Irene:

Okay, so why don't we start with you telling me who you are and where you're from and how old you are now and what you do for a living!

Julie:

My name is Julie Collier. I'm from Alexandria, Virginia. I'm originally from Vermont. I am 59 years old and I have been a physical therapist and presently self-employed at my own business, RTW Solutions.

Irene:

Awesome. And tell us a little bit about RTW solutions.

Julie:

So RTW solutions is, as I've rebranded it now, essentially, I am a workforce performance and well-being consultant - it sounds a lot better than injury prevention and management. But essentially, I'm an occupationally-based provider looking at solutions and strategies to assist people either to stay at work, and or return to work, and/or make work more comfortable.

Irene:

Well, I'm a big believer in PT.  My physical therapist has a hard time getting rid of me.

So you're also a mother; you have a son.  What advice would you give yourself when you were a young mother?

Julie:

Keep going just one day at a time. You know, it is tough. I don't know how young families and young mothers are doing it now.  I was an older mother, but it was challenging - physically, emotionally, intellectually. So it was just each day, you know, each day is gonna be different. It was fascinating watching him grow and evolve. So it was just one step at a time, one day at a time, one event at a time. And you learn from your neighbors, you know.  I was lucky to have some supportive neighbors. So, you know, just keep going, because my son is just a wonderful human being now, so you can sit there and go, yep, just plug through it. Just be genuinely thrilled with your kids. Just enjoy it, despite it not always being enjoyable.

Irene:

So you think it's harder to be a mom today than it was 30 years ago?

Julie:

So computers didn't really start to hit until middle school. We went camping; he was outside.  The issue now is that there's so many diversions to just everyday enjoyment of life.  And so I'm glad at least with my son, we did camp, we did detach even when he was attached to things; he was okay to detach because he had already experienced the fun of detaching. But that's where families now have it a lot harder. And you can't control your kids’ exposure to electronics, at school and with school devices.

Irene:

Well, so tell us about you. What's your favorite trait about yourself?  What’s helped you get through life and all the challenges?

Julie:

I’ve gotten to thinking about where I am and what I'm doing. I've never been as least employed in 37 years as I am now, which is because of COVID.  What's going to keep me going is optimism, and I certainly know people whose first thing is a pessimistic view. But if you have an optimistic view, you know, then one step at a time.  I’m thinking about how I can get a certification, which I already planned to do anyway, but now I have a heck of a lot more time to do it.  So what an opportunity!  So I think that's a good way to look at it.  So it’s the optimism that's kind of gotten me through the ups and downs.

Irene:

So, what about the future? Do you have any ambitions for the future, either in your personal life or your business life?

Julie:

I still want to work with employees and facilitate their health and fitness. So that still is absolutely an interest. I'm kind of a lifelong learner. So I’m willing to think outside the box, but you know, my other ambitions are to do more community-based stuff -  Habitat for Humanity - you know, have an opportunity to grow my own vegetables (but not in my present home, because I don't have any spot to do that).  …To get more self-reliant, long-term, at some point retire, but I don't think retirement is going to be retirement, you know.  There's just so much more to be done.  So I think, develop kind of the next stage of my business and look at other outlets that I can have - that will satisfy that interest in helping and support.

Irene:

So you're 59.  How do you think that your generation is perceived by other generations?

Julie: 

It's an interesting question.  I came from a predominantly female profession. But in the last 16 years, I embedded myself in a predominantly male profession - fitness performance.  So I will tell you that now I'm at the age that most are retiring from this performance-related job.  In that venue, younger is better, although from a physical therapy standpoint, and the application of my skill set, that was a niche service that you don't get when you're a young therapist.  So I had created that kind of separate niche that would allow me to still be very viable, but again, younger is better in performance fitness… at least that’s the feeling I got.  I don’t believe that.  I don’t see [age] as a negative; I feel it is a negative.  Even in my profession, unfortunately, the profession has gone to a doctorate level, which means that my four-year bachelor's, you know, is not highly sought after.  It's a transition.   

I remember my mom saying, “Yeah, it's really hard – 50-55.”  I wouldn't have anticipated it, but I think every generation feels that way, because we've evolved; computers have evolved so much… social media… so many things that as an older individual now, to be marketable, you really have to stretch your wings a lot more than I think my mother's generation had to stretch their wings to maintain viability.

Irene:

Well, your mother's generation wasn't so much in the workforce, right?

Julie:

True, but she was.  She was feeling some of that as an older teacher.  And I think in her time, things went fast, but now, things are light fast.  It’s hard to keep up.  Things do change – you have to accept that they change, but you want to have some sort of continued leveling.  There's a level of wisdom that younger individuals don't see yet.  And sometimes, you have to just take a deep breath and go, you know, when you get to 35 or 40, you'll start to see why that interaction was actually valuable versus where you thought it was just slow as molasses.   So it's a mixed bag as far as what we have to do to maintain our balance in this incredibly diverse world, and at the same time, just accept where you're at and be able to go forward and appreciate it.   I look back and go, I'm so glad I'm at this point, and I'm marrying all these interests that I have, and they all help each other. It's a nice worldly view, like I no longer am a tree - I can look at the forest, and that’s a nice feeling, and you can only really do that with age.

Irene:

Is there anything else that you would like either employers, or in your case, your clients, to know about women who are 50+?

Julie:

I really feel that somebody who's older has a lot more depth to share. I think as we're older, we're maybe more collaborative, depending on our personalities. But I think we're more willing to look at group goals and make bigger impressions than just doing episodic things. I think there's a real value, especially in kind of the tricky environments that I may be in, and in healthcare, that it's not just that service.  It's that interaction.  So I think as an employer, those older individuals can really bring a lot to the picture when you're dealing with reasonable accommodations and modifications in job sites.  Those are complex interactions, and I think that's what an older individual can bring to the table.

Irene:

So what made you decide to participate in the 50 over 50 and Fabulous Beauty Photography project?

Julie:

You know, what I think is retrospective is thinking back to where 50 sounded so old.   When my mother turned 37 years old, I would have been 11 or 12.  And I remember 37 sounded so old.  But when I got to 25, it was 50. You know? And I'm like, No, you know, I've actually fared pretty well.  I always wanted a picture [of myself]. And being that I need to rebrand myself and my business, now I do I want a business picture. But I didn't want a stiff business picture. And I think the project appealed to me, in part, because it was my whole person, it wasn't just one part of me.  And learning from other women.  I kind of sit there going 59… maybe I feel like early 50s. I don't feel like 59. Now 60 is the next one. So I'm like, it's not bad. I mean, you know, you learn ways to take care of yourself, and some work, some don't. But you kind of go, wow, that’s not bad for 59. So I think it was appealing to kind of hear what others may have to say. And it wasn't just this unilateral picture, it was more of a bigger perspective of vitality… really kind of looking at how vital you are both body, mind, and in your persona.

Irene:

Well, at this point, we've finished your style and concept consultation; we have your [50 Over 50 & Fabulous Beauty Photography] session scheduled.  What are you excited most about right now?

Julie:

I think going through the pictures, just seeing how they melt, you know.  I mean, we all have the crazy side of us and the serious side. And, you know, I've never had the opportunity to kind of capture those.  So, you know, it's kind of a little nerve wracking. You know, it's like, oh, my gosh, but I think it's kind of seeing what you can capture and being surprised at what you can capture that I can't imagine.  It’ll be fun.

Explore the many facets of you and feel like a movie star in the process.