In this inspiring episode of Beyond Retirement, Jacquie sits down with Sairan Aqrawi, a civil engineer, certified coach, and founder of the Gem Thrive Academy. From STEM to soul-searching, Sairan shares how she helps women over 50 rediscover their “hidden gem” — a unique passion, gift, or calling buried under years of work, family, and obligation.

Whether it’s painting, public speaking, or building furniture in your garage, your gem doesn’t need to make money to be meaningful. Sairan’s bold, no-nonsense approach helps women reclaim midlife.

What happens when your carefully planned retirement takes an unexpected turn? On this week’s episode of Beyond Retirement, I reflected on this question.

Here are 3 key takeaways for anyone planning their next chapter:

1. Build Your Lifeline Early: Relationships with family, friends, and community are just as crucial as financial planning. The support Susie and Tony received made all the difference during their toughest days.
2. Nurture Your Anchors: Whether it’s faith, creativity, volunteering, or something else—identify what keeps you grounded. Start strengthening those anchors now, so you’re ready when challenges arise.
3. Embrace Flexibility: Plans are important, but adaptability is essential. The most meaningful moments often come from the unexpected detours and from helping others, even while facing your own trials.

Retirement is a new beginning—sometimes bumpy, but always full of opportunities for growth, connection, and purpose.

On this episode of Beyond Retirement, host Jacquie Doucette welcomes Soozie and Tony Cisneros, a couple whose retirement dreams took an unexpected turn. Just as they prepared to embark on new adventures together, both received life-changing cancer diagnoses—on the very same day. In this candid conversation, Soozie and Tony share the shock and uncertainty of facing treatment, the ways their family and community rallied around them, and the powerful role faith played in their journey. From setbacks to milestones, and finally reclaiming their freedom, their story is one of resilience, hope, and finding new meaning in life after the unimaginable. Whether you’re approaching retirement or already there, this episode offers inspiration and wisdom on facing the unexpected and supporting one another along the way.

· Retirement Expectations vs Reality

o Planning a life of travel and freedom

o Receiving simultaneous cancer diagnoses

· Navigating Treatment as a Couple

o Different journeys: radiation vs non-surgical care

o Emotional and logistical challenges of supporting each other

· The Role of Family and Faith

o Support from kids, including shaving their heads

o How spiritual grounding helped them persevere

· Redefining Retirement After Illness

o Embracing each day with intention

o Reframing 'lost time' as a second chance

· Lessons in Resilience

o What they’ve learned about strength and partnership

o Advice for others facing unexpected setbacks

Retirement doesn’t need a master plan. In this follow-up solo episode, Jacquie Doucette reflects on Lynn Katz’s journey from school principal to author and community leader, showing how freedom, curiosity, and small daily goals can guide a deeply fulfilling retirement. Whether you’re newly retired or still figuring it out, this episode offers practical insight into designing a path that fits you—not someone else’s vision.

Key Topics Covered

• Intentional Retirement Choices

No burnout, just clarity

• Passion Rediscovery

Childhood dreams reignited in retirement

• Goal Setting Over Scheduling

Daily writing targets instead of rigid routines

Flexibility fuels sustained engagement

• New Experiences in Later Life

Saying yes to unexpected roles and hobbies

• The Power of Openness

Embracing “flailing” and slow starts

Staying curious and adaptable

• Community and Learning

Lifelong learners never retire

Connection as a pillar of post-work life

Lynn Katz is a retired school principal, curriculum writer, and educator who has reinvented herself as a fiction author in retirement. With a deep passion for storytelling, Lynn now writes both adult and middle-grade fiction, bringing her years of experience working with children and school systems into the heart of her stories.

She lives in Connecticut with her husband and enjoys kayaking, hiking, and spending time with her grandchildren. Her writing touches on themes of family, emotional resilience, school systems, personal transformation, and the challenges and magic of growing up.

Key Topics:

1. Transitioning from leadership in education to creative writing
2. The role of personal growth after retirement
3. Navigating identity shifts when leaving a high-responsibility role
4. Staying engaged with purpose and community through writing
5. The unexpected parallels between running a school and writing a novel
6. Giving yourself permission to try and fail at things

What if happiness wasn’t something that happened to you, but something you chose—even in retirement?

In this solo episode, Jacquie reflects on a powerful message from her recent conversation with musician Ron Sowell: “It’s all up to you.” Drawing on stories from Ron’s life and the profound example of Viktor Frankl, she explores the idea that happiness isn’t about perfect circumstances, it’s about how we choose to engage with the season we’re in.

If you’re navigating the years beyond your career, wondering how to find meaning, joy, or direction, this episode invites you to reclaim your agency. Because growing old may be inevitable, but growing disengaged is not.

Key Topics Covered:

• The difference between aging and growing old - Why vitality is a daily choice, not a number
• What it means to “choose happiness”  - The difference between agency and toxic positivity
• Ron Sowell’s example of a life built on alignment  - Choosing passion over security, and never looking back
• Viktor Frankl’s lesson from the Holocaust  - How mindset becomes a final freedom, even in suffering
• Reframing retirement as a meaningful phase  - Finding joy, purpose, and connection regardless of circumstances

MUSIC CREDIT: Ron Sowell - It's All Up to You (used with permission)

Ron Sowell is a lifelong musician, singer-songwriter, and performer who has spent decades exploring the transformative power of music. From stage performances to songwriting workshops, Ron’s life offers a rich example of how creativity and personal growth can intertwine—especially in the years beyond traditional career paths.

Ron shares the pivotal moment he stepped off the law-school track and committed to music for life, the joy and meaning he finds in performing and mentoring, and the simple daily practices that keep him grounded and strong as the years add up. We talk Mountain Stage, creative purpose beyond “traditional retirement,” and why gratitude, meditation, and consistent movement are non-negotiables for staying vibrant.

Key takeaways:

* Purpose isn’t a job title. Ron never planned to “retire” from the thing that gives him energy—music.

* Daily anchors matter: meditation, gratitude, and some form of strength/mobility work are simple but compounding.

* Creative contribution evolves with age: performing, producing, and coaching other artists are natural extensions of a lifetime in music.

* Community keeps you sharp: bandleading at Mountain Stage means constant learning and collaboration with top-tier musicians.

Connect with Ron via his website: https://ronsowell.com or @RonSowellMusic ​

Retirement is supposed to be relaxing… so why does it sometimes feel louder than ever?

In this solo episode, I reflect on a conversation with my friend Lynda Camire — and explore what happens when retirement doesn’t deliver the peace we expected. Lynda retired with a plan. But within days, she found herself checking the clock, wandering into her old office, and feeling overwhelmed by a surprising emotion: boredom.

This episode is about the hidden noise that surfaces after the structure of work disappears — and why that noise isn’t a sign of failure, but a signal worth listening to.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why boredom in retirement feels more like pressure than peace
• How unstructured time can trigger unexpected emotions
• The link between boredom and mental clutter
• Why retirement doesn’t quiet your mind — it confronts it
• How to reframe boredom as an invitation to experiment, reflect, and grow

 Key Takeaways:

• Structure disappears faster than purpose appears.
• Mental clutter loves a vacuum.
• Boredom can be a bridge, not a wall.
• You don’t need a five-point plan. You need a small spark.

Questions for Reflection:

• Is this boredom… or is this mental clutter in disguise?
• Am I judging myself for not being productive?
• What have I stopped doing that I used to enjoy?
• What am I trying not to feel right now?

If you’ve recently retired and find yourself feeling restless or “off,” this episode is for you. You’re not broken — you’re human. And you’re not alone.

 Tune in to learn how boredom might just be pointing you toward your next chapter.

What really happens when you close the laptop for the last time and step into retirement? In this candid episode, I sit down with my friend Lynda Camire, who recently retired from a long-standing career in finance with the Canadian government. She may not have had a retirement party, but she does have a lot of honest insights about what happens when the structure of the 9-to-5 disappears.

Lynda shares how she planned her retirement, and how that plan didn’t include just how bored she’d be in the first few days. From wandering into her home office out of habit to watching the clock like she was still on the job, Lynda’s story is a refreshing reminder that even a well-planned retirement can feel disorienting at first.

We talk about:

1. The emotional surprise of Day One in retirement
2. What happens when there’s no daily agenda
3. Struggles with identity when you no longer say “I work for…”
4. Learning how to stop watching the clock
5. Her passion for cooking and possibly turning it into something more
6. Travel dreams that are still on the horizon
7. Why “if you’re unsure about retirement, you’re probably not ready”

Whether you’re counting down the days to your own retirement or already in it and wondering “what now?”, this episode offers a real, grounded perspective on navigating the unknown with a little humour, honesty, and Thai food.

Lynda's episode is part of our ongoing season focusing on Mental Health, Enjoyment, and Personal Growth in retirement.

Know someone struggling with the early days of retirement? Share this episode with them.

Listen to more episodes at:

https://beyondretirement.ca/podcast

https://zencastr.com/Beyond-Retirement

Or wherever you usually listen to podcasts!

The toughest negotiation of all isn't with someone else... it's within yourself. 

It occurs when you have to decide whether to stagnate or grow. Do you want to just stop? Sure, it's easier not to forge ahead sometimes, but it's not easier to live with the result.

The pain of regret or the pain of making change... which will you choose?