At the age of 50, after my eldest daughter went to university, I resurrected a business I had founded in my 30's.
Back then, it was successful and my experience and expertise was valued and it wasn't too difficult to find clients. So I thought it would be the same when I restarted my business.
How wrong I was!
I was 20 years older, in my early 50's, and found it very difficult to attract clients. I attended networking events only to be ignored and left
feeling inadequate and too old. But there was nothing I could do about it. I had to battle on, ignore the ageist people I met and find clients who were happy to commission me. And I did find a number of enlightened companies who could see past my age and appreciate my experience.
But how I had been treated still rankled with me, but I spent 4 years building my business with good people who valued me and my experience. During this time, I discovered podcasts, so I started the 45 Not Out podcast and learnt that I really, really wasn't the only older woman experiencing ageism in the workplace. From the podcast, I quickly cultivated the start of the 45 Not Out community and set up the newsletter, alongside the Facebook Group. You can read more about these individually below.