#81. On the Power of Storytelling and Taking the Detours in Life, with Melissa Davey

Enjoy this next podcast episode  with Melissa Davey who  is sure to inspire you, as she talks about the importance of recognizing, and taking detours in our lives. By taking these detours you can learn things about yourself that you never imagined were even possible.

Melissa retired from a lengthy corporate career in 2016 to pursue her third act and dream of becoming a filmmaker. Melissa began her early career in Legal Services pursuing compliance and advocacy for disabled children. For 22 years, Melissa worked throughout the United States to bring services to individuals and the disability insurance marketplace. 

At age, 65 Melissa retired from her career and took a giant leap. After spending a day on the set, behind the camera with a famous Director, Melissa made the decision that changed her life.

 Pursuing her dream of becoming a filmmaker became a reality in  2018 when Melissa completed her first film, Beyond Sixty Project, a feature length documentary about women over the age of 60. Melissa’s film was accepted by and screened at 8 film festivals throughout the US and Canada, winning awards and confirming that it is truly never too late to learn something new.

Her second documentary, Climbing Into Life, is currently in post-production.

You can find Melissa here:

Watch Beyond Sixty Online | Vimeo On Demand on Vimeo
Climbing into Life-Trailer on Vimeo
www.beyondsixty.com 

Here are her key takeaways:

1. More than 50%  of the time people ignore signs or push them away. When we are young we are taught fantasy vs reality, but I think that is a mistake - we should be open to everything.
2. Even if it's scary, unless we allow ourselves to try something new, do something that you haven't done before, that probably scares you a little bit, you might miss something that you want to try something new.
3. I encourage people to talk to other people, expand your group, find out why you might not take that next step, and when you figure out why you're probably going to say - why did i allow that to hold me back? 
4. I've had failures that I've felt terrible about, but that I learned from. So every time I failed I had this new learning bucket.
5. When people listen to stories hopefully they can take them in, and challenge the way they feel about something and by listening to a story, you can change your entire viewpoint on something that you had no relation to until you heard the story
6. We all have transferable skills - that you learn through life, your family, through work. You're good at certain things. And if that transfers to something else, you'll probably be good at it there as well
7. Women are born with this innate amount of resilience. And if they tapped into it they could probably do anything - even get beyond their fears. It comes from their experience, their failures, readjusting to the failures and building that resilience muscle over time. 
8. You're never too old, take the detours and live a great story.

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New episodes every Monday and Thursday.

This podcast explores career and life transitions, helping women find clarity, confidence, and purpose through Ikigai and self-discovery. We cover navigating change, overcoming self-doubt and limiting beliefs, finding your purpose-driven career, and building the courage to start your next chapter - whether you're facing a career transition, life transition, or midlife reinvention.