What if the safest decision you could make is also the one keeping you stuck?

You've worked hard to build a career, earn respect, and make smart decisions. So why, when something no longer feels right, is it so difficult to change?

For accomplished women over 50, changing direction can mean risking more than a pay-check. It can mean questioning the identity you've spent decades building.

On Aging With Purpose and Passion, I sit down with Alma Derricks, a business builder and strategic advisor whose career has taken her through NBC, HBO, the early internet, and Cirque du Soleil.

Alma has spent decades navigating change, making difficult decisions, and challenging the way organizations think. And she's learned something that applies far beyond business: People say they want change, but often resist the discomfort that comes with it.

We talk about why capable women hesitate to take risks, how the need for approval can quietly shape our decisions, and why being experienced doesn't make us immune to the fear of looking inexperienced.

Alma also shares what happened during a private equity acquisition at Cirque du Soleil, when she had to defend her judgment, her team, and a brand under pressure.

And we explore a practical idea you can use yourself: creating a personal board of directors—people who help you recognize your strengths, challenge your thinking, and make decisions with greater confidence.

I'm Beverley Glazer, a work and life transition coach, and I know how often women reach a point where the life they've worked so hard to build no longer fits who they're becoming.

If you've been telling yourself to be grateful for what you have while privately wondering whether you want something different, this conversation is for you.

Because the question isn't whether you've been successful.

It's whether your definition of success still belongs to you.

Resources:

For a similar episode on making change, check out What if There's Another Way episode 187 on Aging with Purpose and Passion. And if you like podcasts for older women, Beyond Retirement helps you clarify what matters, reconnect with purpose, and build a retirement that's meaningful, intentional, and truly your own. beyondretirement.ca.

Alma Derricks – Business Builder & Strategic Advisor | Founder of REV.LA

🌐 Website: https://www.rev.la
✉️ Email: alma@rev.la
📞 Phone: 310-815-1157
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/almaderricks

Beverley Glazer, MA, CCC – Work and Life Transition Coach | Host of Aging With Purpose and Passion

🌐 Website: https://reinventimpossible.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer
📘 Facebook: https://facebook.com/beverley.glazer
👩‍💼 Women Over 50 Rock! Community: https://facebook.com/groups/womenover50rock
📸 Instagram: @beverleyglazer_reinvention

Send us Fan Mail

🎁 The Gift of a Safe Space: A private, non-judgmental zone away from work and family to focus entirely on your needs, your journey and what's next for you. If you are feeling stuck in your transition, this is your space to exhale.

Have feedback or a powerful story that's worth telling? Contact us at info@Reinventimpossible.com

What happens when the role that made you successful becomes the very thing you can't escape?

For nine years, Judy Norton was Mary Ellen Walton on the Emmy Award-winning television series The Waltons. Millions of viewers welcomed her into their homes. But when the series ended, the character people loved didn't simply disappear.

And neither did their expectations of who Judy should be.

In this episode of Aging With Purpose and Passion, Beverley Glazer, MA, CCC, ICF, a work and life transition coach for accomplished women over 50, talks with Judy Norton about life after The Waltons, Hollywood typecasting, career reinvention, and what happens to your sense of identity when the world keeps defining you by your past.

How do you move forward when people refuse to see you differently?

Judy shares the uncertainty of building a career beyond a defining role, the challenge of rebuilding confidence when opportunities are limited, and how she continued creating through theater, music, writing, and directing.

She also talks about the personal work she did to understand herself beyond Mary Ellen Walton, including her experience with Dianetics.

And when COVID disrupted familiar ways of working, Judy found herself learning something she hadn't expected: digital marketing. That led to building a YouTube channel and connecting with an audience in a different way.

But this conversation reaches far beyond Hollywood.

Because what Judy experienced is something many accomplished women over 50 recognize.

You leave a career, but people still see your former title.

Your children grow up, but everyone still expects you to be the person who takes care of everything.

You change what you want from life, but the people around you are more comfortable with who you've always been.

Sometimes the hardest part of reinvention isn't changing your life. It's allowing yourself to change when everyone else expects you to stay the same.

Whether you're navigating a career transition after 50, questioning your professional identity, or wondering who you are beyond the roles that once defined you, Judy's story raises a question that deserves more than an easy answer.

Are you holding on to who you used to be—or are you afraid of disappointing the people who still need you to be that person?

Stay until the end for Beverley's key takeaways and practical actions to help you recognize what's changing in your own life and decide what comes next.

For similar episodes on Aging with Purpose and Passion, check out Who Are You Without the Career. That's episode 181. And episode 200, Life After Loss, Who Are You Now? And if you like podcasts for older women, Reinvention Rebels shares stories of unapologetic women from 50 to 90 who have reimagined life on their own terms. That's reinventionrebels.com.

Resources

Judy Norton – Actress, Singer, Writer & Director | Mary Ellen Walton on The Waltons
🌐 Website: https://www.judynorton.com
✉️ Email: judynorton@mac.com
📸 Instagram: @officialjudynorton

Beverley Glazer, MA, CCC – Work and Life Transition Coach | Host of Aging With Purpose and Passion
🌐 Website: https://reinventimpossible.com
💼 LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/beverleyglazer
📘 Facebook: https://facebook.com/beverley.glazer
👩‍💼 Women Over 50 Rock! Community: https://facebook.com/groups/womenover50rock
📸 Instagram: @beverleyglazer_reinvention

Send us Fan Mail

🎁 The Gift of a Safe Space: A private, non-judgmental zone away from work and family to focus entirely on your needs, your journey and what's next for you. If you are feeling stuck in your transition, this is your space to exhale.

Have feedback or a powerful story that's worth telling? Contact us at info@Reinventimpossible.com