Find inspiration in these extraordinary people & the risks they take
We here at Nifty 50+ want to celebrate all the inspiring people that we highlighted in 2025. From a marketing executive who became a rock star to a person who had to literally invent making travel easier for the disabled to various people over 50 years old reinventing themselves in many challenging ways. As we say as an introduction to these stories under our section titled “You’re Too Old For That,” this a regular series that explores activities being pursued by inspiring people over 50 years old who feel you’re never too old to do what lights you up.
When you tell yourself: “This is something that deep down I’ve been wanting to do for a really long time, and just never had the balls to just say, screw it … I’m just gonna do it,” amazing things can happen. For Beth Brenner it is fronting a rock-and-roll band for the first time in her 50s … and keeping a promise to her mom. Read Beth’s story here.
Meet the planet’s only professional ‘sea stacker‘
Sea stack climbing means scaling tall rock towers that rise out of the ocean. If you think Iain Miller is 20-something, think again. This 55-year-old scales the heights and shares his love with others, guiding them up these breathtaking rock towers with nothing but ocean under them.
Miller says, “A question I get asked a lot is ‘What is your favorite climb?’ My answer is always ‘The next one.’ I’ll be done when I climb my favorite climb.” Read bout Iain’s adventures.
Turning a cancer journey into a company that heals: Meet a ‘cancer-preneur’
After a sequence of cancer diagnoses, Liz Benditt appreciated all the gift boxes she got, but she found them not especially useful. She walked away from her corporate job and invented The Balm Box.
“We interviewed 500+ patients and caregivers, online, to curate functional care packages for cancer patients,” she said. “It totally validated my business idea, and this huge disconnect between what cancer patients want and what they’re actually getting.”
In addition to a greater sense of purpose, the company gave Benditt back something she said cancer often takes away: a sense of control. Read Liz’s extraordinary story of healing.
She was told accessible travel didn’t exist, so she built it herself at age 60
Forget retirement in your 60s, how about changing the entire global short-term rental industry. Meet Lorraine Woodward, who turned her disability into a business that has helped thousands of disabled travelers. In 2021, Woodward launched Becoming rentABLE with a simple mission: make accessible short-term rentals not the exception — but the expectation.
“I feel blessed,” she said. “Everything I’ve ever done has culminated into this business,” Woodward said.
Writing through grief: A publicist becomes a novelist to fulfil her mother’s dying wish
The Cabernet Club, a novel by Rona S. Zable and Margie Zable Fisher, begins with a quote from an unknown author: “It is never too late to be who you might have been.”
In her retirement, Rona Zable started working on The Cabernet Club, dabbling for years with storylines and characters. But she never finished it before dying of pancreatic cancer in 2023.
As Zable was talking to her daughter, Margie Zable Fisher, days before Rona’s death, Zable Fisher said she wanted to get the book published. “I knew it needed some work, [but] it would be a gift to the world,” she said.
Following her mother’s death, Zable Fisher took a sabbatical from finance writing and dove deep into finishing the book and finding a publisher, a process that allowed her to work through her grief. Read their inspiring story.
A surf goddess at age 50+? You’re too old for that
Surfing has long carried the image of a young person’s sport, said Chelsea Ross, founder of Goddess Retreats, a luxury travel company that offers women-only wellness retreats in Bali. Not only has surfing been perceived as an activity for younger people, but the “surfer dude” stereotype still prevails even into the 21st century. Ross reverses these perceptions of surfing as a male-dominated sport for 20- and 30-somethings with a women-only surf retreat that has started attracting travelers ages 50+. Ross described herself as a “quintessential Gen X woman” and credited her generation, as a whole, for quietly pioneering adventure travel.
We celebrate these inspiring people – all older than 50 – telling the world that, no, we are indeed NOT too old for that.
“Long before it became visible on social media or acknowledged as a broader trend, these women were stepping away from convention and seeking deeper, more meaningful experiences — from yoga and wellness retreats to surf camps and cultural journeys,” she said. Check out Chelsea’s story.
Climbing mountains – barefoot – at age 62
It’s one thing to set out in your 60s to climb mountains, but it is quite another to do it barefoot – yes, barefoot. Meet Kenneth Posner with his goal of climbing 1,000 mountains barefoot.
“Running, hiking, climbing mountains, and all of the above when barefoot brings me an enormous sense of connection with nature, and with that comes deep joy and abundant energy, which I bring back to my day job as a corporate worker, as well as to friends, family, and community causes,” Posner explained.
Changing the beauty industry for women 50+
In a world where success stories often highlight twenty-something founders, Angel Cornelius is living proof that some of the most powerful entrepreneurial journeys begin much later in life. Today, at 65, she’s not just a founder, she’s a leader in a booming niche and a mentor to future entrepreneurs. She is the creator of Maison 276, a best-selling beauty brand created for silver and blonde hair, available at Walmart, QVC, and Amazon—and she was recently appointed as an Advisor to the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center. Follow along with Angel’s journey.
Taking a hero’s journey to find your purpose
“I was getting a little burned out by owning and operating a brick-and-mortar business, which is really challenging,” Sean McCormick says. “I got into the float tank one night and I asked the universe ‘what’s next for me?’”
Well, the universe answered in no uncertain terms. See what Sean learned and how he went on his own hero’s journey.
Walking the silk road in Uzbekistan at 78
The author asked her mother Claude Allenou — who lives in Toulouse, France when not traveling the world — why she chose Uzbekistan as her new destination, when many people in her cohort would rather go on cruises or visit more traditionally comfortable locales. She explained that this was a lifelong bucket-list dream of hers, and that she’d always wanted to explore the history of the Silk Road, the ancient trade route, in Uzbekistan.
Thanks to her mom, the author still abides by the French saying that “les voyages forment la jeunesse,” which literally means “travels shape the youth,” or, in my mom’s case, “travels keep you young.” Go on Claude’s adventure with her.
We celebrate all of these inspiring people – all older than 50 – telling the world that, no, we are indeed NOT too old for that.
