#136: Candace Thompson-Zachery
How Six Certifications and One Big Pivot Led a Dance Executive to Menopause Coaching at 40
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 This If...
You’re wondering if it’s “too late” to make a major change (spoiler: it absolutely isn’t)
You keep collecting certifications but can’t seem to take the first step toward actually using them
You’ve built expertise in one field but feel called to pivot, and you’re terrified of starting over as a beginner
Candace Thompson-Zachery got her first grey hairs at 25, and when her sister suggested she dye them, she felt like she was suggesting hiding a medal. “I earned these gray hairs,” she said. “I want people to see that I have some age on me. They should respect that.”
It’s this same grounded confidence (paired with a healthy dose of curiosity-driven hustle) that carried her through 20 years in New York’s dance ecosystem. From BFA student to freelance dancer to arts administrator to co-executive director of Dance/NYC, she played every possible role. She founded the Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE on $20,000. She learned to code-switch between being the dancer with five side jobs and the leader shaping policy for an entire artistic community. And then, at 40, she walked away from all of it to become a menopause and wellness coach.
Not because she was burnt out (though the arts world will test anyone’s metal). Not because she failed (she very much didn’t). But because after two decades of peeling back layers to understand how systems work, she realized the most fascinating system of all was the one inside us. The one that changes with hormones and age and life transitions. The one that nobody was really talking about, especially for women navigating the second half of life.
So she put her learner hat back on and got six certifications in two years (menopause coach, wellness coach, HR professional, Clifton strengths coach, breath coach) to become a Menopause Coach and help others through this transition.
5 Ways She Shows Us How to Build Our Courage Capital
Start before you feel completely ready—because readiness is a moving target. When Candace’s coach told her “you have a hundred times more information than the person who needs you,” it broke the spell of perpetual preparation. She found a willing beta tester (that friend we all need who says “absolutely, sign me up”), practiced on her, and learned more from those sessions than any additional certification could teach. The doing became the teacher.
Inventory your resources instead of cataloging your deficits. Most of us focus on what we don’t have: not enough money, not enough time, not enough energy, not enough experience in the new thing. Candace flipped the script. She looked at what she did have: a network of people she’d supported over two decades, transferable skills from arts administration, the lived experience of navigating multiple roles in a complex ecosystem. She also knew how to hustle (from all those years working 5+ jobs as a dancer), and that became its own form of insurance: if none of this works out, I can always hustle.
Reframe time as your ally, not your enemy (especially after 40). At 23, Candace thought 30 was old. At 30, she thought 35 was the magic adult marker. After 35, she stopped trying to predict it. Now at 40, she sees time differently: five years of building something feels like an investment in the next five years. Three years to develop mastery? That’s nothing. You’re going to get better at anything you do for five years—so the question isn’t “Am I ready?” but “What do I want to be learning for the next five years?” Time puts the perfectionist voice in its proper place, too. When you’re not afraid of yourself anymore (her words), obstacles stop feeling like endings and start feeling like information.
Name your yearnings out loud to the people who love you. When Candace shared her doubts with her small community of friends and family, she reduced their power. The people who knew her could reflect back what she couldn’t see from inside her own uncertainty. It’s not that the doubts disappeared—they just stopped being the loudest voice in the room. And she didn’t wait until she had it all figured out to share. She brought people into the process, the confusion, the “did I really do this?” moments.
Build the bridge between who you were and who you’re becoming. Candace didn’t throw away 20 years of dance and arts advocacy when she pivoted to wellness coaching. She brought it with her. She understands artists’ unique needs for executive wellness (because performing at a high level while maintaining sustainable health is literally what she did for two decades). She coaches leaders because she led vision work in one of the most complex nonprofit spaces imaginable. Her strengths-based approach? That’s an artist’s understanding of how to work with what you have rather than what you think you should have. The pivot wasn’t a rejection of her past; it was a synthesis. And that makes all the difference between starting over and starting from.
Listen to my full conversation with Candace
Lift Her Up: Supporting Candace’s Work
Follow Her Journey Instagram: @candancecreates
Work With Her Candace offers two primary coaching paths:
Executive Wellness Coaching for leaders, artists, and creatives who need to perform at a high level while building sustainable health practices. Her approach is holistic: movement, nutrition, lifestyle changes, positive mindset, social habits, and hormonal health (especially for those in perimenopause/menopause).
Strengths-Based Leadership Coaching helping leaders, artists, and creatives clarify their leadership approach and build lifestyles that support them to be the best leaders they can be.
Why Work With Her? She brings two decades of arts leadership experience, understands the unique pressures of creative work, and specializes in menopause/perimenopause support that’s often overlooked in typical wellness programs. Plus, she’s currently in the pivot herself—which means she knows exactly what it feels like to be where you might be.
Spread the Word If you know someone navigating menopause while trying to maintain high performance in their work, or an artist/creative leader who could benefit from strengths-based coaching, share Candace’s story. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do is connect people who need each other.
If You Liked This Story, Check Out These Episodes
Start with Candace’s nominator: Episode 117: Karisma Jay - The Brooklyn multi-hyphenate dancer, filmmaker, and founder of Abundance Academy who nominated Candace and shares her commitment to supporting artists and building community.
More career pivot stories:
Episode 109: Shannon Russell - Second Act Success - TV executive turned business coach helping women leave unfulfilling careers to build purpose-driven businesses
Episode 8: Julie Hartigan - Engineer-turned-chef on leaving a lucrative tech career to follow her heart
Episode 7: Susannah Ludwig - Academy Award-nominated film producer turned life coach and transitions expert
Episode 99: Dr. Shayna Kaufmann - Left a prestigious forensic psychology career at 50 to found Embrace the Middle, serving women in midlife
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