THIS IS 66
A 66-year-old woman's manifesto on purpose, reinvention, and refusing to become invisible.
Life. Purpose. Beauty. No Limits.
By Cherié Hull Lucas
I am 66 years old.
And I have absolutely no intention of becoming invisible.
In fact, I may be more visible, more purposeful, more curious, and more excited about what comes next than I have ever been.
There was a time when women were almost expected to reach a certain age and quietly step aside. Slow down. Make room. Dress differently. Dream a little smaller.
I missed that memo.
At 66, I am still building businesses. I am still creating programs. I am still advocating for people who need a voice. I am still learning, mentoring, reinventing myself—and yes, I still care about putting on a beautiful suit or dress, doing my hair, wearing my signature bow, and walking into a room feeling confident.
There is nothing frivolous about feeling good about yourself.
And there is certainly no age limit on purpose.
THE WOMAN BEHIND THE NUMBER
My life did not unfold in a perfectly straight line.
I have raised a family. Built businesses. Experienced success and disappointment. Loved deeply. Lost people I never imagined living without. Trusted people who taught me difficult lessons. Started over. Changed direction. And more than once, reinvented the woman looking back at me in the mirror.
Every chapter left something behind.
Kindness. Patience. Resilience.
Kindness, because you never truly know what another human being is carrying.
Patience, because not everything happens on our timetable.
And resilience, because life is going to knock you down occasionally, whether you have plans for it or not.
I've learned that being strong doesn't mean you never get tired.
You get tired.
Sometimes you get really tired.
Rest.
Take care of yourself.
Ask for help when you need it.
But don't confuse needing rest with needing to quit.
There is a difference between giving up and giving yourself time to recover.
That lesson has become increasingly important to me because I spent much of my life doing what so many women do:
Taking care of everybody else.
WHEN I TOOK THE "CARE" OUT OF CARING FOR MYSELF
There is another side of This Is 66 that I believe deserves its own conversation.
I lost 115 pounds.
That's practically an entire person.
But the bigger transformation wasn't simply what disappeared from the scale.
It was what I finally understood about myself.
For years, I knew how to care for people.
My family. My clients. My employees. My patients. My community.
I could advocate for someone else, solve somebody else's problem, build another company, answer another phone call, and take care of "one more thing."
But somewhere along the way, I had taken the care out of caring for myself.
Eventually, I realized something very simple:
If I was going to continue building a life around caring for other people, I had to become one of the people I was willing to care for.
That changed me.
DEMURE: WHEN WELLNESS BECAME PERSONAL
That transformation is also deeply connected to Demure Wellness Management, which I co-founded.
Demure isn't simply another company in my portfolio. It represents something I have come to believe passionately:
Living longer isn't enough. We should be talking about living better.
Wellness should not only be about what we see in the mirror. It should include how we feel, how we function, how we age, and how confidently we continue participating in our own lives.
At Demure, we've watched people begin prioritizing themselves through wellness and aesthetic services that can include healing from the inside out... Red Light Therapy, NAD and glutathione injections, Skin Care Treatments—Epicutis is our go-to—Tetra CO₂ Cool Peel laser treatments, and PHYSIQ 360 body sculpting using the best machines made by Cartessa Aesthetics.
And yes, some of these treatments can literally change what we see on the outside.
But I've watched something else happen in our community.
I've watched people change how they see themselves.
Someone begins losing weight and starts moving differently.
Someone takes control of their wellness after years of putting themselves last.
Someone looks in the mirror after an aesthetic treatment and sees a little more of the person they remember—or perhaps meets a version of themselves they've never allowed to emerge.
That isn't about vanity.
It's about vitality. Confidence. Health. Choice. And self-care.
Demure has shaped our community, but it has also shaped me.
My own 115-pound transformation taught me that self-care cannot always be the thing we promise ourselves we'll get around to after everybody else's needs are met.
Because for many women, "after everybody else" never comes.
Sometimes you have to put yourself back on your own calendar.
And keep the appointment.
THE CROWN IS FOR THE PEOPLE I SERVE
In 2026, I was honored to receive the merit-based title of Ms. Executive West Coast from United Crown of America, recognizing my work as an executive leading multiple companies and organizations.
And yes—it came with a crown.
But I've always said:
"The crown isn't for me. It's for the people I serve."
To me, recognition creates responsibility.
If someone gives you a platform, use it.
If you have knowledge, share it.
If you have a voice, speak for someone whose voice isn't being heard.
If you've found your way through something difficult, turn around and help the person walking behind you.
That's influence.
And influence without kindness isn't the kind of influence I'm interested in having.
BEAUTY AT 66
I think we need to change the conversation about women and aging.
Taking pride in your appearance doesn't mean you're afraid of getting older.
I am not trying to be 36.
I'm enjoying being 66.
I believe in health and wellness. I believe in taking care of my body. I believe in dressing for the room I'm walking into. I love my suits. I love my dresses. I love beauty and style.
But I've learned that some of the most important work we do as we age happens on the inside.
It's learning boundaries.
It's protecting your peace.
It's realizing that kindness is not weakness.
It's developing patience.
It's surviving things you once thought you couldn't.
It's knowing when you need to push—and when your body and mind are telling you to rest.
Self-care isn't selfish. It's maintenance for the life you're still building. (I know, I know, they said it to me too growing up. You can't! Yes, we can, and we will, and we do!)
And it's finally becoming comfortable enough with who you are that you don't need everyone else to understand you.
There is tremendous freedom in that.
NO REGRETS
I'm also writing a book called No Regrets.
That doesn't mean I've lived without mistakes.
Oh, I've made plenty.
No Regrets means I refuse to wish away the chapters that helped create the woman I am today.
The good chapters built me.
The painful ones built me too.
Some people stayed for a lifetime. Others were there for a reason or a season.
I've learned from all of them.
At this stage of my life, I'm far less interested in pretending the story was perfect and much more interested in telling the truth about what the story taught me.
Real stories. Real lessons. A brighter tomorrow.
KNOWING WHEN TO STEP BACK
One of the greatest lessons I've learned with age is that growth isn't always about adding more.
Sometimes growth is about having the courage to remove what is standing in your way.
That can mean a toxic relationship, an unhealthy friendship, a business situation, an environment, or even an old version of yourself that simply doesn't fit anymore.
I spent years believing perseverance meant you stayed, fixed, solved, carried, or somehow made everything work.
I've learned differently.
ALL CAPS - THIS IS A BIG ONE RIGHT HERE. JUST READ THIS THREE TIMES OR MORE!
Not everything is yours to fix. Not everyone is yours to carry. And not everyone deserves continued access to you.
There are times when the strongest thing you can do is step back.
Stepping back isn't giving up.
Sometimes you need distance to gain clarity.
I call it my Clarity Framework:
Step back. Get quiet. Look at what's actually in front of you—not what you hoped it would be. Decide what deserves your energy. Then move forward with intention.
That process has helped me in business and in life.
Mina Morales, CVP of ADS Homecare Staffing, and I had the incredible opportunity to attend ICON in Dallas, Texas, through eWomenNetwork.
If you are not already a member, I strongly encourage you to connect with your local eWomenNetwork chapter. The experience was solid platinum.
Sandra and Briana truly hit the ground running, providing a powerful framework, practical tools, and inspiration to more than 550 women in the room who were ready to think bigger, build stronger businesses, and create their own paths toward becoming millionaires.
There is something extraordinary about being surrounded by hundreds of women who aren't just talking about their dreams—they're actively building them.
Find your community. Learn from women who have done it. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to think bigger—and then put the framework into action.
ICON reminded me once again of something I have always believed:
I am only as great as the people who surround me.
And when more than 550 ambitious women are in one room lifting, teaching, and challenging one another?
That's influence. That's community. And that's powerful.
Because when you're standing too close to a problem, everything can feel enormous. Emotion takes over. You're reacting instead of deciding.
But when you step back, the picture changes.
You begin asking different questions:
Is this helping me grow?
Does this align with where I'm going?
Am I holding onto this because it belongs in my future—or simply because it was part of my past?
And sometimes the answer requires you to let go.
That's not failure. That's clarity.
REINVENTION IS A SUPERPOWER
I have reinvented myself more than once.
And at 66, I'm not finished.
Reinvention doesn't mean pretending your past didn't happen. It means taking everything it taught you and deciding what you're going to do with it next.
I've learned to reframe disappointment into information.
Turn mistakes into lessons.
Turn endings into direction.
And turn the things that tried to stop me into fuel for what comes next.
Today, I think about my future with what I call 10X Direction.
For me, that doesn't simply mean doing ten times more.
At this point in my life, I don't need more busy.
I want more impact.
Ten times the clarity.
Ten times the intention.
Ten times the courage to say yes to what aligns with my purpose—and no to what distracts from it.
Ten times the willingness to protect my time, health, energy, and peace.
Because once you become clear about where you're going, you also become much clearer about what—and who—cannot go with you.
And there is no anger required in that.
Sometimes people are simply meant for a chapter, not the entire book.
You can wish someone well and still close the door.
You can forgive and still have boundaries.
You can be kind without continuing to participate in a situation that is unhealthy for you.
Kindness does not require self-abandonment.
That may be one of the greatest lessons I've learned at 66.
DON'T GIVE UP WHEN YOU'RE TIRED
If I could speak to my younger self—or to any woman wondering whether her best years are behind her—I would tell her this:
Keep going.
But know the difference between something you need to walk away from and a dream you simply need to rest from.
When you're tired, rest.
When you're overwhelmed, step back.
When you're confused, seek clarity.
When something is toxic, remove yourself.
When you've outgrown something, allow yourself to reinvent.
And when the direction becomes clear?
Move forward.
Not recklessly.
Not at the expense of your health.
And not because you have something to prove.
Be patient with yourself.
Be kind to yourself.
Take care of yourself.
And then get back up.
Resilience isn't never falling down. It's knowing that falling down doesn't have to be where your story ends.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
That's probably my favorite question.
Because I don't believe 66 is the beginning of the end of anything.
For me, it feels like another beginning.
There are still businesses to grow, people to advocate for, younger women to mentor, seniors whose stories deserve to be preserved, community conversations to have, a podcast to build, a book to finish—and undoubtedly a few ideas I haven't even thought of yet.
My family and friends know there will always be "one more thing."
And they're right.
I don't want my legacy simply to be a list of companies I founded, pounds I lost, awards I received, or titles I carried.
I want it measured in people.
A family who felt less alone.
A caregiver who discovered her purpose.
A patient who finally felt heard.
A senior who knew their wisdom still mattered.
A woman who learned that taking care of herself wasn't selfish.
And maybe another woman who sees me at 66 and thinks:
"Maybe I'm not finished either."
She's not.
Neither am I.
Because age is just a number.
Purpose doesn't retire.
Dreams don't have an expiration date.
Kindness never goes out of style.
And becoming the woman you were meant to be has no deadline.
This is 66.
Same woman. Bigger purpose.
And I have No Regrets.
- Cherié Hull Lucas
CEO | Entrepreneur | Board-Certified Healthcare Advocate | End-of-Life Doula Practitioner | Wellness Leader | Author | Speaker
Ms. Executive West Coast 2026 - United Crown of America 🎀👑
