It all started in 2003, when Barbara Phillips, ARNP, received ongoing requests for information about the physical changes accompanying aging. One year later she had created OlderWiserWomen®.
The site initially was born as a place for women to share their stories and thus hear from the true experts on aging, you. So initially, what was OlderWiserWomen® all about?
- It was about women telling their stories and helping redefine aging into the positive experience it’s meant to be.
- It was about stopping the negative stereotypes and embracing the miracles that happen.
- It was about learning, sharing and rejoicing as we grow wiser.
OlderWiserWomen® had been born with the mission and purpose to help women celebrate the transition, the growth, and the wisdom that occurs as we age.
We believed then and we believe now that a community of women, giving a hand, a shoulder, or a smile will make a difference to all the women on this journey. We believe that as Baby Boomer Women, we can light the path for those coming after us. We want age positive information. We want to grow into our wisdom. And we want to have fun doing it.
That was then…
Today OlderWiserWomen® no longer focuses exclusively on the physical changes we go through as we age. But don’t worry, we still have lots of health related information on this and on our sister site: www.HealthyAgingForWomen.com. So please click over and have a look around.
While we still firmly stand by our beliefs and mission, over the years OlderWiserWomen® has taken on a broader scope.
Through the years it’s become very clear that it’s all too common for women in their middle and later life years to go through major transitions. Some of us choose to make major changes, but for most of us it’s the loss of a spouse, a partner or illness that forces us to make those changes in our lives.
Many women were married for years, raising children and supporting the family as a homemaker. Others have worked in professional careers before focusing on their family for a block of time, returning to careers after children were grown and out of the house. Others yet have endured illness that took a toll on their resources and retirement.
Unfortunately many women, particularly older women, have been dependent on a husband’s income or on job skills that may be rusty, if not outdated altogether. Women find themselves left without marketable job skills (if we can even find a job given our age), without a means of support, retirement, etc.
Over the years we have heard from many women interested in starting their own business or in going back to school to update their job skills. And both Barbara and I firmly believe that no woman (or anyone for that matter) is EVER TOO OLD to start on a new path.
As we have listened to you through the years this has become our new direction…
- We continue to discuss, encourage and support healthy and successful aging for women.
- We’ll discuss and talk about issues unique to older women… the challenges of growing older, helping our children, being there for our aging parents, social life, traveling, and much more.
- We’ll be talking about financial issues many older women face as they age.
- And we’ll talk about technology: we want to help you get the know how and the skills you need to thrive in our ever changing culture, regardless if you want to start a business or just keep up with your friends. Because today, understanding and employing technology is almost as basic as knowing how to read and write.
OlderWiserWomen.com® today is primarily operated by Johanna Hofmann, MBA, LAc, a business owner and Chinese Medicine Practitioner (even though Barbara still drops in from time to time).
Both Barbara and I sincerely hope you’ll join us on this amazing journey… gain a different view point on aging, learn about different health topics, get inspired to start a new business, add income by working from home or pick up some tips to upgrade your job skills.
With a big “Welcome”,
Johanna & Barbara
PS: You may have noticed our new look. We recently moved to a new platform and our site now runs on WordPress. Because of it, many of the older posts have not made their way to our new site – yet. We are working on moving all previous content to this new site. So stay tuned…