Starting Over at 62: Building a Business, Trusting Myself, and Learning to Fly

If you had told me ten years ago that I’d be starting a new business in my sixties, recovering from a divorce, preparing for major surgery, and feeling genuinely excited about the future, I’m not sure I would have believed you.

And yet, here I am.

One of the things I’ve learned about life is that it rarely unfolds according to the plans we make. Sometimes doors close. Sometimes entire chapters end before we’re ready. Sometimes we find ourselves standing in a place we never expected to be, wondering what comes next.

But every now and then, life surprises us.

And sometimes what comes next is something beautiful.

For me, that “something beautiful” is called Hello Butterfly Micro Weddings.

The funny thing is, I never set out to become a wedding officiant.

It all started when my daughter got married.

She asked me to co-officiate her wedding alongside one of our lifelong family friends—a man who had known her since the day she was born. Together, we had the privilege of standing beside her and her husband as they began their married life.

It was one of the greatest honors of my life.

Rather than simply reading words from a script, we were able to help create a ceremony that reflected who they truly were. We included pieces of their love story, celebrated the journey that brought them together, and shared memories that made the ceremony feel deeply personal and uniquely theirs.

As we worked on the ceremony, I realized I wasn’t just performing a role. I was using gifts I had been developing my entire life—storytelling, writing, listening, organizing, creating meaningful experiences, and helping people feel seen and celebrated.

Before long, I found myself helping with other aspects of the wedding as well. I designed the flowers, assisted with planning details, and watched all the pieces come together into a day that felt authentic, joyful, and full of love.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, a little light bulb came on.

This wasn’t just something I could do.

This was something I loved doing.

And perhaps more importantly, it was something I was good at.

Looking back, it seems obvious now. As a librarian, I spent years helping people find stories. As a photographer, I learned how to preserve moments. As an officiant, I discovered that I could help tell a couple’s story while they were living it.

What began as a mother’s gift to her daughter became the beginning of an entirely new chapter in my own life.

As the idea for Hello Butterfly began to take shape, I realized I wasn’t the only one who loved helping create meaningful experiences.

I have a friend who shares that passion as well.

Like me, he is also a wedding officiant, which gives us a unique flexibility when working with couples. If a couple wants photographs of their ceremony, I can step behind the camera while he officiates. If they would like live acoustic guitar music as part of their celebration, he can provide that. He helps with setup, baking, brainstorming creative ideas, and all the countless little details that help transform a vision into a memorable experience.

Together, we’ve discovered that our strengths complement one another beautifully.

And while the two of us form the heart of Hello Butterfly, we are fortunate to have a few trusted friends and family members who occasionally help on wedding days when an extra set of hands is needed. We are blessed.

What I love most is that Hello Butterfly feels less like a business and more like an intimate gathering of people who genuinely enjoy helping others celebrate life’s happiest moments.

One of our favorite things about the Hello Butterfly Micro Weddings concept is its simplicity.

We celebrate the grandness of love by keeping things intimate, simple, and small.

We believe love doesn’t need a grand ballroom, hundreds of guests, or months of stress to be meaningful. Sometimes all you need is the right people, a beautiful setting, and a ceremony that feels authentic.

Together, we bring the wedding to you.

Whether that’s beneath a favorite tree, beside a quiet river, at a family home, in a scenic park, or in a place that holds special meaning to your story, our goal is to help create a celebration that feels personal, joyful, and uniquely yours.

Of course, Hello Butterfly is only part of the story.

I also bake and sell shortbread cookies, another creative pursuit that brings me joy. I joke that my life is powered by equal parts creativity, optimism, and what I affectionately call my “ADD superpowers.” I’ve spent most of my life as an under-achieving over-achiever—full of ideas, projects, dreams, and enough enthusiasm to keep several people busy.

The older I get, the more I realize that my quirks are not flaws that need fixing. They’re part of who I am. They help me see possibilities where others see obstacles. They help me imagine new adventures, new businesses, and new ways of connecting with people.

At this stage of life, I’m learning that I don’t need to become someone else in order to succeed.

I simply need to become more fully myself.

That realization feels especially important right now.

I’m preparing for hip replacement surgery next month. Like most major life events, it’s equal parts exciting and terrifying. But it’s also a reminder that life keeps moving forward. We don’t get to choose every circumstance we face, but we do get to choose how we respond.

I could focus on everything that’s uncertain.

Or I can focus on everything that’s possible.

I choose possibility.

I choose creativity.

I choose hope.

I choose to believe that there is still plenty of room for new adventures, new dreams, and new beginnings.

Maybe that’s the real lesson I’m learning in this season.

It’s never too late to reinvent yourself.

It’s never too late to build something meaningful.

It’s never too late to spread your wings.

And so that’s exactly what I’m doing.

One ceremony, one photograph, one flower, one cookie, one butterfly, and one sprinkling of pixie dust at a time.

The future feels wide open, and for the first time in a long time, that doesn’t scare me.

It excites me.

(Well it scares me a little bit.)

(Website isn’t anything like I want it to be, but here it is, a work in progress…Hello Butterfly!)