Felice Shapiro: Founder of the online women's magazine, Better After 50
MOVE! for the Boston Marathon and a new career
First: Boston Marathon, 2011
Second: Better After 50 – www.betterafter50.com
“Setting a big goal like the Boston Marathon was the key to Better After 50. With a Boston Marathon Medal around my neck I felt like anything was possible.” – Felice Shapiro, founder, www.betterafter50.com
Setting short-term successive goals. Running 15 miles in one week, 18 miles in another, and 20 miles in another. Taking risks and managing fears – the unknown being a major one. Overcoming obstacles including a busy schedule and back-to-back snowstorms. And keeping records with support from a partner or coach.
All these helped Felice Shapiro run her first marathon, the Boston Marathon, in 2011. They also helped her launch a new online magazine, Better After 50. She launched www.betterafter50.com just eight months after crossing the marathon finish line.
Question: Can you tell the connection between running the marathon and www.betterafter50.com?
Felice: “Having a coach to help you break barriers definitely helps. With MOVE! I was able to go for what I considered an unreasonable goal- running the Boston Marathon. I had run six or eight half marathons but the Boston Marathon seemed like a ridiculous pipe dream. Crossing the finish line in 5 hours and 27 minutes - proud and unashamed of my slogging pace - I felt inspired to go for a career goal that felt out of reach but one that I had been wanting since I’d sold my publishing company 14 years prior.
“I wanted to launch another publishing company geared to the market I knew best - women in transition - women entering their next phase - women anywhere from 47 to 64 who were empty nesting - women who were facing a crossroads and wanted to move into this phase with new perspective, energy and embrace the what’s next as scary as that is.
“So I turned to Cathy who had coached me with my running and we plotted a course to get me ready for launch. And, just as training runs build your confidence, I took the challenge to write 100 blogs over 3 months — to create a stable of articles to fill my new site and create a platform to invite in writers who also wanted to share their stories.
“From one reader on Day One we 7 unique visitors read BA50 in 2015. I have a business partner that found me the very next day after I launched the site and it turns out dreams were aligned. We have been building our site together ever since.”
Question: If there are a few major lessons you learned, what are they?
Felice: “It simple. Discipline, discipline discipline. There are no excuses for not working. Goal setting and building a vision reinforce commitment. Each one of the elements must be embraced and thought about because not every day is fun. It takes work to make stuff happen.”
Question: What would you like others to know?
Felice: “If you are talking about doing something and haven’t been able to make it happen. Get a coach. And then embrace the uncomfortable (ETU). Short-term discomfort is easy to do for long-term achievement.”
First: Boston Marathon, 2011
Second: Better After 50 – www.betterafter50.com
“Setting a big goal like the Boston Marathon was the key to Better After 50. With a Boston Marathon Medal around my neck I felt like anything was possible.” – Felice Shapiro, founder, www.betterafter50.com
Setting short-term successive goals. Running 15 miles in one week, 18 miles in another, and 20 miles in another. Taking risks and managing fears – the unknown being a major one. Overcoming obstacles including a busy schedule and back-to-back snowstorms. And keeping records with support from a partner or coach.
All these helped Felice Shapiro run her first marathon, the Boston Marathon, in 2011. They also helped her launch a new online magazine, Better After 50. She launched www.betterafter50.com just eight months after crossing the marathon finish line.
Question: Can you tell the connection between running the marathon and www.betterafter50.com?
Felice: “Having a coach to help you break barriers definitely helps. With MOVE! I was able to go for what I considered an unreasonable goal- running the Boston Marathon. I had run six or eight half marathons but the Boston Marathon seemed like a ridiculous pipe dream. Crossing the finish line in 5 hours and 27 minutes - proud and unashamed of my slogging pace - I felt inspired to go for a career goal that felt out of reach but one that I had been wanting since I’d sold my publishing company 14 years prior.
“I wanted to launch another publishing company geared to the market I knew best - women in transition - women entering their next phase - women anywhere from 47 to 64 who were empty nesting - women who were facing a crossroads and wanted to move into this phase with new perspective, energy and embrace the what’s next as scary as that is.
“So I turned to Cathy who had coached me with my running and we plotted a course to get me ready for launch. And, just as training runs build your confidence, I took the challenge to write 100 blogs over 3 months — to create a stable of articles to fill my new site and create a platform to invite in writers who also wanted to share their stories.
“From one reader on Day One we 7 unique visitors read BA50 in 2015. I have a business partner that found me the very next day after I launched the site and it turns out dreams were aligned. We have been building our site together ever since.”
Question: If there are a few major lessons you learned, what are they?
Felice: “It simple. Discipline, discipline discipline. There are no excuses for not working. Goal setting and building a vision reinforce commitment. Each one of the elements must be embraced and thought about because not every day is fun. It takes work to make stuff happen.”
Question: What would you like others to know?
Felice: “If you are talking about doing something and haven’t been able to make it happen. Get a coach. And then embrace the uncomfortable (ETU). Short-term discomfort is easy to do for long-term achievement.”