“[I was at] my gynecologist’s office,” says Kristin van Ogtrop, author (“Did I say that out loud? Midlife Indignities and How to Survive Them” (https://amzn.to/3effm1a), literary agent, and former Editor-in-Chief of Real Simple magazine. “My enthusiasm for daily life had diminished. I was having an annual exam and I said,’ I’m depressed or going through perimenopause or need a new job’. She said, ‘Maybe all three.’” Up until that point, van Ogtrop had been a high-flying editor in the magazine publishing world who had worked her way through some of the toniest jobs in the industry--beginning at Premiere, then to Vogue, Travel & Leisure, and then to running Real Simple for 13 years. “The reason I loved [Real Simple] was because it was the first time I’d worked for a magazine where I was the reader,” she says. “The demos were basically me: busy working mother[s]...who had great full lives and needed ways to run [them] smoother.” Since Van Ogtrop grew up with a mother who was a home economics major, she knew how to make a casserole and hem a skirt--valuable skills she imparted to her harried readers. What was not so fun: when Real Simple got caught up in corporate spin-offs and industry-driven down-sizings. “Time Inc. was a public company [and there] was great pressure,” Van Ogtrop says. “[‘For] creative people [like me] in the company…[it] felt like every day you died a little inside.” After she left, Van Ogtrop became a business Goldilocks, trying on various new careers, but struggling to find her path. “One benefit of reinventing in middle age,” she says, “is not to be embarrassed to be the dumbest person in the room. I know I’ve accomplished something...in my last life and in my mid-fifties I don’t care if I look like an idiot.” Tune in to see where she ended up and how she did it.
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#50: When she couldn’t find great career advice, she invented it herself (Kathryn Minshew)
#49: Reinventing because you no longer believe (Tova Mirvis)
#48: When disruption forces you to reinvent (Bonnie Levison)
#47: Resetting to slow life down (Rachel Lightfoot)
#46: Reinventing through “subconscious surviving” (Tashyra Ayers)
#45: Moving out of stuck (Julien McRoberts)
#44: Reinventing to find your place in the world (Gretchen Rubin)
#43: The simple phrase that reinvented my life (Susan Hyatt)
#42: Finding time, money, freedom, happiness ("Downsizing Ninja" Rita Wilkins)
#41: Reinventing after taking down your boss (Gretchen Carlson)
#40: When the birth of a daughter forces you to reinvent (Mary Beth Ferrante)
#39: Reinventing with a weekend “side hustle" (Gillian Garrett)
#38: Reinventing after tragedy (Laura Dinsmore)
#37: Her dry cleaning bill made her do it (Sarah LaFleur)
#36: Reinventing against the odds (Louise Phillips Forbes)
#35: Reinventing to fill up her empty nest (Jeannie Ralston)
#34: “Fake it till you make it!” Reinventing with moxie! (Barbara Warren)
#33: Reinventing after cancer (Tamika Felder)
#32: Reinventing by teaching fearlessness (Randi Levin)
#31: When life forces you to reinvent - after an abusive relationship (Vani Murthy)
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