Greeting cards and cookies, oh my

Generally, when people turn 50 years old, they start to focus on pre-retirement. Yet, that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Many people find a new life in the business world as they reach their 50th birthday.

There are plenty of stories of entrepreneurs who have created wildly successful businesses after 50. Even better, many of these stories follow women, who have not only shattered the glass ceiling of gender, but of age as well.

Of course, this isn’t to say these people didn’t do well earlier in life. No, they merely decided that they weren’t ready to hang up their hat. They thought creatively about how to start a new business.

Carol Gardner, 66, started a new business based on her English Bulldog, Zelda. The humorous greeting cards, called Zelda Wisdom, is now licensed across 200 products, with sales around $50 million a year. Consider that Carol came up with this idea as she recovered from a divorce and a broken leg, and it’s even more impressive.

Carol advises that the best way to realize your dreams later in life is to build a close-knit circle of trust. She made close relationships with her publicist and artist from the very beginning.

Franny Martin, age 65, is a former marketing professional who left the corporate world at 56 to pursue her passion of baking cookies. Today, she runs Martin’s Cookies on Call, shipping 40 different cookie varieties all over the world. With hundreds of thousands in sales and a dozen employees, she has reached an excellent measure of success.

No matter who you are, how old you are, or where you are in life, success is absolutely possible. Focus all your energy on what you want, young or old, and you can do it!