This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org. For years, I worked as a production account manager at an independent video store while pretending to pursue an acting career. I didn’t go to auditions, send my résumé and headshots out or try to find roles in student films. I was an actress in name only.
When I was laid off from my job in my 50s, I had a choice: pursue an acting career or try to make my living as a writer. I knew I didn’t have the skills to be an actress, and decided it was time for me to pursue a freelance writing career. I was older than most people starting out, but age gave me the ability to focus on my goals and make them happen rather than talk about them. I knew having a mentor would help me with a writing career. However, much of the mentor information that I found seemed geared toward young people embarking for the first time on their professional journeys. Older people were seen as mentors, not mentees. There was an assumption that older people didn’t need guidance since they were the ones with all the answers. While it’s true that wisdom comes with age, within that wisdom is the knowledge there’s much we don’t know. People aged 50 and up need career guidance as m …
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