Navigating Life and Business After 45: Wisdom and Insights

In this episode of 'Seasoned Women, Serious Business,' host Isabel Alexander and co-host Jackie Wszalek discuss the journey of entrepreneurship and life challenges faced by women aged 45 and beyond. They delve into personal stories, including life changes, health issues, and the emotional roller coaster of midlife transformations. Sponsored by Crossroads Clarity Solution, the podcast aims to provide support and wisdom for women looking to reignite their passions, build legacies, and seek community support. Stay tuned for more inspiring interviews and discussions designed to uplift and empower women entrepreneurs.

00:00 Introduction to Seasoned Women, Serious Business

01:26 Casual Conversation with Jackie and Isabel

01:57 Reflecting on Aging and Expectations

02:47 Overcoming Physical and Emotional Struggles

05:40 The Importance of Community and Support

07:58 Looking Forward and Staying Active

10:21 Wrapping Up and Future Plans

10:50 Closing Remarks and Call to Action

Jackie Wszalek is a curious community activist, grandma, wife, yogi and peace seeker.  Seasoned business owners committed to sharing "lessons learned, lessons lived" while advocating for small business success.

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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Crossroads Clarity Solution

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Welcome to Seasoned Women, Serious Business, the podcast for entrepreneurs

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aged 45 to 75 and beyond who've changed lives, challenged status

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quo, who are wise enough to want more and gutsy enough to create it.

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Join me, your host, Isabel Alexander, a seasoned business owner, as I

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serve up the Knowledge and best practices for life and business,

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along with unfiltered wisdom from other women entrepreneurs and leaders.

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Whether you're looking to reignite your passion for your business,

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unlock new ones that build your legacy or simply shake your head at the

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folly of underestimating ourselves.

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You are in the right place.

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We're serious about business.

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And we're serious about loving the life that we've worked hard to create.

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Stay tuned and be part of a community built on collaboration and collective

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wisdom that dismisses old paradigms and celebrates vibrant women just like you

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and our limitless potential at every age.

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//web.descript.com/b961cf36-43d2-426c-b4dd-28f0d479279f

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: You want to record an episode?

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We should do a shorty.

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We got a little short one.

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All right, what would you like to talk about?

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Hey, welcome back.

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Seasoned Women, a serious business with the spicy duo.

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Jackie Wieselik, Isabel Alexander, both in our almost 70s, and

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we're just sitting on the sofa.

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chatting with you.

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Yep.

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Sharing it.

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Sharing some things.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: Yeah.

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Isabel is about to turn 70, as we talked about in our last podcast and

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our last video, and I've been there and heading toward the middle of it.

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And we're just talking about What it feels like?

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Did it meet our expectations?

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Did it lower, did we have to lower expectations?

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What does the next decade look like?

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How much fun can we have?

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: Oh, I like the idea of looking at the

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decade in advance, a trip plan.

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Okay.

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Yeah, I like it.

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And I can't believe that those words are actually coming out of my mouth

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because it wasn't too long ago that I thought it was like the world was flat

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and I would just fall off after 65.

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And lo and behold, and I I really changed it up, flipped it down the

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side, did the hokey pokey, turned myself inside out, because I got a

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divorce in, I was what, 68 years old?

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Moved, started a new business, changed my whole Yeah, and a hip replacement.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: And a hip replacement.

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Also in the middle of that is Which

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: really helped with my Hokey Pokey, I

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: have to say.

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Now the hips are moving good.

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Yeah.

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And that was an incredible journey in and of itself.

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I think when we're in pain, there's a whole different way

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to, view the world, right?

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Because you're looking at it through eyes that are just hanging on.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: Yeah I didn't ever want to say this publicly, so here I am.

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Here we are.

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We bring out the best in each other.

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Yeah, I I really did.

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I had a, I was having a hard time.

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I was struggling emotionally.

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As well as physically cause I felt broken, and I also had this story playing in

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my head that only crippled old people hobbled around like that, had to use

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a cane couldn't get up off the chair without a lot of grunting and grimacing.

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So on, on us.

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And good fucking God, when I dropped something on the floor, , it

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could stay there , because getting down was not on impossible.

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Getting up was impossible.

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Yeah.

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So yeah.

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I think that's something worth talking about because definitely, and

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I know we were going to talk about the decade, but yeah, guess what?

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: Honestly, we give it.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: Put your seatbelt on everybody.

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It's going

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: to be a bumpy ride.

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We will be right back after a brief message from our sponsors.

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This episode of Seasoned Women, Serious Business is brought to you

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by Crossroads Clarity Solution.

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If you're feeling overwhelmed and unsure of your next steps, whether

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it's maintaining the status quo, closing down, scaling up, Selling or

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transforming your role as a primary shareholder, Crossroads Clarity

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Solution guides you to the right path.

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This program is uniquely designed to help female entrepreneurs navigate through

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critical decisions and align their business with their values and priorities.

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Find out why it works at CrossroadsClaritySolution.

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com and don't waste another minute of your future.

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As promised, we are back with this episode, because you

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are wise enough to want more.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: make very quick turns and we don't always signal.

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Oh, we are at a stage of our life that parts of us are wearing out.

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Yeah, we need maintenance.

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Yeah, we need maintenance.

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Absolutely.

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And there's a lot to be said.

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We're blessed to have great, Medical Advancement and Pharmacopeia, although

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I am way leaning to a return to natural medicine and food as medicine and

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what generations of our grandmothers past knew about how to heal ourselves.

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But there's the emotional part of healing as well, right?

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and having friends is a big part of that.

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That's a big medicine because as I got down into that spiral of pity party,

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feeling sorry for myself, feeling very anxious about being a burden

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to anybody else because of my lack of mobility it just, it does spiral.

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It does.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: And I think most of us, At least I can speak.

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Very hard to ask for help, right?

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And all that does is isolate us.

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People want to help.

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There's no question about it.

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So we have to learn that lesson for sure.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: But it's hard when you've always

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: been the one given the help.

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It's pretty impossible some days or feels impossible.

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And

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: so I think that's something, especially for

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women who have been business owners.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: Yeah.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: and Leaders.

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And we got this.

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Yeah, we're taking care of everybody else.

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We're running through, putting people under our arms, charging forward.

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So it is not

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something we know how to do.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: No, it's not in our lane, that's for sure.

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So once you do reach out, you find that people want to help, it's a good thing.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: Yeah, so that, that's a big conversation again,

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because there's lots of different reasons why we may go through some

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blips with our health or have to adjust.

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Some of the activities that we used to do.

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Yeah.

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But then instead of taking away, there's this like wonderful

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opportunity to add new Exactly.

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And add more and add different, and I am not like my friend here who is.

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Been doing yoga forever.

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Consistently, I have not taken care of myself physically.

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That's something that is definitely more important for me now and

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I'm running out of excuses.

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I can't say my hip hurts.

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So I can't do that.

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But going to the pool in the morning is a big deal for me.

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But again, don't feel alone if you're out there going Oh my god, I am ashamed.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: Yeah, there's a million reasons to feel bad, there's

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a million reasons to feel good, and find some friends who are with

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you in that journey to feel great.

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: Yeah, and no, you're not alone and if you give voice

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to it, a remarkable thing happens.

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You find out the person sitting across from you goes,

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Oh, I thought it was just me.

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Yeah.

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And that's what I love when we get women talking to each other in a safe

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place, when we're all feeling like we can trust each other to be very

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vulnerable and then you'd be able to go,

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yeah.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: And then you can say, we've got this, right?

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We've got this.

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How nice is that?

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: Yeah, absolutely.

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All right, so we're going to work on that.

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Jackie Wszalek, DOB: We've got a million things.

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This might take us till our 90s to finish up these

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Isabel Alexander, DOB: conversations.

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I'm glad.

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I know.

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I'm really glad because I think this is a joy, and I feel this is a public service.

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Absolutely.

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And we hope you think so too, and we really appreciate it.

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We'll, love for you to spread this out and share with other people because,

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it's not like we're bored but we feel like we wanna, we want to share this

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with others and other women and other, and just, gosh, we are all busy holding

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up the sky, so we gotta help each other.

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Okay.

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All right.

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That was a quickie one.

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We have another interview coming up.

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We're going to bring a third person into the living room.

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So stay tuned.

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The details of that interview, an episode with a very spectacular woman will be

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forthcoming, but right now it's a secret.

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Okay.

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All right.

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Yeah.

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We'll be back.

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Be back.

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We'll be

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back soon.

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Be back.

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Thank you for spending your time with us today on Seasoned Women, Serious Business.

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We really value you and are thrilled to be part of your journey.

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If you enjoyed today's episode, please subscribe to the channel and then share it

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with other women who would receive value.

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Thanks to our sponsors, all episodes are available in audio, video, and

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transcribed format on all major platforms.

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Now, if you'd like to share your wisdom or become a co host or a

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show sponsor, please reach out to me at hello at theencorecatalyst.

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com or visit our website, seasonedwomenseriousbusiness.

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com.

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Also, I'd appreciate it if you submit questions and suggestions for future

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topics and guest experts to interview.

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Let's lift as we climb, magnify our impact, and create more

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for ourselves and others.

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Until next time, keep thriving, keep vibing, and keep living your legacy.