On Midlife Epiphanies: Fitness Leader Liz Hilliard Was Married to a Man for 37 Years. Then, She Fell in Love with Her Closest Girlfriend
Show Snapshot:
Ever felt stuck? Think that it’s too late to try, do, or be something new? Meet Liz Hilliard, who launched a fitness empire at 50, and who fell in love with her closest girlfriend at 64 after being married to a man for 37 years.
We dive into midlife epiphanies, marshaling the courage to upend a traditional life and how to write a chapter that looks wildly different from your early days.
Bonus! Liz helps us amp up our fitness routines to build power and strength.
In This Episode We Cover:
How turning 50 was the beginning of Liz’s focus on her energy, power, self-motivation, and sense of worth.
Why every birthday teaches us to come more fully into ourselves and live a more authentic life.
Marshaling the courage to make major life changes.
The freedom of aging.
Reinventing sexuality, lighting a new spark, and how to have a good divorce.
What happens when Cupid shot an unexpected arrow into Liz’s heart?
How Liz’s love story went insanely viral landed her on the Tamron Hall Show.
How to cultivate an expansive mindset that allows for new possibilities in midlife. Plus, a simple 10-minute exercise to clarify what’s important to you.
Bonus! Building business tips for midlife entrepreneurs. And exercises to build strength, flexibility, and power at any age.
Show Links:
Liz’s Website
Liz’s Instagram
Liz’s Facebook
Liz’s podcast: Be Powerful with Liz & Lee
Liz’s book: Be Powerful: Find Your Strength at Any Age
Liz’s viral Huffington Post article: I Was Married to My Husband For 37 Years. Then I Fell in Love With My Best Friend.
Quotable:
Was I attracted to women ever in my life? Never, not once. So, when I accepted the challenge of stepping out on my own outside of a marriage, I opened up a whole brand-new world of possibility that I didn’t know existed.
There is a freedom that I felt the older I got, particularly into my 60s. I have to say that my 60s are my absolute best decade.
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty [0:28]:
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. For many of us, midlife is a time when we take stock of our lives, what’s working, what we wish were different. Midlife is a time to look at the clock to ask ourselves, “If not now, when?”
My guest today is author, motivational speaker and fitness brand builder, Liz Hilliard, creator of Hilliard Studio Method. Liz looked at 50 and launched what was to become a fitness empire. She looked at 64 and left a 37-year-old marriage after falling in love with her best friend. If you’ve ever thought, “I should have done X, Y, and Z when I was younger, I am too old to reinvent. I’m stuck and it’s too late to change lanes,” stick around, this show is for you. Welcome, Liz.
Liz Hilliard [1:16]:
Thank you so much, Katie. That was quite an introduction. [Katie laughs] I think we’re good now, right?
Katie [1:21]:
You know, I think I left a few things out because you’re also a podcaster, and you’ve got online courses. I mean, you have a very rich and full career, and we have so much to cover. You launched a successful business in midlife. You have fitness training courses, and you’ve got a book called Be Powerful: Find Your Strength at Any Age. But recently, you wrote a Huffington Post article that really exploded and went viral, it landed you on the Tamron Hall Show, and the article is titled, "I Was Married to My Husband for 37 Years. Then I Fell in Love With My Best Friend.” I am inspired by your courage to reinvent your life and to share your story publicly, and I would love, as a bit of stage setting, if you could share with our listeners why you wrote this article, what made you make this major life change, and how did you put yourself into action?
Liz [2:18]:
Wow, that’s a very good question. Honestly, turning 50 and starting my business was a turning point, I believe, because I’m 68 right now, and that was a turning point where I started to feel my own energy, my own power, my own self-motivation worth, to find something that was new. And also, to find something that really ignited my passion and not to ever overuse the word, but I do empower the people around me by living a really truthful life. And that sort of started when I started Hilliard Studio Method because the workout really became a community of supporting mostly women, but also men.
And then, now I’ve forgotten your question but I’m assuming... The point of having the courage to... I think every year has taught me to come more into myself. There’s a release and a freedom to aging and if you’re aging in a healthy way, which is what I try to bring across in my workout and in my community of friends and people that I influence, is if you are coming from a healthy place, you can not only use the wisdom you’ve gleaned through all the years of your youth, but you are now empowered and strengthened to make changes that I think are expansive. To me, I lived a life that I thought was supposed to be done a certain way. I’m a child of 1954, I was born, and I did all the things that I was expected to do, but never once felt comfortable doing them. There was a freedom that I felt the older I got, and particularly into my 60s. I have to say that my 60s are my absolute best decade.
Katie [4:26]:
Yay! I’m so excited that you shared that. [Liz laughs] I just turned 53 a few weeks ago, I feel like my 50s have been amazing, and if I have something more to look forward to in my 60s, I am here for it.
So, you had this life that you were living where you sort of felt like you were stuck doing the things you were expected to do. You were in a long-term marriage, which I know a lot of my listeners are in just from polls and DMs that I get from people. I myself am in a long-term marriage. You really shook yours up. Do you think that you had to get to midlife to do so, to live this truthful life, to realize that you’d fallen in love with a woman? What role, if any, did getting to midlife play in this more truthful, authentic life?
Liz [5:15]:
I know for a fact that I needed to get to midlife. First of all, let me just backtrack. My ex-husband and I were married, as you said, for 37 years. And I would say 25 of those, and I would put up against anybody, anywhere. We had a great marriage, which means, we have a great divorce, which means we have a great relationship now. That’s not always the case. I think I tried to live as honestly as I could and then as I got older, I was able to move forward.
Now, when I decided to leave the marriage at 64, I probably should have done it 10 years earlier. It took that long because I had such respect for the man I was married to, even though the marriage had quit working. Again, I was thinking, “Well, it’s better than most.” And is that the way you really want to live your life? “Oh, it’s better than most. I’m getting along okay. I can still go to the country club, I can still take nice, lovely trips, I can still do these surface-y things.” When I finally realized, no that’s really not enough. And not only was it not enough for me, but when I released myself from a marriage that was no longer working, I released my ex-husband so that he was also... you empower each other to live your best lives when you finally, authentically turn around to each other if you’re in a partnership that isn’t working and go, "I love you, but our partnership no longer works.” Everybody’s got their reasons to why. I think a long-term “Death do you part” is a wonderful possibility, it wasn’t for us. So, why would I stay in a marathon just because societal forms made me do this?
Now, was I attracted to women ever in my life? Never, not once. So, when I accepted the challenge of stepping out on my own outside of a marriage, I opened up a whole brand-new world of possibility that I didn’t know existed. I reinvented my sexuality. I suppose because that had been something that had been on the back burner. And when you’re going through life and you’re raising children and you’re doing a career, this can be troublesome. If I could give my younger self advice, it would really keep that ignition, keep that communication because the sexuality of your relationship does not need to wane, it needs to continue.
Katie [7:49]:
Absolutely. Liz, I have had so many guests on this show that have talked about this. I had a wonderful, British sexpert who came on, she’s written 17 books on sex and intimacy and her latest is, Great Sex After 50: How to Age-Proof Your Libido. And her coaching, when she came on my show, was, look for a flicker not a flame. She said a lot of people watch Hollywood movies and feel like they need to be like, ripping their clothes off to have sex and she’s like, “Not so.” You need to really nurture these little flickers and keep it going. I love that you shared that if you could go back and tell your younger self that you would say, prioritize this. Because oftentimes, women don’t. You’re busy maybe nurturing families and nurturing a career, or a spouse, or a business and we often get put on the back burner. And you prioritized yourself and moved yourself out of your comfort zone. And then what came next? What made you take that next step and share this story more publicly?
Liz [8:52]:
To share this story more publicly... I had to. It was such a shock to me to fall in love with a woman. Again, if you read the Huffington Post article I wrote, I had to write that. That was a thing I had to write in order to live, in order to breathe. To write it on paper. And I wrote in my journal for a while, like, “Am I completely insane?” [Katie laughs] Seriously. I’ve been a heterosexual woman all of my life. Before I was married to my husband, there was only boyfriends. I believe now, looking back... I’m 68. I was just around 64 when this happened. Looking back, I feel like I have finally opened myself, literally, to possibility and when I really genuinely opened myself, and I say this too in the article, I’ve been preaching authenticity: find your real self, find your truth, that’s where you find your power.
And so finally, little Liz, me, did what I’d been preaching to the choir to do, and it was an explosion. It was a moment in time, literally, where this was a very best friend, and that sounds weird, too, because she’s 26 years younger than me. But she was always my dearest, my first call, we talked all the time. I’d be overseas and I’d call her and speak with her about what was going on and this, that, and the other as friends. But there was literally a moment in time when we had a spark. I mean, as I said, it was Cupid’s arrow that just went straight into my heart. I pushed her away and I thought, therefore I will now speed dial my therapist [Katie laughs] and figure out why I had this feeling for my best girlfriend.
Katie [10:42]:
Oh my gosh, Liz that is amazing. When we come back from this very quick break, I want to talk about perhaps what your therapist said and how you got into action.
[Ad Break]
Katie [11:51]:
Liz, we’re back from the break. You shared that Cupid shot an arrow into your heart, upended your life, and put you into action. How did you share with Lee, your partner, your feelings at that time?
Liz [12:08]:
I am the person in your life. I am that person, everyone knows me like me, and that just deals with things right off the bat. I don’t wait. I don’t ruminate, I go, holy cow, what’s this? And so, I remember just being so shocked, I mean, literally, physically. When I say shocked, I don’t mean emotionally, just mentally. I had a physical reaction to this, and I’m a very physical human being. That’s what I do for a living and all that.
So, that next night, literally, I walked out of my own studio, and I went home, and I texted her. I’ve texted Lee a billion times because we’re friends and she’s the director of training at Hilliard Studio Method and we’re talking all the time, but I texted her and said, “Can you meet me for dinner?” And [laughs] I was like a teenager just waiting by my phone, waiting for the bubbles to come up like, what the hell is the matter with you? [Katie laughs] This is when I really knew I had to call a therapist. I was like, I’m definitely going insane, this cannot be real. So, then I saw the bubbles come up and she was like, “Yeah, I’ll meet you for dinner.” And it was a really quick answer. You know, when you get a quick text back and you’re like, “Touchdown!”
So, I’m like, what am I going to do? I go to dinner with her, and we came back to my back patio, we were sitting on the back patio, and I just looked at her, I could not wait a minute more and I said, “There is a problem with me and it is that I love you. You know I love you, but I love you in a different way that I’m not quite sure what it is, but it’s strong and you have to know this. I don’t know where this is going, and it may go nowhere, and I may just need to go into some deep therapeutic help and get through this, but this is what’s happening.” And I had no idea what she would say. She kind of, literally, physically leaned in, because we were on two different sears, and whatever the words were that she used, she felt a similar feeling. There was such an electricity between us, I could not come closer than 2 feet away from her because the energy was just incensed. That sounds so weird, I know...
Katie [14:24]:
No! It doesn’t sound weird at all. I think you’re describing that electric shock of love, and to discover that she felt this too must have been such relief but also so beautiful and exciting because, like, what’s going to unfold and what’s going to come next?
I want to circle back to something that you said a little bit earlier though, a few minutes ago, when you said you felt insane and you were wondering if this was insane. I know when I saw you on the Tamron Hall Show, I watched the clip of you appearing there, and I will put that into the show notes of this episode so if viewers want to see Liz on Tamron Hall if viewers want to read Liz’s Huffington Post article that went viral, all of that will be in the show notes over on ACertainAgePod.com.
But I’m curious, you felt this was insane, you had to adjust to it for yourself, but then other people had to adjust around you. Our society has become a lot more open about same sex marriages and of course, while dating at work can be complicated, many people date work colleagues. But you also shared that you have a 26-year age gap and because this show really focuses on age and what it means to mature, I’m just curious. Men, throughout history, have been dating people 26 years younger. What, if any one of these things, was hardest for people to adjust to? Was the age gap something that people really struggled with?
Liz [16:00]:
Yes, and I myself was one... I’ve always sort of had a contempt for older men... not contempt but just sort of laughing at the older man with younger women.
Katie [16:10]:
Yeah, I know what you mean.
Liz [16:13]:
It’s sort of like, really? That’s so obvious. And you know, fair enough, I could be labeled that, and that is absolutely fair game right there because on the surface, absolutely, it can look like that.
Katie [16:28]:
But it’s sexist! It’s completely sexist to have it be okay for men to date younger women. No one bats an eye.
Liz [16:35]:
Absolutely. Yeah, we got that. The thing I think it was hard for a lot of people, and friends, and it didn’t go down so well with a lot of people. I’ve lost... not real friends... but people that I was close with that just can't accept that, and you know what? I’ve accepted that they can't accept that. This takes a lot of time. And also, for my ex-husband, and I said this before, he really understood it, and I still don’t understand how he understood it so well.
Katie [17:13]:
Well, you picked somebody good. I’ve had conversations with friends, and this sounds completely unromantic, but I’ve said, “No one should marry someone they’re not willing to get divorced from.”
Liz [17:24]:
Oh my god, that’s exactly what I say all the time! I’m not kidding.
Katie [17:28]:
Because I honestly feel like when everything is rosy, the bloom is on the rose, and everything is perfect, the sex is amazing, there’s lots of money, and there are no kids, and you know, it’s easy to overlook people’s bad qualities because you’re so into them. But you need to marry somebody who is just a decent, solid human because getting divorced is something that happens. If you’re marrying a decent, solid, awesome person, they’re still going to be that even when you go through that hard transition.
Liz [17:58]:
That’s true. And also, to our point, the part about being an employer and an employee, is also a huge red flag. It is a no-no. What is the Me Too movement about? This looks like I’m a... Anyway, it looks exactly the way we look at older men with the women they’re maybe employed with. It’s a very, very harsh, you can put a harsh light on this. But it’s also allowed me to open my eyes and look at things in a more individual way and never make excuses. The workplace is not a place where I think it’s a great idea to have romance. However, let’s all remember that happens all the time.
Katie [18:44]:
It happens all the time. We develop relationships. We spend so much time at work, and things are nuanced.
Liz [18:51]:
Yeah, and look at the individuals of what that is. The last thing I did was go and prey on the people that work for me, and they are all women. It’s interesting. I have no desire to do anything like that, but I realize how stereotypical my story is, had I been a man, and she still been a woman. So yes, I’ve received a lot of heat, and I think it’s fair to receive that heat saying, that’s just the worst thing in the world, you fell in love with your employee, and she fell in love with her boss. These are tough things to get past.
But what it got down to was, we were two human beings that really, really were close friends and had similarities that were beyond age, beyond workplace, and beyond gender. We discovered, together, the most incredible way of life. I mean, we’re in now. We’re going on four years being together; we’ve both been in longer-term relationships, we know that the challenges will come even stronger. But the groundwork that we have and the closeness that we feel is real. Yes, it was a spark in the beginning, but now it is this realness. When you have a relationship with a human being that expands you and allows you to find your creative ability and your spark, allows you to be your better self. And we’re doing it every day; we’re doing it together; we’re doing it separately.
And so, if we can take away the stereotypical stereotypes when we look at people and make a judgment on maybe what they’re doing, or make a judgment, more importantly, on ourselves to say, "Oh, I can't do this because A) she’s a woman or B) he’s a man” or whatever those reasons are, or, “I’m older or younger...” But if we can really know that that spark is coming from deep inside our gut, our heart, our knowingness, that place where we know ourselves, and it’s there we just have to recognize it, then we can expand our lives in ways that I’ve never read in a book, and I’ve never run into.
Katie [21:10]:
Liz, I think what you’re talking about, too, with this sort of expansion that we can apply to a new way of looking at things or being open to a new sense of possibility goes even beyond romantic partnerships. We can expand the way we think about ourselves as somebody who is a creative person, somebody who is a business owner, or someone who has the potential to do things that they have not yet thought of. We really need to do the work to view ourselves in an expansive way in midlife because that’s what opens all of these doors to us.
For a listener sitting here thinking, “Yes, I do want to be able to open myself up to new possibilities. I do want to be able to see myself in a new way and think that new things are possible,” whatever they are, what might be some coaching that you would give them to help them solidify this expansive mindset?
Liz [22:10]:
Open yourself by... whatever relationships you’re in... this is such a great question. It starts within ourselves. But life is about relationships, right? So, our relationships can reflect back on who we are, and how we feel about the world. When I started, when I was late 50s, whatever, I started really having some real conversations with the people in my family, in my life, my husband, which led to this. What it did was it helped define what wasn’t working. Sometimes you have to really... the coaching I would say is find... whether it’s meditation, whether it’s writing in your journal, for me it’s a lot of writing, I love to write and write my feelings down. And sometimes, just writing down what’s not working. You’ve got to see what’s not working and if you write your little list of 8 to 10 things, and pretty much everything you’re focusing on is not something you’re passionate about, you can maybe give a rating to that passion of these 8 or 10 things, then you can start to get, to move aside those things, or to address those things that aren’t working in your life. When you finally do that, then the expansiveness can be there because you can have an opening that says, "Well, who am I then?”
Katie [23:40]:
That’s such a great tip. Liz that is such a wonderful and actionable tip, this notion of kind of, putting down, maybe like a pie chart of the 8 to 10 areas where you focus your time and energy and asking yourself, do I want to be focused on some of these things? Because I think often, we move along on autopilot, and we don’t question the systems that put us into place, and we don’t look around to really, truly evaluate, am I doing what I want to be doing? I love the advice that you shared.
Liz [24:13]:
Thank you, it has worked for me, and we all have our own individual ways of doing that. Midlife, what a great time we are in. And I do like to talk about the health of it, but I would have to say that the wisdom that comes with age, whether you’re in a healthy body or not the healthy body, is... own it. Own your wisdom, have the courage to say no, to say yes to things that you would not have maybe done in your 40s, or younger, or 50s in my case. I’m telling you, the 60s are a golden decade. [Katie laughs] It’s like the 1960s in America, it’s like, hey, rebellion and rock and roll.
Katie [24:55]:
We’re excited. We’re totally excited. You’re getting us passionate about what’s coming next. And I do have a lot of listeners who are in their 60s and they’re probably nodding their heads right now and thinking, yes, this is such a fantastic decade.
I want to switch gears quickly, though, and talk a little bit about your business because I adore the fact that you launched it at 50. I launched this podcast 35 days before I turned 51, and I truly believe it’s never too late to do something that you’ve wanted to do, to try something new, to kind of pivot. I know that one of your mottos at the studio is “Be Powerful.” You launched this business. You grew it into a small empire, it’s an online training, and you’ve got a podcast, a book. How do you harness this sort of powerfulness in midlife? What one to two pieces of advice would you give to a listener to get into action?
Liz [25:48]:
Mm, that’s good, I love that. Thank you for that good question. I have “Be Powerful” written on the side of my wall, and it’s in big print. The “Be Powerful” part of yourself is the part you accept. The power lies wherever you set. People walk into my studio, and it is a challenging workout, but it is not... You might think, you know, “Hey, she started in her 50s, she’s in her 60s, this is a workout that’s going to be easy.” It’s not. It’s a very challenging workout, just like life is challenging, and it is the small places where we succeed or the places we see our energy lower that we find our power.
So, “Be Powerful” to me is owning where you stand this moment, this day, that moment in the studio, I can't do this move, I can't do the push-up, I will own this spot I’m in, I will hold a plank, I will come down on my knees, I will own who I am. And so, that is the crux of my whole... I didn’t even know that until I started this business. A lady said to me one day, "What is it you want to tell women?” I said, “I want to tell them to be powerful.” That sounds like, yeah, go out and start a ginormous company. No, to own the power that we have inside us right now, that is us. When allowed to be and just to breathe that power, you can absolutely do anything, including a push-up. [laughs]
Katie [27:22]:
And it’s a practice too. You’re talking about push-ups and planks. I have just recently begun weight training myself because I was inspired by a guest who came on the show, a woman named Renata Joy from Pure Joy Wellness she made me realize I should be weight training, and guess what? It’s like slow and steady wins the race. I’m not strong, but I’m getting stronger, and that’s because I’m in action I think that we see that sometimes in terms of fitness, we recognize we need to put the work in, but sometimes we forget that we need to put the work in feeling more powerful and more confident and that resilience is a muscle that only gets stronger the more we practice it. And you know...
Liz [28:05]:
Absolutely, absolutely. And Joy is right, the resistance training, especially for people listening to your podcast, if we’re 40 or over, or really any age, but 40 or over, if you’re not resistance training... You’ve got to resistance train in order to age your bones, muscles, your entire body in a healthy way. That is the key, resistance training. And you think about that in real life, resistance training. Going to your edge, finding that place where you’re uncomfortable, and then reaping the benefits. It happens in weight training; it happens in life. You go to the edge, you do it, you flex that muscle, whether it’s emotionally or physically, and you get the reward for it.
Katie [28:53]:
Absolutely. And I feel like this show is all about flexing those emotional and resilience-building muscles, it’s about trying new things, it’s about hearing those stories of women that have reinvented different aspects of their lives, or just are opening themselves up to these new creative possibilities which you’ve talked about. I love everything you’ve shared; I am excited to put the book Be Powerful: Find Your Strength at Any Age on people’s radar. What, besides resistance training, should we be focused on in midlife for strength?
Liz [29:30]:
For strength? Movement. If you’re sitting right now, get up and move. I always tell people that.
Katie [29:34]:
I hope everyone’s walking while they’re listening to this podcast!
Liz [29:37]:
While you’re listening, stand up; unless you’re driving your car, stand up and walk, pace. Lots of women in business, kids, whatever you’ve got going on, there’s a tendency as we age to go, "Well hell, I’m going to rest. I’m going to do an easy exercise class, and then I’m done for the day.” The body in movement is the body in health. The minute you sit, the minute you start to die, I really say that. It sounds completely drastic, but the body needs to move. And movement also clears our emotional, our mental states so that we can also be more creative and more expansive as we age.
Katie [30:19]:
Yeah, absolutely. Liz, I noticed by spending some time on your website that you recommend daily exercise, either at your studio or in other places. Beyond walking and resistance training, what are some ways that you incorporate movement and exercise into your life every day? If someone’s looking to get started, how could they ramp up?
Liz [30:41]:
Right. Thank you for saying that. I will just say this really quickly, if you don’t like an exercise class or if you’re intimidated or don’t want to go in somewhere, we’ve got everything from a 10-minute, to a one hour, from beginner to intermediate, to all kinds of different exercises. But all of my workouts on Hilliard Studio Method are designed to be safe and effective. We’re not going to go in there and throw you into some craziness. Also, I’ll give you a week free online and not to be an infomercial, but the workout is my baby, and I know that it works, and I’m 68 years old, and it works.
But other than that, as far as when I’m vacation... people go, "What do you do when you’re on vacation?” I’m like, I eat, I drink, I have joie la vie. Enjoy your life but move. Rest is good, we need our bodies to rest, but we’ve got to move, especially when we come to a stuck place in our lives. If you were going to do one thing a day, and say you’ve got no time to do anything, spend 5 to 10 minutes doing some sort of resistance. You can do resistance without a thing in your hand; you can do a plank, a push-up. You can stand against a counter, hold onto it, and bend into squats. Feel your body. First of all, pay attention to your body. What in your body is needing your attention? Does your back hurt? Does your tummy...? Whatever it is, pay attention to it. Nourish it, love it, and move it. It’s going to reap the rewards tenfold, more than that.
Katie [32:18]:
Yeah, absolutely. As I said, I’m putting the Tamron Hall episode into the show notes. Everyone should go take a look at it. Liz is obviously such a great evangelist for health and fitness. You’re in phenomenal shape and have a website that offers a lot of training and different options to people if they’re looking to do the same. So, I’d encourage everybody, after they are back at their desks, I hope you’re walking and listening to this with your AirPods popped in, to take a look at those resources over on ACertainAgePod.com.
Liz, we are going to be moving into our speed round now since we’re nearing the end of our time. This is just a quick one-to-two-word answer that we do at the end to close on a high-energy note, and I know that you have high energy and love high energy. So, are you ready?
Liz [33:05]:
This sounds fun. [Katie laughs] Yeah, let’s go.
Katie [33:07]:
Let’s do it. Okay, hitting publish on the Huffington Post article was _____.
Liz [33:14]:
Dynamic and mind-blowing.
Katie [33:17]:
Nice. How about this, how did you feel when you saw that it started to get millions and millions of downloads?
Liz [33:25]:
Honestly, shocked, empowered, and happy. Just happiness that people wanted to read my story.
Katie [33:33]:
Nice, I love that. It feels good when we share ourselves, and it connects with people. Becoming an entrepreneur at 50 was _____.
Liz [33:41]:
The best move I’ve ever made.
Katie [33:43]:
I know we talked about walking and resistance training, but this simple exercise that every woman should be doing is very underrated: _____.
Liz [33:54]:
A push-up.
Katie [33:55]:
Ooh, okay.
Liz [33:57]:
Nobody wants to hear that.
Katie [33:58]:
I don’t want to hear that; I hate push-ups. [laughs]
Liz [34:00]:
Ladies, men, do not take that push-up past your elbows, no. After 40, you’re going just to your elbows. It is hard, but it will work every muscle in your body, especially your back, and your belly, and your shoulders, and your back and all those good things.
Katie [34:15]:
I’m glad we had this conversation because I feel like I could potentially do that.
Liz [34:19]:
Do it! Do it on your knees.
Katie [34:21]:
Nice, all right. I’m doing this right after this show. [both laugh] What’s a food that fuels your exercise routine?
Liz [34:29]:
Oh, my HSM smoothie, my Hilliard Studio Method smoothie. We sell it in the studio, with all the ingredients. What you want to fuel your body with first thing in the morning is protein, fiber, and phytonutrients, which means some sort of greens. So, that is my power smoothie every single morning of my life. It has been since I was 50 years old. And different variations. We have the recipe on the website, and it’s so good.
Katie [34:54]:
Yum!
Liz [34:55]:
We sell it in the studio in Charlotte.
Katie [34:57]:
Nice, well, I will put those into the show notes as well. One of your mottos, as we already discussed, is, Be Powerful. What is one thing that always makes you feel powerful?
Liz [35:09]:
This sort of interaction; inspiring people, interacting with people, and watching how beautiful they are when they find and see their own power.
Katie [35:20]:
Aww, I love that. Finally, your one-word answer to complete this sentence: As I age, I feel _____.
Liz [35:27]:
Empowered.
Katie [35:28]:
Nice. Liz, this has been a total treat. I have loved connecting with you live. I’ve read your Huffington Post article, and I’ve watched you on TV. You have so much to offer and are sharing a wonderful and empowering story. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Liz [35:44]:
Thank you so much, Katie. This was such a pleasure on my part as well.
Katie [35:47]:
Nice! Before we say goodbye, though, how can our listeners find you, find your book, and your podcast, and learn more about the Hilliard Studio Method?
Liz [35:55]:
Right. Well, I am at HilliardStudioMethod.com is my website. Our podcast is called Be Powerful with Liz & Lee, and you can find that anywhere, Apple, Spotify, and we’re also on YouTube. And then, as far as social media, it’s just @LizHilliardHSM, Instagram, and all those different venues. And then, if you want to order the book, the first book that I wrote in 2017, it is available online at our studio as well. So, I think that’s all the ways you can find me.
Katie [36:27]:
Fantastic, all of that is going into the show notes, find them over on ACertainAgePod.com. Thank you, Liz.
This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. Do you have your own story of reinvention in midlife? I want to feature you on our new Instagram account, Age Out Loud. Head to Instagram to @LetsAgeOutLoud, or head to A Certain Age website to learn more, ACertainAgePod.com, because we will not be aging quietly.
Special thanks to Michael Mancini, who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time, and until then: age boldly, beauties.