Shownotes
What if retirement isn't about winding down—it's about waking up?
At 81, business mentor Patricia Noel Drain is living proof that your best work might still be ahead of you.
This conversation is for anyone who knows they are not finished yet, but feels unclear about how to begin again.
Key Highlights:
- Why traditional retirement does not work for everyone
- How your experience can guide your next chapter without starting from scratch
- The idea that your gift is already your niche
- Why midlife and beyond can feel like a waking up, not a winding down
- The Dr. Phil tape measure story and what it reveals about time and intention
- Why women often struggle to charge for their knowledge and how to set healthier boundaries
- Ageism, visibility, and owning your relevance at any age
Guest
Patricia Noel Drain - Author of 14 books, business mentor, and host of the new podcast Women Entrepreneurs Over 50 Who Want to Work Less, Make More, Doing What They Love (launching January 7, 2026)
Special offers mentioned:
Patricia Noel Drain is offering 10 listeners a complimentary 15-minute Paradigm Strategy Session to help clarify what is next.
Email Patricia at patricia@patriciadrain.com and let her know you heard about this offer on Boomer Banter.
Learn more at https://www.patriciadrain.com
Wendy Green invites you to join the Boomer Banter Circle, a monthly virtual community for meaningful conversation about aging well. ($25/month)
Join here: https://buymeacoffee.com/heyboomer0413
Invitation to check out Wellness Wednesday, with host gerontologist, Sally Duplantier. These free and recorded webinars feature experts on topics about healthy aging. Visit MyZingLife.com to learn more.
Bottom line: Midlife isn't the end of something—it's the beginning of your most authentic chapter.
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Well, I am your host, Wendy gre, and every week on Boomer Banter, we talk about the challenges, the changes and the possibilities that come with this season of life. And one way that I continue this conversation is through the Banter Circle.
So each month, the Banter Circle community comes together for a virtual gathering. I bring a topic and we banter about it.
We learn from one another, we build friendships, and we build friendships with people that don't necessarily live nearby, but we feel like a community.
There is a monthly membership fee of only $25 and the value of what happens in that space, the Boomer Banter Circle space goes far beyond the cost, but the exchange does matter. It allows the circle to exist. It honors your time and mine, the care and experience that goes into creating it.
p@buymeacoffee.com hey, boomer:So, as the new year begins, a lot of people start hearing the same quiet message over and over again. And that message is telling them, you know what? It's time for you to slow down, step back. You've earned your rest. You're tired now. Well, what do you.
How do you react when you hear that? I mean, we all like to rest every once in a while, right? Rest matters.
But many of us are realizing that retirement as it's traditionally defined, it doesn't quite fit us anymore. We know that we still have a lot to give, and we know that we still want to make a difference.
And somewhere in our minds, we also know that we have experience and wisdom to share. We just don't know how to use that or where. We haven't really grasped the identification of what that is.
So today's conversation is for those of you who know that you are not finished, but you also feel a little unclear about how to start. And you know that you don't want to, like, chase something like brand new.
Well, maybe you do, but, you know, maybe you want to use some of the knowledge that you have. So it's about this conversation is going to be about what happens when we stop asking, what should I do now?
And we start asking, what do I already know? And how might I use that differently? My guest today is Patricia Noel Drain.
She is an author, a business mentor, and host of the new podcast to be released this week. Women entrepreneurs over 50 who want to work less, make more, doing what they love. Boy, that sounds like my kind of podcast.
Patricia has spent decades helping women recognize the value of their experience and turn what they know into work and income that fits their lives. Today, this conversation isn't about hustle or reinvention.
It's about starting from experience, staying open to possibility, and realizing that for many of us, we're simply too experienced to follow society's expectation of retirement. So help me welcome Patricia to Boomer Banter.
Patricia Noel Drain:Hey, thank you, Wendy. Thanks so much. Do you know all the times I've been listening to you? And that's been years, and we finally get to meet each other in person.
I love it because you've been one of my favorite podcasts. But until today, I didn't know about Banter Circle. I cannot wait to join.
Wendy Green:Oh, I hope you will. We really do have fun with those. Those conversations. So I hope you will, but thanks, Patricia.
I'm so glad to have you here, though, because you are a mentor to me, and I want to start with this diverse career that you've had. You gone owned businesses, you're an author. You mentor people.
So tell me about kind of the trajectory of your business and how you got to where you are today.
Patricia Noel Drain:Thanks. Well, it is funny because when we are groomed to go out in a career, I think all of us are told, you have to go get a job.
I mean, and you go into the corporate world and you go into that brick and mortar world, and there you are. Well, for me, I graduated and became a teacher. So I thought I went to heaven. This was like, are you kidding me?
I'm getting paid to be with these little children. They were just so special and wonderful. And then, of course, reality hits and I have a family, and so I stay home.
I'm not going to go teach while I have little people at my house. And so then I stayed home for many years until they were like 13 years old or the youngest were 13.
And then when it was time to said, you know, start back, we moved to Arizona from Montana. And I thought, I've got to go get a job like everybody told me to. So I started really going into, okay, what is it that I can do?
And I'm just like you said, you know, what's next? I don't know what's next. I'm a teacher at heart. That must be what I love to do that is my passion. And so I became a re.
An executive recruiter, and I eventually opened my own recruiting firm. So, so I taught these people, as they would come in and be interviewed by me, I really.
They all said the same thing, Patricia, what should I be when I grow up? And I'm like, isn't this a shame? You're all grown up and you don't know what to be. Just like, I didn't, you know.
So I wrote the book what should I be when I grow up? Now that I'm 40, 50, 60. And now I'm going to say, and beyond. And beyond and beyond. Because we want to work a lot longer, right.
And so it was really a very difficult situation at the time because I was trying to place these people in a career that they would just love and that they couldn't wait to get to. That's just not what happened. You have to get to the core of who you are. What do you love to do?
And what do you love to do that you could make an income doing? Then you go find your job. Now, I get that part now, but that's.
Wendy Green:And that's hard for a lot of people to get to the core. You have a phrase, Patricia, that you use about your. Your gift is your niche. So how do you help people find what their gift is?
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, there are two questions that I've been asked for probably 30 years now. What should I be when I grow up? And the second one is, now that I'm growing up, what is my niche? I know I have to pick a niche. Oh, my God, I'm.
Now I'm nervous, you know, so that's when I created the course, your gift is your niche. And people would look at me with these strange eyes and say, gift. I'm not gifted. Everybody is gifted now.
Some people are gifted maybe to what, you know, understand plumbing. Somebody else might understand how to put a house together or a wall up or whatever. But that is a gift that you were given at birth.
And we all came in with them, but most of us. Well, I feel so bad for all of us because I don't know. Wendy, did you have career development growing up? Did people help you with that?
Wendy Green:People kind of discouraged me from certain things. Yes. Yeah.
Patricia Noel Drain:No. What do you mean? You had somebody.
Wendy Green:So. So I had thought I had read books about law, right. And I thought, oh, that sounds cool. I want to be a lawyer.
And I was told, you can't be a wife and a mother and a lawyer.
Patricia Noel Drain:Yep. Well, look what I just said. I Said I couldn't have these little children at home and go out and be a teacher.
And I really thought that in my mind, I'm glad I had that opportunity. I mean, I truly am. But at the same time, that's not the way it should be. I mean, a woman should be able to have the career she wants also. But.
But anyway, the way I help people find their gifts is really through a lot of questioning, a lot of formulas that I just kind of. I like to say they start here and they just keep coming down like a funnel, and pretty soon they drip out and.
And you start seeing, oh, I didn't realize that asking a question was a gift.
Wendy Green:Yes.
Patricia Noel Drain:I mean, even that is a gift. And then being able. And one of the things that you do so well, Wendy, is you listen to things that people are saying to you.
I can't tell you how many people don't listen. They don't know how to listen, so that's not their gift. So you have to really spend some time.
I'm just going to give you one question that might help somebody listening to, maybe find out one of their gifts. When was the last time. I'm going to ask you this, Wendy. When was the last time you lost track when you were doing something and you didn't.
I mean, seriously, it was 2 o', clock, and pretty soon it was 4 o' clock, and you didn't even realize it. Do you know a time that you did that? What were you doing?
Wendy Green:It happens all the time when I'm writing, when I'm writing for Substack or when I'm writing for the, you know, the podcast. I, I get so curious, Patricia, and I'm. How else can I say this? And what other question am I wanting to asking?
How did I, you know, how do I phrase that? So it really makes sense. And, I mean, you and I both have a gift for asking questions and, and for listening.
But I think as women, a lot of times we do tend to tell ourselves, well, you know, you don't want to brag. You don't want to, like, say, I'm, I'm good at this or that. So, you know, why do you. Why do you think we got to that point?
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, I know why I did.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Patricia Noel Drain:I was taught by nuns.
And, and if you think that you ever can talk about yourself, if you don't say that in front of a nun, they would make you feel so small and so, and, and they would say all the time. Now just remember, you are very, very small. And when you Walk in the church. I want you to bow your head and not look up.
And I would always be looking up to see why can't. Why do I have to bow my head? It made no sense to me. But they wanted to keep us very humble, and they did.
But when you grow up and you don't understand in an interviewing process that the other girl is going to get it because she communicated her gifts better than you did, then you start learning that, oh, I get it now. I have to know myself really well. So when you say that you were writing and you lose yourself when you're writing. Did you write a book yet?
Have you written a book yet?
Wendy Green:No, I have not.
Patricia Noel Drain:Okay. Are you going to?
Wendy Green:I might. I'm not gonna commit to that.
Patricia Noel Drain:So.
Wendy Green:So for my listening audience, as I said, Patricia is my mentor and she's been amazing. And I told her before she could come on this show, I said, patricia, I'm asking.
Patricia Noel Drain:That's right, that's right. I forgot. I forgot for just a moment. Well, back to books. You know, I didn't. I was told by a nun when I was very young. It was so embarrassing to me.
I think I may have been nine. I could have been 12, though. I don't know.
But I stood up in front of the room because I had to write something, and I read what I had written, and she. She had a ruler, and she kind of tapped the. The desk and as hard as she could, and she said, I'm going to say one thing for sure for you.
Never be a writer. That is the worst writing I have ever heard in my whole life. Now, you can imagine when I wrote my first book, I'm inside of a. Of an. You know, I'm.
As I said, I owned an executive recruiting staffing firm. And here I am helping people find their. Their place in this world on a career.
And I thought, I've got to tell them they have to interview better because they are interviewing like I did. Terrible, because I was terrible at interviewing. And so I. I would help them by asking the right questions.
In this book, it's called Hire Me Secrets of Job Interviewing. And when I wrote it, guess what I did because of that nun?
I kept it in my office as close to me as I could, because if anybody saw it, they might make fun of me. And so the book kept selling. You know, we'd sell it there. I just wanted to get my return on investment. And that's what people can do to us.
And we don't realize that we carry that baggage through life. You know, it's just a shame I'm 14 books in now because I know I have things to help people with. From what should you be when you grow up?
To discovering your core to your gift is your niche.
You know, it's all those kinds of things that, that if I would have stood in my own way, I couldn't have helped the thousands of people that I've helped to this point.
Wendy Green:Yeah, and it's interesting, you know, when I heard your story about the writing the book and the nun, my reaction was, oh, I hope you sent that copy to the nun and said, hahaha, I can.
Patricia Noel Drain:No, I didn't send it to her, but I do thank her to this day because 14 books in I, I realized, see, and I also realized the reason I did a lot of group books is because a lot of people don't have the time to write a full book. And so I let them write chapters in the book and that fulfilled their needs at that time they didn't want to do a complete one.
But it, it is funny how people, when we're growing up, and I'm not asking you the question because I don't care, but she just says that the question would have been was there somebody that said something to you? I'm asking your audience said something to you way back when and it's not true, it is not a true statement, but you carried it all your life.
Wendy Green:So I do have a story that was similar to your nun story. Similar and different. I had not finished college, I was single mom and I was working as a computer operator in a bicycle brake manufacturing company.
And I was like teaching myself as I'm sitting there in this computer room, myself and my boss and I'm teaching myself all this stuff. I'm going, this is IBM, they have classes. You could send me to classes. And he said no, no, you were hired to be a clerk.
Okay, so long story short, he ended up hiring somebody else fresh out of college that I then trained. And I said I'm done, I'm going back to school and put myself through school and got my computer science degree.
And that's when I wanted to send him an invitation to my graduation and say, ha, ha ha, I'll show you who's a clerk.
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, and you know the funny thing about that, for both, both stories, they don't care now. Like if you, if you told him to come to graduation, he'd be like, good for you, you did something.
He didn't even know he had that kind of an impact on You.
Wendy Green:That's right.
Patricia Noel Drain:Yeah, that's right.
Wendy Green:I know. So I want to talk about what happens when people, quote, unquote, retire. And you know, at first it is kind of like a holiday.
You say, oh, isn't this nice? I don't have meetings. I don't have to go to the dry cleaner anymore and get all my clothes cleaned. You know, I, this is so nice.
And then 16 hour days keep happening and we're like, I don't know what to do with myself. I, I need to be useful. I need to feel like I have, you know, I know I have something left to give.
I'm still very vibrant, even though I may be 60 or 70 or even 80, you know. So how do you help people get unstuck from that place?
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, I think one of the things that just was so shocking to me, actually, it was just one of the best stories I've ever seen. So I watched Dr. Phil and I record him.
Now he's not on any longer, but he had a tape measure on his stage and it went from one end to the other and it went all the way up to 100. Now people aren't going to look. Very few people live to be 100. Now the, the score is 002. So if you get to live to be 100, you're very rare.
But he said the median age was around 80 and he had a man on a show and the man was miserable and he wasn't living his life the way he wanted to. And Dr. Phil said, come over here, stand on this tape measure right where you're 72. Okay, stand there and look at me.
And so he's looking at Dr. Phil and he said, I want you to look backwards and see how much life you've led. Now, of course, that's a very, very long tape measure in the back. He said, now look forward to where I am. How much time do you have left?
If seriously the Median age is 80 and most times it's not. And he looked forward and he saw this small little piece of tape measure and said, oh my gosh, I've got to do something now.
He bought a motorhome and off they went. And they went all over the place, he and his wife.
And I don't, I don't know the rest of that story, but I know that he had such an impact on him and, and on me and on the audience, because he got more mail for that show than any other show. I say the same thing to these retired people. Now that's where you Come in, Wendy.
Because I teach entrepreneurs how to make money in their, in their next chapter. You teach people how to live their life and get a purpose and move on and have a passion. Because there are people that don't need to make money.
They have a 401k, they have a retirement fund. They don't want to. There's a lot of people that I know that just have no interest in making an income. That's like I say, you were very similar.
I teach income. You teach, you know, the purpose part. Right. But, but if you aren't doing what you love, then you have to discover that very quickly.
Because I, I certainly don't want to get up at 70 years old and, and go dig a ditch because I think I have to be doing something. But if I love digging, then that's what I'm going to be doing.
Wendy Green:Right?
Patricia Noel Drain:So that you can garden, you can go to the store, you can get fresh vegetables, whatever it is that you feel passionate about. How fun is that, that you have the time now to do that, but you have to discover what you love to do.
Wendy Green:So part of what you teach, Patricia, is, is to use your experience. So I'll give you an example. So say that someone had been a nurse. I had a client like this. She was a, A, A medical professional.
So that's a lot of caregiving. Right. And taking care of people. And when she retired, she was just struggling with, well, what should I do?
She had this idea in her head, I have to reinvent myself. You know, now's my time. And her husband started playing his guitar. And I said, well, was he always musical? She said, oh, yeah, he always played well.
Why do you think now that you have to play the guitar, take up something brand new? That's what he did. You know, what do you like to do?
And, and I think when you talk about experience, it does well, or I don't want to put words into your mouth, but what do you mean? Like, how do you find how your experience translates into this next chapter?
Patricia Noel Drain:Yeah, well, I think that was a very good example because maybe she doesn't want to be a caregiver any longer. Maybe that, maybe that now is okay, that I did that for 20, 30 years. I don't want to do that.
I have a lot of teachers that really don't want to teach any longer. That is not where they, what they want to do.
But what I find interesting with the nurse or the teacher is, interestingly enough, you went into that for some reason. There is a reason you became a Teacher. Exactly. And so I talked to one lady just, well, last week. She's a client of mine, and she's an ex teacher.
And she was kind of mad for a while because of, you know, just what you said, because what I said to her, what do you want to do? Now 100% of my people say, I want to travel. And so. Okay, now you're travel for 365 days, living out of a suitcase. Now what? She's only. She's only 60.
She just did 60. And she said, well, that's the thing. I don't know what to do. And now she's discovered that she can teach on YouTube.
She can teach videos, she can teach what she wants to teach now, which is living your dream life, job, living your dream life. And that's what she's now talking and teaching because she is a natural teacher with the nurse, even though she's a natural caregiver.
Why did she go into nursing to begin with? Do you want to help people? Because you can help people in all kinds of different ways, right? Not just with their bodies or, or when they're sick.
I mean.
Wendy Green:Right.
Patricia Noel Drain:We're helping people doing what we do and worse.
Wendy Green:And we went down a similar path that you just described, you know, and she has a dog that she loves, and she started getting the dog trained to be a therapy dog. So she's getting to blend both. Right. She loves her dog, and she's still helping people.
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, I think. I think there's so many people that do feel like you just said, I'm a photographer, so I'm going to have to be a photographer the rest of my life.
Not necessarily. You could expand that in all kinds of different ways in the world of art. You could even write about it. You know, you could tell.
Teach somebody how to become a photographer themselves. How do they look at the camera? How do they look at the person they're taking the photo of? You know, so, yeah, there's.
There's all kinds of outlets, but here's the kicker. I really think this is where the challenge is.
I don't think people take the time to get to know themselves and, and really understand what it is they love and like and. And don't like to do. And I think the moment you do that, it becomes crystal clear what you should be doing.
Wendy Green:Yeah. So your podcast, your new podcast that's coming out Wednesday, right? Yes, January 7th. So you've had. You had another podcast before that?
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, I had. I. I've done two seasons, and then I took a Break. Because I backed off and said, okay. The last podcast was called When Passion Meets. Sorry, Profit.
When Passion Meets Profit was exactly what I wanted to talk about. It still is. But what I had to do, I wanted to get very specific. So I said, okay, who do I really want to work with? And I said, an entrepreneur.
Well, that meant an entrepreneur. She could be an entrepreneur at 18, or he could be an entrepreneur at 22. No, I want to work with a seasoned entrepreneur.
So I said, I. I want to work with a female entrepreneur over 50, and I want to work with somebody who wants to work less. I don't want them to kill themselves, make more, and doing what they love.
And so all these people started coming out of the woodwork saying, oh, pick me, pick me. I. That's that you just said my. The name of my game. And so I knew I was on to something then, so I started interviewing.
And that's why it's kicking off on Wednesday.
I'm just doing my own kickoff of it and, you know, telling them what to be expecting, including something that I've invited you to do called the We Talk. And it's my version of TED Talks. It's for women entrepreneurs and what they want to tell their story, because all of us have a story.
But women entrepreneurs are different. We're experienced, we're different. I mean, we don't get that paycheck every single week or every two weeks. I wish I did.
I should have set my business up to do that, but I didn't. But, you know, it's.
It's really fun to listen to their stories because we keep them right at 15 to 18 minutes, just like TED Talks, and they get to tell it, and I give them the platform to do that. So I'm. I'm very excited about this new season, and I just love getting specifically with what it is I want to be doing with it.
Wendy Green:I'm excited about listening to this, too, to see where you go with this, because as we discussed when you coached me a little bit, you know, I just like to help, Right. And I have been.
People are going to think this is very strange, probably, but I have been adverse to charging people for my help, and we talked a little bit about that.
And so my question to you is, is that so terribly uncommon that we as women are like, oh, I'm not worth paying that much, or, you know, I don't like to. I don't want to charge because I know they need the help.
Patricia Noel Drain:That's the most common thing I deal with with women And. And I feel so bad for us, because I remember feeling now, remember I had those nuns in my life. I'm a humble person. I'm really humble.
And I went to confession when I was 5, so just FYI. But here I am now on stage. I'm a speaker, and I'm up there doing my speaking, and it's time for me to end. And I do.
And I don't tell anybody how they can work with me at all. But the girl next that comes up is not even quite as experienced as me. She's brand new, actually.
She just learned how to speak and point her toe and put her hand up like this. Anyway, she gets on stage. She sold the whole room, what she was selling.
And I just looked at her and I looked at myself and I thought, well, see, I thought they would come to me. Well, I didn't invite them to, because I did. I felt just like you did. Why would I charge anybody? Why would I put a program together?
Because people want that. They need that. It's not about us, it's about them. And so I got very clear on that a long time ago. And I want other women to get clear on that also.
We have something to offer, and if somebody wants that, then you'll want to make sure that you charge for that. Yeah.
Wendy Green:Yeah. And I. And I. I really do. Working on. And, you know, making that part of who I am, because I think the other way you're trying to.
You're almost like, not respecting the people, you know, that they don't know what they need, or they, you know, aren't able to find the help that they want because you're giving it to them for free, and then it devalues it. So that's not. It's not good.
Patricia Noel Drain:And I think I told you this, but this stayed in my mind for a long time. I can see her now, and it's been years ago that I wrote my first book, Hire me Secrets of Interviewing.
And this little girl kept waiting around, waiting around for me to sign it. And I didn't know what she was waiting for. So I finally said, can I help you, honey? And she said, well, I want you to sign my book.
And I looked at her and I said, well, you don't want me to sign your book. And she said, I don't see what I mean with the being humble. And it's not about me. It was about that little girl.
Wendy Green:Right.
Patricia Noel Drain:I remember her face so well. And I. I sign books now whether you want me to or not. If I give You a book that's not written by me. I sign the book. I learned. So.
Wendy Green:So, Patricia, what happens when somebody keeps piling on, you know? Oh, they know. You can help with this. Oh, can you help me with this? Oh, wait, you did a really great job on that. Can you help me with this?
How do you put a boundary and when do you learn to say no?
Patricia Noel Drain:I think that's a really good question. And I wasn't prepared for that at all. And it has happened to me, and, you know, it happened to me with this person that took me to lunch.
And she said, I want to pick your brain. And I said, quite honestly, I have so many people picking my brain. I have a really little brain now.
And she said, I promise you can go right across the street from your office and I'll take you right back, no problem at all. And I'll pick you up and within the next three months. How could I possibly get out of this? I thought. So we go to lunch, and she picked my brain.
Wendy Green:She.
Patricia Noel Drain:She found out everything possible about my business and about me, and she. And all of a sudden it came time to pay, and she didn't have a credit card, so I ended up paying for lunch, not only having her pick my br.
Now I didn't even know this person. And so now she drops me off at my. And I'm so angry walking in, not at her. I'm so angry at myself.
And so I went to Shelly, she was my assistant at the time. And I said, shelly, as of today, I'm opening a consulting division, period. And she said, really? What are you going to do?
And I said, I'm going to charge people for what she just did to me. And because that was so unfair, and I want people to listen to this, that it's unfair to you. It's disrespectful to you to have somebody do that.
You can bet that she paid somebody lots of money down. Down the pike, you know, and that's really. People were mad because I was charging.
I know that because they would tell me, I just wanted to ask you a question. Well, it was like the 50th question they had asked me. And so when I started charging, those people kind of drifted away. And the real.
The people that really were serious started coming up to my consultations.
Wendy Green:Yeah. And I think also in our. In our personal life, you know, I've always heard the expression, well, no is a complete sentence.
Patricia Noel Drain:Yes.
Wendy Green:You know, so no.
Patricia Noel Drain:No is a really hard thing for me also. It's. Is it. Do you want. Oh, do you want to go to lunch? No. Do you want to come on my show? No. No. It's really hard. So, yes, I'd love to. And.
And then I get burned out, and I. And I get mad at myself again and then. And change something else.
Wendy Green:Yeah. Yeah.
I have learned to say no pretty well, I think, because being a single mom and now, you know, doing a lot of caregiving with my mom, I have to put some boundaries around my time. And so.
But I think one of the things that you talked to me about was being able to say, not necessarily, no, but say, this is what I charge for my work, and you don't have to make an excuse about it. And I think it's the same thing with no. Right. You can say, no, that's not going to work for me. No, not at this time. And that's all.
You don't have to make it. Well, because, you know, that weakens it.
Patricia Noel Drain:It does. You're absolutely right. So I'll learn that from you. No.
Wendy Green:Well, I hope you don't feel that way about this.
Patricia Noel Drain:This show.
Wendy Green:We're glad to have you on.
So I want to talk about, you know, we're still staying in the retirement area, and, you know, a lot of times when people talk about aging well and retiring, they talk about reinventing. And. And we've kind of. We've talked about that a little bit. But how do you talk about that instead of reinventing? What. What terms do you use?
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, a few years ago, before the pandemic, I had a reinvention convention, and it was just a huge success because you're absolutely right. These people showed up and they wanted to reinvent what. What I happened at that event is exactly what happens today when I talk with people.
You have to get back to the core of who you are and what you love and what you're gifted at doing. And once you do that, it makes life much easier.
And one of the things that I noticed with all the people, they thought I was going to tell them what they should do with their. With their reinventing.
And people ask me all the time, Patricia, because I was a speaker and I was helping people doing things all the time, and they'd always say, when are you going to retire? Now, I don't know what age it started happening, but I thought, now what do I retire from? Because I work at home, I'm a consultant, I do podcasting.
So I'm not quite sure where I would go. Am I supposed. You know, when you retire, do you just Go sit in a chair and stare or something. I'm never going to retire. I'm. Oh.
But I am only going to work because I don't call it work anymore. It is my calling. It is my livelihood. And I like helping people find out what it is that they can do and what their purpose and passion is in life.
Because I got to be one of the lucky ones that found it very early with those little children. I'm still teaching today, but I just teach people that got taller in their deaths. That's right.
Wendy Green:Bigger children.
Patricia Noel Drain:That's right. So I. The retirement thing doesn't work with me, but I absolutely know my two sisters.
One worked at Fox, 20th Century Fox, and she was really a big shot there. My other sister worked in the academic world and they both are very knowledgeable and really. And they couldn't wait to retire.
Well, of course they were suiting up every day, driving a car every day, getting into the building every day. I don't do that. That's not what I do. But if you do that and you want to retire, that's fine.
But you will, if you will notice that as you look at that tape measure that I was talking about and you look forward, you've got a lot of life left. And if you want to contribute, you need to work with Wendy.
Wendy Green:May I. You can say no, but may I ask you to share how old you are with the audience? Because I think it is so exciting to see how much you are.
Are still giving back and not retiring.
Patricia Noel Drain:Yeah, no, no, I, I don't. You know, I did have.
I will have to tell you though, Wendy, I had such a hang up with this and I finally had to say I've got to, I've just got to tell how old I am because I, I don't care. I don't want people to compliment me or. I'm not doing it for that reason. I'm just saying it's okay.
I'm 81 years old and I want to, I want to be doing this as long as I want to be doing this as long as I'm excited to do this. Exactly. Once I lose that, then I, I probably wouldn't want to be doing it. But I haven't lost it yet.
And I didn't think it was necessary to tell how old I was until I didn't want to tell how old I was. Does that happen to people that, you.
Wendy Green:Know, that they don't want to tell? Yes. Yes.
Patricia Noel Drain:And the reason I didn't is because I thought, well, people will Think that I'm too old to even know anything anymore. Well, no, no, I know so much more. I'm so much wiser now, so much more experienced now that I'm in my 80s. But I will say it got my attention.
I, I, if I'm being very honest, 60s didn't, 70s didn't, 80s did. My husband and I on our 50th, we're both entrepreneurs, we're both in business.
And on our 50th anniversary, we did not want to tell anybody that it was our 50th, other than our family, and we had a big party with our family. But I wouldn't have put it on social media because what, he felt the same way. He thought, well, nobody's going to respect me.
I think that has to do with our country, though. I don't know if you. But I kind of think that it might have to do with, okay, you get to a certain age now, put them away. And it's the opposite.
Wendy Green:Oh, totally. I think ageism is, is the last acceptable ism we still have.
You know, and you see commercials on tv and when they're, when there's older people on those commercials, you know, they're bent over, they're not vibrant, they're taking all these pill, you know, everything is falling apart.
And the young people on the other end of the spectrum have ageism working against them too, because a lot of the jobs are now going either to AI or they're saying, well, you don't have the experience, you're too young, you wouldn't understand. So, you know, it's either end of the spectrum is getting kind of shut out right now.
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, one of the things, Wendy, this, this is something, and I don't think we've talked about it, but one of the things that I started doing many, many years ago, I would say to somebody, how old are you? And they'd say, I'm 45, and I'm getting nervous. And. Yeah, well, just wait. Well, then I'd say, how old do you feel, though?
How old do you, if you didn't know how old you were, how old would you be today? And they would say 20 to 30 years younger. And so for me, I'm 62. I'm not in my 50s because my daughter is, and I just didn't want to compete with her.
But I am in my 60s because I know I'm wise now. I know I've had experience under my belt. Yeah. And, and start asking people that, and it's amazing what they do say it's so true.
Wendy Green:It's so true. You know, I feel like I still want to go out and play and dance and hike and all those things, like I did in my 40s. And I'm 72, you know, so.
Yeah, it.
Patricia Noel Drain:Well, I'm starting to work on a new book also, and now I haven't written a word in it, but. But I. I worked on the title and it's going to be something like, it's never too late. And then I'll just say fill in the blank.
And I Learned that after 80 because I want, really, I want to inspire other people that it's okay to be 80 and still alive and well and inspiring and thinking.
Wendy Green:Thank you. That's. You know, I was going to ask you, like, what's one golden nugget takeaway that you could leave with us? And I think you just did.
Unless there's something else you want to add to that.
Patricia Noel Drain:No, I think that's. I. I really think that is what I would say because it makes me want to tear up, you know, to think that I didn't.
Now the people that we have right now, us, you know, we have Jane Fonda, we have these really cool movie stars. Well, they're not us. They're not just normal people. That's right.
And so we need to step out there now and kind of inspire and motivate others that are moving through this aging process.
Wendy Green:We do. Wow, Patricia, this has been amazing. Thank you so much. What you shared. I want to tell people how they get.
Can get in touch with you and that you have some. A special offer for them.
Patricia Noel Drain:I do, Wendy, for your group. And the reason I do I'm doing this is because this is a live podcast. And so I think this will be great.
I'm going to invite you to come and talk with me. I have put together a formula. It's a 15 minute formula. I'm almost calling it the paradigm strategy session.
Because I think you'll have a shift when you come on and work through this formula with me. And I do it 15 minutes because it's amazing how quickly time goes and how slowly time goes in the 15 minutes.
They're kind of shocked at how long it really is. But at the end you will. You will have closed your gap and what it is that you're looking for.
So I'm going to take 10 people this month on that and all they have to do is go Patricia at Patricia Drain. And it'S-R-A-I-N.com and I'll do. I'll sign you up for that session.
Now, if you don't get, if you're not One of the 10, I'm going to put you on a wait list and then we'll do it at a different time. But you'll, you'll get yours done. And I'm excited to do that.
Wendy Green:Yeah. So thank you.
And I also want to invite people to look at your website, patriciadrain.com where she has information about her books and her podcast and speaking engagements and all that kind of stuff. So it's a, it's a useful website to check out.
Patricia Noel Drain:So thanks, Wendy. Yeah, and I'm, I'm not going to end with a question. I really have one, a burning question. But I'm not asking you, you know.
Wendy Green:What you're gonna do. I know what she's gonna do. She's gonna ask me as soon as we end this show. So that's okay.
But for those listening today, if this really stirred something in you, you know, your curiosity, you see some of the possibilities, it's worth paying attention to. Patricia reminds us that midlife and beyond is not a time to wind down. It's an invitation to wake up to who you've always been.
And like I said, I'm going to include the links to her email and her website in there.
And please share this with your friends, your family, let them know about this conversation because they need inspiration as well to know that life doesn't end at 50 or 60 or even at 70 or 80. One more thing before you go. I want to tell you about a another podcast.
If you recall, we in the Agewise Collective like to recognize some of our other podcasters. And this one is called Wellness Wednesday. It's a webinar, not necessarily a podcast, and it's hosted by gerontologist Sally Duplantier.
And they're free recorded webinars. They feature experts on topics about healthy aging. Sally is delightful. I know you will enjoy it.
So Visit my zing life.com and explore the topics in her webinar. They're on Wednesdays. I think it's monthly, but maybe twice a month. So check that out. And thank you again, Ms. Patricia.
I really have loved talking to you and I can't wait to talk to you more.
Patricia Noel Drain:Thank you, Wendy.
Wendy Green:Okay, bye.
Patricia Noel Drain:Bye. Bye.
Wendy Green:Thank you all for listening too.
