This series explores the demographic known as Baby Boomers and how they're impacting the world around us.
Excuse Me - I'm Not Done Yet
Meet Ann - accountant turned restaurant owner. We were friends in college. She was quiet, reserved and studious. At that insecure time of my life, I was an introvert, so we gravitated together. Sometimes after class, we’d jump in my old Plymouth and go for lunch when her parents sent her extra allowance. My grandmother occassionally made us dinner and I drove her home to spend spring break at her house. After college, we kind of lost touch when I moved to Lancaster for a job. My mother kept me posted because she was an accountant in the area. I knew all about her life through my mother’s newspaper habit: “Ann’s in the Chamber of Commerce,” or “Ann’s running for school board,” or “Ann’s getting married. Are you going to the wedding?” (No, because we hadn’t actually spoken in over 10+ years.)
Then I saw her name pop up in the alumni magazine, toward the front where the graduates from the 19xx’s are listed, and I noticed she had opened an Italian restaurant. That was interesting because Ann wasn’t Italian and I couldn’t picture her as a restauranteur, but it was 35+ years since I had known her and people change. My curiousity was piqued and I talked some friends into a roadtrip in exchange for a free lunch.
Before we even finished with the salads and breadsticks, Ann approached our table and said, “Do I know you?” (A question perhaps prompted by my disconcerting stare everytime she walked in the room.) Turns out she divorced, remarried an older man of italian heritage, retired from accounting and the two of them opened this restaurant. I congratulated her on such an ambitious venture. She explained, “I wasn’t ready to retire. I just wanted to do something different and this is exciting to me. I’m not behind a desk, meet new people all the time and I’ve always liked to cook. It was a learning curve, but this place is small enough for us to handle.”
Retirement afforded Ann an opportunity to try something she didn’t have the time or finances to do earlier in her life. It was an exciting departure from a long accounting career. In her own words, “I feel like I lived one life and now I’m starting another. Everything I’ve learned working with businesses over the years, I can apply here. And I’m doing it my way!”
Then I saw her name pop up in the alumni magazine, toward the front where the graduates from the 19xx’s are listed, and I noticed she had opened an Italian restaurant. That was interesting because Ann wasn’t Italian and I couldn’t picture her as a restauranteur, but it was 35+ years since I had known her and people change. My curiousity was piqued and I talked some friends into a roadtrip in exchange for a free lunch.
Before we even finished with the salads and breadsticks, Ann approached our table and said, “Do I know you?” (A question perhaps prompted by my disconcerting stare everytime she walked in the room.) Turns out she divorced, remarried an older man of italian heritage, retired from accounting and the two of them opened this restaurant. I congratulated her on such an ambitious venture. She explained, “I wasn’t ready to retire. I just wanted to do something different and this is exciting to me. I’m not behind a desk, meet new people all the time and I’ve always liked to cook. It was a learning curve, but this place is small enough for us to handle.”
Retirement afforded Ann an opportunity to try something she didn’t have the time or finances to do earlier in her life. It was an exciting departure from a long accounting career. In her own words, “I feel like I lived one life and now I’m starting another. Everything I’ve learned working with businesses over the years, I can apply here. And I’m doing it my way!”
Entrepreneurial Boomers* are inspiring, successful and passionate. They aren’t afraid of hard work, using and/or sharing their talents with others. They’ve reached a point where they want to operate on their own terms. With life experience under their belt, they feel free to be creative, inventive and brave.
*Baby boomers are those born between 1944 and 1964. According to the “Seniors Real Estate Specialist® Council”, there are 6 major types of boomers. While no one falls entirely into one of these categories, the similarities are interesting to explore.