What do you do when you’ve spent nearly 30 years building one career, and your heart is quietly pulling you toward something different? In this week’s episode, I’m answering a question from Katie, a higher education professional in her early 50s who’s dreaming of transitioning into writing and editing.
I share why I believe that it is never too late to reinvent yourself professionally. From my grandfather who saw patients as a surgeon well into his 90s, to a friend who successfully made this exact career pivot later in life.
In this episode, I walk through practical steps for making a career transition into writing and editing, including the value of certificate programs, the mindset work that I think is as important as the tactical stuff, and why—surprise, surprise—I think writing a book might be one of the most powerful things you can do as you make this shift.
Whether you’re Katie, or you’re someone else sitting with a big career question of your own, I hope this episode leaves you inspired and reminded that change is always possible.
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Ask Stacy: Can I really build a writing and editing career in my 50s? | Episode 253 Transcript
These transcripts were generated by robots, not writers.
Stacy: Welcome. Welcome. This week I’m so excited to get to answer questions. I get so many questions from you in my inbox and Instagram, on LinkedIn and I cannot reply in detail to every single question that comes in because if I did I would have no time for my work. So I’ve saved some questions over the last few months. Not every single question. Sometimes I can send people that write me to a podcast episode or a resource, but I have some questions that are really specifically about your journey and things that you’re asking about. So today I’m going to answer one of those questions. And this question is around building a business or a new career, I should say when you’re older. So let’s see what this person asked.
Katie wrote with a question about transitioning her career into my field, into publishing, into editing, into writing. So let’s hear what she asks. Hi Stacy, I just found your podcast and really enjoy hearing about your experience as a writer slash businesswoman and expat living abroad. I studied English in college because I thought I wanted to teach but realized that wasn’t my path. So, so I pursued a higher education.
Stacy: Sorry, I pursued a career in higher education where I’ve worked for almost 30 years and she has in parentheses, gulp and have found it really rewarding. I realize now what drew me to English was my love for people’s stories. Writing as a means for communicating intentionally and powerfully about our thoughts and experiences and the connection with ourselves and one another through this process. I love editing materials and writing on my own. I wonder about beginning to edit slash write in the second half of my career. So two questions. So these are her questions. Number one, is it possible to build a career this late? She says in parentheticals. I’m in my early 50s. And two, how would I even get started doing so? I would love to hear your thoughts. Sincerely, Katie.
Stacy: Well, I love this question, first of all, because I know somebody who did this. She was maybe a little, she was a little younger, but she was still in a latter part of her career, later I should say part of her career and went back and really dove into this world of writing and Publishing and grew in this field. And she’s doing amazing work now, making a nice living working for herself. And like, she’s great. She’s amazing. So I know this is possible because I have seen it. I also have a deep belief that it’s never too late, ever, ever. That there is many stages of life and we get many opportunities to grow and remake ourselves and learn new things and change direction and do whatever we want.
Stacy: And, you know, especially, I think maybe for me, this also, this kind of idea of longevity of your life and career came from my dad’s side of the family and where many of my relatives worked until their 90s and loved what they did. In fact, my grandpa was a surgeon. And then when he got too old to do surgery, he transitioned into general medicine and he saw patients until he was 91. So he had a practice. He was open three mornings a week. He didn’t have a receptionist. He just did it his way. And so I have seen firsthand just how long a career can last, even in very physical jobs like being a doctor. So, you know, writing and editing, you don’t need to go, you know, cut into people’s bodies or even be on your feet all day.
Stacy: So it’s a really great career, I think, to transition into, especially coming from higher education, you’ve got such a great foundation for moving into this work. So some ideas for you and for anybody who’s watching this that’s really interested in this as a career path, whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, or beyond, here’s a few things that you could consider. First is you might pursue a certificate. So I don’t really think that as somebody with your background, you would need to go back and do a whole degree. I mean, actually you got a degree in English, so, you know, you have that background. But as far as getting maybe the professional qualification or just feeling like I can make this transition and having something that educates you and supports you in that transition, an editing certificate might be a good idea.
Stacy: I looked this up before responding to your question, and I saw that UCLA has an editing certificate. I can’t remember if the person I know did that one or if they did another one, but it was somewhere in California, so it was probably ucla. And you can do most of these online, and most of them are relatively short term. I think that the ones that I’ve looked at have been like nine months. So, you know, we’re not talking about four years, but it’s something that you can get a credential in that you can, you know, add to your LinkedIn profile that also I think, you know, probably, you know, a lot of it. But there is something about a transitional experience that can really help you step into that next phase.
Stacy: So this might be a great idea for you and something that you might want to consider next. And this is gonna like. It’s funny because I don’t really consider myself very like woo, but then sometimes I hear myself saying really kind of wooish things. So whatever, take this for what it is really about mindset and it’s really about what you’re feeding yourself and your brain and the possibility that you are surrounding yourself with. So this can look like not absorbing yourself in the news. It honestly, a lot of it’s going to be staying off social media and things that are going to give you anti aging messages. For me, you know, I turned 40 this year, well, last year I guess. So I’ll be 41 this year.
Stacy: And I really, you know, when you get to your 40s, you really start to be much more aware that to the messages that are telling you that you’re not enough, you know, like you should be getting Botox or you should be fighting aging or maybe you’re too old to do things and you know, on the skin thing, to each their own. But for me personally, I have chosen not to take that path. And I’ve also chosen not to feed my brain with things that encourage me to feel that aging is wrong or that like wrong. Isn’t that funny to say it’s wrong? It’s a biological process. It’s so silly. I have chosen to feed myself as much as I can, my brain. Things that encourage me with the wisdom and the expertise that I have at the age that I am.
Stacy: And so I hope that I bring that into my 50s, my 60s, my 70s, my 80s, my 90s, all the way to my goal, age of 111. That’s my goal. This can look like positive affirmations. You know, listening to something in the morning or even writing out affirmations. It can look like surrounding yourself with people who think like this, who are big minded, big hearted, driven toward big things, not people that are kind of like, you know, like, oh, it’s 10 more years, I’m done, I get to golfing. That’s not going to be the right environment for you. So this might also, I mean, you sound very like energized and intentional in your message.
Stacy: So you might already have friends like this, but if you don’t this might be something that you want to explore, finding new relationships and then just continually working on self improvement. For me, that also looks like my health and wellness, not just my mindset. And I also, I just have to caveat like whenever I share these strategies. I’m not saying that I’m perfect. I am not. You know, we’re all on a journey, but I think that the more intentional we are with our journey, the better off we’re going to be throughout our life. I mean, seems pretty obvious to me. And then lastly, I could not get away without suggesting this because I would really encourage you to consider writing a book.
Stacy: I know it’s crazy to come for me as a book strategist and coach and author and all the things, but this is for a couple of reasons. One is that learning the skill of book writing will serve you professionally, but also you will deeply understand your clients in a way that so many other editors, writers out there will not. So I would really consider this as you’re making this transition exploring writing a book. And you know, this could be professional, it could be more of a personal book. But I think that explains experience of writing will be hugely beneficial to you and to anyone else that is watching this who is not Katie, all of you who are working on anything in your lives, honestly, a book is an amazing journey, but certainly if you’re transitioning into this field professionally.
Stacy: So Katie, I really hope that was helpful. And to you who’s not Katie, I hope it was helpful for you as well. And with that, I’m going to close out this Q and A and I will see you back for the next one.
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