SUSAN TOLLES is a Master in Midlife Reinventions, and as Founder of Flourish Over 50, a powerful role model who “walks her talk!” As a professional speaker, Certified Dream Coach®, author, and internationally-recognized expert for women over 50, she is dedicated to inspiring and equipping women of all ages with the confidence and tools to acknowledge their unique gifts, discover their life purpose, dare to realize their passions, and create a future they never dreamed possible.

Susan’s website FlourishOver50.com, viewed by over 50,000 women globally each month, provides the resources and tools to make the second half of their lives the best, including health & fitness,  style, life balance and inspirational stories.  Her personal blog provides insight and encouragement to women who are facing their own midlife transitions, feeling invisible, overwhelmed and unfulfilled.

Susan’s Powerful Me™ Program is based on her own reinvention journey and empowers midlife women to live with clarity, direction and a renewed sense of purpose about their future.  Around the globe, women’s lives are being transformed with Susan’s invaluable process.

As a professional speaker, Susan has a spark and energy that lights up a room and reaches the heart of her audiences, inspiring and motivating them all. As she shares the experiences and wisdom from her midlife reinvention, Susan empowers others to dream big and step out on faith as they create their own extraordinary lives, following her example.

 Susan’s Story

As I look back over my life, I realize that everything I have done has been to prepare me for my current role. I have been an accountant, a bank marketing officer, a wedding coordinator, a women’s ministry leader and a school board president. Those diverse experiences in business, marketing, hospitality and leadership have come together to make me blossom as I have reinvented my life after 50.

When my husband and I became empty-nesters I was hit with a hollow feeling and wondered, “What’s next?” My life had been wrapped up in serving others for 25 years as a stay-at-home mom with sporadic part-time jobs, and I had lost my own identity. According to society, I was too old to start over, and it was time for me to find some new hobbies to occupy my time. But I knew otherwise. I still wanted to be productive while doing something fulfilling and fun.  I had too many “good years” left in me and dreaded the thought of retirement.

Enter my self-critic, loud and clear: How would “rich life experiences” look on a resume when competing against younger candidates who had sharper skills and memories? How could a 50-something woman find employment in a world that focuses on young talent while discounting the virtues of aging?

Not to be brought down by fear, I stepped out of my comfort zone and began attending networking events, hoping to meet someone who would hire me. Instead I found myself energized by the women I met and their own stories of reinvention. I began blogging about my midlife experiences, and was surprised to receive reader comments from Washington to North Carolina. Yes, others were searching for the same things as I was, craving relationships and direction in their lives after 50.

My mind was full of ideas, of ways I could connect on a grander scale and positively impact other lives. Dreams turned in to reality, and on February 1, 2010, FlourishOver50.com was launched. In just over two years, the articles and videos on the website have been viewed  by more than 40,000 women every month in over 100 countries , and I have partnered with several nationally-recognized authors who share their expert advice monthly for Flourish Over 50 readers.

Based on my own reinvention, I also created the Powerful Me ™ Program, a self-study process that leads women to rediscover their core essence and passions for more fulfilled lives. Through Life Purpose Statements with goals that both stretch and empower them, women are finding renewed joy and zest for life, allowing themselves to follow their own dreams with great excitement.

There has never been a better time to be a woman over 50. Our opportunities are limitless, and we are better equipped than ever before to reach for the stars. Rediscover the passions and dreams you once had, and claim the power that is within you to achieve those dreams and much more. You have a purpose in life: Find it, live it, celebrate it. It is never too late!

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About the Logo

The Lotus Flower was chosen as the symbol of Flourish Over 50 because of its beauty and significance across many cultures. The Lotus Flower has long represented health, long life, clarity of heart, strength, good luck and happiness. Some scholars have even talked of the Lotus Flower being a universal representation of the spiritual presence in human lives.

TheLotus Flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty. At night the flower closes and sinks underwater, at dawn it rises and opens again. Untouched by the impurity, lotus symbolizes the purity of heart and mind.

As we embark on a time of new discovery, when we redefine ourselves and seek to reach our greatest potential, let the beauty of the Lotus Flower symbolize our renewal as we flourish over 50!