Think about this for a minute. You've been in a career for over 20 years. You are well respected, and have a great reputation within the industry and you enjoy what you're doing. One day, you get the news that you are not needed in the role anymore. You are 50 years old. In this episode you will meet an inspiring, and enthusiastic woman, that had to chart a new course. Working her whole life, while raising her family, didn't allow her to make 'her time' a priority. It was at this time, when change was unexpected, allowed her to recalibrate and find out her true passion.
This episode will dig into:
What it's like to find out you are no longer needed in your role at 50 years old
Why it is so important to take time and make your time a priority when something unexpected happens and makes you change course.
What custom- tailored corporate wellness looks like and how Kristen forged ahead launching her company in her 50's.
Discussing why it's important to take the risk. If not now, when?
Kristin Markey: Founder
After spending 20+ years in corporate America, Kristin Markey; mother of three, wife, sales & marketing executive, yogi, outdoor enthusiast and overall health and fitness nut, decided she wanted to create and implement a corporate wellness program in which employees would want to participate.
Here is a link to the company
https://www.nesthealthconnections.com/
Think about this for a minute. You've been in a career for over 20 years. You are well respected, and have a great reputation within the industry and you enjoy what you're doing. One day, you get the news that you are not needed in the role anymore. You are 50 years old. In this episode you will meet an inspiring, and enthusiastic woman, that had to chart a new course. Working her whole life, while raising her family, didn't allow her to make 'her time' a priority. It was at this time, when change was unexpected, allowed her to recalibrate and find out her true passion.
This episode will dig into:
What it's like to find out you are no longer needed in your role at 50 years old
Why it is so important to take time and make your time a priority when something unexpected happens and makes you change course.
What custom- tailored corporate wellness looks like and how Kristen forged ahead launching her company in her 50's.
Discussing why it's important to take the risk. If not now, when?
Kristin Markey: Founder
After spending 20+ years in corporate America, Kristin Markey; mother of three, wife, sales & marketing executive, yogi, outdoor enthusiast and overall health and fitness nut, decided she wanted to create and implement a corporate wellness program in which employees would want to participate.
Here is a link to the company
https://www.nesthealthconnections.com/
Hey there. I'm Amy and welcome to the podcast fearlessly facing 50. This podcast is about conversations and connections and my mission is to encourage women over 40 to live their best life. You know what, ladies, we haven't peaked yet and we are just getting started. So if you're ready for some real talk with real people and real conversations about what really matters, you have found the right place. I'm ready. Are you ready? Let's get started. Let's get real
Speaker 2:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:Hey there. I'm so excited that you're here with me today on fearlessly facing 50 taking time to listen and tuning in to a great show today. I'm really excited about this show. Um, we're going to talk to a woman who will inspire you and she will also make you sit back and think for a minute about, do you ever take time for yourself? Do you ever really, you know that term self care? We throw it around, it's a buzz word. Hashtag self care. We hear it everywhere. But do we really take time for ourselves to really, or do we have the time to be honest, to reflect on what we're really passionate, passionate about, what our gifts really are. So that's what we're going to be talking about today. I wanted to start just by saying thank you to my followers, which I love to start out every episode by doing that on my website this week, I wrote a blog post about podcasts. So you can go to my, my website@afearlesslyfacingfifty.com and then you tab, click the tab for blog. You can subscribe there, which I encourage you to do. So you get all the updates, but also take a look at that. Um, little post I wrote about podcasts. I had a good friend of mine say to me, you know, Amy, I don't listen to any podcasts. I haven't listened to any of yours to be honest. I don't know where to find them. So I said, you know what? I think there's a lot of people out there. I mean, we remember books on tape. You know, podcasts actually launched in 2009 so they've been around for a while, but now it's like this buzzword. So take a look at the blog post it, it defines a little bit of what a podcast is, where you can find them and there's so many great ones out there and you can go ahead and subscribe, which allows you to get the most recent episodes. And you just do that by simply putting your email in or pushing, subscribe on wherever you search for your podcast. And then you get all the updated content. So it's a great thing to do. So remember, you can also follow me on all the social media. I'm out, I am everywhere, man. I'm telling you, I'm on Instagram at fearlessly facing 50. I've got Facebook, I've even got Twitter, I don't tweet much, but it's there. Joined the Facebook group, become part of the community. Um, it's great to get updates on what's going on and all that good stuff.
Speaker 4:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:so today we're going to be talking to a woman who really had to chart a different course
Speaker 4:at 50.
Speaker 3:So you know, we kind of go along in our roles whether we choose to stay home or we are working and we've been a career woman for our entire life
Speaker 4:change.
Speaker 3:It's usually unexpected change can definitely be good. I know that firsthand and I'm sure you do too, but change comes with a lot of uncertainty.
Speaker 4:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:so the story today reflects on a woman who has been in corporate America for years. She was doing a great job
Speaker 4:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:and all of a sudden something happened that really changed her course. She went into work one day and they said, you know what? We're not going to need you in this role anymore.
Speaker 4:Boy,
Speaker 3:think about that. You know, you're 50 years old and you've been working in this industry doing a great job. It wasn't performance related, but it's happening more and more. I recently sat with a group of women and we were talking and several of the women that were attending this particular evening were executives, corporate executives. They've been working for 2030 or more years and they said, I really get nervous some days when I walk into work. And it's because I'm so nervous about the fact that I may be replaced by someone younger by someone less expensive
Speaker 4:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:so this is happening. This is a real thing. And that's what this podcast is about is about sharing stories about people cause you're not alone. This happens all the time. And sometimes it's by choice. Sometimes we decide, Hey, I don't want to do this anymore. I think I'm going to make a change and we're going to meet some inspiring women with stories like that too, that actually take a pivot
Speaker 4:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:and today's story is going to inspire you because the woman that you're going to meet actually for the first time in her life, because she's worked her entire life, I actually didn't feel bad for putting herself first and doing what was right for her because she had some time. So this is really about becoming a priority in your life, making you a priority in your life. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine or go on your run, walk the dog and take a listen. I think you're really going to enjoy the show business after career in corporate America and close to her in her fifties when she launched this though it's a spy. It's a story that is both inspiring and eye opening. But I have to tell you before I start, I've known Kristen and I had a conversation with her after decades. I mean, it's been a long time. And I got on the phone and we started chatting. And of course we follow each other on social media so we get a glimpse into each other's lives. But what is inspiring to me about Kristin is the confidence and the positivity that this woman exudes. Um, you know, she's, she's got twists and turns in her story like everybody else. But I think when we're in our thirties or we're in our twenties or we're trying to build confidence, we always have this feeling of what's in it for me and then does something switches. You know, we build this confidence and Kristen exudes this when you hear her speak. And when you hear her story about how she inspires people to live their best life, being healthy, it's not what's in it for her, but she's totally switched that lens and it's about you. And I think that's just a gift. So I am so pleased to have Kristen here. Hello Kristen, all the way in Denver.
Speaker 5:Well thank you so much. That was the nicest intro ever. I hate you so much
Speaker 3:from the heart. I think you are just, you exude positivity and it's so fabulous and that's what this is about. It's about connections, conversations, and in your life you just meet these incredible people. So welcome. Welcome.
Speaker 5:Thank you so much. And I absolutely love what you're doing and the connections for me, the connections, we'll, we'll get to that in a minute. But um, that's, that's really what it's all about, right?
Speaker 3:It's about, yeah. Yeah. So, so let's, let's just start out simply by, all right. So people are, wherever they're listening all over the country, give us a picture of you. You don't have to go through your bio because we know how successful you are, but just give us a little picture of you. Kristen marquee. Okay.
Speaker 5:I'm a wife. I'm a mom to three fabulous older kids. I'm a lover of all things that end in ING, ING. So that was a phrase that a really good friend of mine said to me one time. She was like, you're in girl. And I'm like, what? And and it's true. I love all things that end in ING, biking, hiking, skiing, yoga, ING, you know, like all of those. Um, but I'm a Wisconsin girl just like yourself. And yeah, round a bit from the Midwest to the UK, to San Francisco to Denver. And we've spent the last 19 years in Denver raising our family. Okay. So that's been amazing. And through it all I've worked, I've always worked, I've worked for big and big and small companies. I started out in the toy industry in sales and marketing roles. And then in 2004 when my, um, when our youngest daughter was just eight months old, I moved into the fitness industry. Okay. So that was a pretty cool change. And I traveled for work. My husband traveled for work. We had our three kids or two dogs and we worked in worked, but we worked together to make it work. And somehow we always made it work.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Interesting. And that's not easy. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I always say 100% yeah. So let's share this part of your story cause this is all about sharing stories. Take me back to that day. Okay. So you're working in corporate America in a job that you love. Yup. And I think if I have the story right, it was a little bit unexpected that this was your last day and you've been so successful and all of a sudden it's like bam, I'm, I'm not needed in that role anymore. Walk me through,
Speaker 5:it was so hard, Amy. Yeah, I bet it was been. I've been with the same company. It was with Nautilus. A lot of people might know that name, a large fitness brand. And we had a lot of different brands. Like the Bowflex was one of our brand and Schwinn and stair master. And I was with that company for 12 years. I had a good reputation and my customers loved me. Um, and then one of my largest customers filed chapter 11, chapter 11. Okay. And I don't know why, I don't know why I'm very naive. Um, but I did think that I should be worried at all. I had proven myself over and over my, you know, over the course of the my 10 year and I felt like I was invincible I guess. Yeah. Um, but on that day when, when I lost my job, it was like a loss. Like I had never experienced. I was really in shock. Um, my self esteem was crushed and I was just so sad. And then I became really angry. Um, and I felt like I was angry. Like I felt discriminated based on age and sex. Um, but I just didn't have the energy to do anything about it really. I kind of felt like if I did go after that, if I really, if I pushed that, would anybody hire me in the future? And so I really wrestled with that thinking like I'm just angry and sad and mad, and what do I do with?
Speaker 3:And how old were you, Kristen, when you were let go? 49 40. That's what I thought. Okay. So it was close to 50. Yeah. So, you know, and I just had a meeting, um, kind of a, a meeting with a bunch of women gathered in a room. They didn't know each other and one of the things, and there were a lot of corporate executive women in there and they said to me, Amy, my biggest fear is they're gonna replace me with somebody else that's less expensive. You know, we reached this age and we've been so successful and bam, you're hit with something. So, so, you know, and, and you slip into this vortex of losing your identity. I talk about it all the time or becoming invisible. So how'd you overcome that?
Speaker 5:Well, I mean, honestly, after, you know, a few days of feeling sorry for myself, a few days, maybe a few weeks. I mean, like looking back, you're so positive. I mean, I'm like, I was, you know, I was in a position where I was given a package and I was thankful for that. And then I was determined to take some time for myself and figure out what was best for me. Um, and I had never ever done that. I mean, I had gone from, you know, having kids working, you know, managing the house, like just so many balls in the air. And I had never taken the time for myself. So I was like, you know what, I'm going to take the time for myself and figure out what's best for me and what that next role is. And I knew that. I mean, I, I had to, I knew I had to work financially like that I had to work. Um, so I wanted to find the best thing for me. And that's when, um, I started with my obsession of the, uh, self-help John WRA and podcast. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, by the way, I love talk. I know it's a big thing.[inaudible]
Speaker 5:yup. Yup.
Speaker 3:And when you say self care, I mean that, that is something I think we struggle with. And it's beyond self care. It's, it's just sitting back and really taking the time to reflect on I have all these gifts, so where am I gonna use them. So you really had kind of that aha moment do you think?
Speaker 5:Yeah. Yeah. I mean I had like a, like I just said like just to take some time for myself. Like this was the first opportunity. Like I could take a class, I took a 200 hour yoga teacher training class because that was something that I just never had the time for it. Like I never had the time for it would, um, you know, miss half the classes because I was traveling or had meetings or whatever. So that was something that I, I did for myself and that felt really, really
Speaker 3:good. I bet it did. I bet it did. I had a, a woman on recently that, you know, has a lot of yoga retreats and all sorts of leadership conferences and it is about kind of centering yourself and finding that. So that's lifetime learning for you right there too. I mean, you're going outside your comfort zone. I'm sure that wasn't easy just to say, all right, I'm just going to do this. 200 hours is a big commitment. Right. And I
Speaker 5:was um, really the oldest person there. Yeah. I loved it. I loved, um, and the, you know, 20 something 30 somethings. They had so many questions for me. So it was, yeah, yeah, I was definitely the mom of the group. It was an amazing experience. But through that and through, um, then, you know, the podcast and the reading, I ha I read, um, Tim Harris's five hour work week and an okay. That, I'm familiar with that. Okay. So, you know, that had a ton of different messages in it, but the real take away was do something that you love, do something that you love and it won't feel like work. And that just stuck with me. Oh my gosh. Like, I'm not going back to corporate and I had a, um, I had a Reiki session or if people don't know what that is, like a energy clearing session from a friend of mine and I fell asleep during that session and I woke up and the message to me was so strong in my head, start your own business, Christian, start your own business. And it was just through the process of taking some really self needed time for myself to like look back and reflect on my career, what I was good at, what I, what I loved, you know, outside of working and how I could bring those things together. Right. Yeah. It all came together really, really nicely. Yeah. I mean finding that balance. And you know, I've sat on another podcast too, when you Google midlife, what drops down as crisis and I think that is so horrible because it's not a time of crisis. It's a time of finding yourself and utilizing all the gifts you have. So tell me how you know about this incredible business that you've launched and why health and you know, is really at the forefront of your thinking. Yeah. Well, when I sat down to really think about my strengths, I felt I was really good at connecting people like yourself, right? Yeah. And then the business strategy of it, like understanding the needs of a company and working to develop solutions for them. And, and then my passion and my love is all things health and wellness. So I love the ever changing world of wellness and I really wanted to bring it to the workplace in a unique way. So there are, there are other types of, you know, corporate wellness and a lot of it revolves around technology, right? Right. App. Um, my company gives me money if I participate in these things and I track it all on my app or I have a Fitbit or Apple watch or whatever and they're tracking me and then I get some money off of my deductibles, whatever. Um, so there's that type of wellness and I really wanted to create something more of a high touch. Um, something, something that um, employees could touch and feel during the day. Um, so the name of my company is called nest health connections. Right. And then the link. Yeah, for sure. But I started with the work word connections because I can't, I, I'm not trained, I don't have the knowledge, I don't have the background to bring all things wealth, wellness into a company, but I have the connections to do so. Like I have the connections to some functional medicine doctors. I have the connections to great yoga and meditation people and fitness people and so on and so forth. But we were really work on bringing wellness into the culture of an organization. So not just offering classes or offering tracking, but really to, to look at the culture and say, what can we do to bring wellness in here to have a healthy, happy company? And what that results in is increased productivity and decreased health insurance costs, which are really of utmost importance to all companies. Oh, absolutely. And when I, when I, I love what you said about that too. Was your connections part of it because there could be women listening right now that are saying, ah, I can't, I can't do that. I don't, I don't have the expertise around that. I, I have an idea, but I don't know how to get there. And it is about connections, right. Amy? I beat myself up because I knew, um, you know, right away, like the, just the thought of corporate wellness excited me and I kept getting stuck on the fact like, okay, I'm not, I'm not a personal trainer. I'm not a nutritionist and not, uh, you know, I kept going to like what I was, you weren't. Yeah. When I got to the space of like, okay, how can I focus on what, what do I have? Right? And maybe it's only a couple of things, but I maximize that and knows those things and I find like really great people that add to my company on, on these other things, right? Yup, exactly. Amazing. You know, classes and bring, you know, amazing spaces and so forth to companies. Some things that I'm really proud of is our work around nutrition and cooking and fitness. And yoga and meditation. We even do veggie gardens. So we'll do, we'll do a company Workday where we'll physically build out the vegetable gardens, will have the dirt, um, brought in and we fill the boxes and we plant them. And then company employees will go out during their lunch hour and do some weeding or you know, pick the veggies and then we'll have a class, um, making all the food from the, from the garden and it just goes full circle. So it's really a combination of, um, holistic wellness. So all aspects of wellness. Um, you shared a, a story with me a couple of weeks ago, um, and I probably, I might not get it totally right, but it was something about a woman that you worked with. Um, and, and hopefully it's not disclosing too much information, but you know, she was, she was struggling in an area and you, you, you kind of recognize that you could see it as around diet and those types of things. Can you just share a little bit of that? Cause I, I found it incredible. Oh, we have so many great stories, Amy. And that's what I love because we're touching people at different, different times in their lives. Right, right. Um, you know, whether it's age or, or sex or wherever they're at, we can meet them with smart, with the messaging of small steps. So not like we're trying to hit everybody over the head with, you have to overhaul your diet, you have to go, you have to run a marathon. It's not that messaging at all. So like one of the stories I really love is, um, we create some relaxation rooms, which is, you know, basically taking like an a room that maybe was used for like a nursing room or um, you know, just like a quiet space. And we'll put in a relaxation share, like a zero gravity chair or massage chair. And I had this one woman who was seriously stressed out and she would go into that room and we have it on their outlook calendar so they can basically check out the room in 15 minute increments. And she would go in there every single day for 15 minutes. And she just started feeling better. And from there she started making small changes to her diet. She started a weight loss journey and then we also have, um, classes like fitness classes at their site and she started taking the classes, the fitness glasses, and it's just, you know, one thing led to the other and you know, over the course of the year she lost 20 pounds. Wow. You started feeling good about herself and now we're putting a second relaxation room into that. COSAM like, thanks so much sense. Yeah. So going back to like, the company sees the benefit in their employees. Just taking 15 minutes for yourself during a really, really busy day. I don't care what you're doing. If you're at home in a stressful situation or you're in the workplace, it can make a just a really, really big difference. It's awesome. I love that story. Well, one other thing that you've done that I've seen and I admire you for it because I know it's not an easy thing to do are these videos. Now we challenge each other at this age to step out of our comfort zone. Um, you're an outgoing person and all of that. So maybe this isn't difficult for you, but I've seen you on these, on these videos, you know, these, these food videos. How was that? So tell us as people listening that are thinking, I could never do that. How did you do it? Okay. So I love cooking, so that's kinda, that's kind of my thing is like, I do love cooking and I love eating as a family. So, um, and then I started with nest, you know, teaching people menu planning and, and, and teaching people how to cook really simply and with delicious, um, and whole foods. And so there was an ad in our local newspaper that they were looking to start a cooking show and a girlfriend of mine sent me the ad and she's like, you should do this. And I'm like, I am. There's no, there's zero tenths. I'm going to do that. And then the second person sent it to me, you should really audition for this. And I'm like, I am not going to do like, this is really great. Yeah. And then my husband sent it to me and he's like, this was made for you. And I like, maybe you should do it, part of your story C chapter. Yeah. So, so I just, you know, I sent a little email, whatever, my background, of course I have zero zero in and cooking like a cooking show. I don't even have good knife skills, Amy. Like I don't have anything in broadcasting journalism. I have no experience. Right. So, um, they will, but they did like proper additions and um, you know, they had, I guess they had lots of people that auditioned. And we did first I did a, you know, an interview in person and then we, we filmed it and I cooked, you know, some food for the, the whole crew and everything like that. I cooked and, and so I got the gig and, and the first day I'm doing, I'm going to the, the shoot. Right. And so we're, we're shooting in somebody else's kitchen and it's airing on our local TV station. Okay. Yeah. In Greenwood village, Colorado. And I'm getting ready for this in the morning. And I'm like, what in the world am I doing? This is a huge distraction. I was so nervous, I was so nervous. And I'm like this, I just have spent a ton of time like preparing the food and all this stuff. And the, the show format is, I'm talking to guests who are residents of our city about why they love this, why they love this city. And um, you know, how long have you been here and all sorts of things. And then cooking at the same time. So it's like, it's like a double, not only am I cooking, but I'm interviewing people and remember you are in your 50s, so you could forget things at any given moment. Correct. Oh my God. So I'm the F so I'm getting ready and I'm like, this is a distraction. What am I doing? And I'd go and I do the show and I came home and I'm like, that was so fun. I loved it. I loved it. So now we are, we just, we do like one a month or every six weeks. We're actually filming tomorrow. Um, but it has been so, so fun. I've met so many incredible people in our community that I would have never ever met before. Um, and it has just been an absolute blast.
Speaker 3:And it shows you, yeah, that you, you'd step outside your comfort zone. I mean, and it's so hard for us to do that. It's standing at the edge of that diving board and just thinking, Oh, I just don't know if I can do it. And you always do it. So, so cool. So, so where do you see yourself? So if I'm sitting with you and we do a pod cast in three years, where are you going to be? What's your vision?
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh. I want to expand nest and our vision nationally and internationally. I've just gotten some really cool, um, opportunities with, um, facilities and, and, um, property management companies. So not just companies. So, um, when you think about an office building of 30 floors, for example, we're putting in gyms and, um, relaxation spaces and yoga spaces, and we're putting on classes for these 30 floors of an office building. So I'd really like to replicate that model and expand nationally. So I think that that this model, you know, can work across our country for short and the messaging of small steps, the messaging of, you know, health and wellness is changing, you know, so dramatically every single month. There's always new information that we can share with people. And I just love that and I hope that I can just, you know, take this and run with it. National. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm sure I see that happening for sure. Um, and I think that it's so important for us to realize that you did this at 50, you know, this isn't like you were 30 and you're thinking you started this at, at 50. And I mean, that's just the beginning and that's, that's what's so cool. And that's what I keep finding when I interview and talk to women. It's just, it's, it's really, it's an incredible time. It really is. So I love it. I love that you're taking charge of what I call act to, um, making yourself a priority and using your knowledge and sharing it with others. I'm sure that people listening are like, wow, you know, there'll be able to reach out to you because I'm going to link everything to nest health connections on my website, on the podcast, on the episode so people can reach you. Um, you don't have to live in Colorado. You can live anywhere in the country, in the world, and reach Kristin and find out about her business, how she started this. And maybe you want to get involved. Maybe you want to get your company involved. So one thing I always is, I love to let my guests kind of have the last word and leave a tagline of sorts. So what would you say to women listening who are fearful of making a change, whether it's in their lifestyle habits or maybe they're trying to finish something that they started? What advice would you give them?
Speaker 5:Oh, you didn't, you didn't give me this, you didn't give me this Amy directly. I like to[inaudible] on the spot. I think there's a couple things and one is to just start, right? I think that there are so many people that have an idea or a start of an idea and you think like you need to have all the elements in place. And just starting taking that first step, um, talking to people about your idea or you know, whatever it is, taking that first step, um, is really, really important. And just, you don't have to have all the answers. Um, and I don't really love the fake it till you make it, but sometimes it, sometimes it's true, but just starting is, um, is probably my biggest advice. Um, and then on the, on the health side, um, uh, we do, we do a really cool newsletter and menu every week and I love to encourage people to cook and to try something new every single week. Um, so that's, that's my little tip there. And I love to offer for anybody who's listening, we, um, do this menu every single week. So, um, it's fabulous. So whoever wants it, um, please come to our website and sign up and you'll get an email with, um, from us every single Saturday.
Speaker 3:And now you can all see why I said at the beginning why she inspires me. Because you leave and you feel like you're not the most important person in the room. And I love that about you, Kristen. So thank you so much for taking the time and uh, we'll be in touch soon.
Speaker 5:Awesome. Thank you so much, Amy. I've loved talking to you.