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Reinventing Your Career in Midlife: Confidence and Courage with Jeannie Zappe · Loud & Lifted

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Welcome to Loud and Lifted. Today's episode is
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such a good reminder that it's not too late to
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do something big. In fact, it may be exactly
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the right time. I sit down with Jeannie Zappe,
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speaker, swim coach, and founder of Eternal Optimist.
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At 56, Jeannie completed the triple crown of
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open water swimming, which included a 29 -mile
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swim around Manhattan, a 21 -mile swim across
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the English Channel, and a 21 -mile swim across
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the Catalina Channel. Now, that most of us can't
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relate to. But what I love most about Jeannie's
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story is that this isn't about endurance swimming.
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Before all of this, she spent 20 years in information
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technology, serving in several senior leadership
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roles within higher education. Then in 2010,
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she made a major pivot, listened to her gut,
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and reinvented herself as a swim coach, returning
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to something she loved earlier in life. In 2021,
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she launched the Eternal Optimist, a motivational
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speaking and swim coaching business. So yes,
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Jeannie has accomplished some extraordinary things
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that most of us can't even wrap our head around.
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But the bigger reason I wanted to have her on
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is because her story speaks to something so many
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women wrestle with. with quietly. Did I miss
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my window? Is it too late to reinvent myself?
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Can I still do something bold, meaningful, and
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maybe even a little crazy? Jeannie's whole message
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centers around one powerful question. What if
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I can? And honestly, that is a much better question
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than the ones most of us tend to ask ourselves.
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This conversation is about courage, confidence,
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reinvention, and what it looks like to stop counting
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yourself out before you even begin. Welcome to
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Loud and Lifted, Jeannie. Thank you so much for
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being here. Thank you for having me, Betsy. I
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am glad that you're not working like a really
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hard week in the Cayman Islands or anything like
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that. You're home, you're local, and you're...
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podcast. Yes. It's a good place to be, even though
1:55
the Cayman was wonderful. Yeah. Yes. We're going
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to talk about why you were in the Cayman the
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other week in just a minute. So before we get
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into your very interesting life today, just talk
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us through of just your background, who you are
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and how you got to where you are today. Well,
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at 60 years old, that's, I'll try to, you know,
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and I can't even believe I'm saying that number,
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but I am A coach from Mechanicsburg lived a long
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time in Lewisburg and worked at Bucknell and
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in a different career which was IT, IT support
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and landed here in Mechanicsburg 15 years ago
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where my coaching definitely has grown and one
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thing led to another when I was getting some
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certification to be a better coach. I discovered
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open water swimming and a one -mile swim around
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a lake in 2010 has led to channels and channels
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and channels. So you grew up doing the traditional
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swimming in a pool inside of high school, whatever,
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rec center type of swim. And then at what age
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did you decide that you should go to open waters?
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I was kind of a late -onset swimmer, which sounds
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kind of crazy at 8th grade, kind of late. I grew
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up with an above -ground pool in the backyard,
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and my sisters and I, you know, doing handstands
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and making whirlpools. But my parents always
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thought it was really important that we know
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how to swim. And I took swimming lessons at Knoebels.
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And when we moved right before 8th grade, we
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moved to a school that had an indoor pool. And
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they put us on the swim team. Actually, my mom
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and dad put me in adult swim lessons the summer
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after seventh grade. And I did not fit in, clearly.
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And the coach came over and went, get out of
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there and go on the swim team. You'll learn everything
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you need to learn on the swim team. And that
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was probably a big understatement. And so I became
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a swimmer in high school. and in Bloomsburg at
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Central Columbia and loved it. It was my my thing.
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And but I I took it down. I'm swimming at Penn
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State. I just didn't know anything about collegiate
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swimming. And I didn't even try and didn't walk
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on, didn't contact the coach, nothing. But I
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continue to swim and swim for fitness my whole
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life. And I raced a little bit in my in my mid
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40s, I think, in a pool. And then, I don't know,
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I got certified in efficient freestyle, teaching
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efficient freestyle. And everybody in the class
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seemed to be triathletes or open water swimmers.
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And here I was an IT person coming to get certified
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in efficient freestyle coaching. And then I thought
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I should try it out. And that was in 2010. So
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at that point, you decided, hey, I mean, swimming
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has always been a part of your life. It's been
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a passion, something you're comfortable with.
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But then it seems like you probably were really
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stepping outside your comfort zone of entering
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these open waters. which is a whole level of
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swimming, right? Like you talk about swimming,
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swimming the English channel or in water outside
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Manhattan, like that just gives me anxiety thinking
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about letting go of the distance. So what made
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you want to do that? And especially at that age,
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you know, you weren't you were 25, right? This
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wasn't like out of college. Yeah, I think I was
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45. And I think the first time I went into a
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lake in Hazelton, and did a one mile swim, I
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felt It was a combination of swimming and adventure.
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And it scared me, but it excited me more than
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it scared me. And I have a quote all over my
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house that says, do something, I think it's right
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up there, do something every day that scares
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you. And I think it's Eleanor Roosevelt, but
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I'm not sure. And I think it scared me, but.
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It was so exciting and I swam a mile so easily
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in freestyle and in high school I was not a good
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freestyler. I was a breaststroker, a butterflyer.
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Freestyle perplexed me. I just didn't know how
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to make it feel good or be fast. But now that
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I was coaching and I thought, you know, if I
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want to be a better coach, I better walk the
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walk. I can't just tell people how to swim more
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efficiently. I have to... do it so that it was
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like my lab like I learned how to coach by doing
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it and One mile led to two miles led to three
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miles led to six led to swimming down the Hudson
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in various stages of hard swims and and eventually
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Being invited on to some relays around Manhattan
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across the English Channel and Catalina Channel.
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I did them all by in six -person relays, where
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I didn't know what I was saying yes to, but I
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did. I said yes. And at the West Shore Y pool,
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a friend of mine who was 78 years old at the
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time said, do you want my spot on a Manhattan
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relay? I'm busy that day. And I didn't know what
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I was saying to Ted, but I just said yes. And
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before I knew it, I had an email that night welcoming
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me to the relay. I didn't know what I was doing
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swimming around Manhattan. So after you said
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yes, did you have second thoughts? After you
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saw that email, were you like, oh my gosh, what
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did I get myself into? How did you kind of keep
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going forward? I asked them. I said, don't you
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want to know anything about me? they're like
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now you're replacing ted you're fine you know
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so i thought okay i can do this yeah i had second
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thoughts um and then when i got there they said
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you're starting off you're leading us like so
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you have to jump in down by in the battery looking
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at the statue of liberty and start swimming in
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the east river But at the same time, this stuff
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scared me. But also I had confidence in my swimming,
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not in my open water swimming so much, but I
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had confidence in my own swimming ability enough
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that I could jump in. And when you're on a relay,
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you're doing what you're doing for five other
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people. You know, like I'm not alone. But so
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there's pressure there to not go check, please.
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I'm not going to jump in. which some people do
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and unfortunately they get to the English channel
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and they go check please I'm not getting in and
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that's not good but I yeah I I think I had the
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the encouragement of relay teams and and swimming
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for others and I wanted to do my best so I love
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that and if you think about that from a professional
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setting, right? Like we talk a lot about to build
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your confidence, you have to step outside your
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comfort zone. And people listening to this probably
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can't relate to swimming the English channel,
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but they can think about, oh, I've been hesitant
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to talk up in a meeting. I've been hesitant to
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ask for a promotion. Whatever it is, it's usually
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probably verbal, not physical for most of us.
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But has a different mental sort of approach.
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So how do you relate that to most of us listening
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to this aren't going to go swim 10 miles in terms
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of like living that in your everyday? Like how
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do we get that confidence and how do we have
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the opportunity to raise our hands, pay something
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at a meeting, but how do you sort of like look
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at that from a professional situation? Yeah,
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from a normal person situation. I mean, you said
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it, not me. I was going to introduce myself as
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a normal person. person, a normal woman, mother,
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you know, and, um, and then I realized, I, but
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I am normal. Like, I'm just, I'm not any different
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than anybody else. You do extraordinary things
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though. Well, thank you. You know, I really feel
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like we get one life and this is not, you know,
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you've, you've heard it before. It's not a dry
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run. It's not a practice, you know, and, uh,
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we, you know, live your life and live it, live
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it well and live it big. And You know that from
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Duck Donuts and your whole previous experience
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and taking a risk and being a CEO and all that
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goes along with that. I think when I talk to
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people about what I do and the mental side of
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what I do, it's really a mental thing. People
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think it's a physical thing that I do, but the
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physical thing happens because I swim all the
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time and I train and I... like yesterday was
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five thousand yards today will be five thousand
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tomorrow be something else. But i think you take
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little steps right and you know if it's speaking
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up in a meeting start speaking up with in a smaller
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in you know environment i didn't go. You know
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in twenty ten from a one mile swim in the lake.
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to 29 miles around Manhattan or 21 miles across
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the English Channel. That took from 2010 to 2021
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and 2022. So you know, if it's reaching out to
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somebody that you're afraid to talk to, picking
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up the phone when somebody says, you know, Betsy,
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you should talk to Jeannie. And, you know, because
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Kara said that to you, you know, and then you're
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like, Hey, Jeannie, let's talk. And and I say,
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Hey, Betsy, let's talk. And so you start small.
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and in safer environments, and you practice in
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small, safer environments, and build that confidence.
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So every day that I went to the pool and I did
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something that was a little difficult, or I went
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into the Hudson and swam a harder swim, I built
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that confidence. You know that. I think from
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your experience that you don't go from zero to
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60. I think the biggest thing that I that I use
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all the time is say yes. Just say yes. Like if
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somebody says at work, do you want this opportunity
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to lead this little, this team? But you're out
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of your comfort zone. But somebody is saying
12:34
that they have confidence in you. So why would
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you say no to that? You know, say yes, you will
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figure it out. What's the worst that can happen
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in most cases? Like, I'm not talking about jumping
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out of an airplane, which I won't do, by the
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way. And, you know, I will jump off of boats
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in the middle of the Pacific, which my son says
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is what his nightmares are made of. But, you
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know, I wouldn't walk into a class at the Y a
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few years ago. I was afraid to walk into an exercise
13:07
class at the Y because I thought somebody would
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judge me and say, You don't belong here. You
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don't know the moves. You don't know how to lift.
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You don't know how to do this or that. And I
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found out that I walked into the Y with friends.
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I reached out to friends and said, do you want
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to go with me? And we walked in and found a very
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welcoming environment. So it's never what you
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think it is. One of my favorite quotes recently
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is, if we can... If we can imagine the worst
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happening, why can't we imagine the best happening?
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That's so great. That's true. You know, if we
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take a risk, in all likelihood, it's going to
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work out. Right. In some regard. Yeah, absolutely.
13:51
And you hit so many good points. And you're right.
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So many times we think we have to be 100 % buttoned
13:56
up. before we raise our hand, take the promotion,
13:59
apply for another job. And the reality is no
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one ever is 100 % ready, but it's during the
14:04
training, to your point, that you can along the
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way, and then saying yes, taking that risk, because
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what's the worst that can happen? In your case,
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there could been some crazy things that happen
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to me. But in a professional setting, a lot of
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times, it's just what's the worst that can happen?
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Like you might need support, you might need to
14:22
get other additional feedback on how to do something.
14:26
But a lot of times it's just, it's moving forward
14:28
and taking that risk. But what's the best that
14:30
can happen? What if you take a risk and your
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boss says, wow, you're a natural leader? Or what
14:39
if you decide to change careers? I had a 20 -year
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career, you changed careers. I had a 20 -year
14:45
IT career. And one day I woke up and said, I'm
14:50
not an IT person anymore, or I don't think I
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am. And I don't think I want to. I don't think
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this is feeding my soul. Not that every job feeds
14:58
your soul. But I think I just had run the gamut
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at what I had done. I had all the positions I
15:06
wanted. I got a new boss and the boss said, what
15:10
do you want to do? And I said, I think I'm done.
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I think I just did everything I wanted to do
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there. And I did not know that I was going to
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go back to coaching, which I did in college.
15:22
as my summer job, but I always wanted to be a
15:25
coach. So I finally listened to my heart at age
15:30
45 and said, you know, how am I going to, how
15:34
am I going to listen to my heart? I always wanted
15:36
to be a coach. And when I went off to Penn State,
15:39
I just didn't know what to major in. How could
15:42
I be a coach? I thought I needed to be a teacher
15:44
to be a coach. I didn't ask anybody. I just tried
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to solve everything myself. Isn't there a lesson
15:52
in that? Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, and it's funny.
15:55
I have an 18 year old going to college, you know,
15:57
in the fall and we're asking these babies essentially
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to make a decision about what they major in,
16:04
what they want to be when they grow up. They
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have no idea, right? They only know what they've
16:06
been exposed to. But even as you're going through
16:08
college and you get your first job, I mean, I
16:10
remember that panic of being like, okay, is this
16:12
what I'm doing? for the rest of my life. Like
16:14
you don't have to be stuck. And even I love that
16:17
you were doing this career for 20 years and 20
16:20
years into it. You're like, you know what, I
16:22
think I need to go do something different. And
16:24
that takes such courage, right? And, and probably
16:27
support around you. But what gave you that courage
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to say, you know what, I need to, I need to totally
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switch gears here and go a different direction.
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My head to really good. work friends who had
16:40
left before me in the organization and one and
16:44
one left to go consult and One was working somewhere
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else and I distinctly remember Them taking me
16:51
out for dinner when they came back to visit and
16:54
they said Jeannie You can let go You it's okay.
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You can let go and I don't think if they would
17:02
have told me that I could let go I would have.
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I also came home and told my husband, I have
17:08
to tell you something and you can't say no to
17:11
it. And he said, what is it? And I said, I have
17:15
to quit my job. And he said, what are you going
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to do? And I said, I don't know, but I know that
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there has to be something else and something
17:24
else that feeds my soul. And in some regard,
17:27
you know, I can't be crying in the parking lot
17:31
of the Chinese restaurant every day. because
17:35
I didn't want to install email systems anymore.
17:39
Giving somebody a new email system is never good
17:42
news. It's like, oh, we're changing technology
17:45
on you again. I'm sorry. I was always apologizing
17:50
and I'm sorry we're making things so difficult
17:53
for you. I'm sorry the internet is up or down
17:56
or email is up or down. And I wanted to make
17:59
a difference in somebody's life. So thank God.
18:03
that Chris said, it's okay. You know, I don't
18:07
think he had a choice, but it took a while to
18:11
figure out what it was I was going to do and
18:13
how I was going to do it. So do you think you
18:16
would have made that decision or felt comfortable
18:19
making that decision if you didn't have the support
18:21
of your friends and family? I don't think so.
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I think I needed, you know, obviously, you know,
18:27
Chris has been patient with me as I built my
18:29
business and rebuilt an income. I think that
18:35
a lot of people didn't really, you know, why
18:38
would I leave a job like that? A stable job,
18:40
right? You get a paycheck every other week. Yep.
18:44
And I had leadership positions and whatnot, and
18:48
I was probably somewhat good at it. Yeah, I think
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you know, I had a friend who I saw Surprisingly,
18:57
it was my son's coach my son swim coach At a
19:01
funeral and of all places and he said we need
19:04
to get you coaching again And I didn't know what
19:06
I was going to do when I had left my job, but
19:09
I said I don't know how to coach anymore. And
19:13
he said yeah you do and you're gonna call me
19:17
and I haven't coached since college and I met
19:21
him at the pool. I thought we were both getting
19:23
in. No, I got in and he corrected all my strokes.
19:28
Oh, funny. And I was like, oh, at 45, you know.
19:32
But I started coaching and I coached for a while.
19:34
And I got to coach my son and his friends. And
19:39
it was the time of my life to share that with
19:42
my son, Matt, and his whole swim career. I got
19:47
to share with him and. That was really special
19:49
and his friends. So when you were coaching beyond
19:52
the technical, right, fixing people's performance,
19:56
what were you trying to instill into sounds like
19:59
mostly kids? What was some of the platforms that
20:01
you really leaned to as a coach? That's a really
20:03
good question. And I think you really get me,
20:06
even though we just met. I think I teach confidence
20:11
through swimming. I teach self -esteem and I
20:15
teach self -belief. and I like them to get rid
20:21
of limiting beliefs. And the vessel or the mechanism
20:26
is swimming. But what I really care about is
20:31
that they believe in themselves and that if they,
20:35
that hard work, focus, grit, I'm sure you've
20:40
probably seen. Angela Duckworth and her lovely
20:44
Ted talk and book called grit and, you know,
20:48
focus toward a single goal over a long period
20:52
of time. You know, will with a lot of grit and
20:58
grittiness will actually is more successful than
21:02
raw talent and and not having that same. work
21:06
ethic. So yeah, when I coach these kids, I do
21:09
a lot of, yeah, I coach, I change their strokes,
21:12
and I change their starts and turns. And I help
21:14
them with strategy. But I help them with mindset.
21:17
And I help them with self belief and confidence.
21:20
And everybody, not everybody, I was gonna say
21:23
everybody stopped swimming at some point. But
21:25
that's not true. Here I am. But you know, the
21:29
a lot of competitive swimmers will stop swimming
21:31
at some point. And but who are they and and what
21:34
did swimming do for them as part of their story?
21:38
And, you know, my son texted me two days ago
21:42
and said, sharing swimming with you growing up
21:46
and having you as my coach and doing all the
21:48
meets with you and everything was the greatest
21:50
joy of my life. And I. I totally agree. It was
21:55
one of the greatest joys in my life to be able
21:59
to share that with him and everything that he
22:02
learned through that process. He can't tell you
22:07
some of his times, but he can tell you who he
22:09
swam with, what relays he was on, the difficulty
22:13
that he overcame when he was injured or didn't
22:16
get something that he wanted, didn't make it
22:19
to a certain meet. Those are the things that...
22:23
that built us as humans. So I don't really care
22:26
about the swimming. I mean, I love the swimming
22:28
and I have a passion for swimming, but I love
22:31
my relationships with the kids. That's so great.
22:34
I just noticed that and I can't remember it off
22:36
the top of my head, but it was about the percentage
22:39
of women who are in leadership positions who
22:41
played sports. And it didn't have to be college.
22:43
It could have been high school. sport. It's beyond
22:50
swimming. It's about being able to deal with
22:53
resilience and competition and building confidence
22:56
to what you talked about earlier. And, and I
22:58
think that's the part that runs parallel. And
23:01
I love that my girls play sports or play volleyball
23:04
because it helps to build that. And it gives
23:06
you the teamwork. And when someone's to challenge
23:09
on your team or on your relay, you know, it's
23:12
there's all these parallels to this isn't just
23:14
about sports. This is about like, your life and
23:17
how you're able to be better when you go through
23:20
these things. So kind of going back to your building
23:23
the confidence and the limiting the beliefs.
23:26
And I always show a picture when I talk about
23:28
confidence of this woman who's like absolutely
23:31
right, like six pack, beautiful shoulders. I'm
23:34
like, I want to look like her. Well, that's great.
23:37
Want to look like her i'm going to have to go
23:39
to the gym go every day have a plan Be consistent
23:42
and that's the part where it's like I think sometimes
23:45
we disconnect of there's work that goes into
23:49
building your confidence and your courage and
23:51
And being able to be consistent about it because
23:54
that's the hard part. We can think about it.
23:56
Absolutely. Absolutely One of your messages that
23:59
I see you talk a lot about is optimism and I
24:02
love Optimism, I think I'm a fairly optimistic
24:05
person. So tell me how that plays into all this
24:08
and into the mindset as you're working with,
24:11
whether it's kids in a pool or just from a professional
24:14
career standpoint, how do we approach optimism?
24:18
I think that it's a choice. You know, I think
24:22
some people think that, and maybe some people
24:26
are born more glass half full than others. But
24:32
I also think it's a conscious choice, don't you?
24:35
I mean, you have the choice like anybody else
24:39
to say, you know, it's gonna be a bad day, or,
24:44
you know, it might just be a great day. And now
24:48
it's not every day. And it's not all the time,
24:50
right? I think it's impossible to be optimistic
24:53
all the time. And I was really worried about
24:56
naming my business Eternal Optimist, because
24:59
I thought, people are gonna say to me I can't
25:03
have a bad day and I can't be sad and I can't
25:07
Be normal, you know, just kind of like letting
25:10
life get a hold of me and sure enough people
25:13
do say that they're like But Jeannie you're the
25:15
eternal optimist, you know, you can't have a
25:18
bad day, but I can and I do and But if given
25:23
the choice and when given the choice uh glass
25:26
half full and i and i know that i've been like
25:29
that my my very good college friend sean uh and
25:33
i always exchanged glass half full um pictures
25:38
and cards and because he was too he is glass
25:42
half full as well so and i know i think when
25:45
um i was gonna swim the channel and i have a
25:48
crew that comes with me i do not do any of this
25:51
these channels alone. They are not solo sports.
25:55
They are, or solo activities. My dear friends,
25:59
best friends come with me and on these things
26:03
and they take care of me. They're my crew. They
26:05
feed me, they encourage me. Susan and Deb and
26:10
on the channel I had another friend named Cathy.
26:13
But Susan and Deb are like on every boat, every,
26:17
you know, and with me when I train. But I know
26:21
that when we were going to going to the channel,
26:24
I wanted to have a team name, and I wanted to
26:26
have the word optimist in it. And our optimism.
26:30
And I was playing with things. And it was during
26:33
COVID and or right after COVID. And Susan said,
26:36
we're just going to have to be eternally optimistic
26:38
that we're going to get there. Because England
26:41
was shut down. We're shut down. It was a mess.
26:46
and quarantine and all kinds of stuff. And I
26:49
said, Susan, that's I think that's our name,
26:52
eternal optimists. And so we became the eternal
26:55
optimists thinking that we were going to get
26:58
to to England. And I and we were I was going
27:02
to get the opportunity to swim. And I had to
27:06
wait two weeks to get in. The weather was not
27:09
cooperating. I went in two hours before my swim
27:12
window closed. and into the channel. And I was
27:17
optimistic. I just adopted that whole mantra
27:20
that if I was going to get the chance to swim,
27:24
I was going to make it to France. No ifs, ands,
27:26
or buts. And they were going to get my butt to
27:29
France by being on the boat. I think it came
27:34
from just me being who I am and acknowledging
27:38
that I'm a glass half full, optimistic kind of
27:40
person most of the time, meant a lot of the time,
27:43
but then embodying it and calling us that. And
27:47
I totally find that if you call yourself something,
27:51
you believe it. And if you call something something,
27:56
you also believe it. So I'm training again for
28:00
another channel. for the English Channel again
28:03
this summer at 60, raising money for a foundation
28:08
in Pittsburgh called Clear Thoughts Foundation,
28:11
which funds researchers for dementia and all
28:14
kinds of dementia. And because it has hit our
28:18
family very hard. And I think that I had declared
28:24
that my swimming was going to be joy. My training
28:28
was going to be joy and my time at the Y was
28:32
going to be respite and joy. And darn it. It
28:36
is like I don't look at it like I have to. Right.
28:41
I look at it because I want to. And I think,
28:43
you know, when you name yourself something or
28:46
when you call yourself something, are you talented?
28:49
Are you tough? Are you strong? Are you optimistic?
28:54
Are you confident? And when you use that language,
28:57
I think you believe it and you act it and you
29:02
act it. Yep. Which can be positive or negative,
29:05
right? Sometimes we have that negative voice
29:08
in our head telling us a story that we're not
29:10
ready. You can't do it, whatever it is. And it's
29:13
flipping that and telling yourself a different
29:15
story that you'll start to believe. And again,
29:17
you have to put the work in. You can't just think
29:19
that and then not go work out. Right. Like you
29:22
have to put the work in, but you're showing up
29:24
with that mindset that it's joyful, you can do
29:27
this, you're going to achieve it. It's telling
29:29
yourself a different story, which I think is
29:31
so important. And again, I think optimism is
29:35
such a good word that people sometimes think
29:37
it's like, oh, you're unrealistic or you're living
29:40
in this dream. Like you're not going to be understanding
29:42
how this is. And that's not what it is. Like
29:44
you still are going to have bad days. You still
29:46
have to be resilient, but it's your mindset going
29:48
into like, hey, I'm going to get through this.
29:50
I'm going to be able to accomplish this and just
29:52
be positive about it versus, you know, going
29:55
to the negative side of things. So I think that's
29:57
really important. And people think, oh, I'm just,
29:59
I'm just kind of negative. Well, that's going
30:01
to majorly impact how you approach your personal
30:05
life, professional life, whatever it is, that
30:07
it has a negative impact on how you show up.
30:10
So I love the eternal optimist. You will believe
30:13
it one way or another. You know, I think, I think
30:16
the day that I said to my, the whole what if
30:19
I can mantra also showed up, you know, like when
30:25
I, one day I was sitting in the, and that's kind
30:28
of a version of optimism, right? What if I can't,
30:31
instead of saying, what if I can't and what if
30:33
I shouldn't and what if I, it's, what if it's,
30:37
I'm being selfish. What if this is stupid? What
30:40
if this is too much? You know, I, one night I
30:43
said to my son, Guess what I just did? I just
30:46
booked an English channel pilot. And that was
30:49
in 2018. Before I even swam around Manhattan,
30:53
before I did anything big, you have to book a
30:56
channel pilot that far out. But I didn't know
30:59
what I was doing except that I was booking a
31:01
pilot. And I sent an email to a pilot in England,
31:06
threw it out into the universe, right? And maybe
31:09
the universe will conspire to help me. That's
31:12
another one of my mantras. Love that. And Matt
31:14
said, what if you make it halfway, mom? And I
31:17
said, well, if I make it halfway across the English
31:20
channel, I don't think that's a bad thing. But
31:22
that's not going to be my goal. My goal is going
31:24
to be I'm getting to France and I'm going to
31:26
put the work in to do it. I didn't know how to
31:29
yet, but I was going to figure it out. And I
31:31
said to him, but what if I can, Matt? What if
31:35
I can do it? Not what if I can't? You know, what
31:38
if I can do it at 55? And then what if I can
31:41
tell people about it and say, you're not dead
31:44
at 55. Maybe you're in, you know, I would, I
31:47
just spoke at a conference a few weeks ago called
31:50
prime time for women. And it was on international
31:53
women's day and or week. And, you know, they
31:59
call women at our age in our prime. Is that a
32:02
great way to talk about ourselves? Right. You
32:06
know, so I really do believe that you know, what
32:08
I did at 55, I couldn't have done it 45 or 35
32:11
or 25, because I didn't have the mindset and
32:16
the mental tenacity of life and of all the things
32:22
I learned in life, not just through swimming,
32:24
but through, you know, my jobs and the years
32:27
that I had in the 55 years that I had it got
32:32
me to France. Oh, I love that. So if someone's
32:36
listening to this, maybe they're 35, right? And
32:39
they want to flip that mindset and they want
32:41
to have that, what if I can, instead of the fear?
32:44
How do they begin? How do you practically begin
32:47
to just have that mindset of, what if I can't?
32:50
Stop saying, what if I can't? Stop saying no.
32:56
Stop saying, that's not me. And catch yourself.
33:03
don't go there, you know, and especially as women,
33:07
you know. There's so many women I know who are
33:12
amazing women and and they put themselves down
33:17
or say they can't or they shouldn't or they're
33:21
not allowed to or it's selfish. I have to be
33:26
a mom. I have to be a wife. I have to be this.
33:28
I have to be a daughter. I have to be, you know,
33:30
and you are all those things. Also, there's chapters
33:34
in life, as we all know. The whole notion that
33:36
you can have it all at once is kind of an old
33:39
one. We all tried that, right? And realized that
33:43
like eating a plate of food, you can't eat everything
33:46
you like in one sitting. But stop the language.
33:52
Listen to yourself. But I can't do that. Oh,
33:57
my husband would never let me do that. What about
34:01
my kids? What about your kids? Maybe you want
34:04
to show them that there are no limits to what
34:09
they can do. Or, my mom tried and she didn't
34:13
make it, but my mom tried. My mom likes to tell
34:19
me that I live two or three lives in one. I guess
34:22
I'd like to live two or three lives in one than
34:25
a half a life in one. or a partial life, it's,
34:29
you know, we all know that when things happen
34:31
in life and life gets hard and there's illness
34:34
or someone you know is ill or you get sick or
34:38
something terrible happens, you know, we get
34:41
one life. What are you waiting for? That's what
34:45
I want to tell people. If there's something you
34:47
want to do, change your career, change your life,
34:50
change your relationship, change this, change
34:52
that. You know, what are you waiting for? And
34:55
maybe it's not time yet. But at some point, it
34:59
should become time if it's important enough.
35:03
Absolutely. And saying we don't have time is,
35:05
I think, one of the biggest excuses. And sometimes
35:09
there's validity to that, but it's prioritizing
35:12
or making a plan. Hey, maybe I can't do this
35:15
this year, but I can plan for next year. And
35:18
it's just having a plan and being intentional.
35:22
Time is limited, right? And, and as I get older
35:25
and you see people get sick that never thought
35:28
they'd be sick under the age of 50 or whatever
35:30
it is, like, I mean, just things happen. So trying
35:32
to be as, as to your point, like living your
35:35
best life and what if I can and taking advantage
35:38
of that, I think is, is really important. And
35:40
I think as we get older, we start to realize
35:43
that we're not here forever, right? Like everyone's
35:45
not here forever. So we think we have unlimited.
35:48
We think we have unlimited days. And, you know,
35:52
you have an 18 year old now and you're wondering
35:54
how the heck, you know, she became 18. And, you
35:58
know, the the days are long, the years are short.
36:04
And what are you waiting for if there is something
36:08
that you want? You know, a lot of people are
36:11
just content. Yeah. And they don't want to be
36:14
out of their comfort zone. They don't want to
36:16
be. You know, my mom always is like, why would
36:18
you want to be cold? You know, why would you
36:22
want to like, you know, hurt or, you know, challenge
36:28
your body? And other people do that too. They're
36:33
like, why would you want to do that in 60 degree
36:35
water? I don't know why. It's just an accomplishment.
36:42
I mean, I never swam. I was a runner. Yep. It
36:45
was a challenge of, you know, I participated
36:47
in some Ragnar race. It was like a 200 mile race.
36:50
relay is overnight, like that last race where
36:53
you hadn't slept the night before for 30 minutes.
36:56
Your whole body hurts, but it was more than just
36:59
the physical part. It was the mental part. I'd
37:01
be like, I can't let my team down. I have to
37:03
only run three miles this morning. Like get your
37:06
shit together. Let's go. Like this is the conversation
37:08
in my head to myself. Like what, what if I can,
37:12
what's, you know, what's, what's the worst that
37:13
can happen? Even if I end up walking, like if
37:15
you walk it, you're showing up, right? You know,
37:19
and I think that's the bottom line. Like show
37:21
up and show up for yourself. Yes. You know, who
37:25
else is going to show up for you? You know, like
37:28
this is your life. You know, you're the author
37:31
of your life. Whatever it is. Whatever it is,
37:34
write your story, but write something. Write
37:36
something. Yeah. And then no regrets. You know,
37:40
like, I don't want to hear, I'm 70 and I should
37:43
have. You know, no regrets, man. Just... What's
37:49
the worst that can happen? Yeah, that's so good.
37:51
This has been so great I love this and best of
37:55
luck in your upcoming. What do you have coming
37:58
up this summer? What's the race another English
38:00
channel another English channel at six years
38:03
old back when I was 55 I thought wouldn't it
38:06
be cool if I could do it at 60 And here you are
38:10
an update Once you complete it, because obviously
38:12
you will and you'll kill it. So we'll want to
38:15
hear that news so we can celebrate you this summer.
38:17
Thank you. And thank you so much for having me
38:20
today. Absolutely. Thank you. I really love this
38:23
conversation with Jeannie. Yes, her accomplishments
38:26
are incredible. I mean, completing the Triple
38:28
Crown of open water swimming at 56 is objectively
38:31
wild in the best possible way. But what stayed
38:34
with me most was not just what she did. It's
38:37
what her story represents. Because this was a
38:40
woman who had already built a successful career.
38:42
She'd already done a lot. And still, there was
38:45
another chapter waiting for her. A bigger one,
38:48
a bolder one, one that require courage, discomfort,
38:51
discipline, and a whole lot of belief. I think
38:54
that's what makes this conversation so powerful.
38:57
So many women are high functioning, capable,
38:59
responsible, and accomplished, but still quietly
39:02
wondering if they're too late, too old, too far
39:05
down one path to choose another, too established
39:07
to start over or maybe too practical to chase
39:10
something that feels bold or deeply personal.
39:14
And Jeannie's story pushes back on that. It reminds
39:17
us that reinvention is still available. That
39:20
meaningful ambition does not expire. That confidence
39:23
is not something you either have or you do not.
39:26
It's something you build by moving, trying, stretching,
39:28
and sometimes looking a little crazy along the
39:31
way. And maybe, most importantly, it reminds
39:34
us to ask a better question. Not, what if I fail?
39:37
Not, what if I'm too late? Not, what will people
39:39
think? But what if I can? So if this episode
39:44
spoke to you, send to a friend, send to a woman
39:46
who is in season of wondering what is next or
39:48
feeling the pull towards something bigger, even
39:50
if she can't fully name it yet. And if you're
39:54
enjoying Loud and Lifted, make sure you follow,
39:56
rate, and share the show. It helps us keep bringing
39:58
more of these honest conversations to women who
40:00
are still growing, still evolving, and still
40:02
becoming. Until next time, stay loud and stay
40:06
lifted.