Ep. 19—Second Acts: What BlackBerry Can Teach Us About Reinvention feat. Wendy Battles
EPISODE DESCRIPTION
A simple question about BlackBerry's evolution turned into a much bigger conversation about reinvention.
What does it really mean to reinvent yourself? And why do some people embrace change while others struggle to let go of who they’ve always been?
This week, I’m joined by Wendy Battles, host of the Reinvention Rebels podcast, for a thoughtful conversation about second acts, identity, and what it takes to start over.
We explore why comparison can quietly derail personal growth, how people-pleasing keeps us stuck, whether reinvention is better done publicly or behind the scenes, and why the things that seem like detours in life often become the experiences that shape us most.
Whether you’re changing careers, starting a creative project, entering a new chapter, or simply wondering what’s next, this episode is a reminder that reinvention isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about giving yourself permission to begin.
Referenced in this episode:
BlackBerry (2023 film) — Available on Netflix
Wall Street Journal: BlackBerry’s QNX Software Powers Millions of Cars — https://www.wsj.com/tech/blackberry-qnx-software-cars-bf2a2280
Reinvention Rebels — www.reinventionrebels.com
TRANSCRIPT
Matti: I watched the 2023 movie BlackBerry recently. You know I love a good “based on a true story” movie. Naturally, I started wondering, Whatever happened to BlackBerry? They must have gone out of business, right?
Well, as today’s algorithms tend to do, once I showed the slightest bit of interest, I started seeing more and more content about BlackBerry, and I learned something fascinating. The company is alive and well—just not as the button-filled phone company many of us carried around in the 2000s.
Today, BlackBerry is a software company. Its QNX operating system is embedded in millions of vehicles around the world.
That got me thinking: I wonder what other companies have quietly reinvented themselves? But the more I researched, the more I realized this story wasn’t really about companies at all. It was about reinvention. What happens when the thing you’re known for stops working? How do people respond to change? Why do some people adapt while others freeze? And why does society sometimes have such a hard time letting people evolve?
While researching this episode, I discovered a fantastic podcast called Reinvention Rebels, hosted by Wendy Battles. I figured there was no better person to have this conversation with than the midlife reinvention architect herself.
Wendy, welcome to It’s Gonna Be Fine.
Wendy: Hey, Matti! How are you?
Matti: I’m doing well. It’s so nice to have you here.
Wendy: It’s a pleasure. I’m so excited—and honored—to be joining you today.
Matti: Amazing. Let me tell everyone a little bit about you.
Wendy is a midlife reinvention architect, storyteller, and host of the Reinvention Rebels podcast, where she shares inspiring stories of women who have boldly reinvented themselves in midlife and beyond. Through candid conversations and her own experiences with reinvention, Wendy explores what it takes to trust yourself, embrace change, and create a life that feels more aligned, meaningful, and true.
While her work focuses on midlife, her message is universal: it’s never too late to begin again, bet on yourself, or create a new chapter that reflects who you’re becoming.
Wendy: I love it! It’s so funny hearing someone else talk about you instead of saying it yourself.
Matti: Right?
So let’s jump right in. What first got you interested in helping people reinvent themselves? What brought you into the world of second acts, particularly in midlife?
It Started With a Whisper
Wendy: It all started, Matti, with a whisper. A tiny little whisper.
Back in 2019, I realized I’d been searching for something more in every decade of my life.
In my thirties, I had one of those moments while recovering from surgery. I remember thinking, There’s got to be something else I’m meant to do. I had a good job and was successful in my career, but something felt like it was missing. That’s when I became a voice actor.
Then in my forties, after my dad died, I had another one of those moments. His passing made me question everything. Again, I thought, There’s got to be more than this. After a lot of reflection, I went back to school and became a health coach.
But here’s the thing about reinvention: sometimes it sticks, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Sometimes it’s simply a pit stop on the way to something bigger. You don’t always know what your larger purpose is while you’re living through it. You’re just following the path in front of you.
By the time I reached my mid-fifties, I was thinking, Okay, Wendy… you’re not getting any younger. It’s time to figure out what you’re really meant to do.
I already knew I loved working with women because I’d done so much of that as a health coach. Around that same time, I was asked to participate on a panel at Yale, where I work, about personal branding.
I remember thinking, What do I know about personal branding?
Around then I stumbled across a podcast called Package Your Genius. And I always believe things come into our lives exactly when we need them—even if we don’t realize it yet.
The whole premise of the podcast was that every single person has something they uniquely bring to the world.
There may be five thousand people doing what you do, Matti, but nobody does it exactly the way you do it.
That idea completely captivated me.
I bought the host’s workbook and started working through the exercises. More importantly, I started getting quiet.
I’d wash the dishes in silence. I’d cook in silence. I stopped filling every moment with noise and just let ideas come to me.
One day I was meditating when I heard two tiny words.
“Reinvention Rebels.”
I had no idea what they meant.
But I knew enough to write them down.
You know how sometimes you have a dream and you tell yourself, I’ll definitely remember this in the morning… and then you wake up and it’s completely gone?
I didn’t want that to happen.
Matti: Exactly.
Wendy: So I wrote the words down, even though I didn’t know what they meant yet.
As I kept thinking about them, I realized this was about women.
I started reflecting on what happens as women get older—how many societal expectations there are about aging, what we’re supposed to look like, what we’re capable of, and how so much of our value is tied to appearance.
I wanted to challenge those narratives.
I wanted women to see what was possible.
The idea became simple: if I could share stories of women who had reinvented themselves in bold ways, maybe other women would see something of themselves in those stories. Their paths might be completely different, but maybe they’d find encouragement, inspiration, or permission to start their own next chapter.
I wanted women to remember that it’s never too late, despite what society—or sometimes even our friends and family—might tell us.
You know those people who ask, “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Have you really thought this through?”
Matti: Right. “Have you thought about this? Have you thought about that?”
Wendy: Exactly!
So that’s really how it started.
I had no idea how to host a podcast. I didn’t know anything about producing one either. But as you know, it’s not rocket science. It’s all learnable.
So I just got started.
My first guests were simply friends who had reinvented themselves.
From there it snowballed. I met people through Instagram, through recommendations, through complete strangers reaching out. One conversation led to another.
Now, five and a half years later, I honestly love it even more than I did when I started.
Part of that is because I finally know what I’m doing.
That definitely helps.
Matti: That’s such a huge tell.
One thing I’ve realized for myself is that as long as I’m enjoying the process, I know I’m on the right path.
If I enjoy creating the thing—even if it’s hard—that’s a really good sign. But if I only like the finished product and I’m miserable the entire time I’m making it, then maybe it’s not actually the right thing for me.
Wendy: Probably not.
For me, this is my thing. This is where I shine.
Using my voice for good and inspiring other people—that’s my lane.
When you find the thing that lights you up, it’s so much easier to keep going. Sure, you’ll still have moments where you’re frustrated or discouraged, but they’re easier to work through because you know you’re doing something that feels deeply aligned with who you are.
Matti: One thing that really struck me about your story is that twenty years ago you became a voice actor.
Now you’re a podcaster.
Those seem like very different careers, but in a way they’re actually connected. You’ve always been using your voice.
Maybe voice acting wasn’t the destination. Maybe it was simply preparing you for the way you’d eventually use your voice years later.
Wendy: I love that perspective.
There really were breadcrumbs all along the way.
Voice acting gave me skills I still use today. Toastmasters, public speaking, speech competitions—they all helped too.
Looking back, every one of those experiences was preparing me for this.
At the time, I had no idea.
Now it makes perfect sense.
The Breadcrumbs Were Always There
Matti: One thing that really struck me about your story is that twenty years ago you became a voice actor, and now you’re a podcaster. On the surface those seem like completely different careers, but they’re actually deeply connected. You’ve always been using your voice. Maybe voice acting wasn’t the destination—it was preparing you for the way you were eventually meant to use your voice.
Wendy: I love that perspective because it’s true. There were little breadcrumbs all along the way. The training I got as a voice actor helped me with podcasting. The years I spent in Toastmasters, public speaking, and speech competitions helped too. Looking back, so many experiences prepared me for what I’m doing now. At the time, though, I had no idea.
Matti: Earlier you mentioned trying voice acting in your thirties and becoming a health coach in your forties. Did you ever have that voice in your head that so many people have—the one that says, I’m too old… it’s too late… everyone else is younger than me… I can’t start over now? How did you deal with that?
Wendy: I think there were really two different things going on. One was imposter syndrome, which honestly has no age. When I first started voice acting, I had no idea what I was doing. Suddenly I was working with producers—some wonderful, some very difficult—and I constantly wondered if I belonged there.
By the time I became a health coach in my forties, I didn’t really feel “too old.” But in my fifties? That’s when those thoughts started showing up. I remember thinking, Can I really do this? Am I too old? It took some mindset work to untangle those beliefs.
What’s interesting is that society rarely comes right out and tells you you’re too old. The messages are much more subtle. Eventually I had to deconstruct those messages and realize, I’m not too old at all. Now I’m sixty-one, and honestly, I feel like I can do anything.
Matti: I relate to that. Even starting this podcast took me a while because I kept thinking, What are people going to think? What if I get a bad review? Eventually I realized something important: I’m not doing this for anyone else. I’m doing it because I enjoy doing it. As long as that’s true, I’m going to keep making it.
Wendy: Exactly. I also think we can become our own source of validation. At the same time, it really helps to have a few people who genuinely believe in you.
One of my closest friends was one of the very first people I interviewed on Reinvention Rebels. Five and a half years later she’s still one of my biggest champions. She’s constantly sharing episodes and telling people about the show. Having people like that matters because there are going to be days when you don’t fully believe in yourself. Sometimes you need someone else reminding you, You can absolutely do this.
Building Quietly vs. Building Publicly
Matti: I want to go back to BlackBerry for a minute because something about their story really fascinated me.
When I watched the movie, I assumed they’d simply disappeared. Then I learned they’d quietly reinvented themselves into a software company whose technology now powers millions of cars around the world. There wasn’t some huge press release announcing, “We’re changing everything.” They just… did it.
It made me wonder whether there’s something we can learn from that as individuals. When we’re reinventing ourselves, is there value in working quietly behind the scenes? Or is it better to be more public about what you’re building?
Wendy: I think that’s such an interesting question because there isn’t one right answer. It really depends on the person.
For me, I like to do the work first. I don’t feel the need to tell the whole world what I’m doing before I’ve even started. But once I knew Reinvention Rebels was going to be a podcast, I did start sharing it with people I trusted.
I’d tell someone, “I’m starting a podcast. It’s called Reinvention Rebels, and here’s what it’s about.”
What surprised me was how quickly people wanted to help.
One colleague at work immediately said, “I can edit that for you.” At the time, I didn’t even know podcast editing was a thing!
Matti: AI taught me how to edit. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without it.
Wendy: Exactly! So for me it wasn’t about announcing it to everybody. It was about letting a handful of trusted people into the process.
When I was ready to launch, then I told everyone else.
I’ve always liked doing it that way because, in the back of my mind, I’m thinking, What if this doesn’t work out? I’d rather keep expectations modest and surprise people than make a huge announcement and feel pressure before I’ve even begun.
I also think reinvention doesn’t have a timeline. It can take as little or as much time as it needs. It can be a dramatic life change or something much quieter. There really aren’t rules—you have to find the path that feels right for you.
Matti: There were two things you said that really resonated with me.
The first is that we sometimes don’t tell people what we’re working on because we’re worried about being judged. But we forget there’s another possibility: what if their reaction is, “That’s amazing. How can I help?”
Sometimes we’re so busy protecting ourselves that we never give people the chance to support us.
Wendy: Exactly. And I think it’s important to remember that you don’t need everyone’s opinion.
Find the people who have the strengths you need. Maybe one friend has a great eye for design. Maybe someone else has a fantastic ear for music. Maybe another person is a wonderful writer. You don’t need a committee—you just need a few trusted voices.
I’ve learned that I make much better decisions when I stop asking ten different people what they think.
What Does “Ready” Actually Feel Like?
Matti: The other thing you said that caught my attention was, “When I was ready.”
You recently did a solo episode where you talked about readiness, and I thought it was such an interesting perspective because so many people spend years waiting until they finally feel ready.
What does that actually mean to you?
Wendy: My word for this year is spaciousness.
I’ve realized I’m the kind of person who can fill every hour of every day with something productive. Good things, meaningful things—but still busy.
Lately I’ve been trying to create more space in my life.
That might mean gardening without listening to anything. Cooking dinner in silence. Going for a walk without my earbuds in. For years I always had a podcast playing because I wanted to keep learning. Ironically, now that I make a podcast, I barely have time to listen to them.
What I’ve discovered is that my best ideas don’t come from constantly consuming information. They come from creating enough quiet that I can actually hear myself think.
I’ll be out walking and suddenly an episode idea appears. Or I’ll make a connection I never would’ve seen if I were filling every moment with noise.
So for me, being ready isn’t about having everything figured out.
It’s about creating enough space for those little whispers to surface.
Matti: I love that because it reminds me of something I’ve been hearing more about lately.
Some friends have told me about what they’re calling the “1990s walk.” The idea is simple: leave your phone at home and just go for a walk like it’s 1995. No notifications. No podcasts. No music. Just… walk.
Given all the nostalgia for the nineties lately, I guess it makes sense, but I also think there’s something healthy about it. We’ve become so accustomed to filling every second with something.
Wendy: I love that idea.
We’ve become so tethered to our phones that it almost feels impossible to imagine leaving without them. We worry someone might text us or call us or that we’ll miss something important.
But then I remember all the years before smartphones existed.
I think about the time I broke down on the Pennsylvania Turnpike years ago. I didn’t have a cellphone. Eventually someone helped me get to the shoulder, somebody else must have called for assistance, and everything worked out.
Life existed before we carried these little computers everywhere.
Sometimes I think we forget that.
Matti: Before BlackBerry… before iPhone.
Wendy: Exactly!
And speaking of BlackBerry, I still can’t get over that story. I had no idea they’d reinvented themselves like that. It’s fascinating.
Matti: Me neither. I honestly hadn’t thought about BlackBerry in fifteen years until I watched the movie.
Wendy: Same! I definitely went through my BlackBerry phase.
Matti: BBM?
Wendy: Of course! And it’s funny because at the time that tiny screen felt so advanced. Looking back now, it seems unbelievable how quickly technology—and all of us—have changed.
Curiosity, Comparison, and Giving Yourself Permission
Matti: You’ve interviewed so many women over the years and heard countless stories of reinvention. I’m curious whether you’ve noticed any common characteristics among the people who successfully reinvent themselves. Maybe not even in huge, dramatic ways—but people who make meaningful changes in their lives. Are there certain qualities they seem to share?
Wendy: There really are, and one of the biggest is curiosity. The women I talk to are curious about themselves, curious about other people, and curious about the world around them. They’re open to new ideas, new experiences, and new conversations. That openness is such an important starting point.
Another thing they all seem to have in common is that they’ve given themselves permission. And I think that’s especially important for women because so many of us have been socialized to be people pleasers. We spend years taking care of everyone else—our kids, our spouses, our jobs, our communities—and somewhere along the way we lose sight of ourselves.
One thing that’s fascinating is that, as women move through perimenopause and menopause, there’s often a physiological shift happening too. Estrogen, which is sometimes called the “peacekeeping hormone,” begins to decline. As that happens, many women find themselves asking bigger questions: Is this all there is? Do I really want to spend the rest of my life making everyone else happy?
They become bolder. They’re less concerned with what other people think. They become more willing to use their voice, and while some people naturally have that confidence, for many of us it’s something we have to build over time.
What I see over and over again are women who give themselves permission to try. They don’t know exactly what’s going to happen. They may succeed, they may fail, but they’re willing to explore. That willingness to simply begin is incredibly powerful.
I also notice something else: self-trust. As we get older, many of us become more confident in our own judgment. We stop asking everyone else for permission and start asking ourselves what kind of legacy we want to leave. And I don’t necessarily mean becoming famous. Legacy can simply mean the impact you have on your family, your friends, or your community. It’s about asking, What do I want to be known for?
Even in my own life, I reached a point where I thought, I don’t like the changes happening in my body during menopause, so what can I do about it? I started strength training consistently, and now I’ve worked out more than five hundred days in a row. I’m stronger in my sixties than I was in my fifties. That didn’t happen by accident. It started with intention and a commitment to myself.
Matti: What’s really interesting is that, listening to you talk about it, it almost sounds scientific. If these hormonal changes are naturally encouraging women to speak up, advocate for themselves, and think differently, then maybe midlife isn’t the end of something. Maybe it’s actually the perfect time to reinvent yourself.
Wendy: Exactly. I love thinking about it that way because so much of the conversation around menopause focuses on loss—what we’re losing, what we’re giving up, how our bodies are changing. Those things are real, but that’s only one side of the story.
The other side is asking, What can I gain? How can I grow? How can I become stronger, healthier, more confident? We can absolutely influence that through the way we move, eat, sleep, and care for ourselves. Menopause doesn’t have to be the story society tells us it is. It can be the beginning of something really empowering.
Comparison Is Human. Staying There Is Optional.
Matti: Another theme that comes up is comparison. It feels almost impossible not to compare ourselves to other people, especially when we’re trying something new. Maybe someone hears your story and thinks, Well, that’s great for Wendy, but my life doesn’t look like that.
How do we acknowledge comparison without letting it derail us?
Wendy: I think comparison is incredibly human, but it’s also something we can practice moving beyond.
When I was younger, I compared myself all the time. I remember having an internship at Pepsi between my junior and senior year of college. So many of the other interns came from wealthier families. They had beautiful clothes, and I remember feeling so self-conscious because I didn’t.
My clothes weren’t terrible—I was just a broke college student.
Looking back, I realize so much of that comparison came from insecurity. As we’ve talked about, confidence tends to grow with age. Once you become more comfortable with yourself, you stop needing to measure yourself against everyone else.
And I think there’s another way to look at comparison.
Instead of seeing someone who’s doing what you want to do and thinking, Well, I can never do that because they’re already doing it, you can ask yourself, What can I learn from them?
There may be thousands of people doing something similar, but nobody is going to do it exactly the way you will. That’s what makes your contribution valuable.
Podcasting is actually a great example. When I first started, I thought, By the end of my first year, I’ll probably have one hundred thousand downloads.
I laugh about that now.
I think after a year I had maybe six thousand.
It was such an unrealistic expectation because I was comparing myself to people with huge audiences and forgetting that they had years of experience, teams of people, and resources I simply didn’t have.
The important thing was that I kept going.
Over time, I became a better interviewer. I became more authentic. I found my voice. Looking back now, I wouldn’t trade that journey because all of those experiences shaped the podcaster I am today.
Matti: I think that’s such an important point because people often compare themselves to the biggest podcasts in the world without realizing those shows have entire teams behind them.
Meanwhile, you and I are independent podcasters doing everything ourselves. We book guests, record, edit, write descriptions, make social clips, publish episodes… all of it.
And then you learn statistics like ninety percent of podcasts never make it past three episodes. Suddenly your perspective changes. You realize that simply sticking with it already puts you farther along than you might think.
Wendy: Exactly. It’s all about perspective.
If you’re committed to something long enough, you naturally improve. You learn about titles, SEO, audience building—all the things nobody knows when they first start.
A while back I found out I’d been included on one of those podcast ranking lists. It was the “Seventeen Best Older Ladies Podcasts,” and somehow I was number six. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was on the list. Some friends of mine were on it too.
I remember laughing because if you’d told me that five years earlier, I never would’ve believed you.
That’s why I always encourage people to stay with the process. Growth doesn’t usually happen all at once. It happens because you keep showing up, learning, adjusting, and becoming better at what you love.
Reinvention Usually Means Disappointing Someone
Matti: There was another idea from one of your recent solo episodes that really stuck with me. You said, “Reinvention usually means disappointing someone.” I imagine that’s something a lot of people struggle with. If someone knows they’re ready to make a change—a career shift, a creative project, something big—but they’re worried about letting other people down, what advice would you give them?
Wendy: It’s such an interesting journey because, for me, this has definitely gotten easier with age. It takes courage to say, “This isn’t what I want anymore,” or, “I want something different,” or, “I’m ready to leave this job.” Those aren’t easy conversations, especially if you’ve spent years trying to make everyone around you happy. That’s a difficult habit to break, but so often we’re making everyone else comfortable at the expense of our own happiness.
I think the key is to start small. Reinvention doesn’t always begin with some dramatic announcement. Sometimes it’s simply setting a boundary or saying, “This doesn’t feel right for me anymore.” When you speak from your own experience instead of blaming someone else—using those “I” statements—it becomes easier to express what you need. Like anything else, it’s a muscle. The more you practice advocating for yourself, the more natural it becomes.
Matti: It also seems connected to everything we’ve been talking about with people-pleasing. If you’re afraid of disappointing someone, chances are you’re also trying to please them. But if your intention is simply to grow—to become more yourself—that really isn’t about them. Their reaction belongs to them.
Wendy: Exactly. That’s one of the hardest lessons to learn: we can’t control how other people respond. Some people won’t understand your decisions. Some people won’t like them. Some relationships might even change because of them. But once we accept that, it becomes so much easier to trust ourselves. Instead of constantly asking, “Will everyone approve?” we begin asking, “Is this true for me?” That’s a completely different way of living.
Learning to Trust Yourself
Matti: Something you just said made me think about another challenge a lot of people face. Sometimes we know exactly how we feel, but then we immediately start arguing with ourselves. We analyze it, question it, and convince ourselves we’re wrong. Instead of simply saying, “This isn’t working for me,” we spend weeks—or months—trying to talk ourselves out of what we’re feeling. Is there something to simply allowing yourself to acknowledge those feelings instead of constantly debating them?
Wendy: Absolutely. When something feels uncomfortable, our instinct is often to push it away. We don’t want to sit with it.
For me, that coping mechanism has always been work. Some people overeat. Some people drink. Some people gamble. Mine has always been staying busy. If I can keep myself occupied, I don’t have to think about whatever uncomfortable feeling is sitting underneath everything else. Productivity became my way of avoiding it.
The difference now is that I’m beginning to notice that pattern. That’s one of the reasons spaciousness has become so important to me this year. In fact, my next solo episode is about coming home to myself—what that actually means. For me, it means slowing down enough to hear myself again.
I was driving home recently from Pennsylvania back to Connecticut, and normally I’m the person who’s always in a hurry. I’m driving fast, trying to get everywhere as quickly as possible. This time I decided to slow down. Part of it was because gas is expensive, but part of it was simply wondering, What happens if I stop rushing?
So instead of driving seventy-five or eighty, I drove around sixty-three or sixty-four miles an hour. And you know what? I actually enjoyed it. I wasn’t anxious. I wasn’t racing the clock. I noticed things I normally would’ve missed. As a bonus, I drove almost one hundred eighty miles on only a quarter tank of gas. It became this funny little reminder that slowing down sometimes gives us benefits we never expected.
Matti: I love that because it’s such a simple example, but it really captures what we’ve been talking about this whole conversation. Sometimes slowing down isn’t falling behind. Sometimes it’s finally giving yourself enough space to notice what’s actually happening.
Wendy: Exactly. When we’re constantly rushing—whether it’s physically or mentally—we don’t leave ourselves any room to listen. And so many of the answers we’re looking for are already there. We just have to get quiet enough to hear them.
Reinvention Rebels Podcast
Matti: One thing I’ve always appreciated about Reinvention Rebels is how calming it is to listen to. Whether you’re interviewing someone or doing one of your solo episodes, everything feels intentional. There’s this sense that you’re slowing down and really inviting people into the conversation.
For someone who’s never listened before, what can they expect?
Wendy: I hope they’ll find authentic conversations. Whether I’m speaking directly to the audience or interviewing a guest, I want people to hear real stories—not just stories about success, but stories about the journey.
Every one of us experiences setbacks, obstacles, disappointments, and moments where we question ourselves. That’s simply part of being human. What inspires me is hearing how people move through those moments and what they learn along the way. That’s really what the podcast is about.
Although the show focuses on women, I honestly think the themes are universal. It’s about courage, identity, purpose, and giving yourself permission to change. Those aren’t women’s issues—they’re human issues.
One guest who always comes to mind is Carolyn Doelling. She became a professional model in her seventies. When most people picture a fashion model, that’s probably not the image that comes to mind. Yet she’s modeled at New York Fashion Week, in Paris, and in Milan. Her story isn’t really about modeling—it’s about possibility.
So much of what we believe we’re capable of starts in our minds. When we see someone else doing something unexpected, we have a choice. We can tell ourselves, Well, they must be different than I am, or we can ask, If that’s possible for them, what might be possible for me?
That’s what I hope people take away from the podcast. Not that they should copy someone else’s path, but that someone else’s story might help them see their own a little more clearly.
Matti: I love that because it feels like you’re giving people examples, not instructions. You’re not saying, “Here’s exactly how to reinvent yourself.” You’re saying, “Here’s someone who did something they didn’t think was possible.” Then people can take whatever resonates with them.
Wendy: Exactly. Reinvention isn’t one-size-fits-all. My journey isn’t going to look like yours, and yours won’t look like someone else’s. The point isn’t to recreate another person’s life. It’s to discover what feels authentic for your own.
It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again
Matti: You know, something else that stood out to me is that your own story isn’t one big reinvention. It’s several. Voice acting in your thirties. Health coaching in your forties. Podcasting in your fifties. It almost feels like reinvention isn’t something that happens once—it’s something we keep doing throughout our lives.
Wendy: I think that’s exactly right. We tend to think of reinvention as this one dramatic event, but I don’t think that’s how life works. We continue growing, changing, and evolving. Every decade brings different experiences, different priorities, and different opportunities.
Even now, I don’t feel like I’ve arrived. I’m still figuring things out. I’m still learning. I’m still asking myself what the next chapter might look like.
That’s another reason I love having these conversations. Every guest teaches me something. Every story reminds me that there isn’t just one path through life.
When I first started the podcast, I honestly had no idea where it would lead. I just knew I felt called to do it.
Now, years later, I can look back and see how much I’ve grown—not just as a podcaster, but as a person.
That’s why I encourage people not to wait until everything feels certain. If you keep waiting for certainty, you might wait forever.
Sometimes you simply have to take the next step, trust yourself, and allow the path to reveal itself as you go.
Matti: That really brings us full circle.
This whole conversation started with BlackBerry—a company that quietly reinvented itself after the thing it was known for stopped working. Somewhere along the way, the conversation stopped being about companies altogether and became about people.
Maybe that’s the lesson. Reinvention isn’t about abandoning who you are. It’s about taking everything you’ve learned, everything you’ve experienced, and finding a new way to use it.
Wendy: I love that.
Because nothing is wasted.
The things we sometimes think were detours often become the experiences that prepare us for whatever comes next. Looking back, those breadcrumbs almost always make sense—even if they didn’t at the time.
And I think that’s one of the most hopeful things about reinvention.
You don’t have to have your whole life figured out today.
You just have to be willing to take the next step.
The It’s Gonna Be Fine Moment
Matti: I know you’ve listened to the show before, so you probably know I like to end every episode with what I call the It’s Gonna Be Fine moment. Usually it’s not as simple as asking, “Is everything going to be okay?” It’s more about finding something people can hold onto when life feels uncertain.
So for someone listening who’s in the middle of a reinvention—or maybe just thinking about taking that first step—what would you want them to remember when things inevitably get hard? What’s something they can come back to that helps them believe it’s going to be fine?
Wendy: I think one of the most powerful things we can do is look at other people’s stories. Not because we should compare ourselves to them, but because they remind us what’s possible.
Whatever it is you want to do, chances are someone has done something similar. It doesn’t have to be someone famous, either. It could be a neighbor, a colleague, or someone whose story simply resonates with you. Seeing another person take that leap reminds us that we’re capable of doing hard things too.
For me, I hold onto this quiet belief that one day I’ll have a television show. I don’t know exactly what that looks like or how it’ll happen, but I know it’s something I’m working toward. And when I think about it, I remind myself that plenty of people have started entirely new chapters later in life. If they can do it, why couldn’t I?
The important thing is to keep believing that your next chapter is possible, even if you can’t see every step yet. Sometimes all you need is one example that reminds you to bet on yourself.
Matti: I love that. And who knows? Kelly Clarkson’s ending her show… maybe they’re looking for a replacement.
Wendy: Exactly! You never know.
Where to Find Wendy
Matti: Wendy, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been such a thoughtful conversation.
For anyone who wants to learn more, the podcast is Reinvention Rebels, available wherever you get your podcasts. You can also visit reinventionrebels.com to learn more about Wendy’s work and connect with her there.
Thank you again for sharing your story and your perspective.
Wendy: It’s been so much fun, Matti. Thank you for reaching out and inviting me. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation.
Matti: Likewise. And to everyone listening, thanks so much for joining us. We’ll see you next time.
This transcript has been edited for readability.
