Welcome to her comeback. I'm so glad you're back
with me. This is where 50 isn't your finish line.
It is your starting point, the starting point
of everything you want your life to be, the person
that you are meant to be. I'm your host, Michelle
Thompson, and we are proving that your best chapter
may just be the one you haven't written yet.
We'll continue each episode featuring honest
conversation with women who have stopped going
at it alone and have found their way to fulfillment,
joy, and purpose in their second act. You'll
hear about their struggles, their breakthroughs,
and the practical steps that they took to create
lives that they actually love. This podcast will
show you how other women have made their comeback
and how you can too. Welcome back. Welcome everyone
to her comeback. I'm your host, Michelle Thompson,
and I am so happy to have Mickey Williams with
me today. Oh my gosh, she is so amazing. Mickey
is a CSP, a Certified Speaking Professional.
She's a member of the prestigious CPAE Speaker
Hall of Fame, and she's also a TEDx. Speaker,
I heard her talk. It's wonderful. She is a global
celebrity speaker and a transformational storyteller.
She was chosen as one of the best speakers in
the country by Meetings and Convention Magazine.
Along with some other heavy hitters, Tony Robbins,
Bill Gates, and Jay Leno. Mickey's a former award
-winning Vistage speaker. Vistage is the world's
leading executive organization, and she is the
master chair of two of their peer advisory boards
and is now honored as the chair emeritus. Just
when she thought she was semi -retired, she went
viral on social media and is now officially a
digital content creator. a .k .a. an influencer
at 82. She's based here in Naples, Florida, and
this busy entrepreneur runs speaker schools,
the Mickey Mouth Club, keynote camp, and outrageous
orders, and is listed in Forbes as one of the
top executive speech coaches. Just this month,
she went viral on TikTok with one million views.
It's incredible. She's spoken in every U .S.
state. every Canadian province and every continent
except Antarctica. And so sad she can't wear
her stilettos there. She is still at 82 in her
stilettos. Mickey, thank you so much for coming
on. Welcome. Oh, Michelle, it's a pleasure to
be here. Thank you for that wonderful introduction
that I wrote. Yeah. Fantastic job. What an incredible,
just phenomenal life that you've had, huh? Yes,
I'm very blessed and very grateful and didn't
come without as hard knocks like everybody else's.
But yeah, we're here and thriving. That's right.
Well, so I just want to jump into it and tell
our audience more about you and just how you
got to be in the place that you are today. So
going way back in time, there was a real critical
turning point for you. It was actually back in
the seventies, you were 28 years old and you
were living the dream that you'd want. You wanted
to have a child and be married and children.
And then in an instant, everything changed. Can
you take us back to that night when your husband
passed? And what do you remember most about that
moment? Well, the little more context is that
I grew up as an only child, but with a mom, no
brothers and sisters and a dad. So my dream truly
was to be a housewife and mother. and have a
bunch of little rugrats running around in the
suburbs somewhere. And I was living my dream.
I married my college sweetheart. We moved to
the suburbs. We were saving money for our first
homes and he had a great job and so did I. And
then I gave mine up. So I was a stay at home
wife. And then I got pregnant. So I was now a
mom and I'd achieved everything I wanted. And
yes, he was working for IBM at the time and came
home from work and never made it. I got a knock
at the door at two in the morning. that he was
29 years old and killed in a car accident. My
son was two. I was not working. I had a mortgage,
no job, and very little life insurance. So I
guess one would call that, at least I would,
my defining moment when everything in my life
changed. Wow. I can't imagine. And you mentioned
this in your TED Talk, just being so young. I
mean, nobody thinks at 28, 29 years old to have
something so devastating and tragic happen. So
you went from having one goal in life, talking
about being a wife and mother, to juggling four
careers. Nine. Nine. You're behind the time.
Oh my goodness. Nine. Wow. So how did you reconcile
when you lost your original dream with now discovering
all these new capabilities that you didn't know
you had? Yeah, it's a great question because
when I have Reflect Back and I've been asked
that question countless times in interviews and
in many other places, I just started using my
natural talents and digging deep to see what
those were. And at the time, I had been a professional
dancer. I'd given that up. So I took the boom
box in those days where you got young listeners.
That's a radio kind of thing that's carried with
you with little cassette tapes. And you probably
don't even know what that is. And I'd go to the
Y and all these places. started teaching dance
because that's the only I had no skills I was
a physical education instructor and so I started
teaching dance and then somebody else said well
you're a great cook why don't you start a catering
business and I said well I don't know anything
about business And they also said, well, come
on, I'll hire you. So that, all of a sudden,
I had two careers. I was this dance teacher and
I was this caterer. And back then, nobody, women
weren't even working. And so I became like a
media sensation. Everybody started interviewing
me. How are you juggling four careers at the
time? I was belly dancing on the side. Although
I always hate to admit that. I always say my
son Jason stood behind me and jiggled the furniture
to look like I was moving. That's awesome. The
answer to the question was the same that I would
say today. I just dug deep. What skills do I
have? What can I do? I'm a good cook and I was
a dancer, so I started doing that and they were
successful and little by little I realized I
was a real entrepreneur as I kept going because
I built the business, the dance business, to
one of the best and biggest in the country. And
then I had a dance student named Martha Stewart
and we started our catering businesses together
at the same time in 1978. I'm actually featured
in her autobiography, Martha Inc. And so things
started to happen. And once I, you know, then
fitness came in and I realized I was a phys ed
teacher. So my dance studio became a health club
and everything just one began another. And people
always ask me, how do you do that? I said, you
know, that old expression, what's the worst thing
that could happen? Well, it did. So I am fearless
and I embrace change. And those are two things
that most people don't. And after the nine careers
and selling the last one, having an opportunity
for my 35 year professional speaking career,
where I was able to share these stories and empower
and inspire others that despite whatever defining
moment you have, we all have untapped potential.
I was forced to find it. Most of you have a choice
to use it. And that became my message. And I
heard that quote in your TED Talk. You said,
it's amazing what we can do when forced to find
our potential. So true. So just to go back real
quick to the early days again, and before all
these things happened that you were just describing,
was there a moment that you can describe when
you first realized, I'm going to survive this.
I'm going to be OK. Do you remember that? Possibly
this is the answer to it. I was choreographing
Fiddler on the Roof at the time. I was very involved
in local theater, again, using my natural skills,
my dance. And it was directed by a woman named
Brenda Lewis Cooper, who was an opera star at
the time, a very strong woman. And other than
my mother, I had never met someone like Brenda
Lewis Cooper. And she came over the house during
my grieving and mourning days. And she said,
well, what are you going to do now? And I was
kind of, I guess, in my own little pity party
at that point. It was still so fresh. And she
says, well, you got a kid. You got a two -year
-old. You're in the middle of a show. Get up.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You got a whole
life ahead of you and for Jason. And she was
just the catalyst for me to go back to choreography.
And then I realized, Michelle, that what I was
also doing was trying to stay one step ahead
of my pain. I was dancing, I was catering, I
was teaching, I was performing. I was just busy
and taking care of my son. And every time I looked
at him, there was my reason. There was really
no more time. As I said, also my speech was self
-pity. There was this little child and we had
to do what we had to do. And later on in life,
I had said to somebody, well, I had no choice.
And somebody very brilliantly said to me, you
did have a choice. You could have gone on welfare.
You could have had a lifelong pity party. You
could have taken to drink or drugs. And that
was eye opening when she said you did have a
choice. And that also became part of my speech,
letting people know no matter what circumstance,
no matter what happens to you, we do have choices.
Absolutely. I love, love, love that. And I love
something else that I've heard you talk about.
You talk about creating an experience list instead
of a bucket list. So tell us about that. Well,
a bucket list is things to do before you die.
I don't like that, maybe because I came from
that tragic part of my life where someone so
young died and I never experienced that. So I
decided an experience list instead of a bucket
list because those are things to do while fully
alive. And you know that's what my Ted Talk was
about. And I believe that you manifest this because
I actually did it. So my experience list had
things like, I want to drive at the Indy 500.
I want to waltz in Vienna. I want to, you know.
I don't even remember all the things I had, but
I manifested all of them. I want to go to the
Kentucky Derby. And so the Indy 500 did happen.
The Kentucky Derby did happen. The Walsing in
Vienna did happen. And if we had a long time,
I could tell you how each one of them happened.
But I believe I manifested them because I wrote
them down as an experience list. A bucket list
is just items, and it's a list. And we now know,
because I'm a passionate storyteller, that the
brain doesn't hold onto lists, but it holds onto
stories. So each one of my sentences that I wrote
was not a list. I didn't put Indy 500. I didn't
put Kentucky Derby. I put, I don't want to go
to the Kentucky Derby and sit in Millionaire's
Row while drinking a mint julep and wearing an
outrageously large hat. Well, that's a mini story.
And my brain took over. And because of that,
I believe I manifested it. Tell us about the
Indy 500. Amazing. How did you do that? I was
giving a speech, and I was in my speech. I used
to talk about the difference between a bucket
list and an experience list. And when I was in
Indianapolis, and I remember exactly, and a woman
came up to me at the end of my speech. She said,
I think I can make your indie dreams come true.
And I said, wow, OK, I'm open to it. And she
said, I'm not sure what I can do, but I own one
of the largest General Motors dealerships in
the country, and we have a presence at the Indy.
And I'll get back to you. Now, Michelle, my friend
said, did you tell her that you gave up driving
25 years ago when you moved to the city? No,
why is that important? Well, as it turned out,
I was invited to the Indy and the celebration
started on a Friday night when all of the guests
were given yellow Corvettes. I'm still not sure
the significance and we all got to drive the
Indy track and then had a big barbecue in the
center of the track. I could've died a happy
camper, I didn't know what was next. The next
day I got up and I was given an El Dorado as
a truck, I'm not good with cars, a big super
truck. And in the back of it stood each branch
of the military. And then I got to drive on the
Indy track, two laps in front of 300 ,000 people,
cheering, not for me, but the four military guys
standing in the back of my truck. And I remember
that moment because I I was filled with emotion
and I remember tears streaming down my face as
I was driving the track as 300 ,000 people kept
standing up in a wave and cheering and I was
thinking I'm driving on the same track as Danica
Patrick I'm driving on the same track as Mario
and ready and I said and I guess because I'm
born on July 4th I am a very patriotic gal. So
having the four military branches in the back
of my truck It was just, oh, it was a Silverado.
That's what it was, a Silverado. And then it
wasn't over. Then I got to go to the pit crew
and watch the guys change the cars as they came
in. And then I was invited into the General Motors
Executive Suite to watch the entire race. Wow.
That's just incredible. I manifested it. I talked
about in your introduction and you're describing
now just all of these just phenomenal things
that have happened. But if you, again, kind of
think back to when you were a woman starting
in college in the 1960s and aspiring for that
MRS degree, how do you reflect on how far you
come? And what would you say to that young woman
today at Ithaca College? You know, reflection
is interesting because reflection comes in two
different ways. It comes again through gratitude
for the life that I've had. I always quoted Arthur
Ashe, the great tennis player. He succumbed to
AIDS. And when he was asked by a reporter, Mr.
Ashe, do you ever say to yourself, why me? Why
an athlete of my fame and stature and fortune
would get this dreadful fatal disease? And Arthur
Ashe is eloquent athlete that he was. He said,
I never say, why did this terrible thing happen
to me? To do that, I'd have to say about all
the good things that have happened to me. So
that kind of sums up my reflection. It's really
a mosaic of all the happy times in my life and
all the challenges in my life. And there were
many more past that. I mean, when I was 50, I
was embezzled out of every penny I had and I
was starting over. When I was 65, I got breast
cancer. So all of these things, you keep going.
You just keep going, or I do anyway. Just to
me, my memoir that I'm writing has a working
title of, we interrupt this life to bring you.
Because when I grew up in the 50s and 60s, television,
if you got static and stuff like that, there
was always a thing across the screen. We interrupt
this program to bring you or a news thing. Well,
that's the story of my life. They're just interruptions.
That's the way I look at them. I'm curious about
the embezzlement story. Yeah. How did you rebuild
from that? How did you come back from that? You
know, some days I'm not sure myself, but I did.
I became a saver. Which I never really was because
I didn't understand that math wasn't my thing.
My husband took care of all that. So as I started
to build my career, I took jobs. I remember I
took a job as a marketing manager in a health
club while I was selling chocolates for an independent
chocolatier. And on my breaks and I was building
my new speaking business and on my breaks, I'd
go out and make marketing calls to people to
hire me to speak. So it was a very tumultuous
time and I was living hand to mouth. I think
I even borrowed money from a friend sometime.
And then I knew, and this is interesting, because
as a coach, sometimes people will say, well,
I don't have the money right now. That's not
in my vocabulary, because I knew I didn't have
a long time to ramp up the speaking career. And
there was a gentleman who was a consultant, Summers
White in Arizona, and I'll never forget. And
I had no money. I borrowed $5 ,000 because he
actually required it to come overnight before
he'd book it. And I figured, I just got to pay
a consultant or coach to get me to where I have
to go quickly. I don't have the luxury. So I
borrowed 5 ,000, I flew to Arizona, and he was
a turning point. And I came back home very motivated,
very organized, very deliberate about my marketing,
but also about saving. Every check I got, half
of it went into savings. Half of it went into
savings. And I just kept forgetting about it.
So I developed habits after that embezzlement
because again, I didn't know what to do. I have
no experience with being a widow, with being
embezzled. So you just trust your instinct and
you hope for the best. Yeah. Wow. So you really
have recreated, transformed your life kind of
over and over again. I have. Just from one area
to another. It's amazing. You call yourself a
disruptor and a maverick. In what ways are you
still disrupting at this stage? Well, at 82,
I'm an influencer. I didn't expect that. But
you know, Michelle, I've always been an outlier
before they had a word for it. I became a brand
before they had a thing called branding, and
that's because I had a mom who instilled incredible
confidence in me since the earliest of age, which
is probably why I never smoked or even tried
smoking. I never felt the need to conform. She
always made me feel that I was uniquely special,
hence I always dressed... crazier than anyone
else, which I still do to this day. And that's
how I used to get the terms applied to me. She's
a brand. What do you mean a brand? Well, the
speaker with the big earrings, the speaker who's
crazy for shoes, the speaker with the big hair.
Or she's an outlier. She doesn't follow rules.
She's a maverick. And it's true. I don't. My
motto is slip in my mickey. Oh, you can't use
that. It has bad connotations. What the hell
with that? I like it. I'm using it. I've always
had that attitude when people tell me I can't
do something. So I guess I consider that disruption
because I kind of disrupted every field. In fact,
when I gave my acceptance speech into the Speaker
Hall of Fame, I remember one of the most rewarding
things about it were all the people who wrote
to me afterwards, especially women, had said,
thank you for giving me permission to be me.
Ah, beautiful. Beautiful. As you're describing
each one of these things, you're doing it on
your terms, right? It's everything on your terms.
I love that. Let's see. So what's on your experience
list that hasn't happened yet? Oh, I'd like to
go to New York Fashion Week. Okay. I'd like to
go to the Cannes Film Festival. I mean, I have
a lot of things that are still kind of out there.
I wanted to go on the Orient Express. We did.
That was amazing. So there's been more things
that I've accomplished and I add things and they
just happen because something happens. I meet
the right person or I make it happen or I make
the connection and. You know, it's just right
now I'm just so caught up in this influencer
thing. I just can't believe this happened to
me. I was having coffee with a friend and she
said, you should make a TikTok video. I said,
why would I do that? That's for 20 year olds.
She said, cause you're inspiring. You love telling
your stories, your stories. I said, okay. So
I said, I don't know how to do this. I've never
been on the platform. So I hired my friend's
17 year old daughter and she came over the house
and she said, what do you want to make it on?
And I still had never even looked at any of them,
so I didn't even know what it was like. I was
wearing what I would wear off for the whole day.
I didn't plan an outfit. I said, I don't know.
What should I make it on? She said, well, we're
in your house. What's interesting? I said, oh,
my closet. Everybody loves my closet. So we've
made this video. You know, I said, hi, I'm Mickey.
I'm new to TikTok, and I'm an all -natural 82
-year -old. Little did I know about that phrase.
Well, we published the video or posted it rather.
And she started calling me and saying, you're
trending. And I don't even know what that meant.
I said, what do you mean? She said, well, you're
getting a lot of views. Well, the next morning
it was 1 .2 million. And I'm like going to chat
GPT going, is it good if you're on TikTok for
the first time and you're 82 years old? That
is so wild. Well, I am not on TikTok, so I'm
going to have to go. Everybody says that. Everybody
is a friend. Everybody that I know says I'm not.
So now I post it on Instagram and Facebook for
my older friends. Oh, well, I appreciate that.
Terrific. Yeah. So you talked about the social
media. Is there anything else that you want to
mention in what you call your semi -retirement
stage or phase? Well, I call it semi -retirement
because even though I gave up speaking three
years ago and even though I gave up Vistage three
years ago, although I just came back from the
Vistage conference, they still have me speak
and they still keep me by keeping me as an emeritus.
So I'm still involved in that level. But I kept
three things when I gave up I kept my speaker
school, which I do twice a year, and I've been
doing it for over 30 years, in April and October
in Naples. And I kept my keynote camp, which
is a one -on -one with somebody who wants me
to create a speech for them. And I kept my coaching,
which I do mostly with executives or people who
want to either improve their communication skills
or have a showcase for their business. The best
way to do that is through speaking. So I those
that's why I called semi -retired because I'm
still doing that and in between that I'm doing
a lot of other volunteer things in fun ways and
everything and someone asked me just yesterday
How do you do all this? And I said, you know,
I think it goes back to the defining moment when
I lost my husband losing someone at 29 Shocks
you in a way You know, everybody like me, you
die when you got old. You die when you get sick.
You don't die, you know? So I think I live my
life by cramming every moment of life into life,
if that makes sense. Yeah, sure it does. I just
do. I just cherish life so much and there's so
many things to do and so many people sit on the
couch and eat bonbons and never travel or don't
read. And that's their choice. It's okay. But
for me, That early loss just kind of triggered
something in me with them. I want to pack this
life with as many experiences as I possibly can.
And I do. Is there anything that you would say
to that person who has had maybe a very tragic
loss, something like what you experienced and
maybe they're just in that stuck place and they
haven't been able to move from where they are?
What would you say to that person? I'd say find
something that you love. Like, I love dance.
And when I danced, I didn't think or feel what
I was going through. And find the thing that
you love and immerse yourself in it. Force yourself
to get out of that house and off of that couch
and just do something. If it's cooking, if it's
dancing, if it's traveling, if it's just being
with friends, whatever it is, get out of your
head and... You never get it out of your heart.
I think the scar is on my heart and soul and
will be forever. And a song could trigger it
in a second. To this day, I can't listen to any
Beatles song. My husband knows. Anywhere a Beatles
song plays, I have to leave because I'm a me
because we were together when the Beatles came
to the U .S. So that's, I think, always going
to be there. But I think that I dove so deeply
into everything just to support Jason and myself,
but also it kept me one step ahead of the pain.
Great advice there. I know my audience is going
to want to be able to find you or maybe reach
out to you, contact you. What are the best ways
to contact you? Well, my website is still up.
I like to call it a placeholder. Practically
everything on it is obsolete. My Vistage members
are still on it, but my speaker school, you could
register on my website. It does have, it's a
very fun, colorful website. Again, everybody
told me you can't do this. It's not professional.
Well, I did it. So it's worth going to, because
it has all my career is in a background. It has
some great stories and it has ways you can connect
to my Ted talk and another keynote that I did
for 7 ,000 people and stuff. Just ignore the
stuff that. You don't even know what's old. Anyway,
it's a fun place. You could sign up for speaker
school. It has my email and my phone number if
you're interested in coaching or keynote camp.
Oh yeah. And my social media handles. I need
followers. So I need all your listeners to follow
me on Facebook, on Instagram, or on TikTok. On
Facebook is just my name. On Instagram, it's
Mickey Williams Unlimited UNLTD, the name of
my company, but you'd probably get me at Mickey
Williams. And you'll laugh when I tell you my
handle on TikTok, Mickey Go Go. Oh, I love it.
It's a nickname my friend gave me because I'm
always on the go. So it's M -I -K -K -I -G -O
-G -O. and I need followers and share and post
and repost. Look at all these words in my vernacular
that I never had before. Oh, I love your energy,
Mickey. I just think you're a delight. And I'm
so inspired by your life, the things, the obstacles
you've been able to overcome and just the things
that you've been able to do. I was like, I want
to be like you when I grow up. You know, and
it's so sweet of you to say, Michelle, and that's
really what all these people are writing on my
TikTok. These young people were looking at me,
you know, even 50 year olds. Oh, you're my goal.
I want to be you when I grow up. And that's kind
of and makes it fun for me. I'm really enjoying
it now. I enjoy making the videos and I enjoy
the relationships because people write to me
right afterwards. And in a sense, it's kind of
like my professional speaking. I'm just not doing
it on a big stage, but I'm still storytelling
and I'm still sharing things that, yeah, it's
a lot of fun. And if I can become an influencer
at 82, anybody who's listening to Michelle can
do whatever they want, whenever they want. Oh,
that's great. Absolutely. Just takes that effort,
that first step, right? That's right. So thank
you. Thank you so much. Wonderful conversation.
I appreciate you sharing with us, and I wish
you continued success in everything that you're
doing. Thank you, Michelle. You're a great interviewer.
I felt like we were having a conversation with
a friend, great questions, and thank you for
the invitation, and I look forward to sharing
this with all the people and all the different
things I still do. Awesome. That's wonderful.
Thank you. Thank you, Michelle. Bye. Bye. Thanks
so much for joining me today on her comeback.
I hope this conversation inspired you to keep
moving forward no matter where you are in your
own journey. If you love this episode, I'd be
so grateful if you would subscribe to the show
on my YouTube channel, Michelle Thompson dash
life coaching. Go there for more encouragement,
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.com for notes, resources, connect with me, connect
with other women in our amazing community who
are rewriting their stories. Remember, your setback
isn't your final chapter. It's just the setup
for your greatest comeback yet. I'll see you
next time. Until then.