At 50 I decided what I wanted to do with my life — introduce teenage girls to role models, successful professional women from all walks of life. That's why I founded The WonderGirls.
 
Prior to that, I had worked in PR and marketing for a decade, during which I produced events for such leisure and entertainment clients as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and ASID Designer Showcase Homes. After I gave birth to my second child in 1995, I realized I couldn't do it all. So I began consulting for select nonprofits, including Cure Autism Now and the Career Action Center in Palo Alto, near where I lived at the time. 
 
Fast forward to 2005: I was in my late 40s and my family (which now included three children) had moved to New York. I was at a crossroads, unsure of what to do next.
 
That all shifted in September 2008 when I attended a life-changing weeklong workshop at the Option Institute in the Berkshires. There the staff encouraged me to get to know myself, not as a wife, or mother, or former professional, but as a woman, and to zero in on what makes me happy. Through my work at Option, I discovered two things: My most rewarding professional and personal experiences have all involved connecting people, and I am passionate about helping teenage girls, especially since I have a daughter, Stephanie, who will turn 13 next month. Stephanie has benefited from meeting women in different fields, whose work has substance and contributes to their own well-being and that of the world at large.
 
But not all teenage girls are as fortunate. They can be bombarded daily with harmful media messages (misogynistic music lyrics, Victoria's Secret models held up as beauty icons, fantasies about women's roles and responsibilities) with no available counterbalance--real women living and working in the real world. Because of the need, I set out last year to build the WonderGirls, a company that I'm hoping will eventually reach thousands of teenage girls. I'm convinced that with the right combination of mentoring, exposure, inspiration and creativity, my company can provide that ballast for girls and spark a sense of magic and hope.

Now that I'm back in the workforce doing what I love, it's exhilarating. Every day, I have fresh ideas for new programs. In the coming months, I'm planning such workshops as "Life 101: Nurturing Your Best Self" (02.21, for girls and their moms) and "Picture Perfect: Photography 101 and Beyond" (03.28 for girls).

What's especially satisfying is that I'm answering my true calling.  As a result, I'm eager to find out where the WonderGirls will lead me next.