Embracing the golden years with gusto, only to find the rest of the world not quite onboard. WHAT NOW?
I’ve always believed that life can’t stop at any age; in fact, years are just the beginning of a new and exciting chapter filled with endless opportunities for joy and fulfillment. AND, it was never in my plan to stop working. I switched careers midstream and felt like I was just getting a good start. Then I discovered the harsh reality: ageism exists, technology was transforming the business I’d thrived on for decades, and in this economy, work was slow. Like I said before, WHAT NOW?
While open to any and all opportunities, I welcome you to my journey of living a fun life for all of life! Contrary to the age-old adage, I firmly believe that you can, indeed, teach an old dog new tricks. And for me, that trick involves diving headfirst into the digital realm with a new lifestyle blog aimed at navigating life with relevancy and purpose in retirement.
Now, let me set the stage. Picture a solid "basic" in the tech-savvy arena—that’s me. Armed with little more than a paid-up subscription to a Squarespace platform site from my previous consulting business, I found myself at the starting line of a daunting challenge. You see, while I had the tools at my disposal, I hadn’t built that site, nor did I possess any clue about how to wield its power.
But hey, necessity is the mother of invention, right? Determined to make this transition affordably, I embarked on a journey filled with twists, turns, and more than a few YouTube tutorials. Step one: immerse myself in the world of website design videos relentlessly. Step two: invest in a comprehensive 6-hour course on Udemy, promising to guide me through the intricacies of Squarespace setup.
Yet, as fate would have it, upon completion, I discovered a cruel twist—the course was tailored to the previous version of Squarespace. No wonder everything seemed a bit off! Undeterred, I returned to my faithful YouTube mentors (especially Wisdom Speaks, Greg Gottlieb, Making Money with Mama, Nate O’Brien, and Sara Finance), consulted with some of my favorite marketing professionals (Richard Reens, an award-winning commercial director and photographer, Philip Moore, art director extraordinaire, and Sadia Sharif, programmer), with determination to bridge the gap and smooth out the transition.
Has it been easy? Absolutely not. But has it been exhilarating? Without a doubt. This journey has offered me a canvas to unleash my skills and love of being creative like never before. It’s become one of the most enjoyable pursuits in recent memory—a chance to challenge myself, learn, and grow in ways I never imagined.
