I am so happy to welcome back Lou Blaser who is the editor of the Midlife Cues newsletter and the host of the podcast,  Second Breaks.  Lou wasn’t always a podcast host or media maven… In fact, she used to hate the sound of her own voice, but when Lou asks the question, “What If?”, she has a tendency to follow the question with massive action that leads her to great things.  It’s been a windy path that’s led her to hosting her podcast and writing her newsletter.  It took some time for her to figure out the right path for her, but she figured out a way to channel her curiosity, her love of research, and her reading obsession into something that is helpful for other people and allows her the flexibility she needs to start a new GRAND adventure… which you’ll hear all about in this episode.

Welcome to this special Thanksgiving episode…. It's short, but sweet.

It's that time of year isn’t it?   It's time to look back, and at the same time, look ahead.  Let’s talk about the power of gratitude.

Jesse Hernandez is the host of the Learnings and Missteps podcast where he and his co-host Rene dig into the stories of the men and women who have built careers in the construction industry in an effort to Enhance the Image of Careers in the Trades.  His real super power comes from his desire to help other people.   He worked his way up in the construction industry, first becoming a Supervisor and Foreman, then learning how to train and develop other tradesmen as they make their way up to the next level of their careers.  Learning to develop other people led him to his own major transformation that was years in the making.

Gail Gensler is sixty years old and still in “beast mode”.  What is beast mode you may be asking?  Well, Gail’s favorite workout, even with an arthritic shoulder is boxing!  For Gail, it’s all about mindset.   Her goal as she enters her 60s is to inspire women her age to dress, act, feel, and exercise the way they want.  In the past year and a half she’s reinvented herself as a pro-aging fitness enthusiast and lifestyle influencer on a mission to break down the barriers of institutional ageism.  She got tired of seeing advertising that always seemed to showcase impossible standards of youth and beauty and decided to do something about it.

Karen Briscoe built an enormously successful real estate business in her fifties.  She is the principal owner of the Huckaby Briscoe Conroy Group with Keller Williams which has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the 250 Top Realtor® teams in the United States.  Even with all the markers of personal success she felt as though there was something more that was hers to do.  She felt a calling to something beyond her real estate business.  People were encouraging her to write a book, but she told herself she was too busy.  Busy had become a competitive arena, a badge of honor for her. Then, she had an epiphany and realized that the only thing truly stopping her was herself.  She went on to write her first book which is a business book called Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed and has since taken her "5 Minute Success" concept to multiple platforms, including several business books, a podcast and a facebook community.  And she’s just getting started!

Nicole Lewis-Keeber is an expert in helping business owners understand how unaddressed trauma can hold them back in their business.  We talk about the sneaky ways that trauma can show up and about how she learned to set strong boundaries in her life thanks in large part to getting certified in Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead program.  After many years in practice as a therapist Nicole realized it was time for her to make a change.  She stepped away from her practice, worked another job and took some time to think about her next steps.  It took time, but she stayed open and finally found the path that she’s on today…  She's now been featured on numerous media outlets including Fast Company and NPR for her work in breaking the stigma of mental health and business ownership.

Richard Haiduck is a former life sciences executive and mentor, and now has an active retirement. He is immersed in challenging the boundaries of his own retirement, while observing the experiences and areas of curiosity of his fellow retirees. At age 7, he was sure he wanted to be an author. Now, 66 years later, that dream has become a reality. He has written a book called Shifting Gears: 50 Baby Boomers share their meaningful journeys in retirement.  The inspiration for the book came from hearing about the meaningful journeys in retirement taken by his friends and colleagues.

Dara Goldberg of Lovin' Midlife was a Founding Partner and Vice President of a management consulting firm that worked mainly with nonprofits and philanthropies to help them increase their funding base and develop growth strategies.  She loved her work until she didn’t.  After beating herself up and a lot of soul searching, she eventually found the courage to walk away and is currently on the verge of something big.  She’s on a mission to make sure that other women in midlife don’t have the same experience she did and is bringing together a community to support women who are feeling lost in midlife and point them in the direction of both professional guidance and a community of midlife sisters who will embrace and support them.

Amy Feierman was 38 when she realized she wasn’t happy anymore in her very successful business as an Amazon seller and coach.  Prior to that she had loved her business, but it was starting to feel more like a “J.O.B.”  than the entrepreneurial endeavor she had started out with.  She realized she needed a change and it was going to require her to get out of her comfort zone to explore her next move.   Also, she found that there was some Judo required in changing the way she was thinking about giving up that business in order to feel good about moving on.

Kimberly Coleman is someone who recognizes that she has participated in her own miracles. Her Christian faith is a lynchpin for her, she sees God’s work in her life everywhere, but she also sees that she is a powerful force in that equation, that her actions deliver results, that her actions have delivered her through some difficult times.  Even if you aren’t a “believer”, I contend that you have the power to participate in your own miracles, that you are already participating in miracles and maybe you just need to start noticing your power.