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We’re Not All Dry…We Don’t All Drool

Why I'm writing the Silver Hair Playbook™
Nancy A Shenker

Nancy A Shenker

3 Min Read

I was recently a guest on a Boomers- and tech-related interview and found out afterwards that it was sponsored by Viagra rather than by a SaaS company or business service.  The implication is prevalent that once we hit 50, we turn to dust, drool, and/or become flabby.

Listen up! Many of us move around globally and rapidly, use technology, and have fully-functioning body parts..

We’re trying to figure out new rules for ourselves in this world. We’re being aged-out of businesses and discriminated against. We don’t want to retire and spend our days playing golf and mahjong.

I did what I was told to do in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I wore big shoulder pads and big hair…got a big job at a big brand…lived in a big house and got married and had two beautiful kids. Then, when I kept hitting my head on the glass ceiling I started my own business. And now, here I am – single, empty-nested, and figuring out my next move.

Funny that I’m exactly 40 years older than when I graduated college and now is the first time since then when I can make virtually unlimited decisions about where to go, what to do, who to do it with, and how to live.

I meet people – women and men – also figuring out this next chapter. Unlike generations before us, we’ll live to close to 100, have multiple careers and multiple partners. Our families live around the globe and we reboot rather than retire.

I refuse to lie about my age, get my boobs lifted or eyes done. “You don’t look 62,” people say to me. “Yes, I do, I reply. I am the new 62.”

I’m told I’m brave because I moved cross-country to a new home. I’m told I’m a bad grandmother because I don’t live close to my kids. Those are the times I pretend I’m hard of hearing and tune out the noise.

We live in a media world that worships youth, gushes about Bold Fierce Boss Ladies and Tech Bro’s, but pretty much ignores people over 50.

I’m writing this column to get the conversation going and inspire you, as we write the Silver Hair Playbook™ together.

In the months — and years — ahead, I’ll share:

  • Tips for aging fearlessly, like a Bad Ass

  • Stories of people doing amazing things after 50

  • Other great resources to use as you reinvent and reboot

  • Also Coming soon: The Silver Hair Bad Ass Workbook — a planner for reinventing yourself after 50

No one will give us paths to follow …we’re creating them. Come join me.

Author(s)

  • Nancy A Shenker

    The Silver Hair Playbook: How to Be a Bad Ass >50™

    Nancy A. Shenker is a marketing innovator, brand builder, writer, speaker, and self-proclaimed rule breaker. Over the course of her 40-year business and marketing career, she has been a C-level executive, an entrepreneur, and a mentor to hundreds of small businesses at all stages. Founder of theONswitch marketing, Nancy was formerly a senior executive for major consumer and business brands, including Citibank, MasterCard, and Reed Exhibitions. She has written four books, and publishes a women’s entrepreneur community (www.sheBOOM.com), as well as AI/machine learning/robotics site www.EmbracetheMachine.com and travel and lifestyle site www.BleisureLiving.com. She also wrote a column for Inc.com called Bots & Bodies (about the human side of tech) and is a contributor to a wide range of consumer and business media. She recently won the "Killer Content Award" for a major project for a fast-growing technology company.