Second Act Success Podcast: Career Change, Business Coaching & Entrepreneurship for Women Over 40
Welcome to the Second Act Success Career Podcast, a top 2% globally ranked show designed for ambitious women ready to change careers, start a business, and create a life they love. Hosted by Shannon Russell, business coach, author, and exit strategy expert, this podcast helps you transition from employee to entrepreneur with clarity and confidence. ✨ What You’ll Learn: - How to quit your 9-5 job and start a business that lights you up - Strategies for career change at 40+ and designing your second act - Business planning, marketing, and personal branding tips for women - How to validate your business idea and find your ideal clients - How to use your career experience in your role as a female entrepreneur - Success stories from women who’ve turned their side hustles into thriving businesses Whether you’re planning an exit strategy, exploring midlife career pivots, or ready to become your own boss, you’ll find actionable steps, real-life inspiration, and expert guidance here. Is this podcast for you? - Are you dreaming of quitting your corporate job to start your own business? - Do you want advice on marketing a business, designing your personal brand, and build entrepreneurial strategies? - Are you ready to overcome fear and turn your skills and experience from the corporate world into your second act business? - Do you crave a flexible lifestyle that allows you to focus on your passions and your family? - Ready to become your own boss and build a business you love? - Is it time to turn your side hustle into a full-time business? If so, you’re in the right place! 🎧 New episodes every week — subscribe now to start building your second act business and designing a life you love! 🔗 For more inspiration and resources, visit https://secondactsuccess.co. 📖 Read Shannon's book Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life at https://startyoursecondact.com. Subscribe now and embark on a transformative journey towards career fulfillment and success in your second act!
Episodes
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Were you recently laid off and handed a severance check... but no clear plan for what’s next? Don’t just spend it—flip it. In this powerful episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, business coach Shannon Russell shares how your severance package can become the startup capital you need to finally launch your dream business.
What you'll learn in this episode:
- How to reframe a ...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Ever dreamed of quitting your 9–5, moving somewhere tropical, and starting fresh as your second act? 🌴
On this episode #210 of the Second Act Success Podcast, Shannon Russell sits down with HGTV’s Betting on Paradise stars, Steph Sitt and Luke Shantz, to share their incredible journey from corporate life in Canada to renovating a rundown hotel in Costa Rica, all while raising two young dau...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Are you waiting for a layoff, burnout, or bad boss to make the next move for you? In this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host and business coach Shannon Russell challenges you to stop waiting and start building a business that puts you in charge.
Shannon walks you through how to:
- Create an exit strategy from your 9–5 job
- Start a side hustle using your existing skills
- Buil...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
What happens when you get laid off, divorced, and find yourself at rock bottom all at once? For serial entrepreneur and real estate powerhouse Betsy Pepine, it sparked a second act that changed everything. In this inspiring episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell chats with Betsy about how she went from being a single mom with two toddlers and no job to buildi...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
From a corporate career in Investment Banking on Wall Street and HR at Facebook to launching the wellness brand Gym Hooky, our guest Ariel Belgrave is a powerful woman entrepreneur with words of wisdom to share. On this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, Ariel explains how she turned “pain into purpose” as she grew her side hustle from a blog about skipping the gym into the mega pop...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
No distractions, no excuses! How you can start your business, while the kids are back to school. In this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host and business coach Shannon Russell shares actionable tips for moms and working women who want to start a business while the kids are in school. Whether you're a stay-at-home mom or juggling a 9–5, this episode will show you how...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Are you struggling with energy, brain fog, or feeling stuck in midlife? This episode is for you.
In this powerful episode #206 of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell chats with Jenny Waters, a former engineer who turned a family health crisis into a mission-driven wellness business. Jenny shares her raw and relatable story of perimenopause, her husband’s autoimmune di...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Have you ever hit a breaking point at work where you just knew—you were done? In this powerful episode #205 of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with leadership coach and HR strategist Lindsay White, who shares the moment she abruptly quit her 20-year corporate career with no plan... and never looked back.
Lindsay opens up about the toxic leadership that p...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Is it too late to start over at 50? Absolutely not.
In this powerful episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, Shannon Russell is joined by Certified Financial Planner, midlife millionaire coach, and host of Smart Women Talk Radio, Katana Abbott. Katana shares her remarkable story of resilience—from personal trauma to building a thriving financial planning business managing over $100...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Tired of the Sunday Scaries and dreaming of quitting your 9-5 to start a business that lights you up? You’re not alone—and you don’t have to do it alone either. In this episode, Shannon Russell shares the behind-the-scenes details of her signature coaching program, the Second Act Accelerator, a 90-day proven framework that helps women leave their careers and build the freedom-filled busines...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Is starting a business part of your healing journey? For Suzy Wraines, it absolutely was. In this powerful episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, Suzy shares her inspiring story of how she went from a military medic and veterinary technician to a trauma-informed business coach for medical professionals.
Host Shannon Russell talks with Suzy about the emotional toll of transitioning...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Thinking about quitting your 9-5 and launching a business? Before you hand in your resignation letter, this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast is your essential pre-launch checklist. Host Shannon Russell, a career transition coach and former television producer, walks you through the 5 things every woman should do before starting a business.
In this powerful episode, you’ll lea...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
🎉 It’s the 200th episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, and we’re celebrating with a special Q&A edition! Host and business coach, Shannon Russell, is answering your most pressing questions about how to quit your job, start a business, and reinvent yourself at any age.
In this milestone episode, Shannon covers:
✔️ How to know when it’s the right time to quit your 9-5
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
In this empowering episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell speaks with holistic living expert, life coach, and wellness advocate Lynnis Woods-Mullins. After a successful career in corporate HR, Lynnis took a life-changing leap at age 51—leaving her job due to anxiety and burnout to reclaim her health and purpose. What started as a sabbatical turned into a thri...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
In this inspiring episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with Sunny Sun, a first-generation immigrant from China turned entrepreneur and nonprofit founder. Sunny shares her remarkable journey from moving to the United States for college to leaving a fast-paced corporate finance career as an accountant in Manhattan to start her own STEM-based educati...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Feeling stuck in your creative career? Whether you're a producer, designer, editor, writer, artist, or performer—this episode is your roadmap to turning your creative skills into a successful business. Host Shannon Russell, a former TV producer turned business coach, shares how she transitioned out of the entertainment industry and built a thriving second act as an entrepreneur.
In this...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
What does it take to turn a passion for fitness into a thriving business—and then franchise it successfully across the country? In this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with Devan Gonzalez, fitness entrepreneur and co-founder of Strive 11 Fitness, to explore how he turned his love of coaching into a six-figure in-person training business and l...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Have you ever wondered if your professional experience could be turned into a thriving business? In this episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with curriculum and course creation expert Shannon Boyer to explore how she transitioned from a career in college education to launching a business that empowers entrepreneurs to teach what they know—success...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
Are you feeling stuck in your career or craving more creativity and fulfillment in your life? In this inspiring solo episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell encourages you to rediscover the dreams you once held and explore how to bring them into your present life. Whether you’re navigating a life transition, dreaming of launching a business, or simply want to ...
Tell us what you want to hear on the show!
After 19 years in education and an ADHD diagnosis, Cindy Baker made a bold pivot—leaving the classroom to launch her own business as a productivity coach for entrepreneurs. In this inspiring episode of the Second Act Success Career Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with Cindy to discuss her career evolution, her late-in-life ADHD diagnosis, and how she turned her challenges into a bus...
Popular Podcasts
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Charlie is America's hardest working grassroots activist who has your inside scoop on the biggest news of the day and what's really going on behind the headlines. The founder of Turning Point USA and one of social media's most engaged personalities, Charlie is on the front lines of America’s culture war, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students on over 3,500 college and high school campuses across the country, bringing you your daily dose of clarity in a sea of chaos all from his signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view. You can also watch Charlie Kirk on Salem News Channel