Maturepreneurial Podcast: Interviews with Older Entrepreneurs | Online Business Tips | Learn From Those Who Have Succeeded

Jarie Bolander is an engineer by training and an entrepreneur by nature. He has over 20 years of experience in bringing to market innovative technology solutions, such as Bluetooth, USB, RFID and Semiconductor DNA sequencing. He is currently the co-founder and COO of Lab Sensor Solutions, a digital health company that applies sensor technology to tracking the temperature and location of clinical samples in order to prevent spoilage.

Jarie has formed or been part of six startups in various management roles. He holds an MBA in Technology Management from University of the Pacific and a BS in Electrical Engineering from San Jose State University. He is also inventor or co-inventor on over 10 patents and has published four books — The Entrepreneur Ethos, Frustration Free Technical Management, #ENDURANCE tweet — A Little Nudge to Keep You Going, and Business Basics for Entrepreneurs.

You can read Jarie's thoughts on management and entrepreneurship via his blog, The Daily MBA or follow him on Twitter.

Barbara Findlay Schenck is a marketing strategist, small business success advocate and author of books and columns that help entrepreneurs and small business leaders plan, brand, market and, when they're ready, sell their businesses to new owners.

A graduate of Oregon State University, Barbara began her career in Honolulu, where she was admissions director and writing instructor at Hawaii Loa College (now part of Hawaii Pacific University). She spent seven years as an account executive at Hawaii's largest public relations firm before joining the Peace Corps to manage a community develop program in Malaysia with her husband, Peter.

Upon their return from Southeast Asia in 1980, Barbara and her husband moved to Oregon and launched a marketing agency that grew to one of the Northwest's Top 15 agencies, with a roster of nationally known brands, by the time they sold it in 1995.

Since selling her agency, Barbara has produced the following business success aids:

• Author, Small Business Marketing Kit For Dummies
• Co-Author, Business Plans Kit For Dummies
• Co-Author, Branding for Dummies
• Author, Selling Your Business for Dummies
• Author, the BizBuySell Guide to Selling Your Small Business
• Co-writer, Edgar Award-nominated memoir Portraits of Guilt
• Lesson developer, Microsoft Small Business Relationship program
• Marketing Specialist, BusinessBreakthrough.com presented by Visa and Microsoft
• Columnist and marketing anchor, BusinessOnMain.com presented by Sprint and Microsoft
• Contributor, American Express Open Forum and other business sites
• Presenter, 10-hour creativeLIVE Powerful Business Planning online course

Today, Barbara is a nationally recognized marketing columnist and public speaker who thinks in headlines, talks in bulleted lists, and, according to BusinessWeek, addresses “real-world problems with real-world solutions.”

Dave Conley was working in a job he hated as a tech executive. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day and was 330 pounds.

He was miserable.

One day he came home from his soul-sucking job to find his beautiful wife sick on the couch, struggling to breathe. Sixty hours after he checked her into the hospital, he turned off life support.

Over the following two years, he crawled out of that deep depression, lost 150 pounds, ditched the cigarettes, quit the job he hated and embraced radical self-care.

Now Dave helps people who were just like him. He helps people choose health and happiness over fat and misery. He helps people create their own radical self-care practice and change everything.

He can help you reclaim your life.

Deborah Owens is a seasoned executive and change agent with 20+ years of Fortune 100 business experience. As a director of training and a sales leader, she developed and implemented strategies to close performance gaps, maximize performance and exceed business objectives. She has led the conception, design and implementation of franchise and enterprise-wide initiatives including leadership development, talent management, sales and marketing training, and employee development with international brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Honeywell.

Throughout her career, Deborah has had a front-row seat to the unique experiences faced by people of color in the workplace. She founded her company The Corporate Alley Cat to ensure that every person of color is fully supported and equipped for both the opportunities and challenges they will encounter throughout their corporate journeys.

Based upon a foundation of sharing experiences (good and bad), strategies, and lessons learned to accelerate career growth and success, Corporate Alley Cat's mission is to:

• Provide a safe place to share, learn and navigate those “sticky/taboo” corporate situations that leave people of color feeling isolated, frustrated, and powerless;
• Provide tools, strategies and experts to help professionals of color manage workplace challenges that, left unmanaged, can derail their careers; and
• Accelerate the success, shorten the learning curve and provide critical insider knowledge to professionals of color to help change the culture of corporations.

Deborah's public speaking topics include:

• Get Scrappy, Be Ready: 5 Sticky Situations Every Person of Color Needs to Know How to Handle at Work
• Corporate Politics in Color: Hidden Lessons and Nuances You Won't Find in the Employee Handbook
• The Best of Both Worlds: How to "Rock the Boat" Without Ruining Your Career

Herself a long time alley cat and adventurer, Deborah has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, trekked to Macchu Pichu, and completed a triathlon. She is a proud Bison who holds a B.A. in Economics from Howard University. Deborah resides in Washington, DC with her husband.

Don Hutcheson is a lifelong entrepreneur: an inventor, author, coach and now, podcaster. He hosts the podcast: “Discover Your Talent—Do What You Love,” three days a week in order to help his listeners find their true talents and use those talents to build careers of success, satisfaction and freedom.

Over the past 40 years, Don has created six innovative companies in advertising, publishing, coaching, career planning and podcasting.

Don co-founded his first business right after he graduated from college. With partner Fred Brown, he created Brown's Guides, a recreational guide book for Georgia and beyond that is still published today. Nine years later he co-founded his first advertising agency, Hutcheson & Anderson.  A few years after that, he co-founded his second: Hutcheson Shutze.

After taking an assessment that measured his "natural abilities", as opposed to his interests, skills, IQ or personality, Don was inspired to create his own assessment, The Whole Person Technology™. This was the first-ever holistic approach to educational, career and life planning, which he ultimately transformed from paper and pencil to an online version. During this period, Don co-authored two popular books on career planning: The Lemming Conspiracy and Don’t Waste Your Talent.

Don decided to leverage his 30 years experience as entrepreneur, inventor and writer to become a coach. A few years later, he founded and published the first online magazine to offer tools and insights into issues that impact every lawyer’s success and satisfaction and every firm’s profitability. When it was published, The Complete Lawyer was distributed by the bar associations in 36 states.

Most recently, Don has created and launched a new podcast, Discover Your Talent~Do What You Love. The podcast series is designed for people of every age and background who are looking to build a life and career that uses the best of who they are and to enjoy a life of success, satisfaction and freedom.

Don served a tour of duty in the US Army as a Russian linguist in the Army Security Agency: Voice & Intercept. After he was honorably discharged, Don returned to Emory University to complete his BA in Russian Language and Literature.

Vivien Hoexter is co-founder and principal of H2Growth Strategies LLC, a professional services firm that advises executive staff and board members to improve performance, build leadership, and increase revenues for sustainable growth and impact. Working with mission-driven clients, H2Growth leverages its expertise and talents to create a more enlightened world. Services include strategic and succession planning, board development, leadership and CSR training, executive coaching, fundraising and advocacy.

Prior to co‐founding H2Growth Strategies LLC, Vivien spent four years as sole proprietor of Hoexter Executive Consulting, offering a broad range of services to foundations and nonprofit organizations, including strategic planning, fundraising, marketing, talent acquisition and project management.

Vivien works with nonprofits and foundations to develop and refine their strategies, market themselves more effectively and raise more money. She also coaches high-level executives currently in leadership roles and/or transitioning to new ones.

Some of Vivien's current and past clients include American Geriatrics Society, Community Mainstreaming Associates, EngenderHealth, Heritage Management Organization, Mental HealthAssociation of New York City, New York City Opera, New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute, Pardes Institute, The ZAC Foundation, Workmen's Circle and Young Judaea.

Here are a few examples of Vivien’s work in the past several years:

• Coached the CEO of a Long Island health-related nonprofit to articulate her vision for the organization more clearly, improve her presentation skills and work more smoothly with her Board of Directors.
• Facilitated EngenderHealth, a leading global women’s health organization, to create a new vision and rallying cry focused on its family planning roots.
• Developed a three-year business plan for the Workmen’s Circle to transform from a Jewish fraternal benefits organization to a cultural, progressive learning movement.

Until June 2011, Vivien was Vice President for Marketing and Development at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She served as Chief Executive Officer of Gilda’s Club Worldwide from early 2006 to late 2008. Vivien and her team created a vision and strategic plan for the organization as a leader in the field of emotional and social support for people with cancer, their families, and friends. By implementing this plan, the organization increased its income by 55% from 2005 to 2006 and by 40% from 2006 to 2007.

Vivien was a Vice President at AFS‐USA, Inc., the leading high school student exchange organization, from 1998 to 2006. From 1993 to 1998, she was Director of Development at The Hunger Project. Vivien has also worked as a product manager at CPC International, Inc., a Fortune 100 multinational, and as an assistant buyer at Lord & Taylor.

Vivien graduated magna cum laude with a BA in History from Yale University and has an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School. She lives in New York City with her husband and is an active volunteer with the Yale Alumni Nonprofit Alliance.

Nina Manolson helps women over 40 end their war with food and make peace with their bodies.  She is a Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach and a Psychology of Eating Teacher and Coach who has been helping women move into a caring, loving, enriching and nourishing relationship with their bodies for 27 years. She also holds a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology.

Nina is the founder of NinaManolson.com and creator of the Body-Love Map; the guide that helps women move from body-hate and self-criticism into body-ease and body-love.

Nina offers individual sessions and group programs. She is also the founder of Nourished Woman Nation, a community of women who are stepping into feeling truly good from the inside out.

Food and nutrition expert Maggie Green is the owner of The Green Apron Company. The Green Apron specializes culinary nutrition, food and nutrition writing, and recipe and cookbook development.

Maggie is a registered and licensed dietitian. After a career in clinical dietetics and food service management; she launched her own business, The Green Apron Company. As a personal chef, Maggie cooked privately for over 100 clients in the greater Cincinnati area. In 2001, she successfully transitioned her work to the publishing industry.

As a cookbook editor, Maggie edited the Joy of Cooking (2006) and BakeWise (2008). As a food and nutrition writer, Maggie's experience includes writing for Humana’s Active Outlook Program and their award-winning HAO Magazine, as well as a seven-year stint as a food writer for a local newspaper, Inside Your Town.

As an author, Maggie wrote her first cookbook, The Kentucky Fresh Cookbook, in 2011. Published by University Press of Kentucky, Kentucky Fresh explores seasonal cooking and regional foods of Kentucky. In 2016, Maggie wrote her 2nd cookbook, Tasting Kentucky: Favorite Recipes from the Bluegrass State. Tasting Kentucky showcases 100 recipes from restaurants and inns all across the state of Kentucky. Maggie's third and fourth cookbooks, Essential Pantry and Essential Plant-Based Pantry will be published in 2018 and are sure to change the way home-cooks think and feel about cooking as they streamline their pantry and simplify their meals.

As a professionally trained chef and registered dietitian, Maggie is a sought-after culinary nutrition expert, food and nutrition writer, recipe developer, and cookbook industry consultant.

In 2012 Maggie launched Cookbook Camp. Cookbook Camp offers individual and group coaching programs for aspiring cookbook authors. She is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Maggie lives in Ft. Wright, Kentucky with her husband, the best male cook she knows. They have three children and a shaggy dog, also named Maggie, who all enjoy sharing time in the kitchen and around the table.

Robert Thomas Bethel is the orchestrator of seventy-seven business turnarounds over the past fifty years. Early successes and troubles in his own professional career inspired his passion for taking over struggling businesses and guiding them towards the road of profitability.

Bob has turned around companies in various industries—from restaurant chains to engineering firms—and has helped save over ten thousand jobs as a result of his strategic business counsel.

A graduate of the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, Bob owns several companies across the southern United States and has operated businesses both nationwide and internationally.

He is an Eagle Scout and, in addition to counseling, also spends time teaching three-day seminars across the country on best business practices.

Bob currently resides in Orange Beach, Alabama with his wife, Reese.

Lorraine C. Ladish is a 21st century communicator and age disruptor who empowers women to achieve their dreams. She is the founder and CEO of Viva Fifty!, a bilingual community that celebrates being 50 and above.

Lorraine is also a woman, mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, writer, entrepreneur, and yogini.

Lorraine was born in Spain to a family of writers. Her grandfather owned a printing press and on the weekends and after school, Lorraine and her sister would help him collate books. She can still remember the smell of the ink, the glue, the paper …

Lorraine's father made a huge effort to ensure that all of his children could express themselves fluently in two languages. He wanted Lorraine to be a marine biologist, but because she grew up watching him write books, she chose to be a writer.

Or maybe writing chose her.

Lorraine wrote and published her first book - about an eating disorder she battled for years - before she turned 30. Her world was never the same after that. Today, she is the author of 18 books.

Lorraine has worked as an editor and social media coordinator for a number of online publications. She is a content creator and regular contributor to NBCNews, Huffpost, AARP, Babycenter and Mom.me. She has contributed to People en Español, La Palma of The Palm Beach Post,  Purple Clover, Latina magazine and Redbook.

Lorraine is active in two languages on social media platforms Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where she has over 16,000 followers. She posts regularly and passionately about everything from family, to fashion, to current events, and more.

Lorraine's next book - on embracing age - will be published by HarperCollins in 2017.

Lorraine is very creative. She loves to draw. She has spent most of her life dancing (modern, jazz and Latin). She used to be a runner but then she rediscovered yoga. Now she spends a part of every day finding grace on and off the mat.

Lorraine married in her mid-thirties. She had her first child at 37 and her second at 40. Being raised by her abuelita affected how she has mothered her own children: giving it her all, striving to be the best mother she can. She loves her daughters with all her heart.

In 2004, Lorraine moved to Florida; incidentally, one day before a hurricane hit the Sunshine State. Four years later, during the Great Recession, Lorraine's world crumbled. She lost her marriage, her savings and her source of income. She found herself absolutely broke—emotionally and financially. But with two little girls to take care of, and with the help and inspiration from many friends along the way, Lorraine managed to reinvent her writing career by taking it online.

A year later, Lorraine met the love of her life, who is also a writer. And guess what else? He’s multicultural, bilingual, and a parent: the father of a young boy, of similar age to her daughters. What more could she have wished for?

Now Lorraine and her husband, Phillippe Diederich, live together as a blended family with their three children and the dog they rescued. Their children are teens and tweens, who get along just like real siblings. Together, they navigate the same challenges facing other multicultural families in the United States.

Lorraine's dream is to one day live in a house by the beach. But she's not complaining. She can hop in the car and be soaking her toes in the ocean in less than ten minutes. All this while she pursues her love of inspiring women to live a full life and to chase their dreams!