NEVER TOO LATE TO REDESIGN YOUR LIFE AND TOUCH PEOPLE’S LIVES

There are two moments in life that can feel equally terrifying—or terrific, depending on how you look at it. One is in our 20s when we transition from education to career. The other is in our 50s and 60s (and for some people this might be even earlier) when we’ve achieved many of the things we set out to do and find ourselves wondering, "What’s next?”

I meet (and often coach) many people in this second moment of transition. For them (and for myself), I want to share three inspiring examples of people who turned this moment of fear and anxiety into a time of reinvention.

I met Jocelyne Beaudoin in my 20s when she was a young set designer working in films in New York City. She went on to become one of the most renowned prop stylists in film and photography, collaborating with the biggest names in jewelry, fashion, and cosmetics for over 30 years. Today, she is both an interior designer for residential clients and a fashion model. You might not have had the chance to sit in the beautiful, cozy apartments she's designed (here is her website ), but you've probably seen her in the larger-than-life Sephora ads that feature her as a stunning woman in her 60s. Jocelyne continues to reinvent herself, always drawing on her superpower at the intersection of film, design, and fashion.

Hiroko Sakomura is another dear friend who has also designed and redesigned her life around her superpower, curating art and design exhibits on a global scale for the last 30 years. When I was in Japan last year for the World Design Organization's global conference, she took me to an exhibit on Finnish glass. It wasn’t until we arrived that I realized she had produced a six-city traveling exhibit featuring a remarkable collection of Finnish glass, much of which had never left Finland before. Watching young school kids walk through the exhibit, I imagined a future Japanese glass artist, inspired to pursue glass as her craft after seeing this collection. Hiroko is a cultural peace ambassador, quietly, humbly, and extraordinarily connecting Japan with other cultures, educating people, and changing lives through her work.

I reconnected with another dear friend, Christiane Berthelet in Paris after a 20-year hiatus, and we picked up right where we left off. For the past 40 years, Christiane has been unassumingly transforming therapy in France by bridging the teachings of Patanjali and his Yoga Sutras from the 2nd century with the theories of Sigmund Freud. I remember her telling me the story of one of her youngest patients, an 8-year-old girl who had lost her father to war before fleeing Bosnia with her mother and siblings. The girl, with great dignity, said, "It is nothing, I have something in my eye," when she started to cry. Her book, La sagesse du désir ; le yoga et la psychanalyse, is a masterpiece waiting to be translated into English (and has the full story of the little girl who must now be in her 30’s.)

These are just a few extraordinary yet humble people who are quietly dedicating their wisdom and experience to touching lives and making the world a better place without seeking the limelight.

Just like you.?

It’s never too late to redesign our lives and to grow, learn, and evolve no matter our age. Reinvention isn’t just about a new career; it’s about staying true to what you love and finding new ways to make an impact.

Keep up the good work. We need you.

Ayse

INSPIRATION

My friends may be humble, but I can brag about them. Check out their work:

Jocelyne Beaudoin: To learn more about her interior design work, visit her website here . I love her Instagram . Contact her if you need a masterful interior designer who truly cares about her clients. You can reach her at [email protected] .

Hiroko Sakomura: Take a look at her exhibit on Finnish Glass Art Sparkle and Color in Modern Design and Design=Memory , the exhibit she produced that opened at the National Museum of Stockholm, showcasing Akira Minagawa and his company Min? perhonen, as well as her incredible achievement in bringing Shinjo Ito’s reclining Buddhas to the rest of the world. For our Japanese friends, here is her website .

Christiane Berthelet’s books: La sagesse du désir ; le yoga et la psychanalyse (The Wisdom of Desire: Yoga and Psychoanalysis), De l'un à l'autre : Spiritualité du yoga et psychanalyse (From One to the Other: Spirituality of Yoga and Psychoanalysis), and Les créations du corps et de l'inconscient - Yoga et psychanalyse (Creations of the Body and the Unconscious: Yoga and Psychoanalysis)

For our design programs, please email Leah Caplan, VP, Design and Project Planning, Birsel + Seck, at?[email protected] .

For coaching engagements, please email Jacquelyn Lane, President, 100 Coaches, at?[email protected] .

For speaking engagements, please email Nancy Aaronson at?[email protected] .