TAMPA, Fla. — Janice Brock is a registered nurse at Moffitt Cancer Center. Not only does she enjoy quilling as a hobby and a side job, but it's also a lifeline.
Brock is nearing retirement and found a second act.
"It is the manipulation and folding, rolling of paper to make shapes and designs," Brock said. "And when you put them all together, you can make them anything you want."
Brock makes jewelry, trinkets and art. Right now, she gives most of it away, but her goal is to eventually sell her products at arts and crafts shows and online.
She's among a growing number of women over 40 focused on phase two of their lives and careers.
Quin Brewington is the master of reinvention.
"I call myself a midlife mentor," said Brewington.
She's got the credentials to back it up. Brewington created her successful blog Sister Lady Girl at 41 and got a major brand deal at 48. She even earned her master's degree at 51.
Now she wants to help you set the stage for your "second act" through her second act summit.
"I did not have a construct that helped me understand how to move and navigate in this stage of my life," Brewington said. "I thought if I was feeling that way, other women were feeling that way, too. And I thought, what could I do in order to bring this group of women together? Because there are millions of women who are now in midlife, and they want to do something new."
It's a sisterhood, a community of women helping each other.
"We have enough experience, we have enough wisdom, we have enough expertise at this moment to really help each other and bring each other along," Brewington said. "I want to introduce people to women that they otherwise would never have met. And in the four years that we have been doing the summit, we've seen women create partnerships together, we've seen them open businesses together, we've seen them use each other services."
Brock found her passion. Retirement isn't so scary anymore. Now, her future is as sparkly as the beautiful jewelry she creates.
"I want it to come from my heart. I want it to be something that I love to make, and I love other people wearing it," she said.
The Fourth Annual Second Act Summit is Saturday, April 27, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Tampa.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
