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Beverly Pimsleur is one of those rare individuals who discovered her purpose relatively early in life.
When she was 7 years old, Beverly moved from the deep south to Columbus, Ohio, where her classmates consistently made fun of her southern accent. Even her teacher said something had to be done to tone down Beverly’s accent.
That experience helped Beverly realize just how important language was in not only understanding other people, but for fitting into society as well.
Through training, Beverly learned “Yankee” language by mimicking other people as they were speaking. She followed the same process to learn French after meeting her husband, who was a French professor.
Together, they developed a program to teach people to speak just about any language. The couple partnered with a friend who was a brilliant marketer and, shortly after Beverly’s husband died, the Pimsleur Language Program was born. For decades, people around the world learned to speak new languages by simply listening to cassette tapes.
Six years after Beverly’s husband died and all her children were in college, she and her new partner moved to France when Beverly was in her 50s.
All her friends told her she was crazy to give up a successful career in New York to move to France. But, her children were supportive and Beverly said it was a major decision she never regretted making.
But, after her partner died in France, Beverly returned to New York to be closer to her daughter and, eventually, her grandchildren. It was her daughter’s idea to develop a language program for young children.
So, they launched a company called Little Pim to teach pre-schoolers hundreds of foundational words in a dozen different languages. Yet, Beverly never stopped learning herself.
When she was in her 60s, Beverly took up dancing and learned to tango. In her late 70s, she took up writing. At first she wanted to write a book about her family history. But, others encouraged her to write a book about her love affair with language, which she hopes to publish soon.
Now in her 80s, Beverly has no intention of slowing down. With the huge influx of migrants coming to America, once her book titled “Repeat After Me,” is published later this year, Beverly intends to return to teaching English as a second language.
People can connect with Beverly by emailing her at beverlypims@gmail.com.
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.