#130: Big Moves in our 40s, 50s, and 60s
Featuring Elaine Perkins, Adena Artale, and Tracy Keibler
Hi! New here? I've spent the last 20 years at the intersection of behavior change research and coaching. On The Uplifters Podcast, we share diverse stories of trailblazing, change-making women who are doing big, brave things in the second half of their lives, and showing us how we can too!
Listen to learn...
How to navigate major life transitions in later life with confidence
Strategies for building community when starting over in a new place
Why telling the right people first matters when pursuing brave goals
How to reframe failure and keep experimenting your way forward
Why following your dreams benefits everyone around you, not just yourself
This Week’s Featured Uplifters: Elaine Perkins, Adena Artale, and Tracy Keibler
We’ve been taught to believe there’s a timer on our lives. That somewhere around 40, the buzzer goes off and whatever’s in the oven is what we’re stuck with. Too late to start fresh. Too late to pivot. Too late to chase the dream you’ve been quietly carrying since childhood.
But what if that’s just a story we’ve been told? What if 40, 50, 60 are actually the moments when we finally have enough courage capital built up to leap?
In the final episode of our Late Bloomers series, where we’ve been exploring what happens when women refuse to accept that their best years are behind them, you’ll meet three members of the Uplifters community who reached out to share their stories—to prove that we can do big, brave things at any age.
Adena Artale was 45 when she stood in front of a mirror, named the dream she’d been burying for twenty years, and decided to become a professional actor. Tracy Keibler was 50, a stay-at-home mom whose husband had just lost his job, when she founded a nonprofit that’s now served over 8,000 seniors in crisis. Elaine Perkins was 60 when she packed up her entire life in Brooklyn and moved to a new state to finally become a homeowner.
Three different women. Three completely different catalysts. Three paths that others around them said were too risky, too late, too impractical.
And yet here they are, thriving in lives they designed for themselves instead of defaulting into.
None of them felt ready or had a master plan. But they took action anyway, and discovered that the anxiety we feel about staying stuck can actually be louder than the fear of making a mistake.
Today you’ll hear how Elaine created community from scratch by saying five simple words: “I’m new here.” How Adena transformed her relationship with her body by accepting it instead of fighting it. How Tracy learned nonprofit management one problem at a time, building the plane while flying it.
Their stories aren’t just proof that it’s never too late. They’re blueprints for how to actually do the thing when we don’t feel ready, when we don’t have all the answers, when everyone’s asking us if we’ve lost our minds.
Next week, we’re launching our Midlife Mindset series, diving even deeper into the mental and physical shifts that happen in midlife.
Ways These Women Show Us How to Build Our Courage Capital:
Start by telling allies and amplifiers. Elaine’s realtor met her declaration with enthusiasm, not skepticism. Adena’s husband said “go for it” without hesitation. The first people you tell matter. Choose those who reflect your possibility back to you, not your limitations. Save the skeptics for later, once your foundation is solid.
Reframe “I’m new here” as power, not deficit. Being new means you get to design rather than default. You haven’t accumulated the baggage of “that’s just how things are done.” And people often respond to honest vulnerability with surprising generosity.
Let crisis become curriculum. Tracy didn’t plan to start a nonprofit when her husband lost his job. Adena didn’t expect to become an actor after her sister’s cancer diagnosis. Elaine didn’t anticipate that her mother’s death would free her to claim her own life. But each of them recognized the moment when grief or necessity shifted the foundation enough to let something new emerge. Sometimes the worst thing that happens creates space for the best thing that could happen.
Practice one brave thing at a time. Tracy learned nonprofit management one problem at a time. Elaine created community one conversation at a time. Adena booked acting jobs one uncomfortable audition at a time. The big transformations aren’t giant leaps, but hundreds of small steps taken while your inner critic screams. Do it anyway. Then do the next thing.
Guest Bios
Elaine Perkins (64) is a retired professional who, at 60, left her Brooklyn home of six decades to pursue her lifelong dream of homeownership in Delaware. Now an author and advocate for worthiness at all ages, she’s co-authored an anthology and is building a speaking platform centered on helping people recognize they are worthy of their dreams—no matter their age or circumstances.
Adena Artale (47) is an actor who returned to her childhood passion at 45 after a family health crisis reminded her that life is too short for “someday.” Since naming her sacred dream and taking immediate action, she’s booked multiple roles and continues training and auditioning while maintaining her corporate career and family life in New Jersey.
Tracy Keibler (64) is the founder of Start Senior Solutions, a nonprofit providing crisis intervention services to older adults and caregivers in critical moments—from hospital discharge to eviction threats. What began as a necessity when her husband lost his job has grown into an organization that has impacted over 8,000 lives, all while operating on a promise: “We will stay as long as you need us.”
Lift Them Up:
Support Elaine’s Journey: Connect with her mission to inspire others on social media
Support Adena’s Acting Career: Follow her work on IMDB and social platforms as she continues booking roles and working toward the role of a lifetime
Support Tracy’s Mission: Learn more about Start Senior Solutions and their crisis intervention work with seniors at startsenior.org. If you have expertise in any area and bandwidth to offer guidance, reach out—they need advisors, not just donors.
If You Loved These Stories, Explore the Rest of Our Late Bloomers Series:
Episode 127: - Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen X Wierdo
When exactly are we supposed to have our lives figured out? At three weeks shy of 60, Sari Botton—editor, memoirist, and founder of Oldster Magazine—was still asking herself the same questions about timing and readiness that plagued her at 10. Her book And You May Find Yourself: Confessions of a Late Blooming Gen X Weirdo proves that “too late” is just a story we tell ourselves.
Episode 128: Lakshmi Rengarajan - The Later Dater
Host of The Later Dater Today podcast, Lakshmi dismantles limiting beliefs about dating after divorce, after kids, after 50, and offers a refreshing take for approaching it with curiosity.
Episode 129: Karly - Joggling Her Way to Presence
Yes, joggling—juggling while jogging. Everything changed when Karly picked up a practice that demanded total presence, coordination, and willingness to look ridiculous while learning something new. Her story is a masterclass in play, experimentation, and finding joy in the process rather than perfection in the outcome.
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