Retirement is supposed to feel freeing, but for many people it becomes disorienting, lonely, and far from the dream they imagined. Recorded live inside the iHeart Studios in New York, Sylvia Toense shares how a frightening health scare at 58 pushed her to rethink everything, leave her corporate career, and develop a framework that helps others thrive in their next life chapter.
If you want clarity, purpose, better health, stronger relationships, and a plan you can actually put into practice, this conversation gives you the roadmap. Retirement is not an ending. It is a shift. And Sylvia shows you exactly how to navigate it.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
• The most common patterns among people who retire and feel unhappy
• Why losing work based friendships leads to loneliness and depression
• How Sylvia’s cardiac wake up call changed her life priorities overnight
• The practical steps she took to design her next chapter with intention
• Why people need more self reflection before they retire
• How to experiment with retirement through small trials, hobbies, and test runs
• Why purpose matters more than the idea of “free time”
• The biggest trap people fall into and how to avoid it
• Why planning for friendships, health, and meaning is more important than finances alone
About Today’s Guest
Sylvia Toense is the author of The Shift Playbook and a mentor for individuals preparing for retirement or major life transitions. After a successful 25 year career in financial services, a health crisis forced her to reassess her priorities and rethink her future. Today, she helps people design a purposeful, energizing, and connected life after leaving full time work, guiding them through mindset shifts, planning exercises, and practical steps for thriving in their next chapter.
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The vYve Thrive Series
Stories about the unlocking of dreams that lead to business and personal growth… ignite YOUR thrive.
The vYve Thrive podcast series was born from a simple vYve NYC meetup—an intimate gathering centered around charting our dreams and finding our true voice. What began as a small circle of leaders quickly evolved into something much bigger: founders, creators, and executives opening up, shedding old limits, and discovering what becomes possible when you allow yourself to be seen and heard.
At vYve, we are more than a business-growth mastermind. We are a community grounded in honesty, courage, and the belief that our dreams—big or small—are meant to be pursued together and made real.
Through our work at the New York Summit in October with The Podcast Playground, these stories now have an even broader platform to resonate, inspire, and remind others that their next chapter is entirely within reach.
If you’re feeling the pull to explore your next chapter, we would love to hear from you.
Reach out to us on social @thrivewithvyve on IG or just @vYve on Linkedin!
This is vYve Thrive—where leaders chase their dreams, claim their voice, and ignite the spark for others to do the same.
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