

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was my great awareness when I sold my business, I realized that I was having

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an identity crisis and I did not know really who I was, what my value was

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anymore, who would value me and why they would value me, when I didn't

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have a purpose every day to go after.

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I am gathering a community of women who are in, or have been, in each of those

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stages of awareness as a seasoned woman, and we'll have conversations with you,

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for you, about our experiences and what we learned through each of those experiments,

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if you will, some successful and some not.

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The good news is that for some of that you can learn from us and not

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have to, or at least shorten your own journey there, or perhaps Which is

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even more exciting, to think you will learn and be inspired in a way that

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you have not yet even contemplated.

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So, as you can see, the opportunities for topics are limitless.

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And I'm pretty sure that we will never run out of wisdom to share, or

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laughter or ideas to invoke or provoke.

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And some days, maybe there will be tears and some days there will be, irreverence

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and profanity, but what I can tell you is that every single day, it will be

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generously from the hearts of the women who come on this program to share and, to

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collaborate and lift as we climb together.

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So I do hope you will join me and stay with us as we build this community.

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