Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to forty five Forward with host, journalist and speaker
Ron row Out. Ron's mission is to make your second
half of life even better than your first. Most of
us are just approaching our half life when we reach
the mid forties, with many productive years ahead. Ron is
here to help prepare us for this kind of longevity
(00:30):
by providing vital strategies to shift the traditional waiting for
retirement model to a continuous, evolving journey of compelling life chapters.
So now please welcome the host of forty five Forward,
Ron row Out.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Hello, everyone, Welcome to forty five Forward on Bowl Brave TV.
This is your host, Ron Roell. Now, as we continue
to celebrate older Americans months, what better way than to
have a conversation today with Nancy Griffin, whose mission is
to help older adults live happier, healthier lives, a mission
that is totally sickminous with forty five Forward. Nancy is
(01:26):
the founder and CEO of Glowing Older and the Glowing
Older Podcast, where she helps people create plans to age well,
explore what really excites them, frustrates them, what they want,
what they don't want, and discover what's possible. In the
third act of life she describes. She'll describe her new
paradigms of glowing older and housing health and wellness to
(01:49):
life long learning. In short, Nancy's goal is to change
the narrative of aging. So now let's meet my guest,
Nancy Griffin and learn what it means to glow older. Nancy,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, thank you, Ron. We are definitely birds of a
feather and we're flocking together, which is great to have
this conversation. So I love it. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I feel like we're transcontinental soulmates.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Oh definitely. I could have spoken with you for hours
on our first.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Call, right right, So listen, we will speak for a
good hour. But before we do that, and why don't
we just give a little bit of an update for
our audience on how you got to where you are.
It's an interesting my guess. I always have interesting journeys.
I'm always interested in their story as well, So tell
us a little bit about your story about how you
got to where you are today.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yes, well, thank you for asking. I come from the
spaw and wellness industry. I started my career at Cornell
Hotell School in the mid nineties and I was studying
the spaw industry, which is where I spent most of
my career, spas, resorts, health retreats, that type of industry.
(03:00):
And interestingly, back then in the mid nineties, really what
SPA was all about are a lot of the things
that we're talking about today with aging well, so it
was really about eating well, eating off the land, moving
your body, being in nature, and especially connecting with like
minded individuals in in a secluded environment where you could
(03:22):
really be vulnerable. So all those things, I think are
things that we're talking about today. So fast forward to
March twenty twenty. I've been coasting along in my career
in the SPA and well this industry, and then came
back from a conference in South Carolina with COVID and
all my clients one after another, were like, spas are
(03:44):
shutting down. Sorry. So luckily I had a little bit
of a lifeline to support me. But I had a
lot of free time, that's for sure. And my grandparents
had helped found a life planned community formerly called CCRC
Union Care Retirement Community outside of Baltimore. They were Quakers
(04:04):
and they founded a CCRC called Broadmeat and both my grandparents,
both sets of my grandparents on both sides. My mom
and dad aged out there, so I spent a lot
of time there and it was one of the best
in the country. But what I realized pretty quickly was
that that there was a lot of shortcomings. It was
very much an institutional approach. I mean, we could have
(04:26):
a whole hour just talking about traditional senior living versus
new models of senior living. But it was very much
traditional senior living. My grandparents worked in the community garden,
but none of that food ever made it into the
actual food. You know. It was like the trucks drove
up and the cans were opened and that was what
they were served. And wellness wasn't really a conversation. This
(04:47):
was back in the seventies eighties, and they aged out
there until they passed. But what I realized pretty quickly
during COVID was that the senior living industry was rapidlyging
and some friends of mine from the spawn wellness industry
were starting to get jobs. One of my friends was
corporate SPA director at Lanham Resorts and now he's at Mather,
(05:11):
for example, you know, which is a senior living nonprofit
senior living community. So there's been this infiltration of wellness
into senior living. So I thought the best way for
me to learn about the industry would be to interview experts.
So I started my podcast, and I'm sure that you
know you and I kind of had that same philosophy
of let's get somebody smart and come out of it smarter, right,
(05:34):
So I just started interviewing people that I thought were innovative.
So the focus is innovation in aging, well innovation and
alternative housing models and like you talked about purpose, lifelong learning,
combatting agism, all those kind of things. So we interview
authors and developers, media personalities such as yourself. You know
(05:57):
you're going to get you on my show, san Ron,
But yeah, so it's been a huge learning experience. We're
going on four and a half years and two hundred
and ten episodes, and that that's been really kind of
the core of the work that Glowing Older has done
are just bringing together conversations, like you said, changing the
(06:18):
landscape of aging, one conversation at a time.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Right, right, So we came in from different rates, but
I find it interesting we kind of said on this
course around the same time, and I.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Guess, yeah, the same episodes.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I guess
they're out of COVID. Gave a certain period of contemplation
like okay, what now and so this this is I mean,
there were a lot of horrible things about it, but
there was some you know, interesting unexpected results. And I
(06:52):
think that these sorts of discussions, and of course it
gave us a lot more you know experience dealing with zoom,
you know, dealing with this kind of you know communication
which was an alternative for people who couldn't connect.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, and Ron, you know, I think we could probably
both agree that and a lot of experts. I had
Lauren Dunning from the Milkin Institute on this morning on
the show. But I think we can all agree that
things are starting to change. There are more conversations than
there were four and a half years ago. You know
that we call it the last acceptable ism, the ages
(07:28):
and piece, which Ashton apple White would say is no
longer an acceptable ism, but it's still a huge issue,
you know, when it comes to quality of life and aging,
well it comes up again and again. But I think
that the work that we're doing together really kind of
changes people's opinions. Whether it's one person at a time
(07:50):
or groups of people or so it's really important to
have these conversations. And it sounds I mean, you and
I this is both our heart work. I mean, we're
not getting rid off this stuff for sure, but the.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Heart hearts what matters. So so well, it's something we're
talking about agism. And I know that we always talk
about the later in the show, but this has been
an issue and people don't know. Ashnapple White is a
very well known expert who wrote the book This Age, This.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Rocking Chair Rock Manifesto against Agism.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Right right, right, So, and I know you've talked about
this is the major obstacle, and so how do we
face that? How do we I mean, so, I know
you're looking at it from one particular perspective, which I
think is important, which is in the wellness and beauty industry.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Right well, yes, I mean I tried. I mean I
wouldn't say that successful. Like everyone was like, yeah, this
is such a great idea, because really I came to
my peers in the industry and said, we can do better.
We need to stop blaming people about aging and stop
using the phrase anti aging. And I really didn't get
(08:58):
very far with it. But you know, ron agism was
one of those things that I really was not aware
of when I started my podcast, and as I started,
you know, you know, you're probably the same way as me.
We get these themes that go through I had when
you have one guess and then another and another, and
there's these threads of themes that go through each episode.
For me, the agism piece was a huge wake up
(09:20):
call because I'd have somebody that was an operator in
senior living and they'd say agism is the number one
thing standing in the way of residence satisfaction. It's like, well,
what does that mean? Well, maybe the executive director is
agist and treats people without respect and dignity and agency. Uh,
(09:43):
maybe the residents or agist against each other, you know,
the other you know, the othering thing is something that
the marges and people talk a lot about. So it
just kept coming up again and again, and then I
realized that the World Health Organization has deemed it a
major glow crisis. And then there's three ways that they
(10:04):
talk about overcoming agism very specifically, and you can go
to the World Health Organization site, you could google agism.
You can pull all of this up it's all widely available.
But the three ways are number one, looking at yourself
and your internalized perceptions of aging. It starts with ourself.
I mean, we're not going to get rid of cultural
(10:26):
and societal agism overnight, but if we become aware of it,
maybe start pointing it out to others and not buy
into it ourselves. That that's the first way. Second way
is policy, which row we will not get into today
a conversation, especially in the US right now. But the
(10:46):
third is intergenerational connections, which is really to me one
of the most exciting ways. You know, as we were
raised and centuries ago, we had intergenerational connections naturally, but
unfortunately that's grown out of us over the generations, and
I think they're starting to be a real conversation around
(11:08):
intentional bringing together of generations. I might have mentioned to
you Haralink, which is a nonprofit corporation started by a
twenty two year old girl. She's got seventy high schools
now I think six sixty high schools, and she matches
high school students that need community service hours with older
adults and senior living communities. And she did that to
(11:29):
overcome loneliness and social isolation and mental health issues, and
the young people not the old people, which I think
is so amazing, right.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, well they talk about that a lot. Is that
I realize that they're you know, yes, there is you know,
social isolation as you get older, I mean, you lose
your friends and family, so you often end up alone. However,
from what I understand, the research has indicated that the
highest levels of anxiety and stress are actually people in
(12:00):
their twenties. Even more.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Wow, here's the quote from the Gallup poll. From this
is from Laura Dunning from Milkin. Young people experienced twice
the levels of loneliness and people over sixty five.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
A shocking right, right. So recently, Nancy, we screened a
film called The Age of Love on Long Island. I
don't know if you've heard of that, but basically it's
it's a film that was done by a man whose
mother had lost her spouse and you know, felt like
(12:37):
I'm never going to love again. So it was basically
his documentary foreant into the subject, with the center being
a speed dating people for people seventy to ninety years old. Wow.
And so when we screened this film, young people come
to it as well, and their response is really like
(13:01):
as eye open, like when when they hear older people
talking about the need for connection and love, it's like,
that's the same for me, it's no different. So I
think that you're right about this intergeneration. And I've actually
heard that some of the language is being changed just
called interage, so it's not even generation.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
I've been bringing that up since you mentioned that, Ron,
because if I can get people to really kind of
start to think about it that way, because I love
that expression and courage.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, it's really a continuum. So even even separating the
generations says all right, well, we're making these assumptions. I mean, yes,
there's obviously, you know, that separation of you know, my generation,
my kids that so that is a generation. But these
issues cross, you know, over every age. And as you
will know, so agism can be agism towards young people
as well as.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Older absolutely, and we forget that. But yes, but I
think you know, overwhelmingly we get the brunch of it, right, No,
that's that's youth, obseests culture. At the end of the day,
we really are yes.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
No, no, that's absolutely true, you know, and the issue
does go from senior down to you know, young people.
That's that's the way the discussion goes. So gosh, we
have so much to talk about. We're just gonna have
to take a quick break. So but folks, don't go away.
We have much more to talk about with Nancy Griffin,
(14:22):
the CEO of Glowing Older and the host of the
Glowing Older podcast, So don't go anywhere.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Mike Zorich a three time California state champion in Greco
Roman wrestling at one hundred and fourteen pounds. Mike blind
six birth, was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a
six time national placer, including two seconds, two thirds, and
two fourths. He also won the Veterans Folk Style Wrestling
(14:50):
twice at one hundred and fifty two pounds. In all
these tournaments, he was the only blind competitor. Nancy Zorich
a creative spirit whose talents have taken her to the
stage and into galleries and exhibitions in several states. Her father,
a commercial artist who shared his instruments with his daughter
and helped her fine tune her natural abilities influence her
(15:13):
decision to follow in his footsteps. Miss Zurich has enjoyed
a fruitful career doing what she loves listen Saturday mornings
at twelve Eastern for the Nancy and Mike Show for
heartwarming stories and interesting talk on the BBM Global Network.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Are you struggling to care for elderly parents or a spouse?
Do you wonder if being a caregiver is making you sick?
Are you worried about taking time off work to care
for elderly parents and balance work life and caregiving? Has
caregiving become exhausting and emotionally draining? Are you an aging
adult who wants to remain independent but you're not sure how.
(15:53):
I'm Famila d Wilson. Join me for The Caring Generation
radio show for caregivers and aging adults Wednesday evenings six specific,
seven Mountain, eighth Central and nine Eastern, where I answer
these questions and share tips for managing stress, family relationships, health, wellbeing,
and more. Podcasts and transcripts of The Carrying Generation are
on my website Pamela Dwilson dot com, plus my caregiving library.
(16:17):
Online caregiver support programs and programs for corporations interested in
supporting working caregivers. Help, Hope and support for caregivers is
here on The Carrying Generation and Pamela d Wilson dot com.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Welcome back, folks, once again, this is Ron Roel on
forty five Forward. We're talking today with Nancy Griffin, the
CEO of Glowing Older and the host of the Glowing
Older podcast, also the founder of Senior Trade. Before the break,
we were talking with Nancy about agism, and I want
to then go right into more about her company, her
(16:54):
consulting business, and the podcast. Well, first of all, I'm
just I'm always in writer and fascinating the words. I
love the uh, the wordplay of Glowing Older. Tell me
how you came up with that?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Gosh? Well, I saw it in an article like six
years ago, just an article on aging or something, and
somebody had used the phrase glowing older in the article,
and I thought, wow, that's that's great, you know, And
I went and found that the u R was available.
It was not you know, it was pricey. It wasn't
like a you know, like just sitting there for five dollars,
(17:29):
but but it was available, and so I got it,
and I just really resonated with me because as we
as we both know, the whole the whole idea of
attitude is so crucial and and really I think we
had this conversation last time. Ron, It's like, we we
plan and look forward to things that we like and
(17:53):
and like a vacation or going into college or sorority.
And when it comes to planning for later years, if
we all, if we buy into this inevitable decline theory,
like wah, why it's all over, then it's really hard
to make good decisions and plan and all that. So
it starts with our attitude that those years are worth
(18:18):
planning for. And that's why Glowing Older we were really
sticklers on language, just like, what are the words that
you're using. I just talked to the young girl from
herolink actually, and she sent me a letter she was
going to send out, and I had to point out,
you know, we don't use the word senior in the
(18:39):
in the aging world, we use the word we use
the phrase older adult because research shows that it's less
triggering and it's less negative. And she's like, oh wow,
that's so great, you know. So we don't call we
like to call retirement renewment, and we like to call
empty nests spreading your wings and so Glowing Older I
think is a good exist ample of that. It's that
(19:01):
it's it's not something to dread. And it's funny because
my mom is eighty two and she has a group
of friends and they all have dogs and they're all
really fit, healthy women, and she says, we can do
whatever we want now, and think about it. You know,
(19:21):
if you think about the generation their friends, it's like
they always had an obligation and it was like their husband,
their careers, their kids. And now it's like I could
wake up every day and I could do it whatever
I want. And just that that attitude of of getting
up every day and wanting to be alive. And that's
(19:44):
what I don't know if your listeners are familiar with
the term ekey guy, which is a Japanese term which
means literally that which gets you out of bed in
the morning. And I think it's important. You know, we
talk a lot about purpose and glowing older, and I'm
sure you do too wrong. And I think some people
hear that word purpose and it can be misleading because
(20:04):
they think, damn, I've taken care of everyone. I'm not
gonna I don't want a purpose. I want to sit
around and do nothing. And I would say, firstly, you know,
your purpose can be broad. It doesn't have to be
necessarily babysitting your grandchildren every day, and that you should
know that you're healthier if you have one, right, And
(20:25):
that's what I want people to know. It's just like
become educated to know that if you have something that
gets you out of bed every day, you will be happier, healthier,
and live longer. Right, what we all want, right.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Well.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
I do like the language though, I mean, I certainly
it's a nice transition between getting older and then growing older,
like the connotation of growing you always growing at every
point in your life. But then I even like even
more the glowing older I mean to me, the glowing
you know, I mean, you know, there's this you know,
verny freshion of our you know, our golden years, which
(20:59):
seem a little bit pretentious to me. It's like, well
they're golden there, but they're problematic to But glowing to
me gives a sense that there is a warmth to it.
I like that, and there's a sense of energy and
aura around it, which I think is important because that's
what I feel about. You know, as we get older,
there is that glow. Sometimes it's a little dimmer, but
(21:23):
even so it's there and it's it's so I'm glad
you've you've you've stuck with that.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
So and I'm going to throw this back on you
and Ron ask you a question, Ron, how how do
you get people to be thinking in those terms? And
when the inevitable of age is some sort of decline.
So it's like, given that we have this, like, how
(21:49):
do you instruct your the people that you are coaching
and the people that you're interacting with too? Yes, this
is a reality. It's not total polya that it's not
rose cover colored glasses, But how do you how do
you yes this? But but yes, I'm going to choose.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Well, I guess for me, it's all part of it.
So in other words, I remember I had an interview
with a guy named John Leyland a report of New
York Times, who wrote this book called Happiness is a
Choice You May Yes, And it was about people who
were eighty five and older and they were in depth.
(22:28):
He followed them around for a year and I think
he ended up with six people he profiled, and it
was very much that message is that you know that
people to your point, they had a reason to get
out of bed every day. It wasn't it wasn't. It
wasn't like oh this is fine, this is perfect. Some
people were taking care of their older parent, much older parent,
(22:50):
you know, if they're in their eighties, yes, so much older.
But but it's the sense of well, some therapists would
call it, you know, radical acceptance. But it's not just
saying oh, this is the way it is. It's like, well,
this is the way it is, and what choices do
I have to make, you know, right, to make this
the best life I can and to enjoy it. And
(23:12):
and so there are choices. And it's not you know,
ignoring or denying you know, physical challenges, but you know
that's part of life too. It is part of a journey.
And even you know when people talk about you know,
as people head toward the end of life, whether it's
probet of care, hospice care, and then that's still part
(23:34):
of the journey there, you know. So it's not like
I will just sit around and wait for the end.
It's like, well what is this part of life for?
How can you reflect on life at this point and
still be engaged. It's not easy, though, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
No, no one ever said it was going to be though.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Right, absolutely, absolutely, but it can be there's a lot
of joy. And I think that you know, even when
you know people you know, talk about caregiving for Allheimer's,
people with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, you know,
one of the things that I hear people say is,
you know what they are still alive inside, and so
(24:13):
spend time with what they can do and who they are,
not what they're not. And I think, you know, that's
simpleant and you know they're in a sense there's an
interesting gift in that. Well, they don't think about the
future or the past. There in the present. But what
do people always say, like, well, live in the present.
Stop you know, trying to plan all the time. You know,
(24:33):
there is a certain you know, wisdom to living in
the presence. So acknowledge that, Acknowledge what they're feeling, knowledge
their motions, you know, what they're capable of in life.
So yeah, it's it's it is that balance of recognition
that you know. Yeah, ultimately, yeah, ultimately we all pass on.
But but even in that that period of loss, right,
(24:56):
even the loss, there is some gain. You sort of
let go of things and you can focus on them. Well,
all right, you know, I don't need to worry about
these other things. This is what's in front of me,
and now let's just be present with that and with
the people around me, and in some ways, don't waste
time doing things that don't matter, right, I mean, really focus.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
So true. Yeah, and I love what you said about
the caregiving piece. Is that just to we like to
use the phrase care partner. And I work with an
organization called Connected Horse that does memory care. They work
with people with cognitive impairment and their care partners with
equine learning tasks and that sort of thing. Is the
(25:34):
phrase care partner, because I think you can forget that
you can glean joy from the person you're caring for
as well. I have a friend that looked after a
ninety I think she's in her late nineties, but she
told me how how much she got back from that
woman and how the woman brought her so much joy
(25:54):
and she was able to become a caregiver that was
open hearted and it was a two way exchange of
energy and information where she got something too. And so
I think that's again, like you said, the choice part
and and and also I'll add into that with the
(26:14):
caregiving piece is the idea of wearing your own oxygen
mask first, which is a huge core message for growing
older because you can't you can't be your best when
you're draining your battery all the time. And and caregiving
especially because it's I mean, gosh, caregiving with any chronic illness,
(26:36):
but dimension Alzheimer's being one of the most challenging because
of the unpredictability of it. But but you can really
come out of the caregiving piece drained financially, emotionally, and
so it's really important to fill your cup withever that
looks like. And I know a lot of caregivers will
(26:56):
absolutely like want to punch you in the face if
you say take a bed, yeah, or you know, go
to the spa or things like that, But the first
one is really to ask for help, right, And you know,
we talk a lot it growing older. Doctor Bill Thomas,
I think I mentioned him on our first call, but
he's one of my gurus, my aging gurus. He founded
(27:18):
the Greenhouse Network and the Eden Alternative and he's been
an absolute advocate for finding ways of innovating the way
that we age. But he talks about aging is a
team sport and who is on your aging dream team?
And I think for anyone and starting at that caregiver phase,
(27:40):
starting in your forties or gosh, you know, sometimes it's
even earlier. But if you start thinking about it early,
you're much more likely to make a plan to get there.
And I think we all know that most caregiving decisions
happen in a crisis. And I hear it again and again, Oh,
we're you know, mom foul, and now we have to
(28:00):
find a place and you know, she's in the hospital.
They're pushing her out the door, and we don't know
where to go. We don't know what to do. And
when you're in that kind of frenetic crisis energy, we
do not make good decisions. We don't. And that's why
the planning piece is such a big, big part of
what we talk about, and a values based planning piece,
(28:25):
which is that which matters most to you. And I
speak to married couples a lot. I don't know if
you're married or not, Ron, but I'm divorced. But it's
important to not say we want to do this, and
we think this because as we get older, one of
the fallacies is that we become more like we do not,
(28:46):
we become more individualistic and more ourselves and Oftentimes couples
will need to make different plans. Maybe your husband wants
to go fishing in Alaska, maybe he wants to golf
three times a week with his buddies. Maybe you don't.
Maybe you want to travel to Europe with your So
it's important to take that time and measure your values
(29:10):
to see which ones come out on top. A good
one to think about is if you have a big home.
If you're a solo ager and you have a big
home and you have animals to take care of and
you want to travel, then those are some serious considerations
because it's like the money part is huge. Obviously, the
(29:34):
financial piece is huge, but your energy, like where are
you putting your energy? So you'll find a lot of
times people will downsize and have the lock and leave
kind of situation where they can say, Okay, I'm going
to Europe and I'm gone and I'm going to be
gone for two months. So you have to balance all
those things. And I know you mentioned the glowing older
(29:58):
philosophy a little bit early or being different elements, but
the elements for us their home, health and heart and
home is the piece of home is much more than
the four walls that you live in. So when you're
looking at that home piece, it's like, do I want
to be near my family? Like where do I want
(30:18):
to be? Do I want to be near an ocean?
Is it important as women in the ocean every morning?
Is it important to be near my grandkids? And those
kind of questions as their transportation, is their healthcare? Are
their neighbors that can help you know that, all those
kind of things. So that's why the planning piece is huge,
because you have to take time to go through all
(30:39):
those elements health, all the aspects of health. When you
have mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, all those kind of things
need to be in the consideration loop. And then we
loop it back to the heart piece, which is what
matters most to you, not your grandkids, not your husband,
you not and I use the husband or your wife
(31:00):
or whatever. But that taking that time. And I don't
know if you're familiar with Ron Pevney, he's the conscious
aging guru. You know he does these conscious aging retreats
and he takes people on vision quests and takes them
into the middle of nowhere and they don't eat and
they sit with nature and they give themselves that time
(31:22):
to figure it out. And to all the listeners out
there that that are in this place, give yourself time
and don't rush it and be okay with the unknown.
And we as humans hate that.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Right I know. Well, we are going to have to
pay attention to time. Right now, we need to take
a little bit of a break. But this we're going
to steak in another quick break. But folks, don't go anywhere. Obviously,
we have a lot more to talk about. With Nancy Griffin,
the CEO of Glowing Older, Don't Go.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
Away, Doctor RC will share extraordinary resources and services that
promote educational success as well as making a difference in
the lives of all social workers as well as the
lives of children, adolescents and teens of today. She will
have open discussions addressing many of the issues that we
face about our youth and how being employed in the
(32:14):
uniquely skilled profession of social work for over eighteen years
has taught invaluable lessons through her personal experiences. She will
also provide real life facts, examples and personal stories that
will confirm that why serving as a child advocate is
extremely beneficial when addressing the needs of the whole child. Listen,
Live to Dare to Soar, Saturdays ten am Eastern on
(32:36):
the BBM Global Network and tune in Radio as Doctor
rc will provide thought provoking information that will empower, encourage
and strengthen students, families and communities across our nation. You
can also visit her at soarwith Katie dot Com. Author,
radio show host and coach John M. Hawkins reveals strategies
(33:01):
to help gain perspective, build confidence, find clarity, achieve goals.
John M. Hawkins' new book Coached to Greatness Unlock Your
Full Potential with Limitless Growth, published by I Universe, Hawkins
reveals strategies to help readers accomplish more. He believes the
book can coach them to greatness. Hawkins says that the
(33:23):
best athletes get to the top of their sport with
the help of coaches, mentors, and others. He shares guidance
that helps readers reflect on what motivates them. We discover
and assess their core values, philosophies and competencies, find settings
that allow them to be the most productive, and track
their progress towards accomplishing goals. Listen to John Hawkins My
(33:47):
Strategy Saturdays one pm Eastern on the BBM Global Network
and tune in radio.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Welcome back, folks again. We're talking today with Nancy Griffin,
the CEO of Growing Older. Before the break, we were
talking about her values based approach on planning, and I
think this is important because there are lots of pragmatic
things we can do in terms of planning for our
older years, but based on what and so I think
(34:18):
it's important that you talk about well to make these decisions,
you know, what are the values you're basing it on
in these three areas of home, health and heart. So
let's expand that a little bit more. You were talking about, well,
your own values, and I'll share some of mine.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
Yeah, I mean I had a big October twenty twenty three,
a year and a half ago. I have been a
lifelong horseback rider, So I've written horses since I was
five years old. And if you would have told me
if I could ever stop riding horses, I would never stop,
you know, as I was going to be that when
(34:59):
whip their helmet off and have the gray hair flowing
in the wind, you know, seventy year old horseback rider
jumping the jumps. And in October twenty twenty three, I
had a very serious accident jumping a little jump, but
I landed headfirst into the into a wall. Basically luckily,
(35:19):
I was wearing a good helmet and an air vest
which inflated on the sides of my head. But I
woke up in the hospital. I was unconscious, don't remember anything.
But right after that happened, my family and my close
friends were like, Okay, nance you know, you've had a
good run, but you're not going to ride anymore. You've
had head injuries. I know from my podcast and all
(35:42):
the people I've interested interviewed, and you know to brain
health that cumulative head trauma is no bueno. You know.
And I'm sixty years old. So look, I took out
my values deck and looked at the whole thing. My
first thought was screw you. Like everyone that was saying this,
(36:02):
I was like, nobody's gonna tell me what to do.
Because one of my core values is persistent. It got
me to graduate school, it got me to live in Europe,
it got me to start my entrepreneurial ventures. That persistence
is one of my core values. So I was like,
forget you guys, I'm gonna do it. But we have
to balance our values. So when I looked at some
of my other values. One of my core values is
(36:23):
family and friends that were really wanting me to stay
as healthy as possible and knew I'd had a good
run and then it was probably time to stop the
other one was that I value my brain. I make
money from my brain. I like my creativity, I want
my sign ups that's working as well as possible. And
I know that cumulative head trauma leads to cognitive impairment.
(36:46):
So when I balanced all those things, what I decided
to do was work with Connected Horse, helping them with
their event planning and fundraising and blogging and all that
kind of stuff. And I hope that my horses will
become equine assisted learning horses. And I still have my horses.
I mean, we don't give up on our family. So
(37:08):
I retired my horses, but I hope to get into
this equine assisted learning because as anyone that's had horses
knows that it's sort of in our blood and we
can't not have horses in our lives. So every time
I go see my retired horses, I thank goodness that
I love them as much as I do because they're
not a cheap pet. But I do hope so it's
(37:30):
this idea of I still need and want horses in
my life, but I'm going to rethink this and not
sit on a horse anymore. And it's funny, I still
dream that I ride, and then I'm like, oh, shoot,
I shouldn't be riding. But so that's a good example, Ron.
I don't know if you have any examples, but at
our Better of the Age events, I've had people raise
their hands and men said, you know, I used to
(37:52):
motorcycle ride and I gave that up or whatever it is.
I don't know if there's anything that you've had to
decide based on your values about home, health and heart
that you would want to share.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Well, I think that there are a lot of adjustments
we've had to make, you know. I mean, first of all,
it is a notion that I think in the therapy community
is known as sort of radical acceptance. It's a it's
a sort of understanding of when things are what they are.
It doesn't mean you're saying, well, too bad, that that's
the way it is. It is the way it is.
(38:24):
But then by accepting the way things are sometimes it
gives you an avenue to move forward in other ways,
you know, as opposed to knocking your head and wanting
things to change. So it's really it's it's basically helped
me understand that the I know this is a word,
(38:44):
it's used a lot, but I think it is a
part word which is resilience, you know, being able to
be flexible in terms of understand you know the as
you and I know that the term is a plan.
Don't predict. You don't know what's going to happen, but
you plan, and sometimes you know things that the unexpected
(39:04):
things are, you can sort of expect them, you know,
so you can do more than then you than you
might let on. But then going back to what you
mentioned earlier, some of the things I did when I
was younger that I really enjoyed was was being in
nature and particularly bird watching. And I used to like
(39:26):
to go out and look for birds. And you know,
like a lot of young birders love bird lists. You know,
you can add to your list every year. So that's
been harder over the years. I can't. I can't travel
that much, and and so you've got you start thinking, well,
what is how important is the list? Is that the
experience of seeing the birds every day, and it's also
(39:48):
for me. Interestingly, a philosophical thing happened with me, which
is there's been a couple of times when I've gone
out and realize that there are different approaches to to
learning and and seeing things in life and and bird watching.
You can go out and you can look specifically for birds.
I want to go here and find this bird or
that bird. So you can search for things intentionally, but
(40:11):
then sometimes you can just sit in a particular habitat,
say it's a feeding area where it's open in an
open field, and you can just sit and wait and
the birds will come to you. So, you know, it's
like realizing that that there are different ways to learn
in life experience, and some of that's about patience and
(40:33):
that yes, yes it's important to be intentional in search,
but sometimes sit back and things will come to you
if you just pause and observe and wait. So that's
something that you know, I think has been important to
me to come to these realizations and and and to
your point also about values like who what's important basically
(40:58):
the people you have your life, And you know, one
of the realities is that you will lose people. That's
part of life, whether they pass on or they move on,
so find ways to still connect with them, but also
find new people in your life, you know, and I
(41:19):
think that's you know, so they're there when people talk
about lifelong friends, but there's certainly a great deal of
importance to that, but there's also replacement, you know, finding
new people. And you know, to what you're mentioned before,
younger people, you don't have to be like, oh, in
your own age cohort all the time. There's a lot
(41:41):
of vitality in crossing over with younger people and even
older people. So, yeah, I mean we so there are
a couple of things we do every year, which is,
knowing how everyone's lives and families are hectic during the holidays,
what we like to do is we like to have
a first Day party every year. So the afternoon of
(42:03):
you know, January first, we just have people come over,
bring bring food, bring product, and it's family and friends,
bring in the new year without staying up at midnight
the deer the night before, right right, right, right, right, Yeah, So,
so I wanted to just talking about this sort of
kind you mentioned before, about having these conversations with people,
(42:27):
which is what you do a lot is not always
so easy and in our previous conversation. I love the
idea that you mentioned, your idea of getting people together
and informal groups and having you know, wine and cheese.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
You're going to say getting people drunk.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
But just you know, how do you get people to
think about these conversations wine and sheese in conversation? I
love that idea. Tell us about some of these things.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Yeah, well, we started doing them at country clubs and
we've done some at senior living community. But it's really
a wine tasting. So we we talk about things that
get better with age. I think I might have mentioned
to you in our last conversation that doctor Bill Thomas
talks about things that get better with age are often
(43:14):
invisible with wine. It's that way. I mean, like it's like, well,
why does a wine, a young wine do go through
a process by which it turns into a delicious older wine?
And why does cheese go through a process. So we
start with that conversation, and the real kind of the
(43:36):
real common denominator between us and the wine and the
cheese is we all become more complex, which is like
kind of the you know, that's that's the difference. Like,
so we do the food and wine pairings and then
in between we talk about positive aging, why it's important
to talk about positive aging, what might stand in the
(43:56):
way of positive aging, which is of course that the
big a word, which the ages and peace. Then we
talk about the values, we talk about solo aging. We'll
talk about having a purpose and a lot. You know,
it's these are people with means that we speak with
at these events, but these issues are universal, and all
(44:20):
the money in the world really doesn't spare us from
some of the things that can happen as we age.
And one of those things are our children moving away.
So as we as we did a lot of Glowing
Older coaching and talked with adult children and older adults.
We would have a conversation with adult child who says,
(44:44):
I don't want to take care of my parents and
and I'll move to another country. If it's in my
face to do that, I'll do anything not to do that.
And then we'll have a conversation with the older adult
who will assume that it's all handled courts, my courts,
my children will take care of me. So it's like
I think, and there are some cultures like my my
brother's married to a Thai woman, and in the Thai culture.
(45:06):
You take care of your mother. You know, there's no
it's it's there's there's no other choice than that. But
in our new world, our global economy, uh, people don't
necessarily aren't necessarily in the same location, which is why
I think the technology piece is so exciting, uh ways
(45:26):
to stay connected when we're virtual with families. But then again,
I think that that there's also that technology can become
can make us less connected too sometimes, right.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Right, yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's an interesting phenomenon. This
the the complexity of aging. I love your analogy of
that we get more richer and more complex. Oh definitely, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
Anyone that's had a really good old borde will tell
you that.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
Right right, right, Okay, so listen, we we I think
we're coming up to another break. So we still there's
still a lot of I don't want to cover. I
want to talk about senior trade, your media platform, and
also your your some of your research at Cornell. So, folks,
(46:24):
we have a lot more to talk about still. When
last segment with Nancy Griffin, So don't go anywhere, We'll
be right back.
Speaker 5 (46:33):
Mike Zorich, a three time California state champion, in Greco
Roman Wrestling at one hundred and fourteen pounds. Mike Blind
six birth was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a
six time national placer, including two seconds, two thirds, and
two fourths. He also won the Veterans Folk Style Wrestling
(46:54):
twice at one hundred and fifty two pounds. In all
these tournaments, he was the only line competitor. Nancy Zurich
a creative spirit whose talents have taken her to the
stage and into galleries and exhibitions in several states. Her father,
a commercial artist who shared his instruments with his daughter
and helped her fine tune her natural abilities influence her
(47:17):
decision to follow in his footsteps. Miss Zorich has enjoyed
a fruitful career doing what she loves. Listen Saturday mornings
at twelve Eastern for the Nancy and Mike Show for
heartwarming stories and interesting talk on the BBM Global Network.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Are you struggling to care for elderly parents or a spouse?
Do you wonder if being a caregiver is making you sick?
Are you worried about taking time off work to care
for elderly parents and balance work life and caregiving? Has
caregiving become exhausting and emotionally draining. Are you an aging
adult who wants to remain independent but you're not sure how.
(47:55):
I'm Famila d Wilson. Join me for The Caring Generation
radio show for caregivers and aging adults Wednesday evenings, six Pacific,
seven Mountain, eighth Central, and nine Eastern, where I answer
these questions and share tips for managing stress, family relationships,
health wellbeing, and more. Podcasts and transcripts of The Carrying
Generation are on my website Pamela Dwilson dot com, plus
(48:18):
my caregiving library. Online caregiver support programs and programs for
corporations interested in supporting working caregivers. Help, hope and support
for caregivers is here on The Carrying Generation and Pamela
d wilson dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:36):
Welcome back, folks. We're in our last seven today with
Nancy Griffin, the CEO of Glowing Older and the Callowing
Older podcast. We were talking about lots of things before
the break. I wanted to come back and ask Nancy
just a little bit of a couple of minutes about
just one of our other ventures of moment Many is
her Senior Trade, her media platform for senior living.
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Yes, well, any listeners that are in the industry that
are on this call. Senior Trade is a platform for
kind of the crossover between senior living and home health services.
So it's the gamut of the business of aging well.
So we talk about the same issues, but it's targeted
(49:18):
towards professional So we deal with age tech, and we'll
deal with all kinds of different housing models like university
retirement housing and all different kinds of models. But it's
really to focus on innovation and those make people that
are really making a difference in the industry right right.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
And then the other thing I wanted to just touch
on too, because you have a scholarly side. Talk about
your involvement with Cornell.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Yeah, well, I went to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration,
which no longer exists. So the new school is called
the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, and that combines hospitality,
environmental design, and health policy and management into a degree
(50:10):
that's focused towards innovation and healthcare wellness and senior living.
So I am an industry scholar along with a bunch
of other really smart people in different assets of the industry,
whether it's development, architecture, or programming, design, healthcare, all these
(50:31):
different aspects and then we get together we do different education.
We work with the students, which is really fun to
hear these students come up with these amazing ideas for
solutions for aging. Well, so it's basically research education and
then conferences.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Wow. Yeah, And so how can people find out more
about both the school as well as well as your
work in.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
General, Well, if you want to look learn about the
Cornell Institute of Healthy Future, its probably the best just
to stick that into Google and I'll take you to
the page and then I'll give you the list of
all the experts on the site. And then if you
want to look at my work, you can visit Glowingolder
dot com uh and you can listen to the podcast
(51:16):
on your favorite podcast platform, uh, Spotify or Apple or
any You can also access our archive on Glowingolder dot com.
And then if you are in the industry and you
want to take a look at at mergers and acquisitions
and the back end of what's going on in the industry,
that would be Senior Trade dot com.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
Senior Trade Okay, okay, okay, good good. So let's see
any any any closing thoughts on one what do you
think are some of the major takeaways that people would
have about glowing older?
Speaker 3 (51:51):
Oh gosh, well, I I really do think it comes
back to this idea of planning and and valuing. You know,
we talk a lot about values, but valuing this next
stage of life. And if you can manage to first
(52:14):
become aware of agism, that's I think it's a really
good start for anyone that wants to take this path.
Right of what's really the path to aging? Well, the
first past starts with yourself and overcoming internalized perceptions of agism.
You will start to see agism EveryWare. You will see
(52:38):
a little bright light, but you will see a lot
of workplace agism. You'll see a lot of agism in
the media, movies, television, all that. But if you cannot
buy into it and then start looking for role models
that work for you, not necessarily the super agers you know,
the right are just the cover of Age, just magazine
(52:58):
that look twenty five when they're eighty three. No, it's
really smaller steps and it's really one of my favorite experts,
Doctor Carry Burnight has a book coming out called joy
Span And you had mentioned the concept of joy, which
I think is really really important. Schedule a little joy
into your life. Whatever that looks like for you.
Speaker 2 (53:22):
I love it. I love it. Okay, So I think
we're where we've come to the end of the show.
I just wanted to thank you so much for a
wonderful conversation, Nancy. I will have to leave it there
for today, so thank you for that. I want to
thank my engineer Alex who always helps me be part
(53:44):
of a team that gets me through the show every day.
And once again, this has been Ron Roell hopes to
forty five Forward and Bowler ATV be sure to join
me next Wednesday, seven pm Eastern Time, when I'll have
two experience attorneys take on the increasingly common issue which
is couples breaking up later in life, and they'll offer
(54:07):
some practical and relatable thoughts to help silver splitters navigate
this emotional transition.
Speaker 3 (54:13):
So I get it.
Speaker 2 (54:14):
You can do it too, right, Okay, Well, folks, so
thanks again until next week, keep moving forward. Forty five forward.
Speaker 1 (54:29):
This has been forty five Forward with host Ron Rowell.
Tune in each week as Ron tackles the many aspects
of health, finance, family and friends, housing, work, and personal pursuits,
all as part of an integrated plan and to take
charge of your unretiring life during these uncertain times. Wednesdays,
(54:52):
seven pm Eastern on the Bold Brave TV Network powered
by B two Studios
Speaker 5 (55:00):
The Must Make a Mista
Welcome to forty five Forward with host, journalist and speaker
Ron row Out. Ron's mission is to make your second
half of life even better than your first. Most of
us are just approaching our half life when we reach
the mid forties, with many productive years ahead. Ron is
here to help prepare us for this kind of longevity
(00:30):
by providing vital strategies to shift the traditional waiting for
retirement model to a continuous, evolving journey of compelling life chapters.
So now please welcome the host of forty five Forward,
Ron row Out.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Hello, everyone, Welcome to forty five Forward on Bowl Brave TV.
This is your host, Ron Roell. Now, as we continue
to celebrate older Americans months, what better way than to
have a conversation today with Nancy Griffin, whose mission is
to help older adults live happier, healthier lives, a mission
that is totally sickminous with forty five Forward. Nancy is
(01:26):
the founder and CEO of Glowing Older and the Glowing
Older Podcast, where she helps people create plans to age well,
explore what really excites them, frustrates them, what they want,
what they don't want, and discover what's possible. In the
third act of life she describes. She'll describe her new
paradigms of glowing older and housing health and wellness to
(01:49):
life long learning. In short, Nancy's goal is to change
the narrative of aging. So now let's meet my guest,
Nancy Griffin and learn what it means to glow older. Nancy,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Well, thank you, Ron. We are definitely birds of a
feather and we're flocking together, which is great to have
this conversation. So I love it. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Yeah, I feel like we're transcontinental soulmates.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Oh definitely. I could have spoken with you for hours
on our first.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Call, right right, So listen, we will speak for a
good hour. But before we do that, and why don't
we just give a little bit of an update for
our audience on how you got to where you are.
It's an interesting my guess. I always have interesting journeys.
I'm always interested in their story as well, So tell
us a little bit about your story about how you
got to where you are today.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yes, well, thank you for asking. I come from the
spaw and wellness industry. I started my career at Cornell
Hotell School in the mid nineties and I was studying
the spaw industry, which is where I spent most of
my career, spas, resorts, health retreats, that type of industry.
(03:00):
And interestingly, back then in the mid nineties, really what
SPA was all about are a lot of the things
that we're talking about today with aging well, so it
was really about eating well, eating off the land, moving
your body, being in nature, and especially connecting with like
minded individuals in in a secluded environment where you could
(03:22):
really be vulnerable. So all those things, I think are
things that we're talking about today. So fast forward to
March twenty twenty. I've been coasting along in my career
in the SPA and well this industry, and then came
back from a conference in South Carolina with COVID and
all my clients one after another, were like, spas are
(03:44):
shutting down. Sorry. So luckily I had a little bit
of a lifeline to support me. But I had a
lot of free time, that's for sure. And my grandparents
had helped found a life planned community formerly called CCRC
Union Care Retirement Community outside of Baltimore. They were Quakers
(04:04):
and they founded a CCRC called Broadmeat and both my grandparents,
both sets of my grandparents on both sides. My mom
and dad aged out there, so I spent a lot
of time there and it was one of the best
in the country. But what I realized pretty quickly was
that that there was a lot of shortcomings. It was
very much an institutional approach. I mean, we could have
(04:26):
a whole hour just talking about traditional senior living versus
new models of senior living. But it was very much
traditional senior living. My grandparents worked in the community garden,
but none of that food ever made it into the
actual food. You know. It was like the trucks drove
up and the cans were opened and that was what
they were served. And wellness wasn't really a conversation. This
(04:47):
was back in the seventies eighties, and they aged out
there until they passed. But what I realized pretty quickly
during COVID was that the senior living industry was rapidlyging
and some friends of mine from the spawn wellness industry
were starting to get jobs. One of my friends was
corporate SPA director at Lanham Resorts and now he's at Mather,
(05:11):
for example, you know, which is a senior living nonprofit
senior living community. So there's been this infiltration of wellness
into senior living. So I thought the best way for
me to learn about the industry would be to interview experts.
So I started my podcast, and I'm sure that you
know you and I kind of had that same philosophy
of let's get somebody smart and come out of it smarter, right,
(05:34):
So I just started interviewing people that I thought were innovative.
So the focus is innovation in aging, well innovation and
alternative housing models and like you talked about purpose, lifelong learning,
combatting agism, all those kind of things. So we interview
authors and developers, media personalities such as yourself. You know
(05:57):
you're going to get you on my show, san Ron,
But yeah, so it's been a huge learning experience. We're
going on four and a half years and two hundred
and ten episodes, and that that's been really kind of
the core of the work that Glowing Older has done
are just bringing together conversations, like you said, changing the
(06:18):
landscape of aging, one conversation at a time.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Right, right, So we came in from different rates, but
I find it interesting we kind of said on this
course around the same time, and I.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Guess, yeah, the same episodes.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. I guess
they're out of COVID. Gave a certain period of contemplation
like okay, what now and so this this is I mean,
there were a lot of horrible things about it, but
there was some you know, interesting unexpected results. And I
(06:52):
think that these sorts of discussions, and of course it
gave us a lot more you know experience dealing with zoom,
you know, dealing with this kind of you know communication
which was an alternative for people who couldn't connect.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
You know.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, and Ron, you know, I think we could probably
both agree that and a lot of experts. I had
Lauren Dunning from the Milkin Institute on this morning on
the show. But I think we can all agree that
things are starting to change. There are more conversations than
there were four and a half years ago. You know
that we call it the last acceptable ism, the ages
(07:28):
and piece, which Ashton apple White would say is no
longer an acceptable ism, but it's still a huge issue,
you know, when it comes to quality of life and aging,
well it comes up again and again. But I think
that the work that we're doing together really kind of
changes people's opinions. Whether it's one person at a time
(07:50):
or groups of people or so it's really important to
have these conversations. And it sounds I mean, you and
I this is both our heart work. I mean, we're
not getting rid off this stuff for sure, but the.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Heart hearts what matters. So so well, it's something we're
talking about agism. And I know that we always talk
about the later in the show, but this has been
an issue and people don't know. Ashnapple White is a
very well known expert who wrote the book This Age, This.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Rocking Chair Rock Manifesto against Agism.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Right right, right, So, and I know you've talked about
this is the major obstacle, and so how do we
face that? How do we I mean, so, I know
you're looking at it from one particular perspective, which I
think is important, which is in the wellness and beauty industry.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Right well, yes, I mean I tried. I mean I
wouldn't say that successful. Like everyone was like, yeah, this
is such a great idea, because really I came to
my peers in the industry and said, we can do better.
We need to stop blaming people about aging and stop
using the phrase anti aging. And I really didn't get
(08:58):
very far with it. But you know, ron agism was
one of those things that I really was not aware
of when I started my podcast, and as I started,
you know, you know, you're probably the same way as me.
We get these themes that go through I had when
you have one guess and then another and another, and
there's these threads of themes that go through each episode.
For me, the agism piece was a huge wake up
(09:20):
call because I'd have somebody that was an operator in
senior living and they'd say agism is the number one
thing standing in the way of residence satisfaction. It's like, well,
what does that mean? Well, maybe the executive director is
agist and treats people without respect and dignity and agency. Uh,
(09:43):
maybe the residents or agist against each other, you know,
the other you know, the othering thing is something that
the marges and people talk a lot about. So it
just kept coming up again and again, and then I
realized that the World Health Organization has deemed it a
major glow crisis. And then there's three ways that they
(10:04):
talk about overcoming agism very specifically, and you can go
to the World Health Organization site, you could google agism.
You can pull all of this up it's all widely available.
But the three ways are number one, looking at yourself
and your internalized perceptions of aging. It starts with ourself.
I mean, we're not going to get rid of cultural
(10:26):
and societal agism overnight, but if we become aware of it,
maybe start pointing it out to others and not buy
into it ourselves. That that's the first way. Second way
is policy, which row we will not get into today
a conversation, especially in the US right now. But the
(10:46):
third is intergenerational connections, which is really to me one
of the most exciting ways. You know, as we were
raised and centuries ago, we had intergenerational connections naturally, but
unfortunately that's grown out of us over the generations, and
I think they're starting to be a real conversation around
(11:08):
intentional bringing together of generations. I might have mentioned to
you Haralink, which is a nonprofit corporation started by a
twenty two year old girl. She's got seventy high schools
now I think six sixty high schools, and she matches
high school students that need community service hours with older
adults and senior living communities. And she did that to
(11:29):
overcome loneliness and social isolation and mental health issues, and
the young people not the old people, which I think
is so amazing, right.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, well they talk about that a lot. Is that
I realize that they're you know, yes, there is you know,
social isolation as you get older, I mean, you lose
your friends and family, so you often end up alone. However,
from what I understand, the research has indicated that the
highest levels of anxiety and stress are actually people in
(12:00):
their twenties. Even more.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
Wow, here's the quote from the Gallup poll. From this
is from Laura Dunning from Milkin. Young people experienced twice
the levels of loneliness and people over sixty five.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
A shocking right, right. So recently, Nancy, we screened a
film called The Age of Love on Long Island. I
don't know if you've heard of that, but basically it's
it's a film that was done by a man whose
mother had lost her spouse and you know, felt like
(12:37):
I'm never going to love again. So it was basically
his documentary foreant into the subject, with the center being
a speed dating people for people seventy to ninety years old. Wow.
And so when we screened this film, young people come
to it as well, and their response is really like
(13:01):
as eye open, like when when they hear older people
talking about the need for connection and love, it's like,
that's the same for me, it's no different. So I
think that you're right about this intergeneration. And I've actually
heard that some of the language is being changed just
called interage, so it's not even generation.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
I've been bringing that up since you mentioned that, Ron,
because if I can get people to really kind of
start to think about it that way, because I love
that expression and courage.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Yeah, it's really a continuum. So even even separating the
generations says all right, well, we're making these assumptions. I mean, yes,
there's obviously, you know, that separation of you know, my generation,
my kids that so that is a generation. But these
issues cross, you know, over every age. And as you
will know, so agism can be agism towards young people
as well as.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Older absolutely, and we forget that. But yes, but I
think you know, overwhelmingly we get the brunch of it, right, No,
that's that's youth, obseests culture. At the end of the day,
we really are yes.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
No, no, that's absolutely true, you know, and the issue
does go from senior down to you know, young people.
That's that's the way the discussion goes. So gosh, we
have so much to talk about. We're just gonna have
to take a quick break. So but folks, don't go away.
We have much more to talk about with Nancy Griffin,
(14:22):
the CEO of Glowing Older and the host of the
Glowing Older podcast, So don't go anywhere.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
Mike Zorich a three time California state champion in Greco
Roman wrestling at one hundred and fourteen pounds. Mike blind
six birth, was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a
six time national placer, including two seconds, two thirds, and
two fourths. He also won the Veterans Folk Style Wrestling
(14:50):
twice at one hundred and fifty two pounds. In all
these tournaments, he was the only blind competitor. Nancy Zorich
a creative spirit whose talents have taken her to the
stage and into galleries and exhibitions in several states. Her father,
a commercial artist who shared his instruments with his daughter
and helped her fine tune her natural abilities influence her
(15:13):
decision to follow in his footsteps. Miss Zurich has enjoyed
a fruitful career doing what she loves listen Saturday mornings
at twelve Eastern for the Nancy and Mike Show for
heartwarming stories and interesting talk on the BBM Global Network.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Are you struggling to care for elderly parents or a spouse?
Do you wonder if being a caregiver is making you sick?
Are you worried about taking time off work to care
for elderly parents and balance work life and caregiving? Has
caregiving become exhausting and emotionally draining? Are you an aging
adult who wants to remain independent but you're not sure how.
(15:53):
I'm Famila d Wilson. Join me for The Caring Generation
radio show for caregivers and aging adults Wednesday evenings six specific,
seven Mountain, eighth Central and nine Eastern, where I answer
these questions and share tips for managing stress, family relationships, health, wellbeing,
and more. Podcasts and transcripts of The Carrying Generation are
on my website Pamela Dwilson dot com, plus my caregiving library.
(16:17):
Online caregiver support programs and programs for corporations interested in
supporting working caregivers. Help, Hope and support for caregivers is
here on The Carrying Generation and Pamela d Wilson dot com.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Welcome back, folks, once again, this is Ron Roel on
forty five Forward. We're talking today with Nancy Griffin, the
CEO of Glowing Older and the host of the Glowing
Older podcast, also the founder of Senior Trade. Before the break,
we were talking with Nancy about agism, and I want
to then go right into more about her company, her
(16:54):
consulting business, and the podcast. Well, first of all, I'm
just I'm always in writer and fascinating the words. I
love the uh, the wordplay of Glowing Older. Tell me
how you came up with that?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
Gosh? Well, I saw it in an article like six
years ago, just an article on aging or something, and
somebody had used the phrase glowing older in the article,
and I thought, wow, that's that's great, you know, And
I went and found that the u R was available.
It was not you know, it was pricey. It wasn't
like a you know, like just sitting there for five dollars,
(17:29):
but but it was available, and so I got it,
and I just really resonated with me because as we
as we both know, the whole the whole idea of
attitude is so crucial and and really I think we
had this conversation last time. Ron, It's like, we we
plan and look forward to things that we like and
(17:53):
and like a vacation or going into college or sorority.
And when it comes to planning for later years, if
we all, if we buy into this inevitable decline theory,
like wah, why it's all over, then it's really hard
to make good decisions and plan and all that. So
it starts with our attitude that those years are worth
(18:18):
planning for. And that's why Glowing Older we were really
sticklers on language, just like, what are the words that
you're using. I just talked to the young girl from
herolink actually, and she sent me a letter she was
going to send out, and I had to point out,
you know, we don't use the word senior in the
(18:39):
in the aging world, we use the word we use
the phrase older adult because research shows that it's less
triggering and it's less negative. And she's like, oh wow,
that's so great, you know. So we don't call we
like to call retirement renewment, and we like to call
empty nests spreading your wings and so Glowing Older I
think is a good exist ample of that. It's that
(19:01):
it's it's not something to dread. And it's funny because
my mom is eighty two and she has a group
of friends and they all have dogs and they're all
really fit, healthy women, and she says, we can do
whatever we want now, and think about it. You know,
(19:21):
if you think about the generation their friends, it's like
they always had an obligation and it was like their husband,
their careers, their kids. And now it's like I could
wake up every day and I could do it whatever
I want. And just that that attitude of of getting
up every day and wanting to be alive. And that's
(19:44):
what I don't know if your listeners are familiar with
the term ekey guy, which is a Japanese term which
means literally that which gets you out of bed in
the morning. And I think it's important. You know, we
talk a lot about purpose and glowing older, and I'm
sure you do too wrong. And I think some people
hear that word purpose and it can be misleading because
(20:04):
they think, damn, I've taken care of everyone. I'm not
gonna I don't want a purpose. I want to sit
around and do nothing. And I would say, firstly, you know,
your purpose can be broad. It doesn't have to be
necessarily babysitting your grandchildren every day, and that you should
know that you're healthier if you have one, right, And
(20:25):
that's what I want people to know. It's just like
become educated to know that if you have something that
gets you out of bed every day, you will be happier, healthier,
and live longer. Right, what we all want, right.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
Well.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
I do like the language though, I mean, I certainly
it's a nice transition between getting older and then growing older,
like the connotation of growing you always growing at every
point in your life. But then I even like even
more the glowing older I mean to me, the glowing
you know, I mean, you know, there's this you know,
verny freshion of our you know, our golden years, which
(20:59):
seem a little bit pretentious to me. It's like, well
they're golden there, but they're problematic to But glowing to
me gives a sense that there is a warmth to it.
I like that, and there's a sense of energy and
aura around it, which I think is important because that's
what I feel about. You know, as we get older,
there is that glow. Sometimes it's a little dimmer, but
(21:23):
even so it's there and it's it's so I'm glad
you've you've you've stuck with that.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
So and I'm going to throw this back on you
and Ron ask you a question, Ron, how how do
you get people to be thinking in those terms? And
when the inevitable of age is some sort of decline.
So it's like, given that we have this, like, how
(21:49):
do you instruct your the people that you are coaching
and the people that you're interacting with too? Yes, this
is a reality. It's not total polya that it's not
rose cover colored glasses, But how do you how do
you yes this? But but yes, I'm going to choose.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Well, I guess for me, it's all part of it.
So in other words, I remember I had an interview
with a guy named John Leyland a report of New
York Times, who wrote this book called Happiness is a
Choice You May Yes, And it was about people who
were eighty five and older and they were in depth.
(22:28):
He followed them around for a year and I think
he ended up with six people he profiled, and it
was very much that message is that you know that
people to your point, they had a reason to get
out of bed every day. It wasn't it wasn't. It
wasn't like oh this is fine, this is perfect. Some
people were taking care of their older parent, much older parent,
(22:50):
you know, if they're in their eighties, yes, so much older.
But but it's the sense of well, some therapists would
call it, you know, radical acceptance. But it's not just
saying oh, this is the way it is. It's like, well,
this is the way it is, and what choices do
I have to make, you know, right, to make this
the best life I can and to enjoy it. And
(23:12):
and so there are choices. And it's not you know,
ignoring or denying you know, physical challenges, but you know
that's part of life too. It is part of a journey.
And even you know when people talk about you know,
as people head toward the end of life, whether it's
probet of care, hospice care, and then that's still part
(23:34):
of the journey there, you know. So it's not like
I will just sit around and wait for the end.
It's like, well what is this part of life for?
How can you reflect on life at this point and
still be engaged. It's not easy, though, yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:46):
No, no one ever said it was going to be though.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Right, absolutely, absolutely, but it can be there's a lot
of joy. And I think that you know, even when
you know people you know, talk about caregiving for Allheimer's,
people with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, you know,
one of the things that I hear people say is,
you know what they are still alive inside, and so
(24:13):
spend time with what they can do and who they are,
not what they're not. And I think, you know, that's
simpleant and you know they're in a sense there's an
interesting gift in that. Well, they don't think about the
future or the past. There in the present. But what
do people always say, like, well, live in the present.
Stop you know, trying to plan all the time. You know,
(24:33):
there is a certain you know, wisdom to living in
the presence. So acknowledge that, Acknowledge what they're feeling, knowledge
their motions, you know, what they're capable of in life.
So yeah, it's it's it is that balance of recognition
that you know. Yeah, ultimately, yeah, ultimately we all pass on.
But but even in that that period of loss, right,
(24:56):
even the loss, there is some gain. You sort of
let go of things and you can focus on them. Well,
all right, you know, I don't need to worry about
these other things. This is what's in front of me,
and now let's just be present with that and with
the people around me, and in some ways, don't waste
time doing things that don't matter, right, I mean, really focus.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
So true. Yeah, and I love what you said about
the caregiving piece. Is that just to we like to
use the phrase care partner. And I work with an
organization called Connected Horse that does memory care. They work
with people with cognitive impairment and their care partners with
equine learning tasks and that sort of thing. Is the
(25:34):
phrase care partner, because I think you can forget that
you can glean joy from the person you're caring for
as well. I have a friend that looked after a
ninety I think she's in her late nineties, but she
told me how how much she got back from that
woman and how the woman brought her so much joy
(25:54):
and she was able to become a caregiver that was
open hearted and it was a two way exchange of
energy and information where she got something too. And so
I think that's again, like you said, the choice part
and and and also I'll add into that with the
(26:14):
caregiving piece is the idea of wearing your own oxygen
mask first, which is a huge core message for growing
older because you can't you can't be your best when
you're draining your battery all the time. And and caregiving
especially because it's I mean, gosh, caregiving with any chronic illness,
(26:36):
but dimension Alzheimer's being one of the most challenging because
of the unpredictability of it. But but you can really
come out of the caregiving piece drained financially, emotionally, and
so it's really important to fill your cup withever that
looks like. And I know a lot of caregivers will
(26:56):
absolutely like want to punch you in the face if
you say take a bed, yeah, or you know, go
to the spa or things like that, But the first
one is really to ask for help, right, And you know,
we talk a lot it growing older. Doctor Bill Thomas,
I think I mentioned him on our first call, but
he's one of my gurus, my aging gurus. He founded
(27:18):
the Greenhouse Network and the Eden Alternative and he's been
an absolute advocate for finding ways of innovating the way
that we age. But he talks about aging is a
team sport and who is on your aging dream team?
And I think for anyone and starting at that caregiver phase,
(27:40):
starting in your forties or gosh, you know, sometimes it's
even earlier. But if you start thinking about it early,
you're much more likely to make a plan to get there.
And I think we all know that most caregiving decisions
happen in a crisis. And I hear it again and again, Oh,
we're you know, mom foul, and now we have to
(28:00):
find a place and you know, she's in the hospital.
They're pushing her out the door, and we don't know
where to go. We don't know what to do. And
when you're in that kind of frenetic crisis energy, we
do not make good decisions. We don't. And that's why
the planning piece is such a big, big part of
what we talk about, and a values based planning piece,
(28:25):
which is that which matters most to you. And I
speak to married couples a lot. I don't know if
you're married or not, Ron, but I'm divorced. But it's
important to not say we want to do this, and
we think this because as we get older, one of
the fallacies is that we become more like we do not,
(28:46):
we become more individualistic and more ourselves and Oftentimes couples
will need to make different plans. Maybe your husband wants
to go fishing in Alaska, maybe he wants to golf
three times a week with his buddies. Maybe you don't.
Maybe you want to travel to Europe with your So
it's important to take that time and measure your values
(29:10):
to see which ones come out on top. A good
one to think about is if you have a big home.
If you're a solo ager and you have a big
home and you have animals to take care of and
you want to travel, then those are some serious considerations
because it's like the money part is huge. Obviously, the
(29:34):
financial piece is huge, but your energy, like where are
you putting your energy? So you'll find a lot of
times people will downsize and have the lock and leave
kind of situation where they can say, Okay, I'm going
to Europe and I'm gone and I'm going to be
gone for two months. So you have to balance all
those things. And I know you mentioned the glowing older
(29:58):
philosophy a little bit early or being different elements, but
the elements for us their home, health and heart and
home is the piece of home is much more than
the four walls that you live in. So when you're
looking at that home piece, it's like, do I want
to be near my family? Like where do I want
(30:18):
to be? Do I want to be near an ocean?
Is it important as women in the ocean every morning?
Is it important to be near my grandkids? And those
kind of questions as their transportation, is their healthcare? Are
their neighbors that can help you know that, all those
kind of things. So that's why the planning piece is huge,
because you have to take time to go through all
(30:39):
those elements health, all the aspects of health. When you
have mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, all those kind of things
need to be in the consideration loop. And then we
loop it back to the heart piece, which is what
matters most to you, not your grandkids, not your husband,
you not and I use the husband or your wife
(31:00):
or whatever. But that taking that time. And I don't
know if you're familiar with Ron Pevney, he's the conscious
aging guru. You know he does these conscious aging retreats
and he takes people on vision quests and takes them
into the middle of nowhere and they don't eat and
they sit with nature and they give themselves that time
(31:22):
to figure it out. And to all the listeners out
there that that are in this place, give yourself time
and don't rush it and be okay with the unknown.
And we as humans hate that.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Right I know. Well, we are going to have to
pay attention to time. Right now, we need to take
a little bit of a break. But this we're going
to steak in another quick break. But folks, don't go anywhere. Obviously,
we have a lot more to talk about. With Nancy Griffin,
the CEO of Glowing Older, Don't Go.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
Away, Doctor RC will share extraordinary resources and services that
promote educational success as well as making a difference in
the lives of all social workers as well as the
lives of children, adolescents and teens of today. She will
have open discussions addressing many of the issues that we
face about our youth and how being employed in the
(32:14):
uniquely skilled profession of social work for over eighteen years
has taught invaluable lessons through her personal experiences. She will
also provide real life facts, examples and personal stories that
will confirm that why serving as a child advocate is
extremely beneficial when addressing the needs of the whole child. Listen,
Live to Dare to Soar, Saturdays ten am Eastern on
(32:36):
the BBM Global Network and tune in Radio as Doctor
rc will provide thought provoking information that will empower, encourage
and strengthen students, families and communities across our nation. You
can also visit her at soarwith Katie dot Com. Author,
radio show host and coach John M. Hawkins reveals strategies
(33:01):
to help gain perspective, build confidence, find clarity, achieve goals.
John M. Hawkins' new book Coached to Greatness Unlock Your
Full Potential with Limitless Growth, published by I Universe, Hawkins
reveals strategies to help readers accomplish more. He believes the
book can coach them to greatness. Hawkins says that the
(33:23):
best athletes get to the top of their sport with
the help of coaches, mentors, and others. He shares guidance
that helps readers reflect on what motivates them. We discover
and assess their core values, philosophies and competencies, find settings
that allow them to be the most productive, and track
their progress towards accomplishing goals. Listen to John Hawkins My
(33:47):
Strategy Saturdays one pm Eastern on the BBM Global Network
and tune in radio.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Welcome back, folks again. We're talking today with Nancy Griffin,
the CEO of Growing Older. Before the break, we were
talking about her values based approach on planning, and I
think this is important because there are lots of pragmatic
things we can do in terms of planning for our
older years, but based on what and so I think
(34:18):
it's important that you talk about well to make these decisions,
you know, what are the values you're basing it on
in these three areas of home, health and heart. So
let's expand that a little bit more. You were talking about, well,
your own values, and I'll share some of mine.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
Yeah, I mean I had a big October twenty twenty three,
a year and a half ago. I have been a
lifelong horseback rider, So I've written horses since I was
five years old. And if you would have told me
if I could ever stop riding horses, I would never stop,
you know, as I was going to be that when
(34:59):
whip their helmet off and have the gray hair flowing
in the wind, you know, seventy year old horseback rider
jumping the jumps. And in October twenty twenty three, I
had a very serious accident jumping a little jump, but
I landed headfirst into the into a wall. Basically luckily,
(35:19):
I was wearing a good helmet and an air vest
which inflated on the sides of my head. But I
woke up in the hospital. I was unconscious, don't remember anything.
But right after that happened, my family and my close
friends were like, Okay, nance you know, you've had a
good run, but you're not going to ride anymore. You've
had head injuries. I know from my podcast and all
(35:42):
the people I've interested interviewed, and you know to brain
health that cumulative head trauma is no bueno. You know.
And I'm sixty years old. So look, I took out
my values deck and looked at the whole thing. My
first thought was screw you. Like everyone that was saying this,
(36:02):
I was like, nobody's gonna tell me what to do.
Because one of my core values is persistent. It got
me to graduate school, it got me to live in Europe,
it got me to start my entrepreneurial ventures. That persistence
is one of my core values. So I was like,
forget you guys, I'm gonna do it. But we have
to balance our values. So when I looked at some
of my other values. One of my core values is
(36:23):
family and friends that were really wanting me to stay
as healthy as possible and knew I'd had a good
run and then it was probably time to stop the
other one was that I value my brain. I make
money from my brain. I like my creativity, I want
my sign ups that's working as well as possible. And
I know that cumulative head trauma leads to cognitive impairment.
(36:46):
So when I balanced all those things, what I decided
to do was work with Connected Horse, helping them with
their event planning and fundraising and blogging and all that
kind of stuff. And I hope that my horses will
become equine assisted learning horses. And I still have my horses.
I mean, we don't give up on our family. So
(37:08):
I retired my horses, but I hope to get into
this equine assisted learning because as anyone that's had horses
knows that it's sort of in our blood and we
can't not have horses in our lives. So every time
I go see my retired horses, I thank goodness that
I love them as much as I do because they're
not a cheap pet. But I do hope so it's
(37:30):
this idea of I still need and want horses in
my life, but I'm going to rethink this and not
sit on a horse anymore. And it's funny, I still
dream that I ride, and then I'm like, oh, shoot,
I shouldn't be riding. But so that's a good example, Ron.
I don't know if you have any examples, but at
our Better of the Age events, I've had people raise
their hands and men said, you know, I used to
(37:52):
motorcycle ride and I gave that up or whatever it is.
I don't know if there's anything that you've had to
decide based on your values about home, health and heart
that you would want to share.
Speaker 2 (38:03):
Well, I think that there are a lot of adjustments
we've had to make, you know. I mean, first of all,
it is a notion that I think in the therapy community
is known as sort of radical acceptance. It's a it's
a sort of understanding of when things are what they are.
It doesn't mean you're saying, well, too bad, that that's
the way it is. It is the way it is.
(38:24):
But then by accepting the way things are sometimes it
gives you an avenue to move forward in other ways,
you know, as opposed to knocking your head and wanting
things to change. So it's really it's it's basically helped
me understand that the I know this is a word,
(38:44):
it's used a lot, but I think it is a
part word which is resilience, you know, being able to
be flexible in terms of understand you know the as
you and I know that the term is a plan.
Don't predict. You don't know what's going to happen, but
you plan, and sometimes you know things that the unexpected
(39:04):
things are, you can sort of expect them, you know,
so you can do more than then you than you
might let on. But then going back to what you
mentioned earlier, some of the things I did when I
was younger that I really enjoyed was was being in
nature and particularly bird watching. And I used to like
(39:26):
to go out and look for birds. And you know,
like a lot of young birders love bird lists. You know,
you can add to your list every year. So that's
been harder over the years. I can't. I can't travel
that much, and and so you've got you start thinking, well,
what is how important is the list? Is that the
experience of seeing the birds every day, and it's also
(39:48):
for me. Interestingly, a philosophical thing happened with me, which
is there's been a couple of times when I've gone
out and realize that there are different approaches to to
learning and and seeing things in life and and bird watching.
You can go out and you can look specifically for birds.
I want to go here and find this bird or
that bird. So you can search for things intentionally, but
(40:11):
then sometimes you can just sit in a particular habitat,
say it's a feeding area where it's open in an
open field, and you can just sit and wait and
the birds will come to you. So, you know, it's
like realizing that that there are different ways to learn
in life experience, and some of that's about patience and
(40:33):
that yes, yes it's important to be intentional in search,
but sometimes sit back and things will come to you
if you just pause and observe and wait. So that's
something that you know, I think has been important to
me to come to these realizations and and and to
your point also about values like who what's important basically
(40:58):
the people you have your life, And you know, one
of the realities is that you will lose people. That's
part of life, whether they pass on or they move on,
so find ways to still connect with them, but also
find new people in your life, you know, and I
(41:19):
think that's you know, so they're there when people talk
about lifelong friends, but there's certainly a great deal of
importance to that, but there's also replacement, you know, finding
new people. And you know, to what you're mentioned before,
younger people, you don't have to be like, oh, in
your own age cohort all the time. There's a lot
(41:41):
of vitality in crossing over with younger people and even
older people. So, yeah, I mean we so there are
a couple of things we do every year, which is,
knowing how everyone's lives and families are hectic during the holidays,
what we like to do is we like to have
a first Day party every year. So the afternoon of
(42:03):
you know, January first, we just have people come over,
bring bring food, bring product, and it's family and friends,
bring in the new year without staying up at midnight
the deer the night before, right right, right, right, right, Yeah, So,
so I wanted to just talking about this sort of
kind you mentioned before, about having these conversations with people,
(42:27):
which is what you do a lot is not always
so easy and in our previous conversation. I love the
idea that you mentioned, your idea of getting people together
and informal groups and having you know, wine and cheese.
Speaker 3 (42:40):
You're going to say getting people drunk.
Speaker 2 (42:46):
But just you know, how do you get people to
think about these conversations wine and sheese in conversation? I
love that idea. Tell us about some of these things.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Yeah, well, we started doing them at country clubs and
we've done some at senior living community. But it's really
a wine tasting. So we we talk about things that
get better with age. I think I might have mentioned
to you in our last conversation that doctor Bill Thomas
talks about things that get better with age are often
(43:14):
invisible with wine. It's that way. I mean, like it's like, well,
why does a wine, a young wine do go through
a process by which it turns into a delicious older wine?
And why does cheese go through a process. So we
start with that conversation, and the real kind of the
(43:36):
real common denominator between us and the wine and the
cheese is we all become more complex, which is like
kind of the you know, that's that's the difference. Like,
so we do the food and wine pairings and then
in between we talk about positive aging, why it's important
to talk about positive aging, what might stand in the
(43:56):
way of positive aging, which is of course that the
big a word, which the ages and peace. Then we
talk about the values, we talk about solo aging. We'll
talk about having a purpose and a lot. You know,
it's these are people with means that we speak with
at these events, but these issues are universal, and all
(44:20):
the money in the world really doesn't spare us from
some of the things that can happen as we age.
And one of those things are our children moving away.
So as we as we did a lot of Glowing
Older coaching and talked with adult children and older adults.
We would have a conversation with adult child who says,
(44:44):
I don't want to take care of my parents and
and I'll move to another country. If it's in my
face to do that, I'll do anything not to do that.
And then we'll have a conversation with the older adult
who will assume that it's all handled courts, my courts,
my children will take care of me. So it's like
I think, and there are some cultures like my my
brother's married to a Thai woman, and in the Thai culture.
(45:06):
You take care of your mother. You know, there's no
it's it's there's there's no other choice than that. But
in our new world, our global economy, uh, people don't
necessarily aren't necessarily in the same location, which is why
I think the technology piece is so exciting, uh ways
(45:26):
to stay connected when we're virtual with families. But then again,
I think that that there's also that technology can become
can make us less connected too sometimes, right.
Speaker 2 (45:40):
Right, yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's an interesting phenomenon. This
the the complexity of aging. I love your analogy of
that we get more richer and more complex. Oh definitely, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:58):
Anyone that's had a really good old borde will tell
you that.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
Right right, right, Okay, so listen, we we I think
we're coming up to another break. So we still there's
still a lot of I don't want to cover. I
want to talk about senior trade, your media platform, and
also your your some of your research at Cornell. So, folks,
(46:24):
we have a lot more to talk about still. When
last segment with Nancy Griffin, So don't go anywhere, We'll
be right back.
Speaker 5 (46:33):
Mike Zorich, a three time California state champion, in Greco
Roman Wrestling at one hundred and fourteen pounds. Mike Blind
six birth was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a
six time national placer, including two seconds, two thirds, and
two fourths. He also won the Veterans Folk Style Wrestling
(46:54):
twice at one hundred and fifty two pounds. In all
these tournaments, he was the only line competitor. Nancy Zurich
a creative spirit whose talents have taken her to the
stage and into galleries and exhibitions in several states. Her father,
a commercial artist who shared his instruments with his daughter
and helped her fine tune her natural abilities influence her
(47:17):
decision to follow in his footsteps. Miss Zorich has enjoyed
a fruitful career doing what she loves. Listen Saturday mornings
at twelve Eastern for the Nancy and Mike Show for
heartwarming stories and interesting talk on the BBM Global Network.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Are you struggling to care for elderly parents or a spouse?
Do you wonder if being a caregiver is making you sick?
Are you worried about taking time off work to care
for elderly parents and balance work life and caregiving? Has
caregiving become exhausting and emotionally draining. Are you an aging
adult who wants to remain independent but you're not sure how.
(47:55):
I'm Famila d Wilson. Join me for The Caring Generation
radio show for caregivers and aging adults Wednesday evenings, six Pacific,
seven Mountain, eighth Central, and nine Eastern, where I answer
these questions and share tips for managing stress, family relationships,
health wellbeing, and more. Podcasts and transcripts of The Carrying
Generation are on my website Pamela Dwilson dot com, plus
(48:18):
my caregiving library. Online caregiver support programs and programs for
corporations interested in supporting working caregivers. Help, hope and support
for caregivers is here on The Carrying Generation and Pamela
d wilson dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:36):
Welcome back, folks. We're in our last seven today with
Nancy Griffin, the CEO of Glowing Older and the Callowing
Older podcast. We were talking about lots of things before
the break. I wanted to come back and ask Nancy
just a little bit of a couple of minutes about
just one of our other ventures of moment Many is
her Senior Trade, her media platform for senior living.
Speaker 3 (48:57):
Yes, well, any listeners that are in the industry that
are on this call. Senior Trade is a platform for
kind of the crossover between senior living and home health services.
So it's the gamut of the business of aging well.
So we talk about the same issues, but it's targeted
(49:18):
towards professional So we deal with age tech, and we'll
deal with all kinds of different housing models like university
retirement housing and all different kinds of models. But it's
really to focus on innovation and those make people that
are really making a difference in the industry right right.
Speaker 2 (49:40):
And then the other thing I wanted to just touch
on too, because you have a scholarly side. Talk about
your involvement with Cornell.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
Yeah, well, I went to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration,
which no longer exists. So the new school is called
the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures, and that combines hospitality,
environmental design, and health policy and management into a degree
(50:10):
that's focused towards innovation and healthcare wellness and senior living.
So I am an industry scholar along with a bunch
of other really smart people in different assets of the industry,
whether it's development, architecture, or programming, design, healthcare, all these
(50:31):
different aspects and then we get together we do different education.
We work with the students, which is really fun to
hear these students come up with these amazing ideas for
solutions for aging. Well, so it's basically research education and
then conferences.
Speaker 2 (50:50):
Wow. Yeah, And so how can people find out more
about both the school as well as well as your
work in.
Speaker 3 (50:56):
General, Well, if you want to look learn about the
Cornell Institute of Healthy Future, its probably the best just
to stick that into Google and I'll take you to
the page and then I'll give you the list of
all the experts on the site. And then if you
want to look at my work, you can visit Glowingolder
dot com uh and you can listen to the podcast
(51:16):
on your favorite podcast platform, uh, Spotify or Apple or
any You can also access our archive on Glowingolder dot com.
And then if you are in the industry and you
want to take a look at at mergers and acquisitions
and the back end of what's going on in the industry,
that would be Senior Trade dot com.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
Senior Trade Okay, okay, okay, good good. So let's see
any any any closing thoughts on one what do you
think are some of the major takeaways that people would
have about glowing older?
Speaker 3 (51:51):
Oh gosh, well, I I really do think it comes
back to this idea of planning and and valuing. You know,
we talk a lot about values, but valuing this next
stage of life. And if you can manage to first
(52:14):
become aware of agism, that's I think it's a really
good start for anyone that wants to take this path.
Right of what's really the path to aging? Well, the
first past starts with yourself and overcoming internalized perceptions of agism.
You will start to see agism EveryWare. You will see
(52:38):
a little bright light, but you will see a lot
of workplace agism. You'll see a lot of agism in
the media, movies, television, all that. But if you cannot
buy into it and then start looking for role models
that work for you, not necessarily the super agers you know,
the right are just the cover of Age, just magazine
(52:58):
that look twenty five when they're eighty three. No, it's
really smaller steps and it's really one of my favorite experts,
Doctor Carry Burnight has a book coming out called joy
Span And you had mentioned the concept of joy, which
I think is really really important. Schedule a little joy
into your life. Whatever that looks like for you.
Speaker 2 (53:22):
I love it. I love it. Okay, So I think
we're where we've come to the end of the show.
I just wanted to thank you so much for a
wonderful conversation, Nancy. I will have to leave it there
for today, so thank you for that. I want to
thank my engineer Alex who always helps me be part
(53:44):
of a team that gets me through the show every day.
And once again, this has been Ron Roell hopes to
forty five Forward and Bowler ATV be sure to join
me next Wednesday, seven pm Eastern Time, when I'll have
two experience attorneys take on the increasingly common issue which
is couples breaking up later in life, and they'll offer
(54:07):
some practical and relatable thoughts to help silver splitters navigate
this emotional transition.
Speaker 3 (54:13):
So I get it.
Speaker 2 (54:14):
You can do it too, right, Okay, Well, folks, so
thanks again until next week, keep moving forward. Forty five forward.
Speaker 1 (54:29):
This has been forty five Forward with host Ron Rowell.
Tune in each week as Ron tackles the many aspects
of health, finance, family and friends, housing, work, and personal pursuits,
all as part of an integrated plan and to take
charge of your unretiring life during these uncertain times. Wednesdays,
(54:52):
seven pm Eastern on the Bold Brave TV Network powered
by B two Studios
Speaker 5 (55:00):
The Must Make a Mista
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
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.
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.