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This Chair Rocks! with author Ashton Applewhite #118 Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc interviews Ashton Applewhite. Author and activist Ashton Applewhite has been recognized by The New York Times, The New Yorker, National Public Radio, and the American Society on Aging as an expert on ageism. She blogs at This Chair Rocks and speaks widely at venues that range from the United Nations to the TED main stage. Ashton has written for Harper's, The Guardian, and The New York Times, and is the voice of Yo! Is This Ageist? The author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism, Ashton is a leading spokesperson for the movement to mobilize against discrimination on the basis of age. Marc hopes you enjoy this episode. Key Takeaways: [1:11] Marc welcomes you to Episode 118 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings this podcast to you. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge. [1:43] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help. [2:05] Next week, Marc will have a special interview with Queen Michele. Queen is a former schoolteacher and administrator who chucked it all in her mid-fifties to move to the North Shore of Lake Chapala and has now written a book called Considerations: A Guide For Moving Abroad, by Queen D. Michele. [2:19] This week, Marc is interviewing Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. [2:30] Marc introduces Ashton and welcomes her to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [3:29] Ashton believes short bios are always best. Marc loves her book, This Chair Rocks. Marc is writing a series on ageism and a lot of it comes from Ashton's book. [3:45] Ashton self-published her book three years ago, and sold it last year to a new division of MacMillan, which is bringing it out on their inaugural list on March 5. Ashton started thinking and writing on aging about 12 years ago because she was afraid of getting old, although she didn't recognize it at the time. [4:17] Ashton started interviewing older people who work and researching longevity. She learned "in about 30 seconds" that most of her ideas about what it would be like to be old were wrong. [4:35] Ashton shares some facts about aging. When she started her research, 4% of Americans over 65 were in nursing homes. In the last decade, that has dropped to 2.5%. [5:13] Older people, in general, have better rates of mental health than the young or the middle-aged and are better at dealing with negative emotions like anger, anxiety, and fear. The awareness that time is short does not fill older people with dread. They are less afraid of dying. [5:45] Ashton was surprised by the U-curve of happiness. People are happiest at the beginnings and ends of their life. The psychological underpinnings are that children live in the moment because that's what they know, and the oldest do it because they are aware that time is running out, so they cherish the moment and appreciate things more. [6:13] There are exceptions. Ashton was very skeptical of these findings at first, thinking they interviewed only happy people. It turns out that the U-curve of happiness is independent of culture, health, wealth, or marital status. It is a function of how aging itself affects the healthy brain. [6:50] Ashton started to feel a lot better about getting older and she became obsessed with why so few people know these things. [7:00] Marc reminds listeners that Jonathan Rauch, the author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, was a guest on Episode 78 of this podcast. [7:11] Ashton expands the dictionary definition of ageism. We are being ageist any time we come to an assumption about a person or a group of people on the basis of how old we think they are. That they are "too old" or "too young" for whatever the assumption involves. Ageism cuts both ways and younger people experience a lot of it. [7:58] People think ageism is "an old-person problem." Older people bear the brunt of ageism in the U.S. Not so much in Mexico, where Marc lives. The U.S. is a deeply youth-obsessed society fueled by our popular culture. [8:19] Ageism affects young and old. If you bridle at your boss being much younger than you, that's ageism. [8:35] When you are ageist, you are discriminating against your future self. All prejudice is based on what sociologists call "othering" — seeing a group of people as other than ourselves. It could be another sports team. It could be other religion. It could be other nationality. The weird thing about ageism is that the other is your own future, aging self. [9:11] Ageism is rooted in denial. We pretend that we will not age — as if that would be a good thing. [9:46] Marc listened to Ashton's TED talk and admits that he is an ageist! Ashton says we are all ageist because our culture has trained us to be ageist. Ashton says the first step in confronting bias is knowing that you have it. Everyone has prejudice. What we can do, if we want to, is become aware of our bias and not use it to guide our actions. [10:29] You can't challenge bias, unless you are aware of it. Once you start to see ageism in yourself, that opens your eyes to seeing it in the culture around us — in magazines, on TV, and in conversations. You will see this is a widely shared issue that requires collective action and that we can do something about it if we come together. [11:07] Marc has noted that he uses the phrase CRS (can't remember stuff). The moment can be funny but the discrimination it engenders is not funny, nor is the way it affects our own perception of ourselves in society when we never think to challenge those values but internalize them. [12:22] When you start seeing "the first sign of dementia" as you turn a certain age, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, all too easily. As these negative stereotypes become more potentially relevant, we tend to act as though they were true. That is really bad for us in every aspect of our lives. [12:58] Marc belongs to a hiking club with seventy-year-olds; Marc finds them to be positive role models. Ashton says it is important to remember that most of us will not be outliers. Most of us will end up in the middle — still able to do the things we really love doing, even if we do them differently than we did at age 20. Sex is a perfect example. [14:52] It's important not to have a vision of "aging well" that consists only of the extremely active and the extremely healthy. Some part of our body is going to fall apart; not all of it. Some parts of our brain are likely to work less well. 20% of the population escapes cognitive decline, entirely. [15:17] We set ourselves an impossible standard by telling ourselves, "I have to keep hiking that mountain as fast as so-and-so." A lot of people don't have access to the gyms and the healthy habits. Acknowledge that we all age in different ways, at different rates and there's no right or wrong way to do it. [15:52] The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College published a blog article "Careers Become Dicey After Age 50". Marc says the audience for this podcast is seeing ageism in the workplace. How do you eliminate ageism in the workplace? [16:25] Looking at the culture as a whole, diverse workplaces are here to stay. Diversity makes companies more profitable and better to work at. Let's put age on the list as a criterion for diversity. It is blindingly obvious that it belongs there, but nobody thinks of it. [17:05] If everyone is the same age in your workplace, question it. What is the reason used to justify it? It is not true that older workers are expensive, less creative, or less reliable. Older workers are slower at physical tasks but they hurt themselves less often. Older workers make fewer mistakes, so it's a wash. [17:49] Research shows that, especially in creative industries, mixed-age groups are the most effective. There are intergenerational initiatives springing up in workplaces all over. Chip Conley wrote Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder, which is all about mentoring. [18:11] Chip went to work at Airbnb in his fifties and realized he had digital intelligence to learn from younger people while they had emotional intelligence to learn from the older people. [18:24] Marc Freedman wrote How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations, by Marc Freedman. The title means we live forever if we contribute to the younger generations and those contributions live on after we are gone. [18:41] Marc Freedman's book talks of intergenerational housing, programming, educational issues, where people of all ages support each other, learn from each other, and tap into what each age group has to offer. [18:59] Marc notes that the multi-generational family is incredibly common in Mexico and it's refreshing to see. Marc sees women carrying their grandchildren as they walk. [19:28] In much of the developed world it used to be the same and then industrialization and urbanization promoted institutions that made age important in a way it hadn't been. We also started living a lot longer and "old folks" homes cropped up. Schools began to be divided into ages. Nursery schools were created. [19:53] When you divide groups of people, segregation makes room for discrimination and prejudice. [20:07] Marc talks about the young white male culture of the tech industry. The Austin Business Journal called it a real problem. Technology Review ran an article shining a light on it a couple of years ago. It has received more attention because it became a problem for people at the top of the food chain -- educated, white men in their 30s. [20:50] Ashton says the quote that burned into her brain was a guy who went to a dermatologist for Botox, hair plugs, or both because he had a key interview and he said "I can't look like I have a wife, and a mortgage, and two little kids." [21:08] What does it say about our society that being a husband and father with financial obligations disqualifies you for employment? Think about the personal consequences of being told that the thing you spent decades getting really good at disqualifies you to continue to apply what you know. [21:39] Marc says we live in very strange times. Ashton refers back to the women's movement that started as a grassroots movement, decades ago, that forced women to recognize that they were not at fault for the biases against them. It was a widely shared problem that required collective action. [22:23] We will not change things for older people for the better, unless we challenge the prevailing narrative that to age is to fail. Each one of us who is interested in it needs to become an ambassador for that message. [22:53] Marc says that the happiness U-curve is true in his life, comparing his 60s to his 40s. Ashton doesn't know anyone in their later years that wants to actually be any younger than they are. Jonathan Rauch's book is coming out in paperback and he interviewed Ashton for the foreword about the social and political context of ageism. [23:46] Ashton makes some final points. She knows not everyone is an activist. One of the best arguments for an anti-ageism campaign is its benefits as a public health initiative. Attitudes toward aging affect how our minds and bodies function. People who equate aging with decline, dismay, and despair, live an average of 7.5 years less long. [24:53] They don't walk as fast. They are more likely to develop dementia than people with more realistic attitudes toward aging. Look around you at the evidence of the kind of lives old people are living, despite being surrounded by these messages. [25:21] You will be less likely to develop dementia, even if you have the gene that predisposes you to the disease. Rates of Alzheimer's are declining fast. No one knows that because only the alarmists' side of the picture gets covered in the media. [25:44] There are more cases of Alzheimer's because there are more aging people in the population and age remains the leading risk factor but the odds of anyone listening to this podcast getting dementia have gotten lower in the last few decades and people are getting diagnosed at later ages. Let's tell both sides of the story. [26:14] Ashton has been "thinking out loud" about all this in blog form at ThisChairRocks.com/blog. The blogs are searchable by topic, including sources for the facts. It's all there, available for free. [26:40] Consciousness raising was the tool that catalyzed the women's movement. Look for the downloadable pamphlet "Who Me, Ageist: How to Start a Consciousness-raising Group" in the blog resources. Ashton urges listeners to download the pamphlet and think about convening a group, ideally of mixed ages, backgrounds, and colors. [27:26] Everyone ages. Everyone faces compound layers of discrimination. If we want the movement against ageism to lift all boats, we also need to address all the other "-isms" that make it hard to grow old the way we would like. [27:47] Marc thanks Ashton for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [27:58] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Ashton has been an inspiration to many (including Marc) who are involved in the battle against ageism. [28:07] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently recruiting new members for the next cohort. [28:19] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves. [28:34] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it's a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. [28:58] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [29:25] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Queen Michele. [29:29] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [29:33] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-118. [29:41] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Full show notes at the publisher

Purpose and a Paycheck with author Chris Farrell #117 Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc interviews Chris Farrell, a senior economics contributor for Marketplace, American Public Media's nationally syndicated public radio programs. Chris is economics commentator for Minnesota Public Radio and an award-winning journalist. Chris is a regular contributor to PBS's Next Avenue, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He has written for Bloomberg Businessweek, The New York Times, Kiplinger's, and other publications. Marc hopes you enjoy this episode. Key Takeaways: [1:13] Marc welcomes you to Episode 117 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings you this podcast. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge. [1:43] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help. [2:05] Next week, Marc will be interviewing Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. [2:15] This week, Marc is interviewing Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck: Finding Meaning, Money, and Happiness in the Second Half of Life. [2:28] Marc introduces Chris and welcomes him to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [3:10] Marc loves Chris's previous book, Unretirement: How Baby Boomers are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life and is very much looking forward to the new book. Chris explains the motivation behind his new book. He wants to reshape society's view of the aging population. [4:54] Marc agrees that we are aging very differently than our parents did. A lot of folks are now dealing with their parents and their kids. It's a different world. [5:20] We have very powerful stereotypes about the stages of life. What strikes Chris is that people lose their jobs or quit their jobs all the time. You may have kids and parents in your care. Even if your kids are launched, you're always a parent. [6:01] So we have this simple idea of how life evolves. Chris says, life is just a lot of ups, downs, twists, and turns and part of this rethinking of aging is just being much more realistic. If you are caregiving in your twenties for a baby, you'll also be caregiving in your fifties for your aging parents. [6:29] In Marc's online community, there are a bunch of people in their late 60s, primarily guys, who still have kids in college, mainly because the Vietnam War era draft made people delay getting married and having kids. This means they have obligations to worry about that younger Boomers don't have. [7:18] Chris shares stories from the chapter, "The Myth of Creative Decline." He had seen Matisse at MoMA. He says Matisse was at the height of his creativity between the ages of 74 and 84. Bruce Springsteen is still performing and writing new songs in his 60s. [8:35] We're beginning to realize that aging artists and performers are not just reliving their glory days, but creating new works of merit. The closer you look into the artistic community, you see so many people building on their experience and connecting their dots. Research shows we retain creativity in our own fields through our senior years. [9:34] It's fundamentally wrong to think creative abilities go away in the 60s and 70s. [9:59] Marc tells of a recent experience in Ajijic. They recently had an art walk with 90 artists. Three-quarters of them were expats from Canada and the U.S. Almost all of them took up art in their 60s. Marc was blown away. There were paintings and other media. Many of the artists had learned their art from YouTube videos. [10:48] Some took classes. Some went and studied with masters. They were able to do this in their 60s and 70s. [11:01] There is a stereotype that people, as they age, do not adjust to new technology. The Boomer generation has worked with the IBM Selectric, word processors, PCs, mobile phones, iPads, Facebook, YouTube. Boomers are not resistant to technology if it is worth learning for them. [12:22] Marc also notes that expats are by nature risk-takers, which extends to all areas of life including technology. [12:48] Why are Boomers ideally suited to be entrepreneurs? His definition of entrepreneur includes self-employed. Chris notes that people in their 60s and 70s are better-educated than previous generations. Technology has really lowered the cost of starting a business. The office is your home or an inexpensive co-sharing workspace. [14:20] Now, to start a business, you don't drain your 401(k) or risk your retirement savings. (Don't do that.) People are starting bootstrap businesses and marketing online. [14:53] Chris mentions a story from Keith Richards's autobiography, Life. When the Rolling Stones taped in London in the 1960s, studio time was so expensive that they recorded for half-an-hour. That was what they could afford. Today, for $2,000, somebody can have a beautiful studio in their garage. [15:24] Entrepreneurship/self-employment, with the artisan/lifestyle economy, finding yourself an artisan/craft niche, is really exciting. It doesn't take a lot of risk and it tends to allow for meaning, having fun, enjoyment, and a paycheck. [15:49] Marc explains his recording setup in his closet in Mexico, padded with a sheet, a $60 microphone plugged into his MacBook Air, recording on Piezo for Mac for $19, and editing using Audacity, which is free. Ten years ago, this would not have been possible at this price. [16:47] Young people are entering the tech industry on a shoestring. They want to build their first product, sell it, and go on to the next thing. Chris also notes that Boomer parents are going into business with their Millennial and Gen-X children. The parents have the experience and capital, and the children have savvy and hustle. [18:27] Eventually the younger generation will inherit the business. Marc has had clients who have talked about this. The relationships Boomers have with their children is different than the relationships Boomers had with their parents. Marc tells an anecdote on his co-author Susan Lahey and her children. [19:55] Chris says the multi-generational workplace is really underestimated. There is a consulting industry now, discrediting the benefits of four generations in one workspace. Chris objects to that. [20:23] IBM did some good research surveying four generations. They found the generations shared a lot of values. All people want autonomy to exercise creativity. They want to be a valued member of a team and be treated with respect. They would like opportunities for advancement. Life experiences are different but not work values. [21:22] The experienced worker brings an ability to connect the dots and tends to be calmer in a crisis and more deliberate when things are tense. There are crises in every organization. The younger ones bring energy, knowledge, and skill to the team but they don't have that well of experience to draw on. [22:06] When you bring the older and younger worker together it's a very productive unit. The experienced worker also transfers intangible knowledge about process and procedure, that would never be written down in the organizational book. [22:39] Marc recalls teaching at IBM 20 years ago about problem determination. He knew that if you have seen a problem in the same area before, you will solve it faster the next time. You can't fake experience. You can't speed it up. You just have to get it. [23:04] Experience doesn't mean you're stuck in your ways. Or clinging to how it was down before. It's about being able to connect the dots between what you've seen before and what is the situation now. The younger people are bringing new twists to the table — something to try a little differently. [23:33] Multi-generational teams should be encouraged. Chris would like to see more organizations doing that. [23:42] Marc is running a multi-generational workplace workshop in March, and you can listen to it in these three episodes: 111, 112, and 113. The generations echo back and forth in their behaviors. We either do as our parents told us or the exact opposite of it. [24:20] Chris gives great examples in his book but there are barriers. Marc puts health insurance before age 65 at the top of the list, which was why he moved to Mexico. Social Security is next. What has to change in the U.S.? [24:43] The Affordable Care Act was trying to address the needs of the most vulnerable population from 50 to 65. Medicare at 65 solves the problem for older people. Medicaid helps lower-income people. [24:59] If you lose your job after 50, you may find a new job, but it may be at a small business that doesn't offer health insurance. [25:44] Chris is frustrated that instead of trying to correct the flaws in the ACA, it is tied up in Congressional battles. Chris would like to see it repaired. [26:55] Marc and his wife spent $25,000 in 2017 on health insurance and healthcare and didn't reach their deductible. Marc could afford it but wasn't pleased. Now they are in Mexico. Mrs. Miller is a retired RN and she has been thrilled with the healthcare she has received from multiple care providers. All told, she spent $150 without insurance. [27:35] Chris asserts that we do not have the best healthcare system in the world. [27:50] What will it take to fix Social Security? Chris says it is more manageable than healthcare. Healthcare has so many problems that somebody is going to have to pay to fix. [28:59] Chris says Social Security is "America's retirement plan." What we're going to do is raise taxes to pay for it. Too many people are dependent on it. Congress should shore up the finances of Social Security and eventually, they will. Whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, 80% of Americans want Social Security to be strong; we need to fix it. [30:06] Existing 401(k)s are not effective for most Americans. [30:41] We underestimate the importance of time. Today, a two-income couple is working about 25% more than our peers did in 1968. There is also pressure to keep up with technology, eat healthy, exercise, floss, and have a social life, and manage your money smartly over the next 30 years, and manage your healthcare until age 65. [31:40] The average person can't do it all and manage their retirement savings. Chris says, for most people, it makes no sense to do it themselves. [31:55] Marc tells about doing his income taxes for 2017, digging through the insurance portal for information, and he was super confused — and he's a really smart guy! What does the average person do? [32:36] What about folks who can't be entrepreneurs? Chris calls entrepreneurs the leading edge of social change. Not everybody is an entrepreneur. The bulk of Boomers are going for part-time work, flexible jobs, encore careers, not-for-profit jobs, education, social services, and other services. [33:48] The question is, "What do I want to do next?" It will take experimentation to figure it out. Don't think of yourself as a job title or an occupation. What are your skills and what can you really do? Chris tells a case study of a teacher skilled at dealing with different constituencies. She became involved in an economic development committee. [35:08] Marc asks about a woman from Chris's podcast who got certified by a quilting company as a teacher to teach quilting around the country. The ROI numbers worked out to do it. She can travel the country at her will for an income. [37:11] Marc sees from his online community that everyone need their horizon broadened. There are incredible new possibilities. [37:22] Chris has two final points. Have the attitude that this moment of life — whether in your 50s, 60s, or 70s — is a moment of opportunity. Be engaged. Find something that gives you meaning and money; purpose and a paycheck. That is an exciting venture. Write your own narrative, not the way the dominant society would write it for you. [38:11] On the practical level, what's really important to exploit these opportunities is to know your most valuable asset — it's the network of people that you've met over the years. Tap into it to broaden your horizons. They know you. What do they think you should be doing? [38:56] When you figure out what it is you want to do next, you'll find that someone in your network is going to make the introduction that gets you that job or that opportunity that you'd like to explore. [39:20] You may email Chris at CFarrell@gmail.com and get his book on Amazon or at Target. [39:58] Marc thanks Chris for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [40:05] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc always enjoys talking with Chris as he is an evangelist for those of us in the second half of life. [40:14] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc is forming a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback. [40:26] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up. [40:34] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release version of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released. [40:47] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently recruiting new members for the next cohort. [40:59] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves. [41:13] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it's a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. [41:37] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [42:00] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism. [42:09] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [42:14] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-117. [42:23] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Full show notes at the publisher

Marc & Susan Answer Your Job Search Questions #116 Feb 25, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org joins Marc Miller to read and respond to listener questions. They discuss building your online reputation, marketing your content boldly, pigeonholing, and pivoting. Marc hopes you enjoy this fascinating episode.

Key Takeaways:

[1:43] Marc welcomes you to Episode 116 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings you this podcast. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge.

[2:12] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.

[2:33] Next week, Marc will interview Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck

[2:39] This week is a Question and Answer episode where Marc joins forces with Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org, one of the premier job search and career resources on the internet.

[2:57] Marc welcomes Susan to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[3:11] Marc and Susan will answer some really interesting questions for you. First, Susan introduces herself. Susan has been doing Job-Hunt for 20 years. She started after she was laid off with thousands of others from a very large company. Web technology was new, but Susan had already worked with it at the company.

[3:41] Susan started working to help people learn to apply the technology for job search, ever since. Susan was previously a guest on the podcast in Episode 105.

[3:54] Q1: I am 61 and have been unemployed for almost two years. I pick up a consulting gig here and there. We're in a part of Ohio that's not doing well. We plan to move to North Carolina. My wife and I have been networking there but nothing has come from it.

[4:21] I have a consumer packaged goods and business operations background with startups and big companies. I'm looking at buying a business because I am convinced that getting full-time employment is not possible. What advice do you have for me?

[4:37] A1: Susan says this is not an uncommon question. She tells the listener to Google himself. There could be something negative online, even if it's about someone else with the same name. Susan shares anecdotes about sharing a name with a notorious figure. Add your initial or middle name to your business card to differentiate.

[7:09] Marc tells people that when they Google their name, if nothing comes up, that's not good, either. Marc encourages people to build their own online reputation by producing content. Susan points out that recruiters will research candidates online. Provide solid evidence of what you do and who you are.

[8:24] If you don't have good content that you've put out there on purpose, what they find is information aggregator listings of data collected from public records. If you have a LinkedIn profile, Google usually puts it in the first page of search results, unless you're a movie star.

[8:52] There are probably hundreds of organizations that collect information from public documents and combine it with what they find on Facebook, which has the birthday. If you're trying to downplay your age, it won't help to be too private. Make sure you have a LinkedIn profile.

[10:23] Q2: I have been reluctant to publish anything under my own name online because I'm scared of being criticized. I am moving into a very niche area of business analytics where I have a background but no real recent experience. Everyone is telling me I should publish some of my own work but that terrifies me? Advice?

[10:51] A2: Susan says you've got to publish. This person should get some feedback from colleagues before publishing, and then put it out there. You have to have proof that you know what you claim you know. 80% of recruiters will do the research and if they don't find something that supports what you claim, they don't believe it.

[11:37] That means, what you claim has to be published with the same name that you use on your job applications and your resume. Some people call themselves William on their resume but they're Bill on their LinkedIn profile. So they make it harder for recruiters to connect those dots.

[12:03] The job market's getting tight enough that recruiters are going to try harder to connect the dots but if they have a lot of applicants, they aren't going to. Use the right name and make it clear that you know what you know.

[12:20] This person should do some volunteering or some contracting to gain some experience — something she can add to her social presence that demonstrates that she knows what she says she knows and that she's right about it.

[12:37] Marc tells people, "Show me you know your stuff, don't tell me you know your stuff." Go out and make a presentation and get someone to shoot it on their iPhone. Pick snippets and pieces to put up on YouTube. Take the presentation itself and publish it on Slideshare, which is owned by LinkedIn.

[13:20] Marc suggest getting online and doing your presentation like there's someone there and record it. Do a webinar with no audience and record it. Put that on YouTube. You can edit it before you put it up to make sure you sound good.

[13:59] Q3: I'm over 60 and was laid off over a year ago and have been looking with no luck. I have done so many things in my career I do not want to pigeonhole myself into looking for just one thing. This is not working. What advice do you have for me?

[14:20] A3: Susan tells job seekers that pigeon holes are where the jobs are, now. If you don't pigeonhole yourself, you're going to have a very long, difficult job search. Employers are looking for proof that you know what you know. It's much better to claim the thing that you're best at and enjoy the most, and make that visible.

[15:07] If you're not focused on one thing, with a good personal brand, recruiters are going to think you don't know much about anything. Pick the field you like the best and market yourself as the person you can do that job very well and you will get a job. It's taking him so long because he's not pigeonholed.

[17:12] The keywords are so important. Susan has an MBA in MIS, from when it was a hot term. Now IT is the current keyword for that field. No one searches for MIS jobs. Keep your keywords up-to-date so you can be found. Marketing yourself as an MIS expert isn't going to get you anywhere, now.

[17:58] Marc spent a lot of his career in Training. Now the current keyword term is Learning and Development. Marc has adjusted the Training titles in his LinkedIn profile to Learning and Development. (But, hopefully, he never has to look for a job again.)

[18:40] Q4: I've been in the finance banking industry for my entire career. The profession has gone from where you met with clients and worked with them to solve problems to one where everything is done online and it's now about pushing through loans to meet tight deadlines.

[18:58] I want to move into HR and I'm working on some credentials, but I make too much money in my current position. How do I get someone at my current company to take me seriously in wanting to make this change?

[19:14] A4: Susan recommends she contact somebody in HR and see if she can do an informational interview. What are they looking for? What would they need for her to prove that she really is serious about HR? Susan strongly suspects she will take a big salary hit, going from sales to HR.

[19:39] If she is OK with that, talk to someone in HR or at another similar company in HR, or go to an HR organization's meeting. Get to know the people. Buy someone dinner and see if they will spend some time sharing information about how to transition from what she's doing into HR.

[20:20] People in HR are typically pretty helpful people, and she may end up with a mentor or two that will help her make the transition. Of course, she has to continue the credentialing and finish them.

[20:46] She should do some volunteering, or get a gig, four hours a week helping some organization with HR and build up the experience so she'll have something to put on her LinkedIn profile and on her resume. Susan says to start transitioning the LinkedIn profile carefully to the new field.

[21:16] People who want to buy from her now may not be excited to learn that her greatest area of expertise is HR but when they talk with her they'll probably know that she knows what she's talking about in her current field.

[21:31] Marc stresses that in making transitions like this that you'll never do it alone. In his career changes, they all have been half-step career moves. He had one foot in the old world, one foot in the new world, and there was always someone who took him across. He never did it alone and it was usually not a massive shift.

[22:04] If you're an engineer and you want to be a pastry chef, you're not going to make it in one fell swoop. You've really got to get out of your own head and talk to people, and find out the reality. Don't suffer from Make Stuff Up (MSU) Disorder.

[22:36] We all make assumptions. You don't know what they're looking for unless you go talk to them. Don't assume there's nothing bad attached to your name online. It's surprising to Susan how often she does a search on an unusual name to find there are 10 other profiles with the same name.

[23:45] Marc knows a Mark Miller who writes on ageism and the Boomer demographic. He just wrote a book named Jolt. Sometimes they get mistaken for each other. Marc plans to have him on the podcast in the next six months.

[24:47] Marc thanks Susan for helping him answer these questions.

[25:03] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc is looking for other experts to help him answer questions in addition to Mark Anthony Dyson and Susan Joyce.

[25:14] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc is forming a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback.

[25:27] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.

[25:34] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release version of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.

[25:47] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently recruiting new members for the next cohort.

[25:59] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves.

[26:13] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[26:34] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[26:50] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck.

[26:57] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[27:01] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-116.

[27:10] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

An Expat Pivots to Selling Health Insurance Solutions in Ajijic #115 Feb 18, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc interviews Valerie Friesen from Blue Angel Solutions. Valerie is an early-stage Baby Boomer who moved with her husband to Mexico from Canada during the Great Recession with intentions to teach English, on the side. She now has a very successful business providing health insurance solutions to expats in Mexico. Marc hopes you enjoy this fascinating episode.

Key Takeaways:

[1:33] Marc welcomes you to Episode 115 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge.

[2:01] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.

[2:23] Marc is not completely sure at this time what next week's episode will be. He is scheduled to record a Question and Answer episode with Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org fame, but Marc also has appointments with Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck, and previous podcast guest, John Tarnoff. You'll see which one, next week.

[3:03] This week, Marc interviews Valerie Friesen from Blue Angel Solutions. Marc reads her bio by way of introduction.[3:32] Marc welcomes you to the podcast and presents Valerie Friesen. Marc bought his health insurance from Valerie after three recommendations from other clients.

[3:54] Valerie is a first-stage Baby Boomer. Blue Angel Solutions is a boutique health insurance brokerage with relationships with several insurance companies. That gives an opportunity for new and returning customers. She tells how she chose the name.

[5:08] Valerie and her husband moved to Ajijic from Canada in late 2009. They came partly for the climate, at the tail end of the 2008 economic meltdown. Their careers were impacted in Canada and on the advice of a relative who had been to Mexico, they decided to move.

[6:34] They checked out the possibilities and within six months they had divested themselves from their careers, home, and investment properties. Then they moved.

[6:52] Valerie had worked at two banks and through the banks, she had offered disability and health insurance to her banking clients. She had also taught English as a Second Language much earlier in her career and she had liked it, so she planned to teach again in Ajijic, Mexico. She enrolled in a fast-track program for accreditation in Guadalajara.

[7:40] Valerie passed the accreditation class, but then her husband saw a newspaper ad for insurance sales and he asked her to check it out. She started at a full-service insurance agency. That's how she got started in health insurance in Mexico.

[9:00] Unfortunately, the founder of the agency passed away and things changed. Her husband encouraged her to move on. In five months, she launched Blue Angel Solutions, in November 2012.

[9:40] Valerie's vision for Blue Angel Solutions was not to be the largest agency but to be the best in responsiveness to clients — current and prospective. Everyone shows up on time, answers the phone, answers emails and is respectful. She holds her insurance providers to the same standard of service.

[11:03] Valerie's initial clients were fellow expats from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Primarily from Canada and the U.S. Their ages generally ranged from 62 to 67. That was the age of people retiring at that time.

[11:53] The bell curve has widened now. Her current prospects and clients range from age 38 to age 80. Some have children in college in the U.S. and teens at International Schools in Mexico.

[13:40] One of the reasons people are moving to Mexico is that technology allows them to do business around the world from home. In Ajijic, the cost of living is less and the community is great, and the environment is attractive.

[14:33] Marc has worked around the world, in 40 different countries. He can adapt to any culture. Mrs. Miller has not. When Marc first looked at moving, he asked a Chapala area Facebook group for recommendations for endocrinologists for his wife. He got 28 responses in 48 hours.

[15:18] Valerie compares the area to a college town. Everyone is new. Everyone is helpful. The norm is to pay it forward.

[15:55] How did it turn out differently for Valerie than she expected? She had expected to teach English as a Second Language. She got a contract to teach for one year in the a.m. in Jocotepec, while she worked at the insurance agency in the p.m. After a year, she knew it would burn her out so she continued in the insurance area.

[16:45] Valerie's typical day is to rise early, do some reading, make some supplier phone calls, and look at the day's schedule. She and her husband walk the dogs. She comes to the office at 10:00 when it opens. She has a receptionist who opens if she is not yet there.

[18:01] Valerie's workday is a number of appointments, her primary method of doing business. On Monday mornings, she deals with the inevitable Monday walk-ins. That way, everybody is happy. Valerie compares business to the three parts of a golf swing — the setup, the swing itself, and the follow-through.

[20:22] Valerie runs her business like a consulting business. She always provides a personal orientation to the product for her customers.

[21:01] Marc comments on the personal orientation he and his wife received when they bought a policy.

[21:25] Valerie works to 5:30 of 6:00 to do "cleanup" although the official hours are 10:00 to 4:00.

[21:50] Valerie had no expectations about how much she would earn in insurance. With her good listening skills, good initiative, and commitment to excellence, she believed she would be successful.

[22:28] Valerie continues to work because she wants to work.

[22:40] Marc shares a story of meeting two elderly women at Tacos Frida in Ajijic who were thrilled with all the activities in the area. Marc told them he does not want activities; he wants purpose. Valerie agrees. Neither have any plans to retire.

[23:23] Valerie will mentor someone to take over her business. She separates herself as an entity from the business. She wishes to leave a legacy of her business.

[24:06] Valerie will never sell 100% of her business. She will find someone to run it for her. She will work fewer hours and be more mobile. In her business, she has the opportunity to experience and evaluate the aging process better than most people. She says it is sad that people used to retire and then pass within two years.

[26:09] On January 1, 1960, the visionary Del Webb opened up Sun City Arizona with five model homes and a strip mall. He had 10,000 cars lined up to visit. At that time, most of them were smokers and would not live long.

[26:46] Today, for a married couple, age 65, the odds of one of you living to 100 are enormous. Valerie's receptionist has two aunties — 104 and 102 — who take care of themselves.

[27:20] People are living longer than they expected. There are a lot of economic refugees in Ajijic. They can live a good life on their Social Security.

[27:50] Marc thanks Valerie for sharing her story and asks her for some final words of advice for the listeners.

[28:04] Valerie knew when she arrived that she would live it and she would be successful in any endeavor. At age 21 after University, she had served overseas in the Canadian equivalent of Peace Corps. She had learned to be self-reliant in a third-world country. She had learned flexibility, respect for cultures, and a sense of humor.

[29:24] Valerie knew she had those qualities. She advises you to chill out and have a great time. This is no dress rehearsal; this is it.

[29:48] From 200 to 2004 Marc spent a lot of time in mainland China, where he learned the more he 'understood' the Chinese people, the less he understood them. It's similar in Mexico. The U.S. perception of Mexico is not correct. In Austin, in the last two years, there was a SWAT team set up within 100 yards of his house. In Ajijic, he is safe.

[31:02] Valerie says, "Que sera, sera!" Marc thanks Valerie for the interview.

[31:14] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc has several more interviews like this one lined up to introduce you to the many possibilities of working outside the U.S.

[31:24] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback. Marc has already released the opening chapter to the release team.

[31:41] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.

[31:50] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release version of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.

[32:03] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months. Marc has been delayed by his move to Mexico. Susan has been delayed by moving to Portugal.

[32:32] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently soliciting members for the next cohort.

[32:42] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves.

[32:58] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[33:21] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[33:41] Please come back next week, when Marc will likely be answering questions with Susan Joyce — subject to change.

[33:48] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[33:52] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-115.

[34:06] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count #114 Feb 11, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc and Karen discuss her book. Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count.

Karen is a veteran connector, editor, and communicator and has worked in and around Silicon Valley long enough to have appeared in Wired 1.4. Even before that, she wrote one of the very first guides to what was called the World Wide Web. Now it's an amusing relic of a more innocent time.

As a corporate writer, she has developed stories, styles, and cadences for Google, Twitter, and many startups. As an early 'Googler,' she joined when there were 500 employees. She left nine years later when there were 50,000. She has been in a fair share of war rooms and fire drills and has crafted scores of posts covering products, pivots, shake ups, corporate apologies, and company culture. More recently, she advised a range of companies that want a strategy or a reality check on their messages and the content they produce.

Sometimes, friends introduce her as someone who "knows everybody." Not exactly true but usually, she does know who everyone is. That may be her secret power, along with common sense. She can see around corners and ask questions that matter, all in order to help get to the next steps and real solutions for teams, companies, and individuals.

Key Takeaways:

[1:05] Marc welcomes you to Episode 114 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge.

[1:35] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.

[1:57] Next week, in Episode 115, Marc will interview Valerie Friesen from Blue Angel Solutions. Valerie is an early-stage Baby Boomer who moved with her husband to Mexico from Canada during the Great Recession, intending to teach English. She now has a successful business providing health insurance solutions to expats in Mexico.

[2:27] This week, Marc interviews Karen Wickre, the author of Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count. Marc reads her bio by way of introduction.

[4:09] Marc welcomes Karen to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Karen emphasizes the word "connector" from her bio; her ability to connect people is one of the reasons she wrote her book.

[4:37] Karen is considered a social introvert. She likes meeting with people, but she has to avoid overscheduling. She needs time to regroup at home.

[5:50] The difference between introverts and extroverts is in how they energize. Introverts energize in quiet spaces; extroverts energize from other people.

[6:27] Chapter 1 of Karen's book is "Unleashing the Introvert's Secret Power." Karen's theory is that introverts have the three qualities that help make connections that matter. The first quality is listening (not just waiting for your turn to talk). Introverts don't want to reveal too much until they feel safe.

[7:41] Karen cites interviewer Terry Gross, saying "There's no better question than 'Tell me about yourself,'" when you're getting acquainted with someone.

[7:58] The second quality is the power of being a good observer of the scene and of how a person you are meeting presents themselves. Are they nervous, are they proud of their accomplishments, what's their style? Do they talk about their family a lot? Being observant of things and of behaviors is very helpful for understanding your audience.

[8:57] The third quality is curiosity. Be curious about people, their stories, and where they come from. Karen often tells anonymous stories that help people relate to the experiences of others.

[9:43] These three qualities — listening, observing, and curiosity — are qualities introverts are likely to have and that people need, to make good connections.

[9:56] Marc refers to Thom Singer of the Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do podcast. Thom's observation about introverts is that they know how to listen. Marc always recommends introverts to have a set of questions to use to find something that you have in common.

[10:25] Karen is on a nonprofit board and she recently did an exercise with them to go off in pairs and take five minutes to find what they had in common.

[10:41] When Marc was living in Austin, he would start conversations by asking "How did you get to Austin?" People always had a story and they wanted to tell it.

[11:02] Karen says keeping in "loose touch" is making occasional contact with people to whom you are connected in some fashion online. Send a link with "I saw this and thought of you. Hope you're doing well. (Let's catch up soon.)" You can do this on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or text. It doesn't require an immediate response.

[13:25] It's simply to say, "We're both still out there and I'm thinking of you." You might set aside a few minutes a day to make these loose touches. Marc refers to this as cultivating your network.

[14:36] How should you reach out to your network? First, understand how they want to be touched. If you're not connected on a platform, email may work. Marc notes that Baby Boomers are still getting used to texting people. Marc prefers a text to a phone call from an unknown number.

[15:37] Karen calls email the killer app. Karen suggests using it when you don't know who prefers what platform. She uses it in a three-step process to introduce one person to another. Send it to one, ask concisely, with details, for permission to introduce the other, wait for the response, and, if positive, make the connection in a new chain.

[19:45] Marc advises that when you make an introduction, always make what you are asking for simple. He gives an example from emailing a connection at Capital Metro, where he asked, "Who can she talk to?" for information about working there. All his contact had to do was forward the email to the right person.

[20:34] People often don't ask for what they want, or they are not clear enough. Karen suggests asking, "If not you, is there someone else you can connect us with?"

[21:17] Marc advises job seekers to send connection requests to recruiters, asking "Are you the right recruiter for this position? And if not, could you direct me to them?"

[21:45] What is the next killer app after email? Karen suggests LinkedIn, used for a simple connection, and then pivoting to email.

[23:17] Marc asks as an introvert, why he would need to network for his job search. Karen advises on the parameters of proper networking. It is a one-to-one connection with people who have leads and information for you, related to your question. It's not a mass outreach but connecting to a few people who are, in part, experts on your need.

[25:33] Your quest is to find selected people who have relevant information for you, get introductions to them, and follow up with some kind of exchange or conversation as needed. Karen advises how to tout your qualities without bragging.

[27:00] Most of us Boomers got our jobs from other people. A lot of the people who pulled us along are no longer in power or are retired or dead. So, we need to build relationships with younger people. Marc sees LinkedIn as a database to find people he should network with before he needs a job.

[28:05] Karen says the point of her book is to have informal, low-pressure outreach with people and connections all the time. When you actually need it, it is less daunting if you've already been cultivating your network. Karen shares a case study of a woman who had let her network go, over the years and now needs a new one.

[29:03] Marc paraphrases Scott Ingram, "Networking doesn't occur at networking events. It occurs afterward." Karen tells people that getting the business card at an event is all about the follow-up. Karen gives people processes and strategies to try. Do what works for you.

[30:41] Karen gives her final suggestions: LinkedIn gives canned language for making a connection Don't rely on that. Use your own language. Make your own explanation of why you want to connect with them. Tell what you have in common or connections you share with them. Be specific about your need and your quest. Personalize.

[32:05] It's when it's kind of vague and unstated and unclear, that it's really hard to move ahead in any direction. Karen might wait a good long while to respond to a generic connection request. She may not reject it, but she lets it sit. She has a hundred or so that she will not do anything with unless they come up with a reason she should.

[33:22] Marc refers to a conversation on this that he had with podcast host Mark Anthony Dyson, a frequent guest. Mark and Marc take different approaches. Marc will accept it, and respond back, "I accepted your connection, [first name]. How did you find me?" About 75% will respond. If they are selling services, he cuts them off.

[34:27] Marc really, really enjoyed Karen's book. See the link to it above. You can also connect to Karen on Karenwickre.com or @KVox on Twitter and KarenWickre on LinkedIn. Marc thanks Karen for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[35:43] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback.

[35:56] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.

[36:04] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release versions of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.

[36:20] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months.

[36:40] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc will be soliciting members for the next cohort, shortly.

[36:56] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves.

[37:12] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[37:36] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[38:01] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Valerie Friesen, owner of Blue Angel Solutions, in Mexico.

[38:11] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[38:15] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-114.

[38:24] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

The Career Pivot Multi-generational Workplace Workshop Part 3 #113 Feb 04, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc covers Gen X and Gen Y, the events and technologies that shaped them, the differences between them, and why we need to adapt our method of communication to them. Key Takeaways: [1:29] Marc welcomes you to Episode 113 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge. [2:01] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help. [2:23] Next week, Marc will have an interview with Karen Wickre, the author of Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count. [2:36] In this week's podcast, Marc completes a short series of episodes based on his Multi-generational Workplace Workshop. Marc will deliver this workshop on March 7th at the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange and it was suggested to him to get this on the podcast. [2:50] If you have not listened to the first two episodes in this series, Marc suggests that you stop this podcast and listen to the first two episodes, first. Those are episodes 111 and 112. [3:02] Find the handouts that accompany this episode at Careerpivot.com/Multigen. [3:18] Marc welcomes you to Part 3 of the Multi-generational Workplace podcast episodes. In this episode, Marc will finish up with Generation X and Generation Y. [3:40] There were a set of changes that occurred in the mid-1960s that set up all the problems we are having today with immigration and the changes to the racial makeup of the work population. [4:14] In 1964, the Bracero Program for agricultural workers was ended. It was started in 1942 to provide men to work in agriculture while American men were at war. As the war ended and men came back, a couple of things happened. The G.I. Bill provided college for many; others, after seeing the world, didn't want to return to work on a farm. [5:38] Corporations and farms that hired migrants housed them in poor conditions and paid them poorly. Because of this abuse, the government ended the Bracero Program in 1964. The need for agricultural workers didn't end. Until 9/11, 90% of undocumented or illegal migrant workers were men. After 9/11, the U.S. tightened the border. [6:30] With the border tightened, it was no longer easy to cross the border back and forth. So the men brought their families across with them and stayed. Our policy at the border is still on apprehending single men, as opposed to families. [7:09] The 1965 Immigration Act also played a role. Because the Silent Generation was so small, there was a great need to allow more educated people to enter the U.S. We went from a quota system to a family-based system, targeted toward educated Asians. [7:45] In 2017, when Marc's wife went into the hospital, she saw seven doctors in one day. One of them was Caucasian. Six were Asian of Generation X. This demographic shift is largely due to the changes in immigration policy. [8:17] In 1965, the pill was introduced. The pill had dramatic effects on Generation X and forced divorce rates up in the Silent Generation. It changed the dynamics of our population. Worldwide, the more education women have, the fewer children they have, and the later they have them. [8:54] With Generation X, birth rates are at an all-time low. There will be fewer people alive in the workforce to pay their Social Security benefits. [9:17] Generation X is a tiny generation, primarily due to the fact that their parents, the Silent Generation, was a very small generation, and due to the pill. Birth rates after the introduction of the pill were not very high. [9:47] Many people of the ages of Generation X do not categorize themselves as being Generation X. Why not? Mainly because there were no catalyzing events as they grew, to bring them together as a group. It was a time of peace and general prosperity. The Challenger explosion and the Persian Gulf War didn't change anything for them. [10:42] Generation X is the generation that has the least amount of group identification. [10:53] What was the technology that affected Generation X the most? Marc suggests you pause the podcast and think about it. [11:09] Home computers — like the Apple II and the IBM PC — came out. Computer technology had a tremendous impact on Generation X. [11:46] How did Generation X communicate after they left home? Marc suggests you pause the podcast and think about it. [12:00] This is the first generation who had electronic communication, including email, and chat networks, like CompuServe and Prodigy services. They still use the phone but they started the shift back to written communications. [12:32] The Greatest Generation wrote letters. The Silent Generation were the first to use long-distance calling. Baby Boomers like to talk. As we move through Generation X, the communication goes back to written. [12:55] How did Generation X research the question, "What is the capital of Madagascar?" Marc invites you to pause the podcast and think about it. [13:10] Generation X still had to go home and might use a paper encyclopedia, or more likely look it up on Encarta CD or online, using their PC. This is the first generation that had access to online or computerized information. [13:40] This generation has not yet produced a president. There were three Generation X candidates in 2016. Marc invites you to pause the podcast and think which candidates were from Generation X. [14:13] Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio were all Generation X candidates. What did they have in common? They all come from immigrant parents. [14:29] Besides being small, Generation X is the least Caucasian generation and the most immigrant population generation, up to this point. [15:24] The demographics of Generation X and Generation Y shift dramatically. Who are their parents? The Silent Generation, and to a lesser extent, Baby Boomers. In an echo effect, Generation X has very low divorce rates — because they don't get married or they get married much later. [16:08] Half of Generation X grew up in single-parent homes. Their parents divorced like crazy and this generation doesn't want to go through that again. Many people you know between 35 and early-to-mid fifties will be from a single-parent household. [16:37] Generation X has children much later. This will show up in Generation Z, the children of most Gen Xers, which Marc will have to add into this workshop presentation. [16:55] Generation Y, or Millennials, were born between 1982 to 2000. The most impactful event was 9/11. They don't remember travel when it was easy. The 9/11 disaster threw a lot of instability into their lives. The Great Recession also greatly affected this generation. Marc's son graduated from college in 2006 and got a job. [18:10] Those who graduated from college in between 2007 and 2012 were greatly harmed by the Great Recession. They could not find good jobs. [18:26] What technology affected Generation Y? Marc invites you to pause the podcast and consider. [18:40] The smartphone and personal communications are the technologies that most affected Generation Y. As a junior in high school, Marc's son had a cell phone with a 60-minute plan. In college, before Wi-Fi, Marc's son could take a cable and plug in his laptop anywhere on campus to access the Internet through Ethernet. [19:20] Generation Y was the first generation that was completely connected. Gen Y are used to having instantaneous communications and access to information. [19:40] Marc recently updated a blog post on "The Ubiquitous Access to Information and a Generational Rift. Generation Y doesn't have to memorize anything, and because of ubiquitous access to information, they may not pay attention. [20:04] When Generation Y left home, how did they communicate? Marc invites you to pause the podcast and consider. [20:18] They text! It's a kind of written communication. If you want to communicate with a Millennial, text them. They won't answer the phone or listen to your voice message. Don't leave them voicemail! Marc also prefers to receive texts, because people get to the point with fewer words. [21:20] Text is a kind of written communication, but texting actually hurts the Millennials because their writing skills are not all that good. Marc has a friend that used to teach in the PR department at Texas State. Marc pointed some nonprofit organizations there to have some communications done, but the quality of the writing was bad. [22:11] In email communications among Millennials, spelling errors are common. [22:18] How did Generation Y research the question, "What is the capital of Madagascar?" Marc invites you to pause the podcast and think about it. [22:30] Easy — when Gen Y researches, they Google it! Marc refers again to his blog post. The lack of memorization skills hurts Gen Y if they are in customer service, where they need to know people's names, or if they don't remember incidents that could teach them things. It's a very different world today. [23:04] This group was raised to be good team players. Baby Boomers were raised to be strong individuals. We raised our children to play well on a team. They are not necessarily good in isolation. Everything they did in school was around groups. They are "pack animals." They like collaboration. They like to be involved in work decisions. [24:12] They do not like when a decision affecting them comes out from behind a door. They want to know, at least, the process and to be informed. Why? Because that's what we told them. We Baby Boomers are their parents. They are the opposite of us and we made them that way. Everyone got a blue ribbon/trophy! [24:53] Millennials created Facebook. This generation is the opposite of us. We look at them like they are us, but they are not. Marc refers you to an infographic in his handout on how Millennials perceive themselves and how HR professionals perceive Millennials. Marc describes the big differences in perception. [26:06] Most Millennials are not tech savvy. They are great consumers of technology, [26:27] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc hopes you have a better understanding of the cultural and demographic shifts that are occurring and why. His workshop mantra is: "If I want you to listen to me, I have to adapt to you — not the other way around." In workplace communications, we all have to adapt to one another. [26:58] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback. [27:12] Marc has already released the first chapter to the release team and he is working on releasing the second chapter. You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up. [27:27] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release versions of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released. [27:41] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months. [28:02] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for the almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc will be soliciting members in the coming weeks for the next cohort. [28:19] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves. [28:35] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. [28:59] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [29:29] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Karen Wickre, the author of Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count. [29:41] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [29:45] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-113. [29:54] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Full show notes at the publisher

The Career Pivot Multi-generational Workplace Workshop Part 2 #112 Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc covers the Greatest Generation, the Silent Generation, and the Baby Boom Generation in America, from the events and technologies that shaped them, to the life choices they made. Key Takeaways: [1:13] Marc welcomes you to Episode 112 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings this podcast to you. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge. [1:42] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help. [2:07] In this week's podcast, Marc will continue a short series of episodes based on his Multi-generational Workplace Workshop. Marc will deliver this workshop on March 7th at the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange and it was suggested to him that he might want to make a podcast series of it. [2:23] Last week, Marc published a blog post, "The Ubiquitous Access to Information and a Generational Rift," based on the idea that how people obtain information is changing rapidly. [2:42] When doctors are trained, memorization of medical information has decreased because it is so readily available. Marc learned this from the Dean of the University of Texas Medical School at a breakfast club. The roomful of Baby Boomers showed shocked faces. [3:09] Because things are readily available, we don't memorize anymore and we don't have to. That scares most Baby Boomers. [3:19] If you did not listen to Part 1 of this series, Marc suggests you go back and listen to that, first. In this episode, Marc will cover the Greatest, the Silent, and the Baby Boomer Generations in this episode. Next week, Marc will cover Gen X and Gen Y — why they don't necessarily get along and why we sometimes misinterpret them. [3:43] Marc welcomes you to the second installment of "The Multi-generational Workplace — 'Why can't we all get along?'" In the workshop, March shows five flipcharts, one for each generation. Each flipchart has areas for events, technology, communications, learning, and how we research "What is the capital Madagascar?" [4:22] Each flipchart talks about our parents (of Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y) and which presidents came from each generation. [4:37] The Greatest Generation are those born from 1900 to 1924. Every single male of this generation served in the military or in public service. You might pause the podcast to consider what events catalyzed this generation. [5:24] WWII and the Great Depression completely galvanized this generation. As a result, they believed in big government and they saved money 'like crazy,' Marc's father graduated from college in '42 and enlisted in the Army. Marc joked that his father wasn't frugal, he was cheap. [6:12] You might pause the podcast and ponder what technologies affected this generation. [6:28] This generation was all about transportation. They were the first to have automobiles, and the U.S. Interstate Highway system was created after WWII. [7:01] When this generation left home, how did they communicate back with their families? You might pause the podcast and consider it. [7:25] This generation wrote letters. Written communication was the foundation of this generation. They wrote by hand in cursive. Do not hand a letter in cursive to a Millennial. They may not be able to read it! [7:59] Marc will show there has been a transformation between generations from written to audio and back to a form of written communications. [8:21] How did this generation research the question, "What is the capital of Madagascar?" How did they learn? You might pause your podcast and think about it. [8:37] The encyclopedia? World Book did not become prevalent until the 1950s. This generation very likely had to go to the library and find an atlas or a globe. They did not have information that was readily available in their homes. They had to go somewhere to go find the answer. [9:34] The Greatest Generation or G.I. Generation produced every president from JFK all the way to George Bush, Sr. The Greatest Generation has had their fingerprints on almost everything for 40 to 50 years. [10:13] The Silent Generation or Traditional Generation was born from 1925 to 1945. What events do you think affected this generation? You might pause the podcast to consider. [10:35] The events that affected this generation are WWII and the JFK assassination. The assassination was a real shocker. Marc remembers Dallas at the time of the assassination. [11:41] What technology affected and galvanized this generation? You might pause the podcast to think about it. [12:01] There were two very significant technologies. The first was the telephone and the second was "the pill." The pill had a massive effect on this generation through birth control. Divorce rates soared among this generation, which is why so many of Generation X ended up being latchkey kids growing up in households of divorce. [13:01] This was the first generation where we had telephones. They still wrote letters, but calling was a step to auditory communications from a distance. [13:47] How did this generation research the capital of Madagascar? They still probably had to go to the library. Encyclopedias did not become prevalent until the Baby Boomers. [14:38] The Silent Generation has produced zero presidents. They've had some candidates, most recently, John McCain. We very likely will not have a president from the Silent Generation. [15:23] Because the Silent Generation was so small, they have not had the impact, politically, that the Greatest Generation has had, or that Baby Boomers have had. Generation X is also a small generation. [15:46] Baby Boomers were born from 1946 to 1964. What events affected this generation? You might pause the podcast to think about it? Jot down some ideas. [16:20] Two critical events galvanized Baby Boomers. One was Vietnam. Marc has seen television newscasts from that period at the U.S. History Museum. The ramp up into the Vietnam War was fast. Marc contrasts it with the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. [17:21] Watergate was the second event that affected the Baby Boom Generation. Both these events made us very distrustful of big government. If you were born from 1946 to 1955, you were probably affected by Vietnam. If you were born 1956 to 1964, you were affected more by Watergate. [18:01] Marc remembers in the summer of 1972 watching the Watergate Hearings daily after his work shift at the Howard Johnson's. Early Boomers affected by Vietnam, delayed marriage and stayed in college. Some Boomers in their 60s still have kids in college. [19:12] Late Boomers, 1961 on, had children at a younger age, have little memory of Vietnam, and in their 50s, have children in college. [19:46] You might pause the podcast and think about what technology most affected the Baby Boomer Generation. [20:10] Baby Boomers were the first to have televisions. Mass marketing was first applied to the Boomer Generation. Marc remembers seeing The Flintstones in 1962, which was mainly sponsored then by Winston Cigarettes! [21:04] The next technology came in 1969. You might pause the podcast and consider what it was. [21:19] In 1969, Visa was introduced. Boomers were the first generation to have easy access to credit. Marc remembers a Barney Miller episode where a detective was telling a young drug dealer that he would never have one thing — credit! [21:56] Boomers were the first generation to be the targets of advertising, with ready credit to purchase new things. This is an echo effect from our parents, who saved money like crazy. We spent money. [22:24] When Boomers left home, how did we communicate? You might pause the podcast and think on this. [22:34] Boomers were the first generation to have prevalent long-distance phone calls. College students would give their parents two rings on the phone and hang up. Their parents would call them back and pay for the long distance. Also, we used collect phone calls. Boomers were a very auditory generation. [23:10] Marc tells his Millennial colleagues, "If you have a Baby Boomer boss, and you want them to listen to you, you need to go talk to them." [23:27] How did Baby Boomers research the capital of Madagascar? You might pause the podcast and ponder this. [23:39] A lot of us had World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica at home. We could easily research at home and get new information with annual updates. It opened up the world to us. Information was rapidly becoming more accessible. [24:18] Who were our parents? To a large extent, our parents were The Greatest Generation. They saved money and believed in Big Government. They believed in "playing it safe." We Baby Boomers spend money like crazy and we don't trust government. [24:49] Marc did as his parents told him to. He graduated from college and went to work for IBM, a big company. Marc was raised to be an employee and work for a father-like company that would take care of him. Others did differently than their parents advised. [25:21] Marc never served in the military; most Baby Boomers did not, especially if they were college-educated. Marc did a workshop for a national staffing company and he asked 150 Boomers (110 of whom were males) how many served in Vietnam. Three hands went up. They had volunteered. [25:55] The Vietnam Draft, besides taking citizens, took Green Card holders. Minorities and the poor made up a huge percentage of Vietnam War draftees. Marc learned that those who had the highest casualty rate in Vietnam were college-educated volunteers because they went to fight. Most draftees were not sent to fight. [27:02] The U.S. presidents from Bill Clinton through Donald Trump, has been a Baby Boomer. The next president may also be a Baby Boomer. We will see. Next week, Marc will discuss Generation X Candidates. They don't look or behave like us. [27:41] In next week's episode, Marc will cover Gen X and spend a fair amount of time talking about Gen Y (The Millennials). How they view themselves is very different from how Boomers view them. The Millennials are the opposite of the Baby Boomers and we made them that way. [28:12] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Next week, Marc will dig into Gen X and Gen Y. He will show why they likely don't get along, and why we Baby Boomers misperceive Gen Y. They are our kids! [28:30] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback. [28:43] Marc has already released the opening chapter to the release team. You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up. [28:59] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release versions of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released. [29:14] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months. [29:33] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for the almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc will soon be soliciting members for the next cohort. [29:51] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, so Marc can interview you, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves. [30:05] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. [30:31] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [30:59] Please come back next week, when Marc will be covering Gen X and Gen Y. [31:06] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [31:10] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-112. [31:19] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Full show notes at the publisher

The Career Pivot Multi-generational Workplace Workshop Part 1 #111 Jan 21, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc lays out the framework for the next episode or two, and gives a description of each adult generation in America, and their places in today's workplace.

Key Takeaways:

[2:04] Marc welcomes you to Episode 111 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings this podcast to you. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge.

[2:33] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

[2:54] In this week's podcast, Marc will start a short series of episodes based on his Multi-generational Workplace Workshop. Marc will deliver this workshop on March 7th for the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange. Marc has been updating and republishing his blog series on the multi-generational workplace, first published in 2012 or 2013.

[3:31] The premise is that each generation, from The Greatest Generation all the way through Gen Y, has some shared characteristics, based on when they grew up. These generations are not homogeneous; they vary.

[3:43] Marc will take you through why each generation does what they do. Marc will introduce a concept called "Generational Echo Effects." As we grow up and leave home, we tend to do one of two things: we either do what our parents told us to do or the exact opposite. So, we ping-pong our behaviors between generations. Listen for examples!

[4:15] Marc introduces the Multi-generational Workplace "Why Can't We Just Get Along?" Workshop. Please find handouts at CareerPivot.com/Multigen. The handouts are optional; there is a useful chart Marc will use — the U.S. birth rate per thousand.

[4:52] There are five generations in the workplace today. Marc will describe each generation in multiple ways: events they experienced or didn't experience, their technology, how they communicate, how they learn, who were their parents, and which presidents came from each generation.

[5:41] As an example of a generational difference, Marc asks 'How did we research the question, 'What's the capital of Madagascar?'"

[5:48] Marc will look at the parents of each generation and the presidents that came from each generation.

[6:04] The Greatest Generation (G.I. Generation), born between 1900 and 1924, were the parents of Baby Boomers. The Greatest Generation has their fingerprints all over big business. Many of the mission and value statements of the biggest companies, such as Ford, GM, and IBM, were created by the Greatest Generation, or even earlier.

[6:44] Marc will take you through some highlights from the U.S. birth rate chart of how each generation is really very different.

[6:55] The Greatest Generation, was a very large generation. Birth rates up to that time were very high. The Greatest Generation was over 90% White. The Silent Generation, born from 1925 to 1945, is a very small generation because birth rates plummeted during the Great Depression and World War II.

[7:39] The small size of the Silent Generation has an echo effect on their children's generation, which is mostly Gen X. The Silent Generation (also 90%-plus White) had very high levels of alcoholism and of divorce. This is also echoed in Gen X.

[8:02] Then come Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. This was a very large generation. This generation is about 80% White, due to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which eliminated quotas that favored Northern European immigrants, and the end of the Bracero Program for agricultural workers, in 1964.

[9:08] The Bracero Program was ended because of abuse by business. At the end of the program, however, many of the workers did not return to Mexico.

[9:41] Baby Boomers are shifting, with a lot of Asians having joined them since 1965.

[9:51] The next generation is Gen X, a very small generation. Their parents, the Silent Generation was a very small generation. Gen X is also small because of a technology change in 1965. Marc will cover that change later. Gen X is about 65% White.

[10:30] Gen Y (The Millennials) is a big generation because they are the children of the Baby Boomers.

[10:41] The Silent Generation was about 50 million people. Baby Boomers were 79 million. Gen X born here is about 45 to 55 million; the Census Bureau shows Gen X as 75 to 80 million, with immigration. Gen Y is a very large generation at 80 million-plus. Gen Y is about 50% White. In border states, it is under 50% White.

[11:24] Donald Trump, at the beginning of the Baby Boom generation grew up under very different conditions than Gen Y. Gen Z will be the first generation where Whites are a minority.

[11:54] Marc steps through the five generations. The Greatest Generation largely grew up through the Depression. Every male of this generation probably served in the military or some type of public service in WWII. They understood deprivation. They believed in big government.[12:39] This generation knew how to save. They largely created what we had in the post-WWII boom.

[12:54] The Silent or Traditionalist Generation, born between 1925 and 1945, is a very small generation. Birth rates plummeted during that time. The name "Silent Generation" came from a 1951 Time Magazine article saying they were very quiet. However, stepping into the late 1950s, they raised their voices.

[13:33] Favorite Rock and Roll stars of the 1950s and 1960s include Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, who all came from the Silent Generation. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Bobby Kennedy, and civil rights activists came from the Silent Generation. Vietnam War protests were led by the Silent Generation.

[14:23] The Silent generation produced no presidents. Every president from JFK to George Bush Sr. was of the Greatest Generation. The Silent Generation had a very high level of alcoholism and a very high level of divorce. A technology change, called "the pill," which came out in the 1960s, caused divorce rates to soar.

[15:04] This generation didn't look like the G.I. Generation. It was a very small group.

[15:17] Next come the Baby Boomers or those of us in the second half of life. Our generation is very, very large and we changed everything because of our size. As we exit the workforce, we don't like leaving. We are used to being in control. We are the opposite of our parents.

[15:52] Our parents, the Greatest Generation, liked big government. Our generation, the Baby Boomers, after Vietnam and Watergate, do not trust government at all. Our parents saved money. Our generation spent money. There was a very important technology change in 1969 that Marc will cover later.

[16:32] Gen X, born from 1965 to 1982, had a relatively peaceful time growing up. There was no Vietnam or Watergate to protest. There were no catalytic events that brought them together, and they often don't identify with a generation. This generation is very small. They are the opposite of their parents.

[17:35] Their parents had a very high rate of divorce; Gen X has a very low divorce rate. Why? Because they don't get married. Half of this generation grew up in single-parent households. They were the latchkey kids. This was due to a technology change in 1965 that Marc will cover later.

[18:11] This generation looks very different from Baby Boomers, is very small, and mostly delay marriage or do not marry because their parents were divorced and they don't want to go through the same thing.

[19:11] Gen Y or the Millennials, born between 1983 and 2000 (approximately), largely are connected electronically. Marc uses his son, born in 1984, as an example. When he went to college in 2002, he was given a laptop. There was no Wifi, but with a cable, he could walk around the University of Dayton campus and plug in anywhere.

[19:47] When he was in middle school, doing research on Bob Dole vs. Bill Clinton, Marc helped him research and they found everything online. This is a generation that has grown up connected. This will be even more true with Gen Z. Gen Y wasn't required to memorize everything.

[20:22] Gen Y learns things starkly differently than Baby Boomers. Marc gives an example of researching. A Gen Y person doesn't remember the facts they "Google" because they don't have to. Marc does because he learned to remember things. In school, Marc had to memorize state capitals. Kids today just look them up.

[21:45] By the way, that really annoys Baby Boomers!

[21:49] Those are the five generations in the workplace, today. By 2025, Gen Y will be the majority. Baby Boomers and Gen X will be the minority. Today, Baby Boomers and Gen Y are equally split, while Gen X is the smallest group. There aren't enough Gen Xers to fill Baby Boomers' shoes.

[22:28] Marc hopes this has given you a good framework for where he is going in the next one or two episodes of the Repurpose your Career podcast. He will explain how each generation is different, how they are the same, and why they are the way they are.

[22:53] In Marc's Communications blog post, Marc said, if he wants someone to listen to him, he has to adapt to them. For many Boomers, when they deal with "these kids," the Gen Y, Boomers don't want to adapt. Boomers want Gen Y to behave like them. They don't — because that's the way we made them!

[23:31] Please look for next week's episode, where Marc will cover the Greatest, the Silent, and maybe the Baby Boom Generations. Marc thanks you for listening to this episode and he hopes you enjoyed it. The following week Marc will cover Gen X and Gen Y — why they likely do not get along and why Boomers misperceive Gen Y.

[24:04] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback.

[24:17] Marc has already released the opening chapter to the release team. You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.

[24:30] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release versions of chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.

[24:46] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on the podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months.

[25:06] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently soliciting members for the next cohort.

[25:17] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, so Marc can interview you, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves.

[25:31] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[25:55] Marc shares an example of what happens in the community. One of the members was offered a lower-level position at a company where she was applying for a different job. She asked for opinions and four or five members shared applicable experiences and advice with her.

[26:23] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[26:46] Please come back next week, when Marc will continue in this series, discussing the Greatest, Silent, and Baby Boomer Generations.

[26:56] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[27:00] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-111.

[27:07] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

2018 Repurpose Your Career Podcast Listener Survey Results and Plans for 2019 #110 Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

In this episode, Marc describes some of the realities of creating this weekly podcast and what it will take to keep it going strong. Marc reveals the results of the 2018 Repurpose Your Career Podcast Listener Survey and the ideas you have given him for going forward, this year. Marc introduces the concept of listener contributions to support the expenses of the show and gives an outline of changes happening now and coming up on the podcast and also on the Career Pivot Blog. Please listen in for the exciting news. Key Takeaways: [1:42] Marc welcomes you to Episode 110 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings this podcast to you. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge. [2:10] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. [2:25] In next week's podcast, Marc will start a series of episodes based on his Multi-generational Workplace workshop. Marc has been updating and republishing his blog series on the multi-generational workplace, first published in 2012. [2:40] The blog series has proven to be quite popular. Mark Anthony Dyson, a repeat guest on this podcast, suggested to Marc that he use the material in a podcast series. The premise is that each generation, from The Greatest Generation all the way through Gen Y, has some shared characteristics, based on when they grew up. [3:06] Marc will take you through why each generation does what they do. Marc will also introduce a concept called "Generational Echo Effects." As we grow up and leave home, we tend to do one of two things: we either do as our parents told us to do or the exact opposite. So, we ping-pong our behaviors between generations. Listen for examples! [3:35] Marc has a variety of guest experts and pivoters lined up for the coming months. Marc will also be answering your questions with a variety of guest experts over the coming months. [3:47] This week, Marc will take you through the 2018 Repurpose Your Career podcast listener survey and discuss how Career Pivot will evolve in the coming year. Last week, Marc announced the Career Pivot Blog Survey. If you are a reader of the Career Pivot blog, Marc encourages you to take a moment and take that survey. [4:12] Marc is also publishing the changes planned for this year for the blog. [4:21] Marc welcomes you to the 2018 Repurpose Your Career Podcast Survey Results Review. [4:34] Close to 60 people took the survey, which is double the number for the 2017 survey. First, Marc thanks everyone who took the survey. It has been interesting but not very surprising. [4:57] Q1: Male vs. Female. On the website, there are slightly more females than males. 55% of the survey respondents were male and 45% were female. [5:19] Q2: Age. A few were in the 18 to 34 range. Almost 40% 45 to 54. Over 40% were 55 to 64. The 'sweet spot' for this podcast, as expected, is in the 45 to 65 age range. That knowledge is helpful for potential sponsors. [5:57] Q3: Where are you in your career? 30% to 35% are unemployed, for a variety of different reasons. A similar number are working. No one who took the survey answered, "I'm retired, living the dream." Marc thought that was interesting. [6:27] Marc uses these questions whenever he starts a webinar to get a good idea of the participants. As he would expect, the majority of listeners are employed, but there is always a healthy subset of podcast listeners who are unemployed. [6:44] Q4: Where are you located? 90% are in North America. The rest are scattered, including some from Asia, Africa, and South America. [6:59] Q5: How long have you been listening? Almost 30% have been listening less than one month. (Marc was very interested in those who started listening and went offline to take the survey.) 20% have been listening for over a year. Everyone else was scattered pretty evenly between 1-3 mos., 4-6 mos., 7-9 mos., and 10-12 mos. [7:40] The podcast was getting about 500 downloads a week until May. In the May edition of the AARP Magazine, AARP featured this podcast. There were almost 10K downloads in May, and it has landed at about 5-6K a month or about 1,500 a week. That is a dramatic increase, which is why Marc hoped for a larger survey than in 2017. [8:23] Q6: How often do you listen? About 30% say they listen every week. Marc thanks you! 35% to 40% say they select the podcasts for listening. 10% say they binge-listen. Then there are a wide variety of listening patterns selected under "Other." [8:55] Q7: What is your favorite type of episode? — Expert Interview, Job Pivoter, the "Can You Repurpose Your Career? series", Q&A Mailbag, or Marc's Expat Experience? 40% answered "Job Pivoter." Then it is almost neck-and-neck between "Expert Interview" and "Marc's Expat Experience." That surprised Marc! [9:39] Marc started with a couple of episodes on his expat experience based on a couple of articles he wrote for FlexJobs on "How to Move Overseas and Take Your Job with You." When Mar and his wife were in Ajijic last summer, four podcast listeners visited them. The episodes sparked a lot of interest. [10:02] The remaining answers were "Q&A Mailbag" and the "Can You Repurpose Your Career? series." Marc has received a lot of positive feedback on the Repurpose Your Career series because people identify. Marc will probably do one in the middle of this year, solicited from a listener who is interested in doing it. [10:31] Marc is going to make some changes in 2019, and he will cover his plans after the survey results review. [10:39] Q8: Do you read the show notes? Marc spends a fair amount of money doing the show notes. He pays to have them done. Much to Marc's surprise, 55% of the survey respondents say they read the show notes. A significant number said they read the notes for the links. Marc says around the podcast industry, links are what most want. [11:12] Some answered that they read the show notes to find the timestamps for the portions that interest them the most, instead of listening to the whole podcast. Marc found that interesting. [11:29] Q9: Would you be willing to contribute a small amount per episode on Patreon, to sponsor the Repurpose Your Career podcast? It costs Marc about $100 per episode to produce this. That includes show notes, audio enhancements and editing, the hosting service, Marc's VA who maintains the podcast on the website, etc. [12:08] So, Marc is looking at asking for a contribution that might be $1 or $2 per episode. A number of people answered they were unemployed and would not contribute. Two-thirds of the people are employed and about one-third of them said they are willing to contribute. [12:29] Marc would like to know what you would like to get in return for a contribution. Marc invites you to give him input. Please email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com and he will schedule a time for you to chat and give him input. [12:57] Marc writes about his on this week's blog post at CareerPivot.com. Marc is making a number of changes because he is shifting the business. Marc is changing how he is running his business and he is reducing costs. Some people suggested Marc should seek sponsorships. [13:36] Marc has talked to folks who do sponsorships. While the podcast is doing really well, Marc needs five to eight times the current number of downloads before sponsors will talk to him, so that is a consideration for the future. [14:04] Another choice Marc has is to change the frequency to an episode every other week. [14:14] Marc has added a podcast menu feature at CareerPivot.com/podcasts to group podcasts by category. The categories of podcasts are Interviews with Career Experts, Career Pivot Interviews, Question and Answers, Becoming an Expat, Repurpose Your Career Audiobook, Repurpose Your Career Series (Juan and Sara), and Other Topics. [14:58] Marc is making the Career Pivot website easier to navigate. [15:06] For this year, Marc is looking at finances and what to do differently in the year.[15:16] Marc will continue to bring in experts, including Karen Wicker, author of Taking the Work Out of Networking: An Introvert's Guide to Making Connections That Count, and author Chris Farrell, who is writing a book on purpose and passion, and a variety of other people to help you. [15:37] Marc is looking for people who have made successful career pivots. If you know of someone who would like to tell their story, Marc would be really interested to talk to them. He has one lined up now, for next month, who has written a book about moving from being a lawyer to making chocolate. [16:07] Marc will also bring back some of the past pivoters, as he did with Elizabeth Rabaey, and play the original episode, with a short interview at the end for an update. [16:22] Marc will continue to bring back Mark Anthony Dyson to assist Marc with the Q&A episodes, but will also invite other people, including past guest Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org and others. [16:47] If you have a question you would like answered on this podcast, please submit it to Podcast@CareerPivot.com. [16:57] Marc will also keep you updated, probably once a quarter, on his expat experience. Marc and his wife are full-time now in Ajijic, Mexico. They survived Christmas and New Year's, which are big deals in Mexico, and they love their fireworks! [17:21] If you are really interested, find and friend Marc on Facebook, and you will see a lot of his pictures from his experiences. They will probably go into a blog post in the first quarter of the year. [17:41] Marc will release the next edition of Repurpose Your Career in the middle of 2019. He is still looking for people who can be on the release team. You can go to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam, and get a copy of the first chapter which Marc sent out last week. Marc and Susan are rewriting a number of chapters and adding new chapters. [18:23] Marc will be doing one more Repurpose Your Career series, taking a person through an evaluation, probably in June or July, and may do one later in the year. [18:39] The one thing Marc needs to do with this podcast is to keep it viable by reducing costs and bringing in some money. If you're interested in helping with that, please give Marc some feedback by emailing Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com to set up a chat. [19:07] Marc hopes you have a good idea of how this podcast will continue to grow this year. Marc thanks everyone who has supported this podcast and made this possible. Marc gives a big shout-out to his production team at Podfly.net, and Stephanie Brodt, Marc's fearless Virtual Assistant and everybody else who has given Marc feedback. [19:36] Marc thanks you very much for listening to this episode and he hopes you enjoyed it. Marc thanks everyone who took the survey. It was a joy to see the feedback. [19:55] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback. [20:07] By the time this podcast episode is published, Marc will have released the first chapter to the release team. You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up. [20:23] When you sign up, you'll receive the pre-release versions of chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released. Marc will make the e-book available for $.99 so you can purchase it and provide a 'verified review.' [20:53] Marc and Susan are adding eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on the podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months. Marc will also be asking the group if they want to form a Facebook group. [21:26] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc wrote about this in this week's blog post. Marc is now recruiting members for the next cohort. [21:47] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, so Marc can interview you, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you'll receive information about the community as it evolves. [22:04] Marc's plan is to make the community live and open to the world in the second half of 2019. Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. [22:37] This week in the community, Marc has Bree Reynolds coming in from FlexJobs.com to tell members how to maximize their efforts on the FlexJobs website. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. [23:01] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [23:34] Please come back next week, when Marc will be starting the Multi-generational Workplace series of two or three episodes. Marc is going back to Central Texas in early March, to run the workshop for a medical insurance group. The podcast series will be based on this workshop. [24:04] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-110. [24:13] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates to this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Full show notes at the publisher

Elizabeth White on Being Fifty-Five, Underemployed, and Faking Normal #109 Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Elizabeth White is an author and aging solutions advocate for older adults facing uncertain work and financial insecurity. Most recently, she served as a special advisor to the Executive Director of Senior Service America. Before joining SSA, she was the Chief Operating Officer of a mid-size nonprofit focused on improving economic conditions in Africa. She is also an entrepreneur, having co-founded and led a chain of decorative home stores in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York. She began her career in international development at the World Bank. Ms. White earned an MBA from Harvard Business School, a Master's in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University, and a BS in Political Science from Oberlin College. A self-described Army brat, she grew up in various countries in Europe and North Africa. She resides in Washington, D.C., with her daughter and grandson. Elizabeth has a compelling story to tell that will resonate with many of you. Key Takeaways: [1:04] Marc welcomes you to Episode 109 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. 2018 was a year of disruption and clarification for Marc personally and regarding where he wants to take his business and this podcast. Marc will be making some changes to Career Pivot and to the Repurpose Your Career podcast in the very near future. [1:43] In next week's podcast, Marc will review the results of the 2018 Repurpose Your Career Podcast Survey and the changes he will be making. Almost 60 people provided their input. Marc says thank you. That is double the number of participants over the previous year. The downloads have also doubled or tripled. [2:04] This week, after this episode is published, Marc will publish a Career Pivot blog reader survey and discuss how Career Pivot will evolve in the coming year. If you actively read the Career Pivot blog, please take a moment and take the survey. [2:21] Marc is recording this intro on New Year's Day, 2019. Marc and his wife have permanently relocated to Ajijic, Mexico. Their Austin condo has been rented. The Millers have greatly simplified their lives and drastically reduced their expenses, all while improving their mental and physical health. [2:48] Looking forward 18 months ago, this is not what the Millers would have expected. Marc will share more on that, next week. [3:00] This week, Marc has a great interview with Elizabeth White, author of Fifty-Five, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life. Marc shares her bio. [4:24] Marc will be publishing two separate book reviews of Elizabeth's book in the coming weeks, written by two members of the Career Pivot Community. One, to be published on January 7, almost simultaneously with the podcast and the other will publish in a few weeks. The book's official release date is January 8, 2019. [4:49] Marc especially loved Elizabeth White's story about her relationship with Elijah, and how that relationship gave her perspective. Marc hopes you will enjoy this interview and pick up a copy of her book. [5:04] Marc welcomes Elizabeth White to the podcast and invites her to share her compelling story. [5:24] No one aspires to be the poster child for 'Broke and Near-broke Boulevard.' Elizabeth landed there, as many people do, through an event. For some it could be job loss, medical diagnosis, divorce, or something that sets a 'before-X' and 'after-X' mark in your life. [6:18] During the Great Recession, Elizabeth lost two really good consultancies within six months. Elizabeth was in her mid-fifties with a great employment and education background, but her phone never rang. She used to have a network that would let her hear about jobs before they posted but most of her network was retired. [7:30] Elizabeth wrote an essay describing what it felt like to land there, going from choice of careers to downward mobility. Weeks turned into months and months turned into years where she was getting little, short assignments, but nothing near earning what she was accustomed to earn. [8:08] Elizabeth started to notice that friends were going through the same experience and they talked with each other. The essay she wrote talked about what it was like to be part of the 'formerly' and 'used to be.' Elizabeth sent it around and it made its way onto the PBS Facebook page. Within three days it had 11K likes and 1K comments. [8:46] The comments were from people saying, this is my story, my husband's story or my daughter's story. How come we're not having this conversation? Elizabeth read every comment and she was astonished at the universal reach of her story. [9:08] Elizabeth had the background to look at the data. She was shocked at the magnitude of the retirement income crisis. We're not talking about it. People sent her long emails messages with story after story of older people who felt like they had done everything right, got jettisoned from the workforce, and could not get back in. [10:05] Elizabeth met with some people who were in the D.C. area or were passing through. Some became friends. Elizabeth started to look more into what was happening to people. She couldn't find the book that she wanted to read. She didn't want a dense, scholarly tome but a story from somebody who was having this lived experience. [10:44] Elizabeth wrote her book in the model of standing at her back fence, talking to her neighbor about what it means to land here. She understood that the cavalry was not coming and there would be no big rescue to address these millions of people who landed there. [11:14] The median savings for near-retirees 55 to 64 is $15,000. The middle 40% of earners in that category have $60,000 saved. People talk about the longevity bonus, which is that people in good health in their early 60s have easily another 20 years of life. $15K to $60K doesn't stretch to cover for 20 years. [12:10] Economist Teresa Ghilarducci says 40% of middle-class near-retirees are looking at poverty and near-poverty conditions in old age. These are not irresponsible 'bad apples' who've landed here. These are not the marginalized, chronic poor. These are people who are OK and are now looking at downward mobility. [12:59] Boomers do not have pensions. Boomers are in an 'I don't want you' job market. Boomers are looking at escalating costs in housing and healthcare and facing $1.5 trillion in education debt. [13:24] So, why is all the conversation around retirement 'happy talk'? We hear cool reinvention stories when the truth is that millions of people are trying to figure out how they are going to make ends connect to support themselves over the next 20 years. [14:03] Marc came up with 'career pivot' because you don't go from being an engineer to a pastry chef. You make incremental changes. Marc formed his online community for everyone who feels alone in their circumstances. Boomers were raised not to talk about employment. When they graduated, if they couldn't get a job, they were 'screwups.' [14:51] Elizabeth talks about 'resilience circles' as she mentions in her book. What saved her, during the worst part of it, was having a small group of people she could tell the truth to, and not fake normal. She had one friend with whom she would trade $300 back and forth when she or her friend had the need. [15:39] Elizabeth and her friend would play a game of 'top this,' comparing their money woes. The worst tale of woe won. Elizabeth appreciated having someone to listen to her difficulties. A group started meeting, not only to share stories but also to share information about community and agency resources. [17:04] A resilience circle helps you not to be alone. When you face burdens alone, you'll get 'full up' of emotion. If you don't have a circle to share it with first, that emotion will leak out of you in a job interview or a meeting about an opportunity and the person interviewing you will sense there is something there that they don't want on their team. [18:01] The resilience circle allows you to vent and get some of your frustration and upset out of your system so you don't leak it where it's not appropriate to leak it. [18:21] Elizabeth suggests that if you are not comfortable announcing to your friendship circle that you are in this situation, look for a nearby library that could work with you to organize a community resilience circle. Or see if your church has a group that is getting out of debt, or setting financial goals together. [19:37] Elizabeth says, you're going to have some bad days. You're going to feel despair. You're going to have some people that you thought were going to help you, not help you and it's going to rock you. [20:01] When you've lost confidence, you'll need someone to remind you who you are, what you know, and what you can bring. You're not going to always be able to pull that out of yourself. In this period, when you are without a map and without a net, you are going to need old-school community. [20:47] Elizabeth has some great stories. She talks about her story of Elijah that she included in the book. She had coffee with him the day of this interview. She had seen him for years around town. He is always barefoot, except for flip-flops he wears when he goes into shops. He always wears cut-off jeans. [22:01] Elizabeth wanted to know his story. In a park she found him and they started a conversation. Elijah suggested they get together and Elizabeth was intrigued. She suggested The Potter's House. What Elizabeth liked was his freedom from striving. He heard Elizabeth's story about her rough stretch and gave her a 'soft place to land.' [23:52] Elizabeth and Elijah started meeting regularly. Elijah could 'go off the grid' in his ideas. Elizabeth will say, "Elijah, I can't go with you there,' and he accepts that. Mostly, he's right there with her. [24:47] In a rough period, Elizabeth needed to borrow from him. She was telling her situation and he told her he was in a position to help. She borrowed $2,500, feeling a combination of gratitude and shame. Looking at him, he was not a guy who could help. [25:29] Her shame came from realizing that for most of her life, she had been in a position where she could help. She thought of the people she had looked at without seeing, such as a friend eating at a restaurant with her, not being able to afford more than a soup and a starter, putting $7 of gas in their SUV or going without a haircut. [26:35] Elizabeth thought of the times she could have easily picked up their meal and didn't offer. [26:46] Elijah has Veteran's benefits and he is not homeless but he lives very modestly and spends no money on clothes. He came to her mother's family Christmas dinner in Bermuda shorts, a shirt, and sandals. He was welcomed there. Elizabeth meets him for a couple of hours close to once a month or six weeks. [29:07] Marc suggests that Elijah is one of the people who doesn't judge Elizabeth and she doesn't judge him. Marc talks about Making Stuff Up disorder. Elizabeth felt 'seen,' not for her credentials or her successes but for herself. [30:15] Elizabeth shares about the holiday season where there are expectations about things you would do, or donate to, or how much a dinner with friends will cost. It can be a minefield. It is exhausting to evaluate everything against its affordability. She visited a friend recently and they just sat together for six hours. She fell asleep on her couch. [32:00] Elizabeth had a green apple and her friend had some nut spread and a bottle of wine and they shared it and watched a movie. It was comforting for them to know each other's 'walk she's on.' Elizabeth has a few friends who are 'right here' where she is. They have become an extended resilience circle. [32:35] Every now and then you will not be included in something because everyone knows you cannot afford it. She doesn't have words to describe how that feels. You don't feel sorry for yourself and you don't want them to feel sorry for you. Elizabeth lost her mother this year, so she is a little more sensitive to things.[34:27] Maybe you used to be able to cover an ice cream cone for your grandchild or take them to a movie but now you have to ask your son or daughter to pay for it; maybe you cannot help with your mother's nursing home expenses. The 'money piece' is harder during the holiday season. [35:08] Marc frustrates people who want to know what to get him for Christmas. Nothing — he is done accumulating stuff! In moving to Mexico he just got rid of all of it! His self-worth is not related to the stuff he has. [35:44] In the second half of Elizabeth's book she talks a lot about different ways of living in the second half of life, from health to living arrangements, to living more affordably into our nineties. Marc asks Elizabeth to share some thoughts. [36:08] While Elizabeth was writing, a friend, doing her hair, told her the book better not be a talkathon! She told her to include information and resources. Elizabeth wanted to make sure that this book was chock-a-block full of resources. [36:39] The biggest expenditure for most of us, after healthcare, is housing. After housing, many people can 'extreme coupon it' the rest of the way. So Elizabeth covers housing options, from tiny houses, co-housing, other shared housing, multi-generational housing, to moving to Mexico where they could live on their Social Security income. [37:45] Choosing housing is a process of determining your space needs. Can you keep up your current home or is it time to consider other options? A lot of Boomers are living by themselves and are isolated. Maybe, to make ends meet, more of us are going to have to start thinking about living together. [38:57] Elizabeth has included a lot of resources about home sharing, including security checks and credit checks. [39:55] In some ways, the book wrote itself. It was her conversations with lots of people who have landed where she's landed, and how they improvised and figured it out. They shared their experiences of flourishing and floundering. Boomers are the first generation that will live this long lifespan, both healthy and active. [40:36] There are no rules, role models, or roadmaps, yet for how to make the money stretch. There are no policies or supportive networks, yet. We are figuring this out as we go along. What can we learn from each other? The government's not doing a lot. [40:56] How are we, who are living this, making this work on housing, on income, on how we navigate with our friends and family? [41:08] Marc says, you are not going to do this alone. You are not alone. Yes, we are making this stuff up as we go along. We're improvising. [41:25] Marc just finished reading Elizabeth's book and there are some great stories in it. It officially comes out on January 8, 2019. It will be available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Elizabeth's contact information is in the back of the book. She likes to hear from people. Also, reach Elizabeth at FakingNormal@Yahoo.com. [42:33] Through this writing process, Elizabeth has made some very good friends who reached out to her. Elizabeth has formed 'a family' and she wants you to form a family of support, as well. This book is a tool to help you do that. [43:07] Marc thanks Elizabeth for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc hopes you will consider getting her book and also passing it along to a friend. [43:31] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc is forming a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release c…

Full show notes at the publisher

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