Read the Latest Blog Posts
ARE YOU RETIRED AND WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK?
In addition to coaching mid-career women who want to change things up or the stay-at-home moms who are going back to the workplace, I’ve had a new kind of wonderful client come to see me. This is the retired woman who is going back into the workplace. So whether you need to create extra income, or you want to jump back into the workplace because you’re bored or want new challenges…you’ve come to the right place. Some retired women want to start a business, others want to go back into the workplace but in an entirely new field. Others want
3 Lessons I learned from Betty White
Back in January, I had the opportunity to see the movie Betty White, A Celebration, with my family. We like others were eagerly awaiting a 100th birthday celebration of Betty on January 17th but instead, we came together with others in a theater for a celebration of life! And what an amazing life she lead. In the theater were many generations of fans who adored Betty and loved her work. Here I was at sixty looking over her life and thinking that Betty still had so much to teach me! Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Betty had an
8 WAYS YOU CAN CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY
The date is looming on the calendar! February 14th, Valentine’s Day! It comes every year without fail and yet for some, it really does a number on our psyche! Perhaps you will be alone this year or you struggle because your partner is just not into the holiday! You’ve heard some people say: It’s just a “Hallmark holiday”, a way for everyone to make money! In fact, it does create a lot of revenue for our economy! In 2021 it was estimated that Cupid’s holiday created around 22 billion dollars! But I’m getting sidetracked! Regardless, I love to embrace the
Nearing Retirement? Three Reasons to Work with a Life Coach
I’m a certified life and career coach and I’m seeing a new kind of client these days: women nearing retirement. I think it’s wonderful! There are many reasons people see a life coach. Often it’s a woman in her mid or late-career who wants to make a pivot. Or a stay-at-home mother who wants to reenter a highly different workplace than the one she left. For me, the absolute best part of my job is helping a woman identify her passions — no matter what her age. All too often we know we’re not happy, but we can’t put our
The joys and challenges of my first empty nest Christmas
Christmas is in just a few weeks. My adult children who finally, truly left the nest this year were not happy when I told them about the Christmas I am planning for this year when they come home for the holidays. “No tree,” I said. Arose a chorus of complaints. “Minimal decorations,” I added. More groans. Their reaction pressed my buttons. I wondered; would I capitulate? Making traditions…then breaking them I had spent years creating traditions and now I was going to break them? I guess I had been dreaming of this “light” Christmas for a few years now after
Stuck in a job you hate? How to Make the Change!
That petrified feeling when you’re stuck in a job you hate — but you don’t know how to change your life. by Deborah Voll Certified Professional Life and Career Coach We are all afraid of the unknown. And not knowing exactly what it is we want stops us in our tracks. So, we get stuck. We choose safety over fulfillment because: overwhelm! I’m thinking about Jesse, who was stuck in a job that, over the years, had become toxic, for a variety of reasons. She had the financial pressures of maintaining a home and her high schoolers were about to
Why hobbies are important in midlife
In reading the title of this article, “Why Hobbies Are Important in Midlife,” you may have been a bit taken aback. Hobbies? What a frivolous concept! Like I have time for that! I hear you—between driving the kids to soccer practice, thinking of something to make for dinner, and clocking hours at work, time for hobbies can seem sparse for middle-aged women. While life is certainly busy, I’d like to challenge you to take a look at how much of your free time you’re spending watching Netflix, scrolling through social media, or surfing the internet. These things—while certainly okay in
Take time to Stop, Pause and Celebrate!
You may have gathered in a recent blog post that I recently had published my long-awaited book: The Tell-All Guide to Airbnb Hosting, Proven Tips, and Tricks for Successful Hosting. It’s a book that I started a couple of years ago and due to a combination of the pandemic in 2020, and the backup with printers and publishers its arrival was a bit later than expected. Giving birth to a book is very similar to birthing a child. Everyone knows it’s coming and you have an expected date of arrival but you could be late and you are likely to
Side Hustles for Women over Forty
A growing number of women over forty are considering side hustles in midlife! A side hustle can be a business you create or where you step out and be employed by someone else. For some, money may be a motivator. Perhaps you would like some extra money to save for a specific purchase, others may have a specific financial goal. Others may look at the opportunity to start a side hustle to develop a new skill, meet people, or test-drive a business idea. Whatever your motivation there is no better time than now to get curious and start exploring what
3 Lessons I learned from Betty White
Back in January, I had the opportunity to see the movie Betty White, A Celebration, with my family. We like others were eagerly awaiting a 100th birthday celebration of Betty on January 17th but instead, we came together with others in a theater for a celebration of life! And what an amazing life she lead. In the theater were many generations of fans who adored Betty and loved her work. Here I was at sixty looking over her life and thinking that Betty still had so much to teach me! Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Betty had an amazing career, was not afraid of a challenge, and reinvented herself so that she could be more accessible to the younger generations! One of the
8 WAYS YOU CAN CELEBRATE VALENTINE’S DAY
The date is looming on the calendar! February 14th, Valentine’s Day! It comes every year without fail and yet for some, it really does a number on our psyche! Perhaps you will be alone this year or you struggle because your partner is just not into the holiday! You’ve heard some people say: It’s just a “Hallmark holiday”, a way for everyone to make money! In fact, it does create a lot of revenue for our economy! In 2021 it was estimated that Cupid’s holiday created around 22 billion dollars! But I’m getting sidetracked! Regardless, I love to embrace the holiday and find ways to celebrate solo! Gone are the days of hiding under a blanket with a pound of dark chocolate! Here are a
Nearing Retirement? Three Reasons to Work with a Life Coach
I’m a certified life and career coach and I’m seeing a new kind of client these days: women nearing retirement. I think it’s wonderful! There are many reasons people see a life coach. Often it’s a woman in her mid or late-career who wants to make a pivot. Or a stay-at-home mother who wants to reenter a highly different workplace than the one she left. For me, the absolute best part of my job is helping a woman identify her passions — no matter what her age. All too often we know we’re not happy, but we can’t put our finger on what exactly we want. Or maybe we do know what we want but have no idea how to get it. That’s where I
The joys and challenges of my first empty nest Christmas
Christmas is in just a few weeks. My adult children who finally, truly left the nest this year were not happy when I told them about the Christmas I am planning for this year when they come home for the holidays. “No tree,” I said. Arose a chorus of complaints. “Minimal decorations,” I added. More groans. Their reaction pressed my buttons. I wondered; would I capitulate? Making traditions…then breaking them I had spent years creating traditions and now I was going to break them? I guess I had been dreaming of this “light” Christmas for a few years now after decades of all-out Christmas. As a solo parent, I had always wanted to give my kids a dream Christmas. Since they were born, I was
Stuck in a job you hate? How to Make the Change!
That petrified feeling when you’re stuck in a job you hate — but you don’t know how to change your life. by Deborah Voll Certified Professional Life and Career Coach We are all afraid of the unknown. And not knowing exactly what it is we want stops us in our tracks. So, we get stuck. We choose safety over fulfillment because: overwhelm! I’m thinking about Jesse, who was stuck in a job that, over the years, had become toxic, for a variety of reasons. She had the financial pressures of maintaining a home and her high schoolers were about to go to college. It was so overwhelming that she just shut down and kept slogging on in her current situation. After a few sessions with
Why hobbies are important in midlife
In reading the title of this article, “Why Hobbies Are Important in Midlife,” you may have been a bit taken aback. Hobbies? What a frivolous concept! Like I have time for that! I hear you—between driving the kids to soccer practice, thinking of something to make for dinner, and clocking hours at work, time for hobbies can seem sparse for middle-aged women. While life is certainly busy, I’d like to challenge you to take a look at how much of your free time you’re spending watching Netflix, scrolling through social media, or surfing the internet. These things—while certainly okay in moderation—can create the illusion of busyness when done in excess. You might have more free time than you think and this time can be much
Take time to Stop, Pause and Celebrate!
You may have gathered in a recent blog post that I recently had published my long-awaited book: The Tell-All Guide to Airbnb Hosting, Proven Tips, and Tricks for Successful Hosting. It’s a book that I started a couple of years ago and due to a combination of the pandemic in 2020, and the backup with printers and publishers its arrival was a bit later than expected. Giving birth to a book is very similar to birthing a child. Everyone knows it’s coming and you have an expected date of arrival but you could be late and you are likely to get asked consistently, “When is the book going to be available”? It was after some time that instead of giving a date, I would just
Side Hustles for Women over Forty
A growing number of women over forty are considering side hustles in midlife! A side hustle can be a business you create or where you step out and be employed by someone else. For some, money may be a motivator. Perhaps you would like some extra money to save for a specific purchase, others may have a specific financial goal. Others may look at the opportunity to start a side hustle to develop a new skill, meet people, or test-drive a business idea. Whatever your motivation there is no better time than now to get curious and start exploring what is a good fit for you! I will be sharing several ways you can develop a side hustle for yourself. Most of my suggestions are
Eight Tips for Making Friends in Midlife
Making friends in midlife can often seem a little bit like dating and leaving us feeling a bit out of our comfort zone! Often, we would love to initiate a conversation with someone we find interesting but are left feeling insecure and embarrassed about making that first move. Sound familiar? Today we are going to talk about ways for you to get out of your comfort zone, meet new people and find that network of people you find interesting. Perhaps as you’ve aged, you may have lost so friend to illness, a move, or divorce? We tend to want more out of our friendships and a bunch of Facebook friends just don’t support us with the deeper connection we crave. Let’s face it though, as
3 Reasons why a career change in midlife is the best decision
It may seem terrifying, but a career change in midlife is probably your best decision if, you have heard yourself saying: “ After the pandemic, I just can’t go back to my job with the new requirements!” “ I’m getting a divorce and need to settle into a new career to support myself” “ The culture in my current company is abusive” “ I would love to be in a career that is in more alignment with my purpose” “ Now that we have an empty nest, I would love to explore doing something outside of the home” But you may have been feeling: “ I’m too old” “ I’d love to do _________ but I don’t know if it can support my lifestyle” “Is
