You Old Broad
Plus News About "The Dinner"
According to a Harvard study, "over the next two decades, more than 27.7 million people will join the 50-and over age group and right now we make up more than a third of the U.S. population." At the same time, older millennials, Gen X and those much maligned boomers are all struggling to say in the workforce at the salaries they are worth or be represented accurately in storytelling - so when at the tail end of 2024, I discovered an advertising veteran of many of the cool kid agencies was starting an agency called Geezer focused on the 50+ crowd that looked as fresh as ideas attributed to 20 year olds, it totally caught my eye.
In the last 5 years I have watched the mass exodus (not by choice) of incredibly talented people in the worlds of journalism, entertainment, advertising, and design, people just falling into an abyss, cut of at the knees at the peak of their career. I have heard similar stories from people in healthcare who thought becoming a doctor would be a safely lucrative and stable career choice but who are now struggling with the ethical constraints and impossible financial stress of the profession.
And now the entire government workforce is at the mercy of the whims of a completely insane fascist and deeply stupid regime. This image from “Honey I Blew Up the Kid” keeps popping into my head. A toddler that is too huge. That is Elon Musk, Trump, and all the rest:
This moment we are in is as dark as it comes and terrifying for what it could evolve into if we don’t act so it’s such a breath of fresh air when I see lemonade being made amidst it all and Karen McKinley, the founder of Geezer who hopefully also appreciates what I am doing with Actual People, she and I got together with her CEO and CCO and sat down to talk shop and discuss bringing visibility to real people’s stories. Here is that episode, out this past Wednesday:
The week before that I sat down with 3x International Designer of the Year and Fast Company board member Todd Bracher to talk about essentialism in design and getting closer to what matters as we get older with his own take on reinvention and personal evolution. We also talk about how we apply this as older parents to school age kids. (We are both in our 50s with kids under 12…)
Ageism is not my only thread here, nor is the wisdom of time to get to the peak of our powers, but it is a strong theme. I’m personally about to embark on a completely new path on the cusp of 52 (gulp) while keeping my podcast and trying to get a bigger audience for it to sustain it financially. By the way, I have a new cup of coffee app and would appreciate any contribution.
Here it is, my Actual People Ko-Fi. So far nobody’s bitten so maybe you can be my first! I would hire a social media manager if it took off…»»»
I’ll announce my new endeavour in March because nothing is final yet but personal evolutions and global evolutions are my primary focus and the primary focus of my podcast. That is what I have realized it’s all about.
Now onto news about “The Dinner”.
THE DINNER
I’m now throwing a regular dinner party called “The Dinner”. I threw numéro deux last night and as I said on LinkedIn, the overriding theme last night was definitely “the country going to shit on a mudslide”. I had 2 people who worked on Kamala’s campaign / worked on getting more dems in offfice, 1 going to law school in her late 40s to work on criminal justice for the underserved, and someone running a very cool environmental nonprofit initiative that helps migrating birds in the most creative way. I could feel the energy of people loving the intimacy and time to just TALK. I’m so grateful I get to cook for adults again as I miss it so much and I love that I have recently added even more amazing women to my life.
Last night’s menu was:
Pasta Puttanesca
Homemade Hummus
Cucumber and Tomato Salad with Lemon Garlic Dijon Vinaigrette.
Things are tough but things are good. Now hoping the money starts flowing again soon, as in this capitalist world we live in, we are always slave to the almighty dollar and that part sucks. Still, I do hope you’re enjoying every moment of your Sunday and getting in a little reading, writing, and time with people you love.
Be well.
And do Subscribe to Actual People!!!