About the Show:

"Your calling doesn't expire. Your second act might be your greatest act. And the moment to begin is always the same. So let's count it down together right now for whatever you've been waiting to start. 3, 2, 1. Your time isn't running out. It's just beginning."

       – Randy Wilburn

Fresh from the TEDx Fayetteville stage, host Randy Wilburn invites you into an intimate moment of reflection and revelation in this powerful episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®. Still riding the emotional high of his talk, Randy shares the complete presentation of "It's Never Too Late to Do the Thing You Were Called to Do," along with the personal stories and profound truths that inspired it.

At the heart of Randy's message is his grandfather, Mal Good, who shattered barriers at age 54 by becoming ABC News's first Black network correspondent—proof that extraordinary chapters can begin when others might think the story's ending. Drawing from history's late bloomers, today's reinventors, and his own path, Randy dismantles the myth that opportunity has an expiration date.

This isn't just a talk about second chances—it's a rallying cry for anyone who's ever felt they've missed their moment. Randy reminds us that callings don't arrive on our timeline; they arrive on their own. Whether you're contemplating a bold pivot, dusting off a long-dormant dream, or simply wondering if it's too late to start, this episode offers both permission and inspiration to answer that inner voice—no matter what your birth certificate says.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s Never Too Late: Your biggest accomplishment could still be ahead, no matter your age.
• Age Is an Asset: Life experience, wisdom, and resilience create powerful tools for new ventures.
• Stories of Second Acts: Inspiring examples like Mal Good, Colonel Sanders, Diana Nyad, Nelson Mandela, and Grandma Moses show that reinvention is timeless.
• Mindset Matters: Positive beliefs about aging help you live longer, healthier, and more fulfilled.
• Start Today: Randy offers a simple 3-step process—reflect, reframe, reignite—to begin your next chapter right now.
• TEDx Moments: The difference between a speech and a TED Talk, the impact of storytelling, and lessons learned from stepping into the TEDx spotlight.

All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Important Links and Mentions on the Show:

• TEDx Fayetteville – Learn more about upcoming events or nominate yourself/others: tedxfayetteville.org
• Fayetteville Public Library – Host of the event. Check for event updates and future TEDx info.
• Randy mentions supporters and friends: Angela Belford, Sami Kinnison, Lu Zhang, Danielle Keller, Nicola Hawkins, and others.
• Randy’s grandfather: Mal Goode—ABC News’s first Black network correspondent.
• FindItNWA.com NWA’s Hyperlocal Business Directory

This episode is sponsored by:

FindItNWA.com - Find It Fast. Find It Local.

Winetopia Event - Stonebreaker,  October 10th, 2025

ONBoardNWA.com HyperLocal Jobs in NWA

Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Connect more with I am Northwest Arkansas:

• Grab our Newsletter 
• Email Us at hello@iamnorthwestarkansas.com
• Connect with Our Facebook Page
• Connect with Our Instagram
• Connect with Our LinkedIn Page
• Join the Facebook Group
• Connect with our Fearless Host, Randy Wilburn

Discover more by tuning into this episode and staying connected for upcoming topics from the I am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Mentioned in this episode:

FindItNWA.com

Looking to discover the best local businesses in Northwest Arkansas? 🌟 From cozy cafes to essential services, FindItNWA.com has got you covered. Connect with your local community with just one click and explore something great. Visit finditnwa.com today! #LocalBusiness #CommunitySupport"

FindItNWA.com

Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"

ONBoardNWA.com

Looking for your next career move in Northwest Arkansas? Check out ONBoardNWA.com, the hyper-local job board designed to connect job seekers with leading employers in our community. From entry-level positions to executive roles, ONBoardNWA is your one-stop shop for job opportunities right here in NWA. Take the next step in your career and visit ONBoardNWA.com today.

It's time for another episode of IM

Northwest Arkansas, the podcast covering

the intersection of business, culture,

entrepreneurship, and life in general here in the

Ozarks. Whether you are considering a move to this

area or trying to learn more about the place you call home,

we've got something special for you. Without further

ado, here's our fearless host, Randy

Wilburn.

Hey, folks, it's Randy Wilburn here, and welcome back to another episode of

I Am Northwest Arkansas. Listen, I'm recording this

episode just a few hours after stepping off the the

TEDx Fayetteville stage, and honestly, I'm

still processing everything. The people,

the energy, the stories that were shared. It

was powerful, to say the least. I had the chance to share

something really personal today, a talk

called it's never too late to do the thing you were called

to do. It's a message that's been growing in

me for a long time, and standing on that red

dot, I could feel just how much it resonated

with others. So I thought, why not bring that

same talk here to this community? This

podcast is where so many of my own second

acts have unfolded. And if there's ever been a place

to reflect, to dig deeper, and to

share from the heart, it's here with you.

So this episode is a little different. It's part reflection,

part recreation. My TEDx talk

shared through this mic, the same way I started sharing

stories years ago. Let's dive in.

Hey, folks, Randy Wilburn here from I am Northwest Arkansas.

As you heard at the top of this podcast, I am just coming

off of a high of doing a TED Talk, my first

TED Talk ever, and

I don't quite know how I feel. I got

amazing feedback from people, and I still

have my own feelings as well about it. And I think

that's partly because I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

I certainly love to

critique myself. I think we're our own worst critic.

And so I wanted to recreate this

TED Talk for you, my listeners of the podcast,

especially if you couldn't be there. I think you'll appreciate this. So

without further ado, I want to share with you my

TED Talk based on how I

would have preferred to have delivered it. Just that when you get

on that big red dot, things change really fast. And

I'll just let you be the judge of this. And then when you. Later on,

when you do watch the actual TED Talk that will be

on YouTube, you can let me know what you think, whether you like the audio

version or whether you like the video version or some variation of the

two or three, or even if you didn't like either of them, it's fine too.

But this message, this story has been resonating

with me for a long time. And I just

want to make sure that I get it out there so that everybody

knows how I feel about things. And more

specifically, you know, why

this is such an important topic. And that

topic is it's never too late to do the thing you were

called to do. All right, so you

guys ready? Here it is. Here goes nothing.

What if I told you that your greatest achievement might

still be ahead of you? That at 54,

64, or even 76,

you could have your breakthrough moment?

That the thing you've been putting off, the dream deferred,

the skill unexplored, the calling

ignored, isn't too late.

3, 2,

1. That countdown

is burned into my memory. You see, I

grew up listening to my grandfather come home from covering the United

Nations. He'd attach gator clips to the phone

receiver and file reports to the national Black

network radio station every evening. And

before every broadcast, I would hear

3, 2, 1.

That countdown became my inheritance. Not just

of his profession, but of his willingness and belief that

that beginnings don't have an age limit.

My grandfather, Mal Good proved this in

1962 when he became ABC

News's first black network correspondent.

He was 54 years old. In

today's world, 54 is when many people are hitting their

career stride. But in 1962,

most people thought your big opportunities were behind you by

then. So

here's kind of a setup for where things are right now.

35% of new businesses in America

are started by people over 50. In the

UK, nearly 1 million people over

60 are self employed. And here in the

US almost 1 in 3Americans over

65 is still working. Not just

surviving, but thriving. The

calling doesn't check your birth certificate. It just

keeps calling. We are living in a

renaissance of second acts. Yet many of us are still

stuck in an outdated story that innovation

belongs to the young, that reinvention has an

expiration date. And yet ageism

is one of the most accepted forms of discrimination.

Today, we joke about senior moments

and act surprised when someone over 60

launches something new. But the science,

it tells a different story. And after 50,

people report greater life satisfaction than at

any time since childhood. The

truth is that aging doesn't close doors, it

opens different ones. My grandfather's

story isn't unique. It's part of a pattern we're seeing

everywhere. Let me show you how his

journey proves this point. You see,

his path wasn't straight. It was 1931,

and fresh out of the University of Pittsburgh, he dreamed of law

school. But he was up against two walls. The Great

Depression and racism. When he

asked a professor how to raise his grade, the answer came

back, Mr. Good. You don't expect to get what a white

student gets, do you? Denied that door,

he found others mentoring boys at the

ymca, then reporting for the Pittsburgh Courier,

one of the nation's leading black newspapers, and

traveling the south to cover Jim Crow firsthand.

Soon after, he broke into radio, first as the

only black voice on Pittsburgh's KQV

and then alongside his sister, Mary D. In a

groundbreaking show that gave African Americans

a voice in mainstream media. His

fearless reporting, even when it got him arrested for

calling out police brutality, built his reputation

as a trusted national voice.

So when ABC finally decided to hire a black

correspondent, every qualified reporter in the

country was in line. Many were younger.

Many had TV experience. When offered

prepared copy to read, my grandfather said, no, thank you.

He walked to the news wire, pulled fresh stories,

wrote his own script and delivered it like

breaking news. That courage landed

him the job. Months later came his test.

It was October 1962. The Cuban

Missile Crisis. While the regular UN

reporter for ABC News was on a weekend hunting

trip with his son, my grandfather delivered the

news that held America's breath,

introducing himself to millions as

history was being made. From there, he

continued covering the United nations, the civil rights

movement, the funerals of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr. And Robert F. Kennedy. He worked

until he was 64, when mandatory retirement

forced him to stop. But his second act

had actually become his defining act.

Now, some people think that great work only belongs to the

young. But history, it kind of tells

a very different story. Diana Nyad.

At 64, after four failed attempts,

she swam 110 miles from Cuba to

Florida in 53 hours without a shark

cage. The first person to ever do it.

She proved physical limits are often

mental ones. Colonel Harland Sanders.

At 62, after a failed restaurant, he

took his fried chicken recipe, those 11 herbs and spices, on

the road, often sleeping in his car to pitch it.

By his 70s, Kentucky Fried Chicken was a

global brand. He showed that failure

can be the setup for success.

Nelson Mandela. After 27 years in

prison on Robben island, he became South Africa's

first Black president at 76,

guiding the country through its fragile early years of

democracy. He demonstrated that wisdom

comes with time. And finally, Anna

Mary Robertson Moses, aka

Grandma Moses. In her late 70s,

arthritis ended her embroidery, so she

picked up painting, and at 80 she had her first

solo exhibition in New York City. She went on

to create more than 1500 works before she

died at 101 years old.

She proved that limitations can spark new

possibilities. Different fields,

different challenges, same truth.

It's never too late. And research shows

that with positive beliefs about aging, people

live on average 7 and a half years longer than those with negative

ones. Belief matters.

Mindset matters. The data says so.

And you know, today something unprecedented is happening

with AI. Especially the tools that once required

entire teams. Research, writing, design,

marketing now fit in your pocket. With AI,

what used to take hours can now take minutes.

A 72 year old lawyer that I know runs circles around

associates half his age by using

AI to research legal precedents in minutes.

And at 51, Bridget Johns launched

to and from an AI powered gifting

platform that rivals major e commerce brands.

But here's the bigger point. There will always be new

tools. My grandfather had Gator clips and a

phone line in the 1960s. Later,

computers transformed entire industries.

And today it's AI. Tomorrow it will

be something else. The tool isn't

the breakthrough. The breakthrough is your willingness to

keep learning. To keep saying, I can still start

something new. Technology advances,

but the courage to reinvent is timeless.

So what about you? Here's how you begin

the same countdown that guided my grandfather.

3. Reflect. Write down

three things you're you've always said someday

I'll about maybe learning a language,

starting a podcast, writing a book.

2. Reframe. Pick one and

flip the script. Instead of I'm too old,

ask what problems can I solve that someone

half my age hasn't even lived through yet?

Your wrinkles are your credentials.

And one reignite this week,

not someday, this week. Take one micro

step, record a two minute voice memo, finish

lesson one in your language app of choice, or

spend 30 minutes researching a competitor.

And you know what? This isn't just about age.

Reinvention, honestly, shows up at every stage

of life. Maybe you've been laid off after

years at a company. Maybe you're burned out and

wondering what's next. Maybe you're raising kids

and your passions are on pause.

Maybe you've retired only to find you're not done

contributing. Wherever you are, the

message is the same. Your calling

doesn't include expire. And let me

be honest, this isn't just theory for me.

I picked up podcasting after the age of 40

and it has become one of the most

meaningful parts of my work. Amplifying

voices, telling stories, building community.

And now I'm working on writing my book,

something I've put off for years.

So when I say it's never too late, I'm

not just talking about my grandfather or history.

I'm talking about me. And I'm talking about you.

Because here's what my grandfather taught me without ever saying

it.

Your calling doesn't expire. Your second act

might be your greatest act. And the moment to begin

is always the same. So let's count it

down together right now for whatever

you've been waiting to start. I know you're listening to a

podcast, but I want you to count it down with me. Say it with me.

3, 2, 1.

Your time isn't running out. It's just

beginning. Thank you.

All right, all right, all right. What did y' all think about that? That's

my TED Talk. Okay. Went

a little different on the red dot, but that is the talk.

It's. And for one of my takeaways, I talked to Angela Belford, and

I talked to Sammy and a few others afterwards.

There's a reason why it's called a TED Talk and not a TED

speech. Okay? And, you know, I've done speeches

all over. I've done talks all over. But

one of the things that I struggled with, I think, was early on,

creating what was a speech and not a talk. I

have a ton of stories about my grandfather. I met no shortage of telling

those stories, but I probably could have

structured my talk a little differently. I loved

delivering it the way that I did here, but it was different when

I'm doing it behind a microphone, at a computer

at my desk, versus doing it live and

direct in person. And so my big

takeaway, I think, is just reflecting on the power

of story and how in a TED Talk, you really want

to stitch one story after another together

until you've kind of told a comprehensive story. Maybe it's a

hero's journey or something along those lines. But

suffice to say, I've learned something and taken something away from

this experience today, and I'm the better for it.

But, you know, I just think it's. It's one of those things that certainly is

worth worth mentioning. I know that TedX is

doing another TedX Fayetteville in March of 2026. And

at the time of recording this, we are in October of 2025.

If you're Li listening to this one or two years later,

I'm sure Tedx Fville will be doing another TED Talk soon.

You can always go to tedxfayetteville.org

that's the domain. You can check it out yourself and find out when

they're going to do another TED Talk. But needless to

say, I was kind of blown away by the whole experience. I was

on pins and needles, actually, for a while. Just real talk.

I know you think, oh, Randy, but you always sound great on podcasts. I

mean, I don't know, maybe you're saying that, maybe you aren't. I don't know. But

if you are, thank you. And if you're not, then, you know, that's cool,

too. But yeah, some, you know, you take it for granted that

you get behind a mic and you can talk all the time. I mean, I

can just off the top of my head, just go. And

that's just a gift that I have, and it's something that I want to continue

to take advantage of. And honestly, it's a gift that

I've had to lean into. It's not one that I've taken lightly.

And I think with this whole concept of it's never too late to do

the things that you're called to do, I'm trying to marry this gift of

the gab, this gift of talking with my

ability to write a book and to do some other things that I'm working

on. I've got a lot of projects in the hopper that I can't wait to

get done. And, you know, like I said, I have to eat my own dog

food. It's never too late to do the things that you're calling to do. So.

And yeah, it's just,

I don't know, it's just something that, that really has resonated with

me. So I hope this was helpful for you. This is not a

normal podcast episode, but then again, I'm not

normal, right? And I, I just, as I was leaving

the library today, shout out to the Fayetteville Public Library for hosting the

event. I believe the event will be hosted there again in March of

2026. Check your library

website for additional information. You can check

TedxFayetteville.org for additional information on the

location and all that other good stuff. But yeah,

it's. It was a tremendous experience and I

had family there. Shout out to my son Nathan, shout out to

Miguel. The only person that, well, two people missed it, my oldest son,

Joshua, and my youngest son, Aiden, who's away in Spain. And

then my wife was there, of course, and then several friends,

my other friend Nicola Hawkins and her daughter,

Lynn Wong Dimara Baker

man. There were so many people that were there to support me

And Danielle Keller.

So many folks that came out. And I really, really

appreciate you. Yeah.

But anyway, that's all I have to share. I hope you guys

enjoy this. Do me a favor, share this

episode with somebody that needs a little encouragement,

somebody that needs to hear this. I would really appreciate that.

Because I think that. I don't think we hear it

enough, that it's never too late to do the things that you're called to do.

And like I said at the top, whether it's 54,

64, or 76, it's never

too late to do the things that you're called to do. So I

appreciate you guys so much. See, I'm blessing you with a

shorter podcast episode this week. Something that you can take and

maybe even listen to more than once. But I'd love your feedback,

I'd love your thoughts. Let me know what you think about this particular episode.

I mean, that's all that we have. So I'm gonna close out now

and just again, shout out to everybody that's been

supporting me all these years, especially with this podcast. You guys mean

the world to me. You're the reason why I press record on a regular basis.

And I'm gonna continue to press record even as I move into

a new season of Life. And I've got some new opportunities that are coming

along that I'll be talking about in the future, but I'm really excited about that.

But we'll. We'll close this particular episode out. And so

here's what I want to share. You know, standing on that TEDx faithful

stage today reminded me how far this

journey has come and how far there is still left to go.

I want to take a moment again to thank the incredible team that made

today possible. Organizers Sammy Kinison,

Lou Zhang, and Angela Belfort,

among so many others, for creating such a powerful space

for stories and ideas to come alive here in

Northwest Arkansas. And a big shout out to my fellow speakers.

Each and every one of you brought your own spark, your

own truth. And together, we created something

really special today. My grandfather's story

and my own both point to the same truth. Your

calling doesn't expire. Your

best work might still be ahead of you.

So if you're listening to this and wondering if it's too late, let me

just say this. 3,

2, 1. Your

time isn't running out. It's just beginning.

If you'd like to learn more about TEDx Fayetteville, or maybe even nominate

someone or. Or yourself for a Future event, visit

TEDxFayetteville.org thanks for listening and

for being a part of this incredible community here in Northwest

Arkansas. I'll see you next week on I Am

Northwest Arkansas. Peace.

We hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas.

Check us out each and every week, available anywhere that

great podcasts can be found.

For show notes and more information on becoming a guest or

sponsor, visit IM northwest

arkansas.com we'll see you

next week on IM Northwest Arkansas.