Speaking

The Crazy Secret of Reinvention: Hire me to speak

Reinventing your life sounds tempting, no matter what your age. After 50 or 60, it becomes an imperative. However you want to live or whoever that person is that you want to be, now is the moment. There is no waiting for later.

But reinvention is not about changing jobs or retiring, or moving to a new place, or traveling – the real journey is the one that happens inside your head and your heart. Racking up adventures is easy. The challenge is to confront – and reveal – the secrets you are keeping.

At age 62, my husband and I decided to take a gap year to reinvent our lives. We left Washington D.C., after 31 years, and moved to an island off the coast of Maine. We lived in Paris for a month to learn French. We trekked for mountain gorillas, then volunteered in Africa, a lifelong dream. I thought the novelty of our adventures would get rid of a secret I had been keeping for decades: I suffer from chronic depression and anxiety. Instead my inner demons came roaring back.

At first, shame held me back. But as I talked more openly about how chronic depression has affected my life and how I deal with it, I discovered that so many others want to open up and talk about it too. Revealing my secret unlocks the secret for so many others.

Depression affects 15 million Americans and 350 people worldwide. There is a hunger for the acknowledgement of depression and anxiety as chronic conditions, especially when your life appears thriving and successful on the outside.

My TED-style talk explores the surprising journey of reinvention, from planned adventures to unexpected despair and depression, and finally to the clarity you get by unlocking a secret.

Named one of the Most Influential Women in Technology by Fast Company, I have spoken at major conferences and before business groups throughout the U.S., Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and China.

Adventures in Reinvention

Taking a Gap Year After Sixty

Below, my main stage talk at the World Domination Summit in front of an audience of 3,000. I start speaking at 00:39.

Sampling of keynotes and workshops

Sydney, AUSTRALIA: 5 Truths About Marketing to Baby Boomers [VIDEO and SLIDES]

Montreal, CANADA: Corporate Blogging: a Revolution in Corporate Communications [VIDEO]

Beijing and Shanghai, CHINA: China Blogging Tour for The Corporate Blogging Book

Dubai, UAE: Your Digital Footprint: Personal, Professional or Both? [SLIDES]

Washington D.C.: Finding Your Social Media Sweet Spot [SLIDES]

Washington D.C.: Social Media 101 [Half-day Workshop]

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