We recently connected with Marco Hurtado and have shared our conversation below.

Marco, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Even back when I was in high school, there was pressure to figure out your career and college choices. I first thought I would become a medical doctor so as to help people. But it turns out that I hated Chemistry and Chemistry despised me even more. I quickly had to find another major and stumbled on accounting. It was something I understood fairly easily and would provide for a solid career. Fast forward after almost 30 years of public accounting, internal audit and IT compliance, I was victim of corporate reorganization at a major pharmaceutical company. I was laid off after 23 years with the company. Initially, I felt betrayed and my confidence was shaken. However, it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me.

A door was opened that I had never known was closed. I had been unhappy with my career choice but had never confronted my feelings. My career provide well for me financially, but I had become a “high-functioning sleep walker”. This term was described in the novel “Station Eleven” as people believe work is “a drudgery being punctuated by very occasional moments of happiness, but when I say happiness, I mostly mean distraction”, Fortunately, I was had been what my kids would “cheap” all of my adult life. I had lived below my means and saved/invested wisely to the point that I could essentially retire from the corporate world at the age of 52. This allowed me to pursue career choices more in line with my passions.

My love for dance began as a teen. I often wonder now if I had pursued that passion instead of following down a corporate career path.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Firstly, I’d like to clarify that although my online username is Bearded__Boomer, I am shy of being a boomer by just a few years. When I first joined TikTok, all the kids kept calling me “Boomer”. They were just trolling me because to them, anyone over the age of 35 was a “boomer”. I became tired of correcting them so I just adopted the name and took away their ability to troll me. Besides, I like alliteration.

I teach both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and dance…..not at the same time. I began training BJJ at the age of 44, and started teaching in 2021 and earned my black belt in 2023. I joined TikTok in 2019 and initially gained a large following primarily by cosplaying the DragonBall character “Master Roshi”. I had no idea who that was prior to joining TikTok! Over time, I began introducing dancing to my online content which attracted a different follower base. Via my popularity on TikTok, I was asked to audition for the NBC show hosted by Shakira called “Dancing with Myself” in 2022. I was selected to participate in the first episode and ended up making it to the 4th round. It was an amazing experience! Since then, I have expanded my focus to Instagram and Youtube. I was asked to teach dance to seniors in my town and have been doing that for almost 2 years. I also launched a Podia channel to provide and teach my choreographies.

I love introducing people to passions of mine like BJJ and dance. Having the ability to directly impact people in a way that makes them healthier and happier is something I never had in my 30 year corporate career. After every class (BJJ or dance), my students are smiling and genuinely thank me for the hour. I feel rewarded and grateful for this opportunity in my life to make direct, positive, and personal impact in people’s lives.

I earn very little from online content. I continue making online content because it seems to add a little bit of joy in the lives of my followers. I will often receive comments and messages saying seeing my dancing video made them smile on an otherwise depressing day. One week, I received separate messages from two women battling cancer. They wanted to let me know that my videos had made them happy and distracted them from their battle, albeit briefly. Those emails were perhaps the most rewarding feedback I had ever received in my life.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I wish I had been much less risk-averse in my life. Making safe and practical decisions in life increase the probability of a secure lifestyle. However, there could also be a greater chance of ending up with a life that is less passionate or personally rewarding. The advice I give my kids is: find out what you love to do and then figure out how to make enough money from it to live the lifestyle you want. Taking risks in life have the potential of yielding higher rewards, especially if you are still young. I always envied those people who were excited to go to “work” every morning. I never experienced that feeling until I left corporate America. Now, my “work” and passions are the same.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My mission is to help people become healthier and happier. There have been many studies demonstrating the positive impact dancing has on people both physically and emotionally. We danced when we were young, but then “grew out of it” as we aged. Situations (like a party or club) where dancing is encouraged are less common as we age. Society can make us think that dancing is immature and borderline inappropriate for adults as they age. I hope to help encourage people to dance in their kitchens, living rooms, yards, cars, and anywhere else they get the urge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marcohurtado.podia.com/
• Instagram: Bearded__Boomer
• Facebook: Bearded__Boomer
• Youtube: Bearded__Boomer
• Other: TikTok: Bearded__Boomer