Career Journey
Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained:
Starting Your Own Business in Your Sixties
November 2023
Starting Your Own Business in Your Sixties
November 2023
Barbara Wagner
Photo Courtesy: Barbara Wagner
Photo Courtesy: Barbara Wagner
By Carol Lippert Gray
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, on average, women small business owners are 42 years old and have been in business for 11 years. But if you search Google to ask, “Is 60 too late to start a business,” you’ll find this: “[The] key takeaway – you’re never too old. Regardless of age, the key to success is having a good idea and being dedicated to making it work.”
Further online digging shows that older women entrepreneurs succeed because they have experience, both in relationship-building and leadership roles. In addition, they have clarity about who they are and a sense of urgency to get the new venture right.
So, bottom line, if you have a good idea and are highly motivated to make it work, go for it!
Here’s one woman’s story…
Starting your own business, particularly after a long and successful career with a company that’s a leader in its field, takes determination, grit, more than a touch of independent spirit, and a willful willingness to fly without a net. Starting your own business when your peers are starting to access their Social Security and IRAs adds a layer of, shall we say, iffiness – if not downright complication – to your aerial act.
Still, that’s exactly what Barbara Wagner did in 2021. The job she left to found Barbara Wagner Communications had been at a high level at a major New York-based public relations firm. But all roads seem to have led her to her current venture.
According to U.S. Census Bureau data, on average, women small business owners are 42 years old and have been in business for 11 years. But if you search Google to ask, “Is 60 too late to start a business,” you’ll find this: “[The] key takeaway – you’re never too old. Regardless of age, the key to success is having a good idea and being dedicated to making it work.”
Further online digging shows that older women entrepreneurs succeed because they have experience, both in relationship-building and leadership roles. In addition, they have clarity about who they are and a sense of urgency to get the new venture right.
So, bottom line, if you have a good idea and are highly motivated to make it work, go for it!
Here’s one woman’s story…
Starting your own business, particularly after a long and successful career with a company that’s a leader in its field, takes determination, grit, more than a touch of independent spirit, and a willful willingness to fly without a net. Starting your own business when your peers are starting to access their Social Security and IRAs adds a layer of, shall we say, iffiness – if not downright complication – to your aerial act.
Still, that’s exactly what Barbara Wagner did in 2021. The job she left to found Barbara Wagner Communications had been at a high level at a major New York-based public relations firm. But all roads seem to have led her to her current venture.
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“It was a surprise to me that I ended up in public relations. Looking back, it was a shame I wasn’t in PR from the beginning. I always loved magazines and reading, studied art history, and got a job doing sales for a poster company. I worked in subscriptions at Redbook magazine. I worked at the Genesis Project, a nondenominational Bible company run by a movie star agent. My husband and I sold gold jewelry at flea markets for a while, but quickly realized that after Christmas, jewelry sales disappeared.
“Then I got a job at Cosmo [Cosmopolitan magazine] as assistant to the managing editor. I learned a tremendous amount about scheduling, working with writers, and management.” |
“It was a surprise to me that I ended up in public relations. Looking back, it was a shame I wasn’t in PR from the beginning." ~ Barbara Wagner |
After her daughter was born, she became a freelance writer, then helped her husband establish his law firm (where, she says, she acquired “good business sense”), and again returned to freelancing. “I decided I should make more money,” she says, “and thought the best way to do that would be to become a real estate broker or a publicist.”
She had met many publicists through her freelance work and, at age 49, joined their ranks. “Once I caught on, I was able to get big stories. From my work at Cosmo, I knew what reporters wanted,” she says.
She had met many publicists through her freelance work and, at age 49, joined their ranks. “Once I caught on, I was able to get big stories. From my work at Cosmo, I knew what reporters wanted,” she says.
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Fast forward to the Pandemic years. After a bout with COVID, Wagner says, “My job became a little less important.” She felt she had accomplished what she could for her employer and decided to fly solo. She says, “I wasn’t scared. My husband was working. I set myself up at home.”
She created an LLC, started a website, began hiring and, she says, “We started doing things. I invested in getting the tools I had at [the agency] for myself.” She also realized that to attract talented help, she’d need to offer health benefits and a retirement plan. The company specializes in real estate, culture, and lifestyle. It’s still virtual and has five employees. Two had been at her former agency and one was hired from Instagram. A new account coordinator is coming onboard, and there’s a freelance social media person in the Washington, D.C., area. “We meet every morning at 9:30 on Zoom,” she says. “They come with me for client presentations. We stay close and tight. I try and I hope that I’m good to them and they’re good to me. Our work is ridiculously all over the place.” For example? “Well, today,” she says, “we put out a statement on Israel; worked on stories about Justin Timberlake and Tiger Woods starting a golf/gastropub in Scotland; worked on a touchy real estate development in south Florida; and set up interviews with Variety for the head of a movie studio. It’s not boring!” |
L-R Elana Bodow, Juliana Ferré , Barbara Wagner, Katie Prael, Joanna Pagoulatos
Photo Courtesy: Barbara Wagner Communications |
If you’re thinking about starting your own business, Wagner says, “First, you have to feel comfortable financially. You also need the confidence to do it and the belief that you’re never too old to do it.” She adds, “I’m lucky enough to feel healthy, and that’s important, too.”
Given all that, where (and when) does she find sanctuary?
“In cooking, especially roast chicken. In reading. And in exercising.”
Given all that, where (and when) does she find sanctuary?
“In cooking, especially roast chicken. In reading. And in exercising.”
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Carol Lippert Gray is an award-winning public relations professional and longtime freelance writer and editor. Her career has spanned books, newspapers, magazines, broadcast, and online media in fields as diverse as crafts and corporate finance, parenting and philanthropy. She is Sanctuary's associate editor.
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