Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here. Another episode of High Velocity Radio in this is going to be a good one. Today on the show we have Cat Stone, who is with Third Age Mojo. Welcome.

Cat Stone: Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. First off, tell us about Third Age Mojo. How are you serving folks?

Cat Stone: Well, the Third Age is mostly known in Europe, but I thought it was a great way to describe people sort of 60 to 90, just to make the math easy. I make the Day We Die 90 so that 60 can start the third age. But anyway, I think that I hate when people say seniors or, you know, all those different things. I just wanted to shake it up a little bit. And Mojo is, as we all know, kind of magic. So Third Age Mojo is recognizing the beauty, the magic and the power, the untapped power we have when we get into our third age.

Lee Kantor: And so your work is primarily helping people in that age group kind of lead a more meaningful, more purposeful life.

Cat Stone: Yes. And, you know, there are six pillars to Third Age mojo. And the first one is health. So I really I have had Third Age mojo for five years. And it addresses all these different things like staying healthy, keeping your mind set right. A growth mindset is super important. And then there’s also money of course, which everyone thinks is number one. But it’s really not. But it is important. All of them are. Relationships are very important. And home becomes a kind of a different thing when you enter your third age. And these days, there’s all kinds of opportunities for a choice in what kind of home you want to have for the final third of your life. So that’s what Third Age Mojo is all about. And I just started it because I hated the way our culture depicts this time. It’s like work, work, work, discover, discover, discover. And then you go over a hill and it’s all downhill from there. I didn’t like that.

Lee Kantor: So what’s your backstory? What kind of led you to this point in your life where now you can focus in on this?

Cat Stone: Well, I have always been very health conscious, and that may come from, you know, my father was a type one diabetic when I was growing up. So we always had a garden and we ate, you know, very fresh food because diet was so important to him. So that was the way I was brought up. And then when I sort of launched and I moved to Houston from Pennsylvania, and I was on my own and I had no, I had no health insurance. So I thought I better stay healthy. So I continued and jacked it up, and it was just sort of life, well, was giving me signals to stay healthy. And that’s how I got to it. And then I saw so many people who would say, oh, well, I can’t do this because I’m so old. It’s like, no, we’re not going to hear that.

Lee Kantor: Now, throughout your life thus far, had you been primarily in the coaching realm? Well, being in, you know, maybe fitness and wellness. And then as you got into this third age, you said, I’m going to focus in on this group.

Cat Stone: Well, you know, it’s a strange thing is that I always did other things, mostly sales. I sold radio. I sold print. I was a sales person and a marketing person. And, um, I always did this on the side. And then I left my last job as an affiliate marketer. I was working for a company that created, you know, natural health, uh, products. And I would, uh, manage all of our affiliates who would send these products to their, uh, email lists. Excuse me. But on the side, I would do this. And finally, I thought, why I love this so much? Why am I making this my hobby that I have to sneak away to? So I left that job last year. And I, I that’s when I really started to do a lot of digital marketing and a digital creation for Third Age Mojo. I got my YouTube channel up and running and it’s now becoming robust. And my Instagram, I just love that so much. And of course Facebook and a Facebook group and all those things. So it really started slow, and then the wheels started turning and then I shed my job to do what I love. And here I am now.

Lee Kantor: Now, um, I’ve interviewed lots of coaches over the years, but I haven’t interviewed a lot of folks that are, um, working in the space you are. Is this kind of, uh, are you one of a few or is there kind of a community of folks that are working with these, uh, Third Age, uh, folks?

Cat Stone: Well, what I’ve discovered is that, you know, of course, there are a lot of life coaches and all of them. Most of them have a niche. Um, and then there are transition coaches as well that help people through transitions. But what I really discovered in my Third Age mojo, uh, journey was that a lot of people had trouble Disconnecting from their identity, from their profession or their career. And I must tell you that boomer dudes have the most problem, I think, because men seem to attach their identity to their job and and do that, maintain that for 20 or 30 years. And then this kind of leads you to a funny leads me to a story I think is kind of funny is that, um, you know, like 90% of the people who escaped from prison get caught. It’s because all they do is think about the escape, and they don’t plan for what they’re going to do after, you know, so they find themselves just wallowing in in what am I supposed to do? I can’t play golf every day, and we can’t travel all the time. And they they lose some of their purpose. So what I do, what I found, I when I discovered this, more and more and more. It was like knocking on my brain and I wasn’t noticing. But then I did notice. And I went back to school and got, um, certified as a as a retirement coach specifically. So I know other people are doing it, but I don’t know anyone else who’s doing it.

Lee Kantor: Now, our folks are, um, kind of responding to that. Do they do? Does it even occur to them that they might need a coach in this stage of their life?

Cat Stone: Well, you know, women take take to coaching. We’re more open to coaching than men. Men are supposed to do it on their own. So usually, you know, there there’s kind of three things that I, I’ve put this into three categories. The people who are planning and they’re mostly planning financially, but some of them are widening out or are spreading out into the other things that they’re going to have to address. And then other people have it right Directly in front of them and they’re like, this feels a little weird. I feel unsure of myself. And then there are the people who have jumped into it, and, you know, they’ve gone through what some people call the honeymoon honeymoon period. And, you know, they did the golf, they did the travel. They they were like, hey, I could just read the paper until 10:00 in the morning. And and then they go, wait a second, something’s missing. I, I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I don’t feel the meaning in my life. And those are the ones that are. They’re kind of in trouble. So they’re more willing. They’re feeling the pain. So they’re more willing.

Lee Kantor: They’re willing to, you know, have those kind of initial conversations to explore what else is out there. And then maybe they do need kind of a Sherpa through this, this stage of their life.

Cat Stone: Absolutely. They just want someone I believe this is how I see it. They’re there. They have some ideas that are kind of sleeping in there, but they don’t know how to pull them out. They don’t know how to put them in place, and they don’t feel that they can, uh, set goals, set realizable goals that they are going to achieve. They sort of have to have a coach, like in sports. You know, I know you can do this. I have to be back there as a cheerleader, and then I have to set those goals and then we’ll have meetings and say, so how is everything going with this step? You know, and when they get people just working them through it, one step at a time and they start to see it become real. It’s a very beautiful thing. And, you know, people just want to do all sorts of different things. And I’m just there to help them discover what that is and help them to do it.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned in your program there are six pillars. Do you typically, um, focus in on the health aspect first and then build off of that. Because without that, it seems like it’s difficult to. If you’re struggling there, you probably are going to struggle elsewhere.

Cat Stone: Absolutely, absolutely. You can’t enjoy any of those other things. And you know, the more I talk to people, though, uh, mindset will hold people back, like if you don’t have a growth mindset. And I wrote a little story on my Substack about letting go to grow. You need to be able to let go of all these things you were clutching for all these years as your beliefs, which may not have even been your beliefs. It was stories that were fed to you. But you’ve got to let go and open your mind, free your brain and and the rest will follow or something like that. But a lot of people have to be coached into opening their brain, and a lot of people hold on to those old beliefs, probably out of fear.

Lee Kantor: And then when they first start talking to you, what is the typical entry point? Is it something around health or is it something they read a piece of your content and they just are curious?

Cat Stone: Well, nobody will really come across right away with health, but you’ll find out later that, you know, high blood pressure, type two diabetes, you know, and all those different things that happen. Mostly people are just kind of a little sad. And they’ll, they’ll I’ll reach out to them and say, I don’t know if I can help you, but I’ve got sort of a process that has, you know, helped me personally and helped other people to, like, discover what’s really inside there and what you would like to do about it. And the one thing about who I am as a coach is I’m 70 years old. I’m living this with these people. I’m not, you know. And no, I’m not. I’m not putting anything on anybody who’s younger. But, I mean, if you’re going to listen to someone who’s 35, tell you what to do when you retire. Sometimes that’s a little bit harder to, um, embrace.

Lee Kantor: So when you’re talking to them initially, what does that kind of first conversation look like? Like what? What is the first thing they’re saying to you? Uh, to kind of initiate the conversation?

Cat Stone: Well.

Lee Kantor: Like you mentioned, being sad, like, is it around, like, I don’t get it. You know, I was supposed to. I retired. You know, I did everything I was supposed to do. And then now I’m feeling like, you know, I’m bored of fishing every day or golf every day or whatever I thought I’d be doing every day.

Cat Stone: Yes, there are a lot of things like that. But what I’ll do is before I even talk to them, I’ll send them some questions. Like what? How are you feeling about your current retirement situation. And then like, what did you expect of it and what are the things that have been important to you your whole life? And are you in touch with those things now? Um, you know, how how are your relationships? You know, a lot of relationships like, you know, 40 year marriages feel the strain of retirement because these two people didn’t talk to each other about their vision, or even if they did, once you get into it, everybody’s feeling uneasy and a little lost. So I ask people about, you know, what they’re experiencing, what they expected to experience, what they had expected to experience. And like longing they’ve had in, in their life. Like, because now is the time. Now is the time. I mean, we’re not we’re in the final third of our life. Let’s not put this off any longer. And so I talk to people. I wrote this article for my Substack about, you know, visualizing. You know, I personally meditate every day and I, you know, I’ve, I can’t do anything that I can’t see myself doing in my mind’s eye. So I encourage people to think about it. I just sit and maybe don’t think at all. And I really more and more, since I am finding it so helpful for myself, I talk to people about visualization and meditation. This is the time of our life where we can kind of just take everything that we’ve brought with us and sit with it and see where it goes.

Lee Kantor: And is there something that you’ve learned from working in this space for as long as you have that kind of triggers, that aha moment, is there something that you say or you ask your client to do that? All of a sudden the light bulb goes off and say, okay, I get it. Now, I, I understand that I am in more control of my situation and I can move forward with purpose.

Cat Stone: Yes. You know what? And people say this to me in all kinds of different ways. Like women say to me, oh, ah, I see it on my Facebook groups that I am part of. You know, it’s like, oh, I can’t sit down with my grandson and I can’t stand up again. What should I do? And I say to them, you need to do squats. And when people say, oh, you know, I, I don’t know what to do now. And I have to say to them, this is a time to take your own personal responsibility. This is your biggest challenge and it’s your biggest blessing and it’s your biggest opportunity to live the life that you see and feel inside you. So a lot of this is not like hardcore, maybe occasional hardcore. After a few calls, when people aren’t even reaching out to the goals they’ve said, it’s like, well, what’s keeping you? What do you think is keeping you from doing this? You know, you have to make it your responsibility. It’s your responsibility to stay healthy. It’s your responsibility to do all the rest of the pillars, and then nobody’s going to do it. Nobody. You’re you’re your own parent.

Lee Kantor: Right? But you’re kind of giving them kind of permission to try. I guess fear is holding a lot of them back that they’re there even at this stage when there’s, um, the the road is getting shorter, that they still are afraid that it may not work out or they’ll be embarrassed or whatever their issue is they’re afraid to. To try to live into that kind of purpose that’s in the back of their head.

Cat Stone: Well, you know, fear is such a powerful motivator. An anti motivator. It’s a powerful force. And so people will shrink into all kinds of things. You know, there’s fight or flight and all different things. And that’s why I think meditation is good because it takes you into that uh reflect relaxed and digest mode instead of, uh, fight or flee or all of those other things. You need to just sit there, take responsibility for yourself, let the fear go, or recognize the fear and sit with it and. Lose it somehow. Move beyond it. And that’s a great thing for yourself. Uh, development is moving beyond fear. And that has been a big thing for me to move beyond my fear. And then you feel really good about yourself. And in our culture, you know, seniors are always talking about or guys don’t put women do talk about becoming invisible. Well, that’s because you’re allowing it to happen. If you shine your own light and let your own energy come into a room where you’re helping people, which is one of the things you can do now when you’re retired. There are all kinds of different opportunities to join together with people, to do good things and to grow out of that. We’re really growing. We’re still growing, and this might be our biggest growth challenge ever because we are focused on ourselves and our mate, of course, and our families. But right now, it’s right now. And how are you going to develop yourself to interact with your spouse or, or reconnect with a family that you may have been, you know, neglecting a little bit because you were so busy. Now’s the time to get your act together.

Lee Kantor: And that’s where I think having a coach or somebody like you by their side to kind of encourage them to maybe ask the harder questions, to be there to, you know, help them get the, uh, inner fortitude to move forward and take a risk, maybe that they’ve hesitated doing for many years. And I think that this could really, uh, positively impact a large group of people that are silently struggling.

Cat Stone: Well, you know, the boomers are a gigantic bloc. We are huge. And more people are, you know, retiring every year. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but they’re they’re staggering. And, you know, we all have a longer time. You know, before, when you were retire at 65, some of the guys were dying by 68 or 60 9 or 70. So you really didn’t have you could do all those things, play golf, take trips, go fishing, and then you die. But now we’re living longer, and it’s given us another opportunity to think about becoming an elder. Think about, you know, what we can do for these younger people behind us. Because I really I really am a strong believer in intergenerational relationships. We can all bring so much to each other, and we give each other so much. If we approach it with the mind of a student, an open mind mindset.

Lee Kantor: Yeah. I think that, um, reframing is so important. And when you just the word you use just now, elder instead of senior, evokes something of a wise person that’s That sharing their what they know to you know others. I think that that adds a layer of, um, purpose and meaning to a life that maybe they thought that, hey, I did what I did, and now I’m just kind of running out the clock here, and and you have too many years to be doing that. It’s not. It’s like you said, you know, back in the day when people retired and died, you know, within a couple of years maybe that was effective then. But in today’s world, where you could live 20 or 30 more years, you can’t afford to just start feeling sorry for yourself when you’re bored.

Cat Stone: I mean, that would lead to depression.

Lee Kantor: And that’s what’s happening.

Cat Stone: I know, and that’s what’s killing people way quicker than they need. So we want to avoid that. And also, we could bring so much because we have so many years of experience and, you know, the mistakes we’ve made and the things that we they do these things like intergenerational things with college students who are notoriously so lonely, especially in their first semester of going away. And they’ve been putting them together with, uh, third agers. I’m not going to say seniors with third agers, and everybody comes out so much happier. And really it it leads to lasting relationships and so much learning and so much wisdom shared. And, you know, it keeps older people younger. So it’s a win win situation.

Lee Kantor: Yeah I agree 100%. Now you mentioned earlier that creating content and have and building community is important in your practice. Can you talk a little bit about the Joyful Aging formula, stress free lifestyle changes for increased longevity and enhance physical and mental well-being? How did that come about?

Cat Stone: That was because I wanted like a simple some people like to read, some people like to listen to these things. And it’s using the six pillars of Third Age mojo and addressing each one, you know, like with sort of suggestions for maintaining. And then we have some people who talk about their experience, you know, in these different, um, uh, pillars. And it’s just sort of a short, easy to read manual. And that’s the reviews I’ve been getting. It’s just like, no nonsense. It’s just kind of joyful. It is uplifting. And, you know, we’ve got I put quotes in it and stuff, things that inspire me and lift me up. And for everyone to know that there are so many of us going through this, not going through this, but living this and experiencing this and being blessed by this, that I wanted to put that together. It’s just kind of like a a little manual for stress free lifestyle changes, because there are lifestyle changes that we don’t expect, you know, and kind of it kind of slaps you upside the head sometimes. And it’s a little disconcerting. But if you have this manual to help you, it will help guide you through all of these things.

Lee Kantor: And then you mentioned several, uh, communities you’re part of. Um, or you’re kind of championing. Is that is that what the north of now is? Can you talk about that?

Cat Stone: North of now is the, um, coaching is my is my coaching business, uh, for coaching people into retirement, which I realized is a very serious step for people and will set the stage for the rest of it. You know, because the north of now is giving is intended to share courage with people. Share to share my enthusiasm. And that’s really all I do share because they have to figure out the rest. But I’m very enthusiastic about this. So north of now is is coaching.

Lee Kantor: Is that one on one is a group, is their community built into it?

Cat Stone: Well right now it’s one on one. But I have a lot of plans for different ways to go. You know, maybe, you know, one on one I could approach my one on one clients to see if they would like to get together in a group setting, just for a couple of, you know, get togethers to just see other people and share experiences. You know, it’s really incentivizing to get together with people who are doing the same thing that you are doing and facing the same challenges bravely and courageously. So it’s a real energizer to get together with people who are doing the same thing as you. So that’s something I think is good. And another thing I’ve been thinking of is, you know, corporations. They have, um, they have set ways of easing people into their jobs with training and different things. And it takes weeks and sometimes months. But I don’t know of any companies right now who are, who are doing that to kind of age people out. Although Merrill Lynch is doing that with my brother as a Merrill Lynch, uh, counselor. And he they’re aging him out like, right now he’s at retirement age. And he went from 40 hours to 20 hours. So he’s still, um, meeting with his clients, but he has someone who’s coming up behind him. So that is a good thing. So some companies are doing it, but for others, I would love to maybe do some work shops About what you might be facing and the things that you can do to make the transition smoother and happier.

Lee Kantor: And is there a story you can share? Don’t name the name of the individual, but maybe somebody you work with that you help them through a challenge that maybe they were kind of floundering a little, and they started working with you and they found a new purpose.

Cat Stone: Right? There’s one guy who in particular probably really kind of gave me the final push to like, hey, there’s something I can do here. He was talking about retiring, but he was doing so much with his position, and they were giving him so much latitude that he could travel to his place in Mexico. He could he could be here in Denver and he was within. He had an international team, mostly from India. So they were doing conference calling and things like that. And he kept saying, I don’t think I bring anything to this. But other people thought he was. So he was trying to slip out. And his boss, actually, who’s just slightly younger than him, was saying, are you sure you want to do this? Because he was really still providing a lot of value. But, I mean, he was into his 70s and, you know, all this traveling he did was sort of fun, but he was not feeling, uh, feeling the purpose. His he was kept going back to the purpose of his job. So, you know, you have to make a break. And a lot of guys will do this, like go back and you know what? Going back to something else. And that’s something I will coach people on like okay, you know, let’s think about what you’ve always wanted to do.

Cat Stone: Maybe we can make this situation a situation that will bring you more value and more, uh. I don’t know deep feelings than what you even have been doing for all these years. These the thing that you’ve been, you know, struggling to separate from. Maybe there’s something in your brain that’s going to make you feel even better. And so some people will go on to start a business. And I have a I have a coach also who works with me about starting a business after 50. He’s got like called startup after 50, and he’s got a whole team with him to help people. You know, he helps people make the plan. Then he’s got people to do the marketing. He’s got legal, he’s got banking. So if anybody wants to go in that startup way, I’ve got people for that. And I’ve got a lot of support counselors to help me with things that I’m not specialized in, especially Financial, because that’s even changing the way people have been planning their retirements financially. They’re they’re finding out now. It’s like, uh oh, I can’t afford to live past 85.

Lee Kantor: Yeah, that’s nobody wants to hear that news. Mhm.

Cat Stone: I know, but we’ve got ways to help.

Lee Kantor: Well that’s the thing. There’s more resources available to you if, but you have to kind of get out of your own head and reach out to a community and get some support from, from other people. And I think a lot of folks, you know, as they age and enter this third age, that they kind of seclude themselves. And then they think that they got to solve all these problems when there’s a lot of support and community available to them.

Cat Stone: That is so right. That is spot on. Yeah. And you’re not alone. And I mean, I, I, I, I have a coach, I have a coach and I have a therapist, and they keep me straight. And you know what? Therapy is not a bad thing for some people. I mean, I’m a coach. I’m not a therapist. But I can hook you up if you would like to try therapy. It really changed my life.

Lee Kantor: Well, Kat, if somebody wants to learn more about your practice or your coaching or your communities or some of the content that you’re putting out there, is there a website? Is there a way to connect?

Cat Stone: Well, there right now I don’t have my North of Now website together. I’m still doing things through Third Age Mojo so they can reach me at Kat at third Age mojo.com.

Lee Kantor: So third Age mojo.com is the website if they wanted to know.

Cat Stone: Well yeah third Age Mojo is the website and they should go there. It’s really nice. And my YouTube channel. I, I do a lot of different things, but now it’s sort of focused on self-care after 50. So it’s go to YouTube and just put in Third Age Mojo. And I do face yoga, and I do all kinds of self-care things so that we can take a little bit of time, even just ten minutes a day, to restore ourselves and keep ourselves strong and ready for anything we’re facing.

Lee Kantor: Well, Kat, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Cat Stone: Well, I appreciate you letting me share my story. Lee, thank you so much.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on High Velocity Radio.