The Dareful Project

We’re talking sex, menopause and wellness with Rachel Braun Scherl, an entrepreneur and business builder who works with companies in the space from menstruation through menopause. She explains why we see ED advertising but not women’s sexual health ads, why menopause is having a moment and how women-led start ups are leading the way in the femtech space.  Along with OB/GYN Dr. Alyssa Dweck, Scherl also hosts Business of the V podcast, which focuses on the intersection of patients’ needs and the businesses being created to meet those needs.

https://www.facebook.com/rbscherl

https://twitter.com/RBScherl

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelbraunscherl/

https://www.instagram.com/rbscherl/

Cultural explorer and CULTIQUE CEO/Founder Linda Ong teaches us how to sift through the noise to tease out what we really need to pay attention to. We cover a lot of ground: her ethos “be like water,” how to travel like a local, why vampires and the power behind the fairy godmother club. How does this fit into cultural insights? Listen in!

And check her out on Instagram: @cultique.co

Alex Rotas is a UK-based photographer who challenges us to look new at our bodies and what we assume we're capable of. Pole vaulting in your 80s? Long jump champ at 90? Rotas is obsessed with chronicling these elite athletes who train meticulously to compete at the top of their sport. Says Rotas, you can't be what you don't see. 

Let's get smart on The Talk--the one we all need to have with our adult kids--and maybe our parents--about how we want things to roll if/when we can't make decisions. Getting us smart on how to hack the discussion is Aletha Vassilakis, an attorney who specializes in contract law. Vassilakis has also spent a lot of time serving as a mediator for couples and families. We talk about how to start the conversation, the difference between a will and a trust and why she should keep my favorite spoon. 

We're talking ageism with Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism and co-founder of the Old School Anti-Ageism Clearinghouse. Applewhite says, "the sooner growing older is stripped of reflexive dread, the better equipped we are to benefit from the countless ways in which it can enrich us." Watch Applewhite's TED talk and check out her Q&A blog, Yo, Is This Ageist?

Connect with her:

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

YouTube

I'm addicted to overthinking. Which is why we're talking about how to roll with it--a skill we need now more than ever.

Teaching us how to roll with it is Frank Santorelli, assistant clinical professor for Northern Arizona University's School of Nursing. Santorelli's job is to transform nursing students into medical professionals able to make life or death decisions in the face of stress and evolving information. Who better to teach us tools for rolling with it: empathy, curiosity and being totally present in an uncertain world. 

Frank's assignment for us: enjoy the Grateful Dead's Franklin's Tower.

We're talking women, leadership and power with Pattie Sellers, an award-winning writer, producer and multimedia journalist. In 2016 after writing for Fortune Magazine for 32 years, Sellers and fellow senior Fortune editor Nina Easton launched SellersEaston Media to tell stories of impact. We talk about what she's learned from other women leaders and her own professional journey moving from journalism to co-launching a new business. Her definition of power: "Can you define yourself in an interesting way outside of what you're supposed to be doing?"

SellersEaston Media

How do we move from beginner to mastery? Dierdre Wolownick started climbing in her 50s to understand her son Alex Honnold's world. Now she's scaled El Capitan in Yosemite with a second trip planned this fall for her 70th birthday. In this episode, we talk about gaining mastery, what it meant to climb El Cap and how our relationships with children evolve. 

Wolownick grew up in New York City and has lived and worked in many parts of the world. She began long-distance running at 55, and at 58, took up rock climbing with Alex. At 66, she became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan, the iconic 3,200-foot wall in Yosemite National Park. Check out her memoir, The Sharp End of Life: A Mother's Story

How do we choose growth and risk over the comfort of perceived safety? Author Bernadette Murphy has thought a lot about this question. She's the author of four books, most recently, Harley and Me: Embracing Risk on the Road to a More Authentic Life. She's also author of Zen and the Art of Knitting, and The Tao Gals' Guide to Real Estate. She has served as weekly book critic for the Los Angeles Times and now reviews for Kirkus. For the past 10 years, Murphy headed up the creative nonfiction genre as an associate professor of creative writing for the MFA program at Antioch University, Los Angeles. She recently joined the faculty of the Newport MFA at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EB74E4K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

"Don't ever not be curious." That's Kris Evans' advice to tapping into our creative superpowers. Evans is an award-winning makeup artist with experience in feature films, TV, commercials, music videos, fashion editorial and advertising. She started her career in New York City working with Barbara Walters, Saturday Night Live, feature films and episodic television. Her film career spans more than 35 features and she has worked with Bob Costas for every Olympics from 2002-2016.

https://krisevansmakeup.com/

Instagram: krisevans1

"What I realized about getting my pilot's license," recalls Sue Mead about her latest accomplishment, "is that I was more afraid of not trying than of trying and failing. I have to see things through." Seeing it through has also made Mead one of the best off-road drivers out there. Her goal: bring other women along--new and seasoned--to the adventure of off-road driving. And that could be you, she says.

Sue Mead's automotive career began as a freelance evaluator in 1988, on the first team that included women as testers. Today, she travels the world test-driving cars and trucks, and working as a photojournalist/feature writer. Her books include Monster Trucks and Tractors; Off Road Racing: Legends and Adventures; and Rock Crawling. She has been to 70 countries and driven enough off-road race miles to have circumnavigated the globe twice. Mead won the Open Production class at the 2011 Dakar and is an inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. She also is a private pilot.

https://www.rebellerally.com/

It was supposed to be their adventure together. Colleen Kelley and her husband Bob were in the middle of buying an "off-the-grid" lodge in Alaska when Bob suffered a fatal heart attack. Now Colleen had to decide: head back to the lower 48 or stay and build a life in Alaska on her own. She chose Alaska. And it has been a great adventure. "I've learned that you get to choose who you want to be," says Kelley.

Colleen Kelley, Ph.D., MSN, RN is owner of Clearwater Mountain Lodge on the Denali Highway, Alaska. She's also an adjunct faculty member at Alaska Pacific University, Institute of Health and Wellness.

https://clearwatermountainlodge.com/

"There is nothing that makes me feel like I don't belong more than reading profiles on dating apps," writes Martha Carr in her Los Angeles Times essay on being 67 and dating. But she also says it's been insightful journey: "I've learned relationships can be whatever I want them to be."

Martha Carr is a writer and psychotherapist in private practice in Burbank, California. Her website is: http://mcarrmft.com/

Read her essay here:

https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/story/2021-03-06/la-affairs-online-dating-at-67-feels-like-high-school

Ford futurist Sheryl Connelly doesn't see into a crystal ball but she does devote her professional life to teasing out hunches that turn into future trends. Connelly has served as Ford's corporate futurist for over 15 years, helping lead discussions on long-term thinking, planning and strategy. She's been a featured speaker around the world including TED2018 and TED Global 2013.

https://corporate.ford.com/microsites/fordtrends/index.html

Amy Lerner is a mother of two and former Wall Street trader turned adventurer whose love of adventure has taken her around the world through the sport of off-roading. In January 2021, Lerner competed in the Classic division at the Dakar Rally, a grueling 4,751-mile race across the Arabian Desert in Saudi Arabia, widely considered one of the toughest competitions in the world.

https://www.dakar.com/en/competitor/202

David Stewart is the founder of AGEIST. A passionate champion of the modern 50+ lifestyle, he frequently shares his insights with major media publications including WSJ, The Times of London, Forbes and Fortune. He also consults for a range of Fortune 500 brands and businesses.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/superage-live-better/id1514482663

https://www.weareageist.com/

As founder of Shine Scout, Lynn Casey has made it her life's work to help businesses read the tea leaves of culture, trends and emerging conversations. Like all of us, she's also been looking closely at what 2020 has brought and what 2021 is turning out to be. There are gifts that come with uncertainty, she says, if we can dive in past the breakwaters of fear. There is a whole new world just waiting for us to discover.

https://shinescout.com/

This is a podcast series about our 2.1 life. Our dareful life. 

Like you, I've built a career, raised kids, juggled life and now I need to know how the next part works. My hunch is that between the noise, there is space to reinvent ourselves.

So let's talk with people who are doing that.

Every week, I'm interviewing old and new friends about careers, adventures, relationships, our bodies, our minds and all the messiness that comes with living deeply. Living darefully.