Carl interviews filmmaker Sky Bergman. Sky's directorial debut, "Lives Well Lived" is currently airing on PBS, Amazon, iTunes and Kanopy. The documentary is a collection of fascinating interviews with about a dozen older adults sharing historical perspectives, their advice for future generations ad reflections on living a life well lived. Making documentaries is her second act as she is also an accomplished, award-winning photographer and still teaches photography at Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA.

Sky's parents were divorced so she grew up in Philadelphia, Florida and spent summers in upstate New York. She says she had the good fortune of living in a four-generational household. Her father was a geriatric physician. "He would come home and tell me these amazing stories about his patients. I know that colored my consciousness to want to be part of older people's lives and tell their stories."

In school, she was a bit of an introvert and a band geek. She found her passion for photography at an early age. "I fell in love with the dark room!" she says. After college she traveled the world as a professional photographer. Her artwork is included in permanent collections at the Los Angeles Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Seattle Art Museum, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, among others. Her commercial work has appeared on book covers for Random House and Farrar. She says a highlight of her photography career has been the cover of the Smithsonian Magazine in 2001. "I loved traveling and photography so I could follow both passions at the same time."

After teaching for many years, Sky (un)retired at age 56. "I wanted to make a movie about older generations and share their stories with the world." She put together a list of interesting people and a list of 20 questions for them. Carl asks her how she was able to fund the movie. "I have never let money stand in the way of what I want to do," she tells us. Sky decided the grant submission process was too lengthy for her, so she came up with a revenue-generating plan by renting out rooms in her home. She tells her visitors they are helping to fund her movie and they end up excited supporters as well. "A crazy, wonderful way to fund a film!" she acknowledges.

"Lives Well Lived" debuted to a sold-out audience of 850 with her grandmother and many of the film's subjects in attendance. It was a true highlight for Sky. She is now working on two new projects, "What is Mochitsuki?" a film celebrating family, tradition and mochi, and a documentary about the "Prime Time Band", a band of musicians aged 40 to 90 who are reigniting old passions. Sky says, "The only way to combat ageism is to make generational connections!"

Sky Bergman's (un)retirement advice:

• "Pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone makes for a more interesting life."

• "Develop a new sense of purpose after you retire. Who are you now and what do you still want to do? Whatever it is, you have to plan and think about your future. Remember, finding your sense of purpose is life-long, and can change over time."

• "Have a good support system--not just family but also friends."

• "Attitude and resilience go hand-in-hand. There are so many times in our lives when we cannot control what's happening around us. But we can control our attitude about it."

• More about Sky Bergman

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not 

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage

• (Un)Retirement Travel with the Pro Allan Wright, Zephyr Adventures

• I Used to be Somebody World Tours Tuscany, Portugal, Pickleball Adventure

Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog.

Tags:    blog   Sky Bergman   Filmmaker   Professor   Interview   World Tour   Pickleball Tour   (Un)Retirement   Carl Landau  

This week Carl has the pleasure of interviewing the one and only Dr. Bob Vogel who has moved on to a very unlikely second act. Dr. Vogel had an illustrious career as a top educator at Miami University in Ohio. (Carl took courses from Dr. Vogel in the 1970's.) After a successful, award-winning career of 40 years Bob retired. Professors usually then go into research and publishing but Bob wasn't interested in that. Instead, he embarked on an entirely new career in the entertainment industry.

Bob grew up in Long Island. After their wallpaper business went bankrupt, his family went from affluence to poverty. "The experience really shaped me," Bob says. After high school he was excited to enter college and reinvent himself again. "I am such a positive person, my family wondered if I was adopted," he laughs. In college he dreamt of going into entertainment but instead went on to graduate school, eventually obtaining his Phd and accepting a position at Miami of Ohio, teaching media and communications. "I love inspiring and encouraging young people!"

After decades in education, he was given a big send-off from students all over the country, the university established a scholarship in his name and then it was over.  Bob was not sure what he wanted to do. He made a demo CD and saw an ad for a pianist. "My wife literally had to push me out the door, my hands were shaking. I hadn't interviewed in 40 years!" But he tried out and got the job. Then a former student, Lenny Dave asked him to join his national comedy tour, adding Bob's music creating "Great Comedians and their Music". At age 80, Bob and Lenny still perform all over, delighting (mostly retired) audiences everywhere.

Dr. Bob Vogel's (Un)Retirement advice:

• "Look at your 'incompletes.' Are there some things you didn't finish that you want to achieve now?"

• "Life is like a smorgasbord. Try different things!"

• "Push beyond your comfort zone. In retirement, you have the freedom to fail. Then you can start again."

P.S. from Carl: "Take a chance! If that doesn't work out, do something else. People will admire you for trying."

• More about Dr. Bob Vogel

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage

Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” blog.

Tags:    blog   interview   Bob Vogel   Miami University   professor   comedian   entertainment  

Carl talks with Bob Tuschman, former Food Network Senior Vice President and General Manager. Plus he's had many other cool job titles, as you will learn. Bob realized even as a kid that when he grew up he wanted to be part of the entertainment world.

To say Bob worked his way up to the top is an understatement! Beginning with a job as an assistant producer on a set, (which means loading trucks at 5am, working long hours for little pay), he then seized the opportunity to work for research on a movie that Diana Ross was producing. Bob worked his way up there, eventually becoming Diana’s personal assistant and traveling the world with her.

After a short gig as an agent for actors, he returned to work for Diana when he again was presented with a new opportunity—to work as a producer for Good Morning America with ABC. Bob loved the work and advanced quickly in six years. Then it happened. While riding his bike in NYC, Bob was hit head on. He says of that time, “You can do everything right in your life and play by the rules and then get hit by a car tomorrow.” The experience made him really think hard about what he wanted to do in life and realized he wanted to try something new.

Bob left GMA and took a position as Executive Producer with this new start-up called the Food Network. The network had little budget and had been largely focused on “how-to” and learning shows. Under Bob’s management, the network moved toward entertainment and the rest is well known. Bob oversaw shows featuring Guy Fieri, Giada, Ina Garten, Bobby Flay and more.

After 16 years with the Food Network, Bob wanted to try something new again—but he knew he didn't want to work every day. He is now a professor at NYU/Stern and loving it. Some of his best advice to his students (and all of us, really): “Take any door that opens and walk through it. If you work hard, people will help you to succeed.”

Bob's unretirement success plan:

Bob decided not to craft a typical “bucket list". Instead, he created three distinct lists to make this next phase of life successful-- Curiosity, Adventure and Service. Under each category he listed all the things he’d like to accomplish. For example:

• "Curiosity" would be all the things you want to learn, like a second language or how to play an instrument.

• "Adventure" would include that mountain to climb, exotic place to visit, challenging yourself to do something that scares you.

• "Service" is about committing some of your time to making your world better, through community service, volunteering, philanthropy.

• More About Bob Tuschman:

- https://www.foodnetwork.com/profiles/talent/bob-tuschman/bio

- https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/bob-tuschman

Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.

Tags:    blog   interview   Bob Tuschman   Food Network   Exec   NYU   Professor