Don’t be nervous about starting late. I had my daughter at 39 and my son at 44. Being an older parent, all the new mums I hung out with were 10 to 15 years younger than me. But I didn’t feel older—I felt just like them! My kids had given me a new lease on life and helped me embrace my inner child again. Imagine realising at 45 that there was so much more to life. So much more to learn and so much more fun to be had.
I met my husband much later in life too. I’d always been a career-first kind of person, but I opened up to the idea of kids when I realised what an amazing father he was going to be. We are a modern couple and we intuitively knew that we were going to be equal partners. Some years, I am the breadwinner and he takes a backseat. He’d say: “Go kill it, honey. I will take a smaller job so I can spend more time with the kids.” That’s the beauty of meeting your partner when you’re older. You don’t have that pressure of continuously needing to prove yourself.
“Youthfulness has nothing to do with your age or your looks”
I celebrated turning 50. It was only in my mid-50s when I began to feel a little anxiety about getting older. I would think back on the great, healthy, useful life I’d had and wondered how things would change when I hit the next decade. My background is in fashion; I’ve had a long career in the industry. I used to run brands as the head of product or head of design. At a certain point, I got the feeling that I was no longer the customer. In fact, the customer might have been 25 years younger than I was. But I’ve always been an open person, and I believe in hiring young talent and being prepared to listen to their ideas. I love to learn from them and it keeps me current.
I had some trepidation about starting social media in my 60s, but I now love the fact that I have this platform where I can talk about being my age. It allows me to show people that they don’t need to be afraid of getting older. In fact, I think part of my success is the fact that I’m not a 20-something. I mean, to be on the Sephora Squad at 63! As we speak, I’m on Sephora’s billboard in Times Square for Women’s History Month.
“Imagine realising at 45 that there was so much more to life—so much more to learn and so much more fun to be had”
Being healthy has been a game changer for me. In that vein, I’ve started to think about how I can affect my followers in a more positive way. Talking about healthy living has become a big part of my content. I share my exercise routines—the things I do for good balance, weight-bearing exercises to preserve bone density.
I’m going to partner with the California Department of Health to talk about Alzheimer’s. My mother passed away from dementia and my father-in-law suffered from the disease, so this has definitely touched my life. I want to spread awareness about what this looks like and what actions people can take. I’m also going to be speaking on a panel hosted by a pharmaceutical company about vibrant living, to show health executives that this is what being in your 60s looks like now. I want to continue doing things like this to make a difference with my platform.
If I could tell you just one thing, it would be that youthfulness has nothing to do with your age. Neither does it have anything to do with your looks. For me, youthfulness means energy. Someone who is and looks very young could feel very old because they don’t have vibrancy or a zest for life. And someone up there in age could have the most youthful energy in the world.
Now, I look at women who are older than me for inspiration. There are runners accomplishing things who are in their 70s. I look at them and tell myself this: when the time comes, I’m still going to be out there living my life.
The April ‘Pop’ issue of Vogue Singapore is available online and on newsstands now.
