This special episode features three remarkable women from the Uplifters community who reached out to share their stories of transformation after 40. Elaine Perkins (64) packed up her life in Brooklyn at 60 to become a homeowner in Delaware. Adena Artale (47) looked herself in the mirror at 45 and finally pursued her childhood dream of acting. Tracy Keibler (64) became a nonprofit founder at 50 when her husband lost his job—and has since served over 8,000 lives. Their stories prove that courage doesn't have an expiration date, and reinvention is always possible.
00:00 - Introduction: The Late Bloomers Series Finale
02:15 - Elaine's Story: Moving to Delaware at 60
03:30 - The dream of homeownership and her mother's passing
04:45 - What scared her most about the move
06:00 - Choosing allies and amplifiers to tell first
07:15 - The power of saying "I'm new here"
08:30 - How loss created space for reinvention
10:00 - Writing her worthiness story
11:30 - Rating herself on bravery: from 7 to 10
12:45 - Her next dream: Tamron Hall Show and spreading the worthiness message
18:30 - Adena's Story: Becoming an actor at 45
19:15 - Her sister's terminal diagnosis as a catalyst
20:30 - The mirror moment: naming her sacred dream
22:30 - Taking action immediately with Backstage
23:45 - The uncomfortable photoshoot and learning to accept her body
25:30 - Why she's not stopping for the next 53 years
27:30 - Her husband and family's unwavering support
29:45 - Building courage by telling the right people
31:30 - The myth of "not having enough time"
33:45 - Learning to listen to her body's wisdom
35:15 - Tracy's Story: Starting a nonprofit at 50
36:30 - What Start Senior Solutions does for seniors in crisis
38:30 - Learning one problem at a time
40:30 - Strengths carried forward from previous chapters
43:15 - Redefining failure as experimentation
44:30 - The importance of collaboration over competition
46:45 - How to support Start Senior Solutions
47:00 - Closing reflections on late blooming and courage
✓ Anxiety about NOT doing something can be a clearer signal than fear about doing it
✓ Being "new" is an invitation for connection, not a deficit
✓ Your body knows what your brain is still debating—learn to listen
✓ Tell allies and amplifiers first; protect your dream from skeptics early
✓ Worthiness isn't something you earn—it's something you claim
✓ Courage compounds: each brave choice makes the next one easier
✓ It's never too late to choose yourself
Elaine Perkins (64) is a retired professional who, at 60, left her Brooklyn home of six decades to pursue her lifelong dream of homeownership in Delaware. Now an author and advocate for worthiness at all ages, she’s co-authoring an anthology and building a speaking platform centered on helping people recognize they are worthy of their dreams—no matter their age or circumstances.
Adena Artale (47) is an actor who returned to her childhood passion at 45 after a family health crisis reminded her that life is too short for “someday.” Since naming her sacred dream and taking immediate action, she’s booked multiple roles and continues training and auditioning while maintaining her corporate career and family life in New Jersey.
Tracy Keibler (64) is the founder of Start Senior Solutions, a nonprofit providing crisis intervention services to older adults and caregivers in critical moments—from hospital discharge to eviction threats. What began as a necessity when her husband lost his job has grown into an organization that has impacted over 8,000 lives, all while operating on a promise: “We will stay as long as you need us.”
Aransas Savas is a leadership and wellbeing coach, host of The Uplifters Podcast, and author working on her book Courage Capital. For over 20 years, she's conducted behavioral research and design for companies like Disney, Best Buy, and Weight Watchers. She brings a researcher's systematic eye to identifying patterns in how women overcome obstacles while applying a coach's practical tools to help others replicate those successes. Aransas hosts conversations with women breaking barriers and creating change, distilling their wisdom into practical insights about building courage and resilience.
Connect with Aransas:
Instagram: @aransas_savas
Podcast Instagram: @the_uplifters_podcast
TikTok: @theuplifterspodcast
Facebook: @aransas
Website: theuplifterspodcast.com
YouTube: @theuplifterspodcast
LinkedIn: Aransas Savas
late bloomer, career change after 40, reinvention, life transition, courage, women over 40, starting over, pursuing dreams, nonprofit founder, acting career, homeownership, life transformation, personal growth, self-development, women's empowerment, midlife change, second act, senior advocacy, worthiness, brave choices, life after loss
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off your first month's [:So far, [00:01:15] you've met the incredible memorized Sir Boten who, who literally wrote the book about late blooming. You've met Lakshmi Run Garage on who is an expert. And host of the later Dater Today podcast and Todd is all about the [00:01:30] advantages of dating later in life. And you met the lovely Carly who Joggled.
connection and presence and [:After age 40, each of these women faced a moment in their lives where they could have stuck with the journey they were on. Have stayed in their comfort zones, but instead [00:02:15] they chose to take a great big, giant leap into the unknown. We'll start by talking to Elaine Perkins, who at 60 packed up the life she had built in Brooklyn, New York, where everyone in everything she [00:02:30] knew was rooted and moved to an entirely new state to chase her dream of becoming a homeowner.
and realized it was time to [:Now at 64 Start Senior Solutions. The program she created has touched over 8,000 lives. These stories aren't just stories [00:03:15] about starting over. These are stories about starting exactly where we are with exactly what we have and discovering that it's more than enough.
Elaine Perkins: My name is [:Aransas Savas: Tell us about the big brave thing you did postwar. I packed
ew York where I was born and [:When she passed from COVID in [00:04:15] 2020, the spirit said, what about the house? And I said, yeah. What about the house? It was no reason really for me not to if I could afford it.
Savas: What were some of the [:Elaine Perkins: Leaving my family. And moving to a whole new state. I knew one person here.
know how to get around, like [:Aransas Savas: helped you move from thinking about it to actually doing it?
not doing it, I got anxious, [:It was something that was in my spirit that said, this is for you right now. I was nearing 60. They're asking for this paper, that paper, [00:05:15] this, that, the other thing, right? This inspection and the whole nine yards. I said, I'm not doing it, but when I said I'm not doing it is when I got like, no, no. But when I said yes [00:05:30] is when the piece came over me.
Aransas Savas: So who was the first person you told?
, this is so exciting. And I [:Wow.
k about in my work that it's [:That was the realtor.
don't know if that's a good [:It was just something that I, I dunno. I had to do it. And now that I've been here four years and this was the move, [00:06:45] I feel like I'm home.
Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
Mm. I was intentional about [:Mm-hmm. And right after COVID, I could have stayed in New York, but. I don't know what my life and with my mom not being [00:07:15] there, I don't know what my life would've been without her. I'm sure I would've continued do things, but this just feels new and I just
mportant person in your life [:A very important structure in your life. Mm-hmm. The time that you were investing and caring for your mom. Mm-hmm. The time that you were spending preparing for her next [00:07:45] stage, all of that. Suddenly it's this big open space of time and. It can raise a lot of questions for us about who am I, what am I meant to do next?
ead of allowing your life to [:Mm-hmm. And what you are doing here that is so powerful and that we can all learn from, is that in those moments, those are the moments to step back and get really intentional. [00:08:30] That's right. What do I want for my next chapter? What do I need in my next chapter? And how am I gonna make it my mission to give that to myself?
What is your life like you in this reinvention, as you use the word Elaine?
Elaine Perkins: I am. [:The past, right? Mm-hmm. And when I [00:09:15] was asked to write the story, I said, Hmm, I'm not a writer. I'm not a author of light. She said, but I believe you do have a story to tell. And I didn't even know what I was gonna write about because it's a love story. I didn't know what it was, what I was gonna write about.
I just started [:Just going through life, feeling like I'm not wanted. I shared that earlier. I'm not wanted or I'm not loved, or whatever. Even though we had a very close knit family, but it was [00:10:15] very different in, I wasn't there. Right. So the story is about coming to terms with that and just the realization that I'm loved, I'm wanted, [00:10:30] I'm valued.
e worthy. I am worthy of it. [:Aransas Savas: Mm, yes. We don't often recognize our unworthy thoughts as being exactly that. [00:11:15] Being limiting thoughts. So what did some of those sound like as you look back on them? What were you saying to yourself that made you believe that you were not worthy of investing in your joy and [00:11:30] peace?
Elaine Perkins: You are not good enough.
side that. Nobody loves you. [:And it's weird because other people will tell me how great and [00:12:15] wonderful and beautiful and all of that, but I had to really believe it and I had to walk in that and walk in that truth.
this move in any way before [:Elaine Perkins: I honestly don't think so because I had just renovated the whole apartment.
ppen. I was able to rent the [:Aransas Savas: so it all. So you were preparing for the reinvention, you just didn't know it. Exactly,
Elaine Perkins: exactly, exactly. I didn't know it.
And looking [:Aransas Savas: Part of what. Scares us about change. Mm-hmm. Is being the new kid. Mm-hmm. And so here you are after being in one town for your entire life, [00:13:15] having a community, having the same places you go for everything you do in your life. That's right. What has the journey of being the new person been like and what has that taught you?[00:13:30]
arched what was in the area, [:She still drives. She lives by herself. That's the kind of senior I wanna be. [00:14:00] Oh yes. And they're very active and always doing things. I found the line dancers, and then just by interacting with people, they told me about other activities and things. I jumped double Dutch. I had a walking group in New York, so I [00:14:15] opened a chapter here in Delaware.
I created all of these spaces because I wanted community. When I think about it, I cried that I, I I'm loving life. So good. It's just so good. It's just so good. Yeah, it's
nsas Savas: really good. How [:I'm saying I could use a little support. Mm-hmm. [00:14:45] And people wanna help people Exactly. As soon as we let ourselves be known, we actually set ourselves up to be supported. Mm.
elp for me is difficult. But [:Can you help me?
as: So what would you say to [:Elaine Perkins: Make the change. If that is what you want to do, whatever that change is, make the change because you'll find peace [00:15:30] in that change. I have found peace in the change I have found home in the change and change even when you are scared.
That is one of the [:Aransas Savas: want. On a scale of one to 10, if you were to look [00:16:00] back mm-hmm. How would you have rated yourself before all of this on bravery?
Oh,
and moving. I never would've [:Aransas Savas: I'm here. And how would you rate yourself on bravery now? 10. What's the next brave thing you wanna do? Elaine?
Elaine Perkins: I wanna [:I wanna go on a world tour.
Aransas Savas: I [:Elaine Perkins: of purpose?
I have been able to.
With the bravery, [:Through my life experience, so I want people to know that they [00:17:45] too, are worthy.
cultivate mm-hmm, mm-hmm. It [:That's right. It's Uplifters. Yes.
Elaine Perkins: Uplifters. It ripples.
Aransas Savas: Anything else you want us to hear
Elaine Perkins: Elaine? You [:Aransas Savas: Those words from Elaine, we are worthy our next storyteller. [00:18:45] Edina also discovered the power of looking herself in the mirror and honoring her deepest desires.
years old. [:Adena: early teens. Early twenties, I, uh, had a dream of being an actor, but I come from a European family, they weren't well [00:19:15] off. So when my parents came to this country, their whole life was, if they ever had kids, they were gonna get a good job and work and be able to pay their bills.
l it. When I got to college, [:Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
family and I wasn't gonna be [:After a year of depression, a friend of mine gave me this book called The Awakened Woman, and in the book, the [00:20:15] author challenges you to name your sacred dream, but not to just like lie to yours. You have to like look in a mirror. You have to name your dream. So of course, me, I was lying to myself at first.
America my whole career. But [:The answer was, I wanna be an [00:20:45] actor. And I said it, and I started talking about it to people. I felt so emboldened and so empowered 'cause I had nothing to lose so far to that point in my life, the worst thing that could possibly happen to me has now happened where [00:21:00] I'm finding out this news about my sister and I'm touching through her mortality.
e. And I didn't give a shit. [:Aransas Savas: [00:21:30] today.
Yeah. Wow. How did you translate that honest insight into action in your life? Do you recall any of your first steps?
. If I want to do something, [:So I'm not afraid to fail necessarily. There's bigger things going on in the world in terms of like, I'm the [00:22:00] breadwinner in my family. What does this mean if I try to pursue this? What about my day job? But as soon as I said that in the mirror, literally that day, I went onto a, a website [00:22:15] called Backstage.
It's a casting website, and I signed up for a year and I said, I have to know, I have to at least put myself out there.
Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
was a scary thing because I [:I'm so uncomfortable. My body is different. [00:22:45] Everything is different, and I'm just looking at somebody on the screen. That is not the person.
Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
a shirt and I was trying to [:Now, after a year and a half of really putting myself out there and having now booked work and really understanding, no, this is me. Mm-hmm. This is exactly what I look like, and am I gonna [00:23:15] accept that or not? Because if I don't accept it, I can't do this job. I am literally, I have to stare myself in the face every single day because this is, this is me.
what I can offer. And why is [:Uhhuh. It's like that. All of a sudden you're realizing no. Mm-hmm. People want something real. Don't give a shit about your wrinkles.
Aransas Savas: Uhuh,
m too. Uhhuh, uh. And what a [:No, no. But then you're like, oh my God, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for a lot. Showing [00:24:15] me it's okay. This is who you
n earth. What a distraction. [:Is my nose right? Is my neck right? When what you're trying to do is tell a story? Yeah. I just feel thankful.
nkful that I figured it out. [:That's what they get every single day, and that's what they love, and it's [00:25:00] like, why wouldn't other people love that? Why would
ing around and saying, now I [:Adena: when I made this decision a little over a year ago.
that I'm back, I won't stop [:Aransas Savas: Mm.
m out loud. You have to give [:I have a talent manager, and I remember saying to her, the first few months we were working together, in three months, I'm gonna bi book my first lead. This is how I am, this is how I operate. It's gonna happen if I want it to happen. And it didn't happen. And I [00:26:15] realized this pressure I was putting on myself was why.
know that didn't answer the [:Aransas Savas: I'm not. Well, and I, I hear actually in it an answer, which is that you were at risk if only the role of a lifetime [00:26:45] was the reward.
he dream. Mm-hmm. The dream, [:Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
Adena: They might shut it off in Tencent, but somebody's going to see it.
Aransas Savas: Yeah. That's the dream. That's it.
to learn a hundred percent. [:Adena: What was it like to tell your family? So, my husband and my children are like the most supportive. My husband is the most supportive person you could ever meet from this perspective. He and I have this thing. It's just the way we [00:27:30] live our lives.
o corporate. We're not doing [:That's not our, the way we are designing our life. And I was, what is the thing you really wanna do? And he's a music guy, he's a Hi-Fi guy, speakers, and amps and all that to set up. And he started his own business. And that's, that's our relationship. [00:28:00] So telling Tom was super easy. I knew what he was gonna say.
's really cool, really cool. [:My fam, like my mom and dad, I don't even know if I fully told them, but I did. 'cause they see Facebook, they see like my posts and they're [00:28:30] like, whatcha doing? And I wanna protect them 'cause I don't want them to worry. They're always, and so I share what I can, but that's definitely an area of my life where I, I wanna share more.
That's something that I'm
. There's something I hear a [:Before sharing it with the people who question it. Mm-hmm. [00:29:15] A hundred percent. I knew my go-to people who are operating from their own doubts and fears, which is what you're describing there. Mm-hmm. And of course they're gonna have those, we're not like, no judgment there, but we need to protect the baby a little [00:29:30] bit from the people who are gonna swat at it.
they're excited. I was very [:You have to share. I started sharing things online and I found random people that I haven't talked to in years would send me a quick, a personal message. I [00:30:00] love seeing your posts. I love what you're doing. So happy for you people that randomly outta nowhere. And I know what it's like when I see people.
onfident and I'm good. Yeah. [:I'd be [00:30:30] set to show people we have everything. Yeah. And we can do it. Yeah, we can do it. Yeah. Nobody told me I couldn't do it. I did. Adina did all those years. Adina said it. Nobody else said it, ever.
ansas Savas: Wow. That's eye [:Adena: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay. So
Aransas Savas: one of the things that I think comes up as we think about doing big brave things is I won't have enough time.
but you are maintaining the [:Thought about and practiced your [00:31:15] time allocations. Mm-hmm.
like I have a script sitting [:Now that school has started, my kids are on the bus at six 50. 7:00 AM I'm sitting down at my desk, gotta go to Backstage Actors Access, gotta post, gotta [00:31:45] submit myself for all the new things that came in overnight. Like that is my priority. And then when an audition comes in again, I literally, I figure out in my day.
n my day that need to happen [:It's because it's that important to me. I've cleared other things out. I was a gardener and a farmer, and I had a beautiful, beautiful in central Jersey, and I had to let it go. I, I couldn't do it all. I [00:32:30] had to say goodbye to it, and I was heartbroken. I felt like I failed. I was like, what did I just do for the last three years?
I invested all this money into this greenhouse and planted all this stuff and did all this work. And I, I wasn't thinking about it. I didn't even want it.
s: You wanted something else [:Adena: and I had to listen. Mm-hmm. I had to listen, listen, Adina, your body is telling you, it took me 40 some years to like listen to me.
ns I have to certain things. [:Yeah. Listen.
Aransas Savas: So good.
So hard to get quiet or get [:All those things got me really connected to [00:33:45] my body in these last couple years.
g courage. It always happens [:Mm-hmm. And oftentimes it is a language that we have learned to tune out because there were so many other [00:34:15] voices. We're telling us what to do more loudly. Oh yeah. And so that practice of investing and learning to listen to your body, your heart, your mind, is maybe the biggest [00:34:30] investment we can make.
Because we always know. We do. We do. We always know. And sometimes we just need somebody to give us permission to listen. A hundred percent. A
Adena: hundred percent. Oh no, that's real. It's like we make
t. You're amazing. Thank you [:It was so great. Thank you again for reaching out. You're so great. Adina is so energizing. I love the way she learned to act [00:35:00] before she felt completely ready. And our final storyteller, Tracy discovered that sometimes life doesn't even bother asking if we're ready. It just presents us with a need so great that we can't help but rise to meet it.
Tracy, I'm so [:Tracy Keibler: My name's Tracy Keebler, and in December I will be 64 years old. I was about [00:35:30] 50 when I launched Start Senior Solutions. This organization that steps in when families, older adults and caregivers are in crisis mode, people rely on us when they're don't even [00:35:45] know where to start to begin navigating.
ill come to the hospital, to [:Wow. Or if a landlord evicts an [00:36:15] older adult, since they need somebody, we will send someone who will help figure out what steps need to be taken so that that person can be safely housed. Crisis that you can imagine that an older adult or a caregiver might [00:36:30] find themselves in. That's where we can step in.
nity. So what were you doing [:Tracy Keibler: and this is maybe everything in life.
but am I glad that I didn't? [:We make a promise to every single one of our [00:37:30] clients. We will stay as long as you need us. We will not charge you a fee. And we do not think in 10 minute billing increments because we don't bill.
Aransas Savas: Wow. We are
Tracy Keibler: just here for you.
as Savas: Whatever it takes. [:That for many of us is where we get stuck and we say, oh, this is too hard. I can't do this. I don't have the smarts or the experience or the resources. So in those moments of [00:38:15] overwhelming complexity, how did you work your way through that maze?
and I just kept moving that [:Aransas Savas: forward.
e all have lived experiences [:I'm the
Tracy Keibler: [:She had all those children and 30 foster children came through our home while I was growing up. [00:39:30] And our house was the house where if you didn't have a place to stay and you needed a bed, there would be one. It might be a couch, but we would find a place for you. And one of my funniest memories as a child growing up in [00:39:45] that kind of an environment was my dad came upstairs from the basement one day and he said to my mom, who is that?
st noticed because it was so [:And this was a big one. I sat down in church one Sunday and I said to the older gentleman that I was sitting next to. I said, home ownership is not all that it's cracked up to be. Something had gone wrong in my house and [00:40:30] he just laughed. And he said, I remember my first house on 1621 Robeson Avenue, Bettendorf, Iowa.
live there? And he told me, [:Aransas Savas: Oh,
ded the first three years of [:And since then there have been so many other affirmations that have come, but it is hard every day. I'd say [00:41:15] there's got to be an easier way to make a living, but there's no other way that I would want to make. So what did you imagine you were gonna be doing in your sixties? When I was in my thirties, I never asked myself what am I gonna be doing in my sixties?
Of course, I thought [:Aransas Savas: Is that different in.[00:42:00]
Expectations of success from your thirties.
le tell me that the blessing [:Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
Tracy Keibler: And that I understand very clearly what I am here to do.
Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
Tracy Keibler: And I'm doing it.
Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
Tracy Keibler: And [:Aransas Savas: I think we all have access to that level of clarity. And that level of passion, and that is probably the biggest factor in [00:42:45] raising what I call courage capital, which is what you demonstrate so powerfully here.
Tracy Keibler: I had to learn how to redefine failure.
Aransas Savas: Mm-hmm.
was successful, this was not [:How might we, can we experiment? I'm running a nonprofit and I've never run a nonprofit before. Everything became an experiment, and so is it, was it successful? And if it wasn't, what did we learn?
Aransas Savas: Hmm.
acy Keibler: And then we can [:I [00:43:30] cannot do this by myself. I cannot do this only with my team. I need donors. I need people who believe in the mission. I need people who will answer the phone when I call and say, I don't know how to do this. Can you help me figure this out? It takes everybody, but when. [00:43:45] We look around and we feel we're trying to, people are trying to divide us.
rom all walks of life coming [:Aransas Savas: for good, incredible.
Tracy, let us know how we can support Start Senior Solutions.
one can say hello to someone [:I need to know who you are. Aging crosses every area, technology, finance, how everything that you can think of aging touches it. It's not that I'm gonna call you and ask you for a hundred hours of help, it's I need a conversation because I [00:45:00] need you to guide my next steps so that I can help the person that I'm helping right now.
t you're doing in the world. [:They all did it scared, and they all discovered that courage isn't the absence of fear. It's just showing up for what matters despite the fear. [00:45:45] Their stories offer us so many powerful reminders. First, that it's never too late, my friends, to choose ourselves. Second, that our biggest, most sacred dreams are worth [00:46:00] pursuing.
actually putting us exactly [:You don't need permission [00:46:30] from anyone except yourself. You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need to take the first step and trust that the path is gonna reveal itself to you as you walk it. [00:46:45] You will learn as you go whether you are 40 or 60 or 80. There is still time, and the question isn't whether it's too late.
ther you are ready to begin. [:Head over to Spotify, apple [00:47:30] podcast or wherever you get your podcast. And like, follow and rate our show. It'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories. Mmm. [00:47:45]
Music: Big love painted water sunshine with Rosemary Anton dwelling the perplexing, though you find it flexing.
Toss a star in half for be [:lift you up,
lift you up,
lift you up.[:Lift you up.
Lift you up,
lift,
lift.[:Beautiful. I cried. It's that little thing you did with your voice, right? In the pre-course, right? Uh, [00:49:00] Uhhuh. I was like, mommy, mommy, stop crying. You're disturbing the peace.