40+? It’s Never Too Late to Follow Your Dreams!

You may come up with all kinds of excuses, from the belief that you’re too old to find your passion to the assumption that you don’t have the skills to reach the top in the career of your choosing. Luckily, the truth is that it’s never too late to follow your dreams. The energy to follow your dreams should not die with age. There is still the fun side of pursuing dreams and the expected gratitude that should keep you going.

Linda Davies-Carr created the movement called Non Millennial Revolution a community that believes 40+ woman can have it all. A community that knows 40+ women can also achieve their wildest dreams. Take control of their future. Do everything they’ve always wanted to, but always put someone else first.

The Non Millennial Revolution has a team of unstoppable 40+ women who are building a global, high impact community of high performing women who want more, deserve more and it time to go and get more. The movement will help change lives and give women the confidence to step into their power knowing that there’s a growing movement of strong women who’ve got their back!

How is The Non Millennial Revolution community created by women over 40?

I saw so much being written, published and celebrated about millennials; I felt that as a community we had missed a trick. There are so many amazing women of a certain age over 40, with years of experience, remarkable stories and masses of wisdom that can be brought to the party to help and support other people. 

I believe passionately that as the mature generation we still have so much to contribute and didn’t want us to be left behind and I thought that someone should be shouting about everything we can do and everything we can bring to table to contribute and support others. 

The Non Millennial Revolution is for women over 40 to support them starting and building the businesses of their dreams.  How do you help and support them?

We launched The Non Millennial Revolution in July 2018 and what we want to do is build this huge platform where women over 40 can come together and start building a community in a safe place and be around like-minded individuals. I want to build a community of people who understand what we’re going through and how we can help shape our businesses going forward. 

Right now, we are forming a community on Instagram and the plan is within the next 6 months we are going to start offering additional motivational and inspirational support to the community in the technical and structured elements of building a business and everything that goes with it. 

What motivated you to become an entrepreneur and starting The Non Millennial Revolution?

I never saw myself as an entrepreneur, I didn’t feel like it was a calling, or born to it and I didn’t wake up one morning and decide to be an entrepreneur, it’s something that kind of happened over time. I was always the employed person, the person with a paycheck every month. I liked the security of corporate. It just kind of happened.

What I did understand is that I had a mass of experience and skills to support other women in their 40’s around their confidence, their business knowledge, their skills and expertise to help them achieve the goals they wanted to achieve and enable them to live the lives they wanted to live. 

I have children who are millennials and I was inspired by what Carrie Green of ‘She Means Business’ and what The Boss Babe community are doing for the millennials and I felt that we, as a 40+ female community should have a voice and that’s why I created The Non Millennial Revolution. 

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned, and would pass along to other women leaving a job and start for themselves?

The fear leading up to taking the plunge and the thinking about it is far worse than the actual act of taking action and making the change. We put off and procrastinate over tough decisions we need to make and often the fear and worry is so much worse than the actual change itself. So, my advice would be to never procrastinate over these type of things, be bold, take action and enjoy the process. 

As an entrepreneur do you have innate qualities, or is it something that you learned?

For me personally they are skills I have learned over time. I think many people say they were born to be an entrepreneur but that’s not my personal experience. But I have learned that with the benefit of all the roles that I’ve had, all the responsibilities I’ve had and the life I’ve lived I believe I’ve morphed into the entrepreneur world and I have brilliant skills to share. 

Are there any trends that you absolutely love or would love to see business owners leave behind?

I think as business owners and entrepreneurs we’re often looking to see what other people are doing. We are comparing our success, our business strategies, our processes and our failures to other people’s. If there’s one thing I would urge and encourage people to leave behind is that comparison because it serves no positive purpose.  

People only share the best version of themselves and their lives, so the pictures we are presented with are the best version. The instaready version – and life just isn’t like that!  

Discipline and creativity: are they two forces in opposition, or are they complementary?

Yes, I believe they can be complementary. You need great discipline to be able to launch, run and build a successful business and it’s critical that you have a creative thought in building, visioning and planning your business empire. So, I believe they can go hand in hand to help you build the business of your dreams. Often we don’t have all these skills ourselves, so find someone to hold you accountable and provide the balance.

What sacrifices have you had to make during life as an entrepreneur and a leader?

When I had my children, I was in my early  30’s. I became a single mum when the girls were quite small –  3 and 5 years old. I suppose the sacrifices I made were not to my children or my career. The sacrifices I made were to myself, my priorities at the time were looking after my children as their primary carer but also looking after my business. To make it work I had to sacrifice my self-care which was a mistake but at the time I felt like it was the one thing I could sacrifice so I could focus on my children and my business. 

What popular entrepreneurial advice do you agree/ disagree with? Why? 

The best piece of advice that I was once given and I tell all my clients over and over again is “do what you do best and outsource the rest.” Building a business is hard work – so regarding but still hard work. There is so much to do from product and service development, social media, marketing, business development, selling and keeping all the balls in the air. Outsource the tasks you can outsource, retain the tasks that only you can do. You can’t do it all – you’ll make yourself ill. You may think that you can’t afford to outsource, I’d argue you can’t afford not to.

If you had one piece of advice to our readers to those just starting out as a business owner, what would it be?

I would say be absolutely crystal clear on your WHY and your vision. No one can question your WHY. Have clarity on why you’re doing what you’re doing because your WHY is going to keep you going when you’re struggling, your WHY is going to get you out of bed in the morning when you don’t feel like it and your WHY is going to make the difference. Have absolute crystal-clear clarity of what your WHY is. Then get a coach to support and drive you forward and hold you accountable.