Amy Temperley: [00:00:04] It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true and we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:00:21] Hello and welcome to the Live Long and Master Aging podcast. I’m Peter Bowes. This is where we explore the science and stories on human longevity.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:00:31] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL, the all-in-one longevity supplement that contains 10 key ingredients shown to have a positive impact on healthspan as validated by scientific studies. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com. 

Peter Bowes: [00:00:52] So aging is cool. So says Amy Temperley, she is the owner of a company called Aging is Cool. That’s what attracted my attention because I think I can agree with that statement. I often say aging is a privilege and something we should embrace rather than trying to fight. Amy’s background is in non-profit consulting. Her husband, Damian, is a physical therapist, and together they have formed a company with the joint goal of really challenging the image, the popular media image of what it’s like to get older. Amy, welcome to the Live Long and Master aging podcast.

Amy Temperley: [00:01:25] Wonderful. Thank you for having me.

Peter Bowes: [00:01:27] Good to talk to you. Let’s start from the beginning. How did this start for you?

Amy Temperley: [00:01:31] Oh goodness. I have worked with older adults for the past 30 years. I for whatever reason, that was my passion. When I was very young, I started my career as a social worker, moved to non-profits, but most always was focused with older adults. And a few years ago, my husband had started teaching some fitness programming for four older adults as well. And we were really looking at like what were the gaps in the community and what was the need? And we figured there was plenty of home health and retirement communities and all those different things going up. But what seemed to be really a big gap was that focus on active, healthy aging versus that place of always worrying about the things that are going wrong, but focusing on how we prevent health problems and how we make our aging stronger and happier and much more fun. And so Aging is Cool was born. And it’s been beautiful because we can do it together, which is a nice a nice gift for husband and wife to be able to create something together.

Peter Bowes: [00:02:32] And before launching this, maybe as you were growing up, how much did you as a younger person, how much did you think about aging?

Amy Temperley: [00:02:40] I didn’t. I didn’t at all. And I was so blessed that my first internships in college were with Adult Protective Services and in a nursing home. And I, I what I learned was that aging can be a positive thing. And I learned to have a different perspective around people who were getting older. I saw wisdom and energy. You know, we never feel as old on the inside as maybe the years say that we are. And I was seeing that in the people that I was meeting was sort of this robust love for life and which is a gift because, you know, at 21, when I started in and working in nursing homes, most people aren’t exposed to older people and don’t see aging as the positive thing that it can be.

Peter Bowes: [00:03:26] At what age do you say that we start being old? It’s a very vague expression, a very vague word, isn’t it, to be suddenly old?

Amy Temperley: [00:03:36] You know, I don’t anymore. And that’s what’s so funny is I have friends that are 70, 80, 90 years old and I don’t really consider them old, are one of our members is 95 Gladys. And she is so incredibly active and engaged in ways that I don’t see some 30 year olds being that active and engaged. And she doesn’t feel old to me. She doesn’t feel old to me at all. So to me that’s a old is a feeling. And I don’t know that you’re old until you decide that you’re old.

Peter Bowes: [00:04:10] So you had this idea, you and your husband and your collective skills, I guess, made it possible. Aging is Cool is the name of the company. And you gave me a sort of brief synopsis of how that came about, but specifically settling on that title, what was the motivation?

Amy Temperley: [00:04:27] We really there’s two different things. First is that we want to express that we actually think aging is OK, that it’s a positive thing, that it’s you know, it happens to the best of us. Right. It’s not something that you can avoid. But we also wanted people to say themselves, aging is cool with me. It’s OK for me to do that. It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true. And we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:05:00] And maybe to be even more specific, there’s this image. You often see a media and I work in the media. Maybe I’m partly guilty of this. I hope not, because what I do in this podcast is trying to promote a positive side of aging, actually embracing aging. But often the media image of of maybe a stooped person, someone who is walking more slowly, who needs help when, as you’ve already implied, they probably don’t need help but are actually capable of doing much more than most people think.

Amy Temperley: [00:05:27] Yeah, there’s some great movements right now, especially coming out of the UK and Canada and Australia, who seem to be really far, far advanced in some of this in the way that they view aging, but really working on changing that kind of imagery. You know, if you look at any advertisement that’s talking about getting older, you’re going to see that. You see the wrinkly hands, you see the, you know, the walking canes or the walkers. You see a nurse in the picture. And the reality is that. That’s not what it looks like for most people. Only five percent of people end up in nursing homes, five percent. That means 95 percent of the rest of us are living in community. You know, maybe we need a little bit of support, but that doesn’t mean that our world has ended.

Peter Bowes: [00:06:07] And an expression we often hear is, again, another one that I sort of rail against is anti or anti aging – we’re advertisements all the time about what we can do to promote anti aging to in some way reverse aging. And again, that’s something that I personally don’t see as being particularly positive.

Amy Temperley: [00:06:26] No, I don’t either. And I you know, oddly, I’ll tell you a little personal bit this morning I woke up and I’m feeling quite older today. You know, I was I was recording a video for something else. And I and I just turned 50 last year. And I was just having that moment of, you know, even though I live this very positive world. And I feel very strongly that aging can be a wonderful thing because you’re pressured so much to see those different things. Even I woke up this morning thinking, oh, my God, am I getting old? And. It I don’t know that it’s a positive thing to be worried constantly about what creams do I need and what medicines do I need so that I look better, so that, you know, I look like I’m 20 years old, 30 years old. I don’t I think it’s a lot of pressure. And does it take our brain power away from the pieces of aging that are really great, like continuing to learn new things and being active and finding a sense of purpose in your world? That’s really what we should be focused on as we age. That’s that’s the good stuff.

Peter Bowes: [00:07:28] So let’s talk about the good stuff and what you do with your clients. How did you start with the company? It’s always daunting, isn’t it, to start a new venture like this?

Amy Temperley: [00:07:36] Yes, it was incredible. And as far as we knew at the time, it was a huge gap. We started by creating interesting activities. Of course, Damian, my husband brought fitness programming. We hired yoga instructors and tai chi and belly dance instructors. You lots of fun on the fitness side. We created a brain training programs to help people keep their minds sharp. And then we started creating educational presentations on travel and history and science and pop culture. And we offered it out here in Austin to people in town. And then we also took it into residential communities like assisted living, retirement communities and older adult apartment complexes. And that was kind of how it all was rolling along until until Covid hit and we needed to think differently. And so everything went virtual. Right. And had met a lovely couple, Ian and Jan, who owned a company called Heart and Soul Care. And together we piloted a new website that we just launched in January called A Mighty Good Time and a Mighty Good Time is a one stop shop for all kinds of activities for people 50 and older, curated from all around the country. And right now it’s mostly virtual, but we’re starting to see some live activities come back as well.

Peter Bowes: [00:08:53] And I mentioned in a previous question about is there a number that defines being old, at least as far as your venture is concerned? It’s for the over 50s,

Amy Temperley: [00:09:02] We picked over 50s. I think maybe it’s kind of a time in your life where your mindset changes a little bit. In some ways, maybe your kids are gone. Maybe you’re starting to think about retirement. So we really wanted to focus there. Now, we are very well aware that people are living to be 110 years old now. So 50 to 110 is a 60 year gap. So we’re trying to be mindful about bringing activities that are of interest to you at different stages as well. So almost all of our fitness programming is going to have an adapted quality to it. So you’ll be able to do it seated or standing. You know, there’s options for that. But quite honestly, the rest of our activities could be done by anyone at any age. We just wanted people to be able to access them as easily and quickly as they could.

Peter Bowes: [00:09:51] Yeah, I wonder if is a little bit of resistance and clearly no one has to do this, but could there be a little bit of resistance by someone who is 50 or 55 or 59 as I’ve just turned and feels as if they can look after themselves with their own exercise regimes in the same way as they did 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, and that they just don’t want, maybe even for psychological reasons, to be to be grouped as part of a community that is older and perhaps needs a little bit more help. 

Amy Temperley: [00:10:21] Completely. And I think that’s a very a very real consideration. And again, we try to to bring and curate activities that are kind of throughout the spectrum. But, yes, it’s hard making that leap between thinking you’re a senior. Right. Does senior citizen kind of terminology. And I wouldn’t you know, again, I just turned 50. I wouldn’t consider myself a senior either. But I do know the things that I’m interested in, the way that I prefer my activities provided to me, the maybe the age range of people I even want to associate. Is a little bit older. And so if I want to meet other people who are in their 50s and who are in the same lifespan, part of the journey that I am, this is a good way to do that. So it’s a great way to be able to connect with people who really get where you are in the puzzle.

Peter Bowes: [00:11:08] So the goal, at least pre covid and hopefully after covid as well, was in person working with people. And the social aspect of it is clearly very important. And we’ve talked on this podcast many times about loneliness as people get older and especially people that get older and actually stay healthy into their 80s and 90s might find themselves lonely because their friends haven’t been as healthy as they continue to be. And they find themselves alone and wondering who they can associate with. That has equal abilities that can still do the hike or still play football or do whatever they do physically.

Amy Temperley: [00:11:48] Yeah, for us, the social peace is everything.  I got, really, if you want to sum up why we do what we do is, is the social peace and trying to reduce social isolation. Because if you stay engaged with other people, you’re more likely to be physically active, you are constantly working your brain, you eat better, you sleep better, your mood is better, you learn more. Just the act of having a conversation with somebody you know. I’m watching your eyes. I’m listening to what you’re saying. I’m processing the words. I’m sending it back to you. That is so powerful for your brain. And so everything to us that is the root is how do we stay social and engaged with other people? It’s just key.

Peter Bowes: [00:12:33] So just to dig a little deeper in terms of of how you work, in terms of associating with people and those people getting involved with you, how it differs from perhaps, someone signing up to a local gym.

Amy Temperley: [00:12:45] We very much are about getting to know the people that we work with. We have right now with Aging is Cool. And of course, it’s changed some with with covid. But we have about 40 active members that join us on virtual programing. We know all of them by name. We check in with them on a regular basis. You know, when covid hit, we were on the phone making sure everybody was all right. When it was time for vaccines, we were sharing information about how to get the vaccines. So for us, it’s much more than just a room full of people who came to exercise. We. Add that social peace and everything we do, even if we went out to a residential community to do a presentation or an educational session on, you know, the big band era or whatever, the thing is, you know, travel or whatever, there’s always going to be opportunities for people to get to know each other, to interact with each other. So it’s different in that we’re mindful of the other pieces of the puzzle and much more holistic in the way that we provide programming.

Peter Bowes: [00:13:51] So this is much more of a club kind of atmosphere.

Amy Temperley: [00:13:54] It is for our membership, yeah, our membership. We run through our non-profit side and that very much so. People get to know each other very, very deeply. Your other services, when we go out into the community, we used to prior to Covid had, you know, 30 instructors going to 100 different locations and actually doing all kinds of different classes. So, you know, slightly different models. But, yeah, with our with our little membership group, it’s definitely about that connection.

Peter Bowes: [00:14:22] And what is, the I wonder if there is a most common thing that people say to you? But I’m just curious people that that find you as a service and get involved. Do they talk about what was lacking in their lives previously, that you have managed that hole that you’ve managed to fill?

Amy Temperley: [00:14:39] Completely with the two main things I think one is friendship and the social. They talk very often about all the friends they’ve made and their deeper relationships. They check on each other outside of class. They have, you know, individual relationships that they’ve made during this process. The other one is, are fitness programming is very well adapted to this audience. And a lot of them have seen significant health improvements during the last winter storm here a few weeks ago. And all the snow in the ice, one of the women commented that she had been out shoveling her sidewalk. Now she is eighty two, I think, and probably shouldn’t have been doing that. But she said that before being involved in all of our classes, she never would have had the strength and energy and stability to be able to do that. And we hear those types of things frequently.

Peter Bowes: [00:15:30] And we’re going to pause for a second. We’ll come back. We’ll continue our conversation in less than a minute. You’re listening to the Live Longer and Master aging podcast.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:15:39] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL a novel all in one longevity supplement that includes 10 key research backed ingredients shown in scientific studies to support healthspan things like resveratrol, fisetin, quercetin, pterostilbene, sulforaphane and turmeric…all in a single dose. If you’re interested in supporting your longevity, you probably already have a cabinet full of these single ingredients at home. JUVICELL is the first product to combine them all into a single supplement to support your healthspan. It’s also vegan, non GMO and sustainable. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com.

Peter Bowes: [00:16:23] I’m talking to Amy Temperley, the owner of Aging is Cool. Amy, how do you see yourself? You just turned 50. How do you see yourself at sixty or seventy?

Amy Temperley: [00:16:32] Oh goodness. That’s a really, really good question. So I have because of what we do, I have a much better mindset around what I need to do for my own well-being. I have a focus on how do I be more healthy, how do I? With covid my husband and I, as much as we’re extroverts in the work that we do, we’re introverts at home. And I have found us isolating ourselves a little bit. And I realize more and more how important social interaction is for us. And so really making some concerted efforts to kind of re-engage with friends and things that have kind of changed over the last period. I also have just fallen in love in the last year with all kinds of making. So I’ve been I worked with paint now acrylic paints. I bought a lathe and I’m making pens and bowls and, you know, just random things. But for the first time in my life, I have a real passion around that kind of making. And when I think of myself at 60 and 70, I want to have more time for that. You know, some of these new things that I’ve found that give me great joy most of my life since I was, you know, eighteen and up has been about work and the difference that I can make in my job and being out there constantly trying to change the world, if I can, you know, all of that. But as I get older, I realize that there’s a piece that I didn’t pay attention to, which is, you know, the things that just purely give me joy. And I’d like to focus on that a little bit more as the years go on.

Peter Bowes: [00:18:10] I think they’re fascinating observations also in a practical sense as to what you found yourself doing over the last few months. And I think a lot of people can associate with that.  Our lives have changed, and clearly it’s been an incredibly difficult time, a tragic time for so many, but trying to sieve out the positive aspects, maybe moving forward of how our lives have changed. I think finding new talents that perhaps we have finding these things to do is, as you have. and other facets of our lives, because we’ve had time to do it, I think. And again, with aging in mind, that can only be a positive

Amy Temperley: [00:18:47] Completely a more and more we’ve been thinking about and and working towards helping people find purpose and meaning in their life. And, you know, for some people, that may be your your faith or your spirituality, but I think there’s more to it than that. It might just be getting up and tending to your plants in the morning or, you know, that cup of coffee on the porch or whatever that thing is that makes your life worth living. And how do you continue to engage in that? And even as we lose abilities, I mean, I’ve had three back surgeries. I have I have the back of a 75 year old woman. So true. And, you know, I love to garden and I know there are some other things that I’m having to make some adaptations to. But, OK, so now my flower beds are raised or, you know, now whether I’m doing vegetables in pots instead of, you know, out in our garden. So trying to find the ways to adapt so that you can continue to embrace the things you love rather than lamenting what you’ve lost.

Peter Bowes: [00:19:47] And I think it’s a good model for retirement. The life change that so many people fear and that looming question, what will I do? Sadly, a lot of people devote themselves to their job and raising their family and paying their mortgage. And then suddenly at 65 or whatever the age is, there’s a blank piece of paper and it comes to suddenly for a lot of people.

Amy Temperley: [00:20:10] Yeah. And there’s still ways to engage in that kind of work. I mean, you could work part time or you could I come out of the non-profit sector. There is a huge need for volunteers and board members. And so if you still need that to give back, if you still want to use those skills and expertise, there are ways to do that. But it’s a great time to reflect on what did I love to do as a kid and I haven’t gotten to to do because I had to go to work and raise a family, you know, or wow, maybe I should experiment with this and take out an art class or a music class and learn something new, which is just good for your brain anyway,

Peter Bowes: [00:20:47] Or get a dog. I think that’s a dog we’re talking via, Zoom, at the moment. So I can actually see you. And in the background, there’s a dog rolling over and scratching him or herself. A dog is a great activity. 

Amy Temperley: [00:20:58] Completely.They make you get out and walk and and have something to pay attention to, something to love. I mean, we have four dogs, so I have a ritual every morning of how I care for them. And I don’t think my morning would be the same if I didn’t have that little ritual.

Peter Bowes: [00:21:13] I totally agree with you. And I plan in the hopefully the near future to do an entire episode about the benefits of of owning dogs and and actually looking at dog longevity as well, which is a very interesting topic on its own. But I’m a I’m a huge fan. I’ve got my own dog. I cannot be up for more than thirty minutes and having my morning coffee before we’ve got to go out and go for that long one hour hike. It’s really good for both of us. Just getting back to aging, I’m curious what your thoughts on this subject are. Here we are in the United States. We’ve got a president who is 78 years old, a former president who is in his early 70s, a political establishment that tends to be very old. If you look at members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as well. I’m just wondering whether our elected officials, whether it’s in this country or elsewhere, take on the responsibility of promoting positive aging in the way that you would like to see.

Amy Temperley: [00:22:07] Oh, that’s an excellent question. You know, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone take it on as a platform. I think they’ve definitely demonstrated that they can still be active and engaged and they have the brains and the knowledge and the background to do that. But it would be interesting to see someone take it on and kind of challenge the establishment. That said, I also feel strongly about diversity in all our, you know, in our work and in our political system, particularly in our non-profits, the way we serve people to, you know, have people of all ages and all colors and all orientations and how powerful that is. So despite the fact that maybe, you know, that we have older leaders, I think it’s very important that we engage people at all ages and that we find opportunities even in our own lives to do that as well. That’s, you know, that’s a great way to learn new things and to pass on wisdom. We need we need all the ages together to interact.

Peter Bowes: [00:23:05] Yeah, I think you’re right. And I agree with you. I think it would be wonderful if a political platform would embrace the kind of topics that we’ve been talking about and not only in a political sense, but embracing health care and what it means to get older and the positive benefits of being healthy and old, and perhaps this is how a politician could do it by relating it to the fiscal implications, the positive implications of having an older generation, which is exactly what you’re working towards by embracing physical activity with older people. 

Amy Temperley: [00:23:37] Yeah, I do a lot of work here in Austin through the Aging Services Council, and I serve on the Commission for Seniors here in Austin, Texas, as well. And, you know, there there is a lot that’s not being paid attention to as we get older in order to serve people in a different way. And it’s it is disconcerting. I mean, even in our homeless population here in Austin, 26 percent of them are over age 50. You know, those rates are growing higher. So there’s a lot of attention that needs to be made just to issues of of age and aging and society in general. We’re starting to see some movements. You know, it’s nice to start to see some movements. I think since the baby boomers started turning 65 and everybody finally looked at the demographics and went, oh, my gosh, what are we going to do with this? But we also knew it was coming, you know, like 30 years ago. We were talking about what happens when the baby boomers turn 65 and we didn’t do much about it. So it’s it’s a little bit delayed and behind the curve, but it’s coming. I think change is coming.

Peter Bowes: [00:24:38] Yeah, I think the progression of the boomers and we did a recent episode devoted to precisely that generation, which includes myself. I’m on the the lower end of the the demographic. But I think what it brings home to you is how quickly time passes and that the boomers are actually getting on in age right now. Boomers, those of us in that group, need to to adapt to it. I’m curious, we often talk about life hacks and what you’ve learned through your profession that you might apply to your own life and things that you do now to promote your own longevity. Is there something perhaps you say you didn’t think about aging very much as as a younger person, but you clearly think about it a lot now. Is it something you do every day?

Amy Temperley: [00:25:19] Movement is is one of them. And as I mentioned, I have some physical limitations with my back. So just walking, you know, even if you can just get up a little bit, move your body to some degree every day, I think that’s really, really important. I’m much more mindful about rest too – paying attention to when my body is worn out and actually not pushing it so far that I’m, you know, exhausted for the next week. So understanding that as we get older that our body may need more recuperation time. And then, as I mentioned, just that social piece is remembering that that’s really important, especially right now. You kind of have to schedule it in because it doesn’t accidentally happen, especially if you’re home based like I am. So you really have to make a choice to engage with people.

Peter Bowes: [00:26:04] And as we hopefully break out of covid, I think there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not there yet. We’re beginning to get significant portions of the population vaccinated, but it is going to take time as we break out of covid, I assume that your goal is to to essentially go back to where you would perhaps embrace some of the positive aspects of working the way that we have done over the last few months.

Amy Temperley: [00:26:28] Definitely our favorite part of our work is going out and being with people and really engaging them in conversations and enjoying and laughing and learning together and having fun. And it’s a little bit harder over Zoom to do some of that kind of thing. We’ve tried and unfortunately not everybody has the technology or the education to or maybe even the wi fi to get online and, you know, take part in all of this. So we’re really looking forward to getting back out with people and starting to get some indicators that that’s coming very soon. A couple of sites are starting to open up. Once we get our vaccines, we’ll be good to go.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:09] And your latest venture, A Mighty Good Time, borne out of the events of, I assume, the last few months. That is something that will continue.

Amy Temperley: [00:27:16] It will right now, most of the activities there are virtual or phone based, so you can access them from anywhere. But as things start to open up, we’ll have more in-person events and you’ll be able to search by zip code and what topics you’re interested in and find something close to you.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:30] Do you have an inspiring story that you’ve heard come out of coverage and perhaps this latest venture, what it’s doing to help people’s lives?

Amy Temperley: [00:27:38] I guess, you know, I mentioned our our friend Gladys, who’s 95, and she’s kind of our poster child and she’s just really super engaged and she’s active on social media and she just gets it, you know, and sadly, at the beginning of Covid, she was living alone and her family was, you know, quite concerned about her. And they moved her. What, you know, obviously, with her permission up to I think she’s in Illinois now. And it was a major change for her. She’d lived in the same house, I think, for, you know, 60 or 70 years. It was a really big problem for her. But because we’re virtual, she’s been able to get on to classes sometimes twice a day with all her old friends. And that has been. Such a gift to be able to to do that and and what I love about Gladys is, you know, her friends are everywhere from 50 to 95. She just has this fantastic range of people and she’s able to do that from afar. And I think that’s the beauty of the virtual programming we’re able to access and hits and people now that, you know, we’re home based or maybe had transportation issues and now everybody can access it any time. So hopefully that will always be a part of the puzzle, I think always.

Peter Bowes: [00:28:51] Yeah. And I hear it time and time again from people in your line of work, the value and the importance of older people having friends who are from other generations, from younger generations. That’s helpful to everyone.

Amy Temperley: [00:29:04] Yeah, I think I think it rubs off on you when you have people that are younger than you. I know I feel that way when I hang around some GenZ or my nieces, I get a little bit of that and keep up with current staff. That’s all important.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:17] Amy, I think you’re doing valuable work for anyone listening to this. They’d like to get involved. What should they do?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:22] I would start with going to AMightyGoodTime.com and to see if there are classes and things that you’re interested in. You don’t even have to log in. You can go into the website and use it for free without, you know, signing up. If you do sign in it again, still free for you to use it just lets you favorite some of your activities so that you can, you know, easily refer to them. So let you start a little page of your own with all your favorite activities on it. But, yeah, start there, see what you what you like and try out some of the stuff. Most of the classes are free.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:51] And obviously it’s great that it’s free. And obviously being online, this is potentially open to an international audience?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:57] We hope so. That would be a beautiful gift if we can get that far. But we are just getting started.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:03] Just getting started. Excellent. Really good work. Really good to talk to you. Best of luck to you and your husband. I think it’s extremely valuable.

Amy Temperley: [00:30:10] Thank you so much. It’s great to be here with you.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:13] And if you would like to read more about Aging is Cool, I will, as ever put some details into the show notes for this episode. You’ll find them at the Live Long Master Aging Website LLAMApodcast.com LLAMApodcast.com. The LLAMA podcast is a HealthSpan Media production. If you enjoy what we do, you can read and review us at Apple Podcasts. You can follow us in social media @LLAMApodcast and direct message me @PeterBowes take care and thanks for listening.

Amy Temperley: [00:00:04] It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true and we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:00:21] Hello and welcome to the Live Long and Master Aging podcast. I’m Peter Bowes. This is where we explore the science and stories on human longevity.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:00:31] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL, the all-in-one longevity supplement that contains 10 key ingredients shown to have a positive impact on healthspan as validated by scientific studies. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com. 

Peter Bowes: [00:00:52] So aging is cool. So says Amy Temperley, she is the owner of a company called Aging is Cool. That’s what attracted my attention because I think I can agree with that statement. I often say aging is a privilege and something we should embrace rather than trying to fight. Amy’s background is in non-profit consulting. Her husband, Damian, is a physical therapist, and together they have formed a company with the joint goal of really challenging the image, the popular media image of what it’s like to get older. Amy, welcome to the Live Long and Master aging podcast.

Amy Temperley: [00:01:25] Wonderful. Thank you for having me.

Peter Bowes: [00:01:27] Good to talk to you. Let’s start from the beginning. How did this start for you?

Amy Temperley: [00:01:31] Oh goodness. I have worked with older adults for the past 30 years. I for whatever reason, that was my passion. When I was very young, I started my career as a social worker, moved to non-profits, but most always was focused with older adults. And a few years ago, my husband had started teaching some fitness programming for four older adults as well. And we were really looking at like what were the gaps in the community and what was the need? And we figured there was plenty of home health and retirement communities and all those different things going up. But what seemed to be really a big gap was that focus on active, healthy aging versus that place of always worrying about the things that are going wrong, but focusing on how we prevent health problems and how we make our aging stronger and happier and much more fun. And so Aging is Cool was born. And it’s been beautiful because we can do it together, which is a nice a nice gift for husband and wife to be able to create something together.

Peter Bowes: [00:02:32] And before launching this, maybe as you were growing up, how much did you as a younger person, how much did you think about aging?

Amy Temperley: [00:02:40] I didn’t. I didn’t at all. And I was so blessed that my first internships in college were with Adult Protective Services and in a nursing home. And I, I what I learned was that aging can be a positive thing. And I learned to have a different perspective around people who were getting older. I saw wisdom and energy. You know, we never feel as old on the inside as maybe the years say that we are. And I was seeing that in the people that I was meeting was sort of this robust love for life and which is a gift because, you know, at 21, when I started in and working in nursing homes, most people aren’t exposed to older people and don’t see aging as the positive thing that it can be.

Peter Bowes: [00:03:26] At what age do you say that we start being old? It’s a very vague expression, a very vague word, isn’t it, to be suddenly old?

Amy Temperley: [00:03:36] You know, I don’t anymore. And that’s what’s so funny is I have friends that are 70, 80, 90 years old and I don’t really consider them old, are one of our members is 95 Gladys. And she is so incredibly active and engaged in ways that I don’t see some 30 year olds being that active and engaged. And she doesn’t feel old to me. She doesn’t feel old to me at all. So to me that’s a old is a feeling. And I don’t know that you’re old until you decide that you’re old.

Peter Bowes: [00:04:10] So you had this idea, you and your husband and your collective skills, I guess, made it possible. Aging is Cool is the name of the company. And you gave me a sort of brief synopsis of how that came about, but specifically settling on that title, what was the motivation?

Amy Temperley: [00:04:27] We really there’s two different things. First is that we want to express that we actually think aging is OK, that it’s a positive thing, that it’s you know, it happens to the best of us. Right. It’s not something that you can avoid. But we also wanted people to say themselves, aging is cool with me. It’s OK for me to do that. It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true. And we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:05:00] And maybe to be even more specific, there’s this image. You often see a media and I work in the media. Maybe I’m partly guilty of this. I hope not, because what I do in this podcast is trying to promote a positive side of aging, actually embracing aging. But often the media image of of maybe a stooped person, someone who is walking more slowly, who needs help when, as you’ve already implied, they probably don’t need help but are actually capable of doing much more than most people think.

Amy Temperley: [00:05:27] Yeah, there’s some great movements right now, especially coming out of the UK and Canada and Australia, who seem to be really far, far advanced in some of this in the way that they view aging, but really working on changing that kind of imagery. You know, if you look at any advertisement that’s talking about getting older, you’re going to see that. You see the wrinkly hands, you see the, you know, the walking canes or the walkers. You see a nurse in the picture. And the reality is that. That’s not what it looks like for most people. Only five percent of people end up in nursing homes, five percent. That means 95 percent of the rest of us are living in community. You know, maybe we need a little bit of support, but that doesn’t mean that our world has ended.

Peter Bowes: [00:06:07] And an expression we often hear is, again, another one that I sort of rail against is anti or anti aging – we’re advertisements all the time about what we can do to promote anti aging to in some way reverse aging. And again, that’s something that I personally don’t see as being particularly positive.

Amy Temperley: [00:06:26] No, I don’t either. And I you know, oddly, I’ll tell you a little personal bit this morning I woke up and I’m feeling quite older today. You know, I was I was recording a video for something else. And I and I just turned 50 last year. And I was just having that moment of, you know, even though I live this very positive world. And I feel very strongly that aging can be a wonderful thing because you’re pressured so much to see those different things. Even I woke up this morning thinking, oh, my God, am I getting old? And. It I don’t know that it’s a positive thing to be worried constantly about what creams do I need and what medicines do I need so that I look better, so that, you know, I look like I’m 20 years old, 30 years old. I don’t I think it’s a lot of pressure. And does it take our brain power away from the pieces of aging that are really great, like continuing to learn new things and being active and finding a sense of purpose in your world? That’s really what we should be focused on as we age. That’s that’s the good stuff.

Peter Bowes: [00:07:28] So let’s talk about the good stuff and what you do with your clients. How did you start with the company? It’s always daunting, isn’t it, to start a new venture like this?

Amy Temperley: [00:07:36] Yes, it was incredible. And as far as we knew at the time, it was a huge gap. We started by creating interesting activities. Of course, Damian, my husband brought fitness programming. We hired yoga instructors and tai chi and belly dance instructors. You lots of fun on the fitness side. We created a brain training programs to help people keep their minds sharp. And then we started creating educational presentations on travel and history and science and pop culture. And we offered it out here in Austin to people in town. And then we also took it into residential communities like assisted living, retirement communities and older adult apartment complexes. And that was kind of how it all was rolling along until until Covid hit and we needed to think differently. And so everything went virtual. Right. And had met a lovely couple, Ian and Jan, who owned a company called Heart and Soul Care. And together we piloted a new website that we just launched in January called A Mighty Good Time and a Mighty Good Time is a one stop shop for all kinds of activities for people 50 and older, curated from all around the country. And right now it’s mostly virtual, but we’re starting to see some live activities come back as well.

Peter Bowes: [00:08:53] And I mentioned in a previous question about is there a number that defines being old, at least as far as your venture is concerned? It’s for the over 50s,

Amy Temperley: [00:09:02] We picked over 50s. I think maybe it’s kind of a time in your life where your mindset changes a little bit. In some ways, maybe your kids are gone. Maybe you’re starting to think about retirement. So we really wanted to focus there. Now, we are very well aware that people are living to be 110 years old now. So 50 to 110 is a 60 year gap. So we’re trying to be mindful about bringing activities that are of interest to you at different stages as well. So almost all of our fitness programming is going to have an adapted quality to it. So you’ll be able to do it seated or standing. You know, there’s options for that. But quite honestly, the rest of our activities could be done by anyone at any age. We just wanted people to be able to access them as easily and quickly as they could.

Peter Bowes: [00:09:51] Yeah, I wonder if is a little bit of resistance and clearly no one has to do this, but could there be a little bit of resistance by someone who is 50 or 55 or 59 as I’ve just turned and feels as if they can look after themselves with their own exercise regimes in the same way as they did 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, and that they just don’t want, maybe even for psychological reasons, to be to be grouped as part of a community that is older and perhaps needs a little bit more help. 

Amy Temperley: [00:10:21] Completely. And I think that’s a very a very real consideration. And again, we try to to bring and curate activities that are kind of throughout the spectrum. But, yes, it’s hard making that leap between thinking you’re a senior. Right. Does senior citizen kind of terminology. And I wouldn’t you know, again, I just turned 50. I wouldn’t consider myself a senior either. But I do know the things that I’m interested in, the way that I prefer my activities provided to me, the maybe the age range of people I even want to associate. Is a little bit older. And so if I want to meet other people who are in their 50s and who are in the same lifespan, part of the journey that I am, this is a good way to do that. So it’s a great way to be able to connect with people who really get where you are in the puzzle.

Peter Bowes: [00:11:08] So the goal, at least pre covid and hopefully after covid as well, was in person working with people. And the social aspect of it is clearly very important. And we’ve talked on this podcast many times about loneliness as people get older and especially people that get older and actually stay healthy into their 80s and 90s might find themselves lonely because their friends haven’t been as healthy as they continue to be. And they find themselves alone and wondering who they can associate with. That has equal abilities that can still do the hike or still play football or do whatever they do physically.

Amy Temperley: [00:11:48] Yeah, for us, the social peace is everything.  I got, really, if you want to sum up why we do what we do is, is the social peace and trying to reduce social isolation. Because if you stay engaged with other people, you’re more likely to be physically active, you are constantly working your brain, you eat better, you sleep better, your mood is better, you learn more. Just the act of having a conversation with somebody you know. I’m watching your eyes. I’m listening to what you’re saying. I’m processing the words. I’m sending it back to you. That is so powerful for your brain. And so everything to us that is the root is how do we stay social and engaged with other people? It’s just key.

Peter Bowes: [00:12:33] So just to dig a little deeper in terms of of how you work, in terms of associating with people and those people getting involved with you, how it differs from perhaps, someone signing up to a local gym.

Amy Temperley: [00:12:45] We very much are about getting to know the people that we work with. We have right now with Aging is Cool. And of course, it’s changed some with with covid. But we have about 40 active members that join us on virtual programing. We know all of them by name. We check in with them on a regular basis. You know, when covid hit, we were on the phone making sure everybody was all right. When it was time for vaccines, we were sharing information about how to get the vaccines. So for us, it’s much more than just a room full of people who came to exercise. We. Add that social peace and everything we do, even if we went out to a residential community to do a presentation or an educational session on, you know, the big band era or whatever, the thing is, you know, travel or whatever, there’s always going to be opportunities for people to get to know each other, to interact with each other. So it’s different in that we’re mindful of the other pieces of the puzzle and much more holistic in the way that we provide programming.

Peter Bowes: [00:13:51] So this is much more of a club kind of atmosphere.

Amy Temperley: [00:13:54] It is for our membership, yeah, our membership. We run through our non-profit side and that very much so. People get to know each other very, very deeply. Your other services, when we go out into the community, we used to prior to Covid had, you know, 30 instructors going to 100 different locations and actually doing all kinds of different classes. So, you know, slightly different models. But, yeah, with our with our little membership group, it’s definitely about that connection.

Peter Bowes: [00:14:22] And what is, the I wonder if there is a most common thing that people say to you? But I’m just curious people that that find you as a service and get involved. Do they talk about what was lacking in their lives previously, that you have managed that hole that you’ve managed to fill?

Amy Temperley: [00:14:39] Completely with the two main things I think one is friendship and the social. They talk very often about all the friends they’ve made and their deeper relationships. They check on each other outside of class. They have, you know, individual relationships that they’ve made during this process. The other one is, are fitness programming is very well adapted to this audience. And a lot of them have seen significant health improvements during the last winter storm here a few weeks ago. And all the snow in the ice, one of the women commented that she had been out shoveling her sidewalk. Now she is eighty two, I think, and probably shouldn’t have been doing that. But she said that before being involved in all of our classes, she never would have had the strength and energy and stability to be able to do that. And we hear those types of things frequently.

Peter Bowes: [00:15:30] And we’re going to pause for a second. We’ll come back. We’ll continue our conversation in less than a minute. You’re listening to the Live Longer and Master aging podcast.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:15:39] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL a novel all in one longevity supplement that includes 10 key research backed ingredients shown in scientific studies to support healthspan things like resveratrol, fisetin, quercetin, pterostilbene, sulforaphane and turmeric…all in a single dose. If you’re interested in supporting your longevity, you probably already have a cabinet full of these single ingredients at home. JUVICELL is the first product to combine them all into a single supplement to support your healthspan. It’s also vegan, non GMO and sustainable. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com.

Peter Bowes: [00:16:23] I’m talking to Amy Temperley, the owner of Aging is Cool. Amy, how do you see yourself? You just turned 50. How do you see yourself at sixty or seventy?

Amy Temperley: [00:16:32] Oh goodness. That’s a really, really good question. So I have because of what we do, I have a much better mindset around what I need to do for my own well-being. I have a focus on how do I be more healthy, how do I? With covid my husband and I, as much as we’re extroverts in the work that we do, we’re introverts at home. And I have found us isolating ourselves a little bit. And I realize more and more how important social interaction is for us. And so really making some concerted efforts to kind of re-engage with friends and things that have kind of changed over the last period. I also have just fallen in love in the last year with all kinds of making. So I’ve been I worked with paint now acrylic paints. I bought a lathe and I’m making pens and bowls and, you know, just random things. But for the first time in my life, I have a real passion around that kind of making. And when I think of myself at 60 and 70, I want to have more time for that. You know, some of these new things that I’ve found that give me great joy most of my life since I was, you know, eighteen and up has been about work and the difference that I can make in my job and being out there constantly trying to change the world, if I can, you know, all of that. But as I get older, I realize that there’s a piece that I didn’t pay attention to, which is, you know, the things that just purely give me joy. And I’d like to focus on that a little bit more as the years go on.

Peter Bowes: [00:18:10] I think they’re fascinating observations also in a practical sense as to what you found yourself doing over the last few months. And I think a lot of people can associate with that.  Our lives have changed, and clearly it’s been an incredibly difficult time, a tragic time for so many, but trying to sieve out the positive aspects, maybe moving forward of how our lives have changed. I think finding new talents that perhaps we have finding these things to do is, as you have. and other facets of our lives, because we’ve had time to do it, I think. And again, with aging in mind, that can only be a positive

Amy Temperley: [00:18:47] Completely a more and more we’ve been thinking about and and working towards helping people find purpose and meaning in their life. And, you know, for some people, that may be your your faith or your spirituality, but I think there’s more to it than that. It might just be getting up and tending to your plants in the morning or, you know, that cup of coffee on the porch or whatever that thing is that makes your life worth living. And how do you continue to engage in that? And even as we lose abilities, I mean, I’ve had three back surgeries. I have I have the back of a 75 year old woman. So true. And, you know, I love to garden and I know there are some other things that I’m having to make some adaptations to. But, OK, so now my flower beds are raised or, you know, now whether I’m doing vegetables in pots instead of, you know, out in our garden. So trying to find the ways to adapt so that you can continue to embrace the things you love rather than lamenting what you’ve lost.

Peter Bowes: [00:19:47] And I think it’s a good model for retirement. The life change that so many people fear and that looming question, what will I do? Sadly, a lot of people devote themselves to their job and raising their family and paying their mortgage. And then suddenly at 65 or whatever the age is, there’s a blank piece of paper and it comes to suddenly for a lot of people.

Amy Temperley: [00:20:10] Yeah. And there’s still ways to engage in that kind of work. I mean, you could work part time or you could I come out of the non-profit sector. There is a huge need for volunteers and board members. And so if you still need that to give back, if you still want to use those skills and expertise, there are ways to do that. But it’s a great time to reflect on what did I love to do as a kid and I haven’t gotten to to do because I had to go to work and raise a family, you know, or wow, maybe I should experiment with this and take out an art class or a music class and learn something new, which is just good for your brain anyway,

Peter Bowes: [00:20:47] Or get a dog. I think that’s a dog we’re talking via, Zoom, at the moment. So I can actually see you. And in the background, there’s a dog rolling over and scratching him or herself. A dog is a great activity. 

Amy Temperley: [00:20:58] Completely.They make you get out and walk and and have something to pay attention to, something to love. I mean, we have four dogs, so I have a ritual every morning of how I care for them. And I don’t think my morning would be the same if I didn’t have that little ritual.

Peter Bowes: [00:21:13] I totally agree with you. And I plan in the hopefully the near future to do an entire episode about the benefits of of owning dogs and and actually looking at dog longevity as well, which is a very interesting topic on its own. But I’m a I’m a huge fan. I’ve got my own dog. I cannot be up for more than thirty minutes and having my morning coffee before we’ve got to go out and go for that long one hour hike. It’s really good for both of us. Just getting back to aging, I’m curious what your thoughts on this subject are. Here we are in the United States. We’ve got a president who is 78 years old, a former president who is in his early 70s, a political establishment that tends to be very old. If you look at members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as well. I’m just wondering whether our elected officials, whether it’s in this country or elsewhere, take on the responsibility of promoting positive aging in the way that you would like to see.

Amy Temperley: [00:22:07] Oh, that’s an excellent question. You know, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone take it on as a platform. I think they’ve definitely demonstrated that they can still be active and engaged and they have the brains and the knowledge and the background to do that. But it would be interesting to see someone take it on and kind of challenge the establishment. That said, I also feel strongly about diversity in all our, you know, in our work and in our political system, particularly in our non-profits, the way we serve people to, you know, have people of all ages and all colors and all orientations and how powerful that is. So despite the fact that maybe, you know, that we have older leaders, I think it’s very important that we engage people at all ages and that we find opportunities even in our own lives to do that as well. That’s, you know, that’s a great way to learn new things and to pass on wisdom. We need we need all the ages together to interact.

Peter Bowes: [00:23:05] Yeah, I think you’re right. And I agree with you. I think it would be wonderful if a political platform would embrace the kind of topics that we’ve been talking about and not only in a political sense, but embracing health care and what it means to get older and the positive benefits of being healthy and old, and perhaps this is how a politician could do it by relating it to the fiscal implications, the positive implications of having an older generation, which is exactly what you’re working towards by embracing physical activity with older people. 

Amy Temperley: [00:23:37] Yeah, I do a lot of work here in Austin through the Aging Services Council, and I serve on the Commission for Seniors here in Austin, Texas, as well. And, you know, there there is a lot that’s not being paid attention to as we get older in order to serve people in a different way. And it’s it is disconcerting. I mean, even in our homeless population here in Austin, 26 percent of them are over age 50. You know, those rates are growing higher. So there’s a lot of attention that needs to be made just to issues of of age and aging and society in general. We’re starting to see some movements. You know, it’s nice to start to see some movements. I think since the baby boomers started turning 65 and everybody finally looked at the demographics and went, oh, my gosh, what are we going to do with this? But we also knew it was coming, you know, like 30 years ago. We were talking about what happens when the baby boomers turn 65 and we didn’t do much about it. So it’s it’s a little bit delayed and behind the curve, but it’s coming. I think change is coming.

Peter Bowes: [00:24:38] Yeah, I think the progression of the boomers and we did a recent episode devoted to precisely that generation, which includes myself. I’m on the the lower end of the the demographic. But I think what it brings home to you is how quickly time passes and that the boomers are actually getting on in age right now. Boomers, those of us in that group, need to to adapt to it. I’m curious, we often talk about life hacks and what you’ve learned through your profession that you might apply to your own life and things that you do now to promote your own longevity. Is there something perhaps you say you didn’t think about aging very much as as a younger person, but you clearly think about it a lot now. Is it something you do every day?

Amy Temperley: [00:25:19] Movement is is one of them. And as I mentioned, I have some physical limitations with my back. So just walking, you know, even if you can just get up a little bit, move your body to some degree every day, I think that’s really, really important. I’m much more mindful about rest too – paying attention to when my body is worn out and actually not pushing it so far that I’m, you know, exhausted for the next week. So understanding that as we get older that our body may need more recuperation time. And then, as I mentioned, just that social piece is remembering that that’s really important, especially right now. You kind of have to schedule it in because it doesn’t accidentally happen, especially if you’re home based like I am. So you really have to make a choice to engage with people.

Peter Bowes: [00:26:04] And as we hopefully break out of covid, I think there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not there yet. We’re beginning to get significant portions of the population vaccinated, but it is going to take time as we break out of covid, I assume that your goal is to to essentially go back to where you would perhaps embrace some of the positive aspects of working the way that we have done over the last few months.

Amy Temperley: [00:26:28] Definitely our favorite part of our work is going out and being with people and really engaging them in conversations and enjoying and laughing and learning together and having fun. And it’s a little bit harder over Zoom to do some of that kind of thing. We’ve tried and unfortunately not everybody has the technology or the education to or maybe even the wi fi to get online and, you know, take part in all of this. So we’re really looking forward to getting back out with people and starting to get some indicators that that’s coming very soon. A couple of sites are starting to open up. Once we get our vaccines, we’ll be good to go.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:09] And your latest venture, A Mighty Good Time, borne out of the events of, I assume, the last few months. That is something that will continue.

Amy Temperley: [00:27:16] It will right now, most of the activities there are virtual or phone based, so you can access them from anywhere. But as things start to open up, we’ll have more in-person events and you’ll be able to search by zip code and what topics you’re interested in and find something close to you.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:30] Do you have an inspiring story that you’ve heard come out of coverage and perhaps this latest venture, what it’s doing to help people’s lives?

Amy Temperley: [00:27:38] I guess, you know, I mentioned our our friend Gladys, who’s 95, and she’s kind of our poster child and she’s just really super engaged and she’s active on social media and she just gets it, you know, and sadly, at the beginning of Covid, she was living alone and her family was, you know, quite concerned about her. And they moved her. What, you know, obviously, with her permission up to I think she’s in Illinois now. And it was a major change for her. She’d lived in the same house, I think, for, you know, 60 or 70 years. It was a really big problem for her. But because we’re virtual, she’s been able to get on to classes sometimes twice a day with all her old friends. And that has been. Such a gift to be able to to do that and and what I love about Gladys is, you know, her friends are everywhere from 50 to 95. She just has this fantastic range of people and she’s able to do that from afar. And I think that’s the beauty of the virtual programming we’re able to access and hits and people now that, you know, we’re home based or maybe had transportation issues and now everybody can access it any time. So hopefully that will always be a part of the puzzle, I think always.

Peter Bowes: [00:28:51] Yeah. And I hear it time and time again from people in your line of work, the value and the importance of older people having friends who are from other generations, from younger generations. That’s helpful to everyone.

Amy Temperley: [00:29:04] Yeah, I think I think it rubs off on you when you have people that are younger than you. I know I feel that way when I hang around some GenZ or my nieces, I get a little bit of that and keep up with current staff. That’s all important.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:17] Amy, I think you’re doing valuable work for anyone listening to this. They’d like to get involved. What should they do?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:22] I would start with going to AMightyGoodTime.com and to see if there are classes and things that you’re interested in. You don’t even have to log in. You can go into the website and use it for free without, you know, signing up. If you do sign in it again, still free for you to use it just lets you favorite some of your activities so that you can, you know, easily refer to them. So let you start a little page of your own with all your favorite activities on it. But, yeah, start there, see what you what you like and try out some of the stuff. Most of the classes are free.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:51] And obviously it’s great that it’s free. And obviously being online, this is potentially open to an international audience?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:57] We hope so. That would be a beautiful gift if we can get that far. But we are just getting started.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:03] Just getting started. Excellent. Really good work. Really good to talk to you. Best of luck to you and your husband. I think it’s extremely valuable.

Amy Temperley: [00:30:10] Thank you so much. It’s great to be here with you.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:13] And if you would like to read more about Aging is Cool, I will, as ever put some details into the show notes for this episode. You’ll find them at the Live Long Master Aging Website LLAMApodcast.com LLAMApodcast.com. The LLAMA podcast is a HealthSpan Media production. If you enjoy what we do, you can read and review us at Apple Podcasts. You can follow us in social media @LLAMApodcast and direct message me @PeterBowes take care and thanks for listening.

Amy Temperley: [00:00:04] It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true and we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:00:21] Hello and welcome to the Live Long and Master Aging podcast. I’m Peter Bowes. This is where we explore the science and stories on human longevity.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:00:31] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL, the all-in-one longevity supplement that contains 10 key ingredients shown to have a positive impact on healthspan as validated by scientific studies. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com. 

Peter Bowes: [00:00:52] So aging is cool. So says Amy Temperley, she is the owner of a company called Aging is Cool. That’s what attracted my attention because I think I can agree with that statement. I often say aging is a privilege and something we should embrace rather than trying to fight. Amy’s background is in non-profit consulting. Her husband, Damian, is a physical therapist, and together they have formed a company with the joint goal of really challenging the image, the popular media image of what it’s like to get older. Amy, welcome to the Live Long and Master aging podcast.

Amy Temperley: [00:01:25] Wonderful. Thank you for having me.

Peter Bowes: [00:01:27] Good to talk to you. Let’s start from the beginning. How did this start for you?

Amy Temperley: [00:01:31] Oh goodness. I have worked with older adults for the past 30 years. I for whatever reason, that was my passion. When I was very young, I started my career as a social worker, moved to non-profits, but most always was focused with older adults. And a few years ago, my husband had started teaching some fitness programming for four older adults as well. And we were really looking at like what were the gaps in the community and what was the need? And we figured there was plenty of home health and retirement communities and all those different things going up. But what seemed to be really a big gap was that focus on active, healthy aging versus that place of always worrying about the things that are going wrong, but focusing on how we prevent health problems and how we make our aging stronger and happier and much more fun. And so Aging is Cool was born. And it’s been beautiful because we can do it together, which is a nice a nice gift for husband and wife to be able to create something together.

Peter Bowes: [00:02:32] And before launching this, maybe as you were growing up, how much did you as a younger person, how much did you think about aging?

Amy Temperley: [00:02:40] I didn’t. I didn’t at all. And I was so blessed that my first internships in college were with Adult Protective Services and in a nursing home. And I, I what I learned was that aging can be a positive thing. And I learned to have a different perspective around people who were getting older. I saw wisdom and energy. You know, we never feel as old on the inside as maybe the years say that we are. And I was seeing that in the people that I was meeting was sort of this robust love for life and which is a gift because, you know, at 21, when I started in and working in nursing homes, most people aren’t exposed to older people and don’t see aging as the positive thing that it can be.

Peter Bowes: [00:03:26] At what age do you say that we start being old? It’s a very vague expression, a very vague word, isn’t it, to be suddenly old?

Amy Temperley: [00:03:36] You know, I don’t anymore. And that’s what’s so funny is I have friends that are 70, 80, 90 years old and I don’t really consider them old, are one of our members is 95 Gladys. And she is so incredibly active and engaged in ways that I don’t see some 30 year olds being that active and engaged. And she doesn’t feel old to me. She doesn’t feel old to me at all. So to me that’s a old is a feeling. And I don’t know that you’re old until you decide that you’re old.

Peter Bowes: [00:04:10] So you had this idea, you and your husband and your collective skills, I guess, made it possible. Aging is Cool is the name of the company. And you gave me a sort of brief synopsis of how that came about, but specifically settling on that title, what was the motivation?

Amy Temperley: [00:04:27] We really there’s two different things. First is that we want to express that we actually think aging is OK, that it’s a positive thing, that it’s you know, it happens to the best of us. Right. It’s not something that you can avoid. But we also wanted people to say themselves, aging is cool with me. It’s OK for me to do that. It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true. And we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:05:00] And maybe to be even more specific, there’s this image. You often see a media and I work in the media. Maybe I’m partly guilty of this. I hope not, because what I do in this podcast is trying to promote a positive side of aging, actually embracing aging. But often the media image of of maybe a stooped person, someone who is walking more slowly, who needs help when, as you’ve already implied, they probably don’t need help but are actually capable of doing much more than most people think.

Amy Temperley: [00:05:27] Yeah, there’s some great movements right now, especially coming out of the UK and Canada and Australia, who seem to be really far, far advanced in some of this in the way that they view aging, but really working on changing that kind of imagery. You know, if you look at any advertisement that’s talking about getting older, you’re going to see that. You see the wrinkly hands, you see the, you know, the walking canes or the walkers. You see a nurse in the picture. And the reality is that. That’s not what it looks like for most people. Only five percent of people end up in nursing homes, five percent. That means 95 percent of the rest of us are living in community. You know, maybe we need a little bit of support, but that doesn’t mean that our world has ended.

Peter Bowes: [00:06:07] And an expression we often hear is, again, another one that I sort of rail against is anti or anti aging – we’re advertisements all the time about what we can do to promote anti aging to in some way reverse aging. And again, that’s something that I personally don’t see as being particularly positive.

Amy Temperley: [00:06:26] No, I don’t either. And I you know, oddly, I’ll tell you a little personal bit this morning I woke up and I’m feeling quite older today. You know, I was I was recording a video for something else. And I and I just turned 50 last year. And I was just having that moment of, you know, even though I live this very positive world. And I feel very strongly that aging can be a wonderful thing because you’re pressured so much to see those different things. Even I woke up this morning thinking, oh, my God, am I getting old? And. It I don’t know that it’s a positive thing to be worried constantly about what creams do I need and what medicines do I need so that I look better, so that, you know, I look like I’m 20 years old, 30 years old. I don’t I think it’s a lot of pressure. And does it take our brain power away from the pieces of aging that are really great, like continuing to learn new things and being active and finding a sense of purpose in your world? That’s really what we should be focused on as we age. That’s that’s the good stuff.

Peter Bowes: [00:07:28] So let’s talk about the good stuff and what you do with your clients. How did you start with the company? It’s always daunting, isn’t it, to start a new venture like this?

Amy Temperley: [00:07:36] Yes, it was incredible. And as far as we knew at the time, it was a huge gap. We started by creating interesting activities. Of course, Damian, my husband brought fitness programming. We hired yoga instructors and tai chi and belly dance instructors. You lots of fun on the fitness side. We created a brain training programs to help people keep their minds sharp. And then we started creating educational presentations on travel and history and science and pop culture. And we offered it out here in Austin to people in town. And then we also took it into residential communities like assisted living, retirement communities and older adult apartment complexes. And that was kind of how it all was rolling along until until Covid hit and we needed to think differently. And so everything went virtual. Right. And had met a lovely couple, Ian and Jan, who owned a company called Heart and Soul Care. And together we piloted a new website that we just launched in January called A Mighty Good Time and a Mighty Good Time is a one stop shop for all kinds of activities for people 50 and older, curated from all around the country. And right now it’s mostly virtual, but we’re starting to see some live activities come back as well.

Peter Bowes: [00:08:53] And I mentioned in a previous question about is there a number that defines being old, at least as far as your venture is concerned? It’s for the over 50s,

Amy Temperley: [00:09:02] We picked over 50s. I think maybe it’s kind of a time in your life where your mindset changes a little bit. In some ways, maybe your kids are gone. Maybe you’re starting to think about retirement. So we really wanted to focus there. Now, we are very well aware that people are living to be 110 years old now. So 50 to 110 is a 60 year gap. So we’re trying to be mindful about bringing activities that are of interest to you at different stages as well. So almost all of our fitness programming is going to have an adapted quality to it. So you’ll be able to do it seated or standing. You know, there’s options for that. But quite honestly, the rest of our activities could be done by anyone at any age. We just wanted people to be able to access them as easily and quickly as they could.

Peter Bowes: [00:09:51] Yeah, I wonder if is a little bit of resistance and clearly no one has to do this, but could there be a little bit of resistance by someone who is 50 or 55 or 59 as I’ve just turned and feels as if they can look after themselves with their own exercise regimes in the same way as they did 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, and that they just don’t want, maybe even for psychological reasons, to be to be grouped as part of a community that is older and perhaps needs a little bit more help. 

Amy Temperley: [00:10:21] Completely. And I think that’s a very a very real consideration. And again, we try to to bring and curate activities that are kind of throughout the spectrum. But, yes, it’s hard making that leap between thinking you’re a senior. Right. Does senior citizen kind of terminology. And I wouldn’t you know, again, I just turned 50. I wouldn’t consider myself a senior either. But I do know the things that I’m interested in, the way that I prefer my activities provided to me, the maybe the age range of people I even want to associate. Is a little bit older. And so if I want to meet other people who are in their 50s and who are in the same lifespan, part of the journey that I am, this is a good way to do that. So it’s a great way to be able to connect with people who really get where you are in the puzzle.

Peter Bowes: [00:11:08] So the goal, at least pre covid and hopefully after covid as well, was in person working with people. And the social aspect of it is clearly very important. And we’ve talked on this podcast many times about loneliness as people get older and especially people that get older and actually stay healthy into their 80s and 90s might find themselves lonely because their friends haven’t been as healthy as they continue to be. And they find themselves alone and wondering who they can associate with. That has equal abilities that can still do the hike or still play football or do whatever they do physically.

Amy Temperley: [00:11:48] Yeah, for us, the social peace is everything.  I got, really, if you want to sum up why we do what we do is, is the social peace and trying to reduce social isolation. Because if you stay engaged with other people, you’re more likely to be physically active, you are constantly working your brain, you eat better, you sleep better, your mood is better, you learn more. Just the act of having a conversation with somebody you know. I’m watching your eyes. I’m listening to what you’re saying. I’m processing the words. I’m sending it back to you. That is so powerful for your brain. And so everything to us that is the root is how do we stay social and engaged with other people? It’s just key.

Peter Bowes: [00:12:33] So just to dig a little deeper in terms of of how you work, in terms of associating with people and those people getting involved with you, how it differs from perhaps, someone signing up to a local gym.

Amy Temperley: [00:12:45] We very much are about getting to know the people that we work with. We have right now with Aging is Cool. And of course, it’s changed some with with covid. But we have about 40 active members that join us on virtual programing. We know all of them by name. We check in with them on a regular basis. You know, when covid hit, we were on the phone making sure everybody was all right. When it was time for vaccines, we were sharing information about how to get the vaccines. So for us, it’s much more than just a room full of people who came to exercise. We. Add that social peace and everything we do, even if we went out to a residential community to do a presentation or an educational session on, you know, the big band era or whatever, the thing is, you know, travel or whatever, there’s always going to be opportunities for people to get to know each other, to interact with each other. So it’s different in that we’re mindful of the other pieces of the puzzle and much more holistic in the way that we provide programming.

Peter Bowes: [00:13:51] So this is much more of a club kind of atmosphere.

Amy Temperley: [00:13:54] It is for our membership, yeah, our membership. We run through our non-profit side and that very much so. People get to know each other very, very deeply. Your other services, when we go out into the community, we used to prior to Covid had, you know, 30 instructors going to 100 different locations and actually doing all kinds of different classes. So, you know, slightly different models. But, yeah, with our with our little membership group, it’s definitely about that connection.

Peter Bowes: [00:14:22] And what is, the I wonder if there is a most common thing that people say to you? But I’m just curious people that that find you as a service and get involved. Do they talk about what was lacking in their lives previously, that you have managed that hole that you’ve managed to fill?

Amy Temperley: [00:14:39] Completely with the two main things I think one is friendship and the social. They talk very often about all the friends they’ve made and their deeper relationships. They check on each other outside of class. They have, you know, individual relationships that they’ve made during this process. The other one is, are fitness programming is very well adapted to this audience. And a lot of them have seen significant health improvements during the last winter storm here a few weeks ago. And all the snow in the ice, one of the women commented that she had been out shoveling her sidewalk. Now she is eighty two, I think, and probably shouldn’t have been doing that. But she said that before being involved in all of our classes, she never would have had the strength and energy and stability to be able to do that. And we hear those types of things frequently.

Peter Bowes: [00:15:30] And we’re going to pause for a second. We’ll come back. We’ll continue our conversation in less than a minute. You’re listening to the Live Longer and Master aging podcast.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:15:39] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL a novel all in one longevity supplement that includes 10 key research backed ingredients shown in scientific studies to support healthspan things like resveratrol, fisetin, quercetin, pterostilbene, sulforaphane and turmeric…all in a single dose. If you’re interested in supporting your longevity, you probably already have a cabinet full of these single ingredients at home. JUVICELL is the first product to combine them all into a single supplement to support your healthspan. It’s also vegan, non GMO and sustainable. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com.

Peter Bowes: [00:16:23] I’m talking to Amy Temperley, the owner of Aging is Cool. Amy, how do you see yourself? You just turned 50. How do you see yourself at sixty or seventy?

Amy Temperley: [00:16:32] Oh goodness. That’s a really, really good question. So I have because of what we do, I have a much better mindset around what I need to do for my own well-being. I have a focus on how do I be more healthy, how do I? With covid my husband and I, as much as we’re extroverts in the work that we do, we’re introverts at home. And I have found us isolating ourselves a little bit. And I realize more and more how important social interaction is for us. And so really making some concerted efforts to kind of re-engage with friends and things that have kind of changed over the last period. I also have just fallen in love in the last year with all kinds of making. So I’ve been I worked with paint now acrylic paints. I bought a lathe and I’m making pens and bowls and, you know, just random things. But for the first time in my life, I have a real passion around that kind of making. And when I think of myself at 60 and 70, I want to have more time for that. You know, some of these new things that I’ve found that give me great joy most of my life since I was, you know, eighteen and up has been about work and the difference that I can make in my job and being out there constantly trying to change the world, if I can, you know, all of that. But as I get older, I realize that there’s a piece that I didn’t pay attention to, which is, you know, the things that just purely give me joy. And I’d like to focus on that a little bit more as the years go on.

Peter Bowes: [00:18:10] I think they’re fascinating observations also in a practical sense as to what you found yourself doing over the last few months. And I think a lot of people can associate with that.  Our lives have changed, and clearly it’s been an incredibly difficult time, a tragic time for so many, but trying to sieve out the positive aspects, maybe moving forward of how our lives have changed. I think finding new talents that perhaps we have finding these things to do is, as you have. and other facets of our lives, because we’ve had time to do it, I think. And again, with aging in mind, that can only be a positive

Amy Temperley: [00:18:47] Completely a more and more we’ve been thinking about and and working towards helping people find purpose and meaning in their life. And, you know, for some people, that may be your your faith or your spirituality, but I think there’s more to it than that. It might just be getting up and tending to your plants in the morning or, you know, that cup of coffee on the porch or whatever that thing is that makes your life worth living. And how do you continue to engage in that? And even as we lose abilities, I mean, I’ve had three back surgeries. I have I have the back of a 75 year old woman. So true. And, you know, I love to garden and I know there are some other things that I’m having to make some adaptations to. But, OK, so now my flower beds are raised or, you know, now whether I’m doing vegetables in pots instead of, you know, out in our garden. So trying to find the ways to adapt so that you can continue to embrace the things you love rather than lamenting what you’ve lost.

Peter Bowes: [00:19:47] And I think it’s a good model for retirement. The life change that so many people fear and that looming question, what will I do? Sadly, a lot of people devote themselves to their job and raising their family and paying their mortgage. And then suddenly at 65 or whatever the age is, there’s a blank piece of paper and it comes to suddenly for a lot of people.

Amy Temperley: [00:20:10] Yeah. And there’s still ways to engage in that kind of work. I mean, you could work part time or you could I come out of the non-profit sector. There is a huge need for volunteers and board members. And so if you still need that to give back, if you still want to use those skills and expertise, there are ways to do that. But it’s a great time to reflect on what did I love to do as a kid and I haven’t gotten to to do because I had to go to work and raise a family, you know, or wow, maybe I should experiment with this and take out an art class or a music class and learn something new, which is just good for your brain anyway,

Peter Bowes: [00:20:47] Or get a dog. I think that’s a dog we’re talking via, Zoom, at the moment. So I can actually see you. And in the background, there’s a dog rolling over and scratching him or herself. A dog is a great activity. 

Amy Temperley: [00:20:58] Completely.They make you get out and walk and and have something to pay attention to, something to love. I mean, we have four dogs, so I have a ritual every morning of how I care for them. And I don’t think my morning would be the same if I didn’t have that little ritual.

Peter Bowes: [00:21:13] I totally agree with you. And I plan in the hopefully the near future to do an entire episode about the benefits of of owning dogs and and actually looking at dog longevity as well, which is a very interesting topic on its own. But I’m a I’m a huge fan. I’ve got my own dog. I cannot be up for more than thirty minutes and having my morning coffee before we’ve got to go out and go for that long one hour hike. It’s really good for both of us. Just getting back to aging, I’m curious what your thoughts on this subject are. Here we are in the United States. We’ve got a president who is 78 years old, a former president who is in his early 70s, a political establishment that tends to be very old. If you look at members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as well. I’m just wondering whether our elected officials, whether it’s in this country or elsewhere, take on the responsibility of promoting positive aging in the way that you would like to see.

Amy Temperley: [00:22:07] Oh, that’s an excellent question. You know, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone take it on as a platform. I think they’ve definitely demonstrated that they can still be active and engaged and they have the brains and the knowledge and the background to do that. But it would be interesting to see someone take it on and kind of challenge the establishment. That said, I also feel strongly about diversity in all our, you know, in our work and in our political system, particularly in our non-profits, the way we serve people to, you know, have people of all ages and all colors and all orientations and how powerful that is. So despite the fact that maybe, you know, that we have older leaders, I think it’s very important that we engage people at all ages and that we find opportunities even in our own lives to do that as well. That’s, you know, that’s a great way to learn new things and to pass on wisdom. We need we need all the ages together to interact.

Peter Bowes: [00:23:05] Yeah, I think you’re right. And I agree with you. I think it would be wonderful if a political platform would embrace the kind of topics that we’ve been talking about and not only in a political sense, but embracing health care and what it means to get older and the positive benefits of being healthy and old, and perhaps this is how a politician could do it by relating it to the fiscal implications, the positive implications of having an older generation, which is exactly what you’re working towards by embracing physical activity with older people. 

Amy Temperley: [00:23:37] Yeah, I do a lot of work here in Austin through the Aging Services Council, and I serve on the Commission for Seniors here in Austin, Texas, as well. And, you know, there there is a lot that’s not being paid attention to as we get older in order to serve people in a different way. And it’s it is disconcerting. I mean, even in our homeless population here in Austin, 26 percent of them are over age 50. You know, those rates are growing higher. So there’s a lot of attention that needs to be made just to issues of of age and aging and society in general. We’re starting to see some movements. You know, it’s nice to start to see some movements. I think since the baby boomers started turning 65 and everybody finally looked at the demographics and went, oh, my gosh, what are we going to do with this? But we also knew it was coming, you know, like 30 years ago. We were talking about what happens when the baby boomers turn 65 and we didn’t do much about it. So it’s it’s a little bit delayed and behind the curve, but it’s coming. I think change is coming.

Peter Bowes: [00:24:38] Yeah, I think the progression of the boomers and we did a recent episode devoted to precisely that generation, which includes myself. I’m on the the lower end of the the demographic. But I think what it brings home to you is how quickly time passes and that the boomers are actually getting on in age right now. Boomers, those of us in that group, need to to adapt to it. I’m curious, we often talk about life hacks and what you’ve learned through your profession that you might apply to your own life and things that you do now to promote your own longevity. Is there something perhaps you say you didn’t think about aging very much as as a younger person, but you clearly think about it a lot now. Is it something you do every day?

Amy Temperley: [00:25:19] Movement is is one of them. And as I mentioned, I have some physical limitations with my back. So just walking, you know, even if you can just get up a little bit, move your body to some degree every day, I think that’s really, really important. I’m much more mindful about rest too – paying attention to when my body is worn out and actually not pushing it so far that I’m, you know, exhausted for the next week. So understanding that as we get older that our body may need more recuperation time. And then, as I mentioned, just that social piece is remembering that that’s really important, especially right now. You kind of have to schedule it in because it doesn’t accidentally happen, especially if you’re home based like I am. So you really have to make a choice to engage with people.

Peter Bowes: [00:26:04] And as we hopefully break out of covid, I think there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not there yet. We’re beginning to get significant portions of the population vaccinated, but it is going to take time as we break out of covid, I assume that your goal is to to essentially go back to where you would perhaps embrace some of the positive aspects of working the way that we have done over the last few months.

Amy Temperley: [00:26:28] Definitely our favorite part of our work is going out and being with people and really engaging them in conversations and enjoying and laughing and learning together and having fun. And it’s a little bit harder over Zoom to do some of that kind of thing. We’ve tried and unfortunately not everybody has the technology or the education to or maybe even the wi fi to get online and, you know, take part in all of this. So we’re really looking forward to getting back out with people and starting to get some indicators that that’s coming very soon. A couple of sites are starting to open up. Once we get our vaccines, we’ll be good to go.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:09] And your latest venture, A Mighty Good Time, borne out of the events of, I assume, the last few months. That is something that will continue.

Amy Temperley: [00:27:16] It will right now, most of the activities there are virtual or phone based, so you can access them from anywhere. But as things start to open up, we’ll have more in-person events and you’ll be able to search by zip code and what topics you’re interested in and find something close to you.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:30] Do you have an inspiring story that you’ve heard come out of coverage and perhaps this latest venture, what it’s doing to help people’s lives?

Amy Temperley: [00:27:38] I guess, you know, I mentioned our our friend Gladys, who’s 95, and she’s kind of our poster child and she’s just really super engaged and she’s active on social media and she just gets it, you know, and sadly, at the beginning of Covid, she was living alone and her family was, you know, quite concerned about her. And they moved her. What, you know, obviously, with her permission up to I think she’s in Illinois now. And it was a major change for her. She’d lived in the same house, I think, for, you know, 60 or 70 years. It was a really big problem for her. But because we’re virtual, she’s been able to get on to classes sometimes twice a day with all her old friends. And that has been. Such a gift to be able to to do that and and what I love about Gladys is, you know, her friends are everywhere from 50 to 95. She just has this fantastic range of people and she’s able to do that from afar. And I think that’s the beauty of the virtual programming we’re able to access and hits and people now that, you know, we’re home based or maybe had transportation issues and now everybody can access it any time. So hopefully that will always be a part of the puzzle, I think always.

Peter Bowes: [00:28:51] Yeah. And I hear it time and time again from people in your line of work, the value and the importance of older people having friends who are from other generations, from younger generations. That’s helpful to everyone.

Amy Temperley: [00:29:04] Yeah, I think I think it rubs off on you when you have people that are younger than you. I know I feel that way when I hang around some GenZ or my nieces, I get a little bit of that and keep up with current staff. That’s all important.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:17] Amy, I think you’re doing valuable work for anyone listening to this. They’d like to get involved. What should they do?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:22] I would start with going to AMightyGoodTime.com and to see if there are classes and things that you’re interested in. You don’t even have to log in. You can go into the website and use it for free without, you know, signing up. If you do sign in it again, still free for you to use it just lets you favorite some of your activities so that you can, you know, easily refer to them. So let you start a little page of your own with all your favorite activities on it. But, yeah, start there, see what you what you like and try out some of the stuff. Most of the classes are free.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:51] And obviously it’s great that it’s free. And obviously being online, this is potentially open to an international audience?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:57] We hope so. That would be a beautiful gift if we can get that far. But we are just getting started.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:03] Just getting started. Excellent. Really good work. Really good to talk to you. Best of luck to you and your husband. I think it’s extremely valuable.

Amy Temperley: [00:30:10] Thank you so much. It’s great to be here with you.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:13] And if you would like to read more about Aging is Cool, I will, as ever put some details into the show notes for this episode. You’ll find them at the Live Long Master Aging Website LLAMApodcast.com LLAMApodcast.com. The LLAMA podcast is a HealthSpan Media production. If you enjoy what we do, you can read and review us at Apple Podcasts. You can follow us in social media @LLAMApodcast and direct message me @PeterBowes take care and thanks for listening.

Amy Temperley: [00:00:04] It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true and we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:00:21] Hello and welcome to the Live Long and Master Aging podcast. I’m Peter Bowes. This is where we explore the science and stories on human longevity.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:00:31] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL, the all-in-one longevity supplement that contains 10 key ingredients shown to have a positive impact on healthspan as validated by scientific studies. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com. 

Peter Bowes: [00:00:52] So aging is cool. So says Amy Temperley, she is the owner of a company called Aging is Cool. That’s what attracted my attention because I think I can agree with that statement. I often say aging is a privilege and something we should embrace rather than trying to fight. Amy’s background is in non-profit consulting. Her husband, Damian, is a physical therapist, and together they have formed a company with the joint goal of really challenging the image, the popular media image of what it’s like to get older. Amy, welcome to the Live Long and Master aging podcast.

Amy Temperley: [00:01:25] Wonderful. Thank you for having me.

Peter Bowes: [00:01:27] Good to talk to you. Let’s start from the beginning. How did this start for you?

Amy Temperley: [00:01:31] Oh goodness. I have worked with older adults for the past 30 years. I for whatever reason, that was my passion. When I was very young, I started my career as a social worker, moved to non-profits, but most always was focused with older adults. And a few years ago, my husband had started teaching some fitness programming for four older adults as well. And we were really looking at like what were the gaps in the community and what was the need? And we figured there was plenty of home health and retirement communities and all those different things going up. But what seemed to be really a big gap was that focus on active, healthy aging versus that place of always worrying about the things that are going wrong, but focusing on how we prevent health problems and how we make our aging stronger and happier and much more fun. And so Aging is Cool was born. And it’s been beautiful because we can do it together, which is a nice a nice gift for husband and wife to be able to create something together.

Peter Bowes: [00:02:32] And before launching this, maybe as you were growing up, how much did you as a younger person, how much did you think about aging?

Amy Temperley: [00:02:40] I didn’t. I didn’t at all. And I was so blessed that my first internships in college were with Adult Protective Services and in a nursing home. And I, I what I learned was that aging can be a positive thing. And I learned to have a different perspective around people who were getting older. I saw wisdom and energy. You know, we never feel as old on the inside as maybe the years say that we are. And I was seeing that in the people that I was meeting was sort of this robust love for life and which is a gift because, you know, at 21, when I started in and working in nursing homes, most people aren’t exposed to older people and don’t see aging as the positive thing that it can be.

Peter Bowes: [00:03:26] At what age do you say that we start being old? It’s a very vague expression, a very vague word, isn’t it, to be suddenly old?

Amy Temperley: [00:03:36] You know, I don’t anymore. And that’s what’s so funny is I have friends that are 70, 80, 90 years old and I don’t really consider them old, are one of our members is 95 Gladys. And she is so incredibly active and engaged in ways that I don’t see some 30 year olds being that active and engaged. And she doesn’t feel old to me. She doesn’t feel old to me at all. So to me that’s a old is a feeling. And I don’t know that you’re old until you decide that you’re old.

Peter Bowes: [00:04:10] So you had this idea, you and your husband and your collective skills, I guess, made it possible. Aging is Cool is the name of the company. And you gave me a sort of brief synopsis of how that came about, but specifically settling on that title, what was the motivation?

Amy Temperley: [00:04:27] We really there’s two different things. First is that we want to express that we actually think aging is OK, that it’s a positive thing, that it’s you know, it happens to the best of us. Right. It’s not something that you can avoid. But we also wanted people to say themselves, aging is cool with me. It’s OK for me to do that. It’s OK to get older. Media and the world around us tells us that that is not true. And we want people to embrace the fact that it’s perfectly fine and it can be perfectly beautiful and wonderful along the way.

Peter Bowes: [00:05:00] And maybe to be even more specific, there’s this image. You often see a media and I work in the media. Maybe I’m partly guilty of this. I hope not, because what I do in this podcast is trying to promote a positive side of aging, actually embracing aging. But often the media image of of maybe a stooped person, someone who is walking more slowly, who needs help when, as you’ve already implied, they probably don’t need help but are actually capable of doing much more than most people think.

Amy Temperley: [00:05:27] Yeah, there’s some great movements right now, especially coming out of the UK and Canada and Australia, who seem to be really far, far advanced in some of this in the way that they view aging, but really working on changing that kind of imagery. You know, if you look at any advertisement that’s talking about getting older, you’re going to see that. You see the wrinkly hands, you see the, you know, the walking canes or the walkers. You see a nurse in the picture. And the reality is that. That’s not what it looks like for most people. Only five percent of people end up in nursing homes, five percent. That means 95 percent of the rest of us are living in community. You know, maybe we need a little bit of support, but that doesn’t mean that our world has ended.

Peter Bowes: [00:06:07] And an expression we often hear is, again, another one that I sort of rail against is anti or anti aging – we’re advertisements all the time about what we can do to promote anti aging to in some way reverse aging. And again, that’s something that I personally don’t see as being particularly positive.

Amy Temperley: [00:06:26] No, I don’t either. And I you know, oddly, I’ll tell you a little personal bit this morning I woke up and I’m feeling quite older today. You know, I was I was recording a video for something else. And I and I just turned 50 last year. And I was just having that moment of, you know, even though I live this very positive world. And I feel very strongly that aging can be a wonderful thing because you’re pressured so much to see those different things. Even I woke up this morning thinking, oh, my God, am I getting old? And. It I don’t know that it’s a positive thing to be worried constantly about what creams do I need and what medicines do I need so that I look better, so that, you know, I look like I’m 20 years old, 30 years old. I don’t I think it’s a lot of pressure. And does it take our brain power away from the pieces of aging that are really great, like continuing to learn new things and being active and finding a sense of purpose in your world? That’s really what we should be focused on as we age. That’s that’s the good stuff.

Peter Bowes: [00:07:28] So let’s talk about the good stuff and what you do with your clients. How did you start with the company? It’s always daunting, isn’t it, to start a new venture like this?

Amy Temperley: [00:07:36] Yes, it was incredible. And as far as we knew at the time, it was a huge gap. We started by creating interesting activities. Of course, Damian, my husband brought fitness programming. We hired yoga instructors and tai chi and belly dance instructors. You lots of fun on the fitness side. We created a brain training programs to help people keep their minds sharp. And then we started creating educational presentations on travel and history and science and pop culture. And we offered it out here in Austin to people in town. And then we also took it into residential communities like assisted living, retirement communities and older adult apartment complexes. And that was kind of how it all was rolling along until until Covid hit and we needed to think differently. And so everything went virtual. Right. And had met a lovely couple, Ian and Jan, who owned a company called Heart and Soul Care. And together we piloted a new website that we just launched in January called A Mighty Good Time and a Mighty Good Time is a one stop shop for all kinds of activities for people 50 and older, curated from all around the country. And right now it’s mostly virtual, but we’re starting to see some live activities come back as well.

Peter Bowes: [00:08:53] And I mentioned in a previous question about is there a number that defines being old, at least as far as your venture is concerned? It’s for the over 50s,

Amy Temperley: [00:09:02] We picked over 50s. I think maybe it’s kind of a time in your life where your mindset changes a little bit. In some ways, maybe your kids are gone. Maybe you’re starting to think about retirement. So we really wanted to focus there. Now, we are very well aware that people are living to be 110 years old now. So 50 to 110 is a 60 year gap. So we’re trying to be mindful about bringing activities that are of interest to you at different stages as well. So almost all of our fitness programming is going to have an adapted quality to it. So you’ll be able to do it seated or standing. You know, there’s options for that. But quite honestly, the rest of our activities could be done by anyone at any age. We just wanted people to be able to access them as easily and quickly as they could.

Peter Bowes: [00:09:51] Yeah, I wonder if is a little bit of resistance and clearly no one has to do this, but could there be a little bit of resistance by someone who is 50 or 55 or 59 as I’ve just turned and feels as if they can look after themselves with their own exercise regimes in the same way as they did 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, and that they just don’t want, maybe even for psychological reasons, to be to be grouped as part of a community that is older and perhaps needs a little bit more help. 

Amy Temperley: [00:10:21] Completely. And I think that’s a very a very real consideration. And again, we try to to bring and curate activities that are kind of throughout the spectrum. But, yes, it’s hard making that leap between thinking you’re a senior. Right. Does senior citizen kind of terminology. And I wouldn’t you know, again, I just turned 50. I wouldn’t consider myself a senior either. But I do know the things that I’m interested in, the way that I prefer my activities provided to me, the maybe the age range of people I even want to associate. Is a little bit older. And so if I want to meet other people who are in their 50s and who are in the same lifespan, part of the journey that I am, this is a good way to do that. So it’s a great way to be able to connect with people who really get where you are in the puzzle.

Peter Bowes: [00:11:08] So the goal, at least pre covid and hopefully after covid as well, was in person working with people. And the social aspect of it is clearly very important. And we’ve talked on this podcast many times about loneliness as people get older and especially people that get older and actually stay healthy into their 80s and 90s might find themselves lonely because their friends haven’t been as healthy as they continue to be. And they find themselves alone and wondering who they can associate with. That has equal abilities that can still do the hike or still play football or do whatever they do physically.

Amy Temperley: [00:11:48] Yeah, for us, the social peace is everything.  I got, really, if you want to sum up why we do what we do is, is the social peace and trying to reduce social isolation. Because if you stay engaged with other people, you’re more likely to be physically active, you are constantly working your brain, you eat better, you sleep better, your mood is better, you learn more. Just the act of having a conversation with somebody you know. I’m watching your eyes. I’m listening to what you’re saying. I’m processing the words. I’m sending it back to you. That is so powerful for your brain. And so everything to us that is the root is how do we stay social and engaged with other people? It’s just key.

Peter Bowes: [00:12:33] So just to dig a little deeper in terms of of how you work, in terms of associating with people and those people getting involved with you, how it differs from perhaps, someone signing up to a local gym.

Amy Temperley: [00:12:45] We very much are about getting to know the people that we work with. We have right now with Aging is Cool. And of course, it’s changed some with with covid. But we have about 40 active members that join us on virtual programing. We know all of them by name. We check in with them on a regular basis. You know, when covid hit, we were on the phone making sure everybody was all right. When it was time for vaccines, we were sharing information about how to get the vaccines. So for us, it’s much more than just a room full of people who came to exercise. We. Add that social peace and everything we do, even if we went out to a residential community to do a presentation or an educational session on, you know, the big band era or whatever, the thing is, you know, travel or whatever, there’s always going to be opportunities for people to get to know each other, to interact with each other. So it’s different in that we’re mindful of the other pieces of the puzzle and much more holistic in the way that we provide programming.

Peter Bowes: [00:13:51] So this is much more of a club kind of atmosphere.

Amy Temperley: [00:13:54] It is for our membership, yeah, our membership. We run through our non-profit side and that very much so. People get to know each other very, very deeply. Your other services, when we go out into the community, we used to prior to Covid had, you know, 30 instructors going to 100 different locations and actually doing all kinds of different classes. So, you know, slightly different models. But, yeah, with our with our little membership group, it’s definitely about that connection.

Peter Bowes: [00:14:22] And what is, the I wonder if there is a most common thing that people say to you? But I’m just curious people that that find you as a service and get involved. Do they talk about what was lacking in their lives previously, that you have managed that hole that you’ve managed to fill?

Amy Temperley: [00:14:39] Completely with the two main things I think one is friendship and the social. They talk very often about all the friends they’ve made and their deeper relationships. They check on each other outside of class. They have, you know, individual relationships that they’ve made during this process. The other one is, are fitness programming is very well adapted to this audience. And a lot of them have seen significant health improvements during the last winter storm here a few weeks ago. And all the snow in the ice, one of the women commented that she had been out shoveling her sidewalk. Now she is eighty two, I think, and probably shouldn’t have been doing that. But she said that before being involved in all of our classes, she never would have had the strength and energy and stability to be able to do that. And we hear those types of things frequently.

Peter Bowes: [00:15:30] And we’re going to pause for a second. We’ll come back. We’ll continue our conversation in less than a minute. You’re listening to the Live Longer and Master aging podcast.

SPONSOR MESSAGE: [00:15:39] This episode is brought to you in association with JUVICELL a novel all in one longevity supplement that includes 10 key research backed ingredients shown in scientific studies to support healthspan things like resveratrol, fisetin, quercetin, pterostilbene, sulforaphane and turmeric…all in a single dose. If you’re interested in supporting your longevity, you probably already have a cabinet full of these single ingredients at home. JUVICELL is the first product to combine them all into a single supplement to support your healthspan. It’s also vegan, non GMO and sustainable. To find out more, visit JUVICELL.com. That’s JUVICELL.com.

Peter Bowes: [00:16:23] I’m talking to Amy Temperley, the owner of Aging is Cool. Amy, how do you see yourself? You just turned 50. How do you see yourself at sixty or seventy?

Amy Temperley: [00:16:32] Oh goodness. That’s a really, really good question. So I have because of what we do, I have a much better mindset around what I need to do for my own well-being. I have a focus on how do I be more healthy, how do I? With covid my husband and I, as much as we’re extroverts in the work that we do, we’re introverts at home. And I have found us isolating ourselves a little bit. And I realize more and more how important social interaction is for us. And so really making some concerted efforts to kind of re-engage with friends and things that have kind of changed over the last period. I also have just fallen in love in the last year with all kinds of making. So I’ve been I worked with paint now acrylic paints. I bought a lathe and I’m making pens and bowls and, you know, just random things. But for the first time in my life, I have a real passion around that kind of making. And when I think of myself at 60 and 70, I want to have more time for that. You know, some of these new things that I’ve found that give me great joy most of my life since I was, you know, eighteen and up has been about work and the difference that I can make in my job and being out there constantly trying to change the world, if I can, you know, all of that. But as I get older, I realize that there’s a piece that I didn’t pay attention to, which is, you know, the things that just purely give me joy. And I’d like to focus on that a little bit more as the years go on.

Peter Bowes: [00:18:10] I think they’re fascinating observations also in a practical sense as to what you found yourself doing over the last few months. And I think a lot of people can associate with that.  Our lives have changed, and clearly it’s been an incredibly difficult time, a tragic time for so many, but trying to sieve out the positive aspects, maybe moving forward of how our lives have changed. I think finding new talents that perhaps we have finding these things to do is, as you have. and other facets of our lives, because we’ve had time to do it, I think. And again, with aging in mind, that can only be a positive

Amy Temperley: [00:18:47] Completely a more and more we’ve been thinking about and and working towards helping people find purpose and meaning in their life. And, you know, for some people, that may be your your faith or your spirituality, but I think there’s more to it than that. It might just be getting up and tending to your plants in the morning or, you know, that cup of coffee on the porch or whatever that thing is that makes your life worth living. And how do you continue to engage in that? And even as we lose abilities, I mean, I’ve had three back surgeries. I have I have the back of a 75 year old woman. So true. And, you know, I love to garden and I know there are some other things that I’m having to make some adaptations to. But, OK, so now my flower beds are raised or, you know, now whether I’m doing vegetables in pots instead of, you know, out in our garden. So trying to find the ways to adapt so that you can continue to embrace the things you love rather than lamenting what you’ve lost.

Peter Bowes: [00:19:47] And I think it’s a good model for retirement. The life change that so many people fear and that looming question, what will I do? Sadly, a lot of people devote themselves to their job and raising their family and paying their mortgage. And then suddenly at 65 or whatever the age is, there’s a blank piece of paper and it comes to suddenly for a lot of people.

Amy Temperley: [00:20:10] Yeah. And there’s still ways to engage in that kind of work. I mean, you could work part time or you could I come out of the non-profit sector. There is a huge need for volunteers and board members. And so if you still need that to give back, if you still want to use those skills and expertise, there are ways to do that. But it’s a great time to reflect on what did I love to do as a kid and I haven’t gotten to to do because I had to go to work and raise a family, you know, or wow, maybe I should experiment with this and take out an art class or a music class and learn something new, which is just good for your brain anyway,

Peter Bowes: [00:20:47] Or get a dog. I think that’s a dog we’re talking via, Zoom, at the moment. So I can actually see you. And in the background, there’s a dog rolling over and scratching him or herself. A dog is a great activity. 

Amy Temperley: [00:20:58] Completely.They make you get out and walk and and have something to pay attention to, something to love. I mean, we have four dogs, so I have a ritual every morning of how I care for them. And I don’t think my morning would be the same if I didn’t have that little ritual.

Peter Bowes: [00:21:13] I totally agree with you. And I plan in the hopefully the near future to do an entire episode about the benefits of of owning dogs and and actually looking at dog longevity as well, which is a very interesting topic on its own. But I’m a I’m a huge fan. I’ve got my own dog. I cannot be up for more than thirty minutes and having my morning coffee before we’ve got to go out and go for that long one hour hike. It’s really good for both of us. Just getting back to aging, I’m curious what your thoughts on this subject are. Here we are in the United States. We’ve got a president who is 78 years old, a former president who is in his early 70s, a political establishment that tends to be very old. If you look at members of the Senate and the House of Representatives as well. I’m just wondering whether our elected officials, whether it’s in this country or elsewhere, take on the responsibility of promoting positive aging in the way that you would like to see.

Amy Temperley: [00:22:07] Oh, that’s an excellent question. You know, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone take it on as a platform. I think they’ve definitely demonstrated that they can still be active and engaged and they have the brains and the knowledge and the background to do that. But it would be interesting to see someone take it on and kind of challenge the establishment. That said, I also feel strongly about diversity in all our, you know, in our work and in our political system, particularly in our non-profits, the way we serve people to, you know, have people of all ages and all colors and all orientations and how powerful that is. So despite the fact that maybe, you know, that we have older leaders, I think it’s very important that we engage people at all ages and that we find opportunities even in our own lives to do that as well. That’s, you know, that’s a great way to learn new things and to pass on wisdom. We need we need all the ages together to interact.

Peter Bowes: [00:23:05] Yeah, I think you’re right. And I agree with you. I think it would be wonderful if a political platform would embrace the kind of topics that we’ve been talking about and not only in a political sense, but embracing health care and what it means to get older and the positive benefits of being healthy and old, and perhaps this is how a politician could do it by relating it to the fiscal implications, the positive implications of having an older generation, which is exactly what you’re working towards by embracing physical activity with older people. 

Amy Temperley: [00:23:37] Yeah, I do a lot of work here in Austin through the Aging Services Council, and I serve on the Commission for Seniors here in Austin, Texas, as well. And, you know, there there is a lot that’s not being paid attention to as we get older in order to serve people in a different way. And it’s it is disconcerting. I mean, even in our homeless population here in Austin, 26 percent of them are over age 50. You know, those rates are growing higher. So there’s a lot of attention that needs to be made just to issues of of age and aging and society in general. We’re starting to see some movements. You know, it’s nice to start to see some movements. I think since the baby boomers started turning 65 and everybody finally looked at the demographics and went, oh, my gosh, what are we going to do with this? But we also knew it was coming, you know, like 30 years ago. We were talking about what happens when the baby boomers turn 65 and we didn’t do much about it. So it’s it’s a little bit delayed and behind the curve, but it’s coming. I think change is coming.

Peter Bowes: [00:24:38] Yeah, I think the progression of the boomers and we did a recent episode devoted to precisely that generation, which includes myself. I’m on the the lower end of the the demographic. But I think what it brings home to you is how quickly time passes and that the boomers are actually getting on in age right now. Boomers, those of us in that group, need to to adapt to it. I’m curious, we often talk about life hacks and what you’ve learned through your profession that you might apply to your own life and things that you do now to promote your own longevity. Is there something perhaps you say you didn’t think about aging very much as as a younger person, but you clearly think about it a lot now. Is it something you do every day?

Amy Temperley: [00:25:19] Movement is is one of them. And as I mentioned, I have some physical limitations with my back. So just walking, you know, even if you can just get up a little bit, move your body to some degree every day, I think that’s really, really important. I’m much more mindful about rest too – paying attention to when my body is worn out and actually not pushing it so far that I’m, you know, exhausted for the next week. So understanding that as we get older that our body may need more recuperation time. And then, as I mentioned, just that social piece is remembering that that’s really important, especially right now. You kind of have to schedule it in because it doesn’t accidentally happen, especially if you’re home based like I am. So you really have to make a choice to engage with people.

Peter Bowes: [00:26:04] And as we hopefully break out of covid, I think there is certainly light at the end of the tunnel. We’re not there yet. We’re beginning to get significant portions of the population vaccinated, but it is going to take time as we break out of covid, I assume that your goal is to to essentially go back to where you would perhaps embrace some of the positive aspects of working the way that we have done over the last few months.

Amy Temperley: [00:26:28] Definitely our favorite part of our work is going out and being with people and really engaging them in conversations and enjoying and laughing and learning together and having fun. And it’s a little bit harder over Zoom to do some of that kind of thing. We’ve tried and unfortunately not everybody has the technology or the education to or maybe even the wi fi to get online and, you know, take part in all of this. So we’re really looking forward to getting back out with people and starting to get some indicators that that’s coming very soon. A couple of sites are starting to open up. Once we get our vaccines, we’ll be good to go.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:09] And your latest venture, A Mighty Good Time, borne out of the events of, I assume, the last few months. That is something that will continue.

Amy Temperley: [00:27:16] It will right now, most of the activities there are virtual or phone based, so you can access them from anywhere. But as things start to open up, we’ll have more in-person events and you’ll be able to search by zip code and what topics you’re interested in and find something close to you.

Peter Bowes: [00:27:30] Do you have an inspiring story that you’ve heard come out of coverage and perhaps this latest venture, what it’s doing to help people’s lives?

Amy Temperley: [00:27:38] I guess, you know, I mentioned our our friend Gladys, who’s 95, and she’s kind of our poster child and she’s just really super engaged and she’s active on social media and she just gets it, you know, and sadly, at the beginning of Covid, she was living alone and her family was, you know, quite concerned about her. And they moved her. What, you know, obviously, with her permission up to I think she’s in Illinois now. And it was a major change for her. She’d lived in the same house, I think, for, you know, 60 or 70 years. It was a really big problem for her. But because we’re virtual, she’s been able to get on to classes sometimes twice a day with all her old friends. And that has been. Such a gift to be able to to do that and and what I love about Gladys is, you know, her friends are everywhere from 50 to 95. She just has this fantastic range of people and she’s able to do that from afar. And I think that’s the beauty of the virtual programming we’re able to access and hits and people now that, you know, we’re home based or maybe had transportation issues and now everybody can access it any time. So hopefully that will always be a part of the puzzle, I think always.

Peter Bowes: [00:28:51] Yeah. And I hear it time and time again from people in your line of work, the value and the importance of older people having friends who are from other generations, from younger generations. That’s helpful to everyone.

Amy Temperley: [00:29:04] Yeah, I think I think it rubs off on you when you have people that are younger than you. I know I feel that way when I hang around some GenZ or my nieces, I get a little bit of that and keep up with current staff. That’s all important.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:17] Amy, I think you’re doing valuable work for anyone listening to this. They’d like to get involved. What should they do?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:22] I would start with going to AMightyGoodTime.com and to see if there are classes and things that you’re interested in. You don’t even have to log in. You can go into the website and use it for free without, you know, signing up. If you do sign in it again, still free for you to use it just lets you favorite some of your activities so that you can, you know, easily refer to them. So let you start a little page of your own with all your favorite activities on it. But, yeah, start there, see what you what you like and try out some of the stuff. Most of the classes are free.

Peter Bowes: [00:29:51] And obviously it’s great that it’s free. And obviously being online, this is potentially open to an international audience?

Amy Temperley: [00:29:57] We hope so. That would be a beautiful gift if we can get that far. But we are just getting started.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:03] Just getting started. Excellent. Really good work. Really good to talk to you. Best of luck to you and your husband. I think it’s extremely valuable.

Amy Temperley: [00:30:10] Thank you so much. It’s great to be here with you.

Peter Bowes: [00:30:13] And if you would like to read more about Aging is Cool, I will, as ever put some details into the show notes for this episode. You’ll find them at the Live Long Master Aging Website LLAMApodcast.com LLAMApodcast.com. The LLAMA podcast is a HealthSpan Media production. If you enjoy what we do, you can read and review us at Apple Podcasts. You can follow us in social media @LLAMApodcast and direct message me @PeterBowes take care and thanks for listening.