Stay ConnectedWelcome to Second Act Stories, a podcast focused on life and career change. In each episode, we bring you the story of a courageous individual who has made a decisive career pivot and is pursuing a more rewarding life in a second act.
The stories are in their own words and the words of friends and family that helped them find a new path. Each episode examines the “before” and “after” phases of a life or career relaunch and offers lessons learned.
This week on Second Act Stories, we're featuring a series called "Rewriting the Playbook." This group of episodes features guests whose journeys share a common connection to sports, sometimes front and center, sometimes quietly shaping the path forward. In these conversations, the influence of competition, teamwork, and discipline shows up in different ways, informing career pivots and personal reinvention. Together, these stories explore how the lessons learned on the field can echo long after the final whistle, guiding second acts that are anything but predictable.
Arrelious Benn was a star football player at Dunbar Senior High School (Washington, DC) and the University of Illinois. He entered the NFL draft after his junior year in college and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His NFL career with Tampa Bay, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars spanned seven years, twice the league average. But it is also included two ACL tears, a fractured lumbar and a shattered collarbone.
After his final season with the Jaguars, he and his family put down roots and decided to open Social House Coffee in the Avondale section of Jacksonville. Replacing a former gun store, his neighborhood shop is all about great coffee and building community.
As Benn shares in the podcast, "Football consumed my life for so many years. But I know I only have one body. And I want to see my kids grow up and there are other things I want to do. It's a breath of fresh air to do something new and be creative."
Benn is now working in what he calls "my first real job." He spends his days taking customers' orders, serving coffee/pastries and managing a staff of six. And he couldn't be happier.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week on Second Act Stories, we're featuring a series called "Rewriting the Playbook." This group of episodes features guests whose journeys share a common connection to sports, sometimes front and center, sometimes quietly shaping the path forward. In these conversations, the influence of competition, teamwork, and discipline shows up in different ways, informing career pivots and personal reinvention. Together, these stories explore how the lessons learned on the field can echo long after the final whistle, guiding second acts that are anything but predictable.
Mike Huber had a 20-year career as a top consultant with Ernst & Young, Cushman Wakefield and KPMG. His focus was in the area of site selection consulting – helping major companies like Samsung, Time Warner and Bausch & Lomb find new business locations. He worked hard and made a very good living. But over time he became frustrated with the corporate rat race and began to ask, "is this the right career for me?"
He went back to school, got a masters in Sports Psychology and became a mental performance coach. Today he works with middle-school and high school athletes helping them improve their mental fitness and game performance.
Mike took a major cut in compensation to launch Follow The Ball, his new consulting practice. But he is so much happier in his new line of work.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week on Second Act Stories, we're featuring a series called "Rewriting the Playbook." This group of episodes features guests whose journeys share a common connection to sports, sometimes front and center, sometimes quietly shaping the path forward. In these conversations, the influence of competition, teamwork, and discipline shows up in different ways, informing career pivots and personal reinvention. Together, these stories explore how the lessons learned on the field can echo long after the final whistle, guiding second acts that are anything but predictable.
Fran Tarkenton is unquestionably one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game of football. A true legend who rightfully earned his place in the NFL Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame (for his championship career with the University of Georgia Bulldogs), and on the list of the 50 Greatest Minnesota Vikings AND the 50 Greatest New York Giants. In his rookie season in 1961, Fran joined an expansion team called the Minnesota Vikings, and in the first-ever Vikings game he threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth, upsetting the great Chicago Bears. At the time of his retirement from the NFL in 1978, Fran owned every significant passing record: 3,686 pass completions, 47,003 passing yards, and 342 touchdowns. Legend.
After retirement, Fran became a commentator alongside the one and only Howard Cosell in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth, he landed a job hosting That's Incredible, one of the biggest sensation TV shows of the 1980s, and he became an early entrant into the software business, a visionary move that launched what would become the longest-lasting and most lucrative part of his illustrious and multifaceted career.
At 84.6 years old as of the date of this interview, Fran is as sharp – and as busy – as he's ever been. His company, Tarkenton, is as highly regarded as it is successful in helping other businesses grow and prosper. All the incredible lessons he learned growing up, on the gridiron, in entertainment, and in his many business ventures coalesce into his leadership of Tarkenton to this day.
But Fran claims no responsibility for the success he's achieved. He attributes it all to the coaching he's received; in the NFL, from greats like Sid Luckman, Norm Van Brocklin and Bud Grant; and in business, from former IBM CEO John Akers to Walmart founder Sam Walton.
In this episode, Fran shares colorful stories about his journey from the streets of Washington, DC; to Athens, Georgia, home of UGA; to the NFL; to entertainment; and ultimately to a wildly successful business career.
You can learn more about Fran by Googling his name, and you can learn more about Tarkenton Companies by visiting www.tarkenton.com.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week on Second Act Stories, we're featuring a series called "Rewriting the Playbook." This group of episodes features guests whose journeys share a common connection to sports, sometimes front and center, sometimes quietly shaping the path forward. In these conversations, the influence of competition, teamwork, and discipline shows up in different ways, informing career pivots and personal reinvention. Together, these stories explore how the lessons learned on the field can echo long after the final whistle, guiding second acts that are anything but predictable.
Michael Strahan is an NFL legend. He spent his entire 15-year Hall of Fame career as a defensive end for the New York Giants. A five-time All-Pro, Strahan appeared in seven Pro Bowls, he accumulated 141.5 career sacks, he held two NFL sack titles, and he was a key member of the NY Giants team that won Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots in 2008.
Following his NFL retirement, Michael Strahan joined Fox NFL Sunday as an analyst. This first foray into the broadcast booth was the catalyst for what has made him a broadcasting legend. Strahan went on to host Live! with Kelly and Michael after Regis Philbin retired, and today he's one of the hosts of ABC News Good Morning America. The two-time Emmy Award winner also hosts the highly successful reboot of the popular game show, The $100,000 Pyramid. In 2023, Strahan was honored with a star on the venerable Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In this episode, Michael Strahan shares details about his careers, he discusses his transition from the gridiron to the TV studio, and he reveals the mindset and philosophies that have helped him reach the top in such a profound way.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break, but as a shift in rhythm, perspective, and purpose. Whether you're a longtime listener or just discovering the show, these episodes reflect the heart of the podcast: bold pivots, unexpected harmony, and second acts that still have plenty to say.
Rick Beato is one of the most successful YouTube stars in the world. His channel, Everything Music, has 3.5 million subscribers and is approaching 600 million views. Among the different types of videos Rick posts are his Top 20 Countdowns, What Makes This Song Great?, and his Rants on all things music. Rick also has an incredible series of long-form, sit-down interviews with some of the most acclaimed music artists in the world, including Peter Frampton, Sting, Derek Trucks, Brian May, and a group interview with grunge legends Krist Novoselic, Kim Thayil and Jack Endino.
But Rick didn't find success on YouTube until he was in his mid-50s, following the viral success of a video he posted of his 8-year-old son Dylan demonstrating his perfect pitch. In fact, he didn't even launch his channel until he was 54.
Prior to his YouTube success, Rick taught music at the college level, he held private lessons (by his estimation, he taught more than 12,000 lessons), he was a music producer and engineer, and he even co-wrote the song "Carolina" by the band Parmalee, which hit #1 on the Billboard Country chart. Rick is also one of the only people in the world who isn't a rock star to have his own Gibson Artist Series Signature Les Paul Special guitars.
In this episode, Rick shares his journey from childhood, when he first played the cello, to the classrooms of upstate New York, to his experience working in the music industry, to the incredible success he enjoys today as one of the world's most well-respected experts on "Everything Music."
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break, but as a shift in rhythm, perspective, and purpose. Whether you're a longtime listener or just discovering the show, these episodes reflect the heart of the podcast: bold pivots, unexpected harmony, and second acts that still have plenty to say.
Tom Forst was 57 years old. He was a regional vice president with Cox Media, a huge communications company. He was jetting around the country on private planes. He had an army of people reporting to him. He was making a hefty salary.
That was 10 years ago. He decided to quit his corporate gig to pursue a life-long passion – music. He put out his first blues-rock album as Tom "The Suit" Forst. He did a month-long tour of China as the headlining act. And now he's back in the studio now working on his next album. You can check out his music at www.TomTheSuitForst.com.
He also launched the "Chasing The Blues" podcast which is well worth a listen. As the Jethro Tull song concludes, "You're never too old to rock n' roll."
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break, but as a shift in rhythm, perspective, and purpose. Whether you're a longtime listener or just discovering the show, these episodes reflect the heart of the podcast: bold pivots, unexpected harmony, and second acts that still have plenty to say.
Dan Spitz is a true pioneer in every sense of the word. As the lead guitarist of legendary band Anthrax, Dan was one of the innovators who birthed the entire genre of thrash metal music. Anthrax is one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands, a group that also includes Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. He sold millions of albums, played on the world's biggest stages, and saw his music influence legions of acts that would follow.
In 1995, as Anthrax continued to reach new heights, something changed. Dan realized his heart was no longer in it, so he quit the band without a plan for what was next.
Dan had been exposed to watchmaking at a young age through his grandfather, who owned a jewelry store where he repaired watches in New York's Catskill Mountains. That childhood experience came rushing back when he stumbled across an ad for the Bulova watchmaking school. The pieces fit together as perfectly as the mechanics of a complicated watch, and Dan enrolled, graduating a four-year program in 18 months. Then he became the first American to be accepted into a Swiss watchmaking school, and his incredible second act was official.
Today, Dan is one of the world's most sought-after master watchmakers. He's the watchmaker who watchmakers go to when they can't solve a problem.
In this episode, you'll hear some of the details about the birth of thrash metal, the conflict that led to Dan's departure from Anthrax, and the journey that led a thrash metal legend become a legend in the world of fine watches.
You can learn more about Dan Spitz by visiting his website at www.delraybeachvintagewatches.com, and www.danspitz.com.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break, but as a shift in rhythm, perspective, and purpose. Whether you're a longtime listener or just discovering the show, these episodes reflect the heart of the podcast: bold pivots, unexpected harmony, and second acts that still have plenty to say.
Tracy Bonham built a reputation as a "badass rocker" with the debut of "Mother, Mother," a powerful anthem that made it to #1 on Billboard's "Alternative Rock" charts. The song and her "The Burdens of Being Upright" album were nominated for two Grammy awards and led to arena tours with Aerosmith and the Blue Man Group.
But in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live music across the world, Tracy launched Melodeon. The new enterprise is aimed at teaching a younger audience she lovingly calls "young music enthusiasts." Inspired by Sesame Street, Electric Company and School House Rock, she created an innovative, music education curriculum for pre-school children. In April 2021, Tracy released her first children's album, Young Maestros along with a series of music videos.
Click here to learn more about Tracy, Melodeon and songs like "Feeling Pretty Major," "I Like Big Beats" and "Let's Take the Subway."
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break, but as a shift in rhythm, perspective, and purpose. Whether you're a longtime listener or just discovering the show, these episodes reflect the heart of the podcast: bold pivots, unexpected harmony, and second acts that still have plenty to say.
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is a rock and roll legend. He was the founding lead guitarist in Steely Dan, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers. As a hired gun, he's played with a who's who of music royalty, including Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon… the list goes on and on.
From the time he was a child, the mechanically inclined Baxter loved taking things apart to see how they worked and putting them back together. He became an expert guitar repair technician and built custom guitars. He traded a custom white Fender Stratocaster he built in the 1960s to Jimi James, who would later re-emerge as the legendary Jimi Hendrix.
In the 1980s, Skunk parlayed his more-than-casual interest in all things technical into a career as a missile defense consultant. After writing a paper that was quickly classified, he received the necessary clearances and now regularly consults with the U.S. government, the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs on topics including counterterrorism and wargaming.
Skunk just released a new solo album, his first, called Speed of Heat.
Please enjoy our exciting deep dive into the second act of one of rock's greatest guitarists.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of the podcast: bold choices, hard-earned wisdom, and journeys that continue to surprise and inspire.
Fraidy Reiss' story is among the most inspiring tales we've ever profiled on the Second Act Stories podcast.
Part of the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, Fraidy was married at the age of 19. It was an arranged marriage to a man she barely knew. He demonstrated a violent streak within a week of the wedding punching his fist through a wall and threatened to kill her. Over the next twelve years, she feared for her own life on a daily basis. But she eventually she found a way to get a college education, achieve financial independence, divorce her husband and escape with the custody of her two daughters.
Today, she is the Founder and Executive Director of Unchained At Last, the only organization in the United States dedicated to ending forced and child marriage through direct services and advocacy.
Want to learn more about Fraidy Reiss and Unchained At Last? Check out her TED Talk on YouTube and visit the Unchained At Last website. Fraidy is also featured in Bruce Feiler's book "Life Is In The Transitions" (which is how we first heard of her) and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's "The Book of Gutsy Women."
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of the podcast: bold choices, hard-earned wisdom, and journeys that continue to surprise and inspire.
Leah Gorham spent 16 years working as a nurse, helping patients while she also helped an industry known for a shortage of talent. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced and spread, causing workloads and stress levels to skyrocket for first responders, Leah took it in stride.
Although healthcare workers were widely recognized for being profoundly affected by the pandemic, it wasn't until she was attacked by a patient in what she calls the worst assault of her career (sadly, this is an ongoing issue in nursing) that she finally chose to scrub out and do something different. But instead of shifting to a career that would be easy, she moved to another industry that was profoundly affected by the pandemic: trucking.
Today, Leah Gorham is a long-haul trucker, doing her part to alleviate challenges in the supply chain. But that's not the reason she went into it. She and her boyfriend are partners, taking to the open road together, and living life on their terms. She's never been happier.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of the podcast: bold choices, hard-earned wisdom, and journeys that continue to surprise and inspire.
Since his junior year in high school, Chris Donovan has been sketching women's shoes. It's been his quiet obsession for the past 30+ years.
At the age of 50, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And he knew it was time to leave his safe job at the phone company to pursue his lifelong dream. "I need to follow this. I need to find out why I have this passion for shoes."
Based on the recommendation of European shoe designer Aki Choklat, he was accepted to Polimoda, one of the best fashion design institutes in the world. He enrolled in an accelerated masters program and packed his bags for Florence, Italy. And while his first few months were difficult, he ended up graduating at the top of his class.
Since our initial interview with Chris in October 2018, he has figured out how to turn his amazing designs into an actual product. Take it from Tim Gunn of Project Runway: "It's like nothing you've ever seen before."
For more examples of Chris' amazing designs, visit www.ChrisDonovanFootwear.com.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of the podcast: bold choices, hard-earned wisdom, and journeys that continue to surprise and inspire.
Amy Siewe is the quintessential embodiment of how passion drives a second act.
She left a safe and lucrative career as a real estate broker to hunt pythons in the Everglades.
She proudly shares that she's 5' 4", 120 lbs., and captures pythons as big as 180 lbs. by physically jumping on them and wrestling them into submission.
This is what pure passion looks like.
In this fascinating episode, Amy shares what motivated her to leave a relatively safe career selling real estate to become The Python Huntress.
In this wild ride, she shares how she became so interested in snakes, unbelievable accounts of actual hunts, how she built a business out of hunting pythons, why her role is necessary, and which of her two careers is more stressful.
Follow Amy Siewe, The Python Huntress, on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of the podcast: bold choices, hard-earned wisdom, and journeys that continue to surprise and inspire.
Dr. Peter Rork was a highly successful orthopedic surgeon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But at the age of 59, he unexpectedly lost his wife Meg and grief took hold of him. He quit his work. He stopped eating. And he and his dog Doyle retreated to a remote vacation home in Montana for three months.
At the urging of a concerned friend, Peter refocused his life on animal rescue. He is the founder, president and chief pilot of "Dog Is My CoPilot," a not-for-profit group that transports animals from overcrowded kill shelters to adoption centers where families are waiting to welcome a new pet. His story has been told on CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Nightly News and The Washington Post.
Dog Is My CoPilot has saved over 25,000 animals. Click here to support their important work.
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If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
Simmy Kustanowitz spent the bulk of his career working in television production. From the moment he took a job as an intern for "The Daily Show," he fell in love with the industry. After college, he climbed the ranks. His first job as an NBC page gave way to a gig as a production assistant for MTV, where he worked on a variety of shows. That's where he was given his first opportunity to produce TV shows.
With all that experience under his belt, Simmy eventually landed a role as an executive at the newly formed TruTV Network. That's where things really came together. Not long after he joined TruTV, Simmy became the network executive (or, the network suit) in charge of the rising comedy juggernaut "Impractical Jokers."
He oversaw that production for several years before leaving the network and jumping to the other side of the equation, working directly for the Jokers' production company. It didn't take long for Simmy to become the popular show's showrunner, the person who had overall creative authority and management responsibility for the show.
In spite of all that success, Simmy felt the need to find a lifeboat. As much fun as TV production was, there were signs that it might not be his long-term career path. He started searching for a career path that would make sense. As he shares in this inspiring episode, the result soon became Clock Tower Innovation, Simmy's creative consultancy for companies that don't have time for bloated processes or mediocre execution.
In this episode, Simmy shares details of his path that culminated in his running one of the most successful comedy shows ever to air on TV, how he made the difficult decision to leave TV behind, and what inspired him to draw on all his production experience to launch one of the most unique creative consultancies in the world.
To learn more about Simmy, you can find him on Substack (https://substack.com/@simmykustanowitz), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5cTuZAeTy_xkQ18iPrGgSg) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/clocktowerinnovation/)
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
If you like coffee, you're going to love Mike Ayar's second act.
Mike ran a highly successful software company for 24 years. With a niche focus, his organization served pest control companies, an industry Mike describes as "the absolute best service business in the world in terms of recurring revenue."
In 2002 a private equity company began pursuing the purchase of his company and in 2006 they made him a financial offer "he couldn't refuse." After the purchase, he continued to run the company but finally departed in 2009. Mike had "no idea" what he wanted to do next.
A few years earlier, Mike had developed an intense interest in speciality coffee and in particular coffee roasting. Surprisingly, he had never tasted coffee until he turned 45. Waiting for a flight, he entered an airport Starbucks and ordered a double espresso. He was hooked.
Mike took a range of courses and seminars from coffee experts around the country. In 2011, he launched Turnstile Coffee Roasters in Belmar, NJ. The company has grown into a thriving cafe which also offers online coffee sales and wholesale services to other coffee shops and area restaurants. It's a family affair with his nephew and two daughters actively engaged in the company.
Click here to learn more about Turnstile Coffee Roasters and their seventeen different blends of coffee from Costa Rica, Brazil, Guatamala, Ethiopia, Columbia, Nicarauga, Peru and Indonesia.
Kristin Connor was living a typical life as a business litigation attorney, a job she held for about a decade and absolutely loved.
Then, while she was pregnant with her second child, everything changed.
Her unborn son was diagnosed with an unusual form of neuroblastoma, a cancer that's rare in children to begin with, and almost unheard of in unborn babies.
After he was born, Kristin and her family spent two years going through test after test, tracking the tumor and evaluating options – all before any invasive surgery ever occurred. After trekking 3,000 miles, clear across the country, to meet with a doctor who seemed to offer the least worst alternative, the hand of god stepped in a performed what can only be described as an honest-to-goodness miracle. More on that in the interview.
This experience led Kristin to leave her law career behind and dedicate her life to helping other families whose children are battling cancer.
Today, Kristin is the CEO of CURE Childhood Cancer, a national nonprofit organization that raises millions of dollars each year to fund childhood cancer research and help families.
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and your donations are encouraged today and every day. You can donate directly at THIS LINK.
In this inspiring episode, Kristin shares more about what she loved as an attorney; the way she got involved in childhood cancer research; how she became totally disillusioned with the other cancer nonprofit organizations out there; what Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Glavine and then-Commissioner Bud Selig had to do with it; why she does what she does today; and of course, the miracle she experienced.
Again, please donate to Kristin's organization, CURE Childhood Cancer, at THIS LINK. No amount is too small, and every penny brings them one penny closer to saving a life.
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Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
Andrew Pudalov spent 15 years working his way up the ladder in the competitive ranks of NYC's financial industry. But the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center changed everything. "I was traumatized. My wife too. We have little kids. I lost good friends. One jumped. I could not believe the towers came down."
Andrew, his spouse and their young family were ready for a change. So they headed west to Boulder, Colorado with very little idea what was ahead. With zero experience in the retail food industry, Andrew started Rush Bowls a company that specializes in all-natural acai bowls and smoothies.
Over the past 20+ years, the company has grown to over 50 locations across the United States with another 20 stores in development.
What would happen if you were suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver for someone you love? Would you have any idea what to do or how to do it?
It's estimated that as many as 50 million people in the United States are caregivers, a job that virtually none of them trained for.
We all know someone who became a caregiver and had to learn on the fly. Unfortunately, there are precious few resources that can help. Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster experienced it first-hand. These inspiring women worked together in the software industry before finding themselves facing a similar life challenge: becoming caregivers for their husbands, both of whom were battling dementia.
There was plenty of information about their husbands' diagnoses. Doctors were happy to provide them with hordes of information about what to expect as the disease progressed, but nobody was there with practical information about how to be a caregiver for someone with dementia.
Their lived caregiving experience gave Sue and Nancy all the training they needed to make sure nobody else would have to figure it out on their own. That's when they founded the sensationally popular podcast, The Caregiver's Journey. Each episode features truly practical advice about how to manage as a caregiver. Topics range from self-care to advice for clipping your loved one's fingernails. They truly cover it all.
The Caregiver's Journey has since grown to a powerhouse brand that fills a hugely meaningful gap for anyone who finds themselves having to be a caregiver. The organization was recently granted nonprofit status.
In this episode, Sue and Nancy discuss their former careers, their friendship, and their own personal journeys. It's at times compelling, heart wrenching and funny, but it's entirely inspirational and helpful.
To learn more about The Caregiver's Journey, visit them at thecaregiversjourney.org. And look up "The Caregiver's Journey" on any podcast app.
*******
If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
Check out the Second Act Stories YouTube channel.
Follow Second Act Stories on social media: Facebook
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
What would happen if you were suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver for someone you love? Would you have any idea what to do or how to do it?
It's estimated that as many as 50 million people in the United States are caregivers, a job that virtually none of them trained for.
We all know someone who became a caregiver and had to learn on the fly. Unfortunately, there are precious few resources that can help. Sue Ryan and Nancy Treaster experienced it first-hand. These inspiring women worked together in the software industry before finding themselves facing a similar life challenge: becoming caregivers for their husbands, both of whom were battling dementia.
There was plenty of information about their husbands' diagnoses. Doctors were happy to provide them with hordes of information about what to expect as the disease progressed, but nobody was there with practical information about how to be a caregiver for someone with dementia.
Their lived caregiving experience gave Sue and Nancy all the training they needed to make sure nobody else would have to figure it out on their own. That's when they founded the sensationally popular podcast, The Caregiver's Journey. Each episode features truly practical advice about how to manage as a caregiver. Topics range from self-care to advice for clipping your loved one's fingernails. They truly cover it all.
The Caregiver's Journey has since grown to a powerhouse brand that fills a hugely meaningful gap for anyone who finds themselves having to be a caregiver. The organization was recently granted nonprofit status.
In this episode, Sue and Nancy discuss their former careers, their friendship, and their own personal journeys. It's at times compelling, heart wrenching and funny, but it's entirely inspirational and helpful.
To learn more about The Caregiver's Journey, visit them at thecaregiversjourney.org. And look up "The Caregiver's Journey" on any podcast app.
*******
If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
Subscribe to the Second Act stories Substack.
Check out the Second Act Stories YouTube channel.
Follow Second Act Stories on social media: Facebook
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes.
Jonathan Schwartz was at the top of his game serving as a business manager to top stars including Beyonce, Alanis Morisette, Gwenyth Paltrow, Mariah Carey, Linkin Park and others. But this Hollywood insider had a dark secret; he was a compulsive gambler and cocaine addict. And over the course of six years, he embezzled over $7 million from his clients to fund these addictions. Jonathan's criminal behavior earned him a six-year sentence in prison.
When Jonathan returned to society in 2020, he found it almost impossible to get a job. But he went back to school and got a degree in alchol & drug counseling followed by an advanced degree as a therapist. Today, he makes a living as the Director of Programing at Altus Rehab, a top-tier, luxury treament facility in Encino, California.
According to Jonathan, "I make very little money, but it's the happiest I've ever been. Money never brought me happiness. And today, helping people like me with the same in the commonality and the way our brains are wired, it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life."
Peggy Rowe has accomplished a lot in her 87 years.
She started her career as a schoolteacher in Baltimore, where she and her husband John – also a teacher – raised three sons. It was a pretty normal life by all accounts. But life got extraordinary somewhere along the way.
One common thread in the Rowe household was humor, and Peggy had a finely tuned ability to recognize funny and write about it. See, writing has always been her creative outlet. She wrote all the time. She wrote fun poems for her students, which she would later hear them recite on the playground; she wrote short stories that were published in newspapers and magazines; she wrote stories about things that happened in everyday life; and she wrote about her family.
Her son Mike (yes, THAT Mike Rowe) loved her stories, but every time she called to share one, he'd tell her, "Mom, don't TELL me about it; sit down and WRITE about it." This happened a lot.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Peggy had a wonderful career as an educator, but it wasn't until long after that came to an end that her real career took off. When she was 80, Peggy's first book of humor was published. "About My Mother: True Stories of a Horse-Crazy Daughter and Her Baseball-Obsessed Mother: A Memoir" became a New York Times bestseller.
Then came more bestsellers.
"About Your Father and Other Celebrities I Have Known: Ruminations and Revelations from a Desperate Mother to Her Dirty Son" was Peggy's next bestselling book, when she was 82.
"Vacuuming in the Nude: And Other Ways to Get Attention," book number three and bestseller number three, was published when Peggy was 84. Judging by the title, it seems Dirty Jobs run in the family.
Her fourth book, "Oh No, Not "The Home": Observations and Confessions of a Grandmother in Transition," came two years later.
At age 87, Peggy is working on her fifth book and she shows no signs of slowing down. Thankfully.
In this inspiring episode, Peggy shares her incredible journey from the classroom to the bestseller list, complete with a few fun stories woven in.
******* If you enjoy Second Act Stories, please leave us a review here. We may read your review on a future episode!
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With an undergraduate degree from New York University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Jon Malankar joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2018. He climbed the corporate ladder at this top managment consulting firm and became a partner in his mid-30s.
But the bureaucratic burden of working for a large consulting firm with Fortune 100 clients and a strong desire to be more plugged in to his local community ("I felt like a nomad in my hometown"), Jon yearned to be his own boss. After a year of exploration, he opted to become a Mr. Handyman franchise owner in Long Branch, New Jersey. Despite no experience in home repair work, Jon is successfully managing four teams of repair professionals.
According to Jon, "Owning a very local, present, visible, tangible small business really filled up the scorecard for me."
Since her mother taught her to sew at the age of eight, Vanessa Gavin always wanted to be a fashion designer. Throughout high school, she made her own clothes experimenting with different colors, fabrics and patterns. But in college she opted to study biology, went on to get her masters in public health and finally got a degree in medicine.
Now Dr. Vanessa Gavin-Headen, she spent the next 25 years in a rewarding career as a family physician in Long Beach, California.
It was during the Covid-19 pandemic when health professionals started wearing medical scrubs again that Dr. Vanessa returned to her fashion dream by creating a tailored product for "curvy women" in healthcare. Her new company, Valmasi, offers medical scrubs for females with a comfortable fit across the breasts, waist, hips and thighs.
Click here to learn more about Dr. Vanessa and Valmasi.
C. Scott Votaw is the Assistant Vice Chancellor of the University System of Georgia, where he is responsible for overseeing the Georgia Film Academy.
After growing up in Georgia and graduating from college, Scott packed his car and headed west without a plan. With no relevant experience in film and production, he eventually networked his way onto a crew as a runner. Just by being present and paying attention, he found a way to save the production money and was rewarded with an almost immediate promotion to second assistant director.
That auspicious start launched him into what would become an incredibly successful 25-year career in the film and production industry. His big break, a job working for Saban Entertainment on its new and wildly popular Power Rangers television show, set him on a course to work with Hollywood legends including George Lucas and Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt.
Then came his moment of reckoning. After building a career that was largely unplanned, Scott returned home to Georgia to care for a relative and try something new. He eventually networked his way into opportunities in education, but the timing was serendipitous as Georgia was in the process of building the infrastructure to support the growing film industry in the state. Thanks to Scott's experience in both education and production, and his availability and willingness to take on something new, he found himself in a position to help launch and run the Georgia Film Academy.
In this episode, Scott shares his unplanned journey through the film industry, his tough decision to leave it behind and move back home to Georgia, and the incredible timing that set him on a course to transition from an industry insider to an educator at the highest level.
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Brent Rivard had a long, successful career in advertising, working for major ad agencies in New York and Toronto. But as he entered his 50s, Brent faced an industry that is focused on youth in both it's work and it's staffing. The average age of an individual working in advertising is just 29 years old.
Teamed with two advertising executives also in their early 50s, he is in the process of building a groundbreaking agency called "Geezer." The new company is different from traditional agencies in two major ways:
According to Brent, "Ageism is a big problem in the advertising agency world and we need to do something about it."
Click here to learn more about Geezer and their unique approach to advertising.
Justin Farmer is one of the most recognizable people in Atlanta. He spent 17 years as the evening news anchor on WSB-TV, Atlanta's top-rated news station, and one of the biggest local market news stations in the country. News was a Farmer family business; Justin's father, Don Farmer, was an ABC news correspondent, a founding CNN anchor, and later the evening news anchor on WSB in Atlanta, a job he held until 1997. Ten years later, Justin landed the same job, at the same station.
But let's rewind: this all meant that Justin grew up with an inside track to history. While he graduated from Boston College with a degree in political science, his family legacy and several internships at WSB naturally led him to broadcasting. His first TV job was as a sportscaster in Albany, Georgia. But a life in TV news is nomadic, and Justin moved from market to market before eventually landing back home in Atlanta and working for WSB. In 2007, he finally landed at the anchor desk.
Everything was going well until the early 2020s, when in the span of 14 months, Justin lost both his biological parents and his beloved WSB co-anchor, Jovita Moore. This series of traumatic losses caused him to rethink what he wanted from life. He challenged himself to do something different, and his passion for investing and wealth management emerged as his new career goal.
It wasn't an easy path. Studying for the Series 65 - Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam, is a full-time job itself, but Justin climbed that mountain around his very high-profile full-time job. He passed the first time he took it. Then, on November 26, 2024, he signed off from WSB-TV with three hilarious words and launched Exit Wealth, a private investment firm that works with ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
Our interview with Justin happened just weeks after he embarked on his second act. In this episode, Justin shares his history in TV news, some of the fun stories that are always part of live TV, his painful turning point, the thought process behind leaving what appears to be a "cushy" job, and the mountains he had to scale to make his second act a reality.
Learn more about Justin by Googling his name and learn more about Exit Wealth by visiting their website.
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Kathleen Biggins is a prime example of an ordinary person doing extraordinary things.
The genesis of Kathleen's second act began in 2006 when she was asked to attend the Garden Club of America's National Legislative Conference in Washington on behalf of her local garden club. That's where her education about climate change began and ultimately led to the formation of C-Change Conversations. The organization is dedicated to helping people across the political spectrum understand the science behind climate change.
Kathleen and her colleagues have made presentations to 21,000+ individuals across 33 states. To learn more about C-Change Conversations, you can visit their website at www.c-changeconversations.org.
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Second Act Stories Annual "Best of" Episode give us an opportunity to re-share a remarkable story from the past year and welcome new listeners by offering a taste of what we do: profile courageous individuals pursuing a more rewarding life in a second act.
In the "Best of 2024" episode Scott interviews Amy Siewe, an amazing woman who left lucrative career as a real estate broker to hunt pythons in the Florida Everglades. Amy proudly shares that she's 5' 4", 120 lbs., and captures pythons as big as 180 lbs. by physically jumping on them and wrestling them into submission.
We hope you enjoy Amy's incredible profile and tune in for more Second Act Stories in 2025!!!
Alonzo Bodden is one of the hardest-working and funniest working standup comics on the touring circuit today. He won Season 3 of NBC's Last Comic Standing; he has four standup specials so far; he's a regular panelist on NPR's Wait, Wait… Don't Tell Me!; he's played a bouncer or a security guard in countless movies and TV shows; and he even voiced monsters on the Power Rangers. He's been around.
But before he had anything to do with show business, Alonzo was an aircraft mechanic who got a job working for Lockheed Martin on the F-117 Nighthawk stealth bomber – one of the most advanced top secret aircraft in the world – when he graduated from Aviation High School in New York. At 18, he moved to Los Angeles, started making a lot of money, found himself in the throes of addiction, and wound up in jail.
The sound of the cell door slamming shut was his turning point.
In this episode, Alonzo shares details about his New York upbringing, his battle with addiction, his path to sobriety (36 years ago!), and how it all led him to find his calling: comedy.
He also shares the one hilarious joke he told at the 1997 Montreal Just for Laughs festival that immediately transformed him from a guy who did standup comedy to fully realized comic. You won't want to miss it.
Wherever you live, Alonzo will be in a town near you sooner or later and seeing him live should be high on your priority list. Find him at www.alonzobodden.com.
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Fran Tarkenton is unquestionably one of the greatest quarterbacks ever to play the game of football. A true legend who rightfully earned his place in the NFL Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame (for his championship career with the University of Georgia Bulldogs), and on the list of the 50 Greatest Minnesota Vikings AND the 50 Greatest New York Giants. In his rookie season in 1961, Fran joined an expansion team called the Minnesota Vikings, and in the first-ever Vikings game he threw four touchdown passes and ran for a fifth, upsetting the great Chicago Bears. At the time of his retirement from the NFL in 1978, Fran owned every significant passing record: 3,686 pass completions, 47,003 passing yards, and 342 touchdowns. Legend.
After retirement, Fran became a commentator alongside the one and only Howard Cosell in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth, he landed a job hosting That's Incredible, one of the biggest sensation TV shows of the 1980s, and he became an early entrant into the software business, a visionary move that launched what would become the longest-lasting and most lucrative part of his illustrious and multifaceted career.
At 84.6 years old as of the date of this interview, Fran is as sharp – and as busy – as he's ever been. His company, Tarkenton, is as highly regarded as it is successful in helping other businesses grow and prosper. All the incredible lessons he learned growing up, on the gridiron, in entertainment, and in his many business ventures coalesce into his leadership of Tarkenton to this day.
But Fran claims no responsibility for the success he's achieved. He attributes it all to the coaching he's received; in the NFL, from greats like Sid Luckman, Norm Van Brocklin and Bud Grant; and in business, from former IBM CEO John Akers to Walmart founder Sam Walton.
In this episode, Fran shares colorful stories about his journey from the streets of Washington, DC; to Athens, Georgia, home of UGA; to the NFL; to entertainment; and ultimately to a wildly successful business career.
You can learn more about Fran by Googling his name, and you can learn more about Tarkenton Companies by visiting www.tarkenton.com.
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Bruce and Mira Brach opened Toy Utopia, an independent toy store, on May 27, 2022. Based in Red Bank, NJ, their aim was to create a "magical place that sparks interest, curiosity, imagination and creativity in children and adults."
The business is a leap for both of them. Bruce had managed a landscaping business for over 25 years. Mira was – and still is – a registered nurse.
A lifelong collector of vintage toys, Bruce was ready to exit his company. Mira asked him, "What do your really want to do next?" Bruce's response…open a toy store. And that's what they did together.
Click here to learn more about Toy Utopia. And if you find yourself in Red Bank, NJ, we hope you'll give Bruce and Mira a visit.
Dan Spitz is a true pioneer in every sense of the word. As the lead guitarist of legendary band Anthrax, Dan was one of the innovators who birthed the entire genre of thrash metal music. Anthrax is one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands, a group that also includes Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. He sold millions of albums, played on the world's biggest stages, and saw his music influence legions of acts that would follow.
In 1995, as Anthrax continued to reach new heights, something changed. Dan realized his heart was no longer in it, so he quit the band without a plan for what was next.
Dan had been exposed to watchmaking at a young age through his grandfather, who owned a jewelry store where he repaired watches in New York's Catskill Mountains. That childhood experience came rushing back when he stumbled across an ad for the Bulova watchmaking school. The pieces fit together as perfectly as the mechanics of a complicated watch, and Dan enrolled, graduating a four-year program in 18 months. Then he became the first American to be accepted into a Swiss watchmaking school, and his incredible second act was official.
Today, Dan is one of the world's most sought-after master watchmakers. He's the watchmaker who watchmakers go to when they can't solve a problem.
In this episode, you'll hear some of the details about the birth of thrash metal, the conflict that led to Dan's departure from Anthrax, and the journey that led a thrash metal legend become a legend in the world of fine watches.
You can learn more about Dan Spitz by visiting his website at www.delraybeachvintagewatches.com, and www.danspitz.com.
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For most of his adult life, Henry Rock working in advertising sales representing a wide range of black media . His work brought him in direct contact with a number of inspiring, African-American entrepreneurs and that gave him an idea: what if we could inspire young black males in inner cities to explore entreprenurial opportunites?
After relocating to North Carolina, Henry began pursuing this idea with the help of National Urban League and it's local chapter in Charlotte. His TEDx Talk, Creating A New Class of Entrepreneurs, put the wind in his sails to launch City Startup Labs. Over the past decade, the organization has trained over 220 young men and women to get into the startup game. Recently, City Startup Labs has focused on helping formerly incarcerated individuals pursue their business dreams.
Now 72 years old, Henry reports he's the happiest he's ever been. "And I owe it to not taking my hands off the steering wheel but not gripping the steering wheel and trying to steer my life but rather allowing my life to unfold...And it has unfolded in a very beautiful way."
Mark Greaney is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His debut thriller, The Gray Man, was published in 2009 and became a national bestseller and Netflix film starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans. He wrote twelve subsequent Gray Man novels that have been released to date. He is also the co-author of seven Tom Clancy novels. His latest book, Sentinel, was released on June 25th, 2024. It is his 25th published work.
Before emerging as a top thriller author, Mark spent 20+ years working as a bartender, waiter and midlevel office worker in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. But in his late thirties and after the death of his father, he finally got serious about writing. "I had this amazing epiphany. I was stressed about where I was in life. I didn't have a good position. And I had a lot of social anxiety. I drove a beat-up car. But it came to me one day that I loved to write and I was doing what I loved. And I realized I was successful even if I never got published...And within two years, I was published. And within four years, I was writing with Tom Clancy. And within twelve years, I had a movie out."
Sam McKinlay experienced something a lot of people can relate to in work and in life: she spent almost 25 years married… in her case, to a career that was exciting, fulfilling and rewarding. But over time she and the career she once loved grew apart from one another. They fell out of love and split up.
Sam faced plenty of adversity over the years: a series of poorly timed recessions in her native England; an initial move to America that landed her in Florida (which wasn't a match for her); and later the clean break from a well-established career and a leap into the unknown.
After dipping her toe in the real estate waters, Sam found her calling. She was able to apply a surprising amount of her PR and marketing experience to launch a new career as a concierge real estate agent. And it worked! In her first year she earned a prestigious "Rookie of the Year" award from her broker.
In this engaging episode, Sam walks through the challenges she faced trying to find a meaningful career path early on; her journey through working for other people, then working for herself, then selling her firm and working for other people again; and the eventual abrupt end of her time working in PR.
You can learn more about Sam McKinlay by visiting her website at www.sammckinlay.com.
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Dann McDorman always dreamed of writing and publishing a novel. After graduating from Columbia University, he spent a decade pursuing that dream with little impact. "Not only was I never published, I never heard back from a single publisher. I had zero success."
As he hit his 30s, he found his way to a career in broadcast journalism initially working for Fox News but then climbing the ladder as a producer at MSNBC. Starting a family, his dream of being an author was put on the backburner. Today, Dann is the Executive Producer of "The Beat With Ari Melber" that airs weeknights from 6:00-7:00 pm.
During the Covid-19 Pandemic and without a daily commute to the MSNBC Studios, Dann had some extra time on his hands. He started thinking about writing again. With his wife's encouragement, he wrote a full length mystery novel called West Heart Kill. And at the age of 47, his book was published by Knopf Publishing.
Dann's advice to aspiring authors and second act pursuers: "Don't give up...Stick with it and don't think it's too late to be successful."
Amy Siewe is the quintessential embodiment of how passion drives a second act.
She left a safe and lucrative career as a real estate broker to hunt pythons in the Everglades.
She proudly shares that she's 5' 4", 120 lbs., and captures pythons as big as 180 lbs. by physically jumping on them and wrestling them into submission.
This is what pure passion looks like.
In this fascinating episode, Amy shares what motivated her to leave a relatively safe career selling real estate to become The Python Huntress.
In this wild ride, she shares how she became so interested in snakes, unbelievable accounts of actual hunts, how she built a business out of hunting pythons, why her role is necessary, and which of her two careers is more stressful.
Follow Amy Siewe, The Python Huntress, on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
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Second Act Stories has officially defied the odds. We've been nominated for a Webby Award!
But our category is stacked with stiff competition: Michelle Obama, Sarah Silverman, TED Audio, Lemonada, and Slate.
We need your vote! We can win this with your help.
Here's how you vote:
All it takes is entering your email address and a password, and then clicking the validate button in the email you receive from the Webby's. It'll only take a minute.
Pretty amazing stuff.
Tiffani Evans' life changed completely on August 24, 2021. That's when her 8-year-old son PJ was killed in gang-related, gun violence in the Washington, DC region.
Emerging from the dark days that followed his death, she helped form the "Strong Azz Mothers," a group of area women who lost children to gun violence. The organization focuses community attention on the problem but also serves as a strong support group. According to Evans, "It's a sorority that we never asked to be in. But we're in it so we try to support each other. Nobody understands this like we understand it."
With the help of the DC Theatre Lab, the group performed a play titled "Turning Pain Into Purpose: Say My Son's Name" to a packed auditorium. The Strong Azz Mothers were profiled in an amazing article by Washington Post Reporter Jasmine Hilton (which is how we first heard of the story).
Tiffani has most recently taken on a new role working in the Prince George's County School System as a "violence interruptor." Her message to students, "Don't let a five second emotion change your life forever. There are a lot of people serving life in prison right now for a mistake that they wish they could change."
Rachel Humphrey was a trial attorney who was certain she would spend her entire career in front of judges and juries and eventually retire in a courtroom. After relocating from Virginia to Atlanta with her husband, she took a job at a firm where she represented clients in the hospitality industry, and that sparked a passion she didn't know she had. The hospitality industry was interesting to her, and she thought that becoming involved with the associations that help the industry might be a great next step, but she had no real business experience at all.
Prompted by the unexpected departure of the nanny who took care of her children, Rachel decided to leave her job to be there for her young family. This also allowed her to do some serious soul searching and figure out what would come next.
A serendipitous conversation with Cati Stone, then the executive director of Komen Atlanta, opened Rachel's eyes in ways she never could have imagined. As fate would have it, and what Rachel didn't know, was that Cati happened to be a former trial attorney who moved into a role as an association executive. The advice Rachel got from Cati showed her that there was a viable – and possible - path to follow her passion.
Rachel networked her way into an executive role with AAHOA, the largest hotel owners association in the country, eventually ascending to the role of Interim CEO. After realizing a need for more diversity in the hospitality, she later founded the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance.
In this episode, Rachel shares her path from fighting legal battles to advocating for women, and all the trials that went along with her journey.
If you like this episode, you may also enjoy these episodes featuring former attorneys with incredible second act careers:
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Mike Drak worked as a banker in Toronto for his entire professional career. When he was laid off at the age of 59, he received a sizeable severance from his employer. Telling his spouse "Contessa, we hit the lottery," he was initially ecstatic to be retired.
But he quickly faced "Retirement Shock," a term that he coined to describe how tremendously unhappy he was in the year that followed. He missed helping people and the structure/routine of working at the bank. And he felt a loss of purpose. "Before my purpose was to go to work, get paid and then use the money to support my family. And that was taken away from me."
Mike's research suggests up to one-third of all retirees suffer from "retirement shock." He decided to educate others on the non-financial challenges of retirement by writing three books: Victory Lap Retirement, Retirement Heaven or Hell and Longevity Lifestyle by Design. The final book can also be downloaded for free from Mike's website at www.longevitylifestylebydesign.com.
Two years ago, Mike took the unusual step of entering his first Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run) at the age of 68. He plans on returning to Cozumel, Mexico for his 2nd Ironman in the year ahead.
Stuckey's is a legendary and iconic thread in the fabric of Americana. Founded in Eastman, Georgia in 1937 by WS "Sylvester" Stuckey, Sr., Stuckey's grew into a roadside empire by the 1970s, with 368 stores in more than 30 states. Part of the charm that made Stuckey's so iconic were its ubiquitous billboards, more than 4,000 of them, which were dotted along U.S. highways. Stuckey's was an inextricable part of what became known as "The Great American Road Trip."
Fast forward to 2019, Stuckey's was on life support. The brand had gone through hard times, and its former stand-alone locations, still identifiable by their teal blue roofs, were now relics of a bygone era. Some were abandoned and boarded-up; others became home to less-than-savory businesses. By this time the brand had changed hands multiple times and become an unprofitable line item on a bigger company's balance sheet. But Stuckey's was about to experience a surprising rebirth.
In 2019, former Georgia legislator Stephanie Stuckey, a practicing attorney at the time, received a fateful phone call. Stuckey's, the brand started by her grandfather all those years ago, was up for sale. With no experience in running a business, 53-year-old Stephanie defied the odds (and the advice of virtually everyone she spoke to), cashed in her entire life's savings, and traded her future to buy back and revive the business bearing her family's name.
Since then, Stephanie has become a legend in the business community. A perfect storm of scrappiness, shrewd business sense and passion, she's now a bone fide rock star with all the street cred to stage a successful turnaround. And she has the receipts to prove it. Under Stephanie's leadership, Stuckey's and its flagship pecan log rolls are back in black.
In this episode, Stephanie discusses growing up with an iconic last name, her career as a legislator and attorney, her decision to lay it all on the line to buy back her family's business, how she's rebuilt the brand, and what's next for Stuckey's.
Stephanie chronicles her life on the road at her Instagram account, @stuckeystop. Her new book, "UnStuck: Rebirth of an American Icon," is available at Amazon or wherever you buy books.
If you like this episode, please check out some of our past episodes featuring female entrepreneurs:
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Surprise, Second Act Stories fans! We have one more "Best of 2023" episode to share with you. It's the episode you picked as your favorite of the year: our interview with Brian "Q" Quinn, who's best known as one of the four stars of the smash hit TV show "Impractical Jokers."
Currently in its 10th season on truTV, Q and lifelong friends Sal Vulcano and James "Murr" Murray (a fourth friend and member of the show, Joe Gatto, departed from the show last year) "compete to embarrass each other," with hilarious results. It's wildly popular because it doesn't force you to think, and it's guaranteed to make you laugh.
At the age of 36, Q was working as an FDNY fireman in Staten Island, New York, but then something incredible happened: Impractical Jokers was born and it took off like a rocket. It quickly became truTV's highest-rated show, and it's one of the most successful comedies on cable TV. After using all his available leave time from the fire department, Q was faced with a dilemma: stay with the FDNY, work his 20 years and retire with a pension, or leave his career behind to continue with the show?
In this episode, Brian Quinn talks about his career as a fireman, the tough decisions he faced when Impractical Jokers became successful, and some of the hilarious experiences he's had as a star of the show.
Featured image credit: truTV/Warner Bros. Discovery
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
For more about Impractical Jokers, visit them at www.trutv.com/shows/impractical-jokers
Second Act Stories annual "Best of" episodes give us an opportunity to re-share remarkable stories, and welcome new listeners by giving them a good taste of what we do here: profile people who have made major life and career changes to pursue a more rewarding life in a second act career. We're selecting two "Best of 2023" episodes to share with you. Andy Levine selected his favorite interview conducted by co-host Scott Merritt in the past year, and Scott is reciprocating this week. Scott's pick for 2023 is "Sweeter Days Ahead: How Baking Transformed Janie Deegan's Life."
In 2009, Janie Deegan returned home from college with a serious alcohol and drug problem. Eventually, she found herself homeless and living on the streets of New York City.
Fast forward to today...she is the owner of "Janie's Life Changing Baked Goods," a thriving business with three, NYC bakeries and booming e-commerce division. At the center of her success is the "pie crust cookie" -- essentially a baby pie that comes in five, different flavors. Her company and her cookies have been featured on Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, CNN and The New York Times.
The company is dedicated to helping other young women through mentorship and second chance employment. As Janie shares in the podcast, "The person you show up for at the interview is the person we're looking at. We're not doing background checks...we have formerly incarcerated employees, homeless staff and those with addiction problems. It's been really beautiful to see how people blossom when they are given a chance."
Interested in trying Janie's pie crust cookies? They come in apple, pecan, triple berry, chocolate and cherry and can be ordered from www.JanieBakes.com.
Second Act Stories annual, "best of" episode gives us an opportunity to re-share a remarkable story, and welcome new listeners by giving them a good taste of what we do here: profile people who have made major life and career changes to pursue a more rewarding life in a second act career.
We're selecting two "Best of 2023" episodes to share with you. Andy Levine gets to select his favorite interview conducted by co-host Scott Merritt in the past year. And Scott gets to reciprocate next week.
Andy's selection for 2023 is "Everything Rick Beato: The Unlikely Launch of a 54-Year-Old YouTube Star." Rick Beato is one of the most successful YouTube stars in the world. His channel, Everything Music, has 3.5 million subscribers and is approaching 600 million views. Among the different types of videos Rick posts are his Top 20 Countdowns, What Makes This Song Great?, and his Rants on all things music. Rick also has an incredible series of long-form, sit-down interviews with some of the most acclaimed music artists in the world, including Peter Frampton, Sting, Derek Trucks, and Brian May.
But Rick didn't find success on YouTube until he was in his mid-50s, following the viral success of a video he posted of his 8-year-old son Dylan demonstrating his perfect pitch. In fact, he didn't even launch his channel until he was 54.
Prior to his YouTube success, Rick taught music at the college level, he held private lessons (by his estimation, he taught more than 12,000 lessons), he was a music producer and engineer. In this episode, Rick shares his journey from childhood, when he first played the cello, to the classrooms of upstate New York, to his experience working in the music industry, to the incredible success he enjoys today as one of the world's most well-respected experts on "Everything Music."
Donald Loftus had a difficult upbringing in Cleveland, Ohio. His father left him and his two sisters at a young age. His mother worked at Sears and struggled to make ends meet. From grades 1-8, he was a C student.
But in 9th grade, his world changed when a class trip brought him to New York City. His class saw four Broadway plays that weekend and it completely changed his life.
He graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in theatre and business. Following a first job at The May Department Store Company, he rose up the ranks of the luxury beauty industry eventually serving as the US President/CEO of P&G Prestige, Cosmopolitan Cosmetics, Sanofi Beauté and Gianni Versace Profumi.
But the theatre was now in his blood and he wrote plays every morning from 4 to 7 am before heading off to a demanding job in the c-suite. After retiring from Corporate America in 2018, he has pursued playwrighting on a full time basis. More than 200 productions of his work – a mix of full-length plays, one-act plays and musicals – have been seen by audiences around the world.
Visit his website, www.DonaldLoftus.com, for more on his amazing work.
Patrice Meagher had a lucrative career in real estate. For 15 years, she worked in New York City as an Executive Vice President at CBRE, one of the world's largest, corporate real estate firms.
But like other working parents, she struggled with the challenge of balancing her work life and raising a family of four children. A specific pain point in her career -- returning to work after maternity leave and breast pumping milk for her new child. Like many new mothers, she was told to pump in the bathroom which she describes as unhygienic, embarrassing and not sustainable. "For me, breast pumping at work was by far the single-most, inefficient thing I did as a working mom. I knew there had to be a way to make it easier."
In March, 2020, she left CBRE and founded MilkMate so that other mothers wouldn't have to choose between family and career due to the challenges of breast pumping at work. Collaborating with engineers, patent attorneys and other experts, the company created an FDA-approved, multi-user breast pumping system built for the workplace wellness room. And with the recent passage of the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, MilkMate is helping employers meet the new federal requirements while supporting employees who wish to breast pump in the workplace. Click here to learn more about Patrice Meagher and the unique offerings of MilkMate.
The moment Patty Forehand opens her mouth, you know she's from the deep south. And with that comes a certain set of preconceived notions. If she opens her mouth in front of a microphone on a comedy club stage, those notions are immediately blown away, and the results are hilarious. It's funny once the F-bombs start flying and you realize she's not the stereotypical, retirement-age, "proper southern lady" society expects when they see her, but it's even funnier when you hear that her material is funny. Really funny.
It gets even more interesting when you realize that she's relatively new to comedy. This standup comic, who's been crushing rooms all over the South, has only been doing it for the past few years. She decided to experiment with comedy after she retired from a 31-year career teaching in an elementary school. And the results speak for themselves; Patty found her calling.
But she also says that teaching was a calling, and she worked an entire career in a Georgia elementary school. So why, when most other people are making plans to coast into retirement, did she decide it was time to try her hand at something that's not only intimidating, but also incredibly difficult?
In this episode, Patty discusses her southern roots and upbringing, her career as "the funny teacher" in an elementary school classroom, her decision to do standup comedy, and why working dirty is only a result of finding her authentic self.
For more about Patty, and to learn about her live dates, you can follow her on Instagram at @forehandpatricia.
If you like this episode, please check out our other episodes featuring comedians with inspiring second act stories:
The Wolf of Late Night: Paul Mecurio's Journey from Wall Street to Comedy
Adam Carolla: The Carpenter Who Built a Legendary Comedy Career
Brian "Q" Quinn's Impractical Career Shift: Fireman to Funny Man
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
Robert Markowitz was a criminal defense attorney in Palo Alto, California. But the work caused him a great deal of stress and he started developing all sorts of physical ailments. So he quit and headed to Mexico to escape the job he hated. When he finally returned to the United States, he was 37-years-old, broke and living with his mother back in his boyhood home in New York.
Going through the help wanted section of The New York Times, he came across an advertisement for a company that would train you to be a clown. So he became "Bobo, The Clown" and he started performing at children's birthday parties. "Bobo the Clown" eventually made the transition to "Robert, The Guitar Guy." He has been performing for young children -- mostly 3, 4 and 5 year-olds -- for over 25 years now.
His latest move -- authoring a debut novel called "Clown Shoes." The story is a fictionalized narrative of Robert's major life experiences. And like his performances, the book is fast-moving, funny and highly-entertaining. We hope you'll order a copy on Amazon.
After growing up in what he describes as the ghettos of Daytona Beach, Royce James spent a decade working as a financial advisor, ultimately reaching the elite level of working with high-net-worth individuals. In spite of that success, he was frustrated by the fact that very few of his clients followed his advice. He knew it was time for a career change, but to what? And was he crazy to leave the security of a solid career for a huge unknown?
One fateful day, looking down at the highway from the Tampa skyscraper where he was working, a revelation struck. Royce saw a line of police vehicles weaving through traffic, blue lights on, and his interest was piqued. Whatever they were doing, it looked cool and he wanted in. That's when Royce contacted local law enforcement agencies to go on ride-alongs. The very first ride-along, which he describes as "the most mundane law enforcement day ever," was all he needed to know his next step. He was hooked.
That's when Royce made the decision to resign from financial service and enter public service. It was a massive uphill climb, moving into his mom's apartment, going back to a minimum wage job, enrolling in police academy, living on ramen noodles and hot dogs, and slogging through a grueling year-long process that had no guarantee of a job on the other end.
Royce defied the odds at every stage of his career; his grit and determination pulled him through. Today, Deputy Royce James has built a very successful career with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office in Florida, where his work is regularly chronicled on the Reelz and Peacock show On Patrol: Live. You can tune in and watch him in action every Friday and Saturday night at 9:00 pm ET.
In this episode, Royce discusses how he built his career in financial service, the struggle he faced in making an unlikely career change, and the case he solved that earned him an accolade as Law Enforcement Officer of the Year by the State of Florida.
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
Sergio Raynal was at the top of his game. With a staff of 25+, he was responsible for KPMG's real estate and hospitality consulting for Pacific Asia and the West Coast of the United States.
Woodworking was always a hobby and a way to relieve stress from his high-pressure job. But it became a "side hustle" and eventually a full-time pursuit following a falling out with the management team at KPMG.
"The reward is the sense of accomplishment and creation. That's what I like about working with my hands. I'll sometimes be bone tired. I feel every ache and pain but at the end of the day there is a great deal of satisfaction that comes from a day well spent in the shop."
Sergio uses old-world furniture making and cabinetry techniques – never using a nail or screw in his work. You can view his handiwork at www.SergioReynal.com.
Conference room table built by Sergio Raynal.
Phonograph table created by Sergio Raynal Custom desk built by Sergio Raynal
We hope you enjoy this 'From the Vault' episode, which reintroduces one of our favorite guests: Noa Shaw.
Noa Shaw has led a hard life. Drugs and alcohol took hold of him at an early age. And he has struggled as both a drug addict and drug dealer for most of his adult life.
But eight years ago his life took a turn for the better when he wandered into a SoulCycle studio that was just opening up in Los Angeles. SoulCycle is a fitness company that is the gold standard in cycling workouts.
After his first workout, he was hooked. For three months, he attended every day – sometimes two workouts per day. He lost 100 pounds and got himself into shape both physically and mentally. The team at SoulCycle saw something in Noa and they invited him to audition as a fitness instructor.
At 57 years old, he is the oldest SoulCycle instructor on the planet. And here in New York City, Noa has built a dedicated following of riders that are inspired by him on a regular basis.
He is a certified life coach and in February 2021 released an inspirational book "Stop Thinking Thoughts That Scare You."
Noa Shaw can be reached on Instagram (@noashaw26) or by email (noashaw@mac.com).
We hope you enjoy this 'From the Vault' episode, which reintroduces one of our favorite early guests: Cathy Heying.
While working as the Director of Social Justice at St. Stephen's Church in Minneapolis, Cathy Heying observed a continuing problem among the working poor in the church's neighborhood:
She initially thought: "Somebody really should do something about this." And then she thought: "Maybe that somebody is me."
Cathy took the unusual step of enrolling in a two-year technical college to learn auto mechanics. It was a difficult experience for a 38-year-old social worker who knew very little about automotive repair. But she got through it with the help of an instructor named Dave Duval (who is also interviewed in this episode).
Following graduation, she founded an extraordinary non-profit called The Lift Garage. According to the organization's mission The Lift Garage is a 501c3 nonprofit aimed to move people out of poverty and homelessness by providing low-cost car repair, free pre-purchase car inspections, and honest advice that supports our community on the road to more secure lives.
In 2015, Cathy Heying was named a CNN Hero which raised the profile of the organization nationally. But Cathy was already a hero to the men and women of the Twin Cities who rely on her and The Lift Garage to help them make a living and live a better life.
Click here to learn more about The Lift Garage and how you can help support their mission.
Jonathan Bahlatzis spent 15 years in corporate America, 11 of which were spent working as an engineer for GE. He rose through the ranks and took on leadership roles that gave him all the trappings of success. But even with all that safety and security, he had a passion he needed to follow.
In 2016 – in the midst of his GE career – Jonathan launched Kopis Designs, an artisan blade company where he designs and hand crafts beautiful knives and blades. Kopis's tag line is "Form, fit, and function for every day carry." A successful Kickstarter campaign established a following for Kopis Designs. He finally made the decision to make Kopis Designs his full-time job in January 2023.
In this episode, Jonathan discusses his engineering career, his decision to leave that behind to become a full-time bladesmith, and the personal challenges he faces on a daily basis. He offers unique perspectives as a newer entrepreneur and talks about where he lives, at the intersection of artistry, manufacturing and craftsmanship.
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
Tracy Bonham built a reputation as a "badass rocker" with "Mother, Mother," a powerful anthem that made it to #1 on Billboard's "Alternative Rock" charts. The song and her "The Burdens of Being Upright" album were nominated for two Grammy awards and led to arena tours with Aerosmith and the Blue Man Group.
But in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live music across the world, Tracy launched Melodeon in 2020. The new enterprise is aimed at teaching a younger audience she lovingly calls "young music enthusiasts." Inspired by Sesame Street, Electric Company and School House Rock, she created an innovative, music education curriculum for pre-school children. In April 2021, Tracy released her first children's album, Young Maestros along with a series of music videos.
Click here to learn more about Tracey, Melodeon and songs like "Feeling Pretty Major," "I Like Big Beats" and "Let's Take the Subway."
In 2009, Janie Deegan returned home from college with a serious alcohol and drug problem. Eventually, she found herself homeless and living on the streets of New York City.
Fast forward to today...she is the owner of "Janie's Life Changing Baked Goods," a thriving business with three, NYC bakeries and booming e-commerce division. At the center of her success is the "pie crust cookie" -- essentially a baby pie that comes in five, different flavors. Her company and her cookies have been featured on Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, CNN and The New York Times.
The company is dedicated to helping other young women through mentorship and second chance employment. As Janie shares in the podcast, "The person you show up for at the interview is the person we're looking at. We're not doing background checks...we have formerly incarcerated employees, homeless staff and those with addiction problems. It's been really beautiful to see how people blossom when they are given a chance."
Interested in trying Janie's pie crust cookies? They come in apple, pecan, triple berry, chocolate and cherry and can be ordered from www.JanieBakes.com.
Ed Calderon is surprised he didn't die by the age of 30. That's the fate that many Mexican law enforcement officers face. But Ed wasn't just a cop; he worked for a special paramilitary police force that was created for the sole purpose of battling the drug cartels. Just being there meant he was being hunted by some of the most dangerous people in Mexico with no code of ethics.
He learned to use a knife as a kid, and guns, well… everyone had guns in Mexico in spite of the laws. A series of events in his childhood, profoundly marked by the loss of his brother, broke apart Ed's family and left him rudderless. After working a bunch of odd jobs, Ed found an ad in the newspaper seeking single men without kids for a new special police force. He knew he had to join.
That's when Ed found himself on the front lines of the Mexican cartel wars, seeing and experiencing things that would put most of us in a psychiatric institution. When fate eventually handed Ed a daughter, he reconsidered his career and made his way to America.
In this episode, Ed shares his journey from his hometown of Tijuana, one of the hottest battlefields in the cartel wars, to what he refers to as his "after party," teaching others the means to their own survival. From hosting classroom seminars, to consulting on movies, to consulting with the military and Congress, Ed's path to his after party is a wild and captivating ride.
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
After graduation from high school, Carolyn Curtin enrolled at the Wilfred Academy and received a degree in cosmetology. For years, she worked as a hairstylist. But her path changed in 2002 when she purchased a 100-year-old, Victorian house in Asbury Park, New Jersey and set about restoring it to it's original glory.
The city was in the midst of a major revitalization and historic buildings were been "clear cut" to make way for progress. Carolyn saw both beauty and historical significance in these structures and she started to extract items of value in advance of the wrecking ball. She began offering items she didn't need for her own restoration -- columns, railings, doors and reclaimed lumber -- to others around her. Local Asbury Park Historian Helen Pike gave her the moniker of "Salvage Angel" and that ultimately became the name of her new company.
Today, "Salvage Angel By The Sea" has hundreds of thousands of items for sale -- moldings, exterior doors, custom made rugs, stained glass, lighting, plumbing fixtures, tile, furniture, nautical fittings, bathtubs, mantles and housewares. And it's all things that were headed to the junkyard but Carolyn figured out a way to reclaim and save it for others. It's housed in a 20,000 square foot former Canada Dry warehouse which Carolyn acquired in 2014.
In the past seven years, she has also begun renting items to the television/film production industry and her wares have been featured in shows ranging from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to West Side Story to Pretty Little Liars. Production crews now represent 70% of the company's revenue.
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Rick Beato is one of the most successful YouTube stars in the world. His channel, Everything Music, has 3.5 million subscribers and is approaching 600 million views. Among the different types of videos Rick posts are his Top 20 Countdowns, What Makes This Song Great?, and his Rants on all things music. Rick also has an incredible series of long-form, sit-down interviews with some of the most acclaimed music artists in the world, including Peter Frampton, Sting, Derek Trucks, Brian May, and a group interview with grunge legends Krist Novoselic, Kim Thayil and Jack Endino.
But Rick didn't find success on YouTube until he was in his mid-50s, following the viral success of a video he posted of his 8-year-old son Dylan demonstrating his perfect pitch. In fact, he didn't even launch his channel until he was 54.
Prior to his YouTube success, Rick taught music at the college level, he held private lessons (by his estimation, he taught more than 12,000 lessons), he was a music producer and engineer, and he even co-wrote the song "Carolina" by the band Parmalee, which hit #1 on the Billboard Country chart. Rick is also one of the only people in the world who isn't a rock star to have his own Gibson Artist Series Signature Les Paul Special guitars.
In this episode, Rick shares his journey from childhood, when he first played the cello, to the classrooms of upstate New York, to his experience working in the music industry, to the incredible success he enjoys today as one of the world's most well-respected experts on "Everything Music."
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
Ted Bahr's career in magazine publishing and trade show management spans 35+ years. He held senior management positions at publishing giants Ziff-Davis and Miller-Freeman before launching his own firm, BZ Media.
When he sold BZ Media in 2017, he returned to an early passion: the collection of psychodelic, rock poster art. Ted launched the world's first art gallery to focus on this narrow niche of first-printing posters primarily from 1966-1970. Via the Bahr Gallery, Ted collects and sells works of art designed to promote the concerts of the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and others. Beautifully framed in museum quality glass, the posters range from $1,000 to upwards of $20,000.
According to Ted, "When I sell these posters, they're going to somebody who is filled with joy, Probably 35% of my sales are gifts. So people are buying these posters for somebody in their life that has no idea they even exist. They are getting this gift of Santana poster from 1968 -- an original poster with the screaming colors beautifully framed. I get massive psychic reward from this."
You can view his amazing collection of 600+ posters online. But the best way to see this art and get a personal tour by Ted, is to visit the Bahr Gallery in Oyster Bay, Long Island (just an hour outside of New York City). A sampling of six posters from the collection are shared below.
A special shout-out to Carl Landau and the "I Used To Be Somebody" Podcast for connecting us with Ted Bahr.
Brian "Q" Quinn is one of the stars of the massive hit TV show, Impractical Jokers. Currently in its 10th season on truTV, Q and lifelong friends Sal Vulcano and James "Murr" Murray (a fourth friend and member of the show, Joe Gatto, departed from the show last year) "compete to embarrass each other," with hilarious results. It's wildly popular because it doesn't force you to think, and it's guaranteed to make you laugh.
At the age of 36, Q was working as an FDNY fireman in Staten Island, New York, but then something incredible happened: Impractical Jokers was born and it took off like a rocket. It quickly became truTV's highest-rated show, and it's one of the most successful comedies on cable TV. After using all his available leave time from the fire department, Q was faced with a dilemma: stay with the FDNY, work his 20 years and retire with a pension, or leave his career behind to continue with the show?
In this episode, Brian Quinn talks about his career as a fireman, the tough decisions he faced when Impractical Jokers became successful, and some of the hilarious experiences he's had as a star of the show.
Featured image credit: truTV/Warner Bros. Discovery
Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes
Episode title credit: Amanda Loduca (from Facebook group: It's an Impractical Jokers thing, you wouldn't understand, created by Dawn Marie).
For more about Impractical Jokers, visit them at www.trutv.com/shows/impractical-jokers
Michael Strahan is an NFL legend. He spent his entire 15-year Hall of Fame career as a defensive end for the New York Giants. A five-time All-Pro, Strahan appeared in seven Pro Bowls, he accumulated 141.5 career sacks, he held two NFL sack titles, and he was a key member of the NY Giants team that won Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots in 2008.
Following his NFL retirement, Michael Strahan joined Fox NFL Sunday as an analyst. This first foray into the broadcast booth was the catalyst for what has made him a broadcasting legend. Strahan went on to host Live! with Kelly and Michael after Regis Philbin retired, and today he's one of the hosts of ABC News Good Morning America. The two-time Emmy Award winner also hosts the highly successful reboot of the popular game show, The $100,000 Pyramid. In 2023, Strahan was honored with a star on the venerable Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In this episode, Michael Strahan shares details about his careers, he discusses his transition from the gridiron to the TV studio, and he reveals the mindset and philosophies that have helped him reach the top in such a profound way.
Episode image credit: Fox Sports
Greg and Pam Ayers were living the good life in Salt Lake City, Utah. They were living the American Dream...senior management positions with significant salaries, a nice home and two young children.
But the loss of a close friend caused Greg to question his own life and ask "Am I really making a difference in the world?" And the couple decided it was time for a change.
Both Greg and Pam quit their jobs, relocated to Tucson, Arizona and started a new organization called GAP Ministries. Over the past 24 years, they have built an amazing non-profit that is focused on foster care, reuniting families and breaking the cycles of poverty and abuse. With a staff of 120 people and an annual budget of $10 million, the group is having a significant impact in Southern Arizona. On more than one occasion, they have "emptied" their own retirement savings to keep the organization moving forward.
Click here to learn more about the inspiring work of GAP Ministries.
Michael Clinton is a uniquely-talented individual. A former president and publishing director of Hearst Publications (which includes Cosmopolitan, Esquire, O The Oprah Magazine, Redbook and Woman's Day), Michael is also an accomplished photographer, marathon runner, philanthropist, author and private pilot.
When he finally decided to step down from his publishing career, he was looking for advice on his next stage of life. "Everything I read was about winding down. And I wanted to just the opposite. I wanted to wind up and do lots of new things." And that's when the idea for his new book, "ROAR Into the Second Half of Your Life (Before It's Too Late)," was born.
ROAR is an acronym that outlines an empowering path for embracing your future. The four, important steps are:
Click here for more about the book and Michael Clinton, It's a terrific read and we're happy to add it to our "Best Books About Second Acts" list.
At the beginning of each year, we at Second Act Stories like to take a look back at the incredible interviews we shared and pick one episode that truly exemplifies the surprising, inspiring and eye-opening nature of a fascinating career change.
This "Best of" show gives us an opportunity to re-share a remarkable story, and it welcomes new listeners by giving them a good taste of what we do here: profile people who have made major life and career changes to pursue a more rewarding life in a second act career.
The numbers spoke for themselves this year. Without question, the episode our listeners downloaded the most was our interview with rock and roll legend Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
Skunk was the founding lead guitarist in Steely Dan, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers. As a hired gun, he's played with a who's who of music royalty, including Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon… the list goes on and on.
From the time he was a child, the mechanically inclined Baxter loved taking things apart to see how they worked and putting them back together. He became an expert guitar repair technician and built custom guitars. He traded a custom white Fender Stratocaster he built in the 1960s to Jimi James, who would later re-emerge as the legendary Jimi Hendrix.
In the 1980s, Skunk parlayed his more-than-casual interest in all things technical into a career as a missile defense consultant. After writing a paper that was quickly classified, he received the necessary clearances and now regularly consults with the U.S. government, the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs on topics including counterterrorism and wargaming.
Skunk recently released a new solo album, his first, called Speed of Heat.
We hope you enjoy this encore presentation – the Best of 2022 episode of Second Act Stories – our exciting deep dive into the second act of one of rock's greatest guitarists.
Tylan Bailey had a tough home life growing up. He had more than his fair share of adversity, which brought him to no fewer than 14 schools by the time he was ready to graduate from high school. In spite of such a profound lack of stability, Tylan created his own stable environment by focusing on his education.
Tylan's lifelong dream of becoming a teacher was sidetracked when he found himself in a predicament that prevented him from attending college, and instead found him applying for jobs that would pay well and provide benefits. Although he found himself working in an elementary school, as a custodian, the idea of becoming a teacher seemed like a pipe dream at this point.
23 years later, Tylan was making pretty good money as the head custodian and he had seniority, but it was time to scratch that teaching itch. With the support of his wife, he took himself back to college and earned his teaching degree. Today, Tylan still works in an elementary school, but now he's a PE teacher and he couldn't be happier.
Tylan's story was featured in national headlines, and he was even invited to a Hollywood movie premiere where he befriended Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The dream became a reality, and Tylan Bailey is living proof that it's never too late to find your happiness. The key, as he puts it, is to meet your blessings halfway.
Deborah Kase Lillian always loved hats. She played dress up with her mother's and grandmother's hats as a child. And she always loved rummaging through thrift stores to find unique hats.
But it was the combination of an earlier move to Paris and her 60th birthday that convinced her to go back to school to learn the amazing craft of hat making (or millinery) late in life. In 2020 in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, she launched her own hat-making company called "Harris Pat" (which comes from a spoonerism in a Cole Porter song with the line "If a Harris Pat means a Paris Hat, okay.")
As Deborah shared in this episode: "Elizabeth Zimmermann is a noted knitter and knitting teacher. And I will never forget that she said once, 'People will put something on their head for, it seems to me, two reasons. Either it keeps them warm or it makes them feel cute.' And I like my hats to make people feel attractive and pretty and cute and seductive and alluring."
Click here to learn more about her work and hats. Or you can follow her and her designs on Instagram @leharrispat.
Adam Carolla is a bona fide comedy legend with a seemingly endless number of credits to his name. He co-hosted the "Loveline" radio show with Dr. Drew Pinsky; his own number-one morning radio show, which replaced The Howard Stern Show, was syndicated to a wide range of markets; he created and hosted "The Man Show" with Jimmy Kimmel; he's written a number of books, two of which were New York Times Bestsellers; he's become a prolific filmmaker, with comedies and documentaries to his credit; and "The Adam Carolla Show" even holds the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast.
But even though he grew up in the shadow of the Hollywood sign, it may as well have been a million miles away. After graduating from high school (where he was voted Class Clown) unable to read or spell well, he took odd jobs digging ditches, cleaning carpets and teaching boxing, and he eventually found a niche as a skilled carpenter. While he was able to pay his bills, his passion was comedy. He followed his instincts and carved a path, one step at a time, that led him to the success he enjoys today.
Adam is as humble a guy as you'll find, and he really doesn't love to take credit for his accomplishments. That's part of what makes his story so interesting. He just keeps going.
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Dr. Peter Rork was a highly-successful, orthopedic surgeon in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But at the age of 59, he unexpectedly lost his wife Meg and grief took hold of him. He quit his work. He stopped eating. And he and his dog Doyle retreated to a remote vacation home in Montana for three months.
At the urging of a concerned friend, Peter refocused his life on animal rescue. He is the founder, president and chief pilot of "Dog Is My CoPilot," a not-for-profit group that transports animals from overcrowded kill shelters to adoption centers where families are waiting to welcome a new pet. His story has been told on CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Nightly News and The Washington Post.
Dog Is My CoPilot has saved over 25,000 animals. Click here to support their the important work. .
Veda Semarne grew up loving everything about education. So much so that she earned a PhD in Art History from Yale University and entered the workforce as an academic, with every intention of finding a full-time, tenure-track position and living her life in and around higher education. But after spending a few years teaching classes at institutions such as Trinity College in Hartford and C.W. Post on Long Island, she made the unusual decision to leave academia to pursue something else.
Figuring out what that something else would be took her back to a classroom, this time at the American Film Institute, where she learned about script supervising. That's when the magic happened. Veda became a script supervisor and over the course of her career accrued 65 credits on IMDb. Most notably, soon after launching her second act career, Veda landed a job on one of the most iconic television shows in history: "The Office." She worked on all nine seasons of the show.
Leaving academia is perhaps as unusual as reaching the greatest heights in Hollywood; Veda did them both. As you'll find out in today's episode, her story is an absolute inspiration.
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Cody Keenan started working in the White House at the age of 28 and rose up to the role of Chief Speechwriter for President Barack Obama. In terms of his chosen profession, he was at the top of the mountain at a very young age. But after eight years, the Obama Presidency ends. What does he do next?
After the White House, Cody has accomplished a lot. He has collaborated with Barack Obama on his best-selling, presidential memoir, A Promised Land. He's now completed his own book, Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America, which debuts on October 4, 2022. He has joined Fenway Strategies, a strategic, communications firm that helps write speeches for others.
But according to Cody, the most rewarding part of his second act is teaching the next generation of political speechwriters in a small class at his alma mater Northwestern University. "It's the best thing I do. It pays the least but it's the most fun. I get to watch these students grow and improve and get excited about politics and its possibilities."
In this episode of Second Act Stories, we go behind the scenes at the White House to learn the story of the eulogy which President Obama and Cody wrote for the funeral of Reverend Clementa Pinckney and eight other congregants at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. During the service, President Obama surprised the congregation by signing Amazing Grace.
Melissa Davey was a senior, corporate executive turning 65 and facing a key decision point in her work life -- Do I stay or do I go? At the same time, an odd series of events resulted in her winning a charity auction to spend a day on a movie set with director M Night Shyamalan.
Shadowing Mr. Shyamalan for a day put her on the path to becoming a filmmaker. She completing her first feature film in 2018. Beyond 60 is a documentary that profiles nine, vibrant women and their "after 60" accomplishments. Now 72, Ms. Davey will release her second film, "Climbing Into Life" in early 2023.
Paul Mecurio has achieved a level of success in comedy that budding comics only dream of. He's a writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert; he was a founding writer on The Daily Show, for which he won Emmy and Peabody Awards; he hosted a one-man Off-Broadway show called "Permission to Speak with Paul Mecurio"; he's hosted shows on Comedy Central and HBO; he had his own comedy special; and he's a regular opinion contributor on "CBS Sunday Morning."
But all this success came at an incredibly stressful cost. After graduating Georgetown Law School with high honors, Paul worked as a lawyer on Wall Street at a top-tier international law firm and as an investment banker at Credit Suisse, executing multi-billion-dollar M&A transactions for Fortune 100 companies. He was living the life everybody thinks they want, making a ton of money and enjoying the trappings that kind of success brings.
All the while, Paul was writing jokes and living a double life, working in boardrooms by day and sneaking off to comedy clubs by night to feed an insatiable need to follow his passion for comedy. A chance meeting with Jay Leno was the catalyst for what would become an incredibly gripping, angst-ridden journey filled with self-doubt, torment and tears that had Paul living on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Hold onto your hats; this episode is a roller coaster that will inspire you to chase your dreams.
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Brian Noyes was an art director for 30+ years with top publications like The Washington Post, Smithsonian, Architecture and House & Garden. He loved his work. But he also loved baking. And he regularly took week-long courses at schools like the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY and L'Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MD.
After the September 11th attack, he decided to buy a weekend house in rural Virginia -- an escape from his design work in Washington, DC. As a hobby, he started making jams and pies for a local country store under the name the Red Truck Bakery. He quickly developed a devoted, local following.
His big break came in 2008 when legendary New York Times food columnist Marian Burros tried some of his baked goods at a friend's 4th of July party. She later wrote in a holiday, round-up article:
"One of my favorite discoveries is Brian Noyes, the owner of the Red Truck Bakery in Virginia, who has a deft hand with pastries and an unerring sense of flavor balance."
Brian's website went from less than 25 visitors per day to 57,000 visitors on the day the article appeared. And it was the push he needed to quit his job as an art director and open the Red Truck Bakery in Warrenton, Virginia in 2009.
Today he has stores in both Warrenton and Marshall, Virginia and a staff of 50 people. He ships dozens of pies, cakes and granola each day. He also has a devoted fan in former President Barack Obama who wrote a salute to the Red Truck Bakery in his final year in office. Special thanks to Cody Keenan, President Obama's chief speechwriter, for coming on the podcast and sharing this story with us.
You can sample their baked goods for yourself by visiting www.redtruckbakery.com. You can also order Brian's first book "The Red Truck Bakery Cookbook" and his second book, "The Red Truck Bakery Farmhouse Cookbook" (which comes out on August 2, 2022). And if you find yourself passing through Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, make it a point to drop by one of their stores. You won't be disappointed.
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is a rock and roll legend. He was the founding lead guitarist in Steely Dan, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Doobie Brothers. As a hired gun, he's played with a who's who of music royalty, including Linda Ronstadt, Donna Summer, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon… the list goes on and on.
From the time he was a child, the mechanically inclined Baxter loved taking things apart to see how they worked and putting them back together. He became an expert guitar repair technician and built custom guitars. He traded a custom white Fender Stratocaster he built in the 1960s to Jimi James, who would later re-emerge as the legendary Jimi Hendrix.
In the 1980s, Skunk parlayed his more-than-casual interest in all things technical into a career as a missile defense consultant. After writing a paper that was quickly classified, he received the necessary clearances and now regularly consults with the U.S. government, the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs on topics including counterterrorism and wargaming.
Skunk just released a new solo album, his first, called Speed of Heat.
Please enjoy our exciting deep dive into the second act of one of rock's greatest guitarists.
Photo credit for main image: Joel Manduke
John Tarnoff is a non-traditional, career transition coach. A veteran of Hollywood, John was fired 7 times over the course of his lengthy career in entertainment.
At age 50, he decided to go back to school and earned a master's degree in spiritual psychology. Pivoting to a focus on people and career counseling, he eventually wrote "Boomer Reinvention: How To Create Your Dream Career Over 50." He is frequently interviewed by top tier media (CBS This Morning, Forbes, CNBC, Market Watch and Next Avenue to name a few) on the topic of career transition.
Click here for more information on John Tarnoff's unusual coaching practice.
Steve Lewis is objectively one of the most creative people on the planet. So much so that pure creativity is what motivates him; money just isn't part of the equation. That doesn't mean he isn't successful. He is. Very. But his success is a byproduct of executing his incredible creative vision.
Steve originally wanted to be a professional musician – a goal he achieved by the age of 14 – but a botched hand surgery set him down a different path. After college, he followed his passion for comic books, pop culture and community and opened Uberbot, a unique, high-end art gallery and comic book store. That's where he originally shared the cookies that would become the foundation of Gideon's Bakehouse.
Gideon's Bakehouse is a fully immersive "tattered Victorian" experience – an entire world with stories, characters and histories – that just happens to sell the world's best cookies, according to Insider.com, The Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated and a host of other media.
Steve Lewis calls baking a hobby, but his title – Sublime Prince of the Esoteric Order of Cookie – and his accolades say otherwise. This is an inspiring story that chronicles an immensely creative person and his journey to also become one of the world's most renowned bakers.
You can find Gideon's Bakehouse at www.gideonsbakehouse.com, but they don't ship their products. To try them, you have to visit one of the two Gideon's Bakehouse locations, at Orlando's East End Market or Disney Springs.
Adam Simon was a partner in Echo Street Capital Management, a successful hedge fund in New York City. While he enjoyed the challenge of the work and it's financial rewards, the demanding 80+ hour per week schedule was wreaking havoc on his personal life. So in 2017,he quit and focused his attention on reconnecting with his family.
As the Covid-19 crisis began, Adam, his wife and their two children headed to a safer location in the suburbs. "We were going a bit stir crazy" and they opted to launch an informal neighborhood project called "Pandemic Breads." They baked bread and other sweets in their kitchen and sold the goods door-to-door. He loved everything about baking and became especially enamored with the challenge of making sourdough bread.
After working as an intern in two commercial bakeries in New York City, Adam launched "Sourdough Gambit" named after his love of chess and the popular Netfix series "The Queens Gambit." He started small, baking two days per week in a shared commercial kitchen and selling his products via home delivery in Manhattan. Since launching in February, 2022, the new venture has gone exceptionally well winning rave reviews from customers.
Click here to learn more about Sourdough Gambit.
Referring to someone as a rock star usually means they're excellent at what they do. Dave "The Beast" Spitz is a rock star lawyer in south Florida. Sure, he's a really good lawyer, but he's also an actual rock star. Prior to going to law school in 1996, Dave played bass for the legendary band that invented heavy metal: Black Sabbath.
His journey through the music industry also included playing with other well-known bands including Great White, Impellitteri, White Lion and Americade. He even appeared in a movie with Tom Hanks.
Despite all the trappings of rock stardom – recording with music legends, playing in front of sellout crowds around the world, and experiencing musical success at the highest levels – The Beast needed something more out of his career, so he actually declined an opportunity with a band that's sold millions of albums so he could become a lawyer.
This extended Second Act Stories interview includes plenty stories about The Beast's music career and his decision to launch his law career, and it paints a vivid picture of the motivation that drives such a surprising life-changing decision.
Check out the official Black Sabbath Dave "The Beast" Spitz page here.
Arrelious Benn was a star football player at Dunbar Senior High School (Washington, DC) and the University of Illinois. He entered the NFL draft after his junior year in college and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His NFL career with Tampa Bay, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Jacksonville Jaguars spanned seven years, twice the league average. But it is also included two ACL tears, a fractured lumbar and a shattered collarbone.
After his final season with the Jaguars, he and his family put down roots and decided to open Social House Coffee in the Avondale section of Jacksonville. Replacing a former gun store, his neighborhood shop is all about great coffee and building community.
As Benn shares in the podcast, "Football consumed my life for so many years. But I know I only have one body. And I want to see my kids grow up and there are other things I want to do. It's a breath of fresh air to do something new and be creative."
Benn is now working in what he calls "my first real job." He spends his days taking customers orders, serving coffee/pastries and managing a staff of six. And he couldn't be happier.
Leah Gorham spent 16 years working as a nurse, helping patients while she also helped an industry known for a shortage of talent. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic surfaced and spread, causing workloads and stress levels to skyrocket for first responders, Leah took it in stride.
Although healthcare workers were widely recognized for being profoundly affected by the pandemic, it wasn't until she was attacked by a patient in what she calls the worst assault of her career (sadly, this is an ongoing issue in nursing) that she finally chose to scrub out and do something different. But instead of shifting to a career that would be easy, she moved to another industry that was profoundly affected by the pandemic: trucking.
Today, Leah Gorham is a long-haul trucker, doing her part to alleviate challenges in the supply chain. But that's not the reason she went into it. She and her boyfriend are partners, taking to the open road together, and living life on their terms. She's never been happier.
A view from inside Leah's cab
Leah and her big rig
Chih Lin and Mike Dorsey were trained as engineers and worked in the oil & gas industry in Houston, Texas. But both were miserable at work and decided they needed to make a change.
They launched a company called "Dumpling Dudez" and turned their attention to teaching small groups of people the art of dumpling-making. They started in April, 2019 and had a successful launch. And when Covid-19 shut down their in-person classes, they switched to virtual classes and selling the world's first "ready-to-bake" dumping commercially.
At the age of 15, Chih Lin came to the United States from Taiwan. He learned how to make dumplings from his grandmother. "I don't remember the taste of the dumplings. But I always remember how I feel when I make dumplings with my family. That's what dumpling making is...your hands are busy and then you live in the present. And when you live in the present, the conversations come up very nicely, very real and easier for you to connect with other people."
Chih's business & life partner Mike Dorsey concludes the episode with some strong advice for second act aspirants: "If you're really unhappy at work and it's causing you so much grief, find an exit strategy and start working towards it today. A small step today can become a huge leap tomorrow."
Click here to learn more about the Dumpling Dudez, their classes and their "ready-to-bake" dumplings.
Anna Vocino has an impressive IMDb resume dotted with comedic acting roles, sketch comedy appearances on shows including the Lance Krall Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and professional narration work for a number of TV series and documentaries. She has risen to the top of the voiceover industry, lending her vocal skills to an endless array of video games and TV commercials, and she's even the female voice of the NBC television network.
In the midst of a career in entertainment, Anna was diagnosed with Celiac disease and was forced to eliminate gluten from her diet. A gifted cook, she created gluten-free versions of the recipes she loved and posted them to a blog. A circuitous series of decisions led her to co-host a very successful podcast with health entrepreneur Vinnie Tortorich, and her path ultimately resulted in the release of two bestselling Eat Happy cookbooks.
She combined her love of cooking with a passion to create foods that are clean, gluten-free, no sugar added alternatives to the processed options available on most store shelves. Today, Anna is also the CEO of packaged food company Eat Happy Kitchen, which has realized substantial growth in both distribution and revenue since its launch.
Most surprisingly, Anna's path was not linear. She didn't set out to embark on a second act, and she didn't know she was on that path until she looked back and realized it.
Learn more about Anna Vocino at www.annavocino.com.
Josh Cohn worked as top, derivatives lawyer for a series of well-respected, law firms. He commuted by train to New York City everyday from the affluent suburb of Rye, NY. But at the age of 66, he was increasingly bored with the work and planned to retire from the legal field.
He came home one night, cracked open a beer and ended up watching a city council meeting on a local, cable-access channel. That's when he became aware of a plan to put up mini-cell phone towers throughout the city including one directly across the street from his house. He helped form "Protecting Residential Rye" and with the help of dozens of other concerned citizens, the group successfully halted these plans. In the wake of this success, a local Councilwoman asked, "Josh, have you every thought about running for Mayor?"
Josh ran as an independent with the endorsement of Rye's Democratic Party. And when all the votes were counted, he successfully defeated the Republican incumbent.
"What I like best about the job is problem-solving. And problems can be large, problems can be small." His thorough, research-driven, methodical approach has earned strong praise from his fellow council members and Rye's citizens.
In November 2021, he won a second term -- this time with the endorsement of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
George Taylor built a career as a serial tech entrepreneur, launching, growing and exiting from nine different companies. Five years ago, after settling in Wilmington, North Carolina, George was working at his latest tech startup, when a nearby gang-related drive-by shooting shook him to his core. George was "pissed off" that such violence existed in this idyllic seaside town and he vowed to do something to help.
After meeting with the region's top gang leaders to understand the issues that drive street gangs, he launched TRU Colors, a brewery with a mission to end the cycle of gang violence in America's neighborhoods by breaking down barriers and creating new economic opportunities.
TRU Colors hires active gang members, pays them a livable wage, and shows them that they have options and opportunities to be successful.
We hope George's story inspires you as much as it has inspired us. To learn more about TRU Colors, visit the organization's website at www.trucolors.co
David Bowers worked as a salesman for the Columbia Rubber Company for 39 years. He spent his professional life selling conveyer belt hoses to quarries and heavy machinery operations. But since the age of ten, he always had a fascination with the world of magic.
For a 50th birthday celebration, his wife Judy hired a professional magician. And at the end of his performance, he pulled David aside and said: "I hear you're interested in magic. How would you like me to become your mentor?" And that conversation launched his second act as a professional magician.
David and his wife Judy (aka the baloon-twisting/face-painting Miss Penelope) have put on hundreds of magic shows over the past 25 years. But his favorite audience remains pre-school children. "They are like a sponge. They soak up everything I do."
Now 75 years old, he plans to continue performing for as long as he can still walk. "I love being a magician, And when I die, I want to be buried in performance clothes -- sparkly vest and everything. Even when I die, I don't want to give it up."
Click here, to learn more about the performance of David Wayne (his stage name) and Miss Penelope.
As we start the new year, we're pleased to share the episode named the "Best Of 2021." The episode features the amazing Anne Moss Rogers and is titled "Pain Turns To Purpose: A Suicide, A Mother's Grief And A Second Act." It is among the most inspiring tales we've shared since starting Second Act Stories in 2018.
Anne Moss Rogers was at the pinnacle of a 20-year professional career in 2010. She opened her own digital marketing agency in 2010 and the business grew quickly. By 2015 she and her partner had 9 employees and a growing roster of clients.
While her professional life was going especially well, life at home had significant problems. Her son Charles – the younger of two boys – suffered from a combination of depression and drug addiction. The problems began early in high school and escalated. At considerable expense to Anne Moss and her husband Randy, tried to help by placing him in a therapeutic boarding school followed by rehab. But on June 5, 2015 at the age of 20, Charles took his own life.
In the aftermath of her son's passing, Anne Moss sold her agency and has became a staunch activist for suicide prevention. She launched "Emotionally Naked" – a blog about the experience. She speaks frequently before both high school and adult audiences. And she has written a powerful book called "Diary of a Broken Mind."
Anne Moss Rogers is a textbook example of what psychologists call "post traumatic growth." When Charles committed suicide in 2015, she entered an unimaginable cauldron of pain and grief. And she came out the other side stronger and focused on making a difference in the world. And her work is saving lives.
Ken Coleman is the #1 bestselling author of "The Proximity Principle" and host of the nationally syndicated radio show "The Ken Coleman Show." As America's Career Coach, he helps callers discover what they do best so they can do work they love and produce the results that matter most to them.
In Ken's new bestselling book, "From Paycheck to Purpose," he draws on what he learned from his own ten-year journey as well as from coaching thousands of others to walk readers through the seven stages to discovering and doing work that gives you both a great income AND big impact.
In this special expert interview episode of Second Act Stories, host Scott Merritt traveled to the Nashville headquarters of Ramsey Solutions to sit down with Ken for a face-to-face discussion about his new book.
Learn more about Ken at www.kencoleman.com.
You can purchase "From Paycheck to Purpose" at the Ramsey Solutions online store, on Amazon, or wherever fine books are found.
Russell Brent learned how to knit from his mother at seven. But he put away his knitting needles at a young age after hearing the phrase "boys don't knit."
In his mid thirties, Russell started knitting again -- making baby gifts for friends. And he found he really enjoyed it -- "it was easy...it was meditative." His hobby grew into a new vocation and today he is the owner and proprietor of Balzac and Company, a yarn shop in Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
Detroit native Scott Weiss grew up in a family that emphasized formal education, but by his own admission, he was not a particularly good student. Scott attended Michigan State University, which was more a means to make money than to gain an education.
After graduating, Scott made his way to Atlanta, landed a job with Turner Broadcasting and by the age of 34 he was an executive vice president who launched the CNN Airport Network and often worked directly with Ted Turner. At this stage, Scott's bosses sent him to a communication training workshop at Speakeasy that changed the course of his life.
Because of his experience, Scott left Turner and joined Speakeasy, a move that slashed his salary by two-thirds, but that added much needed purpose to his life and his career. Today Scott continues to lead this organization that profoundly impacts people's lives.
Click here to learn about Speakeasy.
More information about Scott Weiss and his book DARE: Accepting the Challenge of Trusting Leadership is available at this link.
Nita Novy grew up in the small town of Courtdale, Pennsylvania (population 400). But via a series of unusual events, she made her way to the Broadway stage at the age of eight acting alongside Ethel Merman in Gypsy. She was later cast in "The Sound of Music," appearing in the production's first national tour and also on Broadway.
After getting a degree from Duke University, she returned to New York City and enjoyed a successful career as an adult actress. But as she and her husband Richard started a family, the theatre started to lose it's cachet and she sought a new creative outlet.
Her new path began when she made her three-year-old daughter a small, furry hat. When she came home from school that day and opened her lunch box "there were five orders inside." That ultimately led to her to a new career in fashion design and the launch of Nita Ideas with thriving retail stores in Milburn and Asbury Park, New Jersey.
Click here to check out more of her amazing designs.
For 31 years, Joe Gladstone worked as a math teacher in Syosset, New York. "I loved teaching, loved the kids, loved math, loved Syosset High School, loved my department. We had a bunch of people that we all grew up together. We were a family. It was marvelous."
But in 2001, things changed when a new chairman of the Math Department arrived. "He micromanaged everything and had the personality of a piece of paper." So Joe quit teaching and decided to pursue his other passion...the theatre.
Joe had been involved in community theatre for 20+ years in a number of different roles. But over time, he gravitated to the position of stage manager. Stage managers serve as the right hand to the director, overseeing sets, props, lights and sound and calling all technical cues during performances.
Today, he travels the country working as a freelance stage manager, primarily partnering with a wide range of opera companies. "It's so emotional when the curtain goes up and the audience gives you a standing ovation."
We're hitting a major milestone – the 100th episode of the Second Act Stories podcast.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, we've met and profiled some amazing people. Many are pursuing not-for-profit work. Some have started a new business. And others have turned a hobby into a full-time pursuit. But pretty much across the board, all of them are a heck of a lot happier in their new roles.
Looking back at the 100 episodes, we've pulled together 6 key takeaways on second acts:
1. Find What Feeds You 2. For Inspiration, Look Back To Your Childhood 3. Expect Barriers – Lots of Them 4. Trauma Often Triggers A Second Act 5. There Are Leapers And There Are Planners 6. You're Never Too Old To Make A Change
And to offer proof points for each takeaway, we've shared short interview segments with Chris Donovan, Nasim Alikhani, Cathy Heying, Anne Moss Rogers, Mary Robinson and Susan Goldfein.
Sit back and enjoy our Second Act Masterclass. And as a special bonus, we'll also introduce you to Scott Merritt who will be joining the Second Act Stories podcast as a co-host later this year.
Today's episode comes from Woodinville, Washington and our interview with Jerry Riener and Jennifer Sullivan. Jerry is a sergeant for the Woodinville Police Department. Jennifer is a journalist having worked for both the Seattle Times and KOMO-TV, the ABC news affiliate in Seattle region.
Like many couples, they found love, got married and started a family together. But unlike most couples they also started an amazing winery called Guardian Vineyards while holding down two very-demanding, full-time jobs. They started small -- producing just 350 cases of wine in 2007. Fourteen years later, they are now producing 10,000 cases of high-quality, wine per year.
Grab a glass of your favorite wine, sit back and enjoy Jerry and Jennifer's second act story.
Robert Brace grew up in London -- the eldest son of a single mother who emigrated from Ghana. His family expected him to pursue a traditional career -- a lawyer, accountant or doctor. But at the age of 15, he fell in love with the world of dance earning scholarships to the London Contemporary Dance School, Alvin Alley American Dance Theatre and the Dance Theatre of Harlem. To support himself during his early years in New York City, he became a personal trainer on the side -- earning $7 per workout.
After a decade in professional dance, he opted to become a full time minister with the Churches of Christ. But the transition proved difficult. And with a wife and a new-born child, he reluctantly went back to personal training -- this time earning $18 per workout.
Success came when he finally opened his own personal training practice, Brace Life Studios. And his big break came when he teamed with comedian Mark Malkoff for a YouTube video focused on helping Mark get "six pack abs in 28 days." That eventually transitioned into the Brace Life Studios "28 Day Challenge."
Today Robert has a full roster of celebrity clients that pay up to $225/hour for a one-on-one session with him.
Nasim Alikhani is the owner and executive chef of Sofreh, an amazing Persian restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. The restaurant opened in 2018 to rave reviews from The New York Times, Food & Wine, Saveur and The Food Network. The restaurant is consistently booked weeks in advance.
Sofreh is Nasim's first restaurant and she launched it at the age of 59 after nearly two decades as a stay-at-home mom. But it hasn't been an easy road. It took Nasim and her husband Theodore seven years build the restaurant in a brownstone that they purchased and renovated.
Melody Lynch fell in love with the ballet. She started dancing at 3 and made it in the professional ranks by the age of 15. She continued ballet studies at Butler University and after graduation landed a position with the North Carolina Dance Theatre where she worked for several years.
But her passion was for performance rather than teaching. And realizing that a dancer's career span is limited, she made the leap to law school. She has been a practicing attorney for the past 14 years at the Lowndes law firm in Orlando, Florida.
She keeps her hands in the arts serving as chair of her local philharmonic orchestra and via her 7-year-old daughter's love of dance.
We sit down for a face-to-face interview with Kimberly B. Cummings. Her first book, "Next Move, Best Move: Transitioning Into A Career You'll Love," debuts on June 9th 2021.
Kimberly is a career and leadership expert who heads up her own consulting practice called "Manifest Yourself." We reviewed the book in advance of the interview and asked about a number of intriguing passages and chapters of "Next Move, Best Move."
Cindy St. Clair made an unusual transition from the legal profession – working as a paralegal and then a legal administrator -- to the world of academia.
As you'll hear, she went back to school to get a bachelors, masters and doctorate in music in her 40s. And at the age of 50 she returned to teach as an adjunct professor of piano at her alma mater, Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. In January 2021, she was named the Interim Chair of the Division of Music, supervising a group of 18 full-time professors and 100 students.
Pete DeBusk is a true entrepreneur. He started from humble beginnings growing up in coal mining towns in the Appalachian Mountains. In his "Act 1," he founded DeRoyal Industries, a major manufacturer of medical products with 1,900 employees and facilities in a half-dozen countries around the world. Today, the company manufactures over 20,000 different products.
Back in 2000, Pete began to step-away from the business turning the day-to-day operations over to his son Brian. He admits it was a difficult transition for him. Coinciding with this corporate leadership change, Pete was asked to serve as Chairman of the Board of his alma mater, Lincoln Memorial University (LMU). And that's when his second act began.
He's been LMU's Chairman for 21 years now and Pete has rebuilt the school using the same playbook that he used at DeRoyal Industries. According to Pete, "You find niches and you fill niches." Under his leadership, LMU has added a medical school, law school, veterinary school as well as dozens of new majors that have helped the University grow by 1,500%.
As Pete shares in this episode: "I've built DeRoyal for my own personal use. Of course, it was a business. LMU you're doing it for somebody else. You're doing it to help people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to get a better education to grow in professional fields. Because it's hard to come out those Appalachians and get into graduate schools and get into stuff and a lot of people give up before they get started."
Anne Moss Rogers was at the pinnacle of a 20-year professional career. She opened her own digital marketing agency in 2010. The business grew quickly and by 2015 she and her partner had 9 employees and a growing roster of clients.
While her professional life was going especially well, life at home had significant problems. Her son Charles – the younger of two boys – suffered from a combination of depression and drug addiction. The problems began early in high school and escalated. At considerable expense to Anne Moss and her husband Randy, they tried to help by placing him in a therapeutic boarding school followed by rehab. But on June 5, 2015 at the age of 20, Charles took his own life.
In the aftermath of her son's passing, Anne Moss sold her agency and has became a staunch activist for suicide prevention. She launched "Emotionally Naked" – a blog about the experience. She speaks frequently before both high school and adult audiences. And she has written a powerful book called "Diary of a Broken Mind."
Anne Moss Rogers is a textbook example of what psychologists call "post traumatic growth." When Charles committed suicide in 2015, she entered an unimaginable cauldron of pain and grief. And she came out the other side stronger and focused on making a difference in the world. And her work is saving lives.
We concluded our interview by asking her, "What would Charles think of what you're doing now?" Anne Moss responded, "I think he would be proud to know that I'm following my heart."
On the first anniversary of Charles death, Anne Moss Rogers recorded an emotional reading of the lyrics of "Forgive Me Momma," one of many songs that were discovered in her son's backpack after his passing. It's about four minutes long and we hope you'll give it a listen by clicking the link above.
Dave Lazarus worked for 35 years in information technology. But at 60 years old he found himself unemployed. And the prospects of landing a new job in IT weren't terribly encouraging.
So on the advice of an old friend, he went back to an old passion: chess. And he started teaching chess to elementary students first in an after-school program and then as a private teacher.
The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the popular Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" led to an explosion in demand for online chess lessons. Today Dave teaches chess 7 days per week to a mix of students from grade 1 through 5. His online chess group, "Dave's Young Tigers," has 180 members so far.
Noa Shaw has led a hard life. Drugs and alcohol took hold of him at an early age. And he has struggled as both a drug addict and drug dealer for most of his adult life.
But eight years ago his life took a turn for the better when he wandered into a SoulCycle studio that was just opening up in Los Angeles. SoulCycle is a fitness company that is the gold standard in cycling workouts.
After his first workout, he was hooked. For three months, he attended every day – sometimes two workouts per day. He lost 100 pounds and got himself into shape both physically and mentally. The team at SoulCycle saw something in Noa and they invited him to audition as a fitness instructor.
At 57 years old, he is the oldest SoulCycle instructor on the planet. And here in New York City, Noa has built a dedicated following of riders that are inspired by him on a regular basis.
He is a certified life coach and in February 2021 released an inspirational book "Stop Thinking Thoughts That Scare You."
Noa Shaw can be reached on instagram (@noashaw26) or by email (noashaw@mac.com).
Mariane Sugrhue had a long career as an information technology manager with AT&T, Telecordia and NCS Technologies. She retired in 2018 at the age of 60 and has pursued an eclectic schedule of volunteer activities that includes judging ice skating competitions, helping to rescue dogs from "kill shelters" and working with a local food pantry.
Her greatest passion is being a devoted Bruce Springsteen fan. She has attended 225 Springsteen concerts including following him for a 2017 concert tour in Australia. According to Marianne, "No two concerts are ever the same with Bruce."
The combination of her information technology background and a well-honed skill at landing Springsteen tickets have prepared her for a new challenge...helping older residents secure Covid-19 vaccine appointments. "You can look at an appointment like getting a concert ticket. It's logic...it's a strategy...it's going in there and having things pre-populated and hitting refresh, refresh, refresh."
To date, she has secured vaccine appointments for 83 of her Garden State neighbors. "Whenever I secure an appointment I do a happy dance and eat a cookie."
In 2015, Tara Zedayko and Jessica Chu were both employed at Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies with $82 billion in annual revenue. They bonded over their work launching new healthcare products for humans but also a mutual love of dogs.
Four years later, Tara and Jess departed J&J and founded a start-up company called DIG Labs. Their focus is on the use of technology to provide personalized health care for our furry friends. Tara is 36 years-old and Jess is 32 years old.
As you'll hear in the episode, DIG Labs is developing an app that would allow pet owners to photograph their dog's excrement, text it for immediate analysis and receive feedback in just 10 seconds. Yes, we may now conclude, there is an app for everything.
Click here if you'd like to learn more about DIG Labs. You can also sign-up for the wait list for the launch of their new app. And make sure to bring your cellphone along on the next walk with Fido.
Mike Huber had a 20-year career as a top consultant with Ernst & Young, Cushman Wakefield and KPMG. His focus was in the area of site selection consulting – helping major companies like Samsung, Time Warner and Bausch & Lomb find new business locations. He worked hard and made a very good living. But over time he became frustrated with the corporate rat race and began to ask, "is this the right career for me?"
He went back to school, got a masters in Sports Psychology and became a mental performance coach. Today he works with middle-school and high school athletes helping them improve their mental fitness and game performance.
Mike took a major cut in compensation to launch Follow The Ball, his new consulting practice. But he is so much happier in his new line of work.
Bergen Giordani was a single mother working a full-time job during the day and bartending at night in her hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. It was tough road.
So back in 2013 and with the help of her then 16-year-old daughter Morgen, she opened a retail dessert shop called "One Hot Cookie." She put all of her savings, $2,500, on the line.
The mother-daughter team have proven to be a formidable partnership. And in the age of COVID-19, they have dramatically expanded the online portion of their business shipping both cookies and a "do-it-yourself" cookie decorating kits all over the country.
If you'd like to sample their cookies and perhaps order a "One Hot Cookie at Home" decorating kit, I'd encourage you to visit www.OneHotCookie.com. Of course, you're also welcome to drive to Youngstown, Ohio if you want a hot, gooey, chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven.
Special thanks to Kerry Hannon for suggesting this story. Kerry is the author of "Never Too Old To Get Rich" which includes a profile of Bergen and Morgen. She is an amazing writer and great friend of Second Act Stories.
As we start the new year, we're pleased to share the episode named by Second Act Stories listeners as the "Best of 2020." Fraidy Reiss' story is among the most inspiring tales we've profiled on the Second Act Stories podcast.
Part of the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, Fraidy was married at the age of 19. It was an arranged marriage to a man she barely knew. He demonstrated a violent streak within a week of the wedding punching his fist through a wall and threatened to kill her. Over the next twelve years, she feared for her own life on a daily basis. But she eventually she found a way to get a college education, achieve financial independence, divorce her husband and escape with the custody of her two daughters.
Today, she is the Founder and Executive Director of Unchained At Last, the only organization in the United States dedicated to ending forced and child marriage through direct services and advocacy.
Want to learn more about Fraidy Reiss and Unchained At Last? Check out her TED Talk on YouTube or visit the Unchained At Last website. Fraidy is also featured in Bruce Feiler's book "Life Is In The Transitions" (which is how we first heard of her) and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's "The Book of Gutsy Women."
Right after high school, Destiny Burns enlisted in the armed forces as a cryptologic officer. She had an exciting, 20-year career traveling the globe with the Navy. And when she retired from active service, she settled down in Northern Virginia and worked for a range of defense contractors.
But in her early 50s and after a divorce, she decided it was time to move back home to Cleveland, Ohio and launch her own business called the CLE Urban Winery. CLE purchases all of their grapes from California and Washington but the wine – about 50,000 bottles a year – is made in Cleveland. "Good Wine Made Fun" is Destiny's mantra.
Launched in 2016, the CLE Urban Winery was growing and thriving until March 2020. The COVID-19 Pandemic forced a three-month shutdown ("it was like a dagger to the heart") and continues to challenge her business on a daily basis. Despite this difficult environment, she couldn't be happier running her own company.
Special thanks to Kerry Hannon, author of "Never Too Old To Get Rich," for sharing this story idea.
Sheldon Myeroff is a true entrepreneur. He launched Direct Recruiters, Inc. at the age of 31. And over the next 37 years, he successfully grew the business into major executive recruiting company.
In 2011, he began an exit plan from Direct Recruiters – turning over the management of the company to a group of partners. And that's when he installed a rather elaborate woodshop in his basement. And over the past 7 years, he has turned a hobby of work working and furniture making into a booming business called Chagrin Valley Custom Furniture.
Success has come from specialization with a focus on designing, building and selling custom-made river tables. A "river table" is two pieces of natural wood with a river of epoxy resin flowing down the middle. That's become 80% of his furniture making business.
He is now turning the day-to-day operations over to a 32-year-old mentee named Zach Schulte (who we'll also hear from in today's episode).
Click here for a look at more river tables and other wood products produced by Sheldon, Zach and the team at Chagrin Valley Custom Furniture.
For more than 30 years, Amy worked as a writer, both on staff and on a freelance basis, for a wide range of top magazines. But when her father passed away in 2009, his funeral had a profound impact on her. And in relatively short order, Amy enrolled in mortuary school to become a licensed funeral director.
Ten years later, Amy owns and manages Fitting Tribute Funeral Services in Brooklyn, New York. Profiled in The New York Times and range of trade publications, she has built a name for herself as an advocate of green and sustainable practices within the funeral industry. And her work as a writer continues via her blog "The Inspired Funeral."
Special thanks to Bruce Feiler, author of "Life Is in The Transitions," for suggesting this episode.
What most of us know about hypnotism comes straight from Hollywood and involves swinging pocket watches and devious characters reciting the words "you are getting sleepy." But Lisa Ludovici operates very differently. She is a certified medical support hypnotist and is almost always brought in by a doctor. Frequently, they turn to Lisa when every other path to healing has failed.
Jackie Kotler is a case in point. She literally broke her back in a cliff jumping accident in the Dominican Republic. A difficult operation was followed by an even more difficult recovery. Traditional methods failed and Jackie tried acupuncture, alternative medicine and a psychologist without success. As a final "Hail Mary" effort, her doctors then turned to Lisa Ludovici and hypnotism to successfully heal her.
Lisa made the transition to hypnotist from a series of high-powered jobs in the world of advertising sales working for companies like America Online, Microsoft and Time Inc.
Click here to learn more about Lisa and her practice in New York City.
Special thanks to Bruce Feiler and his excellent book "Life Is In the Transitions" for bringing Lisa Ludovici to our attention.
Robin and Carl Mennie opened River Street Sweets-Savannah's Candy Kitchen in Asbury Park, NJ on July 2, 2020. It's an amazing shop filled with freshly-made pralines, rice krispie treats, loggerheads, chocolate covered pretzels and more – basically any sweet item you could ever want.
This franchise business is a leap for both of them. Robin worked for 20+ years as a nurse practitioner with a specialty in cardiology. Carl was – and still is – a pilot with American Airlines working mostly on international flights. The business is really a family affair with all four of their children helping in the operation.
It's a sweet story but it's certainly not an overnight success. It took over three years from their first meeting with the Strickland Family, the owners of River Street Sweets-Savannah's Candy Kitchen, before the sale of their first praline in Asbury Park. And, of course, they had the challenge of opening a new store in the middle of a pandemic.
Click the link to learn more about the company. And if you find yourself in Asbury Park, NJ, I hope you'll give Robin and Carl a visit. And you'll feel "like a kid in a candy store."
Special thanks to my friend Paul Kaplan for suggesting this story.
Fraidy Reiss' story is among the most inspiring tales we've ever profiled on the Second Act Stories podcast.
Part of the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, Fraidy was married at the age of 19. It was an arranged marriage to a man she barely knew. He demonstrated a violent streak within a week of the wedding punching his fist through a wall and threatened to kill her. Over the next twelve years, she feared for her own life on a daily basis. But she eventually she found a way to get a college education, achieve financial independence, divorce her husband and escape with the custody of her two daughters.
Today, she is the Founder and Executive Director of Unchained At Last, the only organization in the United States dedicated to ending forced and child marriage through direct services and advocacy.
Want to learn more about Fraidy Reiss and Unchained At Last? Check out her TED Talk on YouTube and visit the Unchained At Last website. Fraidy is also featured in Bruce Feiler's book "Life Is In The Transitions" (which is how we first heard of her) and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton's "The Book of Gutsy Women."
Bruce Feiler is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers (including Walking The Bible, The Secrets of Happy Families and Abraham), the presenter of two prime-time series on PBS and the inspiration for the NBC drama series "Council of Dads." He's also presented two TED Talks viewed by more than two million people. It's an honor to have him on Second Act Stories.
We sat down in the backyard of Bruce's townhouse in Brooklyn for a socially-distant interview focused on his latest book Life Is In The Transitions: Mastering Change At Any Age. It is a highly-relevant book for anyone exploring a second act and we've happily added it to our "Best Books About Second Acts" resource page.
For more on Bruce and his work, here's a link to his website.
Kiku Mehta was born in 1937 and grew up in the Gujarat Province on India. He was trained as a lawyer there but emigrated to the United States in 1964.
When he arrived here in the US, he set aside his work as a lawyer and went to work as a social worker for Children's Services Inc. in Philadelphia. It paid the bills and helped him and his wife Kira put their three daughters through college.
He stayed with Children's Services for 51 years. But when the organization shut down in 2017, Kiku was out of a job.
With the help of his youngest daughter and a family friend – both lawyers – Kiku want back to school to complete 41 continuing education credits and pursue the reinstatement of his law license. And today at the age of 83, he now practices immigration law in Philadelphia at the law offices of Stanley J. Ellenberg.
Kiku Mehta's advice to others considering a second act: "Do it to help people. My background as a social worker helped me to do it that way. So, money is the last thing on my mind. I joined the law profession to help people."
We learned about Kiku's story from a terrific article, "He Returned To The Courtroom At 82 For A Second Act As A Lawyer" in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Special thanks to Mari Schaefer for her excellent reporting.
We first read about Terry Kutz in a terrific article in The Wall Street Journal. Terry had a long career as a financial planner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But as a hobby he had become involved in revolutionary war reenactments with a group called the Northwest Territory Alliance (NWTA). And one day an organizer asked him if he'd be willing to play the role of Benjamin Franklin at an event they were putting on.
In retirement, his work interpreting Ben Franklin has become a part-time occupation (or what his wife now calls a full-time obsession). He's participated in dozens of historical re-enactments and events as a historical interpreter. When we met him at his home in New Berlin, Wisconsin, he came in full historical costume and wearing bifocals – which of course were invented by Ben Franklin. Click here for more on Terry and his work as a historical interpreter.
The bulk of today's episode focuses on Terry and his second act. But we'll start by going back to 1776 for an interview with one of America's founding fathers.
Chris Welles was a 46-year-old executive recruiter in Boston, Massachusetts. He was happy in his job and he had no plans for a change. But in 2008 he took a summer vacation with his wife, four kids and two other families to Kenya. And the trip completely changed his life.
Today he manages "American Rhino," a growing clothing brand with a retail and online presence. The company sells shirts, pants, sneakers, canvas bags and now face masks. All of the manufacturing takes place in Africa. And 10% of our every purchase goes directly to supporting wildlife and land conservation in Kenya.
The products that American Rhino produces are truly outstanding. Kikoy is a wonderful breathable fabric that has the feel and look of linen. Please visit www.AmericanRhino.com and check the shirts, shorts, canvas bags, sneakers and more. And remember 10% of every purchase goes back to Kenya to support wildlife conservation.
We depart from our traditional format with this episode to offer a glimpse inside the world of contact tracing. This is the fastest growing job in America, with the need for an estimated 200,000 contact tracers to track infections and protect the U.S. population against the advance of the COVID-19 virus. For those in our audience who may now be unemployed or simply looking for a new challenge, we thought it would be interesting to learn how the job works and the qualities needed to excel in this role.
We connected with Daniel Okpare, a 30-year-old masters student in New York University's School of Global Public Health. In addition to getting an advanced degree, he is on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, working for New York City's Health and Hospitals Program. He was previously profiled in The New York Times.
One point of clarification...many of the contact tracer positions focus on connecting with individuals infected by the virus by telephone. Daniel's job is that of a "community engagement specialist." He goes out into the community to meet with individuals that can't be reached via the telephone. He typically conducts 4-6, face-to-face interviews per day. Interviews take place in the doorway of the infected individual's home and run for 20-30 minutes.
We regularly celebrate the doctors, nurses, physicians assistants and paramedics helping to combat the COVID-19 crisis. It's to add "contact tracers" like Daniel Okpare to this list of healthcare heroes.
Patricia Heaton starred in two wildly successful television series: Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle.
But it was the not-so-successful series Carol's Second Act that led Patricia (or Patty she likes to be called) to author a new book called "Your Second Act." It shares her own story and her new work serving as an Ambassador for the non-profit organization World Vision. The book also details the "Second Act Stories" of 14 other, courageous individuals navigating major, life transitions. It's an inspiring read for anyone exploring a new path.
We normally conduct all of our podcast interviews face-to-face. But with travel challenges brought on by the COVID-19 crisis and the opportunity to interview a three-time Emmy award winner, we made an exception for the chance to speak with Patricia Heaton via telephone.
Her new book, "Your Second Act," is on our "Best Books about Second Acts" list.
Susan Goldfein is 79 years old, in great shape and splits her time between Florida and Connecticut. For most of her professional career, she served as a speech pathologist in a range of different settings. She worked with elementary school students, provided home care for stroke patients and she taught at the university level.
Her last position was with the Alzheimers Association in New York City. But in 2008, the organization faced major funding challenges and had to reduce their staff. So at the age of 68, Susan was out of a job and completely lost in terms of what to do.
After some early struggles, she took an eight-week course in short story writing at a community center. And in the footsteps of Nora Ephron and Erma Bombeck, she found her voice as a successful humorist. She pens a blog called "Unfiltered Wit," has written two books and her stories are syndicated in eight different newspapers across the country. You can check out her writing on her website.
Concerned about COVID-19, we sat down outside in two folding chairs in a Westport, Connecticut dog park – yes a dog park – for an interview. So enjoy the conversation and a few extra background noises too.
Kevin Garrison worked the overnight shift for Amtrak helping to keep the trains running in an out of New York City. And in 2016, he was looking for a charitable Christmas project. An online post about a blessing bag – a plastic bag filled with everyday hygiene and food products caught his eye. It proved to be the start of the Blessing Bag Brigade – a non-profit that has delivered 65,000 blessing bags to those in need.
But in 2016, he was looking for a small charitable project to celebrate Christmas. On his computer, he saw a posting about a "blessing bag" – a small plastic bag filled with everyday hygiene and food products that could be distributed to those in need. With the help of his friends, he put together 200 blessing bags. After then after work, he walked around Penn Station and distributed the bags to homeless men and women. He did this for about two weeks.
Four years later Kevin has formed the Blessing Bag Brigade – a non-profit in New Jersey that has distributed over 65,000 blessing bags to the less fortunate. And last year, with the support of his fiancé, he retired from Amtrak and now manages this non-profit on a full time basis. And he couldn't be happier.
Click here to learn more about Kevin Garrison and the Blessing Bag Brigade.
If you've ever dreamed of writing the Great American Novel, this episode is for you.
For most of his professional career, Marty Herman was a business turnaround specialist. He would come into troubled companies, figure out what was wrong and implement a solution. And then he'd move on to the next company.
But he always had a love of writing – he even sold a couple of short stories in his life. So at the age of 75, and with the help and encouragement of his youngest daughter Aimee, he published his first mystery novel called "The Jefferson Files." Since then he's published four other mystery novels, a book of short stories and a biography of a local jazz musician.
Marty loves writing. But he also loves selling his books. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he attended 200+ book and craft fairs each year and estimates that he's sold 15,000-18,000 of his books in this manner.
Click here to learn more about his work and purchase one of his books. I read his latest mystery, "The First Tuesday Of The Month Murder Files," and it is terrific.
Over the course of the past two years, we've interviewed quite a few lawyers. Mark Salvacion was a corporate lawyer who found a more fulfilling life as a Methodist minister. Richard Turner was a trial attorney who found a path to becoming a very successful nature photographer. Michael Lowe left the law to start a Washington, DC gin distillery with his son-in-law. And Amy Yontef-McGrath was a former lawyer who experimented with 50 public service projects in celebration of her 50th birthday.
But nothing could have prepared us for Lora Cheadle's story. She went from practicing law in the insurance industry to burlesque dancing. We're not making this up. Actually that's only a piece of what she does. Lora is also as an author, a hypnotherapist, a podcast host and her favorite term self-coined term: a life choreographer. But burlesque is a big part of her second act story.
Click here to learn more about Lora Cheadle, her new book "Flaunt: Drop Your Cover and Reveal Your Smart, Sexy and Spiritual Self," her blog and her podcast.
Barbara Brooks and Guadalupe Hirt are two, talented women based in Denver, Colorado. Both have entrepreneurial backgrounds but had the same plan as they approached their 50s: Get a stable, corporate job...Enjoy solid health benefits....And put away some retirement funds. But like many older workers they hit a brick wall called ageism.
After dozens of resume submissions and almost no interviews, they took a different direction. Barbara and Guadalupe formed an organization called Second Act Women. Not surprisingly, we love the name of their organization that helps women in their 40s, 50s and above navigate the latter stage of their professional lives. At the center of the group is an amazing event called "Biz Life Con" an active online community on Facebook. After a successful start in Denver, they are now in the early stages of taking their approach to other cities in the USA.
Click here to learn more about Second Act Women.
Mary Robinson was just 14 when she lost her father. Throughout high school, college and her 20s, that grief stayed bottled up inside her. A therapist helped her get her life together by helping her share her story.
She landed a corporate job with Prudential Financial working in their information technology department and eventually running the company's volunteer programs. But after fourteen years, she concluded she was a "fish out of water" in Corporate America.
Mary kept a small sign on her bedroom mirror that said "Leap And The Net Will Appear." One day she marched into her boss' office with a resignation letter and announced her decision to leave Prudential. She had no idea what she was going to do. But "The Net" did eventually appear in her decision to launch "Imagine: A Center For Coping With Loss." Imagine is a free year-round grief support center for children ages 3 to 18, and young adults 18 to 30, and their parents, who have had a parent, brother, sister or other close family member die.
Mary was honored as a CNN Hero in 2019. "It was just so exciting, because it allowed us to shine a global spotlight on this issue of children's grief. One of the things that all of us who work in this field say is that our vision is that someday no child grieves alone. And I feel like with this recognition from CNN, that that is actually possible now in my lifetime."
We're honored to profile her on the Second Act Stories podcast.
For more information about Imagine: A Center For Coping With Loss, click here.
Expert estimates predict the U.S. unemployment rate could rise from anywhere from 10% - 32% in 2020. Whatever the final number, that represents millions of individuals who will be unexpectedly looking for work. As Americans struggle to find new positions, it may be the right time to ask "Is It Time For My Second Act?"
For perspective on this challenge as the world wrestles with the COVID-19 Crisis, we turned to two of the nation's most respected experts on the topic of career and workplace issues: Kerry Hannon and Marci Alboher.
Kerry Hannon has written 12 books in the area of career transitions and personal finance as well as literally hundreds of articles for The New York Times, Forbes, Money, USA Today, US News and World Report and AARP. Her latest book, Great Pajama Jobs: How To Land A Job Without The Commute, will be released in July 2020.
Marci Alboher is a Vice President at Encore.org, author of The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life and former New York Times workplace columnist. You can also check out Marci's free "Encore Careers" course on LinkedIn.
You can follow Kerry and Marci on Twitter (@kerryhannon and @heymarci).
Since his junior year in high school, Chris Donovan has been sketching women's shoes. It's been his quiet obsession for the past 30+ years.
At the age of 50, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And he knew it was time to leave his safe job at the phone company to pursue his lifelong dream. "I need to follow this. I need to find out why I have this passion for shoes."
Based on the recommendation of European shoe designer Aki Choklat, he was accepted to Polimoda, one of the best fashion design institutes in the world. He enrolled in an accelerated masters program and packed his bags for Florence, Italy. And while his first few months were difficult, he ended up graduating at the top of his class.
Since our initial interview with Chris in October 2018, he has figured out how to turn his amazing designs into an actual product. Take it from Tim Gunn of Project Runway: "It's like nothing you've ever seen before."
For more examples of Chris' amazing designs, visit www.ChrisDonovanFootwear.com.
The majority of Peace Corps volunteers are idealistic, recent college graduates looking to make a difference in the world. But David Jarmul and his wife Champa are different. They joined the Peace Corps together in May 2016. Both were 63 years old.
David had been serving as the Associate Vice President of News and Communications for Duke University for 14 years. Champa was employed as a sonographer/ultrasound technician. For David, it was his second tour of service. Thirty-seven years earlier he had served as a Peace Corps teacher in Nepal.
He describes their experience working for two years in Moldova in a wonderful new book called "Not Exactly Retired. A Life Changing Journey On The Road and In The Peace Corps."
Kathy and Gary Friedle and their two boys lived in New York City. Both had high-powered jobs – Kathy as an architect and Gary as an asset manager in a financial management firm. They worked long hours and increasingly felt they were on a treadmill that kept moving faster and faster. They dreamed of one day retiring and opening up a bed and breakfast.
But rather than waiting until their sixties they decided to make a move at 45. They talked with their two boys who were willing to relocate to California. And rather than opening up a bed and breakfast in New England, they bought a 16 room hotel in Palm Springs, California that was a working nudist resort at the time. They said goodbye to the nudists and brought the hotel back to its original name of the Monkey Tree Hotel.
Steve Javie worked as an NBA referee for 25 years. He officiated nearly 1,500 games including 20 NBA finals. He was widely regarded as one of the best referees in the league.
But in his 24th year in the league, his knee started to give out. He returned for one final season – his 25th year -- but that was it.
Steve is a religious man and after his basketball career, he asked God to help guide him. And that led him to the St. Charles Seminary and seven years of study to become a Catholic deacon. He was ordained in June, 2019.
Paul Giannone (known to all as "Paulie Gee") grew up in Brooklyn, NY but moved to New Jersey as an adult. For most of his professional career he worked with AT&T and their subsidiaries as an information technology staffer and eventually a consultant. And candidly he never liked the work – he never felt he was very good at it either. But he needed to support his family so he stuck it out.
While he didn't love his work, he loved pizza -- absolutely loved everything about it. And at the age of 56, he took an incredible leap of faith – returning to Brooklyn and opening up Paulie Gees -- a pizza restaurant. He's been remarkably successful and "Paulie's Slice Shop" followed in Brooklyn as did Paulie Gees franchise restaurants in Chicago, Columbus and Baltimore.
Paulie secured 15 different investors that helped him launch the restaurant. But he also took out a home equity loan and put his own "skin in the game" to pursue his dream. It was a big risk but it has all worked out. As Paulie told us, "This is beyond my wildest dreams, I had no idea how happy I could be...I am doing what I was born to do, what I am wired to do."
*A slice of Paulie Gee's "HellBoy" pizza. All photos by Kenny Chung.
Zammy Migdal arrived in the United States from Israel in his early 20s. He studied hospitality in college and built a career in Miami's hotel industry. And at a fairly young age he launched an art-deco, boutique hotel in South Beach called the Indian Creek Hotel. He operated it with great success for nearly two decades.
But the September 11th attack had a devastating impact on Miami's hotel industry. And the growth of the internet made it difficult for boutique hotels to compete. So at the age of 48, Zammy sold the hotel.
He had no idea what he wanted to do next. But he had always been interested in art and so he took a course in welding at a local art studio. And today he is a highly-successful artist focused on metal sculpture. His work is displayed around the world.
I sat down with Zammy in his home in Miami. He showed me his studio and a number of pieces that he has created. And we talked about his second act.
As we start the new year, we're pleased to share the episode named by Second Act Stories listeners as the "Best of 2019."
Most of America already knows Kyle Merker. The Ancestry.com commercial where he "trades in his lederhosen for a kilt" has aired 22,000 times on broadcast television.
Kyle filmed the Ancestry commercial at the age of 53. And the experience sparked an old passion that encouraged him to pursue acting after 25+ years in the world of accounting and finance.
In just three short years, he's been remarkably successful being featured in range of other commercials, television programs, films and theater projects. But he took acting seriously enrolling in a two-year program at the Michael Warner Studio in New York City. And he prepares meticulously for each and every audition.
Arthur and Phil have been together for 20 years as a committed couple. Both had long careers as lawyers. Phil worked for 30 years as an in-house corporate lawyer for a large insurance company. Arthur concluded his legal career as the Dean of Students at New York University Law School.
They retired in their mid-50s and have followed a wide range of passions: art, music and travel. But at the top of the list is yoga instruction. They have created an amazing experience called AP Yoga. Yes, between Memorial Day to Labor Day, you'll find them on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ. Seven days a week they teach yoga seven-days-a-week to an enthusiastic group of regulars and tourists from 7:45 to 8:45 am.
During the winter months, they teach yoga on Saturday mornings in their local community center in nearby Interlaken, NJ. And that's where Second Act Stories had a chance to catch up with them and their students.
Special thanks to my friend Jodi Heinz who is a regular at AP Yoga and suggested this episode.
Today's story goes back 181 years to 1838. That's when 272 men, women, and children were sold by an order of Jesuit priests and the proceeds of the sale was used to pay the debts of Georgetown College, now Georgetown University. The slaves had lived on plantations belonging to the Jesuits in Maryland. They were put on a boat and moved to their new owners in Louisiana.
Melisande Short-Columbe is a descendant of this group known as the GU-272. Two-and-a-half years ago she left her work as a chef in New Orleans and entered Georgetown University as a freshman. She was 63 years old.
She is now in her junior year at Georgetown. I visited her in Washington where she was house-sitting for one of her professors. She made me a cup of tea and we sat down for a candid discussion about her great, great, great grandparents Mary Ellen Queen and Abraham Mahoney and about becoming a full-time college student in her 60s.
Michael Lowe was a corporate lawyer in Washington DC. When he left Verizon's legal department at the age of 59, he started doing yoga five days a week and reading like a fiend. But his wife was still working. And he was getting bored puttering around the house.
So what did he do? Michael launched Washington's first distillery in 100 years and started making "Green Hat Gin" with his son-in-law John Uselton.
Their success is very different than the traditional model of a family business started by a first generation and then grown by subsequent generations. Michael and John started the business together. Michael brought the regulatory experience and a large amount of the capital. John brought sales experience, a network of contacts from his years in Washington's alcohol and restaurant industry and the energy of someone in the early stages of a new career.
It's proven to be a powerful partnership. And out of that partnership came a great product. So if you find yourself in Washington one weekend, I suggest you stop in to their tasting room, say hi and sample a cocktail with Green Hat Gin.
Venetia Clark loved her job as a Walgreens' pharmacist for 30 years.
But as she approached 55 years of age, she had the opportunity to take advantage of an early retirement program with some significant financial benefits. And she also spent quality time with her 91-year-old father who was in the final year of his life. It caused her to conclude it was time for a change. A love of travel and the encouragement of two flight attendant friends led her to a new job opportunity.
She has been flying for the past five years and loving the new job with United Airlines.
Marc Miller has changed career paths a total of seven times. But after suffering a near fatal bike accident, he switched gears – no pun intended – and focused his talents on counseling friends and associates on their career journeys. And he realized that he had found his true calling.
From there, he wrote a powerful book called "Repurpose Your Career" that is now in its third edition…He launched the "Repurpose Your Career" podcast which now has nearly 150 episodes. And he started the "Career Pivot" online community.
We caught up with Marc at the Princeton Public Library where he was speaking on the topic of ageism.
Shila Desai's life has an intriguing and international timeline. She is of Indian descent – with her grandparents coming from the country's Gujarat province. But she was born in Kenya and grew up there. She got her professional degree in the United Kingdom. And at the age of 24, Shila relocated to Canada where she spent most of her adult life.
She arrived in Canada and didn't know a soul. She met her future husband in the first few weeks in Toronto, they married and started a family. And they bought a bankrupt garment manufacturing company and turned it into a home run success.
On the outside it looked like a wonderful life. But Shila struggled with depression and thirsted for something that she could call her own. At the request of her writer's group, she put together a tour that brought nineteen of her friends to India. The experience was such a success she turned it into a travel company called Eat Your Heart Out Tours (or EYHO Tours for short).
As you'll hear in the podcast, EYHO Tours has developed a particular expertise in textile tours essentially bringing visitors and textile artisans in India, Morocco, Madagascar and Uzbekistan together. You can learn more about Shila's company at www.eyhotours.com.
Ruth Lavigne grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was a doctor (a radiologist) and she used to fill-in the date on patient sheets when her dad reviewed their films at home. As Ruth followed her father around his hospital, she always thought "that will be me someday."
She ended up studying French in college and then business in graduate school. After marrying, starting a family and relocating to California, she found herself working as a banquet waitress in a San Diego hotel. She enjoyed the work and the flexible schedule which gave her time with two kids.
Ruth's dream of becoming a doctor re-emerged one night as she held her oldest daughter Ariel in her arms and told her "you can be anything you want when you grow up." And Ruth thought, "one day this kid is gonna look back up at me say, so you wanted to be a waitress all your life?"
With financial help from her parents and childcare support from her in-laws, she went back to school at 31 to take the necessary pre-med coursework. At 36, she returned home and entered medical school at the University of Cincinnati. At 40 she began a four-year residency to become a radiation oncologist. And at 45-years-of age, she finally became Dr. Ruth Lavigne.
Ruth's story of persistence and overcoming obstacles is as inspirational as they come.
Jim Owen is 78 years old and he is in awesome shape. He works out regularly and part of his routine is doing three sets of 50 push-ups. That's pretty amazing for a man of his age.
But for most of his life he was a self-described, "certified couch potato." On his 70th birthday, his life changed when he watched a video of himself going on stage to give a speech. "My shoulders were hunched over. My knees were shot, so I was sort of shuffling along. And I had chronic back problems. It was humiliating."
Jim lost 50 pounds, hired an experienced trainer and got serious about working out. And the impact on his life has been incredible.
He wanted to share his new passion with others so he wrote and published a book called "Just Move: A New Approach to Fitness After 50." For anyone who has ever said late in life, "Gee, I wish I could get in shape," this book is for you.
Russell Abbott spent most of his career on Wall Street working in the management of hedge funds. About two years ago, he transitioned to working for a non-profit based in Brooklyn, New York called Extreme Kids and Crew. The organization is a community center where children with disabilities and their families can socialize, create and play. He's a whole lot happier in the new job.
Russell was first introduced to Extreme Kids and Crew via the Encore Fellowship Program. Run by a group called Encore.org, it's essentially a matchmaking service that connects senior corporate executives with non-profit organizations looking for experienced talent. The program is now in it's tenth year and has placed over 2,000 executives in positions in 50+ cities across the United States.
Kerry Hannon is an absolute rock star in the world of career transitions and personal finance. She has written 12 books in this area as well as literally hundreds of articles for The New York Times, Forbes, Money, USA Today, US News and World Report and AARP. She is a sought- after speaker and expert who has appeared on everything from ABC News to NPR to The Dr. Phil Show.
Her latest book is "Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneur's Guide To Starting A Business Mid-Life." We caught up with Kerry before a book signing in New York City for her perspective on the emerging trend of late-in-life entrepreneurs. It's a fast-paced discussion littered with nuggets of Kerry's wisdom from years studying second acts.
For more about Kerry and her work, here's a link to her website.
Special thanks to Encore.org's Marci Alboher for connecting me with Kerry.
Most of America already knows Kyle Merker. The Ancestry.com commercial where he "trades in his lederhosen for a kilt" has aired 22,000 times on broadcast television.
Kyle filmed the Ancestry commercial at the age of 53. And the experience sparked an old passion that encouraged him to pursue acting after 25+ years in the world of accounting and finance.
In just three short years, he's been remarkably successful being featured in range of other commercials, television programs, films and theater projects. But he took acting seriously enrolling in a two-year program at the Michael Warner Studio in New York City. And he prepares meticulously for each and every audition.
Special thanks to friend and neighbor Sue Check for connecting me with Kyle Merker.
Jane Canapini was a 20-year-veteran of the advertising world in Toronto, Canada. She worked as a creative director for both large and small advertising agencies. But in 2012, her last agency downsized and she was laid off at the age of 51.
Rather than landing another job in advertising, she decided it was time to make a major career change. She pursued her life-long passion by launching a travel blog called Grownup Travels.
Today's episode is different. Rather than focusing on an individual's "second act," we're going to look at a region of the United States that has emerged as the leading example of a "second act" or "turnaround" community. I'm talking about Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
I traveled to Pittsburgh at the invitation of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, a group that has been focused on advancing the region's future over the past 75 years. In fact, this podcast will debut later this month at an event in Pittsburgh called "Our Next 75 Summit."
During my visit, I had the chance to sit down with more than a dozen leaders from the area. We talked about the past and difficult challenges the region has faced. But mostly we talked about the future of Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania – essentially what I'm calling the Pittsburgh's next act.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadFor the past 15 years, Time magazine has selected it's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." The 2019 issue includes Lady Gaga, Donald Trump, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Mark Zuckerberg and Dwayne Johnson.
It also includes Desmond Meade, a name you've probably never heard before. In 2005, Desmond Meade had three strikes against him. He was homeless. He was a drug addict. And he was a convicted felon. Reaching the lowest point in his life, he was prepared to commit suicide by jumping in front of a moving train. But according to Meade, the train "never came that day." And he opted to check himself into a rehabilitation facility instead.
He set a new path for himself earning an associates, bachelors and law degree. And then Desmond set his sights on the passage of Florida's Amendment 4. Officially known as the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, Amendment 4 was a ballot initiative to restore the voting rights of an estimated 1.5 million Floridians with felony convictions. Political pundits gave the initiative very little chance of ever getting on the ballot let alone passing with the required 60% approval by the electorate.
It took Desmond and his team at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition nearly a decade. But on November 6, 2018, Amendment 4 passed with 65% of the vote.
According to Meade, "I tell people that on November 6th, on election night, the country got to see love winning the day. We had over 5.1 million votes, a million more than any candidate received. And those votes weren't based on hate and fear, they were based on love, forgiveness, and redemption. Love actually won the day. Love destroyed that Jim Crow law."
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadClick here to read the Time magazine article about Desmond Meade, penned by Stacey Abrams, former Democratic Minority Leader for the Georgia House of Representatives.
Tom Forst was 57 years old. He was a regional vice president with Cox Media, a huge communications company. He was jetting around the country on private planes. He had an army of people reporting to him. He was making a hefty salary.
That was 10 years ago. He decided to quit his corporate gig to pursue a life-long passion – music. He put out his first blues-rock album as Tom "The Suit" Forst. He did a month long tour of China as the headlining act. And now he's back in the studio now working on his next album. You can check out his music at www.TomTheSuitForst.com.
He also launched the "Chasing The Blues" podcast which is well worth a listen. As the Jethro Tull song concludes, "You're never too old to rock n' roll."
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadKen Coleman is a highly-successful ,broadcast personality and career coach who hosts a daily radio show, aptly called "The Ken Coleman Show." Every day, he counsels thousands of listeners on how to best find their dream job. He also hosts the highly-successful EntreLeadership podcast which consistently ranks among the top five business podcasts on the iTunes charts.
Ken is a genuine "Second Act" success story himself. At the age of 34, Ken started to pursue a broadcast career despite zero background and training in the profession.
Nine years later, he has written a book that draws heavily on that personal experience as well as literally hundreds of telephone calls with his listeners. It's titled "The Proximity Principle" and it is a strong guide for anyone exploring a second act. The simple formula described by him in his book and this episode:
The Right People + The Right Places = Opportunities
Special thanks to McKenzie Masters and Madison Crowder for the assistance in facilitating this interview. It was an honor to meet and interview Ken Coleman.
Download Episode TranscriptDownloadThis episode is a bit different (and we love "different" here at Second Act Stories). Today, we'll introduce you to Amy Yontef-McGrath. She lives in Montgomery County, Maryland and is the proud mother of three.
Amy found herself in a bit of a funk as she approached her 49th birthday. She loved her job as a stay-at-home mom. But as her children were getting older and starting to leave the nest, it was clear that she needed something new. As she put it, I needed to "shake-up my life."
In a stroke of creative genius, she came up with "Follow Me To Fifty," a year-long journey to complete 50 public service projects in advance of her 50th birthday. Amy joined a group of volunteers in kayaks to clean-up the Anacostia River. She helped a refugee family settle into their new home. She did a monthly-long stint as a food coordinator at the local food bank. She placed American flags on the graves of war veterans on Veterans Day. And along the way, she documented each of these projects in her "Follow Me To Fifty" blog.
Amy's choice for the 50th project? She took a fifty mile walk along the Pacific Coast Highway in California. "I wanted to go somewhere I'd never gone before. Exploring new things was the theme of the whole year and I wanted the same for the walk."
Amy Yontef-McGrath giving her "Volunteer of the Year" acceptance speech at Montgomery Serves Annual Awards Ceremony.Last month Amy was selected as "Volunteer of the Year" by the Montgomery County Volunteer Center. In her acceptance speech, she asked the crowd to "Please keep following me. I'm not done yet."
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT DownloadI first learned about Luke Mickelson and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a non-profit that he founded in 2012, via the CNN Heroes Program. I immediately thought to myself "I have to interview this man." Then I found out he lives in Twin Falls, Idaho – a mere 2,369 miles from my home in New Jersey.
But as luck would have it, I was traveling to Salt Lake City for a business conference. So I rented a car and drove three hours across Idaho's wide open spaces to the national headquarters of Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
So what is Sleep in Heavenly Peace? It's an amazing non-profit with 150 chapters across the United States. In 2018, they built 4,144 bunk beds for children whose families can't afford a bed for them. In 2019, they expect to build over 10,000 beds.
On the wall behind Luke Mickelson's desk, is a framed photo of the 2012 Facebook post that helped launch Sleep in Heavenly Peace.Those might seem like a lot of beds but here's a scary number. Sleep in Heavenly Peace estimates that 1.5 to 2.0 million kids in America sleep on the floor each night.
Here's the story of how Luke and his wife Heidi founded "Sleep in Heavenly Peace." Included in their journey was a decision for Luke to quit his full-time job in order to focus on the organization's rapid growth.
Luke and Heidi Mickelson stand in front of the map of Sleep In Heavenly Peace's 150+ chapters across the United States.Click here to learn more about and/or donate to Sleep in Heavenly Peace. It is an amazing organization doing amazing work across the United States (with plans to expand internationally in the year ahead).
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadYou don't have to freeze your body. No need for bionic limbs. And you can hold off on eating mountains of kale (thank goodness). If you want to live forever, then focus on building a legacy via meaningful work with younger generations.
Last month, I sat down for an hour with the man who is essentially the creator of the encore career movement. His name is Marc Freedman and he appropriately heads up an organization called Encore.org. Here's a quick summary of some of his accomplishments:
"How To Live Forever" gives dozens of fascinating examples of intergenerational experiences from across the United States and the globe. It lays out a road map for finding purpose and happiness later in life.
Marc introduces us to a range of engaging characters successfully connecting, mentoring and collaborating with younger generations. My favorite adage from Freedman's book: "The real fountain of youth is the fountain with youth."
I loved "How To Live Forever" and thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Marc. Today's podcast is longer than our usual episodes but candidly the conversation was so rich in content it was just too good to cut down.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadWarren Schueller (on the left in the purple t-shirt) worked for 28 years as a chemistry teacher in Staten Island, New York.
But at the age of 57 he began working with a group called Careers Through Culinary Arts (CCAP) and transitioned to being a culinary instructor. He trained a wide range of schools including the French Culinary Institute (New York City), Culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales and the New York Restaurant School and helped prepare New York City high school students for culinary careers. He retired in 2012.
But you'll find him cooking every Tuesday at the St. Marks Center for Community Renewal in Keansburg, New Jersey. At this area "soup kitchen," Warren and his team are producing upscale meals for 60+ hungry, "down on their luck" individuals each week.
Warren will turn 74 years old next month. And he hopes to keep cooking at St. Mark's soup kitchen "forever."
Earlier this year the St. Mark's Center for Community Renewal embarked on a $50,000 campaign to renovate the kitchen. You can donate to the program by sending your check to Deacon Rose Broderick, St. Mark's Center for Community Renewal, 247 Carr Avenue, Keansburg, NJ 07734.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT DownloadThis week's post has the added benefit of an accompanying video for the podcast by award-winning filmmaker Paul Kaplan.
https://youtu.be/zftCTloCz4gToday's episode focuses on someone I've known for a long time. Don Hessemer and I were part of a Saturday morning running group when I lived in Central New Jersey. He had a 38-year career as an environmental consultant in New York and New Jersey. But in 2018, Don decided it was time for a change.
So at the age of 61, a time when many people are counting the days to retirement, Don decided to switch careers and become a hospice chaplain. Everyday he works with patients and their families as they approach the end of life.
When I read Don's announcement about this new position on Facebook, I remember thinking to myself, "What an awful and difficult job." But Don doesn't think of it awful or difficult. And in some ways, he doesn't even think of it as a job. It took him nearly 40 years but he feels that he has found his true calling.
Don's path to his work as a hospice chaplain began shortly after his ordination as a deacon in the Catholic Church. "One of the priests in our parish would frequent the Center for Hope Hospice in Scotch Plains right here in town. And he would say mass maybe once a month. And he kind of introduced me to the whole hospice world. I mean, I really knew nothing about hospice. Hospice was a place where people went to die."
Today, Don works 40 hours a week helping patients and families negotiate difficult, "end of life" challenges.
Don's role as a deacon allowed him to officiate at his daughter Brittany's wedding. He walked her down the aisle in a three-piece suit, made a "superman change" into his vestments in the sacristy and then conducted the ceremony. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT DownloadIn the hospitality industry, Chip Conley is a legend. Back in 1987, he created Joie de Vivre, that grew to 52 hotels in California and set off a boutique hotel craze. But after 24 years of managing the company, he decided to retire and pursue other ventures. Writing. Speaking. He was on the board of the Burning Man Festival. He created a new website called Fest 300 which celebrated the best festivals in the world. He kept busy.
But then out of the blue, he was contacted by Brian Chesky, a 31-year-old CEO of a start-up company with a new concept called home-sharing. The company was called Airbnb. And Brian said, "Come work with us and help me democratize hospitality."
Chip said "yes." So over the past six years, his second act has been a fascinating ride at Airbnb. And it led to Chip's latest book titled "Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder."
So what exactly is a modern elder? According to Chip it is someone who can "marry an air of gravitas with a spirit of humility." In a business setting, that means serving as a sage counselor and learning like a wet-behind-the-ears intern at the same time.
In today's episode, we'll also meet Sarah Goodnow Berry, Airbnb's Global Director of Brand. She is one of the millennials running Airbnb and one of Chip's mentees. Below is a photo Sarah took of Chip delivering his "farewell address" to the entire Airbnb staff in 2016 and the emotional post which she uploaded to instagram.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT DownloadClick here for more information on the Modern Elder Academy. And click here to purchase "Wisdom At Work: The Making Of A Modern Elder."
Special thanks to Marci Alboher of Encore.org for connecting me with Chip Conley. It's good to have friends in high places.
After a twenty-year career in hospitality sales and management at Marriott, Amani Roberts decided to turn his weekend passion as a disc jockey playing music at clubs and special events into a full-time career.
Today, he has made it as a sought-after DJ, teacher of aspiring DJs, writer and podcast creator.
A combination of dedication and education fueled his success over the past sevens years. He reports that he is working harder than ever but he's happier than ever too.
Amani and I met in a study room at the public library in Manhattan Beach, California.
Tell learn more about Amani Roberts, check out his website which includes The Amani Experience podcast.
Special thanks to Alex Petrarca, Booking Agent at Interview Connections, for suggesting Amani as a profile for Second Act Stories.
We're going to mix things up a bit with today's episode. Instead of focusing on an individual's story, we're going to ask the question, "Can a city have a second act?" And that brought me to Irving, Texas – a city of about 240,000 people.
Irving has a lot going for it. It is in the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is contiguous to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, the 4th busiest airport in the United States. And it has Las Colinas, an innovative business park that is home to seven Fortune 500 company headquarters including Exxon-Mobil, McKesson, and Kimberly-Clark.
And for nearly 40 years, the city was also the home of the world-famous Dallas Cowboys football team, one of the most successful sports operations in history.
But in 2004, the city faced a traumatic event. The Dallas Cowboys announced they would be leaving Irving, opting to build a new $1.15 billion stadium in Arlington – about 25 minutes away. In 2008, the Cowboys played their last game in Irving's Texas Stadium. And on April 11, 2010, the stadium was reduced to a pile of rubble in a controlled implosion that took less than a minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9MwzM3LXDs&feature=youtu.be The City of Irving's Texas Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys played for 37 years, was demolished in a controlled implosion on April 11, 2010.I traveled to Irving to explore how the city responded to the Cowboys departure and adapted to keep the community moving forward.
This episode takes us to Richmond, Virginia for an interview with Lynne Tickle. Lynne spent most of her adult life in the banking industry working up to a position as a senior vice president. But in December of 2015, she learned that her neighbor was dying. And that friend shared a final wish.
"Please help take care of my husband Larry after I'm gone."
That request turned out to be a considerable challenge. The Great Recession of 2008/2009 had crippled her neighbor's finances. So Lynne helped Larry restructure the debt on his house, obtain financing for badly-needed home repairs, find a real estate agent to help sell his home, sell antiques online, manage yard sales and document gifts to charity. In the end, she helped Larry sell his 3,500 square foot house and downsize to a 1,200 square foot home that was more financially viable.
"To say she was a great help was a total understatement," according to Larry Kachelries. "Lynne basically took over every aspect of what I needed physically, financially and emotionally to turn the whole situation around."
In the process, Lynne discovered a new passion: helping people like Larry get their lives together. Armed with this new experience, Lynne left the banking industry and launched a new company called Concierge on Call. The company focuses on helping individuals downsize and get back on their feet.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadFor today's episode, I traveled to Frisco, Texas and met with Steve Paz. Since he was a boy, Steve always wanted to be a police officer and he got his chance initially as a military police officer in the Marines. He then spent twelve years with the Dallas Police Department, one of the finest police forces in the country. He was on the front lines of crack cocaine epidemic of the 1990s and encountered a number of dangerous situations which he describes in the podcast.
In 2004, a family friend offered him an excellent corporate position – a role that he admits he was completely unqualified for at the time. He took the job which paid more money, dramatically cut his commute and offered his wife and family tremendous piece of mind.
But he also felt a loss of purpose in no longer serving among America's finest. We talk with Steve (as well as his wife Judy) about his decision.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadSpecial thanks to my friend Dean Barber for suggesting this episode.
This episode takes us to the United Kingdom for an interview with Lizzie Fouracre, a 33-year-old Brit with a sparking personality. Lizzie was living the dream helping to manage a fast-growing technology company in London started by her brother Tim.
And while the pace of a technology start-up was exhilarating, over time she found herself wanting more from life. So she quit, packed up a tent and sleeping bag and decided take a six-week hike around Great Britain. And in a eureka moment at the top of a mountain in Wales, she decided to create a new venture called The Humble Retreat.
She brought on a partner -- her mother Mandy Fouracre -- to help manage this (the two are pictured above). Eighteen months later, this mother-daughter team couldn't be happier working together.
DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadClick here to learn more about The Humble Retreat.
Special thanks to Miriam Christie of Careershifters for connecting me with Lizzie.
A force of nature." That's how one person described Judy Cockerton.
Judy's life changed dramatically when she became a foster parent at the age of 48. She and her husband Arthur took on the responsibility of raising two sisters aged five months and seventeen months – along with their own two kids who were 12 and 18 at the time. And for the first time she saw how flawed the child welfare system was in her home state of Massachusetts — and in America.
She developed a really simple idea to improve the system. Let's bring together adoptive families and their children with a group of caring elders. And let's have them live together in the same neighborhood.
So she created an organization called The Treehouse Foundation. She worked closely with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. She found a developer and helped secure $15 million in government funding. And she focused on building a model community that supports adoptive families.
I traveled to Easthampton, Massachusetts and spent a day with Judy Cockerton and the Treehouse Community of 100+ people there. It's an amazing story.
T'au Pupu'a came to the United States from Kingdom of Tonga at the age of five. He grew up in a home of modest means in Salt Lake City, Utah and started playing football at the age of ten.
Legendary football coach Bill Belichick discovered him while he was playing for Weber State University and he joined the Cleveland Browns as a defensive lineman. But in his second season, a nasty injury ended his NFL career.
Despite almost no formal musical training, he decided to follow a new dream to become a professional opera singer. After struggling in New York City for five years, he met opera superstar Kiri Te Kanawa at a book signing at the gift shop of The Metropolitan Opera. And she helped him earn a scholarship to The Julliard School, America's most prestigious music conservatory.
In the spirit of the opera world, we're telling T'au's story in four short acts.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownloadTo learn more about T'au Pupu'a and listen to some of his recordings, here's a link to his website.
Joe Tedino had a long career as a journalist and public relations executive. But tennis was always his passion. So when he finally opted to retire from a senior position with Boeing, he decided to invest the time to get certified as a tennis professional. And that helped him land a position as Assistant Coach at St. Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit high school in the heart of Chicago.
He's been working with the boys and girls teams there for the past year and he couldn't be happier with the change.
And here's a link to an article which Joe penned for Kiplinger Magazine about his move from the "Corporate World to Coaching." Joe is the final profile in the "Five Great Second Career Moves" article.
Today's episode takes place at the Lincoln Middle School in Rockford, Illinois. I spent the morning here with Arnie Rosen, a retired doctor, and 80+ seventh and eighth graders in the school's band room.
Dr. Rosen loved his 27-year career as a gastroenterologist in this Midwestern community. But when he finally retired two years ago he had a plan for what he wanted to do. He wanted to become a "band grandpa."
If you've never heard that term "band grandpa" before, don't feel out of the loop. Dr. Rosen actually created it two years ago.
Special thanks to John Groh, President/CEO of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, for suggesting this episode.
And here's the full photo of Dr. Rosen with his beloved tuba (taken by fellow band grandpa Russ Stoneback).
In this episode, we meet an incredible man named Jim Farrin. After a highly successful career as a globe-trotting, corporate executive, Jim helped start an organization called The Petey Greene Program.
In a nutshell, the program brings volunteer students from top colleges like Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia into prisons to serve as tutors. They help prisoners get a high school diploma/GED. The program was piloted at Princeton University and has spread to 29 different colleges and universities across the Northeast.
Jim is 82 years old today. Last year, he was one of five individuals awarded the prestigious Purpose Prize by the American Association of Retired Persons. But he is hardly retired. By his own admission he is working harder than he ever has before. And he has never been happier.
Click here to learn more about the amazing work of The Petey Greene Program.
Career expert Jeri Sedlar wrote "Don't Retire, Rewire!" back in 2002 with her business partner and husband Rick Miners. They were largely responsible for blowing the lid off our traditional view of American life -- the "education first" – "work career second" – "retirement third" phasing.
In August 2018, they came out with a third edition of "Don't Retire, Rewire!" based on new research and interviews.
Simply put, I loved this updated book and found it incredibly valuable in my own journey as a fellow that will hit 58 years of age in the year ahead.It definitely goes in the "Best Books About Second Acts" section of this website.
When I first heard Chris Donovan's story I thought to myself, I don't care what it takes. I have to interview this man.
It took several months and a dozen or so email exchanges. But last month, I traveled to Massachusetts with only one thing in mind: interview the telephone repairman who is now focused solely on the one thing he always wanted to do in life: design women's shoes.
Since his junior year in high school, Chris Donovan has been sketching women's shoes. It's been his quiet obsession for the 30+ years. But at the age of 50, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And he knew it was time to leave his safe job at the phone company to pursue his lifelong dream. "I need to follow this. I need to find out why I have this passion for shoes."
Based on the recommendation of European shoe designer Aki Choklat, he was accepted to Polimoda, one of the best fashion design institutes in the world. He enrolled in an accelerated masters program and packed his bags for Florence, Italy. And while his first few months were difficult, he ended up graduating at the top of his class.
In January, 2019, he will launch a new line of shoes at Chris Donovan Footwear. Take it from Tim Gunn of Project Runway: it's like nothing you've ever seen before.
Check out Chris' new line of shoes on his website.
Finally, here's a photo of Chris Donovan and his incredibly-supportive partner Steve Wierzbicki.
While working as the Director of Social Justice at St. Stephen's Church in Minneapolis, Cathy Heying observed a continuing problem among the working poor in the church's neighborhood:
She initially thought: "Somebody really should do something about this." And then she thought: "Maybe that somebody is me."
Cathy took the unusual step of enrolling in a two-year technical college to learn auto mechanics. It was a difficult experience for a 38-year-old social worker who knew very little about automotive repair. But she got through it with the help of an instructor named Dave Duval (who is also interviewed in this episode).
Following graduation, she founded an extraordinary non-profit called The Lift Garage. According to the organization's mission The Lift Garage is a 501c3 nonprofit aimed to move people out of poverty and homelessness by providing low-cost car repair, free pre-purchase car inspections, and honest advice that supports our community on the road to more secure lives.
In 2015, Cathy Heying was named a CNN Hero which raised the profile of the organization nationally. But Cathy was already a hero to the men and women of the Twin Cities who rely on her and The Lift Garage to help them make a living and live a better life.
Click here to learn more about The Lift Garage and how you can help support their mission.
Nancy Collamer is the author of Second Act Careers: 50 Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement. She is a recognized expert on career change and writes a monthly blog for the PBS site NextAvenue.org. Our interview with Nancy focuses on an especially, powerful resource from her website (www.mylifestylecareer.com). "25 Questions to Help You Identify Your Ideal Second Act" details a series of questions in four major areas: 1) Values, 2) skills, and experience, 3) strengths, gifts and talents, 4) hopes, dreams and impossibilities, It's a terrific exercise for anyone considering a second act. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT GET THE "25 QUESTIONS" FROM NANCY COLLAMER'S WEBSITE
Anita Kellman is a little like Superman. During the day, she is a quiet, mild-mannered patient navigator at the office of a breast cancer oncologist. But on Tuesday afternoons at 5:30 pm and Saturday mornings at 8:00 am, she is transformed into "Sarge" – a tough Navy Seal drill instructor who barks orders and leads cancer patients and cancer survivors through an hour-long "Beat Cancer Boot Camp" in Morris K. Udall Park in Tucson, Arizona. She first began "Beat Cancer Boot Camp" back in 2001. Every class begins with Sarge shouting "It's a beautiful day for boot camp." After a 5-7 minute warm-up, the class moves into 40-45 minutes of active exercises. "One of my trademark is that you end up doing 100 push-ups. I want people to know that they could do something that they thought they couldn't do. I want to make you physically stronger so you're mentally tougher." Over the past 17 years, Anita "Sarge" Kellman has helped hundreds of cancer patients and cancer survivors in her home of Tucson, Arizona. And she has helped thousands more via Kellman Beat Cancer Boot Camps in Massachusetts, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Utah and her appearances at different national events and races.
Terry is a compulsive gambler who hit "rock bottom" at the age of 30 when he lost nearly $1 million in a 36-hour period in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. But he got himself into rehab, shifted gears from gambling to running and got his life together. This Fall he will run his 16th consecutive New York City Marathon. Terry's love of running extends into his new position/career as Executive Director of the New York Chapter of Back On My Feet. As Terry describes it: "Back on My Feet combats homelessness through the power of running and community support to help our members get employed and housed. Our members run every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning. And if achieve a 90% attendance record in the first month, they get into our Next Steps program. That's where the secret sauce is. That's where we really can help overcome barriers to self-sufficiency." DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Click here to learn more about Back On My Feet.
From the age of eight, Buddy Rizer wanted to be in radio. He landed his first job at the age of fifteen and rose up through the ranks to actually owning his own radio station in his early 40s. But like many other industries, radio changed. "Deregulation" not "video" killed the radio star (to amend the 1979 hit song by the Buggles). And it sent Buddy on a completely different path into the world of economic development – a profession that he has excelled over the past 11 years. Today Buddy Rizer is the Executive Director of the Loudon County Economic Development Authority. His job is to create jobs and opportunities for the 400,000 residents of Loudon County, Virginia – a county about 50 miles west of Washington, DC. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Eva Levias Andino is a big personality with a compelling back story. She grew up in Cuba and proudly counts herself as a 9th generation Cuban. But at the age of 17 years old she left Cuba with her mother. She married and raised four children living in Puerto Rico and California before settling in Miami, Florida. Her life changed dramatically when her 20-year-old son Paolo invited her to lunch and told her "Mama, I'm gay." Over the next eight years she struggled with this news. But it eventually led her to work with the Yes Institute, an organization focused on suicide prevention and ensuring the healthy development of all youth through communication and education on gender and orientation. What started as a volunteer role turned into a full time position as Director of Development and eventually Chief Financial Officer. At the age of 75, she is now retired but still actively involved with the organization. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Click here to learn more about the work of the Yes Institute.
In this episode, we spend time with Mark Miller, a veteran journalist who has covered the retirement beat for a dozen years. Today, we're talking with him about his new book "Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation." The book tells the stories of people have experienced traumatic events -- the loss of a child, a natural disaster, a life-threatening accident or illness, financial ruin or a terrorist attack -- and bounced back to thrive and grow. I sat down with Mark at his home in Evanston, IL and had a conversation about "Jolt" and what it can tell us about Second Acts. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT "Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation" is available on Amazon.com.
In December 2009, Paul Tasner walked into a conference room and was let go from his position as the Senior Director of Operations of a San Francisco-based manufacturing firm. He was 64 years old. He met his wife Barbara and another couple for dinner that evening and proceeded to get "silly drunk." He wasn't ready for retirement. So two years later, he started Pulpworks, a company that designs and manufactures biodegradable packaging replacing the toxic, disposable plastic packaging to which we've all become accustomed to. With his 2017 TED Talk, "How I Became an Entrepreneur at the Age of 66," he's became a poster child (or perhaps "poster senior") of older entrepreneurs. The episode also includes interviews with Dr. Benjamin Jones, Professor of Strategy at Northwestern University who directs the Kellogg School's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative and Barbara Walter, Paul's wife. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Over the course of a 40+ year legal career, Richard Turner served as Governor Ronald Reagan's personal attorney and then as a high-powered trial lawyer. But at the age of 60, he had a series of epiphanies during a month-long sabbatical wandering around the Western United States. And he eventually left the bar and became a nature photographer. And a pretty successful one at that. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Interested in checking out Richard Turner's photography? Click here to visit his website. And here's the photo -- taken at an Idaho campsite during a month-long sabbatical -- that launched his career. The "Richard, this is terrible" feedback offered by a respected portrait photographer motivated him to learn how to take better photographs and ultimately launched his "second act" as a nature photographer. [caption id="attachment_1329" align="alignnone" width="475"] The "little moose/big pond" photo that launched Richard Turner's second act.[/caption]
Kevin Butler had a dazzling football career that began at the University of Georgia. He then played for 13 seasons as a place kicker in the NFL from 1985-1998. In his rookie season, he was part of Chicago Bears that won Super Bowl XX. But he always regretted not graduating from the university. And he told his three children, that he'd get his degree "when you are all done." On May 5, 2018, some 33 years after leaving the University of Georgia, he finally made that happen. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Andrea Clement Santiago for connecting me with Kevin Butler and making this episode possible.
Sharon Sevrens had a thriving career as an investment banker. But when she and her husband experienced September 11th from their apartment building just a block and a half from the World Trade Center, she knew it was time for a change. Over time she had developed a passion for wine. So with no experience in retail sales or in the wine business, she purchased a liquor license from Whole Foods for $150,000. And in October 2005, she opened a wine store called Amanti Vino (which roughly translates to "lover of wine" in Italian) in her home town of Montclair,, New Jersey. It's been a runaway success with a second store now planned in Morristown, NJ. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Check out the Amanti Vino website. Special thanks to a public relations colleague Sharon Nieuwenhuis for connecting us with Sharon Sevrens and making this episode possible.
Father James Martin is an American Jesuit priest who has written a dozen books including The New York Times best sellers "The Jesuit Guide to Almost Anything," "Building a Bridge" and "Jesus: A Pilgrimage." He's got a huge following on Facebook and Twitter and is frequently a religion expert for everyone from The New York Times to CNN to Comedy Central (where Stephen Colbert appointed him the official chaplain of The Colbert Report). But we are talking to him today about his second act – when he made the move from a promising career at General Electric to embrace a life of poverty, chastity and obedience as a Jesuit priest. It is one of the most dramatic life changes that you can imagine. EPISODE OUTLINE FOR FATHER JAMES MARTIN Check out "Building a Bridge," "The Jesuit Guild to Almost Anything, "Jesus: A Pilgrimage," "The Abbey" and "Seven Last Words" on the Harper Collins website. "In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience," Father Martin's second book referenced in the podcast, was published by Sheed and Ward. All books are available on Amazon.
For 40+ years, Judi Schindler worked in the field of public relations. For most of that time, she ran her own firm called Schindler Communications. According to Judi, it was "a hugely rewarding job." And she emerged as a pioneer among women entrepreneurs helping to establish a Chicago chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. But when she decided to retire, Judi went back to a pursuit she enjoyed in her youth…acting. And what started out as simply "taking a class" turned into a second career with headshots, an agent and auditions. Now in her mid-seventies, she is still full of energy and creativity and going strong on-and-off stage. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Check out Judy's book, "Husbands: An Owner's Manual" or sign-up for her blog "The Toilet Seat Must Go Down."
This "Second Act" Story takes us to Rockford, Illinois, a city of about 150,000 people in Northern Illinois. We'll meet a successful entrepreneur and hometown hero named James Purifoy. He has built an incredible "burger joint" named "Fifteenth and Chris" that has the most creative and delicious hamburgers that you've ever tasted. Every day a line starts forming an hour before he opens his doors. People love James' burgers. But his story starts back in 1994 when James took a wrong turn and at the age of 19 was convicted of aggravated assault for shooting a rival gang member. And he spent the next ten years of his life in prison. But he made the most of his time in prison gaining a degree in culinary arts. And when he returned to his hometown, the people of Rockford gave James a second chance. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT CNN MONEY ARTICLE "SUPERSTAR BURGER CHEF CREDITS PRISON FOR HIS SUCCESS"
Trained as a chemist but working as an executive recruiter, Art Schill decided he wanted to try his hand at stand-up comedy -- at the age of 81. And it turns out, he's really good at it. Less than a year after taking comedy classes near his home in Long Island, New York, Art has played a range of top comedy clubs including Carolines, Dangerfields, Mohegan Sun and the Broadway Comedy Club. In a way, he's the newest and oldest thing on the East Coast's comedy circuit. We interview Art, his daughter Lisa and his comedy mentor Paul Anthony who shared, "Art is really, really talented. None of us can believe he just started doing this in his 80s." Paul quipped, "Sometimes he comes to me to say, 'Why can't I go on last?' I say, 'Art, you're 82. I got to get you on stage as fast as possible. I don't know how much longer we have here." DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT WATCH ART'S ACT ON YOUTUBE Special thanks to Daniel Bubbeo, Assistant News Editor at Newsday, for connecting us with Art.
On this episode, we spend time with Marci Alboher, the author of The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life. She also is a Vice President at Encore.org, a nonprofit focused on helping people pursue second acts for the greater good. Marci offers her thinking on the best practices in transitioning to a second act. And she outlines common traits shared among individuals that have been successful in making the change. And finally she talks about her own journey from lawyer to journalist to author to non-profit leader. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT ABOUT THE ENCORE CAREER HANDBOOK
Joe Bock retired in 2008 after a long and successful career as an electrical engineer. But he always remembered his time back in grade school as a kid sitting on the sidelines and never getting into an athletic game. "I wanted to be athletic more than anything else." And when he retired he was determined to help "kids like me." So at 74 years old, he now runs a program called "Benchwarmer Basketball" that has a growing and faithful following at the Cheviott Hills Recreation Center in Los Angles, California. He went back to school to study kinesiology (what Joe terms the "politically correct" word for physical education). And he hit many road blocks along the way. But he stuck with it and has helped dozens of kids off the bench and on to the basketball court. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT BENCHWARMER BASKETBALL VIDEO Special thanks to Encore.org for assistance in arranging this interview.
Deborah Shaw was an established costume designer in New York City. For 15 years she worked for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" creating hundreds of costumes for the program. But when the show moved to Los Angeles, she decided to stay in New York and do something completely different. And her second act took her to Rikers Island, one of the most dangerous prisons in America. Starting in 2009, she began working in "The Big Garden" -- a two-acre plot amid the prison complex -- helping both detainees and prisoners via horticultural therapy. Today she is building a new program for the Fortune Society using gardening to help individuals recently released from the prison system re-enter everyday life. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Sarah McKinney of Encore.org for connecting us with Deborah Shaw.
Laura Raposa and Steve Syre have been married for 30 years. And for most of that time they have worked in journalism – working as columnists for the two largest daily newspapers in Boston, Massachusetts. Laura worked as gossip columnist for at the Boston Herald. Steve worked just 1.5 miles away as a business columnist for the Boston Globe. In August 2015, they decided to make a change – a really big change. They opened a bakery and lunch spot called The Foodsmith in South Duxbury, Massachusetts. According to Laura, "I've never worked this hard in my life…But this is for me. This is for Steve. And that's just terrific." DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Dayna English was a highly successful investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She spent most of her career in Latin America. She flew first class, stayed at the Four Seasons when she traveled and wore tailored Chanel suits. But when Dayna turned 50, she traded all that in become a public school teacher. It's been a tough, tough road. But every day for the last ten years she gets on her bike in Manhattan, rides to work seven miles and teach math at some of the most difficult schools in New York City. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Sarah McKinney of Encore.org for connecting me with Dayna English.
Kerri Martin was working a comfortable IT job and enjoying life in New York City. But when she watched the first of two planes crash into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, she knew it was time to do something else. She followed her love of cycling and created a unique non-profit in Asbury Park, New Jersey called Second Life Bikes. This community bike store is best known for their "Earn a Bike" program which allows area youths to put in 15 hours working as a bike mechanic in exchange for a bike of their own. "We don't expect that they all grow up to become bike mechanics, but that we're giving them some sort of like mechanical skills and some sort of life skills…just showing up at a place at 3 o'clock and signing a time card, and learning how to shake hands and look people in the eye." DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Mark Salvacion had been a lawyer for 25 years but increasingly felt the focus on "making money" and "evading the law in the right way" was crushing his soul. The final straw…after he uncovered a specific instance of fraud within his company and refused to sweep it under the rug, he was fired within two weeks. So in his early 50s, Mark switched gears from his work as a corporate lawyer and decided to become a Methodist Minister. Today he is the pastor of Historic St. George's Church in Philadelphia, a church with a long, rich history but also some immediate challenges. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Harry Strulovici was a successful plastic surgeon with a thriving practice in Michigan. But when his father passed away, he took a close look at his own life. He went back to school, enrolling in a global health program at the New York University Schools of Medicine. And then through a different program run by Yale University and Johnson & Johnson, he went to Uganda to work for a three-month period at Mulago Hospital. Upon his return to the United States, he founded Life for Mothers, a program focused on decreasing maternal and infant mortality rates in Africa. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Sarah McKinney of Encore.org for connecting me with Dr. Harry Strulovici. .
Jorge Alvarez came to the United States from Honduras at the age of seven. He grew up with his mother and his sister in tough circumstances in the Bronx. This episode is more about life change rather than career change. Jorge's story focuses overcoming an addiction to alcohol and drugs. His second act finds him clean and sober and working for a sustainable recycling company. He manages a team of ten people that are in the field working with their clients to recycle glass and aluminum. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Deb Brown of Back On My Feet for connecting me with Jorge Alvarez.
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