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[B]OLD AGE With Debbie Weil - Jeff Tidwell on Mid-Life Entrepreneurship and Work With Purpose

Jeff Tidwell on Mid-Life Entrepreneurship and Work With Purpose

05/17/19 • 36 min

[B]OLD AGE With Debbie Weil

In today's episode, Debbie interviews Jeff Tidwell, a 35-year digital veteran who has worked with big brands like eTrade and WebMD, as well as with numerous startups, on product, community, marketing and user experience strategies. He’s lived and worked in New York, San Francisco and LA. About two years ago, as he approached 60, he began to feel conscious of his age in a youth-oriented industry.

That’s when he got the idea for Next For Me, an online community for those 50+ with a particular interest in meaningful work. Next For Me also sponsors real life events across the country.

There are numerous other online resources that address everything else for this demographic: dating, sex, travel, planning for retirement, etc. Next For Me specifically focuses on post-50 work and purpose.

Mentioned in episode

Jeff's columns for Forbes.com

Jeff on the launch of Next For Me

Startout Growth Lab for LGBTQ entrepreneurs

The Advantages Older Adults Bring to First-Time Entrepreneurship by Derek Lidow

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Credits:

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Thanks to our sponsors!

Full disclosure: Next For Me is a sponsor of this podcast.

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In today's episode, Debbie interviews Jeff Tidwell, a 35-year digital veteran who has worked with big brands like eTrade and WebMD, as well as with numerous startups, on product, community, marketing and user experience strategies. He’s lived and worked in New York, San Francisco and LA. About two years ago, as he approached 60, he began to feel conscious of his age in a youth-oriented industry.

That’s when he got the idea for Next For Me, an online community for those 50+ with a particular interest in meaningful work. Next For Me also sponsors real life events across the country.

There are numerous other online resources that address everything else for this demographic: dating, sex, travel, planning for retirement, etc. Next For Me specifically focuses on post-50 work and purpose.

Mentioned in episode

Jeff's columns for Forbes.com

Jeff on the launch of Next For Me

Startout Growth Lab for LGBTQ entrepreneurs

The Advantages Older Adults Bring to First-Time Entrepreneurship by Derek Lidow

Support this podcast:

Credits:

Connect with us:

Thanks to our sponsors!

Full disclosure: Next For Me is a sponsor of this podcast.

Previous Episode

undefined - Four Different Decades on Transition and Reinvention (Modern Elders, Part 2)

Four Different Decades on Transition and Reinvention (Modern Elders, Part 2)

Today’s episode is Part 2 of our broadcast from Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy, the world's first wisdom school, located at the southernmost tip of Baja California, Mexico. Debbie spent a week at this magical place recently, along with a group of 17 other compadres. Her cohort ranged in age from 42 to 78. All were there to learn how to become a modern elder - someone who reframes a lifetime of experience in order to repurpose it for something new. A new direction, a new purpose, a reinvention.

In this episode, Debbie interviews four of her compadres, representing four mid-life decades from 40s to 70s.

  • Jose Beltran, 42, is an entrepreneur who has just embarked on a gap year after selling his restaurant in Mexico City.
  • Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo, 52, is a performance artist based in the Bronx who wants a change including a move to another (warmer) part of the country.
  • Paul Gilbert, 64, is a veteran executive producer, creative director and writer in San Francisco with a list of big name clients. He says it's time for a change.
  • Frances Valesco, 78, is a well-known artist, printmaker and teacher, also based in San Francisco. Recently widowed and with a short runway (her words) ahead of her, she is ready for new adventures.

Mentioned:

More about this episode's guests

Photos:

  • Paul Gilbert, at left; Frances Valesco, at right.
  • Jose Beltran
  • Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo (peeking around tree)

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Next Episode

undefined - Island Women Speak: Connection, Truth and Storytelling in Maine

Island Women Speak: Connection, Truth and Storytelling in Maine

In this episode Debbie talks about the most surprising result of her gap year: she created, produces and directs Island Women Speak, a popular multi-generational women's storytelling event in Stonington, Maine, the small coastal town she now calls home. She calls it a gap year accomplishment because it's a new and unexpected thing she never imagined herself doing.

She has coached and edited nonfiction writers for years but this was her first foray into coaching storytellers and producing a live stage event. To her surprise and delight, the recurring event has been a resounding success. The audience in this remote coastal community yearns for truth and authenticity, especially from performers everyone knows.

Island Women Speak, inspired by The Moth, premiered at the Stonington Opera House in January 2018. Since then, twenty-two women, ages 20 to 95, have each performed five-minute stories that they've written and rehearsed. The stories were on themes ranging from falling in love and leaving home to coming out as gay and dealing with depression and anxiety. The most recent Island Women Speak, in January 2019, focused on the topic of standing up and speaking out.

The theme was not meant to be overtly political but it was fitting following a year of #METOO revelations and coming on the heels of the record number of women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the opening of the podcast, you will hear Lorraine Knowlton, 85, a lifelong resident of Deer Isle, performing her story about overcoming extreme shyness as a child. Debbie also interviews storyteller Amanda Larrabee about the impact of the event and why it has been so powerful for both performers and the audience.

Mentioned in episode

Media coverage

Support this podcast:

Credits:

Connect with us:

Thanks to our sponsors!

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