Celebrating Success Over 60

Dame Judi Dench was told by a director that she didn’t have a face for film. After a lengthy career treading the boards and moving onto the big screen, she won an Oscar at the age of 63. She has been nominated no less than eight times in her career so far and won multiple awards for roles played in movies.

But we’re forever hearing about Zendaya and Tom Holland, Rachel Zegler and the entire cast of Stranger Things. There are endless articles about who to watch out for and how much these youngsters are worth. It seems you can only be a rising star if you’re under 30.

However, at the age 65, Colonel Harland Sanders began franchising his chicken business using his $105 monthly Social Security check. There are now more than 15,000 KFC units around the world. Another man, Ray Kroc, decided to buy a small hamburger stand a year before his 60th birthday. Within a few years he had grown that stand to become a place you’ve likely eaten at once in a while; McDonald’s. And if you’re worried that you haven’t quite got your memoir written or that book published yet, Frank McCourt became the talk of the literary world in 1996 with the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award winning book, Angela’s Ashes. He didn’t even start writing until he was 65.

So why are we so obsessed with success coming to us when we’re young? Surely, if we have it all too soon, doesn’t that leave little to be achieved for the rest of our lives? What’s the big rush? While it’s impressive to hear about young entrepreneurs buzzing with energy and forward-thinking ideas, we shouldn’t dismiss the input and importance of those who are older. Success doesn’t care about age. You can be at a concert and witness a 10 year old classical music prodigy  performing AND eat at a five-star restaurant launched by a 70 year old, all in the same evening. A young footballer might sign to a Premier League team at the same moment an older actor is cast in their dream role. Success itself has no judgement on age; it is society that makes the choice to judge. We are the ones putting that pressure on ourselves.

As a child, my main hobby was dancing, which became a lifestyle; competing in festivals every other weekend, training for exams, rehearsing for shows. I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it, but the more I became invested in that world, the more I saw the competition. Rumours and gossip buzzed around about certain children getting auditions for shows and TV series. The same names would float around the circuit, the ones who were going to “make it”. Some kids were phenomenal dancers. I was attending classes three or four times a week, but these girls must have been living and breathing their training with zero downtime. Whatever I was doing just wasn’t good enough, in my opinion. I needed to work harder, try harder. Even at university, I was surrounded by people who didn’t want to complete their training but instead land a job in the industry fast, first!

I hit 22 convinced that I was on the shelf. Past it.

I wondered what those incredible child performers were doing, what they had achieved. The early days of social media made that easy to find out, reconnecting with old friends and acquaintances. Let’s be honest, everybody was stalking everybody. So many of those girls didn’t become professional dancers or actors or singers. The reasons why will of course, be varied. But I wondered what it was all worth. What was the point? Losing so much freedom in childhood to be the best of the best, for what? A knee injury? A confidence knock? Will they allow their children to follow the same path or steer them away? Do we just continue down the road we know, or do we learn from our mistakes?

It’s fascinating to read about child stars and teens who rose to fame. Demi Lovato directed a documentary this year, Child Star on Disney+, interviewing Drew Barrymore, Raven-Symoné and Christina Ricci to name a few. They share poignant and bittersweet stories, and given the choice to do it all again, they would likely decline. Some young people handle the intensity of big success well, but it’s rare. There is so much life to be lived outside of the spotlight learning crucial lessons and making mistakes without feeling shame or being judged by the whole world. It takes decades to muddle through this. So why are we celebrating young success so much, promoting it and packaging it up to make it appealing for the next generation?

For those who achieve major successes later in life, the pressure is not so intense. Experience and wisdom will help with tough situations and setbacks. Also, after decades of striving towards a certain goal, the level of satisfaction is likely to be much higher. When you reach the highest point of your career at 22, the effects can be damaging with an overwhelming sense of wondering, where do I go from here?

More emphasis needs to go into celebrating success after 60. It was a remarkable moment when Michelle Yeoh won the Best Actress Oscar and became the first Asian woman and second woman of colour to get the trophy. She was 60 years old and until that point, had felt opportunities were drying up as she aged. How she proved herself wrong, in the best possible way. Her energy was youthful, her work ethic admirable, her ambition still alive and kicking with a big career still ahead of her.

I was 27 years old when I started to take novel writing seriously. I told myself that I MUST be published by the time I hit 30 or my career would be over… What happened in reality was that I got my publishing deal 10 years later. I wish I hadn’t put so much pressure on myself in the beginning, it was so unnecessary and certainly didn’t do my self esteem any favours. Getting the deal was one of those amazing moments where you air punch and do a little dance on the spot. Would this have been different 10 years earlier? And will I perform that little dance (for my eyes only) in 10 years time if I score another career goal? I certainly hope so. Keep them coming! I don’t want to have had the highlight of my working life yet. I love that old saying, the best is yet to come. Isn’t that why we get up every morning?

So let’s show the world there is no age limit on setting up a business, making art or buying a burger stand. Shout about your achievements loud and proud, especially if you’re older. We will still applaud the young, of course, but we must not ignore the old. After all, age really is only a number.

// Hayley Doyle