Bruce and Mira Brach opened Toy Utopia, an independent toy store, on May 27, 2022. Based in Red Bank, NJ, their aim was to create a “magical place that sparks interest, curiosity, imagination and creativity in children and adults.”

The business is a leap for both of them. Bruce had managed a landscaping business for over 25 years. Mira was – and still is – a registered nurse.

A lifelong collector of vintage toys, Bruce was ready to exit his company. Mira asked him, “What do your really want to do next?” Bruce’s response…open a toy store. And that's what they did together.

Click here to learn more about Toy Utopia. And if you find yourself in Red Bank, NJ, we hope you’ll give Bruce and Mira a visit.

Dan Spitz is a true pioneer in every sense of the word. As the lead guitarist of legendary band Anthrax, Dan was one of the innovators who birthed the entire genre of thrash metal music. Anthrax is one of the “Big Four” thrash metal bands, a group that also includes Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer. He sold millions of albums, played on the world’s biggest stages, and saw his music influence legions of acts that would follow.

In 1995, as Anthrax continued to reach new heights, something changed. Dan realized his heart was no longer in it, so he quit the band without a plan for what was next.

Dan had been exposed to watchmaking at a young age through his grandfather, who owned a jewelry store where he repaired watches in New York’s Catskill Mountains. That childhood experience came rushing back when he stumbled across an ad for the Bulova watchmaking school. The pieces fit together as perfectly as the mechanics of a complicated watch, and Dan enrolled, graduating a four-year program in 18 months. Then he became the first American to be accepted into a Swiss watchmaking school, and his incredible second act was official.

Today, Dan is one of the world’s most sought-after master watchmakers. He’s the watchmaker who watchmakers go to when they can’t solve a problem.

In this episode, you’ll hear some of the details about the birth of thrash metal, the conflict that led to Dan’s departure from Anthrax, and the journey that led a thrash metal legend become a legend in the world of fine watches.

You can learn more about Dan Spitz by visiting his website at www.delraybeachvintagewatches.com, and www.danspitz.com.

Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes

Mike Drak worked as a banker in Toronto for his entire professional career. When he was laid off at the age of 59, he  received a sizeable severance from his employer. Telling his spouse "Contessa, we hit the lottery," he was initially ecstatic to be retired.

But he quickly faced "Retirement Shock," a term that he coined to describe how tremendously unhappy he was in the year that followed. He missed helping people and the structure/routine of working at the bank. And he felt a loss of purpose. "Before my purpose was to go to work, get paid and then use the money to support my family. And that was taken away from me."

Mike's research suggests up to one-third of all retirees suffer from "retirement shock." He decided to educate others on the non-financial challenges of retirement by writing three books: Victory Lap Retirement, Retirement Heaven or Hell and Longevity Lifestyle by Design. The final book can also be downloaded for free from Mike's website at www.longevitylifestylebydesign.com.

Two years ago, Mike took the unusual step of entering his first Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run) at the age of 68. He plans on returning to Cozumel, Mexico for his 2nd Ironman in the year ahead.

Paul Giannone (known to all as “Paulie Gee”) grew up in Brooklyn, NY but moved to New Jersey as an adult. For most of his professional career he worked with AT&T and their subsidiaries as an information technology staffer and eventually a consultant. And candidly he never liked the work – he never felt he was very good at it either. But he needed to support his family so he stuck it out.

While he didn’t love his work, he loved pizza -- absolutely loved everything about it. And at the age of 56, he took an incredible leap of faith – returning to Brooklyn and opening up Paulie Gees -- a pizza restaurant. He's been remarkably successful and "Paulie’s Slice Shop” followed in Brooklyn as did Paulie Gees franchise restaurants in Chicago, Columbus and Baltimore.

Paulie secured 15 different investors that helped him launch the restaurant. But he also took out a home equity loan and put his own "skin in the game" to pursue his dream. It was a big risk but it has all worked out. As Paulie told us, "This is beyond my wildest dreams, I had no idea how happy I could be...I am doing what I was born to do, what I am wired to do."

*A slice of Paulie Gee's "HellBoy" pizza. All photos by Kenny Chung.

Zammy Migdal arrived in the United States from Israel in his early 20s. He studied hospitality in college and built a career in Miami’s hotel industry. And at a fairly young age he launched an art-deco, boutique hotel in South Beach called the Indian Creek Hotel. He operated it with great success for nearly two decades.

But the September 11th attack had a devastating impact on Miami's hotel industry. And the growth of the internet made it difficult for boutique hotels to compete. So at the age of 48, Zammy sold the hotel.

He had no idea what he wanted to do next. But he had always been interested in art and so he took a course in welding at a local art studio. And today he is a highly-successful artist focused on metal sculpture. His work is displayed around the world.

I sat down with Zammy in his home in Miami. He showed me his studio and a number of pieces that he has created. And we talked about his second act.

As we start the new year, we're pleased to share the episode named by Second Act Stories listeners as the "Best of 2019."

Most of America already knows Kyle Merker. The Ancestry.com commercial where he “trades in his lederhosen for a kilt” has aired 22,000 times on broadcast television.

Kyle filmed the Ancestry commercial at the age of 53. And the experience sparked an old passion that encouraged him to pursue acting after 25+ years in the world of accounting and finance.

In just three short years, he’s been remarkably successful being featured in range of other commercials, television programs, films and theater projects. But he took acting seriously enrolling in a two-year program at the Michael Warner Studio in New York City. And he prepares meticulously for each and every audition.

Arthur and Phil have been together for 20 years as a committed couple. Both had long careers as lawyers. Phil worked for 30 years as an in-house corporate lawyer for a large insurance company. Arthur concluded his legal career as the Dean of Students at New York University Law School.

They retired in their mid-50s and have followed a wide range of passions: art, music and travel. But at the top of the list is yoga instruction. They have created an amazing experience called AP Yoga. Yes, between Memorial Day to Labor Day, you’ll find them on the beach in Asbury Park, NJ. Seven days a week they teach yoga seven-days-a-week to an enthusiastic group of regulars and tourists from 7:45 to 8:45 am.

During the winter months, they teach yoga on Saturday mornings in their local community center in nearby Interlaken, NJ. And that’s where Second Act Stories had a chance to catch up with them and their students.

Special thanks to my friend Jodi Heinz who is a regular at AP Yoga and suggested this episode.

Today’s story goes back 181 years to 1838. That’s when 272 men, women, and children were sold by an order of Jesuit priests and the proceeds of the sale was used to pay the debts of Georgetown College, now Georgetown University. The slaves had lived on plantations belonging to the Jesuits in Maryland. They were put on a boat and moved to their new owners in Louisiana.

Melisande Short-Columbe is a descendant of this group known as the GU-272. Two-and-a-half years ago she left her work as a chef in New Orleans and entered Georgetown University as a freshman. She was 63 years old.

She is now in her junior year at Georgetown. I visited her in Washington where she was house-sitting for one of her professors. She made me a cup of tea and we sat down for a candid discussion about her great, great, great grandparents Mary Ellen Queen and Abraham Mahoney and about becoming a full-time college student in her 60s.

Michael Lowe was a corporate lawyer in Washington DC. When he left Verizon’s legal department at the age of 59, he started doing yoga five days a week and reading like a fiend. But his wife was still working. And he was getting bored puttering around the house.

So what did he do? Michael launched Washington's first distillery in 100 years and started making “Green Hat Gin” with his son-in-law John Uselton.

Their success is very different than the traditional model of a family business started by a first generation and then grown by subsequent generations. Michael and John started the business together. Michael brought the regulatory experience and a large amount of the capital. John brought sales experience, a network of contacts from his years in Washington’s alcohol and restaurant industry and the energy of someone in the early stages of a new career.

It’s proven to be a powerful partnership. And out of that partnership came a great product. So if you find yourself in Washington one weekend, I suggest you stop in to their tasting room, say hi and sample a cocktail with Green Hat Gin.

Venetia Clark loved her job as a Walgreens' pharmacist for 30 years.

But as she approached 55 years of age, she had the opportunity to take advantage of an early retirement program with some significant financial benefits. And she also spent quality time with her 91-year-old father who was in the final year of his life. It caused her to conclude it was time for a change. A love of travel and the encouragement of two flight attendant friends led her to a new job opportunity.

She has been flying for the past five years and loving the new job with United Airlines.

Marc Miller has changed career paths a total of seven times. But after suffering a near fatal bike accident, he switched gears – no pun intended – and focused his talents on counseling friends and associates on their career journeys. And he realized that he had found his true calling.

From there, he wrote a powerful book called “Repurpose Your Career” that is now in its third edition…He launched the “Repurpose Your Career” podcast which now has nearly 150 episodes. And he started the “Career Pivot” online community.

We caught up with Marc at the Princeton Public Library where he was speaking on the topic of ageism.

Shila Desai’s life has an intriguing and international timeline. She is of Indian descent – with her grandparents coming from the country’s Gujarat province. But she was born in Kenya and grew up there. She got her professional degree in the United Kingdom. And at the age of 24, Shila relocated to Canada where she spent most of her adult life.

She arrived in Canada and didn’t know a soul. She met her future husband in the first few weeks in Toronto, they married and started a family. And they bought a bankrupt garment manufacturing company and turned it into a home run success.

On the outside it looked like a wonderful life. But Shila struggled with depression and thirsted for something that she could call her own. At the request of her writer's group, she put together a tour that brought nineteen of her friends to India. The experience was such a success she turned it into a travel company called Eat Your Heart Out Tours (or EYHO Tours for short).

As you'll hear in the podcast, EYHO Tours has developed a particular expertise in textile tours essentially bringing visitors and textile artisans in India, Morocco, Madagascar and Uzbekistan together. You can learn more about Shila's company at www.eyhotours.com.

Ruth Lavigne grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father was a doctor (a radiologist) and she used to fill-in the date on patient sheets when her dad reviewed their films at home. As Ruth followed her father around his hospital, she always thought "that will be me someday."

She ended up studying French in college and then business in graduate school. After marrying, starting a family and relocating to California, she found herself working as a banquet waitress in a San Diego hotel. She enjoyed the work and the flexible schedule which gave her time with two kids.

Ruth's dream of becoming a doctor re-emerged one night as she held her oldest daughter Ariel in her arms and told her "you can be anything you want when you grow up." And Ruth thought, "one day this kid is gonna look back up at me say, so you wanted to be a waitress all your life?"

With financial help from her parents and childcare support from her in-laws, she went back to school at 31 to take the necessary pre-med coursework. At 36, she returned home and entered medical school at the University of Cincinnati. At 40 she began a four-year residency to become a radiation oncologist. And at 45-years-of age, she finally became Dr. Ruth Lavigne.

Ruth's story of persistence and overcoming obstacles is as inspirational as they come.

Stuckey’s is a legendary and iconic thread in the fabric of Americana. Founded in Eastman, Georgia in 1937 by WS “Sylvester” Stuckey, Sr., Stuckey’s grew into a roadside empire by the 1970s, with 368 stores in more than 30 states. Part of the charm that made Stuckey’s so iconic were its ubiquitous billboards, more than 4,000 of them, which were dotted along U.S. highways. Stuckey’s was an inextricable part of what became known as “The Great American Road Trip.”

Fast forward to 2019, Stuckey’s was on life support. The brand had gone through hard times, and its former stand-alone locations, still identifiable by their teal blue roofs, were now relics of a bygone era. Some were abandoned and boarded-up; others became home to less-than-savory businesses. By this time the brand had changed hands multiple times and become an unprofitable line item on a bigger company’s balance sheet. But Stuckey’s was about to experience a surprising rebirth.

In 2019, former Georgia legislator Stephanie Stuckey, a practicing attorney at the time, received a fateful phone call. Stuckey’s, the brand started by her grandfather all those years ago, was up for sale. With no experience in running a business, 53-year-old Stephanie defied the odds (and the advice of virtually everyone she spoke to), cashed in her entire life’s savings, and traded her future to buy back and revive the business bearing her family’s name.

Since then, Stephanie has become a legend in the business community. A perfect storm of scrappiness, shrewd business sense and passion, she’s now a bone fide rock star with all the street cred to stage a successful turnaround. And she has the receipts to prove it. Under Stephanie’s leadership, Stuckey’s and its flagship pecan log rolls are back in black.

In this episode, Stephanie discusses growing up with an iconic last name, her career as a legislator and attorney, her decision to lay it all on the line to buy back her family’s business, how she’s rebuilt the brand, and what’s next for Stuckey’s.

Stephanie chronicles her life on the road at her Instagram account, @stuckeystop. Her new book, “UnStuck: Rebirth of an American Icon,” is available at Amazon or wherever you buy books.

If you like this episode, please check out some of our past episodes featuring female entrepreneurs:

• Meet A “Salvage Angel”…Hair Stylist Carolyn Curtin Cuts A New Path In Restoration
• Actress Turned CEO: Anna Vocino’s Path to Eat Happy
• Nasim Alikhani’s Second Act: This Overnight Success Took 7 Years

Second Act Stories theme music: "Between 1 and 3 am" by Echoes

Jim Owen is 78 years old and he is in awesome shape. He works out regularly and part of his routine is doing three sets of 50 push-ups. That’s pretty amazing for a man of his age.

But for most of his life he was a self-described, "certified couch potato." On his 70th birthday, his life changed when he watched a video of himself going on stage to give a speech. "My shoulders were hunched over. My knees were shot, so I was sort of shuffling along. And I had chronic back problems. It was humiliating."

Jim lost 50 pounds, hired an experienced trainer and got serious about working out. And the impact on his life has been incredible.

He wanted to share his new passion with others so he wrote and published a book called “Just Move: A New Approach to Fitness After 50.” For anyone who has ever said late in life, "Gee, I wish I could get in shape," this book is for you.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE OUTLINE

Russell Abbott spent most of his career on Wall Street working in the management of hedge funds. About two years ago, he transitioned to working for a non-profit based in Brooklyn, New York called Extreme Kids and Crew. The organization is a community center where children with disabilities and their families can socialize, create and play. He’s a whole lot happier in the new job.

Russell was first introduced to Extreme Kids and Crew via the Encore Fellowship Program. Run by a group called Encore.org, it’s essentially a matchmaking service that connects senior corporate executives with non-profit organizations looking for experienced talent. The program is now in it's tenth year and has placed over 2,000 executives in positions in 50+ cities across the United States.

Episode Outline (Abbott) - website

Kerry Hannon is an absolute rock star in the world of career transitions and personal finance. She has written 12 books in this area as well as literally hundreds of articles for The New York Times, Forbes, Money, USA Today, US News and World Report and AARP. She is a sought- after speaker and expert who has appeared on everything from ABC News to NPR to The Dr. Phil Show.

Her latest book is "Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneur's Guide To Starting A Business Mid-Life." We caught up with Kerry before a book signing in New York City for her perspective on the emerging trend of late-in-life entrepreneurs. It's a fast-paced discussion littered with nuggets of Kerry's wisdom from years studying second acts.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

For more about Kerry and her work, here's a link to her website.

Special thanks to Encore.org's Marci Alboher for connecting me with Kerry.

Most of America already knows Kyle Merker. The Ancestry.com commercial where he "trades in his lederhosen for a kilt" has aired 22,000 times on broadcast television.

Kyle filmed the Ancestry commercial at the age of 53. And the experience sparked an old passion that encouraged him to pursue acting after 25+ years in the world of accounting and finance.

In just three short years, he’s been remarkably successful being featured in range of other commercials, television programs, films and theater projects. But he took acting seriously enrolling in a two-year program at the Michael Warner Studio in New York City. And he prepares meticulously for each and every audition.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Special thanks to friend and neighbor Sue Check for connecting me with Kyle Merker.

Jane Canapini was a 20-year-veteran of the advertising world in Toronto, Canada. She worked as a creative director for both large and small advertising agencies. But in 2012, her last agency downsized and she was laid off at the age of 51.

Rather than landing another job in advertising, she decided it was time to make a major career change. She pursued her life-long passion by launching a travel blog called Grownup Travels.    

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Today's episode is different. Rather than focusing on an individual’s "second act," we’re going to look at a region of the United States that has emerged as the leading example of a “second act” or “turnaround” community. I’m talking about Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I traveled to Pittsburgh at the invitation of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, a group that has been focused on advancing the region’s future over the past 75 years. In fact, this podcast will debut later this month at an event in Pittsburgh called “Our Next 75 Summit.”

During my visit, I had the chance to sit down with more than a dozen leaders from the area. We talked about the past and difficult challenges the region has faced. But mostly we talked about the future of Pittsburgh and southwestern Pennsylvania – essentially what I’m calling the Pittsburgh’s next act.

For the past 15 years, Time magazine has selected it's list of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." The 2019 issue includes Lady Gaga, Donald Trump, Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Mark Zuckerberg and Dwayne Johnson.

It also includes Desmond Meade, a name you've probably never heard before. In 2005, Desmond Meade had three strikes against him. He was homeless. He was a drug addict. And he was a convicted felon. Reaching the lowest point in his life, he was prepared to commit suicide by jumping in front of a moving train. But according to Meade, the train "never came that day." And he opted to check himself into a rehabilitation facility instead.

He set a new path for himself earning an associates, bachelors and law degree. And then Desmond set his sights on the passage of Florida's Amendment 4. Officially known as the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, Amendment 4 was a ballot initiative to restore the voting rights of an estimated 1.5 million Floridians with felony convictions. Political pundits gave the initiative very little chance of ever getting on the ballot let alone passing with the required 60% approval by the electorate.

It took Desmond and his team at the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition nearly a decade. But on November 6, 2018, Amendment 4 passed with 65% of the vote.

According to Meade, "I tell people that on November 6th, on election night, the country got to see love winning the day. We had over 5.1 million votes, a million more than any candidate received. And those votes weren't based on hate and fear, they were based on love, forgiveness, and redemption. Love actually won the day. Love destroyed that Jim Crow law."

Click here to read the Time magazine article about Desmond Meade, penned by Stacey Abrams, former Democratic Minority Leader for the Georgia House of Representatives.

Tom
Forst was 57 years old. He was a regional vice president with Cox Media, a huge
communications company. He was jetting around the country on private planes. He
had an army of people reporting to him. He was making a hefty salary.

That was 10 years ago. He decided to quit his corporate gig to pursue a life-long passion – music. He put out his first blues-rock album as Tom “The Suit” Forst. He did a month long tour of China as the headlining act. And now he’s back in the studio now working on his next album. You can check out his music at www.TomTheSuitForst.com.

He also launched the "Chasing The Blues" podcast which is well worth a listen. As the Jethro Tull song concludes, "You're never too old to rock n' roll." 

Ken Coleman is a highly-successful ,broadcast personality and career coach who hosts a daily radio show, aptly called “The Ken Coleman Show.” Every day, he counsels thousands of listeners on how to best find their dream job. He also hosts the highly-successful EntreLeadership podcast which consistently ranks among the top five business podcasts on the iTunes charts.

Ken is a genuine “Second Act” success story himself. At the age of 34, Ken started to pursue a broadcast career despite zero background and training in the profession.

Nine years later, he has written a book that draws heavily on that personal experience as well as literally hundreds of telephone calls with his listeners. It’s titled “The Proximity Principle” and it is a strong guide for anyone exploring a second act. The simple formula described by him in his book and this episode:

The Right People + The Right Places = Opportunities

Special thanks to McKenzie Masters and Madison Crowder for the assistance in facilitating this interview. It was an honor to meet and interview Ken Coleman.

This episode is a bit different (and we love “different” here at Second Act Stories). Today, we'll introduce you to Amy Yontef-McGrath. She lives in Montgomery County, Maryland and is the proud mother of three.

Amy found herself in a bit of a funk as she approached her 49th birthday. She loved her job as a stay-at-home mom. But as her children were getting older and starting to leave the nest, it was clear that she needed something new. As she put it, I needed to “shake-up my life.”

In a stroke of creative genius, she came up with “Follow Me To Fifty,” a year-long journey to complete 50 public service projects in advance of her 50th birthday. Amy joined a group of volunteers in kayaks to clean-up the Anacostia River. She helped a refugee family settle into their new home. She did a monthly-long stint as a food coordinator at the local food bank. She placed American flags on the graves of war veterans on Veterans Day. And along the way, she documented each of these projects in her "Follow Me To Fifty" blog.

Amy's choice for the 50th project? She took a fifty mile walk along the Pacific Coast Highway in California. "I wanted to go somewhere I'd never gone before. Exploring new things was the theme of the whole year and I wanted the same for the walk."

Last month Amy was selected as "Volunteer of the Year" by the Montgomery County Volunteer Center. In her acceptance speech, she asked the crowd to "Please keep following me. I'm not done yet."

Second Act Stories annual “Best of” episodes give us an opportunity to re-share remarkable stories, and welcome new listeners by giving them a good taste of what we do here: profile people who have made major life and career changes to pursue a more rewarding life in a second act career. We’re selecting two “Best of 2023” episodes to share with you. Andy Levine selected his favorite interview conducted by co-host Scott Merritt in the past year,  and Scott is reciprocating this week. Scott's pick for 2023 is “Sweeter Days Ahead: How Baking Transformed Janie Deegan's Life.”

In 2009, Janie Deegan returned home from college with a serious alcohol and drug problem. Eventually, she found herself homeless and living on the streets of New York City.

Fast forward to today...she is the owner of "Janie's Life Changing Baked Goods," a thriving business with three, NYC bakeries and booming e-commerce division. At the center of her success is the "pie crust cookie" -- essentially a baby pie that comes in five, different flavors. Her company and her cookies have been featured on Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, CNN and The New York Times.

The company is dedicated to helping other young women through mentorship and second chance employment. As Janie shares in the podcast, "The person you show up for at the interview is the person we're looking at. We're not doing background checks...we have formerly incarcerated employees, homeless staff and those with addiction problems. It's been really beautiful to see how people blossom when they are given a chance." 

Interested in trying Janie's pie crust cookies? They come in apple, pecan, triple berry, chocolate and cherry and can be ordered from www.JanieBakes.com.

I first learned about Luke Mickelson and Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a non-profit that he founded in 2012, via the CNN Heroes Program. I immediately thought to myself “I have to interview this man.” Then I found out he lives in Twin Falls, Idaho – a mere 2,369 miles from my home in New Jersey.

But as luck would have it, I was traveling to Salt Lake City for a business conference. So I rented a car and drove three hours across Idaho's wide open spaces to the national headquarters of Sleep in Heavenly Peace.

So what is Sleep in Heavenly Peace? It’s an amazing non-profit with 150 chapters across the United States. In 2018, they built 4,144 bunk beds for children whose families can’t afford a bed for them. In 2019, they expect to build over 10,000 beds.  

Those might seem like a lot of beds but here’s a scary number. Sleep in Heavenly Peace estimates that 1.5 to 2.0 million kids in America sleep on the floor each night.

Here's the story of how Luke and his wife Heidi founded "Sleep in Heavenly Peace." Included in their journey was a decision for Luke to quit his full-time job in order to focus on the organization's rapid growth.  

Click here to learn more about and/or donate to Sleep in Heavenly Peace. It is an amazing organization doing amazing work across the United States (with plans to expand internationally in the year ahead).

You don't have to freeze your body. No need for bionic limbs. And you can hold off on eating mountains of kale (thank goodness). If you want to live forever, then focus on building a legacy via meaningful work with younger generations.

Last month, I sat down for an hour with the man who is essentially the creator of the encore career movement. His name is Marc Freedman and he appropriately heads up an organization called Encore.org. Here’s a quick summary of some of his accomplishments:

• Marc is the winner of the 2018 Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence;
• He was named a “Legend in Mentoring” by Mentoring.org;
• He was named an “Influencer in Aging” by PBS’ Next Avenue; 
• Marc is the author of five books including his latest work, “How To Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations.”

"How To Live Forever" gives dozens of fascinating examples of intergenerational experiences from across the United States and the globe. It lays out a road map for finding purpose and happiness later in life.

Marc introduces us to a range of engaging characters successfully connecting, mentoring and collaborating with younger generations. My favorite adage from Freedman's book: "The real fountain of youth is the fountain with youth."

I loved "How To Live Forever" and thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Marc. Today’s podcast is longer than our usual episodes but candidly the conversation was so rich in content it was just too good to cut down.

Warren Schueller (on the left in the purple t-shirt) worked for 28 years as a chemistry teacher in Staten Island, New York.

But at the age of 57 he began working with a group called Careers Through Culinary Arts (CCAP) and transitioned to being a culinary instructor. He trained a wide range of schools including the French Culinary Institute (New York City), Culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales and the New York Restaurant School and helped prepare New York City high school students for culinary careers. He retired in 2012.

But you'll find him cooking every Tuesday at the St. Marks Center for Community Renewal in Keansburg, New Jersey. At this area "soup kitchen," Warren and his team are producing upscale meals for 60+ hungry, "down on their luck" individuals each week.

Warren will turn 74 years old next month. And he hopes to keep cooking at St. Mark's soup kitchen "forever."

Earlier this year the St. Mark's Center for Community Renewal embarked on a $50,000 campaign to renovate the kitchen. You can donate to the program by sending your check to Deacon Rose Broderick, St. Mark's Center for Community Renewal, 247 Carr Avenue, Keansburg, NJ 07734.

This week's post has the added benefit of an accompanying video for the podcast by award-winning filmmaker Paul Kaplan.  

Today’s episode focuses on someone I’ve known for a long time. Don Hessemer and I were part of a Saturday morning running group when I lived in Central New Jersey. He had a 38-year career as an environmental consultant in New York and New Jersey. But in 2018, Don decided it was time for a change.

So at
the age of 61, a time when many people are counting the days to retirement, Don
decided to switch careers and become a hospice chaplain. Everyday
he works with patients and their families as they approach the end of
life. 

When I read Don's announcement about this new position on Facebook, I remember thinking to myself, “What an awful and difficult job.” But Don doesn’t think of it awful or difficult. And in some ways, he doesn’t even think of it as a job. It took him nearly 40 years but he feels that he has found his true calling.

Don's path to his work as a hospice chaplain began shortly after his ordination as a deacon in the Catholic Church. "One of the priests in our parish would frequent the Center for Hope Hospice in Scotch Plains right here in town. And he would say mass maybe once a month. And he kind of introduced me to the whole hospice world. I mean, I really knew nothing about hospice. Hospice was a place where people went to die."

Today, Don works 40 hours a week helping patients and families negotiate difficult, "end of life" challenges.

In the hospitality industry, Chip Conley is a legend. Back in 1987, he created Joie de Vivre, that grew to 52 hotels in California and set off a boutique hotel craze. But after 24 years of managing the company, he decided to retire and pursue other ventures. Writing. Speaking. He was on the board of the Burning Man Festival. He created a new website called Fest 300 which celebrated the best festivals in the world. He kept busy.

But then out of the blue, he was contacted by Brian Chesky, a 31-year-old CEO of a start-up company with a new concept called home-sharing.  The company was called Airbnb. And Brian said, “Come work with us and help me democratize hospitality.”

Chip said “yes.” So over the past six years, his second act has been a fascinating ride at Airbnb. And it led to Chip’s latest book titled “Wisdom at Work: The Making of a Modern Elder.”

So what exactly is a modern elder? According to Chip it is someone who can "marry an air of gravitas with a spirit of humility." In a business setting, that means serving as a sage counselor and learning like a wet-behind-the-ears intern at the same time.

In today's episode, we'll also meet Sarah Goodnow Berry, Airbnb's Global Director of Brand. She is one of the millennials running Airbnb and one of Chip's mentees. Below is a photo Sarah took of Chip delivering his "farewell address" to the entire Airbnb staff in 2016 and the emotional post which she uploaded to instagram.

Click here for more information on the Modern Elder Academy. And click here to purchase "Wisdom At Work: The Making Of A Modern Elder."

Special thanks to Marci Alboher of Encore.org for connecting me with Chip Conley. It's good to have friends in high places.

After a twenty-year career in hospitality sales and management at Marriott, Amani Roberts decided to turn his weekend passion as a disc jockey playing music at clubs and special events into a full-time career.

Today, he has made it as a sought-after DJ, teacher of aspiring DJs, writer and podcast creator.   

A combination of dedication and education fueled his success over the past sevens years. He reports that he is working harder than ever but he’s happier than ever too.

Amani and I met in a study room at the public library in Manhattan Beach, California.

Tell learn more about Amani Roberts, check out his website which includes The Amani Experience podcast.

Special thanks to Alex Petrarca, Booking Agent at Interview Connections, for suggesting Amani as a profile for 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, 2010, the stadium was reduced to a pile of rubble in a controlled implosion that took less than a minute.

I traveled to Irving to explore how the city responded to the Cowboys departure and adapted to keep the community moving forward.  

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 emotionally to turn the whole situation around."

In the process, Lynne discovered a new passion: helping people like Larry get their lives together. Armed with this new experience, Lynne left the banking industry and launched a new company called Concierge on Call. The company focuses on helping individuals downsize and get back on their feet.

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.

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.

Click here to learn more about The Humble Retreat.

Special thanks to Miriam Christie of Careershifters for connecting me with Lizzie.  

Second Act Stories annual, “best of” episode gives us an opportunity to re-share a remarkable story, and welcome new listeners by giving them a good taste of what we do here: profile people who have made major life and career changes to pursue a more rewarding life in a second act career.

We’re selecting two “Best of 2023” episodes to share with you. Andy Levine gets to select his favorite interview conducted by co-host Scott Merritt in the past year. And Scott gets to reciprocate next week.

Andy’s selection for 2023 is “Everything Rick Beato: The Unlikely Launch of a 54-Year-Old YouTube Star.” Rick Beato is one of the most successful YouTube stars in the world. His channel, Everything Music, has 3.5 million subscribers and is approaching 600 million views. Among the different types of videos Rick posts are his Top 20 Countdowns, What Makes This Song Great?, and his Rants on all things music. Rick also has an incredible series of long-form, sit-down interviews with some of the most acclaimed music artists in the world, including Peter Frampton, Sting, Derek Trucks, and Brian May.

But Rick didn’t find success on YouTube until he was in his mid-50s, following the viral success of a video he posted of his 8-year-old son Dylan demonstrating his perfect pitch. In fact, he didn’t even launch his channel until he was 54.

Prior to his YouTube success, Rick taught music at the college level, he held private lessons (by his estimation, he taught more than 12,000 lessons), he was a music producer and engineer. In this episode, Rick shares his journey from childhood, when he first played the cello, to the classrooms of upstate New York, to his experience working in the music industry, to the incredible success he enjoys today as one of the world’s most well-respected experts on “Everything Music.”

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 Judy Cockerton and the Treehouse Community of 100+ people there. It’s an amazing story.

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 were difficult, he ended up graduating at the top of his class.

In January, 2019, he will launch a new line of shoes at Chris Donovan Footwear. Take it from Tim Gunn of Project Runway: it's like nothing you've ever seen before.

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Check out Chris' new line of shoes on his website.

Finally, here's a photo of Chris Donovan and his incredibly-supportive partner Steve Wierzbicki.

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 aimed to move people out of poverty and homelessness by providing low-cost car repair, free pre-purchase car inspections, and honest advice that supports our community on the road to more secure lives.

In 2015, Cathy Heying was named a CNN Hero which raised the profile of the organization nationally. But Cathy was already a hero to the men and women of the Twin Cities who rely on her and The Lift Garage to help them make a living and live a better life.

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Click here to learn more about The Lift Garage and how you can help support their mission.

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 helped thousands more via Kellman Beat Cancer Boot Camps in Massachusetts, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Utah and her appearances at different national events and races.

Donald Loftus had a difficult upbringing in Cleveland, Ohio. His father left him and his two sisters at a young age. His mother worked at Sears and struggled to make ends meet. From grades 1-8, he was a C student.

But in 9th grade, his world changed when a class trip brought him to New York City. His class saw four Broadway plays that weekend and it completely changed his life.

He graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in theatre and business. Following a first job at The May Department Store Company, he rose up the ranks of the luxury beauty industry eventually serving as the US President/CEO of P&G Prestige, Cosmopolitan Cosmetics, Sanofi Beauté and Gianni Versace Profumi.

But the theatre was now in his blood and he wrote plays every morning from 4 to 7 am before heading off to a demanding job in the c-suite. After retiring from Corporate America in 2018, he has pursued playwrighting on a full time basis. More than 200 productions of his work – a mix of full-length plays, one-act plays and musicals – have been seen by audiences around the world.

Visit his website, www.DonaldLoftus.com, for more on his amazing work.

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.