But Barbara doesn’t rest on her marching laurels…not by a long shot!  She’s an artist, teacher, and author of several books—the latest of which, The Viagra Diaries, is becoming a cause célèbre. So when Barbara asked if I’d act as a co-host on her new radio program, “The Boomer Hottie Show,” I jumped at the chance.

To launch the show, we wanted a very special guest with both personal power and a point of view. Boy, were we fortunate! Wendy Riche, Hollywood insider and Executive Producer of such mega-hits as General Hospital and Port Charles, started us off with a bang as she weighed in on ageism, gender, and the growing market value of appealing to boomers on both the small and silver screens.

According to Wendy, two attributes are critical to achieving success: attitude and authenticity.  As a former network executive on ABC and FBC, as well as producing several movies, Wendy was a female pioneer playing in a mostly male game. As she put it: you need to understand the hand your dealt, the unwritten [but ever-essential] rules of the game, and make the most of the cards you’re given. “Don’t offend—maneuver and keep forging forward.”

Wendy believes talent always matters more than age and it’s how you handle ageism that counts. “Nobody makes you feel anything…we all have choices.” Walking her talk, Wendy is already planning several projects that will explore the human condition at its fullest—using age to reinvent ourselves and become ever more authentic to our unique being. And, true to her pioneering past, Wendy is even looking into the final transition, exploring projects that deal with death and dying.

In the land of celluloid, starlets, and silicon implants, plastic surgery is thought to be de rigueur once a woman hits her forties. Not necessarily so! For Wendy (although she claims a certain neck-hating affinity with Nora Ephron), “It’s time to accept who we are and move forward despite the obstacles.” As she put it: “Age is a state of mind and, although it may change the way you see yourself, plastic surgery doesn’t lift your consciousness!”

So if you’re looking for an uplifting dose of attitude and authenticity, be sure to tune in to “The Boomer Hottie Show” and take a listen to all the great advice Wendy and Barbara have to share. There’s a growing movement afoot around this country. Even in Hollywood, aging is becoming the hot, new thing. And, with boomer hotties such as Candice Bergen, Cher, Pattie Duke, Sally Field, Diane Keaton, Dolly Parton, and Susan Sarandon all turning 65 this year, you’ve gotta agree—the age of Social Security has never looked so sizzling!

But boomer women have more or less kept breaking new ground in issues of authority, control, and gender politics (thank you Hillary Clinton and cohorts). Moreover, now that most of us have passed our half-century birthday, our sense of personal power surfaces like never before. Hormonal changes, pent up personal needs after years spent deferring our own to favor those of our children, and the growing knowledge that we won’t be around forever, combine to create a mighty, menopausal drive.  Midlife calls us to refocus, individuate, and access our own sense of mastery and achievement.

In light of this drive, Gloria Feldt and Suzanne Braun Levine have joined me on Feisty Side of Fifty Radio to share their thoughts on claiming and enhancing this menopausal gift. Both have lived their entire professional lives in the epicenter of the Women’s Movement and are well versed on the topic. Gloria’s latest book: No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power and Suzanne’s most recent work: Fifty is the New Fifty: 10 Life Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood combine to create the ideal framework from which to identify ways we can access our growing personal power.

I invite you to invest 30-minutes, listen to the show, and make a giant leap in your own journey towards personal fulfillment. Both Gloria and Suzanne continue to help us enhance the female experience in our years past fifty and your time will be well spent as you listen to their insights.

One of the categories I selected for this blog is “aging with attitude.” It’s high time we claim our attitude, our feistiness, and our power and forever transform the way society views women of maturity. Boomers, after all, have always been trailblazers. It’s up to us and we’re up to the challenge.

Despite this positive mental transformation, however, circumstances at midlife can and often do send us reeling. Chris Moon-Willems knows all about this from both a personal and professional perspective. As a life coach with a background in social work and performance management, she helps her clients navigate the rockier periods of middle-age and gives them the tools to come out the other side as stronger, better people.

Now Chris is sharing her wisdom as well as the insights and advice of ten other experts with any woman over fifty—and it’s FREE! She’s gathered together a highly regarded team from both sides of the Atlantic to speak to such topics as achieving financial independence, health and fitness, love and romance, fashion, career, and much, much more—all aimed at our special needs and issues. You’ll recognize several of the names: Loral Langemeier, Jaki Scarcello, Dr. Joe Rubino, and even yours truly. (I’ll be presenting your “Midlife Career Makeover.”)

Chris told me all about it on a recent broadcast of Feisty Side of Fifty Radio. Take a few minutes to listen to her story and what she has to say about this outstanding Telesummit, Talking Prime Time Women that starts on Monday, Nov. 8^th. Again, the sessions are free and you’ll be getting cutting-edge advice from some of the biggest names in the U.K. and the U.S.A.

We all know the feisty side of fifty is a great place to be, but it’s even better when you learn the tools and techniques to truly thrive. So take a moment, check this out, and take advantage of the fantastic opportunity. It just might be the key to making your years past fifty the best years yet!

Then we grew up: men entered barber shops after eschewing them for years, women once again began shaving our underarms (yes, hair was our thing). We got jobs, moved to the ‘burbs, and reared our families. For a while, like Sampson, we lost some of our power. Even Jerry Rubin wore a suit!

Now, however, with empty nests and initial careers often plateaued or no longer fulfilling, our signature sense of making the world a better place is coming to the fore once again. Thankfully, we can do something about it even without the hair (so no worries if you’re balding).

Encore careering is a growing movement that is capturing the imagination of boomers throughout the nation. Its aim is to combine purpose, passion and a paycheck—thereby fitting perfectly with our generation’s mandate for social reform as well as the economic realities of the day.

But what exactly is an encore career? I found out when I interviewed two nationally recognized authors, activists for change, and contributing members to the encore career revolution. Click here to listen to Suzanne Braun Levine, founding editor of Ms. Magazine and author of Inventing the Rest of Our Lives: Women in Second Adulthood and Fifty is the New Fifty: Ten Life Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood and Marci Alboher, author of One Person/Multiple Careers: A New Model for Work/Life Success and frequent contributor to the New York Times as they tell us all about it.

Better yet, the New York Times Knowledge Network is presenting a course that will answer your questions about an encore career, how you can get started, what kinds of opportunities exist, and much, much more. Marci will moderate the online course and be joined by Suzanne, Marc Freedman (founder of the movement) and several other satisfied boomers who have turned to encore careering as their new way of life.

So give yourself a special gift and take the time to enroll in this course. At the very least, check it out. Who knows? You just might find your true life’s calling on the feisty side of fifty!

Over the next couple of posts, I’m going to share some of the key ways you can make your sales brochure present you as the valuable candidate you are. The first critical tip is: customize, customize, customize! I cannot repeat this enough because, with today’s technology, if you do not customize your resume and sync it to the employer’s ad or posting, your sales brochure will never be seen.

Most companies have software that scans for keywords (skills mentioned in the posting) and pulls up only the resumes that are peppered with the desired skills and experience. This means, if you have what they’re looking for, you’ve got to present yourself using the words you find in the ad. Do not get creative here! They’re telling you what they want and you need to give it to them.  The stronger the match, the more likely you are to be called in for an interview.

Key number two: make your resume eye-friendly. Resume reviewers are so swamped that studies show they generally use 30-seconds or less determining whether or not to actually review your resume. If the skills they’re looking for are not readily apparent, they won’t bother reading through dense blocks of text to find them. So use high impact, customized bullet points—not paragraphs to describe your skills and experience.

Look for my next post for the following three critical tips and, in the meantime, check out Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50. It’s the only job search book for mature applicants that guides you step-by-step through the process and turns your age into your advantage. As a special offer to my readers, through the month of September, you’ll receive a 20% discount on the book. Just go to Create Space https://www.createspace.com/3419356 and enter the discount code: 4923LVK5.

Employers are gearing up after the summer slowdown, putting new projects into place, and hiring. They need employees to fill positions and carry out their plans—so don’t let this important time pass you by!

I know the news is bad and especially discouraging for older applicants. However, you need to realize that the statistics the articles quote do not take into account how YOU are conducting your search: how many hours a day you devote to looking for work, how you’re going about your search, how qualified you are, and who is in your network.

Please take best advantage of this special time of year and arm yourself with the latest and most effective ways to make your mark. I’m happy to say that I’ve recently revised my book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50 and added even more helpful tips and tools to get you on the path to your next position.

This truly is your time to shine, so get prepared, learn the best ways to navigate today’s competitive market, and let them know all the wonderful skills and attributes a jobseeker with maturity can bring. You just need to learn the ways to present yourself as the WINNER you are. Please take the brief 15 minutes and listen to this interview where I share tips and techniques to put you on the fast track to success!

In fact, if you’re an older applicant and are looking for a job, the best time to be doing so is right  NOW! Early fall is one of the two strongest hiring periods of the year. Companies large and small gear up after the summer slowdown and start putting new ventures and projects into place. This  means bringing on new managers, supervisors, individual contributors, and general employees to see these projects through.

So, if you want and need a job, don’t make the critical mistake older applicants often do and try to sell yourself on a resume and in an interview the way it worked 20 years ago. Believe me, it won’t work in today’s competitive market!

You’ve got to be current, confident, and well prepared and I’ve got a few ways that I know will help. My newly revised book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50, has even more insider tips and techniques to make you shine as the candidate of choice. Please take a moment to check it out.

Also, if you want or need immediate help, take a look at my E-book, The Baby Boomers’ Survival Guide to Finding Work Fast. For the price of a cup of coffee and a doughnut, you’ll have the winning tools that will set you up with what you need.

For those who want some personal help and coaching, I’ve joined forces with Life Coach and owner of Soul Purpose to Prosperity, Christine Laureano, to present a 3-day mini-teleclass series starting Tuesday, August 24th. Transition to Success: Midlife Tools for Career and Life Empowerment is certain to help you overcome blocks and fears, reignite your passion for work, and turbocharge your job search. Take a look here.

Don’t let this critical time pass you by. Most jobseekers don’t start really looking until after Labor Day. Right now your competition levels are low and, if you learn the ways to present yourself as the valuable candidate you are, you’ll find yourself first in line for that new position. So get ready, get set, and go!

Now, she’s taking her work one step further and has gathered together several of the nation’s top experts in the health and wellness field to present a one-of-a-kind teleseries. The programs, although varied, are each packed with information that will have you feeling and looking great in no time. And, the series is FREE!

The topics Greg’s experts will cover run the gamut from bone and heart health, to finding and sustaining inner peace, to that all-too-common bugaboo at midlife: taming the muffin top and halting the hips from unrestrained expansion.

At 3:00 p.m. ET on nearly every weekday in September, you’ll be treated to the best, most cutting-edge information the industry has to offer—and it’s all focused on the needs of us gals on the far side of fifty. In fact, Greg’s named her broadcasts the “Midlife Women’s Mind and Body Experts Teleseries.”

Moreover, these folks truly know whereof they speak. Greg has gathered together an amazing group of well-known specialists including nutrition experts, master teachers, life coaches, authors and more.

Take a look at the website. There’s a WIIFY (what’s in it for me?) page, a “Meet the Experts” page, a Series Schedule, and a FAQs page. Greg’s laid it all out so you can make the most of the information her panel will share. Also, if you have a conflict and need to miss a call, you can listen to the session for up to 48 hours after airing. Better yet, you can upgrade to VIP status, get recordings of all the calls, and an added super plus: additional phone time with Greg. This will ensure you can implement all the wonderful tools and tips you’ll learn and truly transform your health and wellbeing.

So give yourself a very special gift that will keep on giving and sign up. As Greg puts it, this series will “fire you up and give you the goods to rock the second half of your life!”

We boomers are indeed fortunate because, as Suzanne writes, for our mothers and grandmothers, the “change of life” meant their lives stopped changing. As their nests emptied so did much of their focus and purpose. Without careers and with limited options and outlets, many of them became ladies who lunch, played tennis or bridge, or waited anxiously to become grandmothers. Maintaining home and hearth remained their primary responsibility and, with fewer mouths to feed, their job description became marginalized.

Ours, however, is a different generation. The women’s movement, the trailblazing spirit of the baby boomers, and the current economic realities have combined to keep us actively engaged in life way past our half-century birthdays. Traditional retirement is a thing of the past as the “forever-young” mindset of the boomers drives us to continue to contribute, interact, and break social barriers.

With our passion and energy still intact, the popular phrase for women our age has become “fifty is the new thirty.” But Suzanne buckles at that one! As she wrote: “That is not it at all. I have discovered that most women in Second Adulthood are very happy being where they are—they don’t want to go back to any of their earlier stages or decades… The assumption is that youth—or at least younger—is the ideal state and that given a choice, no woman in her right mind would relinquish it. I have found the opposite to be true.”

I, too, have found the opposite to be true and I bet you have as well. The years of fifty and beyond present us with many gifts: a newly found freedom to speak our minds and renounce much of our reflexive need to please; a greater sense of strength, mastery, and the ability to roll with the punches; and the drive towards authenticity and becoming the magnificently ripe and wise women we know ourselves to be.

Fifty also brings with it life lessons. Suzanne has highlighted ten of them in her book Fifty is the New Fifty and I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her about all ten. Please take the brief fifteen minutes to listen to the final broadcast in our series and then check back to listen to each and every one. The lessons are powerful and profound and will guide you well through this amazing time in your life. In fact, you too, will likely start taking umbrage when someone smugly states, “fifty is the new thirty.”

No—it’s not! It’s far from that. Fifty is the brand new, remarkably fertile, ripe, robust, and exceedingly feisty FIFTY!

There’s no argument that midlife brings with it tremendous change, both emotionally and physiologically. Marriages, especially long term ones, can suffer. As several years of pent-up baggage and hormonal fluctuations drive the need for life-altering transformation in both partners, husbands and wives often find themselves at odds and colliding with a vengeance. Throw the empty-nest, with children gone and a renewed focus on one another, into the mix and things can become rocky indeed.

But Suzanne Braun Levine shares the hopeful news that, yes, your marriage can make it. And, better yet, the couple bond can grow significantly stronger. By learning the tools to speak your truth, becoming more authentic in your words and deeds, and recognizing the changes your partnership is undergoing, you’ll be far better equipped to navigate these oftentimes-choppy waters.

This is one of the most intimate and important lessons in Suzanne’s book, Fifty is the New Fifty: 10 Life Lessons For Women in Second Adulthood. I invite you to take a listen to our brief 15-minute interview on Feisty Side of Fifty Radio where Suzanne shares her thoughts on this critical topic. For many of us, marriage is the first place we begin testing out our new behaviors—so it can be both a proving ground and a battleground. But, with a little insight and understanding that change is necessary at this time in our lives, our marriage can survive and even blossom into a renewed and even more deeply connected relationship.