Can A City Have A Second Act? Welcome to Irving, Texas

Posted by Andy Levine on with 0 Comment

We’re going to mix things up a bit with today’s episode. Instead of focusing on an individual’s story, we’re going to ask the question, “Can a city have a second act?” And that brought me to Irving, Texas – a city of about 240,000 people.

Irving has a lot going for it. It is in the center of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It is contiguous to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, the 4th busiest airport in the United States. And it has Las Colinas, an innovative business park that is home to seven Fortune 500 company headquarters including Exxon-Mobil, McKesson, and Kimberly-Clark.  

And for nearly 40 years, the city was also the home of the world-famous Dallas Cowboys football team, one of the most successful sports operations in history.

But in 2004, the city faced a traumatic event. The Dallas Cowboys announced they would be leaving Irving, opting to build a new $1.15 billion stadium in Arlington – about 25 minutes away. In 2008, the Cowboys played their last game in Irving’s Texas Stadium. And on April 11, 2010, the stadium was reduced to a pile of rubble in a controlled implosion that took less than a minute.

The City of Irving’s Texas Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys played for 37 years, was demolished in a controlled implosion on April 11, 2010.

I traveled to Irving to explore how the city responded to the Cowboys departure and adapted to keep the community moving forward.  

A Neighbor’s Dying Wish Launches A Second Act

Posted by Andy Levine on with 1 Comment

This episode takes us to Richmond, Virginia for an interview with Lynne Tickle. Lynne spent most of her adult life in the banking industry working up to a position as a senior vice president. But in December of 2015, she learned that her neighbor was dying. And that friend shared a final wish.

“Please help take care of my husband Larry after I’m gone.”

That request turned out to be a considerable challenge. The Great Recession of 2008/2009 had crippled her neighbor’s finances. So Lynne helped Larry restructure the debt on his house, obtain financing for badly-needed home repairs, find a real estate agent to help sell his home, sell antiques online, manage yard sales and document gifts to charity. In the end, she helped Larry sell his 3,500 square foot house and downsize to a 1,200 square foot home that was more financially viable.

“To say she was a great help was a total understatement,” according to Larry Kachelries. “Lynne basically took over every aspect of what I needed physically, financially and emotionally to turn the whole situation around.”

In the process, Lynne discovered a new passion: helping people like Larry get their lives together. Armed with this new experience, Lynne left the banking industry and launched a new company called Concierge on Call. The company focuses on helping individuals downsize and get back on their feet.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Download

Special thanks to Ray McAllister and the team at Boomer magazine for connecting me to Lynne Tickle. Here’s a link to Ray’s earlier article about Lynne.

A Cop Leaves The Force for Corporate America

Posted by Andy Levine on with 1 Comment

For today’s episode, I traveled to Frisco, Texas and met with Steve Paz. Since he was a boy, Steve always wanted to be a police officer and he got his chance initially as a military police officer in the Marines. He then spent twelve years with the Dallas Police Department, one of the finest police forces in the country. He was on the front lines of crack cocaine epidemic of the 1990s and encountered a number of dangerous situations which he describes in the podcast.   

In 2004, a family friend offered him an excellent corporate position – a role that he admits he was completely unqualified for at the time. He took the job which paid more money, dramatically cut his commute and offered his wife and family tremendous piece of mind.

But he also felt a loss of purpose in no longer serving among America’s finest. We talk with Steve (as well as his wife Judy) about his decision.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownload

Special thanks to my friend Dean Barber for suggesting this episode.

Lizzie Leaves Tech And Starts “The Humble Retreat”

Posted by Andy Levine on with 1 Comment

This episode takes us to the United Kingdom for an interview with Lizzie Fouracre, a 33-year-old Brit with a sparking personality. Lizzie was living the dream helping to manage a fast-growing technology company in London started by her brother Tim.

And while the pace of a technology start-up was exhilarating, over time she found herself wanting more from life. So she quit, packed up a tent and sleeping bag and decided take a six-week hike around Great Britain. And in a eureka moment at the top of a mountain in Wales, she decided to create a new venture called The Humble Retreat.

She brought on a partner — her mother Mandy Fouracre — to help manage this (the two are pictured above). Eighteen months later, this mother-daughter team couldn’t be happier working together.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownload

Click here to learn more about The Humble Retreat.

Special thanks to Miriam Christie of Careershifters for connecting me with Lizzie.  

Can One Woman Fix Foster Care? Meet Judy Cockerton

Posted by Andy Levine on with 0 Comment

“A force of nature.” That’s how one person described Judy Cockerton.  

Judy’s life changed dramatically when she became a foster parent at the age of 48. She and her husband Arthur took on the responsibility of raising two sisters aged five months and seventeen months – along with their own two kids who were 12 and 18 at the time. And for the first time she saw how flawed the child welfare system was in her home state of Massachusetts — and in America.

She developed a really simple idea to improve the system. Let’s bring together adoptive families and their children with a group of caring elders. And let’s have them live together in the same neighborhood.

So she created an organization called The Treehouse Foundation. She worked closely with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. She found a developer and helped secure $15 million in government funding. And she focused on building a model community that supports adoptive families.

I traveled to Easthampton, Massachusetts and spent a day with Judy Cockerton and the Treehouse Community of 100+ people there. It’s an amazing story.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Download

Click here to learn more about the Treehouse Foundation.

An Injury Ended His NFL Career: So He Became An Opera Singer

Posted by Andy Levine on with 0 Comment

Ta’u Pupu’a came to the United States from Kingdom of Tonga at the age of five. He grew up in a home of modest means in Salt Lake City, Utah and started playing football at the age of ten.

Legendary football coach Bill Belichick discovered him while he was playing for Weber State University and he joined the Cleveland Browns as a defensive lineman. But in his second season, a nasty injury ended his NFL career.

Despite almost no formal musical training, he decided to follow a new dream to become a professional opera singer. After struggling in New York City for five years, Ta’u met opera superstar Kiri Te Kanawa at a book signing at the gift shop of The Metropolitan Opera. And she helped him earn a scholarship to The Julliard School, America’s most prestigious music conservatory.

In the spirit of the opera world, we’re telling Ta’u’s story in four short acts.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPTDownload

To learn more about Ta’u Pupu’a and listen to some of his recordings, here’s a link to his website.

Tennis Anyone? Leaving Boeing To Become A High School Coach

Posted by Andy Levine on with 0 Comment


Joe Tedino had a long career as a journalist and public relations executive. But tennis was always his passion. So when he finally opted to retire from a senior position with Boeing, he decided to invest the time to get certified as a tennis professional. And that helped him land a position as Assistant Coach at St. Ignatius College Prep, a Jesuit high school in the heart of Chicago.

He’s been working with the boys and girls teams there for the past year and he couldn’t be happier with the change.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

And here’s a link to an article which Joe penned for Kiplinger Magazine about his move from the “Corporate World to Coaching.”

Changing His Tune: Dr. Arnie Rosen Is Now A Band Grandpa

Posted by Andy Levine on with 3 Comments


Today’s episode takes place at the Lincoln Middle School in Rockford, Illinois. I spent the morning here with Arnie Rosen, a retired doctor, and 80+ seventh and eighth graders in the school’s band room.

Dr. Rosen loved his 27-year career as a gastroenterologist in this Midwestern community. But when he finally retired two years ago he had a plan for what he wanted to do. He wanted to become a “band grandpa.”

If you’ve never heard that term “band grandpa” before, don’t feel out of the loop. Dr. Rosen actually created it two years ago.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Special thanks to John Groh, President/CEO of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, for suggesting this episode.

And here’s the full photo of Dr. Rosen with his beloved tuba (taken by fellow band grandpa Russ Stoneback).

 

The Man Who Sends College Students To Prison: Jim Farrin’s Second Act

Posted by Andy Levine on with 1 Comment


In this episode, we meet an incredible man named Jim Farrin. After a highly successful career as a globe-trotting, corporate executive, Jim helped start an organization called The Petey Greene Program.

In a nutshell, the program brings volunteer students from top colleges like Harvard, Brown, University of Pennsylvania and Columbia into prisons to serve as tutors. They help prisoners get a high school diploma/GED. The program was piloted at Princeton University and has spread to 29 different colleges and universities across the Northeast.

Jim is 82 years old today. Last year, he was one of five individuals awarded the prestigious Purpose Prize by the American Association of Retired Persons. But he is hardly retired. By his own admission he is working harder than he ever has before. And he has never been happier.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Click here to learn more about the amazing work of The Petey Greene Program.

Don’t Retire, REWIRE! 24 Minutes with Author Jeri Sedlar

Posted by Andy Levine on with 0 Comment


Career expert Jeri Sedlar wrote “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” back in 2002 with her business partner and husband Rick Miners. They were largely responsible for blowing the lid off our traditional view of American life — the “education first” – “work career second” – “retirement third” phasing.

In August 2018, they came out with a third edition of “Don’t Retire, Rewire!” based on new research and interviews.

Simply put, I loved this updated book and found it incredibly valuable in my own journey as a fellow that will hit 58 years of age in the year ahead.It definitely goes in the “Best Books About Second Acts” section of this website.

DOWNLOAD EPISODE TRANSCRIPT