Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

Nicole J. Smith, Advocate, Dementia Daughter, Certified Senior Advisor and author of Diagnosis Dementia, was living 3,000 miles from her mother and didn't register the “weird things” she had witnessed her mother say and do over the past couple of years. That is, until these strange things escalated into a financial and legal situation that was not sustainable. The journey that followed upended Nicole’s life, took place across five ...

At 75, Kathleen (Kathy) Haney embodies resilience, purpose, and care. Family duties once slowed her college path, but persistence carried her to an undergraduate degree in occupational education and a graduate degree in vocational education administration. She went on to become the coordinator/director of dental hygiene and dental assisting at the community college and university levels. Her career spanned teaching, mentoring and s...

Only 12% of U.S. adults are metabolically healthy—a sobering statistic Christa Rymal wants to change. With her background in nursing and holistic health, Christa brings both clinical expertise and a whole-person perspective to women’s wellbeing. In this episode, she breaks down what “metabolic health” really means and why it matters as we age. From the science of sleep to the power of protein and muscle strength, Christa translates...

At 85, Anna Rappaport continues to defy expectations of aging. Once uncertain about her relevance, she went on to earn five lifetime achievement awards, including Trailblazers in Actuarial Science. Beyond her groundbreaking work in retirement research and policy, Anna embraces new chapters with creativity and purpose. After decades of balancing career, caregiving, and family, Anna rebuilt her life following her husband’s death, mov...

Jeannine Bryant is expert at helping seniors move. After you have lived in your home for so many years, you accumulate possessions that seem to identify who you are. Losing a partner or spouse certainly changes our lives. Leaving the place that we called home, together, can be very difficult. Jeannine understands every aspect. Through her website, EasyRightsizing.com she provides all the resources, classes and videos you, and other...

"Movement is the thread that weaves Jacqui Neurauter’s life together, even at 80. She believes movement has the power to transform life. Ever curious, her many pursuits often began with a comment, a book, or a conversation among friends. The suggestion of a new approach to movement would spark her curiosity, making her an avid researcher and lifelong student. Yoga led to belly dancing, which in turn led to her exploration of Feng S...

During her tenure as a successful entrepreneur and podcaster, Ande Lyons’ advice to young start-up founders was: “Don’t Be Caged by Your Age.” At age 66, she took her own advice. Ande shifted her focus to older people, especially women, with the mission to redefine what it means to thrive after 65. Ande exposes internal ageist beliefs and debunks myths that older women are no longer visible, connected, and contributing. Ande’s p...

Beverley Glazer, MA, is an ICF-Certified Transformational Coach,

Psychotherapist, and Strategic Consultant with over 35 years of experience

empowering individuals, companies, and communities navigate change.

She is the founder of Reinvent Impossible LLC, the umbrella company for

her services, including individual coaching, strategic consulting, and her

Internationally acclaimed podcast, Aging with Purpose and Passion, a bold

platform tha...

Jean Olson, age 70, describes her 13 years in the Foreign Service as an “odd and torturous path,” that included a successful class action suit against the federal government. Jean left the Foreign Service (stints in Europe and South America) for her hometown in Wisconsin to be her mother’s caregiver and to serve as (volunteer) President of the Village Council. At age 57, and ‘unemployed’ for seven years, Jean created a path to reti...

Beverly Schlotte, age 76, loves living on her farm near Webster, South Dakota, where she and her late husband, married 53 years, “worked and planned together” as they raised their family of four. After retirement from many years of teaching “kids that I loved,” Beverly hosted a foreign exchange student from Madrid, Spain during the 2024-2025 school year. Beverly and her family were chosen as one of the top four Education First host...

As a young academic professional, Mary Ellen Jukoski, age 75, wondered: “Where are the female college presidents? I want to become one.” So, she did, serving the first 20 years as President of Mitchell College in Connecticut where she transformed a struggling two-year institution into a thriving four-year college, inspired by her feminine leadership style of inclusiveness and collaboration. Her special mission has been to mentor yo...

You are in for a special treat as Dee Greer displays her creations of exquisite weavings from Alpaca yarn and amulet bags woven Japanese seed beads. She also enjoys watercolor painting. She learns in order to create. This is bolstered by degrees and certifications in the arts, financial planning, hand weaving, and interior design. Dee has created five businesses in rehab housing, five in Alpaca-related products and services, and a ...

When you listen to Victoria (Vickie) Rock, 73, you would believe her life has never seen a difficult day. Yet, the truth is, at times it has been rocky. Turning lemons into lemonade is the perfect phrase to attribute to Vickie. Always upbeat, charitable, and giving, she works tirelessly to elevate each person, client and company that become part of her network.

A career in court reporting led her to create a business of her own. Whe...

David Horton approached us to do an interview with him, and we did not know how to respond. We listened and, after hearing his story, it became clear that this was a story we wanted to share with you. David’s wife, DeeDee Horton, died of brain cancer. She was an accomplished athlete, middle school teacher, and college basketball coach. In the final six years of her life, she poured herself into writing Layer Upon Layer, a novel exp...

Maria Cristina Torres, born in Mexico, studied medicine there and has three decades of experience in pharmaceutical-oriented medicine. She continues to work with people in the United States, finding solutions for chronic conditions and assisting individuals in reclaiming their health through alternative methods. The individuals she treats respond well to Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbs. Hypnosis is also effective ...

Donna Younger, EdD, age 72, has dedicated her professional life to mentoring and teaching diverse people in various higher learning settings. These experiences expanded her world view and fed her “rabid curiosity about what binds us together—the sparks that connect us.” Donna’s intentional spiritual journey began at age 50 when she set out to resolve a critical religious question: “What’s the big deal with Jesus?” While staying con...

Josephine (Jo) Alexander (1909-1993) was Nancy Manahan’s dearest friend and Natalya Lukin’s beloved grandmother. The world knew Jo as a prize-winning journalist and photographer, social justice advocate, and author of America Through the Eye of My Needle (1981), a critical analysis of business conglomerates. But no one knew details about the fourteen years Jo spent as an impoverished Arizona homesteader and rancher during the Depre...

During 15 years in menopausal transition, Carol Remz, age 80, experienced increased vaginal dryness and decreased libido. She and her younger husband mourned their waning sex life. Upon researching relief from radiation treatment for breast cancer, Carol’s discovered sea buckthorn for skin protection and its added benefit of improving the integrity and function of women’s vaginal epithelium.

She also found that medical cannabis stim...

Michelle Kalisz started studying piano at the age of 4. Today she owns a piano studio and delights in teaching older adults. She extensively studied chemistry and psychology, all the while playing music which added depth to her understanding of how we learn and benefit cognitively from studying piano. She believes that brain plasticity needs an update. Science shows we can learn new skills well into our 90s because the process of l...