Shownotes
Ready to flip the script on aging?
In this episode, Wendy Green chats with Randall Kenneth Jones, a vibrant storyteller and the mastermind behind MindZoo. He’s all about showing us that the years after 50 can be some of our best.
With a mix of humor and heart, they explore the concept of the 'retirement business' – a refreshing perspective that challenges the traditional views of retirement as a slow-down phase. Instead, Randy argues for a life of continued purpose, creativity, and engagement, even as we age. He shares personal anecdotes about his own journey, including the transformative lessons he learned while living in Naples, Florida, where he discovered that the key to happiness in older age lies in lifelong learning and staying mentally active.
This conversation is packed with insights that can inspire anyone, not just those approaching retirement. It’s about finding joy, purpose, and engagement in every stage of life, so tune in and get ready to embrace the endless possibilities of aging with enthusiasm!
Links referenced in this episode:
- Sign up for the Boomer Banter newsletter
- Visit Randall Kenneth Jones website
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy
Transcripts
Hello and welcome to Boomer Banter, where we have real talk about aging. Well, my name is Wendy Green and I am your host.
And every week we talk about the challenges, the changes and the possibilities that come with this season of life. And you know, one of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is staying connected with all of you between the episodes.
That's why I send out the free Thriving Through Time newsletter. And I would love for you to sign up for for it. And you can do that by going to Bitbit Ly Boomer Banter newsletter. It's quick read.
I talk about good news. I talk about recommendations for ways to age well.
I give you insights into who's coming up as my next guest, and I would really enjoy being connected with you. So check out Bitbit Ly Boomer Banter newsletter.
And when most people think about retirement, they picture golf courses, beach days, early bird specials, and endless days of nothing. Well, but what if that's not really retirement at all? What if that's just checking out?
My guest today has spent decades proving that the most vital years of our lives might just be the ones that come after we're supposed to slow down. Randall Kenneth Jones is a storyteller in the truest sense of the word.
He's the founder and president of Mind Zoo, a creative communications firm that helped shape narratives for companies like Geico and T.J. maxx.
He's the co creator and host of the podcast on the Nose with Randall Kenneth Jones, where he's interviewed everyone from Erin Brockovich to Norman Lear, and he's authored two acclaimed books. But here's what makes Randy's story so compelling. He didn't start this journey until he was 50 years old.
an age when many people are coming down to retirement, Randy was just getting started. And at 63, he's more engaged, more creative, and more purposeful than ever.
In our conversation today, we're going to talk about what he calls the retirement business. Not retiring from work, but creating a business and a life that sustains your retirement with purpose, meaning, and, yes, income.
We'll explore why celebrating retirement might actually be a red flag and how living in Naples, Florida, taught him how to age and why his father's advice at age 66 changed everything. This is a conversation about never retiring from purpose. So let's welcome Randall Kenneth Jones to Boomer Banter. Hey, Randy. Good to see you.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Oh, your intro was stunning.
Wendy Green:Oh, thank you.
Randall Kenneth Jones:No, I mean, it already has my head going in a million different directions, so thank you. That was a really Stunning way to set this up, because I think this is so important.
And, and please let me start by thanking you for hosting this show and, and having these topics and talking about engagement and talking about remaining vital and living and being a mentor, being a guide, be having purpose. I know it's not just me. You do this all the time.
Wendy Green:I do this all the time.
Randall Kenneth Jones:People who are going through this, Wendy, and I applaud you for, for how you were choosing to spend this part of your life, and I thank you for doing that.
Wendy Green:Oh, it's my pleasure. And meeting people like you who are talking about the same thing is very empowering and inspiring.
So I'm excited to share all of this with the audience.
So you had mentioned in one of our pre calls that your father called you when you were only 35, and he said, randy, this retirement thing is not going to work for you.
Randall Kenneth Jones:And he was at 92. We lost him at 92. And he remembered at 92 saying it. He was basically forced to retire from a job he'd spent in his entire life in the Midwest.
I live in Columbia, Missouri now. I'm returning, actually. We're getting ready to move back to Naples, Florida. And we moved and we lived in Naples, Florida before.
And he called me at, you know, he's 66. He'd been retired for a year. He was bored. And he said, you know, ready. This retirement thing is not all it's cracked up to be.
This is not going to work for you. So you need to understand now. And so I am now 63. And he remembers saying this.
And I've known all along it wouldn't work because if I can't create, if I'm not creating something, a podcast, writing a book, speaking to an audience and creating the content that is going to be used in that presentation, I. I'm nothing that about me at that age.
Wendy Green:And he knew that at 35.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Yeah. Wow, that tone. And I've always known it. He remembered saying it.
Wendy Green:That's so. That's amazing. So what is it about, like not creating like, of just relaxing that might be so uncomfortable to you?
Randall Kenneth Jones:I. I'm wired to create the just relaxing thing. I don't do it well. I've never done it well. I mean, I can relax and watch tv, but chances are I'm evaluating what I'm seeing.
I'm thinking all the time. My company's name is Mind Zoo. I had this company for 25 years. My friend Chris actually said to me, why do people buy from you?
This is how I Came up with the name, why do people buy from you? And literally, it took me one minute to have this name because I was like, well, they say, oh, that brain of yours, how did you come up with that?
That's so creative. Wow. You know, nice place to visit. I don't think I could live there. Meaning my brain. Yeah. Within one minute, I had mind zoo as this representation of.
Of my thought process. And I've always been that way. And.
And when that insatiable curiosity and that desire to create and think and live leaves me, I think I'm done with life. I. That's who I am. I just. And I've always known that this is. This is not. This is not new. I've always known. My sister asked me.
My sister Paul asked me recently. She goes, do you ever stop thinking?
Wendy Green:I went, no, it's just part of who you are.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Yeah, it's just part of who I am. But I'm proud of that. And I. And I. I own it and I honor it, and I'm proud of it.
Wendy Green:Hey, you know, we all have to own and honor who we are, and that's part of what we're going to talk about today. Right? So we don't retire from who we are. We retire to who we are and how we want to be.
So I think this, that's brilliant that you own it and you love it,
Randall Kenneth Jones:but this support of aging isn't new to me. I was in junior high. Not middle school.
Wendy Green:Not middle school.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Then don't get me started on that middle school nonsense. I was in junior high in the 70s, and, and I was a competitive speaker. And I was 14 or 15, and one year my topic was the rights of the elderly.
I'm sure that's the term I use. But here I'm in the mid-70s, and I'm supporting the. I'm an advocate for the elderly at 14, 13, 14, 15.
Wendy Green:Wow.
Randall Kenneth Jones:At a time period where it was like, you know, granny and grandpa are going to the home, and nobody was talking about that.
Wendy Green:Wow.
Randall Kenneth Jones:It just wasn't something that was talked about. But I also look at. I had a. A great grandmother who lived to be 100. My father lived to be 92. I've had so many relatives.
My grandmother's sisters all lived to be in their 90s. So I genetically, I might still be here a while. I could be gone tomorrow, but I have to plan on being here for a while.
You might be purposeful in that process. That's really the. That's part of the plan.
Wendy Green:So why don't we do this? We'll plan on. When we're both a hundred. We'll come back and be on the podcast again together.
Randall Kenneth Jones:I, I'm, I'm all about it.
Wendy Green:I'm maybe before that, but I'm all about it.
So, so you talked about Naples, Florida, and you're moving back there, and you said something about learning, something about aging when you were in Naples. What, what would, what could you learn there?
Randall Kenneth Jones:Florida taught me how to age.
Wendy Green:So what does that mean?
Randall Kenneth Jones:Naples opened the door for me because Naples, if anybody knows anything about Naples, Florida, we lived there for 14 years. We did come to Missouri. My father was still living. The, the goal was I'd been gone for 40 years. Let's spend time with dad.
Sadly, I only had him for seven months. Oh, seven months. I'm grateful that I had.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:But now that it's been a few years and we're like, mid. Missouri is lovely. It's my hometown, but it's not suiting my needs.
Naples has so many extraordinary people who are gifted and have, have accomplished so many things to. The access that I had to extraordinarily talented people.
It was, was how I catapulted this whole interviewing, book writing, column writing, public speaking, podcasting thing was because I had access in Naples. But I also arrived in Naples at 47 when I was feeling very middle aged. And I found out, oh, I'm really young. That's right, I was really young.
So I was there from 47 to 61.
Wendy Green:Okay.
Randall Kenneth Jones:And I'm all about health, I'm all about staying healthy, exercise, diet. I understand those things. I, I respect them, I appreciate them, I promote them.
However, what I really noticed by living in Naples with the people who were engaged mentally, the people who still wanted to learn, the people who were listening, the people who were willing to learn, wouldn't just go in and say, you're so lucky. I'm on your board because you're going to get. I'm going to give you my wisdom. Aren't you lucky? Well, you, you're there to learn, too.
The people that were engaged with their thought, with their learning, they were the happiest people. It was not the golf course people. It was not the pickleball people. It was not the people that, I think you referenced it early on. Shut down.
It was the people who maintain momentum and learning and being aware.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:And having reasons to think, critical thinking. Those were the people that were happiest. And money had nothing to do with that. Money had nothing to do. Thinking doesn't cost you anything.
And I have a podcast. You have a podcast.
There's a lot of different ways you can, for free, have access to thoughts, to people who are going to help you think doesn't cost you any money. It was huge. It was so life altering, and I'm so grateful that I better understood my own aging process.
And it, it solidified my goal and desire to know. I ain't done yet.
Wendy Green:No, you're not. You're. You got lots to do. And so I agree. Long term learning, lifelong learning. My grandmother used to say, when you stop learning, you're dead.
And I agree with that. You know, I mean, there's always something to learn. It doesn't even have to be book learning.
You know, it can be learning how to grow plants or learning to locate stars. You know, it doesn't have to be something like you have to go to school and learn.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Listening with purpose, listening with intent, having real conversations where you ask questions and you process what you're hearing. That's learning.
Wendy Green:That's.
Randall Kenneth Jones:That's engagement. That's engaging in the world around you. And that's so important. And, and I want to be able to continue to do that.
Wendy Green:So you started Mind Zoo, you said,
Randall Kenneth Jones:around your 50s, 30s? No, it's 25 years old. Yeah.
Wendy Green:Okay.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Doing this for 25 years. The company's 25 years old. So out this, this writer, speaker, podcaster, interviewer part has been since I was 50, so that's 13 years old.
Wendy Green:Okay. And so before that, what, what were you doing, Randy? That was creative.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Yeah, I was creating content and, and doing what I still do, working with companies to tell their stories through what other media is necessary, whether it's online, whether it's offline, whether it was direct mail, whether it's print, whether it's video, whatever. However you need to tell a story, because storytelling is it. We're taught as kids where people read a stories as kids.
We spend how much money on Netflix and all the streaming services to hear stories to, to have stories. And that's what sells.
And so I help people and organizations, nonprofits, which I love, devise strategies for how to tell their story to the right people in a way that matters.
Wendy Green:And so how do you use those stories now to talk about purpose and to talk about learning?
Randall Kenneth Jones:That's my, that's, that's what I do. That is all I do, really. My keynotes when I go out is typically a series of stories. I repackage what I've learned from 300 some odd people.
And these Best practices interviews. And I tell the stories of what they've told me, what they've taught me, and I credit them with the lesson. I'm. I'm.
It's really important to me to say that. So many people hear something, all of a sudden it becomes theirs. They're claiming that as their knowledge.
No, if I learn something from Aaron Brockovich, I credit Aaron. If I learn something from Pat Benatar, I credit Pat. You know, I credit the person who taught me.
Because what I'm really teaching is by crediting that person, I'm trying to get you to think, who in your life can you talk to? Can you learn from who do you have access to? What was crazy in Naples as you didn't know who you were standing in line next to at Walgreens?
I was in a play. I'm an actor, and I was in a play. And there was a gentleman, Jack, who was the producer of the show.
He was just a band working on the same play I was working on At Naples. I found out three months later he's Jack McKinney. He's the former head coach of the LA Lakers.
He's, imagine Johnson's first professional basketball coach.
Wendy Green:And he was the director of the show.
Randall Kenneth Jones:No, he was the producer. He was the producer of the show. But he's just. And I had no idea. And I wasn't. I'm not an. I don't follow sports. I'm tall. But I never. I.
Well, actually, I. I will say I. Through him, I called Magic Johnson and I did say. I said, I want to thank you, Magic, for having the career that I was actually meant to have.
I said, but I was so bad in junior high. I was on the C team.
Wendy Green:Huh?
Randall Kenneth Jones:And I'm not talking third string. I'm talking A team, strings, B team, strings, C team. That's how bad I was. So. But here everyone has a story. And. And he. He went on. Jack is. Is.
Is actually his story is part of. I guess it's on hbo. There's a series about the Lakers that's out there.
And the gentle Tracy Letts, who played Jack, got nominated for an Emmy for playing my friend. But you just never know what people know if you don't engage in the conversation with them.
Wendy Green:Oh, gosh. That's right. That's right. You got to talk to people. So. So you talked about.
Just a little while ago, you talked about this intellectual and mental engagement. You know, that. That. That's critical for us to age, well, age healthily. But a lot of people As I said in the opening, you know, they kind of tune out.
They play golf, they'll watch tv.
Randall Kenneth Jones:They.
Wendy Green:They're kind of afraid to try something new. And I know that's not your fear. That's not my fear. We try.
But how do you encourage people on your show that are listening to try something new to that you don't have to slow down.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Oh, I'm a Virgo. You are so wrong. I am. Everything has. Oh, everything has a plan. Change for the longest time was difficult for me. Really very much a leap of faith.
But I will give you a story. So I am interviewing Susie Orman for financial column. My column that. And she's featured in my first book, show me. I interview Susie. Fascinating.
Fascinating. I loved her show.
For some reason, her wife kt liked me well enough to say, and I don't know why you need to come to Boca, I think it was, and take an art class with my sister, Lynn Stender. And she's brilliant. Lynn Stender. Brilliant, Brilliant, brilliant woman. And my immediate thought was, I can't draw. I can't paint. I can't do that.
No, I can't do that. I caught myself and I went, no, Randy, part of your mantra is you don't say you can't. Every time we say I can't, we hold ourselves back.
You don't say you can't. And I, and I, I, I fessed up and I told Susie and I told kt. I said, I caught myself. My immediate response was, thank you, but no, I can't do this.
I don't have this talent, which means I have to do it. And my husband and I and our two 20something kids took advantage of this opportunity. We traveled across the state. Lynn was brilliant.
We took a watercolor T class with her. Something I never thought I would do. What I didn't know was that Susie was coming back to evaluate our work.
So I'm very proud of myself because I did something I said I couldn't do and it. And my mind wasn't awful. Now I will tell you, I could see in Susie's face, don't quit your day job. Now. I could see that, okay?
And I wasn't gonna quit my day job, but I was there and I did it.
Wendy Green:So.
Randall Kenneth Jones:So I have to. We have to fight the urge to say no. We have to tell ourselves, no, we can do that. I'm going to give you another example. This book, Ruby.
Wendy Green:Huh?
Randall Kenneth Jones:My, my. I told myself for years I couldn't write fiction.
Wendy Green:Okay?
Randall Kenneth Jones:I said, I can only Write non fiction, huh?
Wendy Green:I can write.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Mark Victor Hansen from Chicken Soup for the Soul comes to me and says, have you written fiction? And I said, as a matter of fact, I have. Mark Victor Hansen discovered this book. He published my book review. He published it.
But let me tell you how it got there to be there. Little movie called Dirty Dancing. Few people have seen it. Little movie called Dirty Dancing?
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:A wonderful woman named Cynthia Rhodes plays Penny, who is really the reason the story happens. She's the professional dancer who gets pregnant. That causes the plot line to really evolve.
And I was lucky enough to interview Cynthia for my first book. Probably I think the only journalist who's talked to her in 35 years. She retired to raise her kids. And I honor her and I salute her and I love her.
And I. And she. And here. And I was on stage actually in Naples in a production of Young Frankenstein the musical, as the monster.
Wendy Green:Oh, you were the monster.
Randall Kenneth Jones:So I am a tap dancing monster. I'm all, I'm green I've got. You know, I'm doing tap dancing in front of Cynthia Rhodes from Dirty Dancing, which was an out of body experience.
Anyway, to think that she's watching me dance as a seven foot tall monster, it was crazy. But we got to know each other and I just, oh, I love her so much and I admire her talent so much.
And I said to her, oh, no, no, no, I can't write fiction. I can't do that. That's not my thing.
Wendy Green:I can't.
Randall Kenneth Jones:She told me I was wrong. She just told me very. I guess she took out her Cynthia Rhodes fairy dust. She is perfect, by the way.
And somehow those that on me says you're wrong, you can do whatever you want. And she lifted that no from me. She lifted it. A week later I had the outline for this book.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:And this is primarily the book that it ended up. And the character, the main character is not Ruby. It is a woman named Cynthia who is inspired, not the story of, but inspired by Cynthia Rhodes. And.
And what the two women have in common, Cynthia in the book and Cynthia Rhodes, is they find challenge interesting. Yes, they find it interesting. Yeah. I mean, so don't.
If you find yourself telling yourself no, you know, become do a polar Randy man and just don't do it. Yeah.
Wendy Green:So that is so yourself. Yeah, yeah.
That's so interesting and surprising to me, Randy, because you are an actor, you know, standing up on a stage in some kind of crazy costume, being some kind of character. That's not you. To me that sounds frightening, right? But for me, I mean, give me a challenge and I'm going to be like, yeah, I could do that.
I mean, I love it.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Now, the other thing, and I don't know if you've experienced this. If I get pitched a guest with a topic that fits, you know, I tend to be arts, entertainment, creativity and connection.
Those are kind of my four pillars. And I get, I've get pitched a guest who fits one of those. But it's something I know nothing about.
And if that topic scares me, I say yes without hesitation. I wouldn't have 20 years ago, but I'm like, no. If it scares me, I must say yes.
The advantage, Wendy, you and I have, and I'm almost, my advice is to tell people, you know, live the life of a journalist. I don't have any choice in order to do my job other than to listen thoughtfully and carefully and really process what I hear.
Wendy Green:You know, that you got to be.
Randall Kenneth Jones:We can't, we can't listen like normal people. We can't have. We have to listen for detail, for depth, for meaning. And that's the way we have to live our life in order to do our jobs.
And when you take that skill that you learn doing what we do and you apply it to. I'm in line at the grocery store and I'm having a conversation. You applied that. Focus on that. Conversation is great.
When I first started this, I answered the phone. I'm probably two months into doing this. And I answered the phone. I hear, Randy Regis Philbin here.
Regis Philbin, there is nothing to prepare you to hear. Randy Regis Philbin here. Nothing to prepare you for that.
I had reached out to him because I was writing a story for my column on a gentleman named Phil Bucent, who was the former president in charge of Good morning America from 85 to 95, a very dear friend of mine. And I wanted Regis feedback. So Regis calls me. But let me tell you, Wendy, what he did. And he was, you know, advanced in years at that point in time.
He spent that 15 minutes treating me as if I was the most important person, as if talking to me was the most important thing he had to do that day. And that's what Regis gave me. And I try, I try to walk in his shoes like that.
Wendy Green:And your keynote is the importance of being important, right? Yeah. So did that come from that learning from Regis or how did you develop that? Thought not.
Randall Kenneth Jones:I think that's always been there. A gentleman who's. Oh, he's a wonderful, wonderful sales instructor's written all these Books.
Jeffrey Gittamer I was talking to many years ago, and I said, I just, you know, people are important. I want to look for the best in people. That's what I'm about. I want to be positive.
And he said, well, what you're really talking about is the importance of importance. We all want to be loved, acknowledged, noticed, heard, respected. There's so many words, but that is something we share in common.
Wendy Green:I agree. Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:And we. We want that. We. We need that. And then I had a woman named Rebecca Goldstein.
Wendy Green:I was gonna bring her up. Yeah. I just watched her show on. And you're. Oh, I. I want to get her on my show.
Randall Kenneth Jones:The Mattering instincts. The Mattering instinct. Rebecca Goldstein, from a Harvard. Harvard researcher, philosopher. And let me tell you. Can I. Can I go on about what's hard?
She's a Harvard philosopher. And I actually talked about this on the show.
Wendy Green:Yeah, you did.
Randall Kenneth Jones:To talk to you.
Wendy Green:You did say.
Randall Kenneth Jones:I admitted it to her, as I said, you know what? No, I'm. I am. I'm gonna. I might not be, but I'm gonna pretend I am. And we. It was. It was great. It was to tell myself, no.
I said, yep, I can handle this. Of course, the fact that she wrote this incredibly detailed book about the fact our physiological and emotional need to matter. She wrote my bible.
Yeah, she. She. You need her. Yeah, we've talked about this. You need her.
Wendy Green:Yeah. And, you know, I love that people are looking at this from different angles. Right. Like, we look at it from an emotional angle.
The importance of connection, the importance of purpose. And it feeds our soul and it feeds our health.
And then we have these physicians and researchers, and, you know, I had a doctor on a few weeks ago who talked about, you cannot retire from purpose. He was a cardiologist, and he. And he goes, there are six. Six domains of health, and purpose is one of them. You cannot retire.
So I love it that we have all these people coming at it from different ways.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Let's flip it, though. Let's flip it, though.
If you have someone in your life that has something to give and you feel they've retired from purpose, and you can help, you need to get in there. You know, I don't care if it's a parent, if it's a grandparent, if it's a neighbor.
We all have the ability to make sure those people who may not feel loved, acknowledged, heard, choose your word. We have the ability to elevate those people and give them that sense of purpose. You know, don't be quiet. Don't be quiet.
Speak up and help those people. It's so easy. We're a society that for whatever reason, people get older and we ignore them. And when I say to you, I don't understand that.
I believe that I have a track record starting at age 13, 14, that would prove, I mean, that I've never understood why people don't value.
Wendy Green:I, I wonder if it comes, I, I wonder if it comes from the, you know, in the 60s, when they started building the Del Webb communities and all this. So let's just put old people away into their old communities, and then they're, they're not seen. They're not part of the general population.
They're just over there in that little community. And so I think we, they become the other.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Glenn Campbell's wife. Kim said something, and I'm gonna have to paraphrase her.
I interviewed her, and I will say my mother had Alzheimer's, and, and she was still living when I met Kim and Glenn was still living. And I cried and Kim hugged me. I will say I got that level of support because I was so connected to the topic we were talking about.
She goes, but, you know, someday.
She goes, sometimes I, I, I miss the days before labels when we could just say, yeah, Old Granddaddy's just, he's just not quite himself today, but old, you know, so it, we didn't have to call it dementia. We didn't have to label it. It's just old Granddaddy's not quite himself.
And you just smiled and you went on and old Granddaddy hung out anyway, you know, we didn't make such a big deal. We accepted that. And, and I, I, you know, I'm, I'm old enough. I'm from Missouri. I understand that. I, those people.
And we didn't necessarily, we did, you know, older generations did what they could to make sure they kept their loved ones in the home.
Wendy Green:Right. That's right. And, and that has all changed now. Yeah. So, you know, I'm, you keep going back to Missouri.
How did you, the first time you started talking to all of these famous people, let's say, did you find them very different from the people that you grew up with, or it, or they really. Just like the rest of us, you know?
Randall Kenneth Jones:No, they really are. And we've said that. Oh, famous people, just like the rest of us. I don't, I mean, at first I was freaking out a bit. Yeah.
I mean, I was really talking to Jungle Jack. Hannah called me because. Yeah, I mean, I interviewed him And I. I still pinch myself. Now.
Now, make no mistake, when I get to talk to someone and interview somebody, and typically, I pick who I want to interview based on who I love, because if I don't like you, you're not coming on the show. If I love you and admire you and respect you. So when I get to meet people that I admire. Norman Lear.
Wendy Green:I know Norman Lear. That's amazing.
Randall Kenneth Jones:You know, you just. But. But they really want to. People want to be treated like humans, and oftentimes they don't want to talk about what they're known for.
I oftentimes interview people about something that's important to them that falls outside of an entertainment career or a music career or something like that. I will tell you with Mr. Lear, he was 98 when I interviewed him.
And I will tell you that what I said to him was I really laid it on, because I was like, he is Norman Lear, and I'm laying it on thick, and I don't care. And I said. But I explained to him, I said, you introduced me to people, Norman, that I never would have met in mid Missouri.
I would not have met the Jeffersons.
Wendy Green:Right. That's.
Randall Kenneth Jones:I would not have understood with the Evans family in good times. I wouldn't have known that environment.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:I would frankly never have met the Bunkers, maybe a variation of the Bunkers. And Romano, one day at a time, he showed me that a single woman could raise kids and be fine.
Wendy Green:Yeah. Not part of your reality in Missouri.
Randall Kenneth Jones:No. And it's not that. Now, I also did say, Norman, you owe me money. You took my grandma Jones, and you.
You made her Edith Bunker, and you took my mom, and you made her mod. Somehow you got into our family and you took care. You took my grandma, my mom, put them on tv, and I need some cash. Norman, I.
You know, you stole my family and made money off them, and I didn't see nothing, so. But that's how real those people were. Yeah.
Wendy Green:And what I love about the interviews that you do is you. Like you said, you're not talking about their careers as much as you're talking about who they are.
You know, at this late age, what are they still doing that keeps them relevant and interested in learning? I mean, that's what it's all about.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Please let me. Let me do a shout out to another very dear, dear friend of mine, a gentleman named Sal Bucema. B U S C M A Sal Buscema. Please look him up.
Sal Buscema was an actor friend in northern Virginia. I Had the incredible experience of playing Nico, the character of Nico in the musical of Zorba next to him as Zorba.
Oh, but that's not what he's known for, certainly.
Wendy Green:Huh?
Randall Kenneth Jones:He was a cartoonist and illustrator artist for Marvel comics for over 60 years. He just passed away. I was devastated.
But I interviewed him for the podcast five or six years ago, and at that point in time, he was in his 80s, I believe, and still working.
Wendy Green:Why not?
Randall Kenneth Jones:If you talk to comic book people and they found out, I know, if Zabuza, they lose their minds. But here is a man who's so highly regarded in his field that he just kept doing it again. They say if you love your work, that's it.
You never work a day in your
Wendy Green:life, and so why stop? Right? So you. You talked about, and we kind of named this, never retire from your purpose, but you had this idea of a retirement business.
So get practical with me. What does that look like for you at 63?
Randall Kenneth Jones:It looks very similar to what I do now, but where I really want. All of a sudden I'm in my. I'm 60 plus. And you all of a sudden get 60 plus. And as you know, you start going, whoa, things are going to change.
What's this going to look like for me? Because up until then, you don't really think about it. 60, 61. You're like, okay, what happens when I'm going to get on Medicare?
Obviously, when we get on Medicare, that changes a lot for a lot of us.
Wendy Green:It's wonderful, darling. Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:It's going to be something that, that we. That is. That is a milestone that we're looking forward to. Yes, but it is. Who am I going to be then? I celebrate all of you who have retired.
And when I go onto Facebook and I see your retirement parties and you're also happy and you're thrilled. I'm happy for you. But I'm sad because if you're celebrating the end of that career with relief. Did you have a career or did you have a job?
I'm sad for those people who were forced to work at something simply for the purpose of earning a living, that they're celebrating being done with it. I get it. And I honor you and I'm not disrespecting you. I get it. That's what most of us do. That's what most people do.
And good for you for doing that because you took care of your family and you took care of yourself. But now's your time.
Wendy Green:That's right. And now I want to Flip it. Because you're celebrating that maybe you can be celebrating what's next for you.
All of those great things that you've wanted to do but you couldn't do because of the work that you had
Randall Kenneth Jones:to do and make you money. My friend Susie Weinert. Susie. Susie wrote a book, Garage Sale stalker, in her 60s. Garage sale stalker. It got to Hallmark.
Hallmark said, we like this concept. Hallmark launched the Garage Sale Mystery series of films. There's like 18 of them.
Wendy Green:Really?
Randall Kenneth Jones:Yes. Based on Susie Weinert's novel.
Wendy Green:I know. Garage Sale Mysteries. Okay.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Garage Sale mysteries. There's like 18 different films. It's a series of films, and I think Susie was 60, 61, 62 when she started to even write them. We're not done.
And the other thing I will get on my high horse about. You didn't know I was going to be on my high horse quite so much, did you?
Wendy Green:Well, I was hoping you would be. Yes.
Randall Kenneth Jones:We as a group, those of us who are of a mature age now, we don't do enough to help each other. We don't. We absolutely don't. When we don't share each other's content on social media, we don't comment and like each other's content.
We don't help each other grow, you know, buy people's books, buy their books, support them, share their content, talk to them, get engaged in their communities where there are millions and millions and millions of us with all sorts of economic buying power. We don't want things anymore, really, do we? I don't want things.
But we have the power to promote and celebrate and make sure other people learn about the talents of people in our age group. Right. We are connected.
Wendy Green:Absolutely.
Randall Kenneth Jones:We know people, and we don't do that.
Wendy Green:Yeah. I'm part of. I'm. I'm part of a group called the Agewise Collective, and we do share each other's podcasts and, like. And. Yeah.
So I think you're absolutely right. It's very important to do that. And before I let you go, I do want you to tell us a little bit about your novel, Ruby, which is. Is in the mail to me.
I can't wait to get it.
Randall Kenneth Jones:It is in the mail. I talked a little bit about this, you know. Now you know the backstory. Cynthia Rhodes. Thank you, Mark. Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Thank you. Ruby. Is a labor of love. It is. Mark specifically did want older characters. He wanted to celebrate that. So the prime. All of the older characters.
Well, really, almost all the characters are 50 plus. It is a holiday book. It deals with loss. Because at the time I'm writing that, and I'm still, you know, you can't avoid it.
As you get older, you lose people for sure. You lose. You lose your pop culture icons. I still heard over Olivia Newton John. You know that even people that meant something to you, right?
Cheetah Rivera, who. Who I've talked to, and I have a wonderful Cheetah story. We lose Cheetah.
We lose these people that mean something us from afar, but we lose those people in our lives. And part of my dealing with what loss meant was to explore it through this book, Ruby. And it's short, it's an easy read. All the characters are older.
I. I will tip you off that the villain is life. Curious villain is life. The life is also the hero.
Wendy Green:Interesting.
Randall Kenneth Jones:The villain is life and life is the hero. And it's how you live that. I'm really, really, really proud of it. And I'm working on a second one.
Wendy Green:Oh, like a sequel or a. Just. Oh, good.
Randall Kenneth Jones:A sequel. I actually have three planned, and we're gonna put it out in the universe. I've had several meetings about a film version.
I do not have a film deal yet, but I've had some really positive discussions. It could take years. It could not happen at all. But, Wendy, I'm 63 and I'm taking meetings in Hollywood. And I never thought that was going
Wendy Green:to happen to a boy from Missouri.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Yeah, I never thought it was going to happen. I'm having the time of my life, taking the meetings and talking about the potential. I want the movie. She deserves a movie. She does.
She deserves a movie. Yeah, she does. She deserves it more than I do. But how lucky am I that I'm still getting to do this? Yeah.
Wendy Green:See, and there. There again, that's something that. How lucky am I? I think part of what we forget sometimes as we get older is that practice of gratitude.
You know, there are so many things to be grateful for. Yes. Maybe we're a little slower. Maybe we're a little stiffer. Maybe, you know, this joint hurts or.
And we've had loss, but there is still so much to be grateful for, and that it feeds into that optimism and it feeds into the purpose and it feeds into the health. So, yeah, let's keep that going, too.
Randall Kenneth Jones:And I am grateful to Peggy Post from the Emily Post Institute for being one of my best friends and changing the way I approach my life. And gratitude and appreciation.
Wendy Green:Lovely.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Yeah. She's wonderful, Randy.
Wendy Green:It's been a great Conversation.
Randall Kenneth Jones:Oh, yeah. This is great. Wendy, I'm so grateful to you.
Wendy Green:This has been so much fun. Let me show people where your website is.
It's Randall kenneth jones.com and on his website you'll see his books and you'll see the podcast in the Nose. I don't know that we actually mentioned the name of it. So it's in on the Nose.
Randall Kenneth Jones:On the nose. K N O W S on the K. It was also a joke about the fact that my nose is huge. So my nose is substantial on my face and. But on the nose. K n. 8 years.
The Susan Bennett, the original voice of Siri, is my announcer.
Wendy Green:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's. It's a really well done show. I've enjoyed listening to it since I found out about it. So thank you for that.
And if you are listening to this and you are inspired by this and you've laughed with us and you thought about some of the things we've talked about, I encourage you to share this with your friends because like Randy said, we. We need to get the word out. We need to let everybody know about all the great things we are doing as we are aging, and we are aging so well.
So I think never retire from purpose. No, never retire from purpose.
Before I let you go, if you want more of this kind of conversation between episodes, join my free weekly newsletter, thriving through time, and you can sign up for it@bitbit Ly Boomer Banter newsletter. That will be in the show notes. Randy's website will be in the show notes. Any final words, Randy?
Randall Kenneth Jones:Before we go, I'm gonna go back to Susie Orman. Actually, I didn't know you're gonna ask me this. And I met her 10 years ago and I. And I.
She said something to me that haunts me in such a positive way. Even though she's known for financial advice, she was actually majored in social work. And if you really think about Susie, I think that's who she is.
Her quote to me was, every new moment you spend with anybody and anything has to be a new moment and not just a recreation of the past. That's so hard.
Wendy Green:Yeah.
Randall Kenneth Jones:That's almost impossible. And it's the best goal ever.
Wendy Green:Wow. I like that. Thank you. Well, thank you so much again, Randy. My name is Wendy Green. This has been Boomer Banter and I will see you all again in a week.
