Changing His Tune: Dr. Arnie Rosen Is Now A Band Grandpa

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Today’s episode takes place at the Lincoln Middle School in Rockford, Illinois. I spent the morning here with Arnie Rosen, a retired doctor, and 80+ seventh and eighth graders in the school’s band room.

Dr. Rosen loved his 27-year career as a gastroenterologist in this Midwestern community. But when he finally retired two years ago he had a plan for what he wanted to do. He wanted to become a “band grandpa.”

If you’ve never heard that term “band grandpa” before, don’t feel out of the loop. Dr. Rosen actually created it two years ago.

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Special thanks to John Groh, President/CEO of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, for suggesting this episode.

And here’s the full photo of Dr. Rosen with his beloved tuba (taken by fellow band grandpa Russ Stoneback).

 

The Man Who Sends College Students To Prison: Jim Farrin’s Second Act

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In this episode, we meet an incredible man named Jim Farrin. After a highly successful career as a globe-trotting, corporate executive, Jim helped start an organization called The Petey Greene Program.

In a nutshell, the program brings volunteer students from top colleges like Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia into prisons to serve as tutors. They help prisoners get a high school diploma/GED. The program was piloted at Princeton University and has spread to 29 different colleges and universities across the Northeast.

Jim is 82 years old today. Last year, he was one of five individuals awarded the prestigious Purpose Prize by the American Association of Retired Persons. But he is hardly retired. By his own admission he is working harder than he ever has before. And he has never been happier.

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Click here to learn more about the amazing work of The Petey Greene Program.

Don’t Retire, REWIRE! 24 Minutes with Author Jeri Sedlar

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Career expert Jeri Sedlar wrote “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” back in 2002 with her business partner and husband Rick Miners. They were largely responsible for blowing the lid off our traditional view of American life — the “education first” – “work career second” – “retirement third” phasing.

In August 2018, they came out with a third edition of “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” based on new research and interviews.

Simply put, I loved this updated book and found it incredibly valuable in my own journey as a fellow that will hit 58 years of age in the year ahead.It definitely goes in the “Best Books About Second Acts” section of this website.

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Telephone Repairman Follows A Life-Long Dream: Designing Women’s Shoes

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When I first heard Chris Donovan’s story I thought to myself, I don’t care what it takes. I have to interview this man.

It took several months and a dozen or so email exchanges. But last month, I traveled to Massachusetts with only one thing in mind: interview the telephone repairman who is now focused solely on the one thing he always wanted to do in life: design women’s shoes.

Since his junior year in high school, Chris Donovan has been sketching women’s shoes. It’s been his quiet obsession for the 30+ years. But at the age of 50, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. And he knew it was time to leave his safe job at the phone company to pursue his lifelong dream. “I need to follow this. I need to find out why I have this passion for shoes.”

Based on the recommendation of European shoe designer Aki Choklat, he was accepted to Polimoda, one of the best fashion design institutes in the world. He enrolled in an accelerated masters program and packed his bags for Florence, Italy. And while his first few months were difficult, he ended up graduating at the top of his class.

In January, 2019, he will launch a new line of shoes at Chris Donovan Footwear. Take it from Tim Gunn of Project Runway: it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

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Check out Chris’ new line of shoes on his website.

Finally, here’s a photo of Chris Donovan and his incredibly-supportive partner Steve Wierzbicki.

Identifying Your Ideal Second Act: Nancy Collamer and the 25 Questions

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Nancy Collamer is the author of Second Act Careers: 50 Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement. She is a recognized expert on career change and writes a monthly blog for the PBS site NextAvenue.org.

Our interview with Nancy focuses on an especially, powerful resource from her website (www.mylifestylecareer.com). “25 Questions to Help You Identify Your Ideal Second Act” details a series of questions in four major areas: 1) Values, 2) skills, and experience, 3) strengths, gifts and talents, 4) hopes, dreams and impossibilities, It’s a terrific exercise for anyone considering a second act.

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GET THE “25 QUESTIONS” FROM NANCY COLLAMER’S WEBSITE