Former Dance/NYC co-executive director Candace Thompson-Zachery shares her journey from 20 years in arts advocacy to launching a menopause and wellness coaching practice at age 40. This episode explores career transitions in midlife, building courage capital through curiosity, and why women's growth mindset peaks in their 40s. Candace discusses her path from founding Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE on a $20K budget to getting six certifications in two years, including menopause coach, wellness coach, and Clifton Strengths coach. Learn how she developed "yearning" for her work, why she views her gray hair as earned badges of honor, and practical strategies for pivoting careers without having all the answers first.

What You'll Learn

• Career pivot strategies for midlife including how to leverage 20+ years of experience in a new field
• Menopause and perimenopause support for women maintaining high performance during hormonal transitions
• Building courage capital at 40+ by developing yearning instead of waiting for readiness
• Overcoming perfectionism and the delayed tactics of collecting endless certifications
• Strengths-based leadership approaches for artists, creatives, and organizational leaders
• Network as insurance - how relationships built over decades become your safety net
• Growth mindset in midlife - why women's learning capacity peaks in their 40s
• Executive wellness strategies encompassing movement, nutrition, mindset, and hormonal health
• How to start before you're ready using beta testers and small experiments
• Reframing time after 40 - why five years feels manageable instead of daunting

Timestamps

00:00 - Introduction & Nutrafol sponsorship message

01:00 - Nomination from Charisma J

02:00 - Welcome & intro to Candace Thompson-Zachery

04:15 - 20 years in NYC's dance and arts ecosystem

05:30 - Evolution from dancer to arts advocate

06:45 - Founding her own dance collective on $20K

08:00 - Navigating doubt vs. curiosity in career evolution

10:15 - Motherhood as a catalyst for new confidence

11:30 - Reframing time and readiness at 40

13:30 - Career coaching and six certifications journey

14:15 - Becoming a menopause coach

15:00 - Community support during transitions

16:30 - Network as insurance and resource inventory

18:00 - Starting without all the data

19:15 - Developing "yearning" for the work

21:30 - Analysis paralysis vs. energizing vision

23:30 - Lowering the perfectionist voice through doing

24:30 - Hustle as insurance

25:30 - Beliefs about aging from first to second half of life

27:30 - Gray hair as earned authority

29:00 - Feeling groundedness and calm at 40

30:15 - Advantages of doing brave things as we age

31:45 - Diminished self-consciousness about others' perceptions

33:00 - When did you think you'd feel like an adult?

34:00 - "It's never too late" - reframing possibilities

35:30 - Finding the essence beneath the dream

36:30 - What yearning feels like in daily work

38:00 - Who inspires you: Sydney Mosley

39:00 - How to support Candace's work

40:30 - Executive wellness and menopause specialization

41:30 - Closing thoughts

Key Takeaways

On Career Pivots:

• You don't need all the data before making a change—you've never had all the data
• Start with a beta tester or willing friend before launching publicly
• Your network from decades of work becomes your insurance polic
• Hedge your bets: build the new thing while staying open to full-time work
• Five years of doing anything will make you better at it—focus on what you want to learn

• Perimenopause and menopause require specialized wellness support often missing from standard programs
• Women's growth mindset peaks in their 40s—this is prime time for learning
• At 40+, you develop a stronger sense of self that can't be easily shaken
• Self-consciousness diminishes, allowing for bigger risks and more authentic presentation
• Groundedness comes from deeper relationship with yourself

• Develop "yearning" for preparation rather than treating learning as a barrier to action
• Name doubts out loud to people who love you to reduce their power
• Inventory resources you have rather than cataloging deficits
• Time after 40 feels different—deadlines seem less daunting, which enables bigger thinking
• Evidence from past pivots builds confidence for future ones

• "You have a hundred times more information than the person who needs you"
• Use study as enhancement, not delay tactic
• The feedback loop between learning and serving strengthens with practice
• Visualization energizes; analysis paralysis depletes
• Just get started—even if you feel you're winging it forever

• Instagram
• Services: Executive wellness coaching and strengths-based leadership coaching
• Specialization: Menopause/perimenopause support for high-performing leaders, artists, and creatives

• Instagram: @aransas_savas
• Podcast Instagram: @the_uplifters_podcast
• TikTok: @theuplifterspodcast
• Facebook: Aransas Savas
• LinkedIn: Aransas Savas
• YouTube: @theuplifterspodcast
• Website: TheUpliftersPodcast.com

Guest Bio

Candace Thompson-Zachery is a wellness and leadership coach specializing in menopause support and strengths-based leadership for artists, creatives, and high-performing professionals. After 20 years building platforms for underrepresented voices in dance—including serving as co-executive director of Dance/NYC and founding the Dance Caribbean COLLECTIVE—she pivoted at 40 to focus on executive wellness.

Drawing from her extensive arts leadership background and certifications in wellness coaching, menopause coaching, HR, Clifton Strengths, and breath work, Candace brings a holistic approach to helping clients build sustainable practices encompassing movement, nutrition, mindset, social habits, and hormonal health. She named her practice after her grandmother Merle and is passionate about supporting women navigating perimenopause and menopause while maintaining high performance in their work. Based in New York City, she continues to dance 20 years after that first company member made her realize 30 wasn't old at all.

Host Bio

Aransas Savas is a wellbeing and leadership coach, researcher, and host of The Uplifters Podcast. With over two decades of experience conducting behavioral research for major companies including Disney, Best Buy, and Weight Watchers, she brings both empirical rigor and deep empathy to her work supporting women through major life transitions. Aransas is currently writing a book called "Courage Capital" exploring how women build the inner resources needed for brave action.

The Uplifters Podcast serves as a platform for sharing stories of women doing courageous work and navigating change, particularly in midlife. Through series like "Late Bloomers" and "Midlife Mindset," the show challenges the myth that major life changes require perfect timing or complete readiness. Each episode offers what Aransas calls "permission slips"—evidence that transformation is possible at any stage, that our accumulated experience enriches rather than limits our possibilities, and that sometimes our most authentic selves emerge only after we've tried on many different versions of who we might become.

Keywords

menopause coach, career pivot at 40, midlife career change, perimenopause support, Dance NYC, arts advocacy, wellness coaching for women, menopause in midlife, career transition strategies, executive wellness, hormonal health coaching, women over 40, second act career, dance industry careers, arts administrator turned coach, Clifton Strengths coaching, Brooklyn dancer, career change without safety net, building courage in midlife, women's leadership coaching, growth mindset in 40s, Dance Caribbean Collective, professional women transitions, high performing women wellness, menopause and career, starting over at 40, arts to wellness pivot, strength-based leadership, midlife transformation, women's health advocate, creative professionals coaching, sustainable wellness practices

Listen to The Uplifters Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop weekly featuring midlife women doing big, brave things in the world.