by Lisa Marie Mercer

Created on: August 23, 2008   Last Updated: November 01, 2008

At first, I thought it was the end of the world. With 30 years as a respected fitness professional, how could turning 50 be the end of my career? At the time, I was working for a gym in a major city, one that hadn't recovered from the economic aftermath of 9/11. While I should have read the writing on the wall, interpreting graffiti was never my strong trait.

Talented instructors of a certain age were losing their jobs for no apparent reason. They were replaced by a crop of buff 20-somethings, who were fit but inexperienced. "Not me," I thought. "I'm part of the elite group; the ones entitled to the 401K, the quarterly bonus and the trip to the Caribbean." Famous last words.

Months later, while surfing the Internet, I noticed a fitness studio for sale in Sun Valley Idaho. Sun Valley was the venue for the 1941 movie, Sun Valley Serenade. Having learned to ski at age 45, and being a nostalgia fanatic, the idea of having a studio in Sun Valley was quite appealing.

As a joke, I posted a topic on a ski message forum:

"If I was Rich Girl I'd Buy this Studio"

My husband saw the message, and took it seriously.

"It's a great idea, but why Sun Valley? The cost of living is high, and we have all these friends in Summit County." So at the age of 50, I became a Colorado fitness studio owner.

Living in "ski country," gave me access to some of the best instruction in the country. As such, I was skiing terrain that I would never imagine attempting at 30, let alone 50. "But what about the business?" you ask. That's another story. Our realtor never bothered to tell us that the building that housed our first location was scheduled for demolition. Our second location was subject to frequent leakages. Eventually, we decided that the studio leasing thing wasn't working out, so I began renting on an hourly basis from a local dance studio.

However, being in the mountains had an unexpected benefit: It sparked my creativity. While I had not acted since elementary school, my confidence on the slopes gave me confidence to audition at our local theatre, get the parts and perform in two shows.

Then there's my successful writing career, which was an impressive accomplishment for someone without a journalism degree. My articles were published in respected magazines such as Aspen and HerSports. At age 51, I received my first book contract. Other non-fiction book contracts followed, as well as a contract for a novel, and a fitness writing gig for Examiner.com. In the meantime, I took a part time job as a guide for our local historical society, which gave me the platform to write articles covering the little-known delights of this area. Additionally, I work as an on-mountain mentor for at-risk youth.

The moral of this story can be summed up in one word: resiliency. At 50, I am more versatile than I've ever been in my life. To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, upon turning 50, I took the blows and did it my way.

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