Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Lorraine C. Ladish

We recently had the chance to connect with Lorraine C. Ladish and have shared our conversation below.

Lorraine , so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Would YOU hire you? Why or why not?
I would for sure. Because I am dependable, professional, get things done and figure out how to do them if I don’t know. I will admit when I don’t know something and when I’ve made a mistake. And I’ve been meeting deadlines for 40+ years now.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Lorraine C. Ladish, a Spanish-American writer, content creator, and the founder of Viva Fifty!, a bilingual platform that celebrates life after 50. I’ve been a communicator my entire life, first as a journalist and author of nearly 20 books, and later as a digital creator. I started over in my 40s after a personal and financial crisis left me as a single mom on welfare. Reinventing myself online wasn’t just a career pivot. It was survival.
Now, in my early 60s, I continue to create content around aging, fitness, mental health, and personal growth. I’ve built a following of over 400,000 across platforms by sharing the real, sometimes messy, often joyful experience of midlife and beyond. I’m passionate about breaking stereotypes around aging, especially for women, and showing that we can keep learning, lifting, loving, and evolving at any age.
Right now, I’m working on a book called Aging Like a Legend, which explores what life can look like after menopause emotionally, physically, and creatively. I’m also continuing to collaborate with brands that align with my values and speak to my community of vibrant, curious, unapologetically evolving women.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
My father. His work ethic is unparalleled. I was raised in Spain and he gave me my first job as a language teacher and a translator at 15. In Spain teenagers don’t usually have jobs. You either work or study. So although I disliked having to work after school back then, now I know that he gave me the biggest gift. I learned responsibility and how to do something I had no clue about.

What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
Perhaps growing up without a mother from the age of four. Aside from therapy and journaling which helped a lot, I later became the mother I wished I had. That feels like healing.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I like to think so. I try to be as true to myself as possible in every situation. That didn’t start happening until. my 30’s when I published a book about an eating disorder that almost consumed me. Now I feel the freedom to be myself everywhere. It’s liberating.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I will soon be 62, so maybe I do have 10 years left, who knows? My best friend, Belinda, died of cancer 7 years ago and while she knew she was dying she told me she still bought a ridiculous amount of expensive shoes and clothes. She didn’t stop doing the things she thought she might …. I never forgot that. Now I wear a dress of hers that her sister gave me, and think of her. I think I’m doing ok.

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Image Credits
Phillippe Diederich for all except stingray photo by Nick Nelson

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