Second Act Stories

This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break,...

This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break,...

This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break,...

This week we're sharing a series of episodes that capture one of our favorite themes on Second Act Stories: the moment when life changes key. These Key Changes episodes feature people whose lives have been shaped by music: some who left it behind for something new; others who found their way to it later than expected. Together, they're the stories we return to when we want to show how reinvention really works, not as a clean break,...

This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of th...

This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of th...

This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of th...

This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of th...

This week we're bringing you a series of five episodes we always point to when people ask what Second Act Stories is all about. These "Unbelievable All-Stars" all have one thing in common: they exemplify what we're looking for in an incredible Second Act Story. Whether you're a longtime listener or brand new to the show, these episodes bring together the stories that best capture the heart of th...

Simmy Kustanowitz spent the bulk of his career working in television production. From the moment he took a job as an intern for "The Daily Show," he fell in love with the industry. After college, he climbed the ranks. His first job as an NBC page gave way to a gig as a production assistant for MTV, where he worked on a variety of shows. That's where he was given his first opportunity to produce TV shows.

With all that experience un...

If you like coffee, you're going to love Mike Ayar's second act.

Mike ran a highly successful software company for 24 years. With a niche focus, his organization served pest control companies, an industry Mike describes as "the absolute best service business in the world in terms of recurring revenue."

In 2002 a private equity company began pursuing the purchase of his company and in 2006 they made him a financial offer "he couldn'...

Kristin Connor was living a typical life as a business litigation attorney, a job she held for about a decade and absolutely loved.

Then, while she was pregnant with her second child, everything changed.

Her unborn son was diagnosed with an unusual form of neuroblastoma, a cancer that's rare in children to begin with, and almost unheard of in unborn babies.

After he was born, Kristin and her family spent two years going through tes...

Andrew Pudalov spent 15 years working his way up the ladder in the competitive ranks of NYC's financial industry. But the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center changed everything. "I was traumatized. My wife too. We have little kids. I lost good friends. One jumped. I could not believe the towers came down."

Andrew, his spouse and their young family were ready for a change. So they headed west to Boulder, Colorado with ve...

What would happen if you were suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver for someone you love? Would you have any idea what to do or how to do it?

It's estimated that as many as 50 million people in the United States are caregivers, a job that virtually none of them trained for.

We all know someone who became a caregiver and had to learn on the fly. Unfortunately, there are precious few resources that can help. Sue Ryan and Nancy T...

What would happen if you were suddenly thrust into the role of caregiver for someone you love? Would you have any idea what to do or how to do it?

It's estimated that as many as 50 million people in the United States are caregivers, a job that virtually none of them trained for.

We all know someone who became a caregiver and had to learn on the fly. Unfortunately, there are precious few resources that can help. Sue Ryan and Nancy T...

Jonathan Schwartz was at the top of his game serving as a business manager to top stars including Beyonce, Alanis Morisette, Gwenyth Paltrow, Mariah Carey, Linkin Park and others. But this Hollywood insider had a dark secret; he was a compulsive gambler and cocaine addict. And over the course of six years, he embezzled over $7 million from his clients to fund these addictions. Jonathan's criminal behavior earned him a six-year sent...

Peggy Rowe has accomplished a lot in her 87 years.

She started her career as a schoolteacher in Baltimore, where she and her husband John – also a teacher – raised three sons. It was a pretty normal life by all accounts. But life got extraordinary somewhere along the way.

One common thread in the Rowe household was humor, and Peggy had a finely tuned ability to recognize funny and write about it. See, writing has always been her cr...

With an undergraduate degree from New York University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Jon Malankar joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 2018. He climbed the corporate ladder at this top managment consulting firm and became a partner in his mid-30s.

But the bureaucratic burden of working for a large consulting firm with Fortune 100 clients and a strong desire to be more plugged in to his local community ("I felt like...

Since her mother taught her to sew at the age of eight, Vanessa Gavin always wanted to be a fashion designer. Throughout high school, she made her own clothes experimenting with different colors, fabrics and patterns. But in college she opted to study biology, went on to get her masters in public health and finally got a degree in medicine.

Now Dr. Vanessa Gavin-Headen, she spent the next 25 years in a rewarding career as a family ...