By Greg Gerber
Founder of Forward From 50
After more than five years of sharing inspiring stories about people finding new direction later in life, Forward From 50 is taking a break for the remainder of 2026.
I started Forward From 50 because I wanted to answer a question that becomes increasingly important as we get older. What gives our lives meaning and purpose when the roles that defined us for decades begin to change?
I still believe that is an important question. But, after five years, I need some time to consider whether Forward From 50, in its current form, is the best way to help people answer it.
Why I am taking a break
Producing Forward From 50 requires website and podcast hosting, editing and security software as well as a variety of other services necessary to create and distribute content.
Unfortunately, the project does not generate enough revenue to cover those expenses.
Audience engagement has also been limited. Moving Forward, the newsletter promoting our inspirational stories, has fewer than 180 subscribers. The Forward From 50 Facebook community has about 300 members, but there is relatively little discussion surrounding the stories we publish.
Those numbers don’t necessarily mean the mission isn’t worthwhile. However, after more than five years, they do suggest it is time to evaluate what I am doing and whether there is a better way to accomplish the original goal.
The stories I really want to tell
In recent years, I have received a steady stream of interview requests from podcast brokers, book publishers and public relations agencies.
Many involve successful people who are now over 50 and continuing the careers they have enjoyed for years. Others feature people who retired after decades in a particular field and wrote books about their experiences.
Those can be interesting stories. But, they aren’t necessarily the stories I created Forward From 50 to tell.
I want to showcase people whose lives took a different direction after 50.
Perhaps they loved doing something as teenagers or young adults, but set it aside to pursue more practical careers, raise families and pay the bills. Decades later, they finally have the time and resources to rediscover something they once loved.
Others may stumble upon something completely new later in life and discover a passion they never knew existed.
Still others find ways to combine their natural talents, learned skills and decades of life experience to serve other people in ways they never imagined.
Those are the stories that excite me!
More importantly, those are the stories that can encourage someone sitting at home wondering, “Is this all there is to life?”
I want Forward From 50 to show seasoned citizens the answer can be no.
Figuring out what comes next
So, for the rest of 2026, I will be doing some soul-searching of my own.
I need to decide whether Forward From 50 is something I want to continue investing significant time and money into producing. I also want to explore ways the project could generate enough income to at least cover the cost of creating the content.
There are encouraging signs. Forward From 50 stories consistently perform well in search results, allowing people to discover the experiences, ideas and lessons shared by our guests long after their interviews are published.
But, I don’t want to continue producing content simply because I have been doing it for five years.
If Forward From 50 returns in 2027, I want it to have a clearer purpose, a more sustainable model and an even stronger focus on the people it was created to serve.
That’s where I could use your help.
If you have enjoyed Forward From 50, I would love to know what you found valuable about it. If there are things we could do differently, I would like to hear that, too.
What types of stories would you like to see? What resources could Forward From 50 provide to help people over 50 discover greater meaning and purpose? What would make you want to become more involved in the community?
Forward From 50 may be taking a break, but the question that inspired it in the first place remains:
What are you going to do with the rest of your life?
If you have ideas about how Forward From 50 can become a more valuable resource going forward, please send me a note at greg@forwardfrom50.com.
