Reimagining Life After 40: Courage, Curiosity & New Chapters

This is your Women Over 40 podcast.

Welcome to Women Over 40, the podcast where we celebrate the power and possibility that comes with age. I’m so glad you’re here because today’s episode is all about reinventing yourself after forty—specifically, about pursuing new passions and letting curiosity, instead of fear, become your compass.

For many women, turning forty is painted as a kind of finish line by society—the point at which passions give way to obligations, and possibility, somehow, quietly closes its doors. But the reality, as so many inspiring women show us, is that life’s most transformative chapters often begin exactly at this threshold.

Let’s get right to it with the story of Susan Lister Locke, a Nantucket native who, after spending decades running her family’s retail business, found herself approaching fifty with both a blank slate and a hunger for meaning. Instead of simply filling the void with another job, Susan sat down and asked herself: what am I curious about, what have I always wanted to try? She didn’t focus solely on her resume. She looked at what brought her joy and what she wanted to learn next. This led her back into real estate and, perhaps more excitingly, led her to jewelry making. Starting out in classes just for herself, she eventually launched her own line, selling pieces in Nantucket shops and even the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Susan’s journey reminds us that reinvention isn’t about starting over—it’s about peeling back the layers to discover the passions you might have put on hold.

Then there’s Terri Bryant, a makeup artist who, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in her late forties, didn’t step away from the world she loved. Instead, she identified a new need—ergonomic beauty tools for people experiencing motor challenges—and founded Guide Beauty. She didn’t just adapt to her limitations; she transformed them into her mission.

And the stories don’t stop with well-known names like Vera Wang, who designed her first wedding dress at forty, or Toni Morrison, who published her first novel at thirty-nine. In New York’s Hudson Valley, Beth Bengtson made the leap from photography and web design to founding Working for Women, a non-profit supporting economic independence for women. In India, Shinde restarted her family nursery at forty, discovering creative entrepreneurship and personal fulfillment by nurturing plants and, in turn, herself.

Maybe you’re listening and thinking, where would I even start? Practically speaking, reinvention after forty doesn’t have to be a grand leap. Begin by asking yourself honest questions about what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what you want to spend your precious time learning. Doing a personal assessment, like a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis, can clarify which interests you want to pursue further.

Often, the hardest part is giving yourself permission to be new at something again. But as Keri Ford—who reclaimed her health and business focus after forty—reminds us, when you see age as a runway, not a deadline, amazing things can happen. The women who inspire me most didn’t ignore their doubts; they moved forward anyway, fueled by curiosity and a refusal to let age set the boundaries of their dreams.

Thank you for tuning in to Women Over 40. If today sparked even a glimmer of a new goal for you, don’t keep it quiet—share it, start small, and watch where it takes you. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode full of inspiration, real talk, and the stories of women making their own rules over forty. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI