WEBVTT 00:00:07.980 --> 00:00:11.140 Welcome to her comeback. I'm so glad you're back 00:00:11.140 --> 00:00:14.339 with me. This is where 50 isn't your finish line. 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:17.399 It is your starting point. The starting point 00:00:17.399 --> 00:00:20.140 of everything you want your life to be. The person 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:23.410 that you are meant to be. I'm your host, Michelle 00:00:23.410 --> 00:00:27.070 Thompson, and we are proving that your best chapter 00:00:27.070 --> 00:00:30.350 may just be the one you haven't written yet. 00:00:31.109 --> 00:00:34.030 We'll continue each episode featuring honest 00:00:34.030 --> 00:00:36.770 conversation with women who have stopped going 00:00:36.770 --> 00:00:39.369 at it alone and have found their way to fulfillment, 00:00:39.829 --> 00:00:43.390 joy and purpose in their second act. You'll hear 00:00:43.390 --> 00:00:45.829 about their struggles, their breakthroughs and 00:00:45.829 --> 00:00:48.729 the practical steps that they took to create 00:00:48.729 --> 00:00:52.520 lives that they actually love. This podcast will 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:55.140 show you how other women have made their comeback 00:00:55.140 --> 00:01:00.299 and how you can too. Welcome back. Good day everyone. 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:04.340 Welcome to her comeback. I am delighted to have 00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:08.900 our guest today. Vicki Thomas Vicki is the chief 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:13.540 purpose officer at my future purpose. It is a 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:16.620 membership. organization that offers bi -weekly 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:19.579 guest speakers, quarterly workshops, virtual 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:23.760 retreats, and collaborative initiatives. With 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.579 over five years in this role, she helps individuals 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:29.299 discover and harness the power of purpose in 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:32.180 their personal and professional lives. She is 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:35.719 a former executive at ABC TV in New York and 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:38.280 a vice president of marketing and advertising 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:42.870 for the Credit Union National Association. She 00:01:42.870 --> 00:01:45.930 has a rich background in media marketing and 00:01:45.930 --> 00:01:49.329 storytelling. In fact, she won a hundred thousand 00:01:49.329 --> 00:01:54.049 dollar purpose prize from Encore .org in 2013. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.939 for her impactful work that she did raising awareness 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:02.579 for Purple Heart Homes, a nonprofit veteran organization 00:02:02.579 --> 00:02:05.640 that provides housing solutions to older veterans. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.979 Vicki's also produced and marketed the Dance 00:02:08.979 --> 00:02:12.699 and Granny's exercise videos to national acclaim 00:02:12.699 --> 00:02:16.620 and created PBS programs such as Facing Retirement 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:20.159 and the Senior Olympics. She's passionate about 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:24.030 her. lifelong purpose and has no plans to fully 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:27.789 retire. Vicki, welcome. I'm so glad and delighted 00:02:27.789 --> 00:02:30.669 to have you here on her comeback. Thank you. 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:32.550 Thank you, Michelle. I'm delighted, delighted 00:02:32.550 --> 00:02:35.990 to be here. Thank you for inviting. Yes, thank 00:02:35.990 --> 00:02:38.830 you. And you are in Connecticut, correct? Is 00:02:38.830 --> 00:02:42.090 where you reside? Yes. Awesome. Very good. I 00:02:42.090 --> 00:02:44.210 have just some questions here to walk through 00:02:44.210 --> 00:02:46.469 your amazing story and the things that you've 00:02:46.469 --> 00:02:48.849 been able to do in your life. So let's start 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:55.050 with your successful career at ABC TV. What made 00:02:55.050 --> 00:02:58.969 you decide to start something new in your seventies 00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:03.849 rather than slow down? I decided, I guess the 00:03:03.849 --> 00:03:07.150 desire to find something different, that something 00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:09.750 was missing in my life probably started in my 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:14.240 fifties. I got to a point and I kept asking myself, 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:18.099 I was doing well, I was happy, but something 00:03:18.099 --> 00:03:23.400 was missing. I felt that I had become my job 00:03:23.400 --> 00:03:28.500 description. I felt that in that process, I did 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:32.639 not know who am I if this piece of paper is not 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:36.400 in front of me defining my duties that I perform 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:41.030 for this company. Who am I? And did I become 00:03:41.030 --> 00:03:44.789 what I wanted to become? And that was a restlessness 00:03:44.789 --> 00:03:47.949 I experienced for, I don't want to say 20 years 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:49.949 because there were several things I ultimately 00:03:49.949 --> 00:03:53.590 did. I worked, I did a lot of work for financial 00:03:53.590 --> 00:03:56.110 companies. I put together pre -retirement seminars 00:03:56.110 --> 00:03:59.629 for women, for Prudential Securities and for 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:02.389 Merrill Lynch and for American Express. I did 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:05.069 a lot of work for them because men and women. 00:04:05.259 --> 00:04:08.300 are entirely different when it comes to managing 00:04:08.300 --> 00:04:10.719 their money and even feeling comfortable with 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:15.159 it. So I did that. But then I thought, I really 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:19.160 need something else. And I realized that our 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:22.800 generation was the Woodstock generation, that 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:25.980 we march for civil rights, that we march for 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.720 women's rights, that we watched a moon landing 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:34.459 on black and white television. And that that 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:39.600 heart of our activism was dormant in me. And 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.240 it hadn't surfaced for a long time, because the 00:04:42.240 --> 00:04:44.740 60s passed, you got responsibility, you paid 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:47.379 the mortgage, you got married, all of those things. 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:53.279 So my purpose always became living in the moment, 00:04:53.740 --> 00:04:56.480 my purpose working for credit unions, my purpose 00:04:56.480 --> 00:05:01.259 working for ABC, those, but what's my purpose? 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:05.509 What's my purpose? And how do I want to do that? 00:05:06.529 --> 00:05:10.069 So instead of slowing down, I decided to start 00:05:10.069 --> 00:05:13.129 something new. And that's when I co -founded 00:05:13.129 --> 00:05:17.269 with my partner, My Future Purpose. And along 00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:20.670 the way, I realized that in the 60s, we've gone 00:05:20.670 --> 00:05:25.810 from VW vans to Medicare plans. We've gone from 00:05:25.810 --> 00:05:30.050 free love to free shipping. We've gone from Woodstock 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:33.769 to wisdom. And so I thought if we're gonna live 00:05:33.769 --> 00:05:38.189 longer, and let's say if you retire at 65 and 00:05:38.189 --> 00:05:41.509 live to 90, that's not retirement, that's another 00:05:41.509 --> 00:05:45.410 life stage. So you have to be prepared to what 00:05:45.410 --> 00:05:47.769 are you gonna do that's gonna give you joy and 00:05:47.769 --> 00:05:51.490 satisfaction. And paid positions, comfortable 00:05:51.490 --> 00:05:54.889 as they were, nice as they were, were no longer 00:05:54.889 --> 00:05:59.810 providing and fulfilling me with who I was. what 00:05:59.810 --> 00:06:04.329 I wanted to be and now separated from my job 00:06:04.329 --> 00:06:08.310 description. Who am I? And that's why I decided 00:06:08.310 --> 00:06:12.350 to reach out and do something different. Wonderful. 00:06:12.689 --> 00:06:17.129 That's amazing. Was there a specific spark that 00:06:17.129 --> 00:06:20.829 led you and your co -founder to create My Future 00:06:20.829 --> 00:06:24.829 Purpose? How did that come about? It's that search 00:06:24.829 --> 00:06:28.089 for purpose. for my purpose. And then during 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:31.250 that time, there was a period of time in the 00:06:31.250 --> 00:06:33.790 newspaper when you're in television, like I was, 00:06:34.350 --> 00:06:37.629 you live on trends, you have to stay what's trending, 00:06:37.949 --> 00:06:39.689 because that's what you bring to your audience. 00:06:39.930 --> 00:06:43.089 And that's how the news everything is about what's 00:06:43.089 --> 00:06:46.509 trending. So I'm always aware of what's trending, 00:06:47.029 --> 00:06:49.589 and to stay on top of what's trending. And I 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:52.230 kept seeing these articles that appeared in magazines 00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:54.990 and newspapers. about how people are searching 00:06:54.990 --> 00:06:58.550 for their purpose. One article was in the New 00:06:58.550 --> 00:07:00.870 York Times, it was a Sunday New York Times, and 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:03.550 it was an interview with President Biden. And 00:07:03.550 --> 00:07:06.089 some of the reporter had asked him about being 00:07:06.089 --> 00:07:09.230 a comforter, and what pleasure does he get in 00:07:09.230 --> 00:07:11.810 being a comforter in cheese? What's the reward? 00:07:12.629 --> 00:07:16.569 And he said, because of the experiences I have 00:07:16.569 --> 00:07:20.610 had, the devastating lives in my family that 00:07:20.610 --> 00:07:23.459 I have lost, that are very precious to me. He 00:07:23.459 --> 00:07:27.500 said, I can relate. I have empathy. And he says, 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.379 you know, when I'm able to comfort somebody, 00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:33.759 it gives me purpose. Then there was another one. 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:36.019 And I just kept seeing all these articles about 00:07:36.019 --> 00:07:41.060 even companies, 500 companies signed a purpose 00:07:41.060 --> 00:07:44.560 statement so that they were not only supporting 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:48.360 their stockholders, they were providing a sense 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:52.050 of purpose to their employees. to their stockholders, 00:07:52.430 --> 00:07:55.910 as well as to their customers. So purpose became 00:07:55.910 --> 00:07:59.370 very, very big, and it was trending. So I called 00:07:59.370 --> 00:08:03.089 my friend, Joyce. We traveled together in conferences 00:08:03.089 --> 00:08:05.449 that then room together. And I said, hey, Joyce. 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:08.430 I said, have you noticed how often purpose is 00:08:08.430 --> 00:08:11.430 used? And I said, it's a trend that's emerging. 00:08:11.569 --> 00:08:14.170 I said, I think there's a business here. And 00:08:14.170 --> 00:08:17.769 I said, I think between your skills and my skills. 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:20.699 I said, I think we can help a lot of people who 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:24.519 are in transition. And that's how we started. 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:28.120 That's how My Future Purpose started. That that's 00:08:28.120 --> 00:08:31.180 just amazing. And in terms of your membership 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:35.179 organization, are many of your members older 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:38.419 at in retirement age? Or what would you say? 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.159 Our average age of our members probably 55. Our 00:08:43.159 --> 00:08:47.850 oldest is 92. Oh, wow. And she's still writes 00:08:47.850 --> 00:08:51.509 she I mean, an amazing, amazing person. So we 00:08:51.509 --> 00:08:54.070 range in there predominantly, I want to say there 00:08:54.070 --> 00:09:01.450 were probably 7525 75 % women 25 % men. Okay, 00:09:01.470 --> 00:09:05.330 so that's who the members are. They and I'll 00:09:05.330 --> 00:09:09.169 tell you, I had charmed careers, I've led a charmed 00:09:09.169 --> 00:09:12.330 career life. But what I do now is probably the 00:09:12.330 --> 00:09:14.899 most rewarding thing I've ever done. To meet 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:18.679 people who have found their purpose, who are 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:21.100 living their purpose, who can't wait to get up 00:09:21.100 --> 00:09:24.220 in the morning, who love what they do, who have 00:09:24.220 --> 00:09:28.320 done extraordinary things is like you just want 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:32.519 to sit back and go, wow, you blow me away. I'm 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:36.139 so in awe of you. And I've met so many people 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:39.759 I am in awe of for what they accomplished and 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:44.360 what they did. Oh, that's wonderful. Now, For 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:46.539 anyone in our audience or listeners that are 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.240 thinking like, oh, this all sounds amazing, but 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:51.980 geez, I don't really know what my purpose is. 00:09:52.139 --> 00:09:55.059 Is there any suggestion that you give to folks 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:57.539 to say, hey, this is how you can maybe go about 00:09:57.539 --> 00:10:00.740 finding your purpose? Okay. So since we've been 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:03.860 at this, we've determined there are six buckets. 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:06.879 If you're going to find your purpose. Okay. The 00:10:06.879 --> 00:10:09.720 first bucket, you can become an advocate. You 00:10:09.720 --> 00:10:12.730 can advocate for yourself. or you can advocate 00:10:12.730 --> 00:10:16.129 for a cause you believe in. The second bucket 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:19.669 is good can come from loss. Look at all the nonprofits 00:10:19.669 --> 00:10:22.409 that formed as a result of a tragedy, Mothers 00:10:22.409 --> 00:10:25.789 Against Drunk Driving, Purple Heart Home started 00:10:25.789 --> 00:10:29.230 as a result of the Iraq War. Look at all the 00:10:29.230 --> 00:10:32.870 events that started after 9 -11. So good can 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:37.309 come from loss. The third bucket, you can become 00:10:37.309 --> 00:10:41.139 an entrepreneur, run your own business. Open 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:44.059 up your own snack shop or soup shop or whatever 00:10:44.059 --> 00:10:48.139 it is run your own business The fourth bucket 00:10:48.139 --> 00:10:51.360 is you can volunteer You can bring your expertise 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:53.980 your talent your knowledge and go to work go 00:10:53.980 --> 00:10:57.019 and volunteer for a nonprofit who can use your 00:10:57.019 --> 00:11:00.759 skill sets and who knows You might be offered 00:11:00.759 --> 00:11:03.259 a job within that because they go, you know, 00:11:03.460 --> 00:11:05.860 that's a skill set We didn't have and we'd love 00:11:05.860 --> 00:11:09.450 to add you to our payroll Or you might be so 00:11:09.450 --> 00:11:12.070 motivated by what you learned about that nonprofit 00:11:12.070 --> 00:11:15.129 that you go, you know what? I'm going to start 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:19.649 my own nonprofit. The fifth bucket is having 00:11:19.649 --> 00:11:22.809 interests or a hobby. Look at the number of women 00:11:22.809 --> 00:11:26.330 who quilt. Look at the number of men who have 00:11:26.330 --> 00:11:29.250 to collect cars and fix cars and show up at car 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:33.289 race or car rallies. So that's a very interesting 00:11:33.289 --> 00:11:35.809 hobby and an interest in it gives you purpose. 00:11:36.250 --> 00:11:40.269 The sixth bucket is, if you're so inclined, when 00:11:40.269 --> 00:11:43.289 you're looking for a job, look at, does your 00:11:43.289 --> 00:11:46.470 purpose align with the company you're about to 00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:50.110 go to work for? And the seventh bucket, do what 00:11:50.110 --> 00:11:55.490 the hell you want. And in our organization, in 00:11:55.490 --> 00:11:59.769 our store, we have a deck of cards. There are 00:11:59.769 --> 00:12:03.870 56 cards in that deck. And they're color coded 00:12:03.870 --> 00:12:06.309 to every one of this. Purposes that I mentioned 00:12:06.309 --> 00:12:10.789 and on the back side is I enjoy Helping other 00:12:10.789 --> 00:12:12.909 people and there's a whole series of cards and 00:12:12.909 --> 00:12:16.110 you put them in a pile. Yes, that's me No, that's 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:20.870 not me. Maybe that's me Then what you do is you 00:12:20.870 --> 00:12:23.529 you wind up with a whole lot in your yes pile 00:12:23.529 --> 00:12:26.970 You go through your yes pile you cull it and 00:12:26.970 --> 00:12:31.009 you pick the top ten Okay, then you take that 00:12:31.009 --> 00:12:33.629 top ten and you create a pyramid you put your 00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:36.559 first one on top You put the other two underneath, 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:39.100 the other three under there, and four under there. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:42.879 And then you turn them over. And you turn them 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:45.720 over and go, oh wow, looks like I'm leaning toward 00:12:45.720 --> 00:12:49.559 entrepreneurial tendencies. And oh my gosh, I 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:53.220 have a hobby and an interest in here. So it kind 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:57.000 of gives you an idea by taking that deck of cards 00:12:57.000 --> 00:13:01.200 and helping you determine a direction. And then 00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:04.669 of course we take them. on a, through a journey 00:13:04.669 --> 00:13:07.470 of once they've determined their direction, do 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:09.330 you want to start a business? How do you do it? 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:11.450 Well, we have a program for that. It's called 00:13:11.450 --> 00:13:15.210 Mavericks Wanted, From Career to Calling. So 00:13:15.210 --> 00:13:17.970 anyway, everything segues and blends from one 00:13:17.970 --> 00:13:21.250 thing to another. That's amazing. I love it. 00:13:21.450 --> 00:13:24.669 When you call yourself the Chief Purpose Officer, 00:13:25.169 --> 00:13:30.500 what does that actually mean to you? Well, that's 00:13:30.500 --> 00:13:32.799 interesting. You know, you have all these typical 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:36.679 corporate titles, Vice President, Manager, Director. 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:39.539 Why would you be ordinary? If you're going to 00:13:39.539 --> 00:13:43.360 start a business, be, as Mickey says, be outrageous. 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:47.080 So I don't know where I saw it somewhere. I guess 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:49.419 on LinkedIn, I saw somebody was a Chief Purpose 00:13:49.419 --> 00:13:52.100 Officer. And I thought, well, that's really good. 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:55.669 I'm claiming that. I don't know who was the first 00:13:55.669 --> 00:13:57.909 person, but that's going to be me from now on. 00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:00.889 And sometimes people ask me and say, is that 00:14:00.889 --> 00:14:03.929 really a job, a position? I said, it is now, 00:14:03.929 --> 00:14:07.549 and I'm wearing that. So that's how I got the 00:14:07.549 --> 00:14:10.570 idea of a chief. I stole it, actually. It's not 00:14:10.570 --> 00:14:13.549 my original idea. So somebody else had it. And 00:14:13.549 --> 00:14:16.210 it's interesting because Joyce is the chief relationship 00:14:16.210 --> 00:14:20.269 manager, because she was upset. Well, I was going 00:14:20.269 --> 00:14:23.309 to be a vice president. I can't be a vice president 00:14:23.309 --> 00:14:25.669 if you're a chief. I have to be a chief too. 00:14:26.169 --> 00:14:28.889 So we have a purpose officer and a relationship 00:14:28.889 --> 00:14:30.789 manager. And those are the two things that are 00:14:30.789 --> 00:14:34.750 really important in any business. And boy, now 00:14:34.750 --> 00:14:38.090 more than ever, relationships and relationship 00:14:38.090 --> 00:14:42.789 management. Yes. Yes. Oh, that's terrific. Really 00:14:42.789 --> 00:14:47.009 cool stuff. Now, I understand that you had to 00:14:47.009 --> 00:14:50.409 pause the purpose group discussions as a COVID 00:14:50.409 --> 00:14:55.409 pilot. What surprised you most about what people 00:14:55.409 --> 00:14:58.990 needed during that time? You know, when we started 00:14:58.990 --> 00:15:01.850 My Future Purpose, our goal was to be able to 00:15:01.850 --> 00:15:05.289 do conferences up and down the Easterns on what 00:15:05.289 --> 00:15:08.250 we call the Amtrak corridor. And we started, 00:15:08.269 --> 00:15:12.409 we put together a whole program and we had a 00:15:12.409 --> 00:15:15.350 keynote speaker. And in fact, we had designed 00:15:15.350 --> 00:15:18.289 these buckets that we have already identified 00:15:18.289 --> 00:15:21.669 as advocacy volunteer, and we found people to 00:15:21.669 --> 00:15:24.330 be on a panel in each one of those. Well, then 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:27.610 COVID hit. And we had to cancel our conference. 00:15:28.750 --> 00:15:33.149 And so I thought, and then comes this isolation. 00:15:33.950 --> 00:15:36.870 I mean, we were shut down, we were locked down. 00:15:37.429 --> 00:15:40.960 And it was like people stopped commuting. start 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.200 making sourdough bread, banana bread, whatever, 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:48.039 growing their hair out. I mean, from roots, their 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.700 roots came out and it was white like mine. And 00:15:51.700 --> 00:15:54.460 I said to Joyce, I said, God, I think there's 00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:57.059 the worst thing that can happen now is isolation 00:15:57.059 --> 00:16:00.799 and loneliness. And I said, I think that we should 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:04.600 create a Zoom session and bring some of our speakers 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.899 to be able to talk about these various themes 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:12.059 of purpose. And so that's how Pause for Purpose 00:16:12.059 --> 00:16:15.220 began. It's because we had a conference and we 00:16:15.220 --> 00:16:17.960 had a whole lot of speakers lined up and we just 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:20.059 tapped those speakers and said, hey, would you 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:23.340 be willing to talk about, we had one fireman 00:16:23.340 --> 00:16:28.220 from 9 -11 who lost 26 guys from his ladder truck 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:32.340 to talk about his, what he went through and how 00:16:32.340 --> 00:16:35.480 they came to form Heart 9 -11. We had a lady 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.279 who was got into drugs so bad, she went into 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.200 the depths of despair, who started an advocacy 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:45.500 group for addicts. And she became our topic on 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:48.340 advocacy. So we had them all talk. And that just 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:51.820 sparked a lot of interest with people who were 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:54.980 home, working from home, and suddenly realizing, 00:16:55.700 --> 00:16:58.860 you know, I'm not so happy, like my job, I really 00:16:58.860 --> 00:17:01.600 like that I'm not standing on a train platform 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.299 commuting into the city, or that I'm not stuck 00:17:04.299 --> 00:17:08.119 in traffic. for all these hours, I'm home and 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:10.839 I'm using productive time and I'm starting to 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:14.400 think different. I'm starting to think, I'm not 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:18.079 happy being confined to my job. I need to look 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:23.000 at something else. And COVID changed us dramatically, 00:17:23.220 --> 00:17:26.960 changed kids, it's still affecting us today. 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:30.140 And what it did is it led to a lot of people 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:32.809 starting their own business. A lot of innovation 00:17:32.809 --> 00:17:35.250 started as a result of COVID. There were some 00:17:35.250 --> 00:17:37.210 good things that came, a lot of good things that 00:17:37.210 --> 00:17:40.869 came out of COVID. And still today, they're leading 00:17:40.869 --> 00:17:44.089 healthy companies and they're happy and they've 00:17:44.089 --> 00:17:47.210 changed their lives. COVID caused many to change 00:17:47.210 --> 00:17:52.569 their lifestyle. Definitely. I totally get that. 00:17:53.370 --> 00:17:56.390 Let's talk a little bit more about your book. 00:17:56.630 --> 00:17:59.930 So your book is called From Woodstock to Wisdom, 00:18:00.130 --> 00:18:04.529 A Boomer's Journey to 80. So tell us what made 00:18:04.529 --> 00:18:07.230 you write it now and who did you write it for? 00:18:08.549 --> 00:18:12.329 So I decided at age 78 that I wanted to be an 00:18:12.329 --> 00:18:14.829 influencer. I knew nothing about it and I suck 00:18:14.829 --> 00:18:18.130 at social media. And so I signed up for this 00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:20.779 course. How to become an influencer. Oh, I thought 00:18:20.779 --> 00:18:22.960 that just fits me so right and it's timing couldn't 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:24.920 be bad and it's got to be trending because if 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:27.279 I'm gonna do it's got to be trending fill out 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.599 all the forms fill all the application asked 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:32.819 all these questions Sent in my money in the end 00:18:32.819 --> 00:18:34.859 it asked like who are you tell us a little about 00:18:34.859 --> 00:18:36.619 yourself How old are you all that kind of stuff 00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:38.619 about two weeks later? I get a call from this 00:18:38.619 --> 00:18:43.140 guy Duncan McCoy Vicki We got your application 00:18:43.919 --> 00:18:46.039 And I said, Oh, did I miss something? He said, 00:18:46.039 --> 00:18:48.420 Oh, no, no, no. But we're just calling because 00:18:48.420 --> 00:18:50.980 we want to let you know, we'd be happy to refund 00:18:50.980 --> 00:18:53.440 your money. Why would I be? Why would I want 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:57.420 my money refunded? Well, because everybody honestly, 00:18:58.140 --> 00:18:59.940 because everybody in the class is in their twenties 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:03.480 and thirties. And I said, I like twenties and 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.619 thirties. And I said, I may be slower. And I 00:19:06.619 --> 00:19:09.359 said, Duncan, you fell into an ISM. He said, 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:13.509 Oh, what? I said, an ISM, ageism. I said, you 00:19:13.509 --> 00:19:17.130 have a perception of who I am. You have that 00:19:17.130 --> 00:19:20.549 vision of this 78 -year -old woman who's applied 00:19:20.549 --> 00:19:23.289 for this in her right mind. Is she even in her 00:19:23.289 --> 00:19:25.250 right mind that she sent in this application? 00:19:25.849 --> 00:19:27.930 I said, you don't know a thing about me, and 00:19:27.930 --> 00:19:30.609 you've judged me. You've put me in the ageism 00:19:30.609 --> 00:19:34.730 category. So I took the course, and then I decided, 00:19:34.809 --> 00:19:37.170 okay, how am I going to do this? So I'm going 00:19:37.170 --> 00:19:40.089 to start by posting. I started in January of 00:19:40.089 --> 00:19:43.910 last year, every week. I'd post a topic. First 00:19:43.910 --> 00:19:47.009 I talked about who we were as a generation, how 00:19:47.009 --> 00:19:49.970 music informed. We went from Woodstock or we 00:19:49.970 --> 00:19:53.529 went from VW vans to Medicare plans, from free 00:19:53.529 --> 00:19:55.890 love to free shipping, and from Woodstock to 00:19:55.890 --> 00:20:00.609 wisdom. And so who were we along the way and 00:20:00.609 --> 00:20:04.410 who are we now? Then I got into what are some 00:20:04.410 --> 00:20:06.970 of the funny things that happen to us as we age 00:20:06.970 --> 00:20:09.369 and what are some of the things that we should 00:20:09.369 --> 00:20:12.400 think about? that we might not have thought about. 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.720 And I'd post every week and then I'd take that 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:20.339 post and I'd expand it into either a 750 or a 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:24.140 2 ,000 word article. I wrote my book in snackable 00:20:24.140 --> 00:20:29.420 sections because 50 % of people have not read 00:20:29.420 --> 00:20:34.599 a book in 2024. And I figured they're streaming. 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.740 They're getting little tidbits, little sections. 00:20:37.940 --> 00:20:40.079 We don't have the attention spans we did. So 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:42.180 why would I burden somebody with a 3 ,000 to 00:20:42.180 --> 00:20:45.720 5 ,000 word article? I'm making it simple. You 00:20:45.720 --> 00:20:49.160 can choose. It's bathroom read if you want to. 00:20:49.500 --> 00:20:51.859 You don't have to follow it in sequence. And 00:20:51.859 --> 00:20:54.940 I wrote articles that were funny, like how many 00:20:54.940 --> 00:20:59.380 jean sizes are in your closet. And for me, they 00:20:59.380 --> 00:21:02.440 went from a 10 to a 16. And I had this whole 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:05.720 thing about the comfort your genes give you and 00:21:05.720 --> 00:21:08.319 the stories they tell about the life you live. 00:21:08.599 --> 00:21:11.039 My tens, back in the days of my Zumba days and 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:13.059 when I was on the train platform commuting into 00:21:13.059 --> 00:21:17.039 New York City. So each size tells me a story. 00:21:17.819 --> 00:21:21.859 Then I did one on, we laugh so much we leak or 00:21:21.859 --> 00:21:25.680 the bottle caps have gotten an eighth inch smaller. 00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:30.720 So trying to open them is very hard. And they've 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:32.740 gotten smaller. Well, that's good for the landfill. 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:35.420 But an eighth of an inch for these fingers? Not 00:21:35.420 --> 00:21:38.640 that easy. You would get these clamshells that 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.660 are in plastic. And I swear to God, you better 00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:44.220 have worked out a gym to be able to open the 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:47.160 things. I did one on that. Then I did another 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.500 section on, I went to a Willie Nelson concert, 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:55.460 which was fabulous. He was 92. And he sang a 00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:58.579 song that haunted me that I had never heard before. 00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:02.839 And it was, roll me up and smoke me when I die. 00:22:03.579 --> 00:22:07.519 I love that. And I'm driving home, and those 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.220 words just stayed with me. And I thought, wow, 00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:14.380 you know, music was such an influence to us in 00:22:14.380 --> 00:22:18.920 the 60s. Bob Dylan. We were on the eve of destruction. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:22.099 Respect Aretha. When she sang, we sang louder. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:27.000 We danced on vinyl to the Supremes. And so... 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:30.359 I thought, what would be my playlist now? What's 00:22:30.359 --> 00:22:33.819 my playlist now that I'm in my 80s? What would 00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:39.140 be my playlist for my celebration of life? And 00:22:39.140 --> 00:22:41.940 so I started to think about the songs that I 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:45.559 wanted. What's your playlist? What songs would 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:50.660 influence you? And so those are some of the things 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:53.720 that are in my book. I also talk about why it's 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.180 important to write your own obituary. rather 00:22:56.180 --> 00:22:58.980 than have somebody else write it and write it 00:22:58.980 --> 00:23:04.059 with a sense of humor. Even Warren Buffett years 00:23:04.059 --> 00:23:08.039 ago told his young kids to write their own obituary. 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:12.299 It is a writing exercise and it's something hopefully 00:23:12.299 --> 00:23:17.640 you'll live up to. 87 % of obituaries are written 00:23:17.640 --> 00:23:21.220 by a funeral home. Why would you want that? Wow, 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:24.160 that high. Wouldn't you want to write your own 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.380 obituary? or you know sometimes kids may not 00:23:27.380 --> 00:23:31.960 remember everything about mom or dad so start 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.880 it for them have it in your papers so that it's 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.480 all handy for them and what a great idea i took 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:42.619 in the back of my book i put a list of all the 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:46.680 inventions that happened from 1946 to now that 00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:51.009 we have had to adapt accept, embrace. I did a 00:23:51.009 --> 00:23:53.170 whole list of what were all the radio shows, 00:23:53.369 --> 00:23:55.609 old radio shows we listened to, what were all 00:23:55.609 --> 00:23:58.849 the old television shows we we rushed home from 00:23:58.849 --> 00:24:01.009 school to watch from the Mickey Mouse Club to 00:24:01.009 --> 00:24:05.430 American Bandstand. And I did a one on old movies 00:24:05.430 --> 00:24:08.650 that we went to. And then if you're so inclined, 00:24:08.869 --> 00:24:11.750 and you still want to read a book, I provided 00:24:11.750 --> 00:24:15.109 a list of some books that I recommended. And 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:19.240 I would expand the articles and then I submitted 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:23.099 my manuscript in September and my book came out 00:24:23.099 --> 00:24:26.660 in January. Oh, congratulations. That's just 00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:29.380 amazing. Oh, I love it. It sounds like a really 00:24:29.380 --> 00:24:32.819 great read. What would you say is the most damaging 00:24:32.819 --> 00:24:36.839 myth about getting older that you want to bust, 00:24:36.859 --> 00:24:38.660 that you want to say, you know what, that's just 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:41.380 not right. What would you say that is? I would 00:24:41.380 --> 00:24:43.319 say that, and when I talk to you a little bit 00:24:43.319 --> 00:24:47.750 about ageism, I think the word retire is to me 00:24:47.750 --> 00:24:53.670 a bad word because it means to go away. At 65 00:24:53.670 --> 00:25:00.069 you retire and you go away. And the perception 00:25:00.069 --> 00:25:04.789 that people have of older people from, in fact, 00:25:04.910 --> 00:25:07.910 I have to be, you know, truthfully, my hardest 00:25:07.910 --> 00:25:12.269 year and age that I ever had to accept was 80. 00:25:13.609 --> 00:25:18.210 I looked forward to 16, driving, freedom. Yes. 00:25:18.329 --> 00:25:20.630 I looked forward to 18. I lived in Wisconsin. 00:25:20.630 --> 00:25:23.970 We could drink beer. I looked forward to 21. 00:25:23.990 --> 00:25:27.069 I could throw away the fake ID card and now I 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:31.369 can walk into a bar by myself. And then you get 00:25:31.369 --> 00:25:34.910 responsible, pay them all that stuff. 50 arrives. 00:25:35.430 --> 00:25:39.170 Ah ha ha ha, you turned 50. AERP magazine shows 00:25:39.170 --> 00:25:43.859 up in your mailbox. Then 65 arrives. Well, now 00:25:43.859 --> 00:25:46.240 we can apply for Medicare. That's really good. 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:51.099 I like that I have Medicare. Then what? Then 00:25:51.099 --> 00:25:55.660 comes 75. Wow. Three quarters of a century old. 00:25:57.380 --> 00:26:01.079 And then I'm thinking 80. And what is the perception 00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:05.740 of old? There's a book written by Louise Aronson 00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:08.779 and it's called Elderhood. In her book, where 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:11.740 in the beginning she has make a column. In one 00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:14.630 column write old. In any other column, write 00:26:14.630 --> 00:26:18.650 elder. List all the words that come to mind when 00:26:18.650 --> 00:26:22.549 you think of old. Frail, feeble, crippled, demented, 00:26:23.190 --> 00:26:28.390 slow, humped over, slumped. Those are some harsh 00:26:28.390 --> 00:26:32.549 words about being old. They are. Yeah. Then go 00:26:32.549 --> 00:26:35.609 to elder. Fill in the words of what is an elder. 00:26:36.250 --> 00:26:41.650 Wise, wisdom, accepting, intelligent, experienced. 00:26:41.930 --> 00:26:45.809 Wow, how do we go from here to here? So once 00:26:45.809 --> 00:26:52.450 I accepted that I'm an 80 elder, I became comfortable 00:26:52.450 --> 00:26:56.109 with being old. But we need to change the perceptions. 00:26:56.589 --> 00:27:02.609 Because today, 11 ,000 people are eligible at 00:27:02.609 --> 00:27:06.410 65 to retire every day. Now they can choose to 00:27:06.410 --> 00:27:10.140 retire because They want to, they have something 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:12.460 else to do, or they may have to work because 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:16.640 they didn't save enough money. And so we have 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.059 to think that if you're going to live from 65 00:27:20.059 --> 00:27:24.859 to 90, that's a whole lifetime ahead of you. 00:27:25.180 --> 00:27:29.500 And what can you do? Don't let, I don't like, 00:27:29.920 --> 00:27:32.119 our check engine light is going to come on more 00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:34.680 as we have gotten older. That's just going to 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:38.910 happen. But I don't like the word ageism. I don't 00:27:38.910 --> 00:27:41.650 like how people talk about it. I don't like being 00:27:41.650 --> 00:27:44.970 made a victim because somebody might say that, 00:27:45.130 --> 00:27:47.930 you know, it's ageist, I lost my job. I don't 00:27:47.930 --> 00:27:50.289 think we should be complaining. I think we need 00:27:50.289 --> 00:27:54.529 to be examples of experience and wisdom to be 00:27:54.529 --> 00:27:59.630 able to help others, be able to support or be 00:27:59.630 --> 00:28:03.230 able to benefit from what we've learned along 00:28:03.230 --> 00:28:06.150 the way. And I would say probably the hardest 00:28:06.150 --> 00:28:09.720 thing. is changing the image of old. I'm 80. 00:28:10.099 --> 00:28:14.420 Do I feel 80? I had a reporter call me. She asked 00:28:14.420 --> 00:28:16.220 me a bunch of questions. And one of the questions 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:17.700 she asked, can I ask you another question? I 00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:20.940 said, sure. She said, have you noticed any difference 00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:24.160 about being 80? I thought, God, nobody's asked 00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:27.940 me that. So I thought, well, yeah, I can tell 00:28:27.940 --> 00:28:30.240 you. I can't put my jeans on standing up anymore. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:33.259 When I put my underwear on, my little toe gets 00:28:33.259 --> 00:28:35.980 caught in my underwear. This lip up here is starting 00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:39.599 to sink inside my mouth now. I was once 5 '7", 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:43.779 I'm now 5 '5". My feet have gotten bigger, but 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:46.920 I don't even remember what 50 felt like, and 00:28:46.920 --> 00:28:50.799 I don't feel any different now than I did at 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:53.900 50, other than some of these things have changed 00:28:53.900 --> 00:28:56.599 in my body, but I've learned to live with them. 00:28:58.470 --> 00:29:02.049 So oh gosh, what an amazing life that you have 00:29:02.049 --> 00:29:04.750 and and I just love your spirit and your attitude 00:29:04.750 --> 00:29:08.289 and your approach in this chapter And and it's 00:29:08.289 --> 00:29:10.690 not been without hardships that we were talking 00:29:10.690 --> 00:29:13.759 earlier. I mean you've had some Health challenges 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:17.200 some scary situations there and you've been able 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:20.559 to survive those and overcome Is there anything 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:23.700 that you would like to share with our audience 00:29:23.700 --> 00:29:26.180 about just overcoming some of those difficult 00:29:26.180 --> 00:29:29.859 times? So I had I was on vacation. I think this 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:34.640 would have been 2018 and I had vaginal bleeding 00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:40.420 Not normal, so I went to see my doctor they did 00:29:40.420 --> 00:29:43.240 a pap smear concluded that it was cancerous, 00:29:43.319 --> 00:29:46.539 so I had to have a hysterectomy. And when you 00:29:46.539 --> 00:29:48.519 have a hysterectomy, I don't know if this is 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:51.240 typical in all hospitals, but in mine, they have 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:55.160 an oncologist in the room, because that sections 00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:57.940 are taken and sent to a lab, and that oncologist 00:29:57.940 --> 00:30:01.039 is responsible, I guess, for determining. And 00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:02.619 when I left the hospital, they said, everything 00:30:02.619 --> 00:30:04.900 looks fine, everything looks good, and we'll 00:30:04.900 --> 00:30:06.940 see you in two weeks just to check up. Well, 00:30:06.980 --> 00:30:10.670 in about four days, I got a call. No woman. likes 00:30:10.670 --> 00:30:13.910 to get a call from her oncologist. This is not 00:30:13.910 --> 00:30:17.109 a good thing. And so when I went in, he told 00:30:17.109 --> 00:30:20.190 me in his face, everything about him was different. 00:30:21.549 --> 00:30:25.410 And he was very serious. And he said to me, I 00:30:25.410 --> 00:30:29.789 had both a sarcoma and a carcinoma. I had a very, 00:30:29.789 --> 00:30:33.849 very rare cancer called MMMT, which is a uterine 00:30:33.849 --> 00:30:37.809 cancer, but it's very dangerous because the sarcoma 00:30:37.809 --> 00:30:40.380 are little cancer cells that could go anywhere. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:44.759 You can't see them. Wow. And he said the life 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:49.559 expectancy is three to five years. Wow. I left 00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:54.160 his office. He was on the phone to the radiologist 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:56.900 and said, George, I want you to see a patient. 00:30:56.940 --> 00:30:59.819 I want her to start chemo on Monday. And I'm 00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:03.279 off to radiology. It was pouring rain and all 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:06.319 of this. I don't think it feels so good. I feel 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:10.299 so good, how can you tell me this? And I left 00:31:10.299 --> 00:31:13.660 radiology, it was pouring rain. My car was parked 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:17.640 way back in the parking lot. And I sat in the 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:23.420 car and sobbed. Shut up. And then I turned the 00:31:23.420 --> 00:31:26.519 windshield wipers on, wiped away both my tears 00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:29.019 and the raindrops, and I figured I cannot have 00:31:29.019 --> 00:31:33.150 a pity party. I have to be strong. I have to 00:31:33.150 --> 00:31:35.890 follow the protocol. I have to trust the people 00:31:35.890 --> 00:31:39.509 who have been put in charge of my health. And 00:31:39.509 --> 00:31:42.869 I have to hope for the best. If it isn't the 00:31:42.869 --> 00:31:46.569 best, well, I've had a great life. And so we 00:31:46.569 --> 00:31:48.990 came home and I told my husband, we got all our 00:31:48.990 --> 00:31:52.609 papers in order. We did all of this stuff. Two 00:31:52.609 --> 00:31:55.970 years later, I get breast cancer and I had the 00:31:55.970 --> 00:31:58.690 lump removed on both breasts. And they told me 00:31:58.690 --> 00:32:01.970 I needed chemo. And I said, no way am I ever 00:32:01.970 --> 00:32:05.490 having chemo again. And I had radiation. So I'm 00:32:05.490 --> 00:32:10.390 seven years out with my rare cancer and I'm five 00:32:10.390 --> 00:32:12.950 years out with my breast cancer. Now, how did 00:32:12.950 --> 00:32:17.970 I make it? Angels and oxygen. I had so many angels 00:32:17.970 --> 00:32:21.809 in my life. I was very transparent about it. 00:32:21.809 --> 00:32:26.279 And I would post my experience on Facebook. I 00:32:26.279 --> 00:32:29.920 heard from people, I had no idea how many lives 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:35.960 I've touched. And the people in the infusion 00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:39.380 room could not have been better. So when my chemo 00:32:39.380 --> 00:32:44.039 was over, I had an angels and oxygen party to 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:47.019 thank those who were there to lift me up when 00:32:47.019 --> 00:32:51.079 I needed it most. Oh, that's great. Attitude 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:54.000 is a big thing. On the fifth year, I'm sitting 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:55.890 on the bed and my husband says, what are you 00:32:55.890 --> 00:32:57.369 waiting for? Why aren't you getting dressed? 00:32:57.450 --> 00:32:59.150 I said, I'm waiting. He said, what are you waiting 00:32:59.150 --> 00:33:02.890 for? Five years. Today's my fifth year. I'm expecting. 00:33:03.150 --> 00:33:07.990 I'm expecting some sort of calling. And he says, 00:33:08.410 --> 00:33:12.049 get off your butt. It's not happening. And, you 00:33:12.049 --> 00:33:15.549 know, so you go in first every six months, then 00:33:15.549 --> 00:33:18.930 you get to the once a year while I'm on the once 00:33:18.930 --> 00:33:23.730 a year time. And I'm grateful. I am living beyond 00:33:23.950 --> 00:33:27.609 my expiration date and grateful for every day 00:33:27.609 --> 00:33:32.309 that I am here. That's wonderful. Congratulations 00:33:32.309 --> 00:33:35.049 and what you've been able to overcome and to 00:33:35.049 --> 00:33:38.630 have the full purposeful healthy life today. 00:33:38.730 --> 00:33:41.690 It's so amazing. Well, you've shared so many 00:33:41.690 --> 00:33:44.450 good things with us. If our listeners want to 00:33:44.450 --> 00:33:46.089 get in touch with you, what's a good way for 00:33:46.089 --> 00:33:48.750 them to get in touch with you? They can reach, 00:33:48.849 --> 00:33:52.970 they can go to our website www .myfuturepurpose 00:33:52.970 --> 00:33:56.440 .com on that website is our store. You can order 00:33:56.440 --> 00:33:58.519 my book, and I have to say if you order the book 00:33:58.519 --> 00:34:00.819 from my website, it's a lot cheaper than going 00:34:00.819 --> 00:34:06.319 to Amazon. Or they can email me at vicki at myfuturepurpose 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:09.539 .com. And I'd love to hear from your listeners 00:34:09.539 --> 00:34:12.980 and people who may have eavesdropped on our conversation 00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:17.050 today. Oh, wonderful. So wonderful. Thank you 00:34:17.050 --> 00:34:20.510 so much. I am so glad that our paths crossed. 00:34:20.550 --> 00:34:22.289 We didn't say this at the beginning, but it was 00:34:22.289 --> 00:34:24.869 really kind of a coincidence that we just happened 00:34:24.869 --> 00:34:26.769 to be in the same place at the same time when 00:34:26.769 --> 00:34:29.750 you were visiting Naples. So it's just just been 00:34:29.750 --> 00:34:32.190 a joy to have you today. So thank you, Vicki. 00:34:32.210 --> 00:34:36.190 And I wish you continued success and all the 00:34:36.190 --> 00:34:39.780 best in the coming years. Thank you. And thank 00:34:39.780 --> 00:34:41.960 you for having me. I appreciate it. And it was 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:44.079 a pleasure. Thanks so much for joining me today 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:47.480 on her comeback. I hope this conversation inspired 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:50.900 you to keep moving forward no matter where you 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:53.940 are in your own journey. If you love this episode, 00:34:54.159 --> 00:34:57.260 I'd be so grateful if you would subscribe to 00:34:57.260 --> 00:35:01.360 the show on my YouTube channel, Michelle Thompson 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:05.090 dash life coaching. Go there for more encouragement, 00:35:05.550 --> 00:35:08.349 insights, and just real talk about making a comeback 00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:11.150 happen. Hit that subscribe button so you never 00:35:11.150 --> 00:35:15.409 miss new content. You can also visit hercomebackpodcast 00:35:15.409 --> 00:35:19.670 .com for notes, resources, connect with me, connect 00:35:19.670 --> 00:35:22.630 with other women in our amazing community who 00:35:22.630 --> 00:35:25.989 are rewriting their stories. Remember, your setback 00:35:25.989 --> 00:35:29.269 isn't your final chapter. It's just the setup 00:35:29.269 --> 00:35:32.079 for your greatest comeback yet. I'll see you 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:33.320 next time. Until then.