Second Act Stories

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]  

Kevin Butler had a dazzling football career that began at the University of Georgia. He then played for 13 seasons as a place kicker in the NFL from 1985-1998. In his rookie season, he was part of Chicago Bears that won Super Bowl XX. But he always regretted not graduating from the university. And he told his three children, that he'd get his degree "when you are all done." On May 5, 2018, some 33 years after leaving the University of Georgia, he finally made that happen. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Andrea Clement Santiago for connecting me with Kevin Butler and making this episode possible.    

Sharon Sevrens had a thriving career as an investment banker. But when she and her husband experienced September 11th from their apartment building just a block and a half from the World Trade Center, she knew it was time for a change. Over time she had developed a passion for wine. So with no experience in retail sales or in the wine business, she purchased a liquor license from Whole Foods for $150,000. And in October 2005, she opened a wine store called Amanti Vino (which roughly translates to "lover of wine" in Italian) in her home town of Montclair,, New Jersey. It's been a runaway success with a second store now planned in Morristown, NJ. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Check out the Amanti Vino website. Special thanks to a public relations colleague Sharon Nieuwenhuis for connecting us with Sharon Sevrens and making this episode possible.

Father James Martin is an American Jesuit priest who has written a dozen books including The New York Times best sellers “The Jesuit Guide to Almost Anything,” “Building a Bridge” and “Jesus: A Pilgrimage.” He’s got a huge following on Facebook and Twitter and is frequently a religion expert for everyone from The New York Times to CNN to Comedy Central (where Stephen Colbert appointed him the official chaplain of The Colbert Report). But we are talking to him today about his second act – when he made the move from a promising career at General Electric to embrace a life of poverty, chastity and obedience as a Jesuit priest. It is one of the most dramatic life changes that you can imagine. EPISODE OUTLINE FOR FATHER JAMES MARTIN Check out "Building a Bridge," "The Jesuit Guild to Almost Anything, "Jesus: A Pilgrimage," "The Abbey" and "Seven Last Words" on the Harper Collins website. "In Good Company: The Fast Track from the Corporate World to Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience," Father Martin's second book ref

For 40+ years, Judi Schindler worked in the field of public relations. For most of that time, she ran her own firm called Schindler Communications. According to Judi, it was "a hugely rewarding job." And she emerged as a pioneer among women entrepreneurs helping to establish a Chicago chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. But when she decided to retire, Judi went back to a pursuit she enjoyed in her youth…acting. And what started out as simply “taking a class” turned into a second career with headshots, an agent and auditions. Now in her mid-seventies, she is still full of energy and creativity and going strong on-and-off stage. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Check out Judy's book, "Husbands: An Owner's Manual" or sign-up for her blog "The Toilet Seat Must Go Down."  

This "Second Act" Story takes us to Rockford, Illinois, a city of about 150,000 people in Northern Illinois. We’ll meet a successful entrepreneur and hometown hero named James Purifoy. He has built an incredible “burger joint” named "Fifteenth and Chris" that has the most creative and delicious hamburgers that you’ve ever tasted. Every day a line starts forming an hour before he opens his doors. People love James’ burgers. But his story starts back in 1994 when James took a wrong turn and at the age of 19 was convicted of aggravated assault for shooting a rival gang member. And he spent the next ten years of his life in prison. But he made the most of his time in prison gaining a degree in culinary arts. And when he returned to his hometown, the people of Rockford gave James a second chance. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT CNN MONEY ARTICLE "SUPERSTAR BURGER CHEF CREDITS PRISON FOR HIS SUCCESS" 

Trained as a chemist but working as an executive recruiter, Art Schill decided he wanted to try his hand at stand-up comedy -- at the age of 81. And it turns out, he’s really good at it. Less than a year after taking comedy classes near his home in Long Island, New York, Art has played a range of top comedy clubs including Carolines, Dangerfields, Mohegan Sun and the Broadway Comedy Club. In a way, he’s the newest and oldest thing on the East Coast’s comedy circuit. We interview Art, his daughter Lisa and his comedy mentor Paul Anthony who shared, "Art is really, really talented. None of us can believe he just started doing this in his 80s." Paul quipped, "Sometimes he comes to me to say, 'Why can't I go on last?' I say, 'Art, you're 82. I got to get you on stage as fast as possible. I don't know how much longer we have here." DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT WATCH ART'S ACT ON YOUTUBE Special thanks to Daniel Bubbeo, Assistant News Editor at Newsday, for connecting us with Art.

On this episode, we spend time with Marci Alboher, the author of The Encore Career Handbook: How to Make a Living and a Difference in the Second Half of Life. She also is a Vice President at Encore.org, a nonprofit focused on helping people pursue second acts for the greater good. Marci offers her thinking on the best practices in transitioning to a second act. And she outlines common traits shared among individuals that have been successful in making the change. And finally she talks about her own journey from lawyer to journalist to author to non-profit leader. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT ABOUT THE ENCORE CAREER HANDBOOK  

Joe Bock retired in 2008  after a long and successful career as an electrical engineer. But he always remembered his time back in grade school as a kid sitting on the sidelines and never getting into an athletic game. "I wanted to be athletic more than anything else." And when he retired he was determined to help “kids like me.” So at 74 years old, he now runs a program called “Benchwarmer Basketball” that has a growing and faithful following at the Cheviott Hills Recreation Center in Los Angles, California. He went back to school to study kinesiology (what Joe terms the "politically correct" word for physical education). And he hit many road blocks along the way. But he stuck with it and has helped dozens of kids off the bench and on to the basketball court. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT BENCHWARMER BASKETBALL VIDEO Special thanks to Encore.org for assistance in arranging this interview.  

Deborah Shaw was an established costume designer in New York City. For 15 years she worked for “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” creating hundreds of costumes for the program. But when the show moved to Los Angeles, she decided to stay in New York and do something completely different. And her second act took her to Rikers Island, one of the most dangerous prisons in America. Starting in 2009, she began working in  "The Big Garden" -- a two-acre plot amid the prison complex -- helping both detainees and prisoners via horticultural therapy. Today she is building a new program for the Fortune Society using gardening to help individuals recently released from the prison system re-enter everyday life. DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Sarah McKinney of Encore.org for connecting us with Deborah Shaw.

Laura Raposa and Steve Syre have been married for 30 years. And for most of that time they have worked in journalism – working as columnists for the two largest daily newspapers in Boston, Massachusetts. Laura worked as gossip columnist for at the Boston Herald. Steve worked just 1.5 miles away as a business columnist for the Boston Globe. In August 2015, they decided to make a change – a really big change. They opened a bakery and lunch spot called The Foodsmith in South Duxbury, Massachusetts. According to Laura, “I’ve never worked this hard in my life…But this is for me. This is for Steve. And that’s just terrific.” DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Dayna English was a highly successful investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She spent most of her career in Latin America. She flew first class, stayed at the Four Seasons when she traveled and wore tailored Chanel suits. But when Dayna turned 50, she traded all that in become a public school teacher. It’s been a tough, tough road. But every day for the last ten years she gets on her bike in Manhattan, rides to work seven miles and teach math at some of the most difficult schools in New York City.   DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Special thanks to Sarah McKinney of Encore.org for connecting me with Dayna English.