We were lucky to catch up with Gail Zelitzky recently and have shared our conversation below.

Gail, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

Women are an underserved community, especially older women. Our podcast, Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined, just celebrated 300 episodes, 5 years, 400,000 downloads and listeners in 120 countries. The podcast was born out of our desire to showcase vital, vibrant women, 70-110, whose stories are breaking down barriers and reframing the conversation around women aging. Ageism, which discriminates against society’s older population is now receiving interest. The women we interview are courageous, creative and contributing members of society. Their voices must be heard by women of all ages. It is not acceptable for older women to be rejected by the workforce or be shuttled into the background when their wisdom is beneficial, their knowledge credible and their experience worthwhile.

Gail, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My life has been a series of vignettes, each role requiring new skills and learning. In some, I flourished. For others, the learning was too steep and I failed. My role models, the women and men in my life, first came from family.
Later, friends and colleagues.

I began my business career working with my Father, an unusually creative business man who founded Foremost Sales Promotions, Inc., franchisor of independently owned Foremost Liquor Stores. I ran the business for 17 years and we grew it into a multi-state 300-store chain. We sold out in 1994.

My 2nd business, also in the alcohol beverage industry was a unique concept called Liquor by Wire and then Liquor.com. My son and I built it into a multi-million dollar online catalog company, an international delivery service of alcohol beverage gifts. (much like FTD). This enabled people to send wine and spirit gifts at holidays and for special occasions. We were on the precipice of taking that company public when our business became enmeshed in the dot com crash of 1999-2000.

Since then I have coached women and men to grow their small businesses and become strong leaders.

For the last 5 years, my focus has been on the podcast and business that Catherine Marienau and I founded – Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined. This project was born out of curiosity. As I watched the people in my life age, I wondered: what are they feeling as they look in the mirror each morning? Do we start looking back? Is it possible to keep moving forward? What does that look like? Catherine, professor emerita from DePaul University (my faculty mentor when I matriculated for my Master’s degree) was always interested in women’s issues. Since 2019 we’ve released 302 episodes. We interview women, 70-110, who are living vital, vibrant lives that reframe the conversation about women aging. The journey has been enlightening and full of wonder at women’s ability to continually recreate themselves.

Women Over 70 was awarded the first Turn the Page on Age award by Chicago Innovation and Village Chicago. We received a small grant from Concordia University, Chicago, Center for Gerontology which led to our first live event this October, a symposium entitled Aging Reimagined: Celebrating Who We Are as We Age. Without consciously realizing where we were going from the start, we have created a movement and a large community of listeners in 120 countries.

Women desire to reflect and share their stories. They have a deep-seated need to be seen and heard in their later years. They yearn to make use of their wisdom and maintain vibrancy. This vignette required new skills and learning. Yet, it is a natural progression for me. Catherine and I speak to organizations and conferences. Our creativity is heightened by this work. Now we are preparing to write a book featuring the women we interview.

Family, Friends. Travel. Continuing education. New learning. All endlessly fascinate me. These life experiences frame my values, my career trajectory and my unstoppable resilience. For 24 years I’ve been a business coach for women business owners, guiding them to grow personally and professionally. I now focus on individual women, in various stages of reinvention, to guide them to realign, reimagine and rediscover their unlimited potential. I believe in the importance of intergenerational workplaces and study groups. I am a co-mentor for Chicago Innovation’s Ageless Innovators and I’m founder of the online networking group, Wonder Women Mastermind Club.

I published a book for young children named Patches. Based on a poem I wrote for my daughter when she was young, it is about a plush protector . It is beautifully illustrated by George Berlin. And, I’ve published a series of business digests on time management, sales and leadership. (All available on Amazon.) Now 82, Catherine and I speak for organizations and conferences on aging reimagined.

I see no reason to stop. In fact, it gets more exciting with each passing day.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Resilience makes the woman! Life, including marriage, raising children and full-time work inevitably throws many curves our way. Sipping on lemons and turning them into full-blown lemonade can become routine. In my life, my strength has been my resilient attitude – the ability to pivot and choose optimism, rather than dwell on what is lost, over, or no longer working.

After 4 years of building Liquor by Wire / Liquor.com into a multi-million dollar business, we were approached to take it public. It had been difficult finding funding due to the nature of the business. I remember meeting with a 20-person board of advisors for a major Ivy League school. They simply refused to grasp our concept – that independent licensed retailers, across the country and around the world, were legally delivering gifts of alcohol beverages to consumers without shipping across state lines. This was 1998. Although we had heard the rumblings about the future of dot com stocks, we listened to our advisors and went ahead anyway. Soon, new management was in place, investors were buying in and we were telling our story across the United States. Liquor.com was listed on the NASDAQ and the opening date was set. Two days before, our investment banker called to say he could no longer close the deal. (We were right in the eye of the storm – the dot com crash.) Money stopped flowing and our business imploded. And, worst of all, we were no longer in charge. It was the worst experience of my career. The handwriting was on the wall and within a few short weeks it was over.

Now what? No income, a single mother of 3, bills to pay. Without hesitation I jumped into a new game – business coaching and marketing consulting for small businesses. And 24 years later I realize it was a very successful pivot indeed.

How’d you meet your business partner?

In 2009, I decided to go back to school to learn new skills. I chose School for New Learning at DePaul University and embarked on a MAAPS degree (Master of Arts in Applied Professional Studies). I was interested in how creativity leads to innovation and helps small businesses grow. Catherine Marienau was my faculty advisor. I liked her right away. Once I graduated we continued to meet, scheduling long dinners where we discussed women’s issues in depth. About that time, I got the podcast bug. I wanted to interview 70 women over 70 to learn more about their lives in this stage of life. Catherine listened and soon we were discussing all aspects of what it might mean to take on such a project. She was retiring in 4 months and without even being asked, she said “I’m in!” We co-founded, and are co-hosts of Women Over 70-Aging Reimagined podcast. On October 19, 2024, we celebrated 5 years, 300 episodes, 400,000 downloads and listeners in 120 countries at our first live event, a symposium that celebrated who we are as we age. It was a smash success, due in great part to the community we’ve built. Today we speak to organization, conferences and women’s groups. Aging Reimagined Circle presents live monthly zoom programs on subjects important to women aging. Our mission is to interview women, 70-110 who share their life stories and illustrate what keeps them vital, vibrant contributing citizens in our society.

This podcast (and the partnership) is perhaps my greatest achievement.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://WomenOver70.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GailZelitzky
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7o7DMFfZFylLqqG2T-uC9A
• Other: GailZelitzky.com

  https://www.facebook.com/womenover70 (Page) https://www.facebook.com/groups/1345166715655554 (Group)

Image Credits

Jennifer Schuman, Horizon Portraits