Creating Your Encore Life

Your career path does not need to be one size fits all. In fact, today's episode will help you to explore the possibility that your encore career could unfold down a completely different path than what you are used to. Though there may be challenges that come with switching gears and pivoting to different lines of work or specialties, you will find that often employers appreciate the skills and ex...

Your Message Matters is a book by Jonathan Milligan all about how to transform your passion into a platform. He sponsored a conference of the same name that is centered around the book. His mission is to help people create their own businesses that they're interested in. Today, I want to share some of my takeaways from the conference. There were parts of it that really stood out to me and helped m...

What is the new journey of retirement? We know that it doesn't look the way it did even 20 years ago. Retirement, how people spend their time once they're retired, and who can be classified as a "retiree" have all shifted significantly in the 21st century. In this episode, I look into a report on this topic. The report was done by Edward Jones and The Age Wave Institute and is called, "Longevity a...

We talk a lot about creating your Encore Career on the podcast: how will you transfer your skills and what will you do? As you can see, most of what we talk about is related to the question of "what." However, today's episode will be a little different. We're going to discuss who you want to be when you grow old. This discussion is based off a book by Richard Leider and David Shapiro. I was introd...

Do you want to be a victim or an actor? This is the question to ask in a recession. The truth is, rough seasons like recessions can be seen as challenges or opportunities. To be an actor, you embrace your circumstances as opportunities to take action. You do what you can with what you have. Think about it this way: you've been here before. You've made it through economic downturns and come out the...

You Are The Brand by Mike Kim lays out "the 8-step blueprint to showcase your unique expertise and build a highly profitable, personally fulfilling business." These eight steps are powerful and effective. They have helped me tremendously throughout my own entrepreneurial journey. But what does You Are The Brand have to do with creating an Encore Career? As it turns out, a lot. In my coaching progr...

If you're coming out of a corporate career, you may have a good-sized portfolio. However, now that you want to begin your Encore Career, what's next? Will your portfolio let you live the life you want for the next 30-plus years? If I had to guess, I'd say that your current goals include earning, learning, and leaving a legacy. You likely want the freedom to work when you want, where you want, and...

In the last couple of episodes, I've been talking about Mike Kim's eight steps to building a profitable personal brand. We went over his PB3 method and the importance of having strong partnerships.  This week, I want to talk about another aspect of his eight-step method: positioning and pitching. If your goals include earning, learning, and leaving a legacy, you must learn how to position and pitc...

Last week, I shared the next steps you should take in creating your Encore Career. These steps are your foundation when you're just getting started. They take you from being fresh out of your corporate career, having no clue what you're doing to running a successful business in your Encore Career. In this episode, I share some more thoughts on this topic. Many of these "next steps" are inspired by...

Since the re-brand of this podcast, I've talked a lot about Encore Careers. I've explained what they are and why we need them in this day and age.    In case you need a recap on why you should consider starting an Encore Career, let me remind you that 20% of people are over the age of 60 today. By 2034, more people will be over the age of 65 than under the age of 18. Therefore, older people are es...

I recently completed the Modern Elder Academy Seminar. It was an amazing experience. I want to take some time in this episode to share my initial reflections on it.   I've talked about The Modern Elder Academy in previous episodes, but for those who don't know, it's built upon the idea that, as we approach midlife, there are things we should continue doing with our careers. At about age 55, people...

In this episode, I am talking with Galen Bingham of Kiln Global Coaching. Galen is a leadership trainer, Certified Executive Coach, and the host of the podcast, Whiskey, Jazz and Leadership .    He has 30 years of operating experience with Fortune 500 companies like Kraft Foods, Imperial Sugar and the Coca-Cola Company. Galen has coached or consulted with over 875 senior executives, CEOs and non-p...

Have you ever heard of 60 year career?   From age 1 to 20, we are in our learning stage. From age 21 to 80, we are earning. From age 81 to 100, we are in elderhood.    This looks very different from the way our parents lived their lives. Many of them retired at age 55 to 60. However, because people are living longer than ever nowadays, we may only be halfway through our lives when we turn 55. We m...

In this episode, we are talking to Jonathan Milligan about how he is helping entrepreneurs develop their businesses through training, coaching, and live events. I first worked with Jonathan when I was beginning the journey of starting my business. Now, I'm a member and a coach in his group coaching practice.  Today, Jonathan shares how he got started and how his business grew and developed. He wil...

Midlife is a time when things start to shift and change. Any moment of change brings an opportunity for reinvention and revitalization. What do you truly want out of your career and your life? This is what I have been exploring lately.  A few episodes ago, I discussed the making of the modern elder along with the book Wisdom at Work by Chip Conely. Chip is also the founder of the Modern Elder Acad...

Scared of presenting and putting yourself in front of people? There are ways to alleviate your qualms when presenting – and it's all about getting into the right mindset, telling better, more meaningful stories, and being your most authentic self. In this episode, we will be talking with Rick Davis of the Davis Presentation Group, whom I've known for several years. In fact, Rick helped me prepare...

Transitioning from corporate America to starting your own business might require some calculated risks. It's a matter of figuring out how you can transfer your skills and expertise and create your own structure so you can ultimately live a life of freedom and purpose. For 26 years, Dan Cockerell has been creating magic for other people being the VP of Magic Kingdom – until he finally decided to cr...

Have you ever had someone, at work or in your personal life, come up to you and ask if you have a minute? Do you start with giving them directions?  Most people have a default or go-to mode when someone brings a problem or an issue to them, almost like having a tool belt around your waist. And so, when someone brings a situation to you, what is the tool you're most likely to pull out?  Having a co...

As Boomers, we have to reinvent ourselves as companies themselves need to reinvent themselves. And one of the most effective ways to do that is to pull together different pieces of ourselves to create some value that we can bring to the table. Today, we're talking with John Tarnoff who had a long career in the entertainment business. After his tech startup went bust, he decided to go back to schoo...

Do you want to do what you love while earning from multiple income streams? Having multiple income streams is possible with a Portfolio Career. It also allows you to reduce the risk if one income stream doesn't work out. In today's episode, we talk with Steve Preston about creating a portfolio career. Following a very successful management career, Steve Preston took redundancy in 2001 when his com...

Did you know that entrepreneurs actually decline between their 30's and 50s?  Most people assume that the more successful they are, they're less susceptible to becoming irrelevant later in life. The truth is, the greater our achievements are in our early life and the greater attachment we have to them, the more we notice how we're not performing quite as well as we used to.  In this episode, I'll...

What do modern elders bring to the table? Contrary to stereotypes of older workers being poor performers and resistant to change, among many myths out there, modern elders have a lot more to offer than most people think. In this episode, I'm doing a review of the book, "Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder" by Chip Conley, which has been instrumental in my thinking about an encore career. ...

Making the leap from being a Corporate Leader and Expert into becoming a Solopreneur can be daunting – but the rewards are great. You can work when you want, where you want, and do the work you love.  And so, how do you transition from being your corporate job to becoming a Silver Entrepreneur? What are the skills that you can take with you and what new skills do you need to learn and develop? In...

I'm honored today to be talking with Lee Cockrell about creating Disney magic for your organization. Lee Cockerell is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort. As the Senior Operating Executive for ten years, Lee led a team of 40,000 Cast Members and was responsible for the operations of 20 resort hotels, 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a shopping & enterta...

Today I'm going to look over two books that have been very helpful for me in my encore career. They are great resources for anyone considering an encore career. The books explore many of the things that go on when building a business in your retirement-age years. The first book is Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the Second Half of Life by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. I interviewed Mar...