Carl is excited to interview Dan Rudd, a noted psychologist, Ironman competitor, trainer, poet, public speaker and now a wedding officiant. As a second act, Dan has officiated 35 weddings and 9 funerals. He also was a founding member of the successful "Every Man" meetings and retreats, focusing on men's issues. Right before the interview, Carl taught Dan how to play pickleball for the first time. Dan says, "I like it because you can just start playing,"

Dan was born in New York and moved to Tucson with his family at the age of 3. His mother was in poor health and his father worked seven days a week as a DJ and in Radio to support the family. As a chubby kid, Dan saw himself as not very athletic. After graduation from UC Santa Barbara, he went on to graduate school and became a psychotherapist, focusing on marriage/relationship therapy.

At 28, a friend invited Dan to participate in a triathlon at Donner Lake, taking on the swimming portion. Dan says his first thought after finishing was, "This is fun!" He eventually went on to participate in 200 triathlons and 8 Ironman competitions. More amazingly, Dan didn't compete in his first Ironman until the age of 51. "I've never been a frontrunner, but I have great endurance," Dan tells us with a smile. He says he met many good people who became friends while competing. No surprise, Dan also still trains and coaches athletes.

Dan semi-retired at 70, moving into a physical therapist's office and learning more about sports psychology. Now 75, Dan says he's retired. "I want to focus more on my inner world. The inner world is about checking in with yourself, becoming more mindful and not worrying about the past or future." Dan has two grown sons and lives with his wife Amy in the Sacramento region. He enjoys adventure travel, family, gardening, learning Spanish, meditating daily and officiating weddings. "I don't feel like I have to reinvent myself right now, I know there will be something else eventually!

Dan Rudd's (un)retirement advice:

• "The winner is the one who has the most fun!"

• "Be more kind than you need to be--to yourself and others."

• "Do what you love, do what brings you light."

• "Now you have the time to do what's important to you!"
   

• Sponsored by The Monkey Creative

• Sponsored by Capital Advantage

• Sponsored by How to Retire and Not Die
  
   

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   Dan Rudd   psychotherapist   ironman   wedding officiant   unretirement   ironman competitor   

Carl interviews Teri Fahrendorf, who left her high-tech career to become one of the first few women brewmasters in the craft brewing industry in the U.S. She says she's never been cut out for the "cubicle life" and left her well-paying job to forge a new path in the craft brewing industry. She is also the founder of the Pink Boots Society, a network for women in brewing. Teri has a tendency to forge ahead, always willing to follow her intuition to a meaningful life.

Teri has German roots, growing up with her siblings in Wisconsin. She says her parents provided an upper middle-class life until the Oil Embargo of 1973. Her father quit his job and suddenly the family's income level plummeted during her teen years. She says this experience shaped her outlook on life. "Always have a side hustle. Act like you could lose our job at any time." (It is interesting to note that many of our guests had a similar childhood experience that shaped their lives.) "I learned to be an entrepreneur at a young age," Teri tells us.

She attended the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, studying management information systems with an emphasis on COBOL programming. During college she started experimenting with making wine, but she was to follow that passion later. After graduation, she dove into the world of high tech. Over the years she began to hate it. She started home brewing on the side. In 1988, she quit her job as a programmer to attend the Siebel Institute of Chicago, where she earned a degree in brewing technology and then began her new career at Golden Gate Brewing Company in Berkley.

During her time at Golden Gate, Teri was in an accident, when boiling water caused severe damage to her legs and feet, needing surgery and skin grafts. Following that experience, Teri began speaking all over the country to brewers about promoting safety within the industry. She has also worked for Triple Rock Brewery as Head Brewer, then moved to Oregon to work for Steelhead Brewing Company. During her tenure there, she won many awards for her creations.

After 19 years in brewing, she decided to take a road trip to visit other brewers, traveling to 73 breweries across the country. While meeting some of the women in the business, she realized there was no network for connection. Teri founded the Pink Boots Society in 2008. The organization has grown from 35 members to over 2,500 members today. As the organization grew, Teri began to make an (un)retirement plan for her next creative act in life.

Today Teri lives with her husband in Portland. She started Rain Dragon Studio to pursue her passion for pottery and also to meet other artists and travel to art festivals to expand her network. Teri continues making connections and expanding her world. " I'm working at what I want, when I want!"

Teri's advice for (Un) Retirement:

• "It was important to me to have a plan in place before I (un)retired. Otherwise, I'd just be taking trips all the time."

• "Listen to your intuition--it will steer you towards your best future."

• "Keep yourself challenged, interested and excited!"

• "It's important to find new friends and tribes. When you're working, you don't necessarily have time to develop friendships."

•  More About Teri Fahrendorf: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teri_Fahrendorf

•  Teri Update: http://www.terifahrendorf.com/

•  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   unretirement   brewing   craft brewing   beer   first woman   travel   pottery  

This is a “love letter” from my wife Diana about her experience with me moving my office home.

1. Cone of Silence—That’s right, Get Smart style. Just press a button and you can have actual phone conversations without your partner “interjecting” with helpful opinions.

2. Padded Room—Not for your partner, but for yourself. Sometimes sharing the home 24/7 is all a bit too much.

3. The True Divider—This is an actual wall constructed down the middle of your one office that you have to share. Matching shelving on each side for storing YOUR very important mementos and vital personal items that your partner erroneously states are “junk.”

4. Kitchen Sweeper—Not for your floors, but for your kitchen counters where partner has left remnants of lunch, part-time work papers, backpack full of pickleballs and lots of notes written in tiny scribble that not even the cat can decipher.

5. Private Sanctuary—Uh, a certain partner uses this term for the bathroom. Whatever.

6. Discerning Doorbell—this features a speaker that says loudly, firmly yet politely, “Go Away!” for those times when neither of you want to get up and see who’s at the door.

7. Living Room—This area is actually your new office/sanctuary. As you talk on the phone, you look at the walls and imagine them padded. (See #2 above.)

8. Sports Viewing Room—It’s actually outside. Well, ok, the man or woman cave in the garage, but please, just outside.

9. Pet Throne—With all the extra time you two have now, you both spend an inordinate amount of time fawning over the pet(s). Perfect, fluffy, organic, silk pillow for Fido? Yes, Amazon!

10. Outsized Wine Rack—This feature becomes critical to survival and civility as time goes on.

Tags:    the carl diary   unretirement   home office   marriage   work from home  

I talk about getting out of your comfort zone a lot on my I Used to be Somebody show. It's is a big theme of the show and one of the reasons I started the podcast. I wanted to challenge myself to see if I could have a successful podcast after selling my company and also to help others figure out how to create their own successful second acts in life.

So I just took a big leap! I recently confessed to comedian Greg Schwem, a guest on the show, that I had just signed up for a stand-up comedy workshop. We meet for 6 weeks and for our "final" my classmates and I each get a 5 minute set in front of a LIVE audience. 

I saw this class advertised on a Facebook post. And there was no one at that moment who I could talk to, in hopes of "talking me out of it." So I immediately signed up before I chickened out. I was literally shaking as I filled in my credit card info to pay online for the workshop.

I just had my first session. Our teacher is the very talented Jack Gallagher who I actually had interviewed last spring for my show. He's been a comedian / writer / actor for 40+ years. Another reason I signed up for the workshop was to meet and get to know the other weirdos like me that want to try this stand-up thing. I wasn't disappointed. They come from all walks of life. Everyone there had a different reason for attending. We are an interesting bunch for sure but it all seemed to be good- hearted and supportive. Which is what you need in a nerve-wracked environment of stand-up comedy.

And as Jack pointed out.........a five minute set is waaaay longer than you think. It's also a very long time if you're bombing.

Jack had each one of us go up on the stage right away. He wants us to feel comfortable on that stage. Some of my classmates have already done some stand-up. Some have an acting background. Oh, and then there is me.

The first time on the stage was easy. Jack did a Q & A session with us -- our life story, why we were there and who are favorite comedians were. I did fine. The second part on stage was a complete disaster for me. Jack performed a 3 minute comedy bit and each of us took turns to repeat that set. Just about everyone was able to jump up there and do their version of the bit. I was in total panic mode while watching everyone else. 

Ironically, the set I'm working on for my own stand-up set is that I'm dyslexic and how I've had to deal with it my whole life. Sometimes my brain gets jumbled up and I don't have the skills to do exactly the task I want it to do. So my 28-second act was a disaster. My classmates politely clapped and I sat down mortified. 

I'll do another diary entry before my final stage performance. I'm actually eager to go back next week. I was successful by showing up and making the effort. I certainly got out of my comfort zone. And you know what? Nothing bad has happened to me yet.

Tags:    the carl diary   stand up comedy   comedy   comfort zone   try new things   unretirement   Jack Gallagher  

This week Carl interviews the remarkable Renel Brooks-Moon. If you haven't heard of her, you probably know her famous voice. Renel has been a big-time radio personality in the San Francisco/Bay Area for over two decades, one of the major markets in the country. For her second act, she is now the public address announcer for the San Francisco Giants. She has earned a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame as the first woman in history to be the public address announcer for a World Series game and championship game in ANY professional sport. (Note: Carl has a super-fan gush going on in this interview.)

Renel was born and raised in the Bay Area and loved to entertain, even as a young child. She comes from a family of trailblazers—her father was the first black high school principal in San Francisco and her mother was also an educator. She gets her deep sense of community service from her parents, who were long-time community activists. She went to Mills College and after graduation started an entry-level job for a Bay Area radio station, eventually doing every single job there. “I fell in love from Day One,” she tells us. She was finally offered a nightspot on air in 1985, not expecting it to ever become a career. But everything clicked. “Once I turn on that microphone, it’s where I belong!”

Renel went on to have a very successful career in radio, meeting Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Tina Turner and even singing once with Lionel Richie. Renel was in her element. When she got the call from the San Francisco Giants, she blazed a trail again. She feels a responsibility to be a role model for girls and women in both radio and major league sports. “When I was a little girl, there was no representation for that.” She inspires little girls everywhere to go after their dreams. Renel notes, “For some reason, I ended up in two very male-dominated professions, but I love the work.”

She’s had many highlights in her second act, whether it’s making history, interviewing baseball legends or giving her voice and influence to community service. Now, after 22 seasons with the Giants, Carl asks her what her third act might be. “Who knows? I've always wanted to have my own talk show!” We won't be surprised when that happens.

Renel’s (Un)Retirement Tips:

• Network: “Networking is very important, no matter what your career is or where you are in it. Every job I've had is because of a relationship.”

• Serve your community: "The most rewarding part of any job I've had is to use my voice for community service.”

• Try it now: "If you've had something you've always wanted to do since childhood, and you are still thinking about it, there’s no reason not to try it now.”

• Keep moving: “Stay on top of it. Take care of yourself, listen to your body. Mental health is just as important as physical health.” 

• More about Renel Brooks-Moon

• 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” weekly blog.

Tags:    interview   blog   baseball   san francisco   world series   san francisco giants   unretirement