I am a Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach.
Saying that still feels surreal – not because I just found out, or because the board exam itself was easy (it wasn’t), but because of what this moment represents. Three years of focused study. Decades of lived experience. And a decision I made in my 60s to stop postponing a calling that had quietly followed me most of my adult life.
It made me ask a question maybe other women over 60 have asked themselves, especially at this time of year, when the Holidays invite reflection and the new year whispers possibility:
Who says reinvention has an expiration date?
This milestone didn’t arrive during a calm or orderly season of life. It came after everything familiar fell apart.
Three years ago, after a 20-year marriage ended, I found myself divorced and beginning again. Not long after, I moved into what I thought would be a fresh start – a new home that turned out to be mold-contaminated, something we didn’t know at the time. Over the course of eight months, my health began to suffer. And so did the health of my beloved dog, Sophie.
Sophie, Stability, Starting Over
Sophie was deeply bonded to my former husband, who returned to England after our divorce. She was a daddy’s girl. When her world changed so abruptly, something in her seemed to falter. While I’ll never claim to know exactly what caused what, I do know that not long after living in that house – and after losing her dad—Sophie was diagnosed with advanced congestive heart failure.
I had to get myself, two dogs, and a cat out of that house – fast. I tapped out my savings doing so. For the first time in my life, I found myself in debt – in my 60s – starting over again, without any financial footing.
What followed was a long, difficult, and expensive fight to manage her condition. Six months of medications, complementary treatment, vet visits, hope, fear, and fierce devotion. Yet, one early morning, her heart just gave out, and Sophie died in my arms. Anyone who has loved an animal that deeply understands that this kind of loss doesn’t simply pass. It cuts deep and can even reshape you.
The Quiet Reality of Reinvention After 60
This is the side of reinvention we rarely see reflected back to us. Not the glossy, aspirational version – but the quiet, unsteady kind. The kind where you keep going not because you feel brave, but because stopping would cost you more.
And yet, even at that time, one thing became very clear: the work that had been calling me for most of my life.
Long before I became a health coach, I was drawn to natural healing. Decades ago, as a young mother, I stood in a library aisle with my three-year-old daughter playing at my feet and picked up a beginner’s guide to homeopathy. Something clicked.
That curiosity never left me. It simply waited while I lived other chapters – raising a child, building a career in public relations, reinventing myself creatively, caring deeply for animals, and navigating the inevitable losses and reckonings that come with a long life.
Returning to Purpose, Not Retiring
When I eventually left my PR career, people assumed I was retiring. I wasn’t. As a Type-A New Yorker, I was always doing something. A few explorations into fashion (another passion) and the pet space eventually led me here.
I went back to school. Then back again. And finally, I committed to becoming board certified. If I was going to guide others – people and pets alike – I wanted to do so with depth of knowledge and responsibility.
There were moments during those three years when quitting would have made perfect sense. Studying while rebuilding a life. Sitting for a national board exam while working a part-time job, seeing clients, still navigating grief and financial uncertainty. Doing all of this in a culture that quietly suggests women over 60 should be scaling back, not leaning in.
But reinvention, I’ve learned, isn’t necessarily about starting from scratch. It’s about listening – especially when life removes what no longer fits.
Reinvention Isn’t About Starting Over
Many of us reach this stage of life having done everything we were “supposed” to do. Built careers. Raised families. Held things together. And still, something tugs at us. A curiosity. A pull. A sense that there’s more.
The holidays and the start of a new year tend to bring that feeling into sharper focus. We take stock. We notice what feels heavy, what feels unfinished, and what still quietly asks for our attention.
What Reinvention After 60 Has Taught Me
If my journey has taught me anything, it’s this: age is not the barrier we think it is. Fatigue is. Fear is. The belief that it’s “too late” is.
Reinvention doesn’t require a perfect plan. It requires honesty. Courage. And a willingness to take the next step before the whole path is visible.
Becoming board certified didn’t magically resolve every challenge in my life. But it did confirm something essential: growth is still available to us. Learning is still possible. Purpose doesn’t retire unless we tell it to.
A Gentle Invitation to Begin Again
Another thing I’ve learned is that meaningful change rarely happens in isolation. It has taken a village to get here. Yet I still see coaching framed as a luxury, when in reality, it’s often the missing piece – especially for women navigating chronic stress, disrupted sleep, fatigue, brain fog, or a sense that nothing they try seems to stick.
We’re living in a time of constant environmental and emotional pressure. Our bodies are working harder than ever, and many women I speak with feel worn down, anxious, and unsure how to regain their footing – despite having tried “all the right things.”
With the holidays here and a new year approaching, I wanted to make the kind of support I offer more accessible to more people. For a limited time, I’m offering 20% savings on my coaching programs for those who qualify, through January. My work focuses on gut rebalancing, mind mastery, and strengthening the immune system – three foundations that, together, can create real and lasting change.
If any part of this story resonates with you, or if you’ve been feeling that quiet nudge to finally address your health in a deeper way, I invite you to reach out.
Reinvention doesn’t always announce itself loudly. Sometimes it simply waits – until we’re ready to say yes. I used to tell my daughter, when she was growing up and facing something she didn’t want to do, to feel the feeling and do it anyway. In my own life, that lesson holds true. Feeling the fear and uncertainty – and choosing to move forward anyway (as I write in my book, THINK AND GROW YOUNG: The Life-Changing Program To Reverse Aging, Live Vibrantly and Reclaim Your Youth) – became the source of my resilience and, ultimately, my success.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Where are you headed this year? What life change are you committed to make? What areas of your life are suffering from neglect?
