How to Embrace Change in Your Fifties: Insights from Leslee Wegleitner

Host: Lauri Wakefield
Guest: Leslee Wegleitner

Tune In To: Discover how to embrace change, find new purpose, and thrive after 50. Leslee’s inspiring journey is a powerful reminder that it's never too late to start fresh, and that life after 50 can be just as rewarding and meaningful as any other stage.

Whether you're navigating your 50s or preparing for the road ahead, Leslee’s story offers both inspiration and practical tips for approaching midlife with grace and confidence. From focusing on your health to achieving financial independence, this episode is packed with insights and encouragement for women ready to flourish in this exciting new chapter.

In this episode of the Inspiring Journeys podcast, Lauri Wakefield talks with Leslee Wegleitner, who shares her uplifting story of embracing change, finding new purpose, and improving wellness after 50. Together, they explore the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of midlife, and how to turn these obstacles into opportunities for growth and renewal.


Key Takeaways:

• It’s never too late to pursue a new career or passion.
• Balancing your hormones and overall wellness is crucial to thriving in midlife.
• Financial independence empowers women to take control of their futures.
• Embracing change brings new opportunities and freedom after 50.

Noteworthy Quotes:

"Starting over at 58 wasn’t easy, but it allowed me to reconnect with my passion and focus on my well-being."

"Understanding hormone health is crucial for navigating the emotional and physical changes that come with aging."

"Financial independence is a lifelong journey, and it’s never too late to start planning for your future."

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please share it with others if you think they would also enjoy it. Thank you!

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Chapters

• 0:00 Navigating New Chapters
• 11:44 Transitioning Into a New Chapter
• 20:53 Empowering Women Over 50 Financially

Transcript

Lauri Wakefield  0:00  
Hi. Welcome to the inspiring journeys podcast. Thanks for joining me today. I'm your host, Lauri Wakefield, and I've invited Leslee Wegleitner to be my guest today. Say hi, Leslee.

Leslee Wegleitner  0:10  
Hi everyone.

Lauri Wakefield  0:12  
Okay, we're gonna talk about a few things today, and then we'll lead into something that was probably one of the most eye opening lessons that she's going through right now, and then also how she started a new career in her late 50s. Leslee, welcome,

Leslee Wegleitner  0:27  
thank you. Nice to be here. Lauri.

Lauri Wakefield  0:30  
You and I chat. So I have an idea, like, what's going on in your life right now, but like, we were talking like when you hit your 50s, like I was thinking about this the other day, so, like, when you hit 50, like, that's, like, a five, oh, it's wow, like, I'm already 50, but it's, but you're, like, on the back door, the step of, not the back door, but, like, I'm a step of the 40s. So it's not, it's like, a big difference. But if you start moving in here, 50, you get farther away from the 40s. Yeah, yeah. And that's there, there's, there's a lot of positive stuff that happens when you get into your 50s. You want to talk a little bit about, like, your own journey with that when you started moving through your 50s,

Leslee Wegleitner  1:13  
yeah, I think for women, especially if you've had children as like, the catalyst, because they're leaving the home. And so there's tends to be a little bit of a void that you're trying to fill. Because, wow, all this extra time that through the 30s and in your 40s, you're like, doing lots of family things. I think that was a big catalyst for me to what is my next step? What is next for me? And it takes, it took me a little while I was totally resisting that, creating my own pain within that, but and then come came, like the new job. And then

Leslee Wegleitner  1:48  
are you talking about the job right now, or are you talking Yeah?

Leslee Wegleitner  1:50  
So I was fumbling around, doing a few different things or whatever, but I've just stepped into a new career. And it's interesting, because when you think you know what you really want, but then the universe is pushing you to something else, and then you step into that, and you realize, wow, because I thought I wanted to be more at a home based business, and then now I'm out in the past, I've owned coffee shops, and I felt like it was draining, and I didn't, you know, want to be in the same four walls Every day. But I'm back at working in a spa environment and being able to nurture people more service orientated. And I'm realizing that is me, correct? So the full circle thing, right?

Lauri Wakefield  2:32  
Yeah? And I yeah, I think too, it's like we just go through different phases, maybe, like, where things things appeal to us more than at other phases. But yeah, I know, like back in January, probably when we used to talk, we actually worked together. We had Leslee and I had a podcast about human design and beyond. I was the name of the podcast, and it was a lot of fun. We had fun doing the podcast and everything. But at that time it was you were just really torn between, do I continue on this path, or should I try to find something else? And so it just seemed like the type of environment that you're in, like, when you told me about I was like, wow, that just sounds it sounds like you, it sounds like it just sounds like such a healthy, healthy in a sense, just like the atmosphere. Like, why don't you talk a little bit? 

Leslee Wegleitner  3:18  
It's health and wellness. So it's infrared sauna, plunge, salt roll. It is or people are coming in for either detoxification to stay healthy, or they have something that they're trying to move through. And for me, it was hormones, right? So I'm trying to balance my hormones in my 50s, and I just got my lab test back, and the functional medicine doctor, she actually asked, she's I put you on a liver hormone detox, but that would have not dropped your levels, like, what happened? Something else? And I laughed. I'm like, Yeah, I'm doing sauna red light plunge. And so it's so I know. I just feel like I'm in for right now. I'm really in the right space, because I've always been you too, like looking and seeking for health and wellness, and even Human Design is an aspect of that, right, right? And so now I'm just hopefully spreading the word and what these modalities do and how they can help. And then also, for children, the salt room is a wonderful thing for natural antibiotic stuff. So respiratory,

Lauri Wakefield  4:22  
Yeah, it sounds fascinating. I know when I was up in your area, I was gonna try to come into just to see the just so see it. But I think the interesting thing too is you didn't just take a job that was working in a spot. You're actually man and management, yeah, yeah. So that's that, and we talked about it, I think last week about, like, ages on and you don't seem you don't see it like in your I mean, the company you work for, just in general, you do or you don't see it.

Leslee Wegleitner  4:53  
Not really everyone's younger than I am, but they're very I love the energy, the Innovate. Of energy, the just the right energy that they bring forward. But I do, I feel like for women, it's like our second wind of doing our job. So it's like our focus isn't spread in 10 different places because of stuff and all that. So it feels there's employees out there, women in their 50s are ready to get back in it and have a purpose and enjoy being at work. There's such a contentment and peace that I have when I'm at work, because I'm not distracted and pulled away of like, I have to get home for this, or I have to do that, or and, and I think the owners of the company are seeing that. They're like, Wow, she's just, she just goes with the flow. She we pull her here. So it's a great space for me to be in, and it's a great space for the person that's hiring for,

Lauri Wakefield  5:49  
Yeah, oh yeah. Definitely. There's definitely wisdom and experience of, you know, maturity, that goes along with hiring people that are older. I don't know, I don't want to speak in generalizations, but I think that women do experience it a lot of times, or what people probably do men probably do too to where, especially the hiring company. They're not that this is the point of the conversation, but I just wanted to bring it up. They want to bring younger people in so that they can train them and roll them into a career that's going to last with the company. That's not always true, but a lot of companies are like that. But I think, like the industry that you're in, it's probably more innovative, too, in some ways. And I think it's great that they because I don't know, like it, just, it, just, I don't really even know what I was gonna Yeah, well, but I think it's good. 

Leslee Wegleitner  6:36  
Yeah, there's an aspect of younger 20s and 30s, especially the 20s, they're still trying to figure it out. Well, the loyalty that I'm seeing within the company really isn't there. So even if you and then also like customer service, we've lost that along the way, anyways, through the pandemic and all that kind of stuff. But it feel I just have someone that came on board and she's in her 40s, and she still has that customer service. So it's like, that whole area you don't have to train. It's just a natural right, knowing, yeah, and that's huge, because that's necessarily, that's not that easy to train if you don't have it, or that nurturing, service orientated. It's just that, like, really caring about the Yeah, yeah. You know that you want to follow through and that you want to make sure that they had a good experience, and you're reaching out and you can't. So it's, yeah, it's just really interesting times with the whole career thing. I'll just say that yeah,

Lauri Wakefield  7:34  
I wanted to go back to, like, when you were talking about, like, your, like, balancing your hormones and stuff like that, yeah. I think one, one thing that happens, like, especially as estrogen levels start to drop, and there are a couple things that can happen. One is weight gain, and then the other one is you, like, you may not necessarily gain a bunch of weight, but you gain weight around the mid side. Yeah, that so there. That's something that a lot of women have to deal with on less fade, if they do things like hormone replacement therapy. Sometimes it'll help balance that out. But that wasn't really an option for it's not really an option for me because, just for health reasons, I had the estrogen positive breast cancer,

Leslee Wegleitner  8:11  
Yeah, and I did the HRT, the hormone replacement therapy, and my numbers like went off the charts. So when I went into it, they were really low, and then two years later, they were off the charts. And that's what I was trying to bring the body back to homeostasis, yeah, and I was really excited that such a simple thing, Sana, I don't have to do anything else. It just it dropped, and now I'm pretty much in the ranges, and I'm just going to go back to supporting it through herbs in natural means, because there is that one journey as we have to find our way, and that that can be frustrating, can be time consuming, it can be financially draining, yeah, and then the sleep is a whole nother. We don't sleep well, and so exercise changes. Our eating has to change. It's just so much that goes on in our 50s, we can't prepare for it. But I tell my my son's fiance and girlfriend, like anything, I can help them keep your hormones balanced. Make sure doing ABC and even the financial be putting money away. That's only for you. So if something does happen, God forbid, something would happen to one of my kids, or between the two of you, that you have your own financial standing. You know what? I mean? It's so important. And we just don't think of that, because we get so into the family unit, and we don't think outside of what can happen down the road.

Lauri Wakefield  9:38  
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's one thing I was gonna ask you about, like, one of the most eye opening lessons that you like that you're going through right now because you're actually in a transition. That's, that's, that's something that they're like, you've been, like, moving towards it for a while, but it's, it's finally the transition is finally happening. So what would you say has been. Like, the most eye opening lesson for you right now,

Leslee Wegleitner  10:02  
Definitely the financial to really get focused on my future finances and what that means. And do I want to work till I'm 75 or 80? Like, how can I restructure what I'm doing to now I sustain a fun lifestyle in my 50s because you want to be doing a little travel and putting the joy into your life too. Yeah, exactly how to extend that into as I'm aging, or whatever. And hindsight, 2020, right? When you look back, oh, I probably should have been tucking away when I was in my 30s, or I sold my house like four years ago, and now I'm moving into an apartment because and, but, but I think the biggest thing that this is teaching is to really trust, take the leap of faith and that we will be taken care of. Because you're actually,

Lauri Wakefield  10:55  
I don't want to get too personal about things, but do you want to talk about a little bit more about the transition, or just leave it as a ...

Leslee Wegleitner  11:01
Yeah. So I'm I've been with this guy for 18 years. I never married him. I worked for him, I lived with him, I sold my house. So it was like a perfect storm. And as it's crumbling and I'm needing to move on, I'm starting over. I'm 58 I'm starting over. And I didn't see this one coming. It's a little shocking. Yeah, yeah. And I've had lots of anxiety and tears and gone through all my stuff, the pain of it, the resisting of it, but now it's like, I keep getting leap of faith you can do this. It's and it's okay, and it's meant to be, for whatever reason. At this, this phase in my life, or this, I almost want to say, like, a very long pattern or something that I've been healing within self is ready to just move on, to put it behind, yeah,

Lauri Wakefield  11:54  
Yeah. We're talking a little bit about live, just like a vibe, the hormone changes, like or just other things that you go through as you start getting older, those are the things don't you wish someone would have talked to you about. Yes, you know, I mean, like I found out recently, and this has absolutely nothing to do with it, with the with the topic, but I guess it goes. But I must have been like, estrogen dominant for years and didn't even know it. I had to have been because I because those symptoms that I look at now like there was something. Did anybody even test me for estrogen when I was in my 40s? No, did anybody like did I even think that maybe there was some nuts? It didn't even occur to me. And there's a possibility that if I would have had that, that awareness, that I could have avoided what I went through, it's not, fortunately, it wasn't. It wasn't advanced at all. But regardless, yeah, like, Who the heck wants to go through that?

Leslee Wegleitner  12:46  
And even just the emotional roller coaster it puts you on, and some just, I think it's starting in my 50s, I would have these bouts of depression, but I didn't really know what it was, or anxiety. I didn't know that was all connected to hormone, yeah. And even that, I'd be thinking, wow, what is happening? And it and without that, I thought it was something I didn't know. And it's, it's, it's, yeah. So I do try to talk to 30 year olds or 40 year olds and just say, You know what? Yeah, hormones and now life is pretty stressful. These women have some higher jobs, and that all plays a role in, sure, though, and their exercise and just everything. And then, yeah, it is a fascinating journey. And I want to talk to women in their 60s and 70s, because I want to know the next phases now,

Lauri Wakefield  13:38  
Exactly, yeah, I was thinking about, like, my mom, she liked, like, she really never talked to me about anything like that. When she a couple of times I would say, it would change. And I was like, What the heck, okay, but let's say you're that so much younger, and she doesn't, somebody says that, and you're like, Yeah, whatever. But then when you get there and it's, wow, okay, what am I going through? And trying to understand what's happening with your body and stuff and like, I don't know, not frequently, but I've had some conversations with my daughter, and she gets Okay, don't talk to me about it. I'm like, I'm just trying to share some things that maybe at some point will help you.

Leslee Wegleitner  14:13  
Do you remember the day I remember the specific day that all of a sudden hit me? I can't have children anymore. Not that I wanted more. I did not. I was so happy to boys, but all of a sudden it just hit me, Wow, if I even wanted to, I no longer can. And that was yeah, interesting thought,

Lauri Wakefield  14:38  
Yeah, it's definitely weird when you, when you go to that point, it's not, I don't know, but then you move into other things.

Leslee Wegleitner  14:51  
But yeah, it's your birthing other things. I think that's what the 50s is. What are you birthing now? And even birthing self? How are you wanting to carry out the ending of your life? It's Who do you want to be? There's so many things that are transitioning and can be really exciting.

Lauri Wakefield  15:12  
Oh, definitely, yeah, because you're just like, like you were talking about earlier in the conversation about just the freedom that you have. You don't have the responsibilities that someone in their 30s or 40s, 20s, 30s, 40s probably still has, like, with children that are either still at home or you're still having to, even if they're your kids are still pretty well. They're not young, but yeah, like just, they're more on their way. You don't have those distractions. If they're just independent, I can take care of themselves, and you, you have a different relationship with them when they get to that point of becoming an adult quotation,

Leslee Wegleitner  15:49  
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You're not worrying about getting to the dentist or exactly, exactly off your plate. Yeah.

Lauri Wakefield  15:56  
It was where though, like, in my situation, I had my daughter had, she has kids, but when they were living around us, when they were younger, oh my gosh. Like, I took care of the kids a lot, so it was, like, pretty much a daily thing where I was with them and I enjoyed that time, if I like, I would never, like, want to go back and not go through it, because, you know, it gave me a bond with the kids that a lot of grandparents never have the opportunity to have spending so much time with them, but, but, yeah, it was definitely stressful for me, and then I hit my mom on the other side. My mom had dementia, okay?

Leslee Wegleitner  16:30  
And that's a whole nother topic,

Leslee Wegleitner  16:35  
Yeah. So it's like you transition from worrying about your kids into worrying about your parents and taking care of them, and there is that, yeah, because you've had the one on with your mom right now, yeah, yeah. But it's still a different just, still a huge difference. I mean, it's and I have helped too. It's just me. So, yeah, yeah, with all

Lauri Wakefield  16:55  
the other responsibilities that go along with kids, and then you're just, I mean, you just have more experience and wisdom.

Leslee Wegleitner  17:10  
But one thing that I have to say, that I love is I'm able to focus on one thing at a time and do it more slowly. Like I remember running to the grocery store and literally looking at my clock going, I've got 30 minutes to get in this grocery store, get back then I gotta go pick up the kids. And it's now I like, actually go to the grocery store, and I'm just like, be pushing the cart. You're enjoying these experiences of everyday life that you really i Everything was rushed. And now

Lauri Wakefield  17:39  
Exactly. And then you look at other parents and you're like, oh my god, I understand. I completely understand.

Leslee Wegleitner  17:49  
I feel sorry, no, but he'll get through it. It's all you know. And maybe there are people that handled that a lot better than I did, but I just was always like, Oh my gosh, I gotta lose the thing. They've got to get done today. And and so now it's wow, I understand so much more of one you don't have the energy to keep that pace up. That's one big thing. But yeah, yeah, go ahead, yeah, yeah,

Lauri Wakefield  18:11  
yeah. It takes a lot out here. Yeah, I was reading something. I was like, caption, I think when I was I was scrolling through, like, my newsfeed, and I like, how, like, recently, like, maybe yesterday, about how younger kids, younger adults, a lot of them, are choosing not to have kids. And you know what? The reason is money, because it costs too much money. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't know. Then some of it, like, it like, I know by Andy's kids, my husband, his kids, I they didn't study on kids until they were in their late 20s. Yeah, so probably partly financially, getting things together, financially, and then just the maturity. I think it's easier to handle things sometimes when you're a little bit older, not always

Leslee Wegleitner  18:54  
Yeah, and my son is 31 and it's getting married in February, and I'm finding that both my kids will probably be in their early 30s, late 20s, when they start having and I think you're right. I think it's there is you get through the always having to do stuff on the weekends and being getting together with all your friends, and then it just goes into everybody's got their family. So you get together during the day with the families, and an easier transition to do when everyone's doing it, versus right out of the gates to get married at 22 and you have a kid where you still have friends that are out living life and, like, quite Yeah. I mean, like, hey, but yeah, I don't know it's everybody makes it through and then, I guess then they're done with the kids earlier, so they get to start their lives in 40s and 50s. But even that's one thing, you look back and you're like, 50, and now I'm like, almost 60, and I'm like this, yeah,

Lauri Wakefield  19:56  
Yeah. But like, when you look at the Big Five, Oh, wow. Oh, and then it's you were 49 Yeah. So you're not that far away from the forties.

Leslee Wegleitner  20:07  
Yeah. Our perception changes.

Lauri Wakefield  20:12  
So that was mainly what I wanted to get to, was just how being just just what you're going through right now, like the eye opening lesson in it, and, yeah, it is the financial part of it, and also just being to, like the step of faith, which, I mean, people have been at different times in their life, yeah, and it's not just like the 50s, but that's where you're at with your life right now. And you're and I it's just you. It's easier for you to make that transition without it affecting your children or other people, so much. And I just the financial part of it definitely, because you get if you're with somebody, and you have everything together, and it's like, those are getting paid, and you don't really have to worry about being able to, usually being able to pay the bills. It's just so you get caught up in that routine, just the way life is. And then it's like when, when you started thinking about breaking aways, oh my gosh. What am I going to need to do in order to make this happen?

Leslee Wegleitner  21:06  
And yes, I just heard something. I hope I got this right. But the average widow woman is 51 oh my gosh, and he, it was a guy, and he's this is why it's so important. Even if you are married and your relationship is fine, that where your finances are, how to access what's going on, what's what's being done on a regular basis. Because 51 is young, and then, and then he was saying, and this is a big thing out there right now, I feel like there's a lot of women that are talking finances with other women and getting them to understand, like investment stuff and definitely and so even if you are married, there's sometimes an inheritance that comes your way or and I have several friends that she's I got the inheritance. I put it into his checking account. And so it's so interesting how we just so willingly do that, and I've done that in my past, too, where it's like I got married, I had a nice sized savings, and what did I do? I handed it over to my husband, because that's what. I don't know what that is, if it's a pattern or a programming or whatever it is, but now it's their joint. Look at those joints. But that's not, it's and it's not being selfish, and it's not being anything to the relationship. It's just taking responsibility for self. And it's really, it's what if come down the road all of a sudden, you want to go to Egypt, and it's a six, 710, $1,000 trip.

Lauri Wakefield 22:35  
Do you want to go to?

Leslee Wegleitner  22:39  
Maybe I do. And it's like it, there doesn't necessarily have to be discussion about it if you have the money because you've been saving for and tucking away. And I just think women really need to understand that's okay. And if you do something on the side and you make $50 here, or you get birthday money from your parents, or they gift you money every year, it can be yours. There's nothing wrong with that. Yeah, that's my biggest I think,

Lauri Wakefield  23:08  
Yeah. I think the financial, yeah, I think the financial part of it. When I think about when I was growing up, I have three brothers, and then my dad used to talk to them about financial stuff. He never talked to me about financial stuff. And it's something like, I've had to learn things on my own. Like, even my husband's not really his, and some people are like that he just he looks at today, yeah. And I'm like, if we want to have, say, like, $1,000 in dividends per month when you retire, this is what it's going to take in order for that to that possibility to happen. It's going to take a lot of money. So talk to him like that, but just in my head, I'm thinking, Oh my God. Like it's not maybe some people can live off of Social Security. 

Leslee Wegleitner  23:53  
But, yeah, there's the. . . my girlfriend lives in a 55 or she lives in a 55 plus, where I'm moving to, but she works in the office, and she says, You wouldn't be, you'd be so amazed at what these as a lot of them are women are trying to live off Social Security, and basically it pays their rent, not even their rent, yeah, and so you've got part time gigs, or they're doing, she goes, it's really an eye opener. And I think that's like we're on. And then, not to mention, cost of living is just going up so much food and everything. So it's, I think we're, I think when you hit your 50s, you start thinking a little bit differently about things and like up more of the future. And maybe if we can push that down to 30s, then by the time they hit their 50s, they've already got a plan. It's in motion. It's happening, right? It's not going to be such a crunch. Yeah,

Lauri Wakefield  24:45  
I sent you that link. It was a couple weeks ago to that one. I can't think of what her name is off hand, but gee, I think she's in her 30s, I think. And she coaches. maybe not coaches, but she offers, I think it's an online course for getting started. 

Leslee Wegleitner  25:00  
I started three or four years ago, Susie Orman, she's got, like, where you deposit $100 in this higher yield interest bank account, or whatever, and at the end of the year, they put another $100 in. So not only are you getting, like, a 3.4% or, I don't know what's that right now, but then at the end, you get $100 after and I've been doing, and I'm just like, for, I think, three years, and I'm just amazed. It's like, I got $4,600 sitting in there that I never, I never even missed the $100 a month. And I'm like, Yeah, gosh, if I would have been doing this. Because what if it's not there, it's not there, you just transfer it out and it's not there, and you just, and some people have the fortunate benefit of their work, doing their 401 Ks, and they're just taking out of their checks, right? And I never really had that, because I've been self employed more than not, yeah. Anyways, yeah, just those little things, like, don't miss that opportunity thinking, Oh, I can't really afford that, or I don't want that $100 taken out of my time to go to my 401, K and just do it, and you'll figure it out. It's like, you will figure out because, yeah,

Lauri Wakefield  26:07  
Yeah, because it's already, like, you're not counting on that to be able to spend it, on it, yeah, yeah, yeah. We were going to try to limit, yeah, the recording to about 30 minutes. So did you have anything else that you wanted to add?

Leslee Wegleitner  26:24  
No, I think the wrapping up with the financial piece is my big my biggest lesson and my biggest hurdle that I'm facing right now. 

Lauri Wakefield  26:33  
And just wisdom that you'd like to share with others who are younger, that the crowd behind, yeah, yeah. Anyway, all right, so that's going to wrap things up for this episode. Thanks so much for joining me today. If you'd like to see the show notes for today's podcast, you can find them on my website at WWW dot inspired, livingforwomen.com the show notes will be listed under podcast episode one. If you'd like to join me as I continue my conversation with other guests exploring topics for women over 50, please be sure to subscribe to the Inspiring Journeys odcast. Also, if you have your own inspiring journey to share and would like to be a guest on the podcast, you can reach out to me using the contact form on my website. It's on the podcast page, but I'll also link to it in the show and how it's Anyway, thanks again, and have a great day.

Leslee Wegleitner  27:21  
Thanks everyone.