We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie ODell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stephanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

When my 60 year old client told me the fashion industry had forgotten her, that she felt invisible and she had begun to dress in an effort to disappear, I knew something had to change.

I asked myself, was there a need for a fashion line specific to the over 50 woman, one that addressed the needs of a body that had changed from pregnancies, menopause and life? I started a blog, Celebrate The Gray with the goal to talk to 100 women over the age of 50 to find out the reality of finding clothes as women age.

I didn’t know what me, a 54 year old (now 61) part time fashion stylist, mother of two could accomplish but I knew I had to try. I remember my first interview in Trader Joe’s – “Pat with the pink hair” – it took me about 15 minutes to work up the courage to talk to her but that conversation changed my life. Not only did I feel inspired by Pat, she too was thankful for being noticed and happy someone was trying to change things. At the end of our conversation, Pat said “You made my day”. When in fact, Pat had ignited a passion in me that I had never imagined existed.

Celebrate The Gray was born
Little did I know that the first conversation with Pat would grow into Celebrate The Gray, a full service agency for and about the 50+ woman. Now after five years of talking to 1,000’s of women over 50, I am one of the leaders representing the “real” older woman. Celebrate The Gray Agency is the vehicle for change and the opportunity for women to stand up and say “hey look at me, I’m older, beautiful, relevant and important.”

I represent over 200 “real” gray haired models, each with a powerful aging story. These models represent the possibilities not the limitations of aging. They are rewriting what age can look like. I work with brands to understand the 50+ customers to ensure the visuals and narratives represent how she looks, feels and acts.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have a Marketing degree and have always loved advertising, looking at ads and dissecting what works and doesn’t work. Quickly realizing that brands rarely spoke to the end user when creating ad campaigns and that the power of authentic storytelling by using real visuals and narratives would really set a brand apart. My past jobs have always been in empowering the undervalued and under represented consumer and/or person (as PTA President – involving more parents when I learned what made them who they were) and giving them a voice. Celebrate The Gray Collective is giving voice to the 50+ woman and helping her become her own advocate. One voice is rarely heard but hundreds together create a movement. It’s a win-win situation, brands can access real women for product testing, focus groups and ambassadors and in turn these women see that their opinions matter and how important they are a consumer (supporting those brands/services that really see them and represent them authentically).

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I have learned on this journey is Patience! I have always moved through life on full throttle, expecting things to happen quickly and when they didn’t believing they never would happen. After six years of building Celebrate The Gray, I understand the importance of patience and knowing when it happens is when it’s suppose to happen. Many ideas and connections take time to develop and a conversation today may not turn into anything but a year or two down the road it does. I think having a mission driven purpose has given me the faith to understand that everything doesn’t need to happen at once.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an authentic audience is slow! It’s all about real connections and making sure your messaging and mission are true to who you are. I learned early on that you never know who will respond to a dm, and to always go for it. My favorite all time quote sums it up:

“You know, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage, just literally 20 seconds of embarrassing bravery, and I promise you something great will come of it.”
― benjamin mee-we bought a zoo

Contact Info:

• Website: www.celebratethegray.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celebratethegray/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celebratethegray
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-o-dell-04000975/

Image Credits
Amy Carr – three women jumping Claudia Goetzelmann – Kikoko ad