Success Knows No Age Limit

“This article is going to be so late, should I even bother writing it?!”

This was the initial thought bouncing around in my head when I realized I wasn’t going to be able to pull an article together in the weeks following the August release of the 2024 Forbes 50 over 50 list.

Then the irony hit me square between the eyes. Why bother? That is, actually, the point. The only timeline in life is the one we impose on ourselves.

For those who are unfamiliar, each year Forbes releases a 50 over 50 list which recognizes and celebrates women in one of four categories: lifestyle, impact, innovation, and investment. The older I get, the more I appreciate efforts to celebrate women at any age (no shade to recognizing young high achievers) especially given that society already glorifies youth to the point that we often lose sight of the significance and impact of the accomplishment, regardless of whether it’s achieved when you’re 27 or 72.

So, here is my celebratory article, albeit a bit late. I skimmed each list of women and picked a couple at random that resonated with me.

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Lifestyle

BokHee An

One might say that BokHee An became an actor by accident. She has been a real-life surgical scrub nurse for over five decades who began working as an extra and medical advisor on the hospital series “Grey’s Anatomy.” An has now appeared in over 600 episodes and movies. As if that isn’t impressive enough, An is originally from South Korea and immigrated to the United States at 29 years old and had to learn English! She is now retired from her medical career, but continues to work as the show’s longest-running supporting actor and has a robust following on Instagram.

June Squibb

June Squibb is proof that perseverance pays off. She has been a stage actor for most of her life and had her first-ever film role at age 61. Then, at age 84, she got her big break and Oscar nomination for her 2013 performance in “Nebraska.” Squibb hasn’t slowed down since. At 94 years old she is starring in her first blockbuster, “Thelma.”

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Impact

Mae Krier

If Mae Krier’s name doesn’t sound familiar, the name “Rosie the Riveter” probably does. As one of the original “Rosies,” Mae started building B-17 and B-29 planes for Boeing at age 17. Since then she has helped establish Rosie the Riveter Day (March 21), and in April 2024, at age 98, she accepted the accepted the Congressional Gold Medal on behalf of all Rosies who served during World War II.

“Our men came home to flying flags and parades, rosie came home with a pink slip. I said it just wasn’t fair that they didn’t recognize us. I said I want to get a status before I meet my maker and they said ‘well, Mae, that’s hard to do.’ And I said well it wasn’t easy getting the national rosie the riveter day and it wasn’t easy getting women’s history month and I said god knows it wasn’t easy getting the congressional gold metal…I think that women should be treated the same as men. I don’t think they should be better and I don’t think they should be worse. I think we should work side by side…I’m just so honored that I’ve had the opportunity to get out and speak to women and girls.”

Sara Terry

A journalist turned photographer and then award-winning documentary filmmaker later in life, Sara focuses on telling “post-conflict” human interest stories. She also founded The Aftermath Project which offers grants to photographers covering war zones who document acts of forgiveness and reconciliation.

She seems to sum up her mission in one line in a Tedx talk she gave: “If I can get you to care then maybe I can get you to think, and if I can get you to think, then perhaps I can get you to act.”

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Innovation

Carlotta Berry

Caroletta Berry is on a mission to diversify the field of robotics. As an engineering professor at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, she is leading the charge to, in her words “make STEM and robotics for the streets”: “I have created an open source robot…where anyone who can get to the internet and get to Youtube can look at how to make their own robot, print it, and program it. I came up with this idea because it was a way to get teachers and communities like Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and things like that into robotics without them having to break the bank.”

Heather Bulk

Heather Bulk is a trailblazer in aerospace engineering. In 2007 she cofounded Special Aerospace Services, an aerospace engineering and technology company that partners with NASA, the Department of Defense, and commercial space companies. She also has a TEDx talk called Belonging in the Room, where she talks about the importance of maintaining a sense of agency in professional rooms where you are the minority:

“It wasn’t his apology that I was looking for. What I was looking for was him to recognize why exactly did he think that I didn’t belong in that room…For the first time I realized that I was the one in the room, and I had the tremendous obligation to welcome someone else into the room…I think we are all prizoners of our own thoughts. I think in our minds we often tell ourselves ‘I don’t belong in that room.’ And at that point, we have those choices. To go home, to be confrontational, or to play the long game…”

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So, there you have it! An article celebrating the accomplishments of women over 50 three months after it was released…better late than never, right?

The lesson holds true though: why does society celebrate accomplishments in youth more so than accomplishments in midlife and beyond? I hope you take time to look through the other women highlighted in these lists and feel inspired to take risks, follow your curiosity, and try something new, no matter how old you are.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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