Second Act Stories

We’re going to mix things up a bit with today’s episode. Instead of focusing on an individual’s story, we’re going to ask the question, “Can a city have a second act?” And that brought me to Irving, Texas – a city of about 240,000 people. Irving has a lot going for it. It is in the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is contiguous to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, the 4th busiest airport in the United States. And it has Las Colinas, an innovative business park that is home to seven Fortune 500 company headquarters including Exxon-Mobil, McKesson, and Kimberly-Clark.   And for nearly 40 years, the city was also the home of the world-famous Dallas Cowboys football team, one of the most successful sports operations in history. But in 2004, the city faced a traumatic event. The Dallas Cowboys announced they would be leaving Irving, opting to build a new $1.15 billion stadium in Arlington – about 25 minutes away. In 2008, the Cowboys played their last game in Irving’s Texas Stadium. And on April 11, 2

This episode takes us to Richmond, Virginia for an interview with Lynne Tickle. Lynne spent most of her adult life in the banking industry working up to a position as a senior vice president. But in December of 2015, she learned that her neighbor was dying. And that friend shared a final wish. "Please help take care of my husband Larry after I’m gone." That request turned out to be a considerable challenge. The Great Recession of 2008/2009 had crippled her neighbor's finances. So Lynne helped Larry restructure the debt on his house, obtain financing for badly-needed home repairs, find a real estate agent to help sell his home, sell antiques online, manage yard sales and document gifts to charity. In the end, she helped Larry sell his 3,500 square foot house and downsize to a 1,200 square foot home that was more financially viable. "To say she was a great help was a total understatement," according to Larry Kachelries. "Lynne basically took over every aspect of what I needed physically, financially and

For today’s episode, I traveled to Frisco, Texas and met with Steve Paz. Since he was a boy, Steve always wanted to be a police officer and he got his chance initially as a military police officer in the Marines. He then spent twelve years with the Dallas Police Department, one of the finest police forces in the country. He was on the front lines of crack cocaine epidemic of the 1990s and encountered a number of dangerous situations which he describes in the podcast.    In 2004, a family friend offered him an excellent corporate position – a role that he admits he was completely unqualified for at the time. He took the job which paid more money, dramatically cut his commute and offered his wife and family tremendous piece of mind. But he also felt a loss of purpose in no longer serving among America’s finest. We talk with Steve (as well as his wife Judy) about his decision. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownload Special thanks to my friend Dean Barber for suggesting this episode.

This episode takes us to the United Kingdom for an interview with Lizzie Fouracre, a 33-year-old Brit with a sparking personality. Lizzie was living the dream helping to manage a fast-growing technology company in London started by her brother Tim. And while the pace of a technology start-up was exhilarating, over time she found herself wanting more from life. So she quit, packed up a tent and sleeping bag and decided take a six-week hike around Great Britain. And in a eureka moment at the top of a mountain in Wales, she decided to create a new venture called The Humble Retreat. She brought on a partner -- her mother Mandy Fouracre -- to help manage this (the two are pictured above). Eighteen months later, this mother-daughter team couldn't be happier working together. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownload Click here to learn more about The Humble Retreat. Special thanks to Miriam Christie of Careershifters for connecting me with Lizzie.  

A force of nature.” That’s how one person described Judy Cockerton.   Judy’s life changed dramatically when she became a foster parent at the age of 48. She and her husband Arthur took on the responsibility of raising two sisters aged five months and seventeen months – along with their own two kids who were 12 and 18 at the time. And for the first time she saw how flawed the child welfare system was in her home state of Massachusetts — and in America. She developed a really simple idea to improve the system. Let’s bring together adoptive families and their children with a group of caring elders. And let’s have them live together in the same neighborhood. So she created an organization called The Treehouse Foundation. She worked closely with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. She found a developer and helped secure $15 million in government funding. And she focused on building a model community that supports adoptive families. I traveled to Easthampton, Massachusetts and spent a day with Ju

T’au Pupu’a came to the United States from Kingdom of Tonga at the age of five. He grew up in a home of modest means in Salt Lake City, Utah and started playing football at the age of ten. Legendary football coach Bill Belichick discovered him while he was playing for Weber State University and he joined the Cleveland Browns as a defensive lineman. But in his second season, a nasty injury ended his NFL career. Despite almost no formal musical training, he decided to follow a new dream to become a professional opera singer. After struggling in New York City for five years, he met opera superstar Kiri Te Kanawa at a book signing at the gift shop of The Metropolitan Opera. And she helped him earn a scholarship to The Julliard School, America’s most prestigious music conservatory. In the spirit of the opera world, we’re telling T’au’s story in four short acts.   EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownload To learn more about T’au Pupu’a and listen to some of his recordings, here’s a link to his website.

Joe Tedino had a long career as a journalist and public relations executive. But tennis was always his passion. So when he finally opted to retire from a senior position with Boeing, he decided to invest the time to get certified as a tennis professional. And that helped him land a position as Assistant Coach at St. Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit high school in the heart of Chicago. He’s been working with the boys and girls teams there for the past year and he couldn’t be happier with the change. DOWNLOAD EPISODE OUTLINE And here’s a link to an article which Joe penned for Kiplinger Magazine about his move from the “Corporate World to Coaching.” Joe is the final profile in the “Five Great Second Career Moves” article.

Today's episode takes place at the Lincoln Middle School in Rockford, Illinois. I spent the morning here with Arnie Rosen, a retired doctor, and 80+ seventh and eighth graders in the school's band room. Dr. Rosen loved his 27-year career as a gastroenterologist in this Midwestern community. But when he finally retired two years ago he had a plan for what he wanted to do. He wanted to become a “band grandpa.” If you’ve never heard that term "band grandpa" before, don’t feel out of the loop. Dr. Rosen actually created it two years ago. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to John Groh, President/CEO of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, for suggesting this episode. And here's the full photo of Dr. Rosen with his beloved tuba (taken by fellow band grandpa Russ Stoneback).  

In this episode, we meet an incredible man named Jim Farrin. After a highly successful career as a globe-trotting, corporate executive, Jim helped start an organization called The Petey Greene Program. In a nutshell, the program brings volunteer students from top colleges like Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia into prisons to serve as tutors. They help prisoners get a high school diploma/GED. The program was piloted at Princeton University and has spread to 29 different colleges and universities across the Northeast. Jim is 82 years old today. Last year, he was one of five individuals awarded the prestigious Purpose Prize by the American Association of Retired Persons. But he is hardly retired. By his own admission he is working harder than he ever has before. And he has never been happier. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Click here to learn more about the amazing work of The Petey Greene Program.

Career expert Jeri Sedlar wrote “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” back in 2002 with her business partner and husband Rick Miners. They were largely responsible for blowing the lid off our traditional view of American life -- the “education first" – "work career second" – "retirement third” phasing. In August 2018, they came out with a third edition of "Don't Retire, Rewire!" based on new research and interviews. Simply put, I loved this updated book and found it incredibly valuable in my own journey as a fellow that will hit 58 years of age in the year ahead.It definitely goes in the "Best Books About Second Acts" section of this website. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT  

When I first heard Chris Donovan’s story I thought to myself, I don’t care what it takes. I have to interview this man. It took several months and a dozen or so email exchanges. But last month, I traveled to Massachusetts with only one thing in mind: interview the telephone repairman who is now focused solely on the one thing he always wanted to do in life: design women’s shoes. Since his junior year in high school, Chris Donovan has been sketching women's shoes. It's been his quiet obsession for the 30+ years. But at the age of 50, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And he knew it was time to leave his safe job at the phone company to pursue his lifelong dream. "I need to follow this. I need to find out why I have this passion for shoes." Based on the recommendation of European shoe designer Aki Choklat, he was accepted to Polimoda, one of the best fashion design institutes in the world. He enrolled in an accelerated masters program and packed his bags for Florence, Italy. And while his first few months

While working as the Director of Social Justice at St. Stephen's Church in Minneapolis, Cathy Heying observed a continuing problem among the working poor in the church's neighborhood: A poor person's car would break down and they would not have the money to repair it; Lacking dependable transportation, he/she would be unable to get to work and lose their job; Unable to pay the rent, they would become homeless. She initially thought: "Somebody really should do something about this." And then she thought: "Maybe that somebody is me." Cathy took the unusual step of enrolling in a two-year technical college to learn auto mechanics. It was a difficult experience for a 38-year-old social worker who knew very little about automotive repair. But she got through it with the help of an instructor named Dave Duval (who is also interviewed in this episode). Following graduation, she founded an extraordinary non-profit called The Lift Garage. According to the organization's mission The Lift Garage is a 501c3 nonprofit a

Nancy Collamer is the author of Second Act Careers: 50 Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement. She is a recognized expert on career change and writes a monthly blog for the PBS site NextAvenue.org. Our interview with Nancy focuses on an especially, powerful resource from her website (www.mylifestylecareer.com). "25 Questions to Help You Identify Your Ideal Second Act" details a series of questions in four major areas: 1) Values, 2) skills, and experience, 3) strengths, gifts and talents, 4) hopes, dreams and impossibilities, It's a terrific exercise for anyone considering a second act. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT GET THE "25 QUESTIONS" FROM NANCY COLLAMER'S WEBSITE  

Anita Kellman is a little like Superman. During the day, she is a quiet, mild-mannered patient navigator at the office of a breast cancer oncologist. But on Tuesday afternoons at 5:30 pm and Saturday mornings at 8:00 am, she is transformed into “Sarge” – a tough Navy Seal drill instructor who barks orders and leads cancer patients and cancer survivors through an hour-long “Beat Cancer Boot Camp” in Morris K. Udall Park in Tucson, Arizona. She first began "Beat Cancer Boot Camp" back in 2001. Every class begins with Sarge shouting "It's a beautiful day for boot camp." After a 5-7 minute warm-up, the class moves into 40-45 minutes of active exercises. "One of my trademark is that you end up doing 100 push-ups. I want people to know that they could do something that they thought they couldn't do. I want to make you physically stronger so you're mentally tougher." Over the past 17 years, Anita “Sarge” Kellman has helped hundreds of cancer patients and cancer survivors in her home of Tucson, Arizona. And she has h

Terry is a compulsive gambler who hit “rock bottom” at the age of 30 when he lost nearly $1 million in a 36-hour period in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. But he got himself into rehab, shifted gears from gambling to running and got his life together. This Fall he will run his 16th consecutive New York City Marathon. Terry's love of running extends into his new position/career as Executive Director of the New York Chapter of Back On My Feet. As Terry describes it: "Back on My Feet combats homelessness through the power of running and community support to help our members get employed and housed. Our members run every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning. And if achieve a 90% attendance record in the first month, they get into our Next Steps program. That's where the secret sauce is. That's where we really can help overcome barriers to self-sufficiency." DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Click here to learn more about Back On My Feet.

From the age of eight, Buddy Rizer wanted to be in radio. He landed his first job at the age of fifteen and rose up through the ranks to actually owning his own radio station in his early 40s. But like many other industries, radio changed. "Deregulation" not "video" killed the radio star (to amend the 1979 hit song by the Buggles). And it sent Buddy on a completely different path into the world of economic development – a profession that he has excelled over the past 11 years. Today Buddy Rizer is the Executive Director of the Loudon County Economic Development Authority. His job is to create jobs and opportunities for the 400,000 residents of Loudon County, Virginia – a county about 50 miles west of Washington, DC. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Eva Levias Andino is a big personality with a compelling back story. She grew up in Cuba and proudly counts herself as a 9th generation Cuban. But at the age of 17 years old she left Cuba with her mother. She married and raised four children living in Puerto Rico and California before settling in Miami, Florida. Her life changed dramatically when her 20-year-old son Paolo invited her to lunch and told her "Mama, I'm gay." Over the next eight years she struggled with this news. But it eventually led her to work with the Yes Institute, an organization focused on suicide prevention and ensuring the healthy development of all youth through communication and education on gender and orientation. What started as a volunteer role turned into a full time position as Director of Development and eventually Chief Financial Officer. At the age of 75, she is now retired but still actively involved with the organization. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Click here to learn more about the work of the Yes Institute.

In this episode, we spend time with Mark Miller, a veteran journalist who has covered the retirement beat for a dozen years.  Today, we’re talking with him about his new book “Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation.” The book tells the stories of people have experienced traumatic events -- the loss of a child, a natural disaster, a life-threatening accident or illness, financial ruin or a terrorist attack -- and bounced back to thrive and grow. I sat down with Mark at his home in Evanston, IL and had a conversation about “Jolt” and what it can tell us about Second Acts. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT "Jolt: Stories of Trauma and Transformation" is available on Amazon.com.

In December 2009, Paul Tasner walked into a conference room and was let go from his position as the Senior Director of Operations of a San Francisco-based manufacturing firm. He was 64 years old. He met his wife Barbara and another couple for  dinner that evening and proceeded to get "silly drunk." He wasn't ready for retirement. So two years later, he started Pulpworks, a company that designs and manufactures biodegradable packaging replacing the toxic, disposable plastic packaging to which we've all become accustomed to. With his 2017 TED Talk, “How I Became an Entrepreneur at the Age of 66,” he's became a poster child (or perhaps "poster senior") of older entrepreneurs. The episode also includes interviews with Dr. Benjamin Jones, Professor of Strategy at Northwestern University who directs the Kellogg School's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative and Barbara Walter, Paul's wife. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Over the course of a 40+ year legal career, Richard Turner served as Governor Ronald Reagan’s personal attorney and then as a high-powered trial lawyer. But at the age of 60, he had a series of epiphanies during a month-long sabbatical wandering around the Western United States. And he eventually left the bar and became a nature photographer. And a pretty successful one at that. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Interested in checking out Richard Turner's photography? Click here to visit his website. And here's the photo -- taken at an Idaho campsite during a month-long sabbatical -- that launched his career. The "Richard, this is terrible" feedback offered by a respected portrait photographer motivated him to learn how to take better photographs and ultimately launched his "second act" as a nature photographer. [caption id="attachment_1329" align="alignnone" width="475"] The "little moose/big pond" photo that launched Richard Turner's second act.[/caption]