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Today I am interviewing a Florida woman who works with other people, especially women over 50, to help them feel fabulous.
Jen Hardy is the founder of the online platform Fabulous Over 50. Her vision originally started when Jen was discussing moms with health issues either on her blog or her podcast. However, after investing eight years talking about how sick she was all the time, Jen realized it was a self-fulfilling situation. As she focused on being sick, she found herself feeling sick more often. So she changed gears.
With seven children ranging in age from 11 to 30, Jen realized after she turned 50 that her whole life had been devoted to serving other people. In doing so, she had neglected the things she loved to do herself.
One of those things is podcasting. She loves interviewing other people and talking about their lives. Jen explains what it took for her to start a podcast and learn new technology to put the episodes together. Today, she has two podcasts she produces.
Fabulous Over 50 is about helping women over 50 to become fabulous by doing whatever they want to do that makes them feel that way. Whether it’s dressing in a certain way, or engaging in certain activities, Jen encourages women to just be fabulous, however they want to define it.
Her other podcast is about medical gaslighting, in which some medical professionals tend to make patients feel like everything they are experiencing is in their heads when, in fact, they are experiencing genuine physical problems that can’t be solved by taking another pill.
However, Jen is not entirely focused on women. She also addresses some issues pertinent to men over 50. For example, she recently learned that the average adult man has 0.9 friends. Jen also understands how important it is for men and women to have a sense of purpose in their lives.
Jen and I discussed a common problem impacting men and women over 50 and that their friends are either dying or moving away, and they’re not making new friends. Consequently, as people get older, they often wind up more isolated and alone. That’s not good.
We also talked about how sad it is to see people over 50 unfriending other people, especially long-time friends, over petty disagreements, like over a political issue.
Jen talks about how important it is for people to stop judging themselves for things they may have done in the past or for not meeting the expectations of others. To be truly happy, Jen said people need to be true to themselves. That especially applies to body acceptance for women over 50.
We close the interview by talking about ways women can help their husbands and the men in their lives to embrace their own sense of purpose, even when it doesn’t line up with what their wives or partners think they should be doing. But, telling men to find purpose for their lives sometimes feels like adding tasks to their to-do list, as though they are falling short in yet another area.
Both Jen and I agreed about how important it is for people over 50 to invest their time and wisdom into mentoring younger people, whether grandchildren or another person who is only a few years younger.
Many times, younger kids just want to play video games. So, to be good sports, grandpa and grandma learn how to play those games with their grandkids. However, Jen and I agreed it would be very helpful for grandparents to insist that youngsters also play a game with them that doesn’t involve screens – something they could do together while having a meaningful conversation.
You can connect with Jen by visiting www.jenhardy.net. From there, you can find links to Jen’s Fabulous Over 50 podcast. In fact, if you ever thought about starting your own podcast, Jen can provide some tips and advice to help get you going.
The interview was initially a little over an hour long. But, because we both have podcasts, Jen and I decided to interview each other. While I deleted many of my responses to her questions, you can check out my interview at some point on Jen’s website.
That’s all I have for this week’s show. If you’d like help in identifying a purpose for your life or to get help planning your next steps, I’m offering a complimentary brainstorming session to members of the Forward From 50 Facebook community. For details, connect with me on Facebook or visit www.forwardfrom50.com.
I’ll have another inspirational interview on the next episode of the Forward From 50 podcast. Thanks for listening. If you like this show, please consider leaving a review wherever you download the episodes.
After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.