Words by Janet Holloway
Photography by Andrea Hillebrand
How is it that nearly every woman I meet who’s over 50, or even 40, is worrying about what’s next? It’s as if women are hitting a halfway mark on the time continuum or perhaps they’re discovering that the boomer bottom is staring them in the face. All those dreams. All those aspirations. Given today’s economy, it’s no surprise that some may be facing the loss of a job, a career, a home or worse. Women also report that they’re simply worn out from the daily grind, from more of the same, with no hope for change in the near future. Asking “what’s next?” may be their first step in making a crucial life change. Maybe it’s time to revisit those dreams and aspirations and redesign or repurpose your life around them.
Massachusetts fashion designer Sigrid Olsen had no choice about the change in her life. For more than twenty years, Olsen had filled a market niche for baby-boomer women who wanted to look bold and funky at the same time. “People came out of the dressing room with a smile on their face, saying my clothes made them happy,” she says. Her clothing designs were bright and colorful, well-made and comfortable. A woman of any size would look good in them. Under her trade name, Segrets, the business grew to $30 million in sales—a far cry from where she started in the 1980s imprinting colorful pot holders with her unique designs from nature. The company’s growth caught the eye of fashion giant Liz Claiborne.
“I was so happy that someone like Liz Claiborne, Inc. recognized what I was doing and offered to buy the business,” Olsen says. “My love has always been design, not running a multimillion dollar business.” Liz Claiborne’s offer of 10% ownership to Olsen, along with the title of creative director, sounded good at the time. Life was fast and fascinating at Liz Claiborne. Olsen had apartments in New York City and Boston, travelled to Los Angeles and Paris for trade shows and arranged photo shoots around the world.
“By that time, my kids had graduated, my husband was working in the fashion business, and I could devote myself full-time to expanding the clothing line,” she says. She took only one month off after breast cancer surgery in 2005 and then moved back into the fast lane. In 2007, with fears of an economic downturn on the horizon, Liz Claiborne began to cut back and streamline their brands. Segrets had been one of the conglomerate’s top 40 brands, but corporate directors felt they had overextended themselves. In 2008 the economy imploded, and, almost overnight, Liz Claiborne closed all fifty-four Segrets boutiques. Olsen lost her business, her brand and even the rights to her name.
“I had two choices then,” she tells me. “Either sit down on the couch, stuff myself with Haagen-Dazs and wallow in my disappointment—which I did for a while–or get up and start over again.” Wisely, she chose not to be a victim but moved ahead by asking “what’s next?”
“I realized that even though my fashion line had been wiped out, no one owned my talent. I began to consider what I could do to make the next two decades have meaning and purpose.” Now in her 50s, Olsen began to develop a vision of bringing together all the projects and experiences she loved: her art, running a small business, working with women, health and wellness. She returned to her art studio in Gloucester, Massachusetts, sold the big house she shared with her husband, and moved into the small room in back of the studio. It was a space where she could recharge her batteries.
More than five years later, Olsen has opened a second art studio in Sarasota, Florida, where she lives and works in winter. She’s written a book of recipes that includes her art work and anecdotes about how she bounced back from the loss of her company. With her step-sister and daughter, she has created inspirational yoga retreats for women in such places as Mexico, the Caribbean and Provence. Inspiration Retreats, Olsen says, “help women become attuned to their ‘inner artist’.” She acknowledges that the retreats are part of her own transformation, her need to refocus and be inspired. “We’re all in the process of reinventing ourselves.”
There’s a lilt, even a bit of laughter, in her voice that wasn’t there when I first interviewed Olsen five years ago. Today, she describes herself as an artist entrepreneur. “Both create something out of nothing; they figure things out along the way, seeing themselves as somewhat outside the mainstream. Both display enormous confidence in themselves, a commitment to hard work and perseverance in order to make their dream a reality.”
“You go on,” she tells me. “No matter what obstacles you have, you keep at it. You create a vision for your life and you keep working and trying new things. You just keep going on.”
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