By Joanne Richard. Entrepreneurial Spirit Soaring In Their 70s – Spring is in sight, and with it comes new energy and opportunities, possibly even a different career path and purpose. While some of us are happy to quietly retire and leave the grind behind, other seniors are finding purpose in launching brand new careers. Studies show that what contributes to happiness midlife and beyond is essentially not the size of your bank account, but finding new challenges and opportunities to help fill your emotional bank account. March is a great month for renewal, recalibration, and joyful celebration, including the widely-feted International Women’s Day. So let’s celebrate entrepreneurial wonderwomen who are regenerating and blazing online business trails in their 70s! Forget retirement – Joan Cohen is all about rewiring. The 73-year-old launched her own jewelry company, Ever & Ivy, during the pandemic and is busy building her shiny new brand. Cohen had a series of careers prior to jewelry design, including jobs in the photography and advertising industries, as well as owning a furniture and interior design shop which she sold 20 years ago to spend more time with her family. Throughout her journey, she consistently exhibited an Entrepreneurial Spirit, exploring various avenues and seizing opportunities along the way. Making jewelry was just a hobby until she began to learn goldsmithing – she studied at Fleming College with a goldsmith who taught her the basics of creating jewelry out of sterling silver and gold. She started out by selling her handmade designs at a few specialty boutiques and the odd gallery in Canada, and more recently, scaled to increase volume for her online Ever & Ivy. Described as classically-inspired, architecturally-styled personal adornment, pieces are generally oversized but not in the extreme, she says. “Research tells us that what we wear impacts our brain and can influence mood, emotion, and performance – I offer designs that speak volumes about a person’s personality without ever saying a word.” With her entrepreneurial spirit literally paved in gold and silver, Cohen’s career speaks to the immense benefits of being vital and connected. “I have been incredibly excited to wake up and have this challenge ahead of me every day. My husband and almost all of my contemporaries are retired or winding down their careers, so at times I feel at cross purposes with some. But my husband has been incredibly supportive, which is a huge help in keeping me on track.” Her advice to get on the entrepreneurial track? Don’t let the naysayers get you down. Believe in yourself and take advantage of all of your life experiences to provide creative and practical stimulation. “An extensive study in the U.S. found that the most productive age in human life is between 60-70 years of age. The second most productive stage of the human being is from 70-80 years of age, and the third is from 50-60 years of age. The average age of the Nobel Prize winner is 62 years. Don’t waste the most productive years of your life.” Although Cohen doesn’t feel too old in the least to start a business, she says she feels the effect of ageism and the negative societal attitudes to her age. “For that reason, I have been reticent to become the face of Ever & Ivy. I don’t want to pigeonhole the brand’s appeal to only one age group as I believe it has broad appeal.” While Cohen has designs for all ages, Joan MacDonald, 75, is sweating out a new career with a focus on other seniors and motivating them to get fit and feel fabulous just like her. “You can’t turn back the clock, but you can wind it up again,” says McDonald, who has built a following of 1.6 million on Instagram @trainwithjoan, and has launched fully-guided Train with Joan workouts in the app store. The fitness influencer lost close to 70 pounds and gained a wealth of health and energy – and fans. Her amazing transformation and training tips are featured with relentless positivity while wearing trendy body-hugging outfits, which some people have weighed in on as being shameful. McDonald posted: “I think the way a society treats its older population says a lot about that culture. Older people are not shameful.We are not a burden.We do not have to stay hidden.It is my hope that more of us older people shed some light on how to age well, give some real hope to others that it is possible to keep your vitality as you get older, and that older people have something important to contribute to society.” MacDonald is energized by helping others age a better way. Just a few years ago, she got winded walking up a flight of stairs – she was overweight and on multiple meds. The doctor suggested more meds. “My daughter Michelle, who is a transformation coach, was visiting at the time and gave me an ultimatum: change my health with her help or continue to decline. You know what option I picked!” She adds, “I was slowly dying – now I’m living,” and obviously living her best life. “Since making my health a priority, I feel like I can truly live my life versus just endure it. I have the energy to complete everything I want to do, from keeping up with my daughter to travel,” says McDonald, who divides her time between Cobourg, ON, and Tulum, Mexico. She loves sharing her story: “I love seeing others live their best life. I think others would enjoy my story because if this grandma can change, anyone can!” Her advice: Instead of focusing on everything out of your control, focus on what you can do that is beneficial for your life. It may be going for a walk daily, getting eight hours of solid sleep per night, or tracking your nutrition. “Habits propel us in a new direction each day.” And age has nothing to do with your potential,” she adds. “Age is just a number! So much of success…
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March is a great month to celebrate women of all ages – from change-makers and senior trailblazers to entrepreneurs and women who live out their dream jobs. “I found it invigorating being the only woman in the room” International Women’s Day is March 8 and let’s honour women who pave the way for others and break down barriers to gender equality. This year’s theme for IWD is #ChooseTo Challenge and these senior trailblazers chose to challenge in their own way, before feminism was an object of cultural discourse. In the 50s when women were relegated to the kitchen or secretarial roles, Jean Davey fearlessly entered the world of finance, and triumphantly climbed her way to the top of the stock market in an industry dominated by sexism, disapproval and disparagement. Davey, who turns 90 in June, became Canada’s first woman to be a licensed stockbroker and VP at a major finance company. “I found it invigorating being the only woman in the room,” says Davey. The Only Woman in the Room: The Making of a Stockbroke is the name of her book and it follows her inspiring and remarkable ascent on Bay Street. Davey’s career in finance spanned 50 years, through the era of three-martini lunches and the impenetrable old boys club to putting major cracks in the glass ceiling when, at age 73, she was appointed VP and director of Scotia McLeod. Own your successes and aim higher. Through the highs and the lows, that’s what Davy did, and she wishes she could do it all over again. “Life and working hard is a hoot!” Her advice: Own your successes and aim higher. Through the highs and the lows, that’s what Davy did, and she wishes she could do it all over again. “Life and working hard is a hoot!” “If he is doing it, you can do it. Get rid of the idea that you are not great.” From her humble start stuffing envelopes at General Motors in Grade 12 to learning to type and read financial reports as a secretary to the president, the trailblazer went on to rule the trading floor. “I climbed as high as the number two salesperson out of 200 colleagues. I just went for it and didn’t think about it being hard or easy. I went for what I wanted,” says Davey, who lives at Amica Senior Lifestyles in Toronto. That’s her advice to women everywhere: “Don’t worry about barriers, because life is a barrier. Let it be known what you feel about yourself,” says Davey. “If you think you are smart at something, say it, do it.” “The one thing I wish I had done was be a director of a publicly-owned firm. I never asked because I thought I am a female, it is all men, and they don’t want a woman – I talked myself out of it and I regret it.” While attaining power in her profession was hard fought, her book candidly details personal challenges and triumphs too, including ending an unhappy marriage in which she felt controlled and belittled, and then finding the love of her life and remarrying at age 65, showcasing the resilience and fortitude of senior trailblazers. Regrets? Not many: “The one thing I wish I had done was be a director of a publicly-owned firm. I never asked because I thought I am a female, it is all men, and they don’t want a woman – I talked myself out of it and I regret it.” Whatever you dream, you can do it – “I didn’t realize this until later,” adds Davey, mom of two. “If he is doing it, you can do it. Get rid of the idea that you are not great.” Best Christmas Gift Ideas for Seniors Meanwhile, Mona Sager was flying high in a different way while Davey was making a name for herself in the financial world. Sager, 92, became a private pilot more than 70 years ago – she was just 17 and in high school when she started working at the Oshawa Flying Club, and signed up for flying lessons at $11.50 an hour. With hard work and dedication, it wasn’t long before Sager gave up club chores to pilot sightseeing tours around the city in a single-engine Aeronca aircraft. Then came the aerobatics! Sager was unstoppable: She entered a spot landing competition and won. The contest focused on training for emergency landings and entailed flying to a certain height, cutting the engine and making a safe landing on a target. She not only won the Oshawa Flying Club Spot Landing Competition but that day, amongst her all-male competitors, she met her future husband and they married three months later. Sager adds that her passengers’ reactions varied when they boarded for a flight: She had passengers literally disembark after seeing a female at the controls while others specifically requested her to fly them places. “Just do it, don’t worry about what people will think or how they will react. If you want to do it, get up and do it.” Sager recalls having a teacher in school say to her: “You will never amount to anything.” Mona proved her wrong. Her advice to young girls: “Just do it, don’t worry about what people with think or how they will react. If you want to do it, get up and do it.” She went on to work at Oshawa Engineering and have two children. She lives at Amica in Whitby. By Joanne Richard.