Next Chapter, New Power

We explore how retirement can be a launchpad for purpose, not a slowdown, and why planning the social and emotional side matters as much as the financial. Lisa Haynes shares her “KILLING IT” framework and practical steps for introverts, leaders, and anyone craving a next chapter.

• redefining retirement as reinvention and purpose
• introverts leading well without performing extroversion
• planning beyond money and debunking the $1M myth
• designing new routines, roles and relationships
• creating exit plans and testing side hustles
• naming the dark side of retirement and loneliness
• the KILLING IT formula for daily momentum
• building legacy, community and accountability

Lisa's contact information:
website: https://www.haynesexec.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-j-haynes-cpa-mba/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Reinvention At Any Stage
• 2:03 Meet Retirement Coach Lisa Haynes
• 4:58 From Numbers To Leadership
• 8:53 Leading As An Introvert
• 12:29 Finding Your Own Way To Network
• 15:15 Stepping Into The Void Of Retirement
• 18:59 Purpose, Legacy, And What’s Next
• 21:54 Money Myths And Setting A Date
• 25:54 Coaching, Clarity, And The Exit Plan
• 29:06 The Part People Don’t Discuss
• 32:11 Reinvention Beyond Age
• 35:26 The Killing It Formula
• 40:00 Tools, Workshops, And Next Steps

Transcript

Reinvention At Any Stage

Cassandra 0:25

Good day out there to all my listeners, and I'd like to welcome you to Is Your Way in Your Way. And for those new listeners, my name is Cassandra Crawley Mayo, and I am actually a transformational lifestyle mentor who empowers women to start living your best life on your terms. We talk about topics such as empowerment, um, personal empowerment, sometimes business empowerment. Also, it will enable you to kind of to reflect over your life. And my prayer has always been that when somebody sees my podcast, they will all of a sudden pivot and say to themselves, you know what? I'm stuck. There are certain things that I want to do, and I'm not doing it. Um, and I'm tired. So, based on the discussion, I think I think I'm there. And I made the decision. And once you make that decision, you're ready to execute, right? And so today, our title is Reinvention at Any Stage while your next chapter matters. So let me ask you this What if retirement isn't the end of your story, but the beginning of a whole new chapter? My next guest proves that stepping away from the title and paycheck can be the doorway to purpose, freedom, and joy. Her message is simple. You can retire and still be killing it. Tune in as we uncover how to remove the barriers of fear, uncertainty, unlimiting beliefs, and step boldly into your next season with clarity and purpose. Now let me introduce you to my special guest, Lisa Haynes. Hi, Lisa. Hello, it is wonderful to be here, Cassandra. Oh, I'm so glad you're here. You know, um, we have so many things in common as it relates to our mission and our vision. So it's gonna be splendid for this to have this conversation. And I'm certain that somebody that's listening to us today will say, hmm, um, now I think I can retire. Or maybe it's not so much retiring, but maybe leaving the job that I'm currently in and do something else. So you so before we get started with the conversation, I want to read your bio because I want my listeners to understand what is qualifying you to talk about this topic that we're gonna talk about, reinvention at any stage. Now, Lisa Haynes is a certified executive and retirement coach. She's author of a retired and killing it and creator of the killing it formula, a proven framework for helping people thrive in life after work. After a successful corporate career, Lisa realized that retirement wasn't about slowing down, but about stepping into a season of purpose, connection, and joy. Today she's in powers millions of boomers approaching retirement to reimagine what's possible when the paycheck stops, but life is just beginning. Her organization is Haynes Executive Solutions and an author of retired and uh retired and killing it. And she also has a companion book. She was a CE CFO in chief diversity and also an inclusion officer. Wow, all about that DEI, huh? And that and then that CFO, right? Well, Lisa, now tell my listeners what was life like before you got into the financial aspect of things. Like, was it something in your childhood that that gave you some of a passion for math? Tell us about that.

Lisa 4:34

I it's funny, Cassandra. I actually didn't like math so much, right? And and I mean it was okay. And then you get to high school and you start taking that math that you think is useless, like geometry and calculus, and you're like, algebra. Why does anybody ever need to know this stuff? Um, but it was in high school that I took my first accounting course, and that is what led me to accounting. I took um what they call now is probably well, I learned then is probably closer to bookkeeping than accounting, but call it what you want. They called it accounting course. That was the first course I took, and I left that saying, I'm gonna major in accounting because I just really enjoyed it. It just it just snapped with me, right? It just clicked, even in high school. And so I left high school, went to college, got an undergraduate degree in accounting, um, then went to public accounting, right? So it really for me just started at the beginning of my career. It just now I naturally figured out what I was good at and what I wanted to do.

Cassandra 5:32

Really? So tell us what about your work and the career that you had that you liked? What was it about it you liked?

Lisa 5:41

Um, so I do like numbers. I don't like math numbers, but I do like uh numbers. I like analysis. And so that that part of accounting, um, where we do the analysis and and talk up, tell a story. So numbers tell a story. Um, I always had a good memory for numbers. So I I have, you know, my two credit cards. I know the credit card numbers off the top of my head have for a really long time. Most people are like, well, why do you know that? I'm like, well, that's my credit card. But I know the numbers and I know, you know, I can just rattle off my credit card. So I've always been good at that. And I think the thing I enjoyed most was just really um taking something apart. My superpower is problem solving. And in accounting, that is a great place to put a superpower like problem solving because there's always a problem to be solved. So just really looked forward to that kind of thing. And then as I I moved up in my career, it became more about being able to teach others, right? I I loved the idea of leadership, and I always wanted to be a good leader, not a mediocre leader, and so studied leadership, and that would be the second thing. I just leading people uh was always a passion of mine. I just felt like there were so many bad and mediocre leaders in corporate America, I wanted to not be one of those.

Leading As An Introvert

Cassandra 6:58

Okay, interesting because I didn't like math either. And I and I did major in finance, and um and my memory wasn't that great, so that so that's amazing. So it's uh uh it sounds to me that it was something in your DNA that um enabled you to be very successful in the finance arena, right? So did now why did you okay? This is for my listeners. I have a lot of listeners who are stuck, and many of them are not really into their jobs, um, they're just like, well, this is not what I really want to do, but I can't transition because I need the money. Yes, you know, so there are individuals that are in situations that aren't happy. Um, and that's what the life in general, many of them are, and so what you and I uh uh discuss and work towards the empowerment and getting individuals to that what I call a joyful place. I don't say a happy place because to me, a happy, happy is a happening, you know. I buy my my my dream car and I'm so happy, you know. Two months later, I'm like, that's all right. I mean, you know, when I got married, I was so happy, right, all of that. So we're gonna talk about you know that that joy. Um, you you that let me ask you this. You had mentioned something that I read about an introvert as a leader. Tell me about that because we have a lot of introverts um um leadership not being able to, or and finding their niche. Um, tell us a little bit about that because I do have some introverts, and I think many of the individuals that have not moved forward are like in their own zone, right? And don't want to spread or just comfortable, I guess. Absolutely.

Finding Your Own Way To Network

Lisa 9:11

So, so you know, one of the things that I think is really important for introverts is to recognize that you're probably not gonna ever be an extrovert. And so don't try. Um, and I think sometimes as introverts, I I'm an introvert. People are like, well, you know, you seem very social. And I said, that's not what introversion or extroversion is. It's where do I get my energy from? I'm quickly drained by lots of activity, lots of people, lots of talking, but I can go forever by myself, right? If I'm working by myself, I can go forever. So introverts, it's where do you get your energy from? And so one of the challenges for introverts really is um finding your voice. Uh, that is hard for an introvert to, even when they found their voice, to then use their voice. Um, and so that's why the work that you do is so important. I had an executive coach. So when I got to a certain level, I got an executive coach who helped me to learn to use my voice. I already knew where my voice was, but but as an introvert, you may or may not use that voice. You'll listen to all the extroverts talk, and then you'll decide I don't really feel like speaking, or what I have to say isn't that important, or it's not going to change anything. So learning how to use that voice is becomes critically important for introverts, particularly those who are in a leadership capacity, because as a leader, you're not just representing you, you're representing the people that work for you. You're speaking on their behalf as well. And so I do think that there's a good place for coaches as it relates to introverts to just help them step to that next level of being the leader who can who can face off with the extroverts. And not that the extroverts are bad people, but they're gonna monopolize the air time. Um, I heard from someone who said extroverts talk to think, and introverts think to talk. And so before we talk as introverts, we're gonna think about it. Extroverts are processing out loud, but as a result, they're taking up a lot of the airtime. Introverts, by the time they're ready to speak, somebody said, Yeah, the meeting's over by the time you guys have figured out what you want to say. I don't know if we're that bad. I don't know if we're that bad, but but I understand. And so from an introvert perspective, there is a place where you find your safe place as a leader where you don't have to step out and be an extrovert, you know, being an introvert.

Cassandra 11:43

Just a moment, Lisa has is frozen for a minute, but I'm certain she'll be back. She is.

Lisa 11:49

Am I back? I'm sorry, I'm frozen. And the thing is, I didn't even know I was frozen. So so when I stepped into the CFO role, what's interesting is part of that role was going to cocktail parties and attending meetings, and it would just be the most painful thing for me. Like, oh my gosh, I have to go to one more cocktail party. But what I learned was I didn't have to go to the party like an extrovert. So I would find one or two people and and that I set a goal for myself. I'm gonna meet two people at this meeting. That's the most I can do. And I would go find two people and I'd introduce myself and find small groups to stand in without overwhelming myself. I know other people who can work an entire room. That is literally I cannot work. I'm a and by the time I finish, I really am exhausted. I kind of want to take a nap. So just for an introvert, knowing who you are, not trying to be the extrovert who's working the room because that will wear you out, but find your space where you can be really comfortable, set a goal for yourself of this is what I can do with this particular meeting, and then give yourself permission to say I've done, I've been successful, and I'm gonna move on.

Cassandra 13:01

Right. That's good. That's good. I ask that too because I'm an introvert and a lot of people are surprised, and you're you're right on, but the message from what you just stated, I want my listeners to know don't apologize for being who you were created to be, you know, and and it and it's okay that you're who you are, and I say that because I struggled in the boardrooms, like you know, didn't say much, you know, but I was thinking, you know. So then when I said something, it's like okay, it's like everybody listen. But it took me a minute to do that, and then if I didn't have my voice heard after the meeting, I would sink. Like, oh man, they think I'm you know, they think she she really just had this job, she didn't really say a lot, you know. Yeah, yeah. So uh so with that said, why did you you said you were born to retire, right?

Stepping Into The Void Of Retirement

Lisa 14:00

I did. So I just felt like I was really good at it. Um, like and walked into retirement. And I said that jokingly on the stage, um, because the reality is I hadn't really, when I when I had that, I hadn't really stepped fully out into retirement. I had just been only retired for three weeks and was really kind of cracking a joke, but I learned some things in the next month or so about retirement, which is led, which is what led me to do this retirement coaching, because I realized that it wasn't as easy of a step that I as I thought it was gonna be, having stepped out of a very senior role and now stepped into a place where it was a just basically a void. Like there was a there's a black hole I'm stepping into, and I gotta figure out what that black hole is gonna look like.

Cassandra 14:42

Right. Yeah. So tell tell the audience what how did your journey from CFO retirement uh to retirement coach change your perspective on what your purpose was?

Lisa 14:55

So when I retired from from uh a mortgage bankers association, which is where I was working, I felt like I had accomplished what I went there to accomplish, right? So I didn't leave because you know, somebody was saying it was time to go. As I told people, I want to leave before you guys while you guys want me to still stay. I don't want to stay so long that you're asking when I'm gonna retire. Um so when I left and walked, you know, came out, I said I wanted to do executive coaching. And then in that process, ran into this thing called retirement coaching. And what it changed for me was the perspective of there are lots of people like me who are stepping into this void, this black hole, and need to figure out what's next for the next 20 to 30 plus years of your life, right? It just doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you step out of there and you realize you don't have a plan for 20 to 30 days, 20 to 30 years. You may have a plan that's maybe one or two years. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna travel, everybody's gonna travel when I retire, by the way. Everybody's gonna do all these things. And then you realize, first of all, traveling costs money. And second of all, you really don't want to be gone that much. Like you you realize you like your house, you kind of want to be home, you want to do some things at home, but just really establishing that. And what it what it changed for me was from purpose of when you're working, and you said it earlier, you need the paycheck, you put up with lots of things because you need the paycheck, you can't ready to switch yet, or you're not ready to retire yet. But what it changed for me was what's really important to me right now, right? And so for me, what was really important when I left was I wanted to keep making an impact, and I wanted to keep building on my legacy. I left a legacy when I left my job of people's lives that I've touched and systems created and all that good stuff. But I wanted to keep building on that legacy, and so that completely to me kind of tipped on my tipped on its head when I realized that this retirement coaching really was something that could help people move into that next chapter, not feeling like it's the last chapter and I'm on my way, way out, but feeling like it's my next chapter and it's gonna be just as exciting or more exciting than my last chapter.

Cassandra 17:05

Was there someone in your circle that supported this transition? Did you talk to anybody about it? I know you thought about it because you're an introvert. Um uh and you thought about the paycheck and all of that. Financially, how did you get through that?

Purpose, Legacy, And What’s Next

Lisa 17:24

So, you know, it's the thing is most companies and most of us we prepare for the financial side. That is the one thing we pay attention to. Will I have enough money to retire? And so I, you know, when I went started at the MBA, I met with the 401k advisor and said, he said, What are your goals? I said, I want to retire at 55. And he's like, Well, that's 10 years from now, so that's not that long ago. I said, Yeah, but if I shoot for 55, I'm gonna get pretty close, right? I'm gonna I'm gonna be within range of. So the first thing was I had to set a goal financially. When when did I want to retire? And then working with a financial person to help you figure out how much money you need. One of the biggest myths out there is I need a million dollars to retire. Well, that's a number somebody threw out is stuck and it's stuck. People think I can't retire, I don't have a million dollars. Well, for some person, a million dollars is enough. For someone, a million dollars is more than they're gonna need, depending on what they spend. And for some people, a million dollars isn't even close to enough money. And so it just is really gonna depend on that person. But then as you as I started to think about kind of what's next, um, I the so interestingly enough, maybe where some of the listeners are, I was in the job, I wasn't unhappy, but I just felt like I should be doing something else. Like I'm ready to, I'm ready to move on. So I'm a part of this organization. They give you coaching as a part of the networking organization. So I met with what they call a transition coach. And she, you know, I started telling her what I'm thinking about. She said, okay, I'm gonna give you some questions. I want you to go away and think about them, and we'll come back and meet next time. She gave me a series of questions. What does the company like look like that you want to move to? How big is it? How big is the team? What's the job you're looking for? So she gave me this kind of list of questions, and I started going through the questions, and I realized I don't want to do any of this. I don't want to start all over again. I don't want to have, you know, I don't want to, you know, you walk into a new job, everyone knows you have to prove yourself again. You have to go through what learn the politics of the new company. Every company has its politics. I realized I don't want to do, I don't want to do that. And so I went back to her and she said, What did you decide? I said, I decided I'm gonna retire. And so I'd already called my financial planner. I said, Can I retire in January? If I retire January versus June, he said, either way, you've built what you can to retire, particularly if you decide you're gonna do some work in the meantime, if you do some consulting, you're not really touching any of your retirement money yet. And so that was the decision. Um, obviously talking to my husband and saying this is kind of where I'm headed, he was perfectly happy with it. He said, if we can afford it, he's happy. I at the time I was commuting back and forth from DC to Tampa, so he was pretty excited to get rid of that community.

Money Myths And Setting A Date

Cassandra 19:55

Yeah, right, absolutely, absolutely. I get it because um uh years ago, I made up my mind that I wanted to retire at the age of 55. And and I did, you know, but I I had to be prepared to do that because I always set goals to do it. And one of the things you said, like I remember in the corporate field, you know, I people like, oh, I can't wait to retire. Girl, I'm gonna retire. I think I'm gonna retire at 65. I think I'm gonna retire. And it's interesting, people are can't wait, but retirement is no joke. No joke, you know. I mean, what do you do when you do it? I mean, do you sit home, look at TV? Right. I mean, because if you're not doing something or growing, you will die. I mean, it'll just yeah, yeah. So I'm um I I applaud you for your coach, which was great. Uh, and I share with my listeners that they should have a coach, a mentor, uh, whomever to help them through this transition. Now, don't just quit and say, look, I'm I'm tired of this, I'm not gonna do this, and I'm gonna move on. And I know people that have done that, and you have informed it yourself when when you do things of that nature. So uh Lisa, um my listeners, all of them are not ready, many of them are not ready to retire. Some of them are thinking about it, some of them are like you indicated, it wasn't that I wasn't happy. It was I just felt that there was something else calling me to do. And I and I was like that. Like I know there's something else. I just figure it out. Um, someone to start a business, a job change, there's something inside. So, what advice do you have for those who are struggling with that type of transition?

Lisa 21:59

Yeah, so one of the things, and you know, I think I, you know, not not selling it, selling you, but I think one of the things that has helped me is having, and I still have a coach. Um, so the executive coach that I had throughout my most of my time at uh as a CFO, today's to this day, we still have a conversation once a month because she doesn't trust that I'm gonna stay on task. And so she said, I need to keep talking to you every month because we're not done, and I need to make sure you're gonna stay on the task. That is critical, right? So help having somebody to help you um figure out A, what you're good at, B, give you the right questions. Because this really isn't about telling people or pushing them. Coaching is about somebody asking you the right questions to make you think about things you're not thinking of. And so just Just having somebody, one who like the coach who from the other program who asked me, tell, tell me what this company looks like that you're gonna that you're gonna go to and what's the job. And she made me think about things that came back and said, I don't want to do any of that. So uh my first recommendation is if you don't have somebody in your life who can challenge you with those questions, that you should consider finding somebody who can, because even if you have an idea, you then need to have a bounce, someone to bounce these ideas off of, right? Because I often say to people, if you've got a thought about what you want to do, the first thing you want to do is create a side hustle. Don't leave your main job. Do the side hustle job until your side hustle becomes your main hustle. And so, and that's not my quote, I stole that from somebody, but you keep side hustling until you can make enough money to make it your main hustle. But most of us have some windows in our job where we really could start the side hustle, whatever it is, and begin to develop it. It would also help us to figure out whether this side hustle is something we want to do full time. Like, is this something I would really want to do? Or is it as a side hustle great, right? It's great to run your own business, people think, until you have to get paid, right? So, yes, it's great, but you still have to get paid. And so getting paid, as you know, as a consultant or a contractor, getting paid can be difficult, right? So make sure something that you want to do. Um, if you're gonna sell things, you're a salesperson, you know, it's easy once you finish, but once you finish selling all your family and friends, you still gotta figure out who else you're gonna sell to, right?

Cassandra 24:14

That's right, that's right.

Coaching, Clarity, And The Exit Plan

Lisa 24:15

Yeah, so so even though you might have figured out what you want to do, I still think it's important that you really lay out the plan. Um, and that's one of the things that, you know, I I deal with people on this retirement, you need a plan, but for every major change in your life, you need a plan. And retirement happens to be number 10 on the on the line of stressors for big things that happened, you know, right behind having a baby, right? Um, buying a house. Those are things that we plan for, but we walk into retirement with no plan. Sometimes we leave jobs with no plan, right? None of those things make sense. Yes, I you know, I there are occasions where it just gets so bad you have to walk away or something happened. But still, if it's if it's if it gets that bad, that means it's been heading in that direction. You should start making your plan anyway. Well, what's my exit out of here, right? So I think we all need an exit plan from a from a job. Even if you're happy at the job, I still think you should have an exit plan because what happens if they have layoffs? And in this in this economy, that is not unusual. I mean, how many people thought they had a job forever working for the government? Um, and so having an exit plan, a plan B is really wise these days.

Cassandra 25:26

Yeah, yeah. So is any of that um what I will call what people don't talk about um as part of retirement?

Lisa 25:38

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I actually have a workshop coming up because uh that's entitled The Part of Retirement People Don't Talk About, um, which is nobody talks about um the social aspects of retirement that your social networks change. Nobody talks about that, that you walk into retirement. There's a dark side of retirement, which is the loneliness and the depression that comes from people isolating themselves, right? Because when you retire, all of those touch points that you had, all those people you work with, yes, you may go to lunch with them two times, but after a while it starts to fade away. Everybody's busy, you know. And so I think it's really important for people to recognize that there is another side to retirement. Even if you have all the money in the world, when you retire, none of that creates happiness for you, none of that creates joy. You've got to figure out what are the things that bring me joy. And so that's why I want people to start talking about it. Like, yes, I walked into retirement, I've been in retirement for two years, and I am completely bored and I don't know what to do. And I'm thinking about going back to work. You know, as I say to people, I don't want to see you at the door as a Walmart greeter because you're bored, right? If that's what you want to do because you love greeting people, I'm all for it. But don't go be a Walmart greeter because you don't know what else to do in retirement because you're completely bored, and that's what happens to some people. They get so bored that they go back to work, not because they want to work, because it's something to do, right?

Cassandra 26:59

Exactly, exactly. So, why is um reinvention is less about age?

The Part People Don’t Discuss

Lisa 27:06

Because I think we ought to be reinventing ourselves all the time, no matter how old how old we are. I think young people need to be around reinventing themselves. I think older people need to be around, but the world is changing fairly rapidly, right? And so if you're not reinventing yourself, if you have no idea about AI, you're gonna miss an entire boat. Now, I'm never gonna be an AI expert, but I use ChatGBT every day. It's kind of my new best friend, right? You need to have some knowledge of what's going on with AI. Um, because there are lots of people who don't understand it, and nobody needs to know the large machine language and all that kind of stuff. You don't need to know all the details of it, but you need to understand it. And that's why reinvention is important because you need to make sure that as the times move and as things are changing, that you're somewhat keeping up with what's going on, not leaving yourself behind, because then you're you'll find yourself in a space where you're still living in, you know, 19 or 2000, and everyone else has gone off to the next century, right? So that's really important to not get left behind, to keep re-what is it that you can do to keep reinventing yourself?

Cassandra 28:14

That's right. I concur. It's like the health and where wellness industry, you know, like nobody eating all those cookies anymore, all those hamburgers, and yeah, they like it missed the boat, you know, just like the car industry, they missing the boat, you know. So it's a lot of things, and you are so right. You have to stay informed and keep up with that stuff because you will be left behind.

Lisa 28:41

I love to use Blockbuster as an example of an organization that did not reinvent itself. I mean, there was a day when Blockbuster was it. You go out, you get your video, you come home, that was your weekend, but they never paid attention, they didn't focus enough on the streaming. So Netflix came in and almost, you know, it wasn't a secret. I don't think they thought it was gonna take off. They thought the streaming thing was just a niche, and as a result, they're out of business because they didn't reinvent themselves when streaming came up. And so it's the same for us as human beings. If we if we don't keep reinventing ourselves as we see new trends, we're gonna be left behind.

Cassandra 29:16

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like those electric cars, huh?

Lisa 29:20

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. My son and my son and his wife have two electric cars right now. We haven't gotten to the place where we're ready to start plugging our car in every place we go. But they they love them, they got two electric cars, and oh yeah, you know, I get it, but I I thought I always think to myself, the idea that I could run out of electricity and then I gotta sit somewhere for 30 minutes to charge my car doesn't appeal to me. I know at least I understand them. I'm not sure what other electric car people, or at least not right now, maybe when it's a push to, but again, reinventing ourselves to at least understand the draw of an electric car and why that's where young people are exactly, exactly.

Cassandra 30:00

You're so so right. Even social media, it's just so so many things that have changed, absolutely continue to change, absolutely. Um, I want to talk about now. Your mission is to support the psychological, emotional, and transition into retirement, and that means uh any other major transition, yeah.

Reinvention Beyond Age

Lisa 30:25

And so for for for for this, I focused on retirement, but it's transition in general because there are aspects of retirement transition that are the same for any transition at all, right? You can think about the psychological, you're gonna step out of that job or you're gonna step out of something you were doing. I even think about pe mothers who are full-time mothers, and they're now gonna transition because their kids are gone and they're often they don't, you know, they're teenagers now, right? So now you're transitioning out of that, or you're transitioning now, you're empty nesters, another big change, right? For couples who are now empty nesters or single parents who are empty nesters, and you have to plan and figure out what am I gonna do with all that time now that I'm not carpooling and I'm not this and I'm not that, right? So all transitions require us to make some kind of psychological adjustment, a mental adjustment, and to make a plan for that transition. And sometimes we get caught by surprise of the elements of the impact of the transition. We get a little caught by surprise, like, whoa, I didn't, and you know, I've talked to you know, a couple people on the on the transition of empty nest, and they said, I just didn't expect it to hit me like that, you know. And I said, you know, we all transition differently, and some, you know, some people have kept their child's room as a shrine, but other people immediately turned it into a a she den or a he den. You know, I got my space now, you know. That's right. So it just depends on the person, right? And so I think people need to to at least take a look at it, take a look at it for themselves so they can say, I I may react this way, but I think I'm gonna react this way. But if I react this way to the loss of my child going off to college, what am I gonna do to fill that in? Because you don't want to be the parent who decides, well, my sons or daughters off to college, I'm gonna show up for everything they have on campus so I can be a part of the life. I got news for you. No college student wants that. They may never tell you that, but no college student wants you at every event on campus. Absolutely, absolutely, that is so true.

Cassandra 32:32

That's why I went away to college. That's true.

Lisa 32:35

Right. You gotta be far, young people need to go far enough away so their parents can't show up. You know, I used to laugh at my goddaughter and I would tell her because I said you better go a little farther away because your mother will be at everything. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Cassandra 32:48

I know that is so true. That's true. Lisa, let's talk about that killing it formula. You have the book, you have the companion journal. Let's talk about that formula.

Lisa 33:03

Yeah, so I, you know, after saying it on stage, and I was really a little tongue-in-cheek, I went away and thought, you know, people really need to figure out how to create a plan. And we as human beings, we like acronyms, we like formulas, we like things we can remember. And I said, Well, people can remember killing it because it's pretty something we just use in language. And so the K stands for keep moving, and that's keep moving physically, mentally, and socially. Because the challenge when you go, when you walk into retirement is that you become stagnant. You mentioned it earlier that you end up staying in the house and and mentally, how are you gonna keep challenging your mind, right? You're now not at work. Um, so you now need to make sure you're challenging your mind, and then socially, your circle's gonna change. The first eye stands for imagine what's next. And this is where I get clients to get really excited about retirement. What can you do with this next phase of your life? What are some goals you can set? What are some big crazy things you could set for yourself, goals you could set, something you've always wanted to do, but you never had the time because you were working. The first L stands for laugh a lot because as adults, we just don't do it enough. We just, you know, as kids, we're laughing all the time at all kinds of things. As adults, we just take life a little too seriously. Yeah, retirement is a great time to redefine playing outside for adults.

Cassandra 34:21

Right.

The Killing It Formula

Lisa 34:21

The second L is live for legacy. And that's how you're gonna make an impact, how are you gonna share your wisdom? Your legacy isn't over because you stopped working, that you're just moving your leg, you're extending your legacy to another part of your life. How are you gonna do that? The second I is ignite your passion, helping people find out what they're passionate about. We all know that whatever you're doing, you're passionate about, it gives you energy. You're like ready to go, you're ready to jump in there. The M is nurture your network. That's where you have to cultivate these meaningful relationships because they're gonna change and shift, and some are gonna go away, and some new ones are gonna come, and you figuring out what your circle looks like now. The last I stands for invest in others. I think you know, I'm I'm a firm believer in the biblical principle of to whom much is given, much is required. And I think most of us coming out of our responsibilities and our roles, we've been given a lot. And so we need to find out how we're gonna give back. But even if you weren't in a big corporate role, there's lots to do in your own family. I love the people who decided I'm gonna take on the family history, engaging young people in the family, because family histories are being lost, right? How could you invest in in young people in your own in your own organ, your own family for that, or invest in older people, let them tell the stories, even if they're telling them for like the third time. Let them tell the stories and write those stories down so that you can pass them on. And the T stands for tell yourself you're killing it, which is you have to own your retirement because some days you're gonna wake up and it's just not gonna feel like you're killing it, but you have to encourage your own self and say, Well, I'm gonna pick a letter today, I'm gonna kill it on this today, because I'm gonna walk out. And I tell myself, don't let yourself be down too many days, right? So make sure you have that person, that accountability person could be that coach, could be that mentor that you you know you have to meet with. So you certainly can't say I did nothing for the last week. Um accountability partners are key.

Cassandra 36:09

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Tell what what is it? Killing it formula, and you're right. Even the killing it was like, oh, that's kind of neat. And you have a book, right? You got a book. I have a workbook that uh companion workbook that has exercises in it. Uh, it's a digital workbook that has exercises, allows people to fill out forms and you know, really figure out some of this stuff for each of them, yeah, and make and set goals for themselves on some of them. So, yeah, so I'm working on that, doing some workshops for people to help them to really begin to work through it. Because as someone said to me when they read the book, you know, answering doing some of these um exercises, it's not easy. I said it isn't because you got to push yourself to think outside the box. You got to push yourself to think broader than you might. If I ask you to list all the things that you ever thought you ever wanted to do, you're gonna stop shorter than you would if I kept encouraging you to write and write and write. No, what else? But what else did you want to do? Right? Sometimes you just need the person to say what else to you, and then you're like, Well, you know, I thought I want maybe I want to garden, maybe I want to you put all these things down, then you realize maybe I don't want to do some of the stuff. It's okay, but you now have a list of possibilities that you could do for the next 20 to 30 years. Yeah, and that's good. It's not doing what you think somebody else wants you to do, do what you want to do, do what you want to do because retirement is your time.

Lisa 37:33

I think people should do, you know, people ask me now, what do you do? I say whatever I want. Because you know, the second question after your name is, Well, what do you do? Because everybody wants to know what your job title is. And I'm not the person who's gonna say I'm a retired C CFO because that's not a title, like that's not a thing. Like there's no job called retired CFO. And people say, What do you do? I say whatever I want because I'm retired. And and they usually start laughing and say, I like that. Good, because that's what retired people should say. I do whatever I want and when I want, because I can't, I'm retired.

Cassandra 38:04

Right. That's good. That's good. Lisa, how can my listeners get in touch with you? Now you have you you have started your what is it, a four-week virtual workshop?

Lisa 38:16

Yeah, so the the first one I'm doing, the the for four-week virtual, I'm gonna start that actually in 2026 now because there's so many other things going on and going here and here. Um, but I am gonna start the first workshop in 2026. I am easy to find. Uh, everything is retired and killing it. So my my website is www.retiredandkilling it.com. My Facebook page is retired and killing it, my Instagram page is retired and killing it. Coming out with a YouTube page that'll be retired and killing it. So I'm on theme. You type in retired and killing it. I'm trying to make sure that when you type that in, the only thing you find is Lisa Haynes. Oh, right. Girl, that's you coined that, right? I'm trying, I'm trying to work hard to coin it, working with a trademark attorney to see if we can trademark retired and killing it.

Tools, Workshops, And Next Steps

Cassandra 39:03

I know, I love that. I love that. Wow. Well, Lisa, I want to thank you for your insight. Um, I I'm thankful for the work that you're doing. I love the killing it part. I love you're right. We all use acronyms because we remember them to keep it moving, imagine what's next. Laugh a lot, live for your legacy, ignite your your your passion, nurtured net network, invest in others and tell yourself you are killing it. I love that. I love that. Again, um, thank you. Um, I was gonna say, is there anything else you want to tell my listeners? But it sounds like you said it all. But if I think I said, I think I said it all.

Lisa 39:50

Um I'm grateful. I thank you for being on your show. I had a great time. Um, this is a great conversation, but you know, I would just say to them no matter what stage you're in, consider reinventing yourself. That's the only thing I would say. Don't feel stuck. Um, because stuck is just a state of mind. You can always get unstuck. And if you need help, go get help to get unstuck.

Cassandra 40:09

Oh, wow. Thank you so much, Lisa. What I always tell my listeners is bye for now. God bless you. And is your way in your way? It's on every week. And in the event that this particular podcast, this episode, has been a blessing, which I know it has, please share it. Listen to it over and over and over till somebody really gets it. And Lisa, thank you. And I'm certain in the show notes, I'll have all your information for my listeners. Okay, thank you so much. God bless. Thank you.