Creative Career Reinventions

t was serendipity that put me here in a studio, brush in hand, canvas at arm’s length, the light against my back and shoulders. My paintings evolve one stroke at a time, beginning with lush color to define the eyes (soul), and soon, there is the wondrous suggestion of a floppy ear, a wet nose, an arched tail. For me, the process is always at once painstakingly meticulous and thoroughly miraculous.

This is my domain now, but the hub of my world was once the 4-6x girls department at Lord & Taylor in New York City where I was assistant buyer, choosing styles, picking labels, and ordering designers …continue reading

I spent 20 years as a funeral director, longing to fulfill my dream of being a writer.my boss at the funeral home said he believed writing was too risky an aspiration, especially if I wanted to make a living at it. Lacking the self confidence to pursue a writing career, I gave up on my dream and plunged into a career in funeral service. At the time, this was one of the most nontraditional careers for women imaginable. Throughout the years, I kept notes for a book I would someday write. It was a strange odyssey through the land of the dead. Along the way I met an odd assortment of characters. Often, I wrote of these people in my journals, trying to make sense of them….continue reading

I had always felt I was funny. I wanted to write and perform comedy. But, at 44, I was a successful documentary film editor, and the mother of a very busy four year old. I was in the middle of writing the memoir of my crazy upbringing, and had completed award winning documentaries on child molesters, mothers with AIDS in South Africa, the Hungarian Revolution, US Drug Policy, Racial Profiling – you name it, if it was a huge intractable problem, or depressing, I threw myself deep into the subject matter.

Needless to say, I needed some sort of a boost. I had dreamed about doing improv, but often felt I was “just too old for it.” But, no kidding, reading the “firsts after 40” column in my monthly More Magazine, learning to play cello (that’s on my list too now) after 40, ice dancing, etc etc, gave me the courage to sign up for my first improv class at the legendary Improv Olympic West, home to Chris Farley, Tina Fey. Amy Poehler and Andy Dick….continue reading

Meet Jan Bina, 62, Claire Callaway, 58, Judith Drake, 65, and Debbie Zipp, 57. We were writers and actresses who made a darn good living ’til we made the ultimate Hollywood faux pas and turned 40. Not quite ready to retire, we decided to combine our 200 years of experience in the entertainment industry and make a big midlife transition together. We went from waiting for the phone to ring to creating the first entertainment network for women over 40 on the web. Our goal? To produce quality material with and for women over 40. If we don’t tell our stories, who will?…Continue reading

By the time I recorded my CDs, “Real School,” and “Other People’s Stories,” I was committed to the idea that no one under 40 would work on my projects…. I’m an out of the box thinker. If I can think about it or dream it up, it can happen and it’s doable….Continue reading

I was always asking, what is my dream, where do I belong, but getting no answers.
Then, one day, my whole world came to a standstill. A very, very dear friend suddenly passed away in a freak accident. She was in her mid-thirties and had been married the same year that I had. It shook my whole world. Read more about how Monica Bhide went from being an engineer to a cookbook writer and the author of “"Modern Spice: Inspired Indian Flavors for the Contemporary Kitchen."

Recently, when I was visiting my forty-eight-year old sister, Kathy, in the suburbs of Texas, I was surprised when several of her friends called hoping to see me before I headed back to Costa Rica, where I’ve been living for the last six months. Although I was flattered, I didn’t understand their enthusiasm to see me again. I’m just a 46-year-old woman who ditched her high-paying job as an event producer in New York City and moved to Costa Rica to write a novel. Of course, I also had to learn Spanish, navigate jungle life, scorpions, and potholes, and find a new way to earn income, but my past reinventions had prepared me well. I knew that any big change would come with even bigger challenges, and that I would have to find a way to overcome them….Continue reading:"http://www.more.com/2009/5344-i-ditched-the-plum-job

When I found out I was pregnant with twins, I wasn’t so sure I wanted a life in corporate America any longer. The travel, the stress, the demands. I wanted something different. I had a dream of having my own company where I could control my destiny and my priorities, and create more fulfillment in my life. Be careful what you wish for because within a month of giving birth, my company decided to close and I found myself laid off. “Read more”: http://www.more.com/4252/4851-how-a-creative-itch-became about how Lynn Toomey founded a started a traveling creative enrichment company that would bring arts education and entertainment to children and families

My friend Katie looked at me like I had gone completely crazy. I had just asked her to pose nude for me, for a photography project for my art class. “Are you kidding me?” she laughed. But when I explained the reason—the photographs would show a real, over-40 woman with an imperfect body, in a tasteful and artistic way - she agreed. ….Continue reading-a-celebration-of

“The cure for boredom is curiosity. But there is no cure for curiosity.” I’ve certainly lived this quote. I can say that I have never been bored because my curiosity has ridden over most all my other needs and emotions. I drove my parents crazy with the “What’s that? Where are we going? How was this made? Why do we do it this way?” questions; having to be quieted with the typical parental answer of, “Because.” I have spent my whole life living outside of the box, trying to figure out why things have been done one way and why couldn’t they be done another way….Read how Lauretta Lowell founded her art business Whimsical Curiosities

I found my voice as I neared 50. It was shaky and wobbly and I stumbled around badly, but I had it. My book, Lake Effect, about the pollution in my hometown of Waukegan, Illinois had just been published and I was about to address 1000 women gathered in Pittsburgh at the behest of Mrs. Heinz Kerry. We were going to talk about the links between women’s health and the environment and I was the keynote speaker. No matter that I hadn’t given a speech since high school. Terrified is the only word that could describe what I felt when I thought about what I had agreed to do….Continue reading

“It’s the oddest transition of my life, going from a very public and group-oriented endeavor to sitting alone in a library every day.” Betsy Carter was an editor at Esquire, Newsweek, Harper’s Bazaar, and the founding editor of New York Woman. She wrote the bestselling memoir, Nothing to Fall Back On (2002), before turning to fiction. Her first novel, Orange Blossom Special, came out in 2005. Another novel, Swim To Me, followed in 2007, and her latest, The Puzzle King, just landed in bookstores. Set in New York and Germany during the early twentieth century, and inspired by family legends, The Puzzle King tells the story of the Grossman sisters, who come to America to seek their fortune….Continue reading.

In 2001, when she was 45, Karen Quinn was unexpectedly laid off after working for 15 years in advertising at American Express. This didn’t cause a financial crisis; her husband was a lawyer at a brokerage firm, and she received a substantial severance package. Still, she says, “I was devastated. I remember thinking, I’ve had this job for so long. How am I ever going to do anything else?” Then she realized she did have one qualification that could translate into paying work: She had gotten her kids accepted into private schools in Manhattan….Continue reading.

Eugenia Kim’s first novel, The Calligrapher’s Daughter, is the story of a young woman born into an aristocratic Korean family on the eve of the Japanese occupation. Determined to become a teacher, Najin Han defies her scholar-father’s wishes—and centuries of tradition—to create her own destiny with the help of her mother.

The Calligrapher’s Daughter was inspired by Kim’s family stories. Like Najin, Kim’s mother was the daughter of an aristocratic scholar and grew up during a tumultuous period in Korea’s history, in a household where ancient customs of behavior were observed. The novel is rich in family and political drama, and offers a fascinating portrait of traditional Korean domestic life.

Kim worked on The Calligrapher’s Daughter for over a decade. In her younger days, she was an ice cream truck driver, a magician’s assistant, and, most recently, a graphic designer. Here, she talks with MORE.com about her reinvention as a novelist. …Continue reading.

Some people say that you can go home again.
Some say that you can’t.
Plays and stories, novels, and songs have elaborated on the debate. However, the question, it seems to me, is perhaps not whether or not you can return home, it is what exactly “home” means to each of us. A place? A person? A time of life? A state of mind? Different parameters at different times? The places I have called home have morphed and shape-shifted across continents and oceans….Continue reading.