Vicki Thomas

I attribute my success to drive and never giving up. When I was diagnosed with a very rare cancer called MMMT and told I had 3 to 5 years to live, it completely changed my perspective on everything. I had this bundle hanging over my head with the countdown to 5 years, and I felt so good - how could I be going? But I got everything in order and faced the fact that I was going to be gone. Then I was given that stay, so I'm living my bonus years now. Two years after that first diagnosis, I got breast cancer. I refused to have chemo again, so I had radiation. That was in 2020, and here I am in 2026, still living on my bonus years. My attitude about death has completely changed because I've been there, I went there. On the anniversary of my surgery, five years later, my husband asked why I was sitting on the bed not getting dressed. I said I'm waiting - they're coming to get me today, I'm going to be gone. I have an incredible sense of humor about it. But that experience of facing death and surviving has given me the drive to keep going, to never give up, to make every moment count.

The best career advice I ever received came from the president of ABC when we closed the bar together at the Lake Placid Olympics. He told me I had really changed since he saw me in Innsbruck in 1976 - that I had lost the spark I used to have. I explained I had a new boss and didn't know what I was going to do. He said to me, 'Vicki, if you're in marketing, you must never... you must always be chosen. You must never be inherited. If you're inherited, you just lose your spark.' He could see that in me. He said my new boss had not chosen me, and I had to be chosen. I think this applies not only in career, but you have to be chosen by what you do and the people you surround yourself with. That advice changed everything for me and shaped how I approached every opportunity after that. It taught me that to maintain your spark, your passion, your drive, you need to be in situations where you're wanted and valued, not just inherited as part of the furniture.

Don't do it. Right now, if you're talking about marketing, PR, advertising, and promotion - don't do it. I'm sitting here looking at an article where I asked ChatGPT to create an image for me, and it did it in 4 minutes. For those who went into graphics, those days are over. I used to be in the PR business writing press releases, knowing reporters, calling them to follow up. You can't do that today. You cannot do that. Media has changed and it's changing every day. I would tell women, especially, go into STEM - anything in science, technology, medical, or engineering. There was an article this morning about the number of kids getting out of school who will not be able to find a job, and how AI has even changed it for interns. Or look at the trades - tradesmen like electricians, engineers, contractors. My husband became a contractor after being laid off in his 50s, and he's been incredibly successful because people need those skills. Or find your niche and look at colleges that have entrepreneurial opportunities. But do not go into dying industries where you're going to struggle to even get in, unless mom or dad were the head of the company. The whole work world has changed. I'm grateful for the time I had a career, but those days are gone. The days of working for a company 10 years like I did for CUNA? Gone.

My biggest challenge and opportunity right now is my book, From Woodstock to Wisdom, A Boomer's Journey to 80. I had no idea when I wrote it that it would create the buzz that it's creating. It has the opportunity to create something even bigger because it speaks to people. I don't write 3,000 words - I ask 3 questions at the end of each section. I don't know how much time I have left. My exit ramp is ahead of me. There's more years behind me than are ahead of me. So I've decided that what I don't know now, I'm hiring people who do know to help me get to the next level. The book has become a centerpiece, and I tie everything in my book back to purpose, which ties everything back to My Future Purpose, which is our business. I'm also learning so much - this little dog has learned a lot of new tricks since this book came out in January. I just signed an agreement to take my book out of the miserable place I self-published it at and publish it under Vicki Thomas, so I'm in control now. I'm learning about IngramSpark, distribution, how the whole system works. I'm coming up with my second book called From Woodstock to Wisdom, Passing the Mic, where I'll interview students at four universities across different regions to understand what they think of baby boomers and what they're going to do to make a difference.

The most important value to me is how you treat people. People will not remember what you said. They will not remember what you did. But they will remember how you treated them. I think it's so important, even more important now, to treat people well. I was at the pharmacy the other day and there was a young woman picking up a script who was $4 short. She was very upset about not having enough money and needed the script. I went up to her, put my arm on her shoulder, and said I have $4 - get your script, don't leave it. She tried to refuse but I insisted. She hugged me, and we were both standing there at CVS, abundantly grateful for that moment that we touched each other's lives. I think it's really important that now, more than ever, even the person standing behind you in the supermarket, that you be kind. Kindness to me is, right now, probably one of the most important things that matter. Mattering matters. I decided this year that my resolution was to tell people they matter, that they made a difference in my life. So I made a list of 52 names, and every Friday I mail a card that says 'you mean a lot to me and touched my heart. You matter.' Inside I write 120 words about how they touched my life and the difference they made. It makes me feel good to know that before I go, I let the people who mattered to me know how they touched my heart.