1. AFTER THE CAREER...THEN WHAT?
It was time to turn the business over to the next generation. I had birthed it and now it
was time to let another generation carry it. Hard to let your children go in the same way
it is to let a business you helped start move on and develop. You have to let go for
them to grow.
Reinventing myself about every 10 years was what I did. Now it was time to do it again.
I had held different positions depending on who and where I was at the time and what fit
my lifestyle. I had taught; I had been director of two not for profits; I was a VP at a bank
and then I helped start a small business which really brought everything I had done
together. This part of the journey would be different. No salary!! I would not read P&L
statements or worry about the bottom line. The next part of my journey would be
different. What would this trip look like? This time I was more methodical in my
planning. I took people to lunch to pick their brains to ask how they organized their life
after a working career. I read articles. I contemplated as to how I wanted my life to look
and feel. These next years were to be balanced - continued learning, spiritual
development and physical development all in the context of a loving extended family.
Something for the brain, the body and the spirit.
I knew how and where to go for the spiritual and physical component and I knew how to
be involved with my family. But how was I to keep the brain cells alive and my curiosity
satisfied? I had been a part of so many changes in technology in the business world
and I could see that there would be many more to come in the next years and I wanted
to be there. I did not want to be a dinosaur. First I signed up for continuing education
classes at University of Texas with one of the OLLI groups made up of individuals like
myself - 55 plus years old who had the same goals.
As to continuing to stay current in business and to give back to the community, I
remembered going to SCORE in Chicago for business advice once so I googled
SCORE Austin and found there was a chapter. I called them up, made an application
and was accepted. As the first woman to belong to the chapter I was well received and
fit it. It was not long after my initial training and counseling that I knew I was in the right
place.
The experience I had starting and managing the growth of a small business whose
clients were small businesses was a perfect fit for my giving back and using my
experience to help others. Working with clients at SCORE was not only inspirational but
my clients forced me to learn so I could better serve them. They also taught me and I
was able to share what I learned from one client with another.

2. So if you are wondering what to do after that career and would like to give back, share
your experiences, be a part of someone’s dream and watch them grow, then you need
to volunteer at SCORE. www.austin.score.org or www.score.org
Celia Bell
celia.bell@scorevolunteer.org