The Ten Year Evolution of Booming Encore and Me

When I launched Booming Encore in June of 2013, this was something unlike anything I had ever done before.  

It all started out simply enough. I wanted to better support my clients.

Ten years ago, I was providing consulting services for small and mid sized businesses. The one topic that kept coming up time and again with them was social media and wondering what they should be doing about it. 

I had no idea. I don’t think I even had a Facebook account back then.  

But always being an experiential learner, I thought the best way for me to learn was by doing. But the big question was – on what?  

I had spent over 28 years in the corporate world in various senior leadership positions and discovered I was in a personal state of career transition. I was enjoying consulting but wasn’t sure if this was what I wanted to keep doing for this next stage of my life. 

So, I started looking for resources to support later stage career changes and opportunities to embrace this time of life and came up pretty much empty. Back then, I had a really hard time finding reputable, credible resources.  

I spent a bit more time doing some research in this field and confirmed two things for myself; 

• The population was aging and 

• The definition of retirement just had to change 

So, my inner entrepreneur said, “if you can’t find it, create it”. 

en·core ˈän-kȯr. : a second achievement especially that surpasses the first. - Merriam Webster Dictionary 

I decided on the name Booming Encore given the large number of baby boomers (which to my surprise I discovered I was one of) and the potential encore of possibilities that we all had in front of us. My goal was to share high quality, credible and reputable information and inspiration to help older adults design and live their best later life. 

To get started, I created a basic website, opened some social media channels and then got to work researching and writing.  

For the first five years, I kept my work pretty much under the radar. I compare this time as being similar to having a professional affair. I would provide consulting services during the day and then when I had time, I would sneak off and write articles and experiment with Booming Encore’s social media channels.  

When I began, my confidence was extremely low and I really struggled with my professional identity. Throughout my professional life, I had always been recognized for my strategic planning, business transformation and organizational development expertise. In this space, I found myself continually struggling with imposter syndrome. 

I also never signed my name to my articles. My family knew what I was doing, but beyond them I only told a few close friends what I was up to. 

But over time something started to happen. 

Very slowly, Booming Encore started to gain some traction. I was finding the amount of time I was consulting was starting to decline as I dedicated more time developing Booming Encore. I started to engage with more people who were also interested in helping others in this space. I connected with some great writers and contributors who wanted to share their experiences and expertise through Booming Encore’s website and reach. 

The social media channels started to grow and our newsletter started to gain more and more subscribers.  

It had now reached a point that I had to admit that Booming Encore was now a large part of what I was doing on a daily basis. Not only to myself, but also to others. So about five years ago, I took the plunge and updated my LinkedIn profile to include Booming Encore. 

Do you want to know what happened next? 

NOTHING. 

That’s right. Nothing. I discovered through this experience, that we are often more concerned about what other people are thinking about us when in fact they are likely not thinking about us at all. 

I also discovered, through all the research, writing, analysis, webinars, courses and conversations with other subject matter experts that I had become an expert in my own right in this space. 

The rest, as they say, is history. 

Booming Encore has significantly evolved over the past ten years. Since the launch, Booming Encore has grown to be recognized as a social media influencer and top website for baby boomers, retirement and aging.  

But what about me. How have I evolved over these years? 

I have had the opportunity to meet and engage with some amazing people, co-author and contribute to two books with my wonderful colleague and friend, Mike Drak. I am also now privileged to publicly speak to others about my personal journey, some of the challenges we need to be aware of as we age and how to design and live a positive later life.  

I’ve also learned a few life lessons along the way as well. Here are a just few of them; 

Do not be constrained or defined by who you were. Discover and define who you want to be now

We are often so constrained by our past that it’s hard to imagine doing or being anything else. But I’ve discovered that this is the beauty of this time of life. This is when we can let go of the shackles of who we were (or even expected to be) and if we want, do something totally different.  

Every day, I am motivated by the prospect of possibly helping even one person live a healthier, happier later life. This is now my passion and what drives me. 

Do not underestimate your past skills and experience 

I fully admit, I was not a formal researcher, writer or social media expert and for the longest time felt that I was a fraud because of this.  

But as I now look back, I realize I was taping into skill sets I had actually developed over my 28 year career. I had extensively researched business projects, I had written many, many papers and prepared and delivered who knows how many presentations throughout my career.

As for social media, my background in technology and communications made it easy enough to pick up and understand. These were skills I had but were now just being applied to a different area of focus.  

My suggestion is don’t underestimate or limit yourself.

You have skills that may not be directly correlated to what you are doing but can be easily applied in other areas.

Plus continue to learn. This can help to keep you engaged, interested and interesting. 

Growing slowly can sometimes be a blessing

I could have grown at a faster pace but in many ways am glad that I didn’t.

Ten years is probably the longest time in my career I have dedicated to one job. But this wasn’t a standard ten-year stretch. Every day I found myself discovering, learning and doing something different. 

I nicknamed this career transition my kitchen sink strategy. Each day, through the work I was doing I created a small drip into the sink that allowed me to test, learn and grow. Over time, I discovered that my sink had eventually filled. Plus it's also good to test things and skin your knees in front of a small audience rather than a large one.

During this period, I also had to take a very close look at myself, my identity and my priorities. Who was I? What motivated me? What was really going to give me joy? What type of legacy did I want to leave? 

These were some deep questions that took a long time for me to answer. And to do this, I had to shed some of my past life, identity and ego to be able to fully embrace my future.  

This took me a long time to do.  

This is also why I’m so delighted that our book, Longevity Lifestyle by Design helps people go through this process. I took a very long route – I’m hoping that this book we are offering (to download for free!) may help shorten the process for others. 

Be aware and grateful to the people who surround you – they are the ones that listen, teach and support you  

I could not have gotten through this past ten years without the support, guidance and influence of so many amazing people. I can’t even begin to thank them all.

There is a quote that I love which seems somewhat appropriate here; 

“When the student is ready, the teacher appears” 

In my situation, this was certainly the case. I discovered you just need to be ready to recognize, receive and listen when they show up. 

So as I look back over this past ten years, I realize that I am actually now living my best booming encore and truly hope that my path will be to continue to help others to create and live theirs too!