We were lucky to catch up with Dr. Nicole Marcione recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dr. Nicole thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

When I first started my practice, a few years ago, I mostly focused on the typical areas of health: exercise, nutrition, stress. You know, the big 3. But what I started to notice with my clients (and myself) was that no matter how much kale a person eats, or how much yoga one does, or how many supplements one takes; if you aren’t happy with your life, if you don’t feel good in your body, if you’ve been putting your own sensuality and desires on the backburner for most of your life… you won’t age well. Plain and simple. Full stop. And so, I realized that we as health and longevity professionals cannot just address exercise, nutrition and stress. These are foundational of course, but we have to go beyond the foundation, beyond the basics. A more sophisticated conversation is necessary if we want to live long, happy, fulfilled lives. And that means including the topics of sensuality, sexuality, purpose, meaning, community and belonging. All the biohacking and typical lifestyle suggestions can only take you so far if these more advanced discussions are ignored. And so that is when I made it my company’s mission to blend the Science of Longevity with the Art of Sensual Living… aka SexySmart Aging.

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?

During the first couple years of my doctoral program, I realized that I did not want to pursue the normal trajectory of a PhD: doing scientific research in my own lab and publishing papers years after my discoveries. Instead, I wanted to be “boots on the ground”, directly working with people. When I finished up my PhD, I decided to combine all my knowledge and training in health, movement, gerontology and aging and pursue a career in consulting/coaching. When I first started, Longevity Coaches weren’t really a thing. Fortunately, now there are more and more providers are helping people with aging well and living longer. Over the years my work has evolved to focusing mostly on midlife women, probably because I myself am a woman in midlife navigating all its challenges… perimenopause, aging parents, career, family, etc. I noticed in my own life, I had lost that spark of aliveness and have spent the past few years healing past trauma, inviting more pleasure and sensuality into my daily life, and being curious about my desires around spirituality, sexuality, and aging. Now, I help women all over the world to tap into their aliveness and discover what truly makes them happy and how to improve all areas of life including sensuality, sexuality and aging. I feel that this conversation is still missing amongst the hormone and lifestyle discussions that are usually had when women in midlife decide to get support. This is what truly sets my work apart: my mission to help women who have probably been feeling like the best is behind them, to realize that the next chapter is full of possibility and aliveness. Usually this takes place in private 1:1 containers, but I’m proud to announce that I am now offering a 12-week, self-paced online course called Aging Vibrantly and have a new monthly membership where we focus on sensuality, sexuality and aging.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Embodiment… truly living what I am admonishing. If you ever meet me in real life, you will know that I am all about bringing more sensuality into my daily wellness routine. I deeply believe that this is what will add years to our life AND, more importantly, life to our years! So many coaches and experts just dole out opinions and information, but behind the scenes don’t actually apply their advice to their own lives. To be successful, not only in the field of longevity, but in the journey of life, we need to take what we know will make us feel good and bring us happiness and integrate into our daily reality.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks. Start With Why by Simon Sinek. Believe It by Jamie Kern Lima. Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés. Unbound by Kasia Urbaniak. Anything by Brene Brown.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.integrativeaging.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drnicolemarcione/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmarcione/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-nicole-marcione/

Image Credits
Girl Squad Media Jaime Lee Colyer Photoshoot Positano