Second Act Authors: 9 Books That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Rewrite Your Story | #226

In this special episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, business coach, author, and host Shannon Russell celebrates an incredible wave of second act authors who published books in 2025—right alongside her own book, Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life.

Shannon spotlights powerful new releases from friends and former guests including Lisa Morton (Aligned at Home), Heike Yates (Pursue Your Spark), Gregory Andrus (A Walk Along the Jersey Shore), Sara Conklin (Fundamentally Frugal), Gina Riley (Qualified Isn’t Enough), Liz Alterman (You Shouldn't Have Done That, Clare Casey's Had Enough, A Different Type of Poison), Cindy Bertram (California Fork & Spoon), Maude McDonald (Retro Quilts), and Liz Mugavero (Claws Out). You’ll hear how each author used their second act, career change, or creative pivot to turn lived experience into pages that inspire, heal, and empower others.

Whether you’ve secretly dreamed of writing a book, starting a business, or launching your own creative project, this episode is your loving nudge that it’s absolutely possible—especially in midlife.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How ordinary women (and one Jersey Shore storyteller!) turned their second act into published books
• Why sharing your story, expertise, or creativity can open new doors in career, business, and life
• The mindset shifts and courage it takes to say a big, bold “YES” to authorship
• Book recommendations in home alignment, wellness, money, career transitions, mystery fiction, quilting, food, and photography
• How your own second act might be the next book, podcast, or business the world is waiting for

If you’ve ever thought, “Maybe I could write a book someday…” let this episode be your sign. Press play, grab the book list in the show notes, and get inspired to start your own second act story.

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Transcript

Second Act Success Podcast

Season 1 - Second Act Authors: 9 Books That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Rewrite Your Story | #226

Episode - #226

Host: Shannon Russell

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

Speaker: [00:00:00] Are you ready to quit your nine to five job and start a business of your own? Well, you're in the right place, my friend. Welcome to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell, and my mission is to help you produce your best life. This podcast will teach you how to get from where you are now to where you want to be and how to build a business that fits your life and lights you up.

Let's get started.

Hey there. Welcome back to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell. Today I released my book Start Your Second Act this year in 2025. And as I've told you before here on the podcast, it was a dream come true.

I had held it close in my heart since I was a little girl, that I wanted to be an author. And so the fact that I was able to do that this year was insane. I just. It's still reeling from it, Writing Start [00:01:00] Your second Act was one of the most vulnerable yet fulfilling projects I've ever worked on, and I learned an entirely new level of discipline in forcing myself to write and finding a schedule to write while also owning several businesses and having two kids and doing the podcasts and so on and so on.

I not only found ways to stretch myself as far as scheduling goes, but also in creativity

and really figuring out how to get my words onto paper in the hopes that other women would read them and feel less alone and more empowered as they begin a new chapter in their life but here's the wild part and the reason I'm recording this particular podcast.

I wasn't the only one with a book out this year. This year, many of my friends, many incredible entrepreneurs, creators, and voices that I admire also had books. [00:02:00] Venture out into the world this year, it felt like a really creative collective that was happening in my world.

And today I want to celebrate that magic. I want to share their work with you and talk about what it really means when you finally decide to put your story, your knowledge, and your heart onto the page.

This was not just my season to publish a book this year.

It was our season.

So I'm gonna dive into all of these amazing people.

And I will also mention the podcast episodes if they were on second Act Success, so you can go back and listen to their full story as well.

Let's start with my friend Lisa Morton, who published her book Aligned at Home this year. , lisa was on episode 146 of this podcast, so if you wanna go back and listen to her story, I will link to it in the show notes.

 But as far as this book goes, Lisa created this gorgeous, thoughtful guide that really helps you design a home that [00:03:00] supports your values, your energy, and your wellbeing. And that's what she's all about. She's not only an interior designer, she's a master in feng shui.

she works with clients to, align their homes in a really holistic way, so this book I was able to read ahead of time, I actually have a review listed inside the book, which was very sweet of Lisa to include me in there. And the book is incredible. It's about alignment, about emotional, spiritual, physical alignment inside that very place that you spend most of your life, your home. And so if you are craving a calmer, more intentional home, especially as you venture into your next act or into 2026.

Lisa's book Aligned at Home is really a gem and I suggest you go and check it out. It's also a fantastic gift for people at this time of year, a great holiday gift to gift to someone to read and think about how they want to [00:04:00] move into this new year and setting up a perfect home for themselves.

Next up is the powerhouse friend of mine, Heike Yates.

Heike put out this incredible book called Pursue Your Spark.

Heike was actually on episode 145 of the podcast, so I had her on right around the same time that I had Lisa, and she's a fantastic guest talking about her career moving from Europe to the United States and all that she has done as a wellness and Pilates instructor, and just, she does so many great things in helping people really find their spark later in life.

Now her book, pursue Your Spark is all about igniting courage and building strength, both physically and mentally as you step boldly into the life that you want. So it's got similar themes to my book. Start Your Second Act, but in a different way because hiking. Helps women really simplify fitness and [00:05:00] embrace aging with power, and I love that about her.

\ So I suggest if you need a nudge to reclaim strength, both physically, mentally, emotionally, in your life, in midlife. Then go check out Heike Yates, pursue Your Spark, and I will link to that again in the show notes.

Okay, this next one is a dear friend of mine. His name is Gregory Andress, and Gregory released a stunning I'm talking beautiful book this year called A Walk Along the Jersey Shore. Now I live in New Jersey. I met Gregory with my first business, actually. I owned a brick and mortar franchise business where he brought his family in and we just became friends and we've followed each other in our different ventures of our lives and businesses.

And Gregory just has a gift. For capturing people's stories. He runs a Facebook page called The Portraits of the Jersey Shore,

he goes and finds people here at the Jersey [00:06:00] Shore, interviews them, shares their stories and he really does create these beautiful, heartfelt portraits of these individuals.

His book is kind of a photographic journey and what he did that is really incredible is he walked from Cape May, New Jersey all the way up to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, so that is our entire coastline. He walked. Every single beach town took photos, met with people and wrote about his story of overcoming his own trauma and finding growth and, hope in seeing the ocean walking along the beach.

And he shared this story, and the story of others within this book. It's beautiful, it's emotional, and it's a reminder that humanity is in every person we pass.

Gregory was also an early guest on my podcast. You can find him on episode nine of Second [00:07:00] Act Success.

Next, there's Sarah Conklin. Sarah released. Fundamentally frugal. It's a must read for anyone who wants to feel more in control of their finances, , build healtHeiker money habits, and really live a life with intention, especially around their money. \ sarah was a guest on episode 158 of the podcast, and she really shared her career transition, how she got out of debt

and how she started writing this book. Inside this book, Sarah breaks down money management in a way that really feels empowering and not overwhelming because a lot of women. Find finances overwhelming and they just want to ignore it and not try to fix the problems at hand.

Sarah knows that firsthand, and she wrote this book in a way where there's actionable steps. , They're very practical, she's very honest, and she really has a way of helping to change your money life, in the [00:08:00] pages of this book. So I would definitely suggest checking out Fundamentally Frugal by Sarah Conklin.

Another friend of mine who blew me away this year is Gina Riley. Gina released the book, qualified isn't Enough. Gina is a career transition coach.

She works with really successful executives and corporate leaders as they try to get that. More higher position or move to a new company and get a different role. Her book is really so fascinating and she gives so many valuable tips on how to stand out when you are looking for that next role, whether it's in business or in your career.

, I highly, highly recommend this the cool thing about the book is that she really talks about branding yourself, about telling your career story and strengthening your interview presence. Even if you're not looking to switch jobs, if you are looking to start a business or form partnerships in business, you need to know your story and you need to be [00:09:00] able to speak well and portray your elevator pitch, and she dives into so many of these topics inside the book.

It's really a roadmap so that you can sell yourself better in a job interview, in a business meeting with clarity and confidence.

Gina was on the podcast way back in episode 37, where we really first got to know each other and then became great friends, , and supporters of each other back then. And then she actually came on for another episode to talk about her new book, and that was on episode 212. So a lot more recently because her book just came out this year.

then we have the amazing, the talented fiction author Liz Al Alterman. Liz didn't just publish one book this year, my friend, she published multiple

This year, Liz released You shouldn't have done that, which is a thriller, and I absolutely love it.

And to be honest, I have loved every single one of Liz's books. She has quite a few out [00:10:00] there. So go to Amazon or go to liz alman.com and check out all of her books. But you shouldn't have done that as one that I read earlier this year.

She also released a second thriller called a different Type of Poison, and that just came out very recently. So I have not had a chance to read that yet, but I am so excited to. And lastly, she released Claire Casey's had Enough, and this is more of a rom com kind of.

Girl trying to figure out her life and her family. She's got kids, she's got a husband, and she has had enough, and it's a really fun, , almost comedy fiction type of book that, , I, again, I read and absolutely loved. 

I met Liz way back in the beginning of this podcast when she guested on the show. It was episode 35 we became great friends. She also lives in New Jersey, and honestly, friends or not, I'm such a fan of her writing,

so. Liz Alman with three books out this year, you [00:11:00] guys. It's really incredible. So congrats to Liz.

Next up is Cindy Bertram. Cindy is a friend of mine. We used to work together back in the entertainment industry, and this year she released a book called California Fork and Spoon. It's a culinary book filled with the recipes, stories, and California inspired flavor. Cindy wrote this book alongside California restaurateur Alicia Cox. Together they took Alicia's amazing recipes and dishes from her restaurants and compiled them in this beautiful, beautiful book. It's gorgeous, it's vibrant, and ugh, everything looks so delicious. If you love cooking or collecting food stories, Cindy's book belongs in your kitchen.

When her book came out, Cindy joined me right here on the show and her episode, if you want to check it out, is episode 175.

 we have a book by a dear friend of mine. Her name is Ma [00:12:00] McDonald, and she wrote the book, retro Quilts. This book is colorful, it's creative, it's nostalgic, and it's inspiring.

It's a celebration of quilting joy and artistry.

Maude is a phenomenal quilter and she's a branding expert. You can check out her website@theretroquilter.com. 

If you are crafty and you love creative expression, you will love mod and you'll definitely love this book. You will get amazing ideas. So if you are a quilter or if you know one, this is a great gift, , for you or a friend.

Maud has not been on my podcast yet, but we talk all the time. She's a great friend of mine, so I promise to get her on my show in 2026. Mod. If you're listening, please come on the show and come tell us your second act success story.

finally, we have Liz Ro. Liz was just recently on my podcast. We recorded, but her episode hasn't even aired yet, but when we chatted, she was talking about all of her books. [00:13:00] I think she's up to 19 or 20 books at this point. She writes books under her name as well as her pen name. Kate Conti, liz is a mystery fiction writer and her most recent book that came out this year is called Claws Out. It's a Cat Cafe mystery series, book nine to be specific. So way to go. Liz, I love that you are writing several different series. I love that there are mysteries that is my favorite genre to read, and I'm so excited for you.

I love that there are more to come. To check out all of Liz's books. There are too many to talk about here on the podcast.

Head over to kate conti.com and be on the lookout for my interview with Liz when it airs, in January, 2026.

Watching all of us release books this year from personal development to fiction, to photography, to culinary arts, to crafting, to finance. It just reminds me so much of something important, and that is that our stories matter, our knowledge [00:14:00] matters, our creativity matters, and our voices matter.

This wasn't just a year of, I wrote a book. It was a year of we all stepped into something bigger. We all allowed ourselves to be seen and heard. We all created something that will outlive us, and we all said yes to that calling, to that invitation to put our words on paper and share it with the world.

Because writing a book is a yes. It's a big, bold, terrifying, yes. And it has a ripple effect. So by us as authors, taking that courage to write a book, publish it into the world, that creates a ripple impact. It creates an impact on those who read it.

It creates an impact on the book publishing industry, and it creates an impact on us. So it's huge. And I wanna celebrate all of these friends of mine, a big shout out to all of these amazing authors. Thank you for putting your [00:15:00] books and your work out into the world for the rest of us to read. now If you, my friend who is listening right now, \ If you have ever thought maybe I could write a book. Maybe I could start something new. Maybe I could take that leap or that risk or that challenge. I want you to hear this.

You absolutely can not because it's easy, but because your story, your knowledge, and your experience hold value. And this year taught me that creativity is contagious. Courage is contagious 

and a single yes can change your life. And who knows? Maybe next year you will be the one writing a book, starting a business, launching a podcast, or stepping into that new version of yourself

and lastly to all of these authors that I mentioned today, your courage inspires me daily and continue to do the work that you were meant to do.

if there is a dream tugging at your heart, this be your sign to [00:16:00] say yes. You never know how your second act might unfold. Thank you for listening. 

You are free now to go buy some books. Go read and be sure to check all the links to everyone I talked about today in the show notes below. I will see you next time for another episode of the second Act Success podcast. Bye my friend.

Speaker 2: Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit second act success.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is second act success.