Michelle and I have been having a great time discovering all these inspiring stories of famous women that have become successful later in life. We thought we would create a list of women that will hopefully get you inspired too, I know that I personally am in awe now and feel very motivated to get something done!

//VERA WANG//

Designer Vera Wang had an original dream of becoming an Olympic Figure Skater, when that didn’t work out she turned to fashion and worked her way up in the editorial world to become the Senior Fashion Editor at Vogue for 15 years. Wang was passed up for the editor-in-chief position (which Anna Wintour did get and still holds). That’s two major dashed dreams, enough to way lay even the most confident individual, but Wang didn’t quit, she re-invented. At 40 years old Vera Wang not only got married but started her eponymous and wildly successful bridal label. An incredible success story. You can read more about Vera Wang here, here, and here (at 62 years old in a bathing suit looking better than I ever have!).

//JULIA CHILD//

Probably one of the most famous names in culinary history, Julia child did not publish her first cookbook until she was 50 years old! You can read more here and here. One of my favorite children’s book ‘Julia, Child‘ here.

//LUCILLE BALL//

Lucille Ball didn’t find fame and fortune until 40 years old! At the time and at that age most actresses would have retired. Ball not only launched her show, she became a huge ground breaker being the first woman to ever run her own Hollywood studio, marrying a man 6 years younger and the list goes on and on of her achievements! You can read more here and here.

//TONI MORRISON//

Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison didn’t publish her first novel until she was 40 years old (a full-time working single mother of two at that!). You can read more here and here.

//LAURA INGALLS WILDER//

The author of the famed ‘Little House’ series, didn’t publish her first novel until she was 65 years old, she wrote 12 more after that! Read more here.

//MARTHA STEWART//

Martha Stewart didn’t catch her big break until she was 40 years old after which she became the doyenne of the domestic and the super power she is today.  Read more here.

//GRANDMA MOSES//

World renowned artist ‘Grandma Moses’ didn’t pick up a paint brush until she was 75 years old. An art collector spotted her work in a drugstore window took it to New York and a star was born. You can read more here.

Do you know of any other great stories we can add to this list?

How about celebrating your age and wearing it proudly? How about being an example for younger women and taking on a positive, happy, healthy attitude towards yourself and aging? Would we have benefited witnessing women older than ourselves celebrating themselves? How about celebrating your age and wearing it proudly? How about being an example for younger women and taking on a positive, happy, healthy attitude towards yourself and aging? Would we have benefited witnessing women older than ourselves celebrating themselves?

I only recently discovered model/entrepreneur Cindy Joseph, but I was instantly intrigued. Joseph was discovered at age 49 on the streets of NY by famed fashion photographer Steven Miesel, after which he cast her in a Dolce & Gabbana campaign and her modeling career took off from there! I love stories of people getting ‘discovered’, but to start your modeling career at 49? Amazing. Joseph has become part of the ‘pro-age’ movement a play on the ‘anti-age’ phraseology so common in the media and consumer beauty marketing and recently has become a cosmetic entrepreneur with a ‘less is more’ approach to makeup. I liked her makeup tips for ‘boomers’ (her cosmetic company is called ‘boom’), but I feel like these tips work for anyone that has started to notice there makeup routine is not working the same as it was at 30, 40, etc.

1. Use cream-based, not powder-based cosmetics on your face. Powder adds texture to skin that already has developed texture.

2. A good rule of thumb for lipstick is to find a tone that matches the inner lip or gums.

3. Women older than 50 tend to lose definition in their eyebrows. Just go with that. Don’t recreate the brows you had in your 20s.

4. This is a hard one, but do not wear any eye shadow at all (and especially no contour eye shadow in the crease because it gives the appearance of deepening the crease). A little bit of mascara is OK.

5. Tinted moisturizers don’t work. If you’re going to use a foundation to even out skin tone, find one that gives coverage but doesn’t add texture. Be willing to spend money on a foundation and take your time to experiment and find the exact right shade. Matching your skin tone exactly is critical.

You can read more about Cindy Joseph here, here and here!

I think one does feel more liberated and independent when one gets older. More honest and open with yourself and others

It seems to me that there are more and more women that are appearing in the media that are beautiful, intelligent, dynamic and ageless. Last week marked a month until a very big birthday for me. If I had to wrap my mind around the number I would probably be hiding under the covers, huddled in the fetal position, rocking slowly and mumbling nonsensically. Part of birthday’s and aging, at least for me is evaluating what I have accomplished thus far and although I am a natural optimist, I do find myself feeling like I have come up short and should have a lot more to show for all my hard work. The clock feels like it’s ticking rapidly (think time bomb) and I feel like I need to do X, Y, Z before the uhm end. I know dramatic, right? But that’s my truth right now, I suppose in a way, it is what keeps me motivated and  striving for more and by ‘more’ I don’t mean ‘things’, but experiences. After all, you cannot take the Rolls Royce or mansion with you.

We thought it would be apropos this week to feature women that are not only aging gracefully, but are kicking butt doing it. The gorgeous Linda Rodin featured, is 67 years old, she launched her beauty line only a mere 8 years ago and sold it to Estee Lauder recently if that isn’t a story to get you out of the, ‘I’m too old to…’ mentality I don’t know what will (hopefully more stories like this). We love Rodin’s super chic style (she was a fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar at one time), it suits her perfectly, although both Michelle and I wouldn’t mind emulating some of her looks. In fact, there are legions of young women that love her style and want to be Ms. Rodin when they ‘grow up’. I say why wait? The time is now to pursue your goals + dreams, yes, right now! What will I be pursuing after this little motivational kick in the pants? I do have a lot lined up currently. I was feeling a little desperate, but desperate isn’t always a bad place to be, it can be exactly what you need. I love this quote by Tom Robbins:

In life you need either inspiration or desperation.

It was a no brainer that on a beauty week the font I was going to choose to highlight would be the one used on the Nars packaging. Helvetica is a classic (they even made a documentary on it). It is one of my all time favorite fonts and I used it in various weights for the branding of my former PR company.  If I were to pull together a new logo for my brand consulting I would most likely use it again. Elegant, modern, classic, it just resonates with my minimalist vibe. Although the Nars collection launched in 1994 the packaging still feels fresh and elegant in its simplicity. This is such an excellent example of ‘less is more’. When you are designing, cut the fat, see what you can pull out, watch for things that may date your brand. I have made many a design mistake in my career, fallen into the trap of designing to please an audience instead of sticking with what I revere and I can tell you it always backfires. Find some fonts that exemplify your aesthetic I have my list, even though I will throw in a handful of hand lettered fonts for interest sometimes in things that are more ephemeral like an email blast for a client or a blog post, I won’t use a hand writing font for something like a logo (actual lettering is a different story) I don’t stray too far from my base.

How about you, are there fonts that you just adore? Let us know, we love to hear from you and I do have to say I was pleasantly surprised by last weeks font discovery as that is a font I would have never even looked at twice and now I am trying to find ways to incorporate it into projects!

//RESOURCES//

Font family

Fave Nars Cosmetics: Blush, lipgloss, illuminator, bronzer, body glow

Nars bio-This man is amazing, not only is he the founder/creative director of his namesake company, he’s also the in-house photographer and copywriter!