You’re Never Too Old, Part One

I started my business, Eva Marie Workshops, later in life at the age of 70. Although many of my personal experiences like motherhood and volunteer work had prepared me for this, pursuing a big new venture this late in life has been an eye-opening and life-expanding process.

For over 40 years, I’ve volunteered in one capacity or another with women going through transitional stages in their lives—death, divorce, job loss, coming out of an abusive relationship. However, it wasn’t until I turned 70 that I decided to formalize this work into Eva Marie Workshops. I wanted to provide a space for women to come together in a safe community to share, inspire, and create.

Why did it take me to my seventh decade to fully pursue this passion? I think my reasons are similar to those many of us might have: I was raising my children, caring for my aging mother until her death, and volunteering in my community. Honestly, I never thought about pursuing anything new, especially an entire career path, when most of my friends were settling into retirement.

The seed for my workshops was planted in my heart in 2008 when my daughter was going through a difficult divorce. Even though the seed was planted, it wasn’t quite ready to blossom because I needed to learn more about myself. I needed to unravel my own past relationship experiences and work through some of my own issues before I could fully serve others.

My journey for the next few years included lots of reading, taking classes, hiring a coach and daily journaling. As I grew through this transformation, the dream of my workshops started to take shape. Writing was a clarifying process; it’s where I worked out both my trepidation and excitement. Eventually, I knew it was time to start. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone, realizing that my passion to help women was stronger than my fears. I also had the realization that my myriad life experiences would bring a whole new level of wisdom, empathy and compassion that comes with age.

Wherever you are in your life, if you have a dream, an idea, a passion: JUST START. Maybe you want to go back to school or start a business or write a book or paint or travel the world. Whatever it is, DO IT. Don’t let age, your fears, or other people’s opinions stop you. Follow your heart.

A dream or an idea or a passion is like a garden that needs tending, and it’s never too late to start planting. Plant the seeds in good soil (your heart); water, feed and watch the flowers grow. And yes, even the most beautiful garden has weeds and bugs that you’ll have to pull and spray, but don’t give up!

Seed = your dreams, desires, ideas, goals, passion projects, etc.

Water + Feed = defining, refining and learning about your dreams and ideas, and most importantly, yourself!

Weeds + Bugs = obstacles and overwhelm that are sure to come! Days that don’t go as planned, technology that isn’t working, ideas that aren’t flowing, dreams that feel just out of reach.

Flowers = ideas manifested, dreams realized! The fruit of your labor, of not giving up, of not quitting because you know deep in your soul that it’s what you want to do.

The legacy I want to leave to my daughters and to all women is this: you’re never too old to start something new, no matter how big or small.

Stay tuned for next week when I share part two of my story: the lessons I’ve learned in my first year of later-in-life entrepreneurship!