Welcome And Guest Setup

Announcer 0:01

Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion, the podcast designed to inspire your greatness and thrive through life. Get ready to conquer your fears. Here's your host, psychotherapist, coach, and empowerment expert, Beverley Glazer.

Beverley Glazer 0:19

Sometimes losing it all is what brings you back to yourself. Welcome to Aging with Purpose and Passion. I'm Beverley Glazer, a transition coach and reinvention strategist for women over 50, helping you turn a lifetime of wisdom into your most impactful next chapter. And you can find me and this podcast at reInventimpossible.com. These episodes share raw, real stories from women who refuse to shrink, settle, or fade away. We don't sugarcoat our challenges here, that's for sure. We rise from them. And you'll leave with a stronger belief in yourself and greater clarity about what's possible for you. Frankie Picasso is an international socialpreneur, a broadcaster, an author, an artist, and champion for change. She is the co-founder and vice president of G Woman Media, founder of Good Radio Network, and Trailblazer who has spent decades helping people step into possibility, transformation, and purpose. But behind all that creativity, impact, and reinvention is a much deeper story. Frankie lived through a motorcycle accident that changed everything. In one blow, she lost her job, her marriage, her athletic life, her band, and the identity she had built all around them. If you want to discover how strong you can become, this conversation is for you. And stick around to the end where you will get high-impact actions for what you need to become unstoppable in your next act. Welcome, Frankie.

Frankie Picasso 2:06

Thank you so much, Beverley.

Beverley Glazer 2:08

Frankie, what was it like for you growing up as a little girl? Hmm.

Frankie Picasso 2:14

It was really, it really was a kind of a world of possibility. I was a daddy's girl, and um we were very, very close, and we loved animals and we loved speed and we loved car like cars and and and things. So when I was a little girl, I would, I would, I had a little easy bake oven, and I would bake my dad a little cake, and I would walk down to the corner and I'd wait for him to come home from work, and he'd stop the car, he'd pick me up, I'd get in the car, we'd have a little conversation, I'd give him his cake, and then he would come home.

Beverley Glazer 2:46

How cute. Yeah, it was really cute. So I just see this little easy bake oven and this little Sally homemaker. Yeah, yeah. Were you always creative? Did you always love cooking and all kinds of stuff like that?

Frankie Picasso 3:01

Um, I don't know about cooking. Cooking, cooking is creative. I I do see cooking as a as a creative art. Um, I've always liked to make things. I I thought I was gonna be a writer. I like to write things. I had a diary. I um, you know, I taught school to my little stuffies.

Beverley Glazer 3:19

Invisible friends.

From Music To Kickboxing Promoter

Frankie Picasso 3:20

Invisible friends, yes. Um, I loved music, I loved, you know, skating. I I yeah, I was always very creative though. Um I I read very at a very young age, and so I just devoured books.

Beverley Glazer 3:34

Right. But you didn't go into any of the creative arts really. You had a government job.

Frankie Picasso 3:41

I did. Well, I started out in photojournalism, but I I ended up after being a kickboxing promoter, um, I put on the world championships uh kickboxing and I managed a 12-time fighter. Then the government reached out to me and said, Would you come and work for us and put on a showcase justice? I work for the Justice Department. And I go, sure. So I I thought it was like a couple a day little event. Um it ended up being seven years, and I moved up to cabinet office and they offered me this amazing job, um, very entrepreneurial because I was still entrepreneurial at that point. And they said, uh, you could be the special advisor for spirit. And what is that? Oh, what is that? I get to create programs and initiatives for the 60,000 public servants that would make them happy at work without giving them money.

Beverley Glazer 4:30

Oh my god, talk about creativity. I was gonna say, yeah, yeah, so yeah, let's go back though. I loved it. How did you become the very first female kickboxing promoter? Like, how did you become that?

Frankie Picasso 4:48

Yeah, I was working. Um, I I okay, I had a boyfriend who was working in boxing and he brought me into the boxing world. And while I was in the boxing world, I was also a musician. I would drummer. And, you know, funny thing, music and and sport seemed to go together. And there was a a mutual friend of a drummer friend who was a musician, a classical guitarist, but he was also a world-class kickboxing champion. And he was, uh he came to me and he said, Would you put on the world champions for me? I'd like to have another fight, world title fight. And I asked the guys in my group and they said, No, we're just boxing. We don't like kickboxing. And I go, I've never been to kickboxing. Let me take me to a show. So he took me to a show. I was like, Yes, I love it. So much action, and especially the girls were really, really good. And I thought I said, I'll do that. Okay, I'll put on the show for you. Had I ever done it? No. Uh, but I sold the show to ESPN and and I knew what show should be in them. So, you know, I matchmake the fights. I I just did everything and and we put on the world championships. How did you know what to do? Where to start, or you just jumped in? I just jumped in. Like in my head, I have this, I've always had it. If I think I can do it, I can do it. And and so you just do it.

From Music to Reinvention: Building a Bold LifeThe Crash And Total Upheaval

Beverley Glazer 5:58

Okay, that's simple. You just jumped right in. You just do it exactly. But you what you also had was a terrible motorcycle accident. So you you were riding motorcycles and you did kickboxing, and you were in the athletic world as well, and pretty well.

Frankie Picasso 6:18

Well, I was I had started a um dragon boating. I started dragon boating for the government, and so I was I was probably the oldest dragon boater, and dragon boating is wonderful because they actually started it. Um, and they encourage breast cancer survivors, not that I am one, but they encouraged them to do it because when you you lose your breast, you want to keep this muscle. And so there's women who are 80 years old doing it and you know, 10 years old doing it. And so it's a wonderful sport for any age in any group. But I was doing kickboxing or the dragon boating, and I really, really wanted to go to the world championships. And they said, Well, you know, if you want to join the team, you have to learn to run, you have to do all the well, I was a girl with big breasts. Girls with big breasts don't run. We don't do that, but I had to learn to run. So I started, I went to the to the running room and learned to run. And I and I got to the point where I could do my 5K and I got I made the team. And um, so after the after you know, the the dragon boating, that's how I became athletic, I guess, and and started uh riding my motorcycles. Yeah.

Beverley Glazer 7:16

Okay, and then you had an accident.

Frankie Picasso 7:18

And then I had an accident. I was T-boned. I was leading a ride. I belonged to three motorcycle clubs, and I was leading the ride for this particular motorcycle club that evening. Um, it was August 11th, and we um were out in the country on a country highway, and a this truck car, whatever, he he just went across the highway, didn't bother looking, and he t-boned me. And I kind of flew through the air, and when I landed, um, it was really like, I don't know what's gonna happen here. Like, I didn't get up, obviously, but and the front I go, where's my bike? And they go, Yeah, okay, your bike's over there, it's okay, which it wasn't. And but I wasn't either, and I didn't know. And and I had my chaps on and they couldn't see, but I actually had an open fracture um of my fib. I broke both femur's hip and pelvis in that accident and more. And the police came and the fire people came and they looked at me, but they didn't do anything, they couldn't do anything, and it was going from you know, light to dusk to dark, and finally the ambulance came and they took me to the first hospital, they stabilized it, um, and then they moved me down to Sunnybrook where I got fixed. But I was in that critical care for three months, and then I moved to um the rehab hospital. So I was in the hospital for six months, and everything went downhill, everything went downhill, everything. Um, within the first month, I my job had been reorganized out. My marriage was over. Um, my kids, I sent one kid to my parents in California, and the other two were at home. Um, the boys stayed at home. And my 17-year-old, who I guess he just turned 17, he was looking after everybody uh as best he could. And I was on high, high like narcotics because the pain was severe. And so, you know, you're pumping every five minutes. I really kind of didn't know what was going on, but you know, I had to organize myself a lawyer, I had to organize, you know, all of these things, getting out of the divorce, keeping the house, like while you're like, you know, drug city. And it was very difficult. And and really I didn't have it. My my family didn't live here except for my children, so my family lived in California, so it was it was hard.

Beverley Glazer 9:34

Um no, I I I can't imagine, okay, because everything is falling apart, and you're falling apart as well. How did you stay controlled? How did you pull it all together without falling apart?

Frankie Picasso 9:50

Well, I'm a mom, you have to keep it together. You got children, right? True. They were my biggest concern. Yeah, yeah, they were my biggest concern, and I knew that I had to keep it together for them. But I am a naturally positive person, and I knew that I would be okay. Like, I mean, I was shocked that I was going to be in the hospital that long for sure. Um, but I knew that I would be okay, and I knew that I'd be okay by myself too, because I was an independent woman and I could do it. Yeah. I had somebody come to me and just after I'd got out of the hospital to visit another woman in a similar situation as mine, except hers had happened on a snowmobile, and her husband said, Well, how did you do it without a man? I go, Do what without a man? He said, Get out of the hospital. You have to do that yourself. Like you can't put yourself in my body, you know, you have to do that yourself. So I thought that was kind of interesting.

Beverley Glazer 10:44

Interesting, yes, a different perception. But um, so you did it all alone.

Frankie Picasso 10:50

I did it all alone. And and I had to fight with the lawyers too, because the first set of lawyers I had, they they didn't want to fight for me. And I was I was shocked. And they go, Yeah, you know, it's not worth anything, really. And I'm and I thought, no, no, no, no, no. Like this is serious. This is the rest of my life. I I knew that this would impact me for the rest of my life, and it has. Yes. And and so I finally I fired them because they were very rude to me for some reason. I don't they didn't like me. I don't know what the problem was anyway. Uh I worked through a couple of them until I found one lawyer who said, you know what? I'm gonna fight for you. And and this is, and they were afraid of this guy, and thank God they were because he was so good. And I was just so relieved to find somebody who thought, okay, you know, this is worth fighting for. And they would send you to these DACs. DACs are these doctors and psychiatrists and all these different people that would look at you, physiologists, and and go, Oh, let's let's monitor and see if she's faking it or not. So one psychiatrist said to me, 'Well, you can't be in a lot of pain because you're wearing makeup.' I said, Where did you get your degree? Because if I looked on the outside, like I look feel like on the inside, I would kill myself. Literally, I would. Like it was my defense mechanism to myself to make me feel better and human, even though I was in a lot of pain.

When Life Changed Overnight: The Crash That Broke Everything Open Fighting Back Through Pain And Doubt

Beverley Glazer 12:08

Right. Of course. And any woman would know that. Yeah. As soon as you start dolling up, you start feeling better, even if you feel horrible on the inside. And here you were going to speak to a lawyer. You were dressing up to be able to do this. Yes. How did you begin again, though? What did you do to build yourself up again and create a whole new life from scratch, Frankie?

Frankie Picasso 12:33

It started in the hospital. Um, I knew that I couldn't just do nothing for six months. So I asked the lawyers to get me a laptop. I said, I'm gonna have to go to school, I'm gonna have to do something, retool myself, at least something, at least not to vegetate, right? So I talked to a couple people and they said, Well, maybe you should be, you know, a spiritual psychotherapist or something. I went, I don't know about that. And then somebody mentioned coaching. Well, coaching wasn't a big deal back then, nobody really was a coach. I think Debbie Ford was a coach. But anyway, we didn't know about it. So I thought, okay. Um, so I looked it up and I found a school and I went to school online and I took everything they had. And then they said, Do you want to come and teach? And I go, Yeah, I'll teach. And so I taught, I taught there for a couple years. And it was really good for me because it kept me busy, it kept me in the game, so to speak, talking to people, not concentrating on my own problems, right? Um, nobody knew that I was in pain, nobody knew any of that. No, and until, you know, I was talking to one of the teachers one day and I mentioned it. And she goes, You would never know that, you know, by talking to you that you're in pain. Like your voice doesn't sound like it, you don't sound like it. And she goes, You really are unstoppable. And I took that mantra because I thought, okay, unstoppable, Frankie. Because if you were gonna have one, that would be a really good one to have, to reinforce daily. You're unstoppable, you're unstoppable, you're unstoppable.

Beverley Glazer 13:54

And it worked. Okay. And did writing help you?

Frankie Picasso 13:58

It did. Yeah, yeah. I I I wrote my first book um probably six weeks after I came out of the hospital, midlife mojo. And it was all about change and the things I had learned about about change and and and how we trick ourselves and and how the brain works. And I remember being in the hospital and the physiotherapist said to me, You have to move your leg. And I'm I am. And he goes, No, you're not, it's not moving. And I'm like, Oh yeah, you're right. Okay. Um what was the underlying automatic commitment there? Oh, it's gonna hurt if I move my leg. So I was afraid to move it, and I realized that. And then I said, Okay, but you want to walk. So if you want to walk, you have to move it. So let's do it. And I did it. And then from then on, things just escalated a little bit more, and I was able to, you know, encourage myself. But pain is something you know we we shy away from. Nobody likes it.

Beverley Glazer 14:52

Of course, nobody likes it for sure. Internal and external. Yes, yeah, yeah. What's mission impossible? Unstoppable, not in mission unstoppable. Exactly.

Frankie Picasso 15:04

Yeah, mission unstoppable is is me looking for other people who have been unstoppable in their lives. You know, I thought if if more people can hear about it, if more people can see other people in whatever area of their life, it doesn't have to be tragedy, although many times it is. Um, but people, we don't know what we can bear and we don't know how strong we are until we're forced to. And and so for me, you know, I say that change happens best in chaos because you're forced into it. It's like no, your house burns down. Well, you got to get a new house or do something, right? You're forced into it. But you know, maybe you had been thinking about moving, but you didn't because nobody likes change. Okay, now you're forced. Chaos. So I wanted to find people who who were unstoppable, despite chaos, even. Um and and and there are a lot of them out there. Yeah, I've got years worth of them.

Beverley Glazer 16:01

Yeah, they really are. Yeah. What do women need most during life transitions? What do they need to hear?

Fighting Through Pain, Fear, and Invisible Struggles Rebuilding With Coaching And Writing

Frankie Picasso 16:11

Well, they definitely need to hear that they can do it. And I was super fortunate that my dad, my that wonderful relationship I had right from the very beginning, he always told me that I can do or be anything I want. And that, you know, has set me up for life. And he was really good at taking his own advice. And and I watched him become and do anything that he wanted. And I said, you know, I I can do that too. And I like I already said, if I can do it in my head, I can do it. So I think that's number one that you have to have belief in yourself. And if you don't have belief in yourself, go find somebody that will believe in you for you. And that's why I started, you know, rent a believer as a coach, because I think people just need to start with somebody that says, you know, I'm in your corner. I believe you, I have faith in you that you can do this. And I believe that you can. And why can't you? You know, just to ask those questions. And and and so we need somebody in our corner, um, male or female, doesn't matter. Um, women can do it on their own, but they they definitely need to have faith in themselves, number one.

Beverley Glazer 17:13

And it's so true what you said. Somebody that believes in you is just as powerful if you don't have you know your own belief because sometimes it wavers. Yes. And if that person has your back, it doesn't matter if it's a coach, if it's a partner, whoever has your back just gives you more support. You need that. We all need a yeah. What is G Woman Media? G Woman Media.

Frankie Picasso 17:40

Why did you create that? We created I created it with my four partners. Um, G Woman Media is a multimedia global broadcasting distribution platform um for women to amplify women's voices and to help women build world wealth and worth and to um let women know that they can they can become part of a community that is woman-led, women-owned, women, you know, uh supported, and and we have this beautiful philosophy of shared distribution and shared responsibility and and and shared everything, so that we can begin to shape a new narrative for women. And that's what it's all about. So we know that we cannot promise women that we can amplify their voices if we do not own the platforms. And so whether it's through the mic, through the lens, or through the through the uh pen, women can tell their stories with us. There's no algorithm, there's no having to like and move up. It's just you have you are supported by women in your community and you're supported by the platforms. And we know that women don't lack brilliance, they lack platforms, they lack the ability to get their stories out there. And so that's what we're all about being able to do that for women around the world. And we're really excited about it.

Beverley Glazer 19:05

There's so many platforms out there. I don't have to tell you. Yeah. What makes G Women different?

Rebuilding Through Coaching, Writing, and Purpose Belief, Rent A Believer, Transitions

Frankie Picasso 19:14

Well, it's we we when we started, we set aside a million shares and we said that we were going to invite 100 women to help build with us. So the archetype of that woman is gifted genius, game-changing women. So we invited, you know, we we still have 18 left to find, but we're closing that chapter very quickly. And these women are all brilliant. You know, they're women who who already run companies, they're leaders in their own right, they're women in many different industries because media is a gateway to information. Every business needs media, whether it's, you know, a magazine, the radio, the TV, that's those are the platforms that we have. What makes us different is we own all three platforms, and we have a community of women. And so being able to share that ownership with these women who came in, these hundred women uh who are shareholders in the company, like that's different. Um, there's not many companies that that you know set out to invite women to become a shareholder in their company when they incorporate, which is what we did. Um, and then to build that global community around it so that all women will benefit from it as we come together and in our brilliance decide what we want as women, because we've never been asked as women, what who do you want to be? What do you want to be? Like, what does it mean to be a woman? Now we all have an opportunity. This is why this is why governments own media. This is why you know different people own media, so that they can tell a narrative from their perspective. And this is why G Woman Media owns media, so that all of the women globally can tell the rest of the world what it is from their own perspective, their story.

Beverley Glazer 20:50

Great, great. What do you want women who are struggling with all kinds of problems that you were struggling with, finding yourself, building yourself up, creating platforms which is a struggle for women, no question in business. What do you want these women to know?

Frankie Picasso 21:09

I think it's really important that go back into believing in yourself, that you are stronger than you think, that you have all of the tools in your toolbox that you're ever going to need. And if you doubt that, look at yourself and say, What especially moms? Moms are the biggest doubters. Oh, you know, I don't work and I don't have this and I don't have that. Really? Because it looks like you've got time management skills to me. You've got kids that you're managing, getting off to programs and sleep and all kinds of things. Oh, and and cooking for them and doing laundry and and running and being a chauffeur and a bank machine and everything else in between. Those are skills and they're transferable skills that you can take into any business. So if you believe in yourself and you market yourself in the right way, you can walk in anywhere and get a job or create your own job, which many of us are doing because you know what, it's easier. Sometimes just to have your create your own job and then it's in your timetable and you get to do it the way you want.

Borrowing Belief During Life Transitions G Woman Media And Closing Actions

Beverley Glazer 22:06

A hundred percent. Believe in yourself. That's what I think everyone should hear from you for sure. Thank you, Frankie. Frankie Picasso is an international socialpreneur, a broadcaster, an author, an artist, and champion for change. She is the co-founder and vice president of G Women Media, a global woman led media company dedicating to amplifying women's visibility and voice. Frankie is also the founder of the Good Radio Network. She's also a certified life, business, and master coach trainer, and she spent more than four decades helping people and communities create meaningful change through media leadership and purpose-driven work. Here are a few takeaways from this episode. Change is painful, but it can also be a doorway to purpose. Women need more than encouragement, they need ownership, voice, and visibility and make a contribution in the world, and your pain grows into purpose. If you've been relating to this episode, here are some actions to take right now. Stop waiting for permission. Give it to yourself. Reconnect with whatever makes you feel alive and take power and make the first step to your own reinvention. Your future is waiting for you. For similar episodes on rebuilding your life, check out episode number 165, when Hollywood says you're done. And 179, business burnout, and career reinvention on aging with purpose and passion. And if you love stories of unapologetic older women, check out Reinvention Rebels. That's reinvention rebels.com. And so, Frankie, where can people find you? Please share your links.

Frankie Picasso 24:00

Thank you. Um, well, definitely you can find me on LinkedIn. You can find me at gwomanmedia.com and you can find me at um thegoodradio network.com. Thank you, Bill.

Beverley Glazer 24:10

Terrific. And Frankie Picasso's links are in the show notes and they're on my site too. That's reinventimpossible.com. And so, my friends, what's next for you? If you're ready to move from stuck to unstoppable, download my free roadmap, and that's in the show notes. And if this conversation speaks to you, please add us to your playlist and share it with a friend. And remember, you only have one life, so live it with purpose and passion.

Announcer 24:41

Thank you for joining us. You can connect with Bev on her website, reinventimpossible.com. And while you're there, join our newsletter. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Until next time, keep aging with purpose and passion. And celebrate life.