Lighthouse Conversation: Second Act Sisterhood With Barbara Brooks and guadalupe Hirt
This Sunday was to be my guests’ debut at South by Southwest (SXSW), hosting a MeetUp titled, “Pushed Aside: Re-scripting Women 40+“. Coronavirus concerns canceled the event, but these firecracker leaders were not going to let that stop them from delivering their timely message about ageism in the workplace. You can still catch it online and in person in Denver.
Barbara Brooks and Lupe Hirt are at the leading edge of discovering why women in their 40s, 50s and up are feeling undesired in the workplace, and discovering solutions as to how the culture can shift its view on it. They’ve also managed to create a remarkable sisterhood of support where they can hold space for, and hold up the mirror to, each incredible woman to remember how incredible they are and how badly we need to hear their voices.
Check out this week’s conversation which goes deep and will no doubt inspire you. Listen to Second Act Sisterhood here.
Bio:
Barbara Brooks, 53 is the founder and CEO of SecondAct|Women and a 26-year award-winning marketing and public relations professional. Catapulting shopping centers and districts to market leaders, she oversaw the marketing departments of regional and super-regional malls and downtown districts spanning from Trolley Square in Salt Lake City and Sundance Square in Fort Worth, to Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip and Denver’s own, Town Center at Aurora and Park Meadows Retail Resort. Barbara’s career took an eight-year detour into the broadcast world where she served as a senior sales and business development representative for I Heart Radio, CBS Radio and Gannett (9News) before returning to shopping malls. It was at that time that she became an accidental entrepreneur and in 2011, partnered with long-time business associate, Guadalupe Hirt, to start a marketing and PR agency delivering ‘social marketing’ with flair and savvy. Most recently, she launched SecondAct|Women – an organization set on disrupting ageism by reframing the narrative for women over 40 and 50+ are past their prime. In reality, it's quite the opposite. The new company provides a marketplace of curated elevate business and lifestyle events, content and resources to spur corporate careers, business owner ventures and big ideas of women over 40 and 50+. You can find Barbara and SecondAct|Women on socials at @heybarbarab and @secondactwomen.
Guadalupe Hirt, 46 is the Co-Founder of SecondAct|Women, a female-focused company founded to counter and rescript the social narrative that women over 40 and 50 are past their prime. In April 2019, Hirt and founder (aka #workwife) Barbara Brooks launched SecondAct|Women’s BizLifeCon, the nation’s first business and life conference designed by women over 40 and 50 for women over 40 and 50. Since then, she and Brooks have been building a global community and marketplace to help midlife questing women tap into career and life resources, content, events and support tools. A 3x entrepreneur, public relations specialist, and cultural author turned women’s social advocate, Hirt is committed to helping women over 40 and 50 reclaim their power, elevate their voice and boldly pursue their career and life pursuits. A gifted empath with an ordinary, yet extraordinary background, Hirt’s authenticity and open-book convos make her a compelling and relatable speaker. You can find Guadalupe and SecondAct|Women on socials @guadalupeolveramonteshirt and @secondactwomen.