Serving the 'Over 40' professionals in the Bay Area, and their employers.
October 9 is Ageism Awareness Day
Ageism Has Many Faces.
What Does It Look Like for You?
In recognition of Ageism Awareness Day, Phase2Careers is inviting professionals, job seekers, employers, and others to share their perspectives on ageism in the workplace and in the job search.
Join the Conversation!
Ageism has many layers.
Sometimes it is obvious. Other times, it is subtle—a perception, an assumption, or a misconception about who we are, what we can do, and what we have to offer because of our age.
And its impact can be significant.
Ageism can affect our confidence, motivation, and willingness to put ourselves forward. It can make experienced professionals question whether they are still relevant or valued.
Yet seasoned professionals have something important to contribute: experience, knowledge, perspective, adaptability, and a desire to remain relevant and engaged.
Over the coming weeks, Phase2Careers will share different viewpoints and personal perspectives on ageism—from professionals and those navigating today's job search.
We want to hear from you.
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How has ageism affected you?
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Have you experienced it in the workplace or during a job search?
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What do you wish employers understood about experienced workers?
Let's start a conversation, challenge perceptions, and recognize the value of experience.
Age should never define our potential.
This Ageism Awareness Day, let's take action together! Here’s how you can make a difference:
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Have a Discussion: Talk about ageism with your friends and family. Share your thoughts and experiences.
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Engage at Work: If you’re employed, discuss ageism with your co-workers. Awareness starts with conversation!
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Spread the Word: Know someone who is job searching? Tell them about Phase2Careers and the support we offer.
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Provide Financial Support for Our Programs through: Help us grow! Your support is vital as we do not receive significant governmental or corporate backing.
Together, we can combat ageism and empower professionals over 40 in the Bay Area!
The full articles:
Randy Block:
Age Discrimination in Hiring: What Candidates Can Actually Do About It
Age discrimination in hiring is the practice of treating a job candidate less favorably because of their age — most commonly, screening out candidates over 40 in favor of younger applicants perceived as cheaper, more adaptable, or a better "culture fit." In the United States, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) makes this illegal for workers 40 and older, and many state laws extend similar protections. But a law on the books and a law that changes behavior in a hiring manager's head are two very different things.
How It Shows Up Today
Age discrimination rarely announces itself. Nobody writes "too old" on a rejection email. Instead, it hides behind proxies: "looking for high energy," "digital native," "recent graduate preferred," or a vague sense that a candidate is "overqualified." Applicant tracking systems can quietly filter out graduation dates decades in the past. Interview panels sometimes read confidence and directness — traits common in seasoned professionals — as rigidity. The effect is the same regardless of intent: qualified candidates get filtered out before they ever get a real conversation.
What Options Do Candidates Have?
Here's the uncomfortable truth: age discrimination in a hiring decision is one of the hardest employment claims to prove. Unlike termination, where there's a paper trail — performance reviews, a timeline, a replacement hire — a hiring decision leaves almost no evidence. The candidate never sees the other applicants, the internal notes, or the actual reasoning. Filing a complaint with the EEOC or a state agency is a legitimate option, but it's slow, and "we hired someone more qualified" is a very easy defense to raise.
That reality should reshape a candidate's strategy. Rather than betting on legal recourse, the higher-leverage move is building a personal brand that speaks directly to what an organization actually needs: revenue and productivity. A candidate who can show, concretely, how they've driven results — not just held titles — gives a hiring manager a business reason to look past age entirely. It reframes the conversation from "is this person too old" to "can this person move the numbers."
Obligations on Organizations — and What They Can Really Do
Organizations are obligated to build hiring processes that don't discriminate by age, either explicitly or through built-in bias in tools and interview design. In practice, the organizations that make real progress tend to do a few concrete things: strip graduation dates and ages from initial screening, train interviewers to recognize proxy language for age, and evaluate candidates against skills and outcomes rather than "energy" or "fit."
Where Candidates Get the Best Traction
One pattern I've noticed: age discrimination shows up far less in part-time and short-term contract roles than in full-time hiring. Full-time hiring often triggers long-term cultural and cost assumptions tied to age. Part-time and contract roles, by contrast, are evaluated more narrowly — can this person deliver this specific outcome, right now? That narrower lens works in an experienced candidate's favor. For candidates facing age bias, it's often worth pursuing all three paths — full-time, part-time, and short-term contract — simultaneously, using the latter two not just as fallback options, but as a faster route to prove value and reopen doors that full-time hiring keeps closed.
Ana Boa-Ventura, PhD:
Being Visible in the Age of AI
Every October 9th, Ageism Awareness Day rolls around and reminds us of an old, stubborn assumption: that experience is somehow a liability rather than, you know, the entire point of having a career. This year, though, the conversation has a plot twist — because the way people get found professionally has quietly changed underneath all of us. For two decades, visibility online meant SEO — Search Engine Optimization, the erm… art and science of being findable on Google. And just as we were about to grasp all that needed to be done to be SEO-ready, here comes AEO. Answer Engine Optimization stands for being findable and recommended by AI tools that answer questions: ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews, and LinkedIn's (increasingly opinionated…) AI search. Recruiters are already asking these tools to summarize candidates before a human even glances at a resume. Somewhere, an algorithm is quietly forming an opinion about you, and it didn't even ask permission. Here's the plot twist I actually love: what makes you visible to AI isn't youth, TikTok fluency or Instagram influency. It's clarity, consistency, and substance — which, conveniently, is exactly what a few decades of doing real work tends to produce. For once, the robots are on our side.
A couple of practical things worth doing:
If you have a website: make sure it actually says who you are and what you do, in real sentences — not just a resume PDF sitting there looking mysterious. AI tools read text, not vibes — a gorgeous website with no real sentences on it is the online equivalent of showing up to an interview and just erm… vibing.
On LinkedIn: Write your headline and About section the way you'd want a sharp friend to introduce you at a party — not 'they do marketing, I think?' but something specific, confident, and current. And keep that story consistent everywhere you show up online — algorithms, like people, appreciate not having to guess who you're talking to.
The technology behind hiring is shifting toward rewarding depth and authority over sheer novelty — which happens to be the thing experienced professionals have in spades. The move isn't to appear younger. It's to be unmistakably, accurately you, everywhere it counts.
So this Ageism Awareness Day, here's the assignment: make sure your real story is the easiest one to find — before some algorithm tries to tell it for you.
Ana Boa-Ventura is an information designer, a digital marketing consultant and part of the Phase2Careers Advisory Board
Rosie Cofre:
Our Cells Are Eavesdropping:
The Surprising Medical Impact of Ageism
It was near midnight when I crawled into bed and decided to indulge in the forbidden act of scrolling Instagram before going to sleep. I stumbled across videos posted by young adults commenting how they couldn’t keep up with their 50-year-old parents, who seemed to have non-stop energy. It was so funny it kept me laughing until finally, I decided I needed to sleep since tomorrow was a long day that started at 5:30 AM.
The next day, I couldn’t stop thinking about those videos. Throughout the day, I observed my own activity level compared to my teenage kids. It was clear that I definitely had much more energy than the three of them combined. This phenomenon had me baffled, curious, and wanting to learn more. Suddenly, an overarching theme from a Netflix documentary I watched a few months prior popped into my head: Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, released in August 2023. In the four-part series, longevity researcher and author Dan Buettner discovers five unique communities where people live extraordinarily long, vibrant lives. The documentary challenged deep-seated social myths about aging, showcasing stories of entire cultures tearing up the conventional aging script. One such story took place in the windswept, mountainous region of Ogliastra, Sardinia, one of the world's primary Blue Zones. I was fascinated by Giovanni Sannai’s story, a man who lived to be 104. Well past his 90th birthday, Giovanni didn't spend his mornings in a rocking chair. Instead, he woke up before dawn every day and walked steep, rocky inclines to tend to his sheep. Because his village was built vertically into the mountainside, buying a loaf of bread or visiting a neighbor meant climbing dozens of stone stairs and trekking up steep, challenging hills.
In the West, we spend thousands of dollars on treadmills and gym memberships, yet the moment we age (a milestone that is entirely subjective), we look for single-story homes, elevators, and shortcuts to avoid physical friction. Giovanni and his fellow Sardinians never changed their level of activity because their culture never told them that a 90-year-old shouldn't climb hills. This continuous, natural movement ensured their bones remained dense, their balance remained flawless, and their hearts and minds remained strong.
However, the physical landscape was only half the equation. In the Blue Zones, aging is met with an increase in social equity, laughter, community connection, and daily purpose. Older individuals are not segregated into care facilities; they live with their families, drink local wine with friends at the town square, and are deeply respected for their wisdom. They possess a powerful sense of Ikigai (the Japanese concept from the Okinawa Blue Zone meaning "a reason for being."). They wake up every day knowing they are needed. I started to ponder the script we write for ourselves, which is heavily influenced by society. From childhood, society gives us a narrative that ends with an inevitable, linear decay. We buy into the narrative when we laugh at "over the hill" birthday cards, nod sympathetically at "senior moments," and internalize the idea that past a certain milestone, our minds and bodies must gracefully break down.
This cultural programming is so quiet that we rarely notice when we start saying similar things to ourselves. It begins with small, daily comments like “I’m too old to wear that.”, “I shouldn’t try that sport at my age.” and “My brain just doesn't learn new things anymore.” Public health experts call this internalized ageism. But neuroscientists and cardiologists call it a self-fulfilling medical prophecy. When we treat these defeatist thoughts as harmless observations, we miss the profound physiological reality: our cells are eavesdropping on our thoughts.
Imagine a drug that could protect your brain from dementia, cut your risk of a heart attack in half, and add nearly eight years to your lifespan. That drug exists, and it is forged entirely in your mind. Pioneered by Dr. Becca Levy at the Yale School of Public Health, Stereotype Embodiment Theory shows that the ageist jokes, media stereotypes, and cultural expectations we absorb starting in childhood eventually become internal blueprints. Levy and her fellow researchers have quietly tracked a bizarre phenomenon: people who simply refuse to buy into the cultural script of aging live an average of 7.5 years longer than those who surrender to it. A positive mindset about growing older provides a greater survival advantage than having low cholesterol, maintaining perfect blood pressure, or even quitting smoking.
The mechanism is simple. When you tell yourself you are "too old," your brain registers a threat. It assumes decline is imminent, spiking cortisol and triggering systemic inflammation. Over decades, that chronic stress response erodes the cardiovascular system and shrinks the hippocampus (the brain's memory engine). Conversely, when you refuse to let an arbitrary number define your boundaries, your brain retains its neuroplasticity and the ability to rewire itself. In a massive, twelve-year study tracking over 11,000 older adults, medical researchers expected to see a universal downward slope. Instead, nearly half of the participants actually improved in their cognitive sharpness, their walking speed, or both. The single greatest predictor of who experienced this biological bounce-back was the belief that they still had room to grow. This means the fountain of youth isn't a myth, nor is it reserved for genetic lottery winners. It is an active state of mind. Tapping into it doesn't require a radical overhaul of your entire life, nor do you have to be born in a mountain village. It simply requires a commitment to everyday rebellion. The shift happens in the small, micro-choices of daily life. To step off the path of expected decline and tap into your body's reserve capacity, start making these simple, powerful changes to how you think and act:
Seek Out "Inconvenient" Movement: Be intentional about adding physical effort in your day. Take the stairs instead of the escalator. Park at the far end of the lot. If you live near a hill, walk up it. Your body adapts to the demands you place on it; when you stop climbing, your body forgets how to climb.
Find Your Daily Ikigai: Purpose is a cardiovascular shield. Find a project, a volunteer role, or a hobby that demands your attention and gives you a reason to leap out of bed. Ensure it connects you to a community where laughter and deep conversation are part of the daily routine.
Audit Your Vocabulary: Erase the phrase "at my age" from your daily speech. When you drop a key or forget a name, resist calling it a "senior moment." Remember that young people misplace keys constantly without attributing it to structural decay. Frame it as a temporary lapse, not a milestone of decline.
Hijack the Visual Narrative: Ageist marketing dictates how we should dress. Actively choose to wear the vibrant color, the bold pattern, or the style you love. Reclaiming your visual identity sends a powerful signal to your subconscious that you are still the author of your own life.
Learn Something Frustrating: The aging brain thrives on novelty. Instead of sticking to familiar routines, pick up a skill that forces your brain to build new pathways. Take an introductory language class, learn to code, or pick up a complex instrument. If it feels difficult, that means your brain is actively rewiring itself.
By adjusting these micro-habits, we do something far grander than changing our daily routine.
We rewrite our cellular blueprint. We change our biological destiny.
Ageism is often fought in human resources departments and courtroom discrimination lawsuits, but the most critical battleground is inside your own head. It starts with the radical, everyday act of refusing to act your age.
Beth Pampaloni:
The Case for Experienced Interns
When most companies think about internships, they picture college students gaining experience, fulfilling graduation requirements and getting their first taste of the professional world. But perhaps it's time to rethink the traditional definition of an internship.
What if companies reserved a few internship opportunities for experienced professionals who want to explore a new industry, transition into a different role or gain firsthand experience at a company they admire?
Call them Experience Internships.
The idea may sound unconventional, but today's careers—and today's workforce—look very different than they did even a decade ago. Careers are no longer always linear. Professionals change industries, develop new skills, return to the workforce and reinvent themselves at different stages of their careers. An internship could provide an opportunity to learn, explore and make a transition—not just at the beginning of a career, but throughout it.
There are clear benefits for employers as well. An experienced professional already understands how to work in an organization, collaborate with others and take responsibility for results. While they may be learning a new industry, role or technology, they can often hit the ground running and bring valuable perspective from their previous experience.
And an internship could become much more than a short-term assignment. It could be a pathway to a new employee. Experienced professionals have successfully navigated transitions throughout their careers and understand how to apply transferable skills in new environments. Given the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do, an Experienced Intern may turn out to be the company's next great hire.
This isn't about creating an entirely new internship program or replacing opportunities for college students. It's simply about expanding the definition of who an intern can be. What if a company set aside one or two opportunities for experienced professionals looking for their next chapter and gave the concept a chance?
This is where Phase2Careers plays an important role. For years, Phase2Careers has supported and empowered Over 40 professionals in the Bay Area as they navigate job searches, career transitions and new opportunities. The organization already brings together experienced professionals and employers while providing training, career development, networking and resources to help people successfully navigate a changing world of work.
Phase2Careers could help employers explore the Experienced Internship concept by connecting them with qualified professionals and helping both the organization and participants prepare for a successful experience. In many ways, this is a natural extension of the organization's long-standing mission of helping experienced professionals discover new opportunities and navigate career change.
Internships are ultimately about learning, opportunity and discovering potential. Perhaps it's time to recognize that those things aren't limited by age.
The next great intern may not be looking for their first job. They may simply be looking for their next chapter.
Dr. David Petrovay:
How to Change Your Ageism Mindset
“With all the 20somethings applying for these positions, I’ll never be a serious candidate for the company to hire. I could be their parent or maybe even grandparent. Why do I even bother to apply?” If this sounds familiar, you have likely adopted an Ageism mindset that is affecting your hiring status. What exactly is an Ageism mindset? Ageism mindset is a way of thinking that makes assumptions, judgments, or decisions about people based primarily on their age rather than who they are as individuals. You incorporate your current experiences into supporting your way of thinking. It is what psychologists refer to as a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” This doesn’t mean that age discrimination doesn’t exist. It means that you don’t need to allow the stereotypes that accompany it to define your future. The good news is that you have the ability to change that mindset whenever you want.
Where does Ageism come from?
Where did such beliefs about Ageism originate? The seeds of such beliefs were planted
early in childhood through the messages we received about what it meant to grow older.
Aging became synonymous with decline. This was reinforced through movies,
advertising, and in the workplace. This approach became more of a concern with the possibility of dementia and Alzheimers in later years. If a job opening required the
applicant to be digitally adept, how might cognitive abilities affect that if they were in
their 60s? The applicant might forego applying by saying to himself or herself, “They are
obviously looking for someone younger.” Is this a stereotype or an actual limitation? If you believe you have the skills and knowledge to perform your job duties, then be prepared to demonstrate evidence of those in a job interview.
Challenging the stereotypes of Ageism
You can begin to challenge the stereotypes of Ageism by no longer equating age with
ability. Your age is an indicator of the number of years you have been alive. It does not
indicate your intelligence, your adaptability, or your technical knowledge. Remember
that individuals show their age at different rates and directions. There are people in their 80s who continue to function well below their chronological age both on a personal and professional level. They have learned to be effective communicators and problem solvers based on their years of experience. In some cases they take on new roles
based on interests and opportunities. This might include writing a book or mentorships.
Rather than ask, “Am I too old to do this?”, ask “What would keep me from trying this?”
Ask what it is that you would need to take a class, travel, or write that book.
Your next step would be to examine your internal dialogue or self-talk. Statements such
as, “I’m too old to try that” and “It’s too late for me to start over,” will only serve to
reinforce your Ageism mindset. This creates a negative cycle of “If I never try, I’ll never fail” rather than “If I never try, I’ll never know if I can succeed.” Consider a task that you
took on for which you had no prior experience. What did it take to learn to do it? This is
evidence that you are capable of learning new skills and have a story to share about that in a job interview.
Letting go of comparing yourself to Gen Zs
Now stop comparing where you are in your current life to that of someone much younger. Ask yourself what the benefit would be to looking at a 25-year-old and saying to yourself, “I should have done that when I was their age.” You have no idea what their life will look like 30 years from now. You do know what your life has looked like during
that time. You completed your education, built your career, possible raised a family, and
collected valuable experiences that contributed to being the person you are today.
There are no hardfast rules as to when a person is supposed to accomplish their goals.
I completed a PhD with a 4.0 GPA and was married at the age of 59.
Think of what experience has provided you over the years. While younger people may
provide a different level of energy, they cannot provide the wealth of experiences you
bring with you. You have a myriad of tasks you have performed and problems you have solved that no 25-year-old can begin to enumerate. Stop viewing your experience as
something for which you need to apologize. Share your stories of success that can be applied in a work setting. Ask yourself what it is that you understand that a younger person has not yet learned. Your age is one of your greatest contributors to your outcomes.
At the same time, consider your mindset related to how you think of others who are outside your age range. Do you question someone’s ability to master new technical advances because they are older? Do you question a younger person’s judgment as based on lack of wisdom and experience? Are you quick to judge someone based on their age? Do you look at someone and say to yourself, “Why aren’t they retired by now?” Ask yourself if you would be asking the same question if you didn’t know their age.
Your age is not your identity Finally, don’t let other people’s Ageism mindset become your identity. Don’t let others’ perceptions and beliefs define who and what you are. You may apply for a position for which you are highly qualified only to be eliminated before the first round of interviews. Rather than take the rejection personally, ask yourself what you learned from this and move forward with your job search based on that. It might be that this company was not a good fit culturally. Recognize it for what it is and don’t blame yourself when Ageism is practiced in the workplace. Aging is the culmination of thousands of individual experiences that are unique to you alone. Your health, circumstances, personality, and choices have shaped what that looks like. The you at 55 is different from the you at 25. And it will be different from the you at 75. What is most important is how you have adapted over those years. It is the stories you share about how you have adapted that carry the most weight. Choose to take one action today that demonstrates that it is never too late to embrace the age you are and live its results.
Dr. David Petrovay serves on the Advisory Board of Phase2Careers. Dr. David Petrovay, Employment Strategist, David Petrovay Coaching
Ron Visconti:
Ageism Awareness Day: Why It Matters
October 9 is Ageism Awareness Day—a day to recognize and challenge the stereotypes, assumptions and discrimination that people can experience simply because of their age. Initiated by the American Society on Aging, the day is intended to spark conversation and help reframe how we think about and respond to ageism.
Ageism can show up in many ways. It may be the assumption that an experienced professional is “overqualified,” a concern that someone may not adapt to new technology, or an unconscious preference for younger candidates.
Sometimes it is obvious; often, it is subtle.
But the impact can be significant. Experienced professionals may find themselves overlooked for opportunities, pushed aside in the workplace or discouraged from pursuing their next career chapter.
And ageism does not affect only older workers. It affects all of us. If we are fortunate, we will all grow older—and most of us want to be valued for what we bring to the workplace, not judged by a number.
Why Phase2Careers Cares
This is at the heart of why Phase2Careers exists.
Since 2010, Phase2Careers has worked to prepare, empower and connect professionals over 40 who are navigating career transitions and seeking their next opportunity. We believe experience is an asset.
Professionals over 40 bring knowledge, skills, resilience, leadership and perspective developed over years of work and life experience. They have navigated change, solved problems, led teams and built relationships. Many are eager to continue learning, contribute in new ways and take on their next professional challenge.
But experience alone does not eliminate the challenges of today's job market.
That is why Phase2Careers provides career programs, workshops, networking opportunities, employer connections and resources designed specifically to help experienced professionals move forward. We help people update their skills, understand changes in the workplace, build confidence, develop new strategies and—perhaps most importantly—connect with people who can open doors to new opportunities.
Moving from Awareness to Action
Ageism Awareness Day gives us an opportunity to ask a larger question: What can we do differently?
Employers can examine their hiring and workplace practices and challenge assumptions about age. Recruiters and hiring managers can focus on skills, capabilities and potential rather than stereotypes.
Organizations can recognize the value that multigenerational teams bring to the workplace—combining different perspectives, experiences and strengths.
Professionals can continue to learn, adapt, network and advocate for themselves. And all of us can become more aware of the language and assumptions we use when talking about age and work.
At Phase2Careers, we believe the conversation should not focus solely on the challenges facing professionals over 40. It should also focus on the tremendous value of experience—and the opportunity organizations miss when they overlook it.
What Can You Do?
Start by paying attention. Challenge assumptions about who is “too old,” “overqualified” or unlikely to adapt. Look beyond age and focus on skills, experience, potential and what someone can contribute.
If you are an employer or hiring manager, take a closer look at your hiring practices. Are you unintentionally screening out experienced candidates? Are job descriptions, interview processes or assumptions about career paths creating unnecessary barriers? Consider the value that experienced professionals and multigenerational teams can bring to your organization.
If you are an experienced professional, don't let someone else's assumptions define what is possible. Continue learning. Stay connected. Build your network. Explore new opportunities and be confident in the value your experience brings.
And if you know someone navigating a career transition, make an introduction. Share an opportunity. Offer encouragement. Sometimes one conversation or connection can make all the difference.
October 9 is a day to raise awareness. But awareness alone is not enough.
Talk about ageism. Challenge it when you see it. Open doors for experienced professionals. And encourage organizations to recognize experience as the asset it truly is.
Experience matters. Talent matters. Potential matters.
Age should never be the barrier to opportunity. Join Phase2Careers in getting the word out.
Ron Visconti is Founder and Executive Director of Phase2Careers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting professionals over 40 as they navigate today's changing workplace. His experience spans more than four decades working with individuals and employers on workforce issues, including recruitment, career transition, career development and the challenges facing experienced workers.
Ann Greenhaw:
President of Phase2Careers Board of Directors
"Ageism may overlook the wisdom and experience of seasoned professionals, but it forgets that innovation and progress often thrive on the foundation they have built."
John Hohulin:
Phase2Careers Board of Directors
"Older workers in a career transition face multiple challenges. With new technology affecting recruiting methods, previous job search strategies are insufficient to remain competitive. Older workers need to enhance their marketability by learning and adopting new job search techniques. Our mission at Phase2Careers is to provide programs which will assist seasoned workers in navigating these new techniques."
Marilee Moy:
Phase2Careers Board of Directors
"Ageism Awareness Day reminds us that talent, potential, and purpose don’t have an expiration date.
Phase2Careers helps professionals over 40 navigate career transitions, recognize the value of their experience, and move forward with confidence. By supporting individuals and challenging age-based assumptions, Phase2Careers is helping create a more inclusive workforce where people are valued for what they bring—not defined by their age."
Ageism, Job Loss and Self Exploration
By Beth Pampaloni
Losing a job is never easy. Losing one later in your career can feel particularly personal.
When I was laid off, I had a strong suspicion that my age was a factor. At first, I was angry. I felt targeted. After spending decades building my career, gaining experience, solving problems and helping organizations navigate change, it was painful to feel that my experience could somehow be viewed as a liability.
For a while, I focused on what had happened to me. But eventually, I started asking a different question: What do I want to do next?
That question changed everything.
I gave myself permission to step back and really think about what I enjoyed, what I was good at and what kind of work gave me energy. I worked with a coach who helped me look at my experience and strengths in a different way—not simply as a list of things I had done, but as skills, knowledge and relationships I could continue to put to work.
And I realized something important: I wasn't sure I wanted another full-time job.
For years, I had been moving from one job to the next, building my career and doing what I thought I was supposed to do. This unexpected pause gave me the opportunity to ask whether that was still what I wanted.
It wasn't.
I wanted more flexibility. I wanted to choose the work I took on. I wanted to use my experience in ways that were meaningful to me. That realization brought me back to consulting and ultimately led me to relaunch my consulting business.
It hasn't been an easy road. The market is tough, and building a consulting business takes time. But along the way, I've also learned to make more room for myself.
I surrounded myself with people who cared about me and reminded me of my value when I sometimes forgot it myself. I gave myself some grace. I allowed myself to do things simply because they made me happy.
And I started volunteering.
That has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey. Giving my time and experience to others has filled my heart and soul and reminded me that our value isn't defined by a job title, a paycheck or someone else's perception of our age.
Our experience matters. So does our ability to learn, adapt and continue growing.
I can't change what happened to me. I can't control how someone else may view my age or experience. But I can control what I do with it.
For me, that meant turning anger into action. Taking a hard look at what I really wanted. Rediscovering what I enjoy and what I'm good at. Reconnecting with people who believe in me. Giving back. And finding a new way to use the experience I've spent a lifetime building.
If you've found yourself in a similar position, I hope you give yourself permission to feel whatever you're feeling. Be angry. Be disappointed. Be scared. Those emotions are real.
But don't let them define what comes next.
Take some time to step back and ask yourself what you want. What are you good at? What gives you energy? What have you always wanted to try? Who can help you see possibilities you may not be able to see right now?
Your next chapter may not look like the one you imagined.
Mine certainly doesn't.
But I've learned that starting over doesn't mean starting from scratch. We take everything we've learned, everyone we've met, every challenge we've overcome and every skill we've developed with us.
I'm still figuring it out. I'm still making my way—one day at a time.
And I'm learning to be excited about what comes next.