10 People Who Reinvented Their Lives After 50

During my years on the radio as a morning personality, one of my favorite features was a segment where we celebrated accomplishments and shared good news happening in people’s lives. Amidst the stories of good grades, new babies, home runs, and surprise engagements, one story still stands out to me.

A woman who just turned 60 was graduating with her Master’s Degree. It took her about 2 years to do it, and she admitted that going back to school later in life was scary. When asked about her motivation, she said she figured the time was going to move on anyway, and if she did nothing, she’d still be two years older, so why not be two years older with a degree that would help her reinvent herself?

Many look at their 50’s and 60’s as a time to prepare for retirement, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. But others still feel that they have much to do and much to give. After decades of learning and developing skills...now could be the best time for you to put those skills to use.

Think you are too old to fulfill a dream? Change careers? Reinvent yourself? Here are 10 people who will inspire you and make you realize it is never too late.

1. Grandma Moses, aka Anna Mary Robertson Moses, began her career as a painter at 76, when her arthritis made it too hard to continue her embroidery hobby. She completed over 400 works of art over the next 25 years until her death at the age of 101 and is considered one of our country’s greatest American Folk artists.
2. Duncan Hines wrote his first book, a food and hotel guide, at 55. At 73, he licensed his name for the cake mixes you see at every grocery store. 
3. Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book when she was 65 and then completed 12 in her Little House on the Prairie series by the time she died. 
4. Harland Sanders had many business failures and was broke at the age of 65. He tried one more time and sold his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. 
5. Julia Child began her first cooking show on PBS at the age of 51.
6. Peter Roget started keeping lists of words as a young man but didn’t publish his Roget’s Thesaurus until he was 73.
7. Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1993. He was 75
8. Dr. Ruth was 52 when she delivered a lecture, which led to a radio talk show called "Sexually Speaking." The show was a hit, and she became a nationally recognized authority on sex via that syndicated radio show.
9. Charles Darwin was 50 when he published On the Origin of the Species in 1859. 
10. Ronald Reagan was a famous actor in younger years but decided to switch careers and run for his first elected public office--at 55. The rest, as they say, is history.

If you ever wanted to do something different, launch a new career, start a new business, change the world (or at least a little part of it) ... how old is too old?

Never.

Start today.

Inspiration for this piece came from my friend Tony Agnesi as well as articles on these blogs and sites:

www.inc.com 
OverFiftyandOutofWork 

Mental Floss