Power Profiles

Monique Kavelaars is a former Olympic athlete, wife, mom, and entrepreneur who became pregnant with her first child at 39 years old and is now helping teams and groups of people work better together.

I finally turned the tables on myself and answered my own questions about midlife and my story. I talk about my challenges with a very rare congenital issue that cost me my first pregnancy, our early challenges with our daughter's health, and the shifts that propelled me into my midlife transformation.

Yvonne Heath had been working as a nurse since 1988 when at 50 years old, she was called to try to solve our society's problem with grief. Her message to talk about prepare for and be with people in grief is one she is spreading through her book, talks, online course and more.

Melinda Thomas is a former actor in her 50s who left New York after 20 years and followed her heart to Birmingham, Alabama where her boyfriend lives. She also followed her heart away from corporate America to to entrepreneurship. The power to create the life she wants has been one of the biggest shifts she's experienced in midlife.

At 53, Lynn Borton had dodged cancer, written the last tuition check, mourned friends gone too soon and decided the universe was trying to tell her something. "Life is short, it seemed to be saying. You’ve put off a lot until later. What if later is now?"

When Mercedes Findlay was laid off from her television job in her late thirties, it was the catalyst for a major midlife shift that helped her find unknown depths of strength, skills, support, and maybe most importantly, her voice.

When Amy Giddon was in her early-50s she took a huge leap to become an entrepreneur. Moved by her deep concerns about the tribalism and us versus them-ism and othering that's going on in the world today, Amy created an app that fosters empathy and connection. It was an unexpected shift but one that was made possible because of the life stage in which she found herself in her early 50s.

Deb Knobelman, a 46 year old who finds herself in the midst of her biggest career shift yet — one that required a big mindset reset for her to pursue — and in a place where her kids are requiring slightly less of her focused energy and attention. She talks about what it took to follow her love of writing even when she told herself it wasn't something a "math and science person" could do and more.

Satisfied with where her career is, in her 40s, Margaret So has begun to question how she fills her time and focus more on taking care of herself. She talks about working to destigmatize mental health and medical marijuana and why that is so important to her.

Shari Walczak veteran of the advertising industry, entrepreneur, and mom of two boys. In this profile, she shares her thoughts about aging in an industry that puts youth on a pedestal, imposter syndrome, and the framework she uses to make big decisions in her life.