IT'S NO LONGER OVER WHEN YOU'RE NO LONGER YOUNG.
GARY WEXLER
My story
Six years ago, ageism and the economy killed my thriving business as a creative consultant to corporations and nonprofits.
It didn’t make any difference that in my first career, I created award winning campaigns for clients ranging from Apple to Coca Cola. Or, that in my second career, I was a nonprofit marketer whose clients ranged from the foundations of Steven Spielberg to Ford.
But I refused to be stopped. Reinventing myself became the hardest professional and personal challenge of my life.
At the time, the world was also reinventing itself through the New Communication. I saw its power. Today, I'm a popular professor at the Number One ranking Communications school in the world, USC-Annenberg. The Annenberg experience has opened the door for me to create dynamic events such as the Red Table, client engagements, consultation and training for groups globally about the New Communication and how it works. I became a startup entrepreneur with Millennial partners. An author. And a speaker.
On another note, this resurgence is not mine alone. After reading my book, many Boomers – and folks of all ages – are reaching out to tell me their stories of reinvention.
Here is the big emerging trend: For the first time in history, an older generation is not taking a bow, doing a curtsy and leaving the stage. More and more of us are committing to remain professionally relevant—fusing our talents, experience and wisdom with the Millennial generation’s technology and new sensibilities. We are the first generation ever to #KeepGoing.
This successful struggle of reinvention against so many odds, has made me stronger, more creative, knowledgeable, passionate, insightful and put me significantly in touch with the brightest minds of the Millennial generation, as well as the realities and needs of a new era.