Today we’d like to introduce you to Wendy Green
Hi Wendy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Change has been a big part of my story.
I was born and raised in Miami, Fl. But I left home at 19, a married woman heading to North Carolina. We lived a year in Chapel Hill for my husband’s job, not for school. We moved to Boone, NC for school. Lasted one year, then back to Miami, again for a job. Back to NC, this time to Asheville, where we stayed for a few years. I was divorced there, and went back to school for my degree. My first “professional” job was in Atlanta. From there to Maryland, then Virginia, and now, hopefully to stay, in Greenville, SC.
Makes sense that I would have gotten a certification in Change Management from Georgetown while I was in the Northern Virginia area. I also got certified as a Life and Transition Coach while I was living there.
In 2013, I made the move to SC to be closer to family. My mother was living here, and my children were an hour up the mountain in Asheville. I was working remotely as a Director of Training, for a company in Annapolis, MD. That company was sold and I had to find a job locally. And then the pandemic hit, and we were all out of work.
Having weathered so much change in my life, I asked myself a few questions.
1. How did I want to feel?
2. What was important to me?
3. How could I make an impact, or what would give my life meaning?
I knew that a lot of people in my age group were going to be adversely impacted by losing their jobs. I knew how difficult it was to find new employment once we are over 50. I wanted to do something to inspire other Boomers that we are not done. We still matter. We still have a lot to do, and it is important for our health to stay active and involved, to find meaning in our lives.
I did not know anything about having a podcast. My initial foray into creating a show was to do a Facebook Live. I asked a few friends if they would be willing to be a guest on my new “show” and we were off and running.
Here I am, 4 ½ years later, with close to 200 episodes. I figured out how to create a podcast and I continue to learn and get better every day. The show, Boomer Banter – Real Talk About Aging Well, is now available on all the podcast players.
I love what I am doing, and seeing the difference it is making in other people’s lives, and in my life.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth ride. It has taken courage and resilience and a belief that things will get better. I had to struggle to get my degree, with two small children, after my divorce. Each time I moved it was generally because of a layoff or a company being sold, and I needed to find my next job. I did not live near family until I moved to SC, so I was basically on my own. Being Mom, Dad, and everything else to my kids left little time for me.
And yet, as I said, I always believed that things would get better.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
It is interesting to categorize myself as a creative. My degree was in Computer Science. My professional career was in Training and Development. When you think about it, those are creative fields also. If you are not creative, figuring out a program would be much more difficult. If you are not creative, your training would be so boring.
Now, as a creative, I host a weekly podcast. I have designed the topics, find the guests, write the scripts, create a newsletter, occasionally blog, edit the show. It is a lot, and if I do it well, it comes across as interesting and inspiring to my listeners. I am so proud of all that I have learned. I am proud that I did not give up. Many people start podcasts and then shut them down after 10 episodes. I think my passion around the topics and my audience has kept me inspired.
Many podcasts are now available for midlife transitions. Initially my podcast was focused on that also. When I turned 70, I realized that there were other things I wanted to focus on, things that need deeper exploration in this phase of our lives. I now cover 4 strategies for aging well.
1. Financial Literacy
2. Health
3. Relationships
4. Purpose
I think this shift in direction has set me apart for the field of podcasters that are primarily focusing on women in the 50’s who are going through a midlife transition.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I take on a limited number of clients, but I am not actively seeking clients. As part of Boomer Banter, I offer a monthly “Banter” which is really a community of people that comes together to talk about a variety of topics in a facilitated way.
So far this year we have talked about The Four Agreements, Breaking out of our comfort zones, Time; how we spend it, how we perceive it, and we have talked about our online presence and what information we need to leave our heirs in order to shut it down.
The Banter is a membership offering and I welcome anyone to check it out at https://buymeacoffee.com/heyboomer0413.
People can support my work by recommending great guests to me, by inviting me to be a guest on their podcast, or by listening and downloading the podcast and sharing it with friends.
They can go to my website, https://heyboomer.biz and click on Connect with us, to become a subscriber to the newsletter.
Contact Info:
- Website: https;//heyboomer.biz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boomerbanterpodcast
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HeyBoomer
