Growing Older with Gusto

Sheila Stone Get out of your comfort zone. This is the advice Sheila Stone, our guest this week on the show gives for those wanting to grow older with gusto,! Sheila is the master of reinvention and works at helping women create a new life for themselves after 50. She is a great example herself as she went back to college at age 48 to get her degree and a Master’s degree in England. Not slowing do...

Listen to our latest guest, author Heidi Herman talk about how the idea of Butter was one of the sparks for her latest book. “On With The Butter - Spread More Living Onto Everyday Life” is a compendium of stories, challenges and advice, on how you can apply the metaphor of butter which makes everything taste better, to the of enhancing your life as you grow older. Herman’s family roots in Iceland...

Alana Dawson of Podcast Party Sometimes life events spiral our world in a life-enhancing way. This is what happened to Alana Dawson who suffered a serious health setback as a young wife and mom. It set her on the path to thinking about and executing what she refers to as her legacy.  This life-changing event was the catalyst for being more aware of how she wants to grow older, and interact with th...

What can I say about a 78 year old man who has the fitness age of 35?  Well, he has a lot to say about how he has been growing older with gusto! Come listen to Rico Caveglia share with us his 7 Essentials of Life, and how you, too can “Be Bold and Never Be Old!”  He has developed a lifestyle he calls the “Aging Living Lifestyle” that promotes a way of living that ensures we keep on moving in the r...

Douglas Ekman What if you could be as vital at age 78 as you are right now? Come listen to Douglas Ekman, a Renaissance Man talk about how he got to be “still in the game” at age 78. He just published an exiting new book called “You Are Old,  and will soon be seen on TV and heard on the radio, as a spokesperson for an exciting new product. Ekman gives so much insight into how we can live our lives...

This episode is a bit of a turn from our regular interviews with Growing Older with Gusto guests.  Unfortunately, Gail lost her 97.5-year-old Uncle to COVID-19 related complications. In this episode, she shares her experience from attending her first virtual funeral. Plus, we recap some exciting stories from an unreleased episode that was to air on this very podcast with her Uncle.  Due to technic...

Amanda Rees Bold CEO You can be anything you want in life!  Amanda Rees shows us how in her journey from being a biological and chemical engineering graduate to being a co-founder and CEO of BOLD. BOLD is a venture capital-backed startup geared to reducing falls in older people.  Her business is an online program that is customized to individual needs. Currently, people from their 50’s-90’s throug...

Our most recent guest on the show is Theresa Nicole, RDN, CTNC, NLC aka Miss Nutrition® who has made a career out of a life-changing event in her life. Yes, she is now a registered nutritionist and dietician a path that evolved from taking charge of her health issues while in her 20’s. We spent the entire show talking with Theresa about her life, and how sugar has played a large role in shaping it...

Do you think you will be climbing trees in your 60’s?  Well, our guest on the podcast today not only does that, but does handstands, too!!  This is all after undergoing numerous serious health setbacks. Lee Mowatt, creator of The Aging Academy Podcast will share nuggets of wisdom he has learned so far in his life and how to apply them to the concept of growing older with gusto. Here are some of th...

Our most recent guest on the show is the fourth person in a collaborative series we are doing with the Lustgarten Foundation, the nation's largest organization to raise research money solely for pancreatic cancer research. Dr. Maria Casillas-Abundis came to work at Northwestern Memorial Hospital from Mexico City three years ago.  She is a woman who is dedicated and inspirational.  She always wante...

David Lereah “Growing Old is not a health sentence it’s a life sentence because it pushes you to live.”        “When you have made it to the of the hill you have earned the right to stay and enjoy the scenery.” These are just a couple of quotes that you will find in a book that our latest guest on the podcast, David Lereah has recently written.  The title is “The Power of Positive Aging - Successf...

NOELLE C. NELSON Our most recent guest on the show was Noelle Nelson, an engaging speaker who happens to also be an author and a clinical psychologist.  She has recently come out with her latest book on how to successfully navigate the post COVID-19 waters - I Survived COVID-19, What Now?! Finding Happiness and Success in a Post COVID. Here are some of the things we discussed on the podcast: * How...

Meet Michelle Dresbold, internationally renowned handwriting expert!   She is the author of Sex, Lies and Handwriting. Dubbed the “Handwriting Doctor” she is an expert in using her skills to help solve a kidnapping, arson, murder, voter embezzlement, forgery and stalking cases for police departments and the FBI. Her most recent work involves working with the Canadian police to analyze the handwrit...

I had the pleasure of recently having Ken Brown, as a guest on our podcast Growing Older with Gusto. Ken is the third person in our collaborative series we are doing with The Lustgarten Foundation. The Lustgarten Foundation is the largest foundation solely dedicated to the research of pancreatic cancer. All administrative expenses are underwritten, and donations go directly to research. Ken Brown...

What is the Future of Fundraising?  How does becoming Virtual play into the landscape?  How do you maintain momentum to support an important cause? Jason Rice, the National Director of Development and Events for the Lustgarten Foundation dives into his 20+ years working with health-related not for profits to steer the Foundation in the right direction. Listen in to our interview with Jason and lea...

Doing what matters. This is what Kerri Kaplan, President & CEO of The Lustgarten Foundation does every day! With this episode, we begin a collaboration between Growing Older with Gusto and The Lustgarten Foundation, the largest organization ‘for pancreatic cancer research, because health is so important as we grow older.  So, Kerri is up first on the show! You will find Kerri is so very passio...

Meet Joan Craig, founder of ChooseJoyfulHealth.com. CEO has a new meaning. CHIEF EXPERT OCCUPANT is who you are, and also who you can be. Joan Craig took an experience living in Honduras and turned it into a business. She can take anybody from 40 - 65 and give them a plan on how to move forward with balance, stamina and joy. A couple of her programs include Posture School which she designs accordi...

CK Perez, as she is affectionately called at the East Bank Club in Chicago, is 86 years young!  She appears vibrant, in shape, and has the spirit of the color she loves the most — green. Green is symbolic to her of all that is growing and willing to live. She talks to us about her life, how she got to where she is today and dispenses valuable advice on how to grow older with gusto. For starters, “...

This is a story about an 82-year-old man who made a life-altering change at age 50 by allowing his faith, his energy and his love of life, family and friends to steer him into becoming a Deacon at age 53.  Deacon Leonard Richardson, tells us on the podcast how his connection to family, friends, and his Catholic religion were the guideposts along the way to becoming an example of how to grow older...

Judi Schindler a lifelong Chicagoan is a multi-talented woman in her 70’s who has headed a 10 person PR firm for 40 years, become an actor, and an author where she describes one of her biggest life accomplishments - being married for 50+ years! I spoke with Judi recently about the sense of humor she has about marriage and she hilariously recounted how having one son has resulted in being the grandm...

Phil La Duke who lives in Detroit, Michigan currently works as a workplace safety advisor for major companies. HIs life has taken a circuitous route to where he is now, and he shares how stumbling blocks spurred him on to better himself and live a joyful and meaningful life. He emphasizes on the podcast the importance of living in the present and making each day a great day. He believes we don’t k...

Gail interviewing Sheldon Stein Barbara and Sheldon Stein are an active older couple who currently reside at the Clare, an independent living community in downtown Chicago. A former lawyer and educator who remain chipper despite some health restrictions.  They both were quite active as children, and continue throughout their life to engage with younger people. Retirement to them is just an extensi...

Larry Clemons is a reflexologist, spiritualist and the first African American to rent office space in the iconic office building, The Garland Building in the Chicago Loop. He is a person who is a healer and has a positive spirit that has propelled him throughout his life. His spiritual presence has served him well and he describes his background and how a misstep in his early youth was one of the...

John & Barbara Cochran, well-known journalists, who reside in Washington D.C. share their insights into how they have navigated through life and what sustains them today! John was well known as a Senior Correspondent for ABC News and was their top Correspondent who covered the White House from the Nixon to Obama Administrations. Barb, was the former Producer of “Meet The Press” and created the...

His Glass is Definitely Always Half Full! Photo of Ken Brown (right) in Tanzania near Mt. Kilimanjaro. Meet Ken Brown, an almost 70-year-old practicing lawyer who is successful in surviving one of the most deathly cancer diagnoses. Brown at age 64 is fortunate in the sense that his pancreatic cancer was caught at Stage 2 (not too common with this disease), and he was the type of person who not onl...