"Second Act": Dallas businesswoman reminds women "it's never too late to be great!"
DALLAS – The answer to "What's next?" can be more complicated than the deceptively simple question. Just ask Cheryl Polote Williamson of Dallas.
The mother of three and grandmother calls herself a "global media executive" and "mindset coach." But she is so much more, as she inspires, motivates, and empowers women to fully embrace what she calls the "second act."
"It's never too late to be great," said Williamson, with passion and conviction. "So, let's stop looking at, 'I'm 45, I'm 55, I'm 76.' If you're breathing, there is time for it!"
At first glance, Williamson is both approachable and elegant — salt-and-pepper braids arranged in a flawless crown on top of her head. Indeed, she carries herself like a queen; still, she is difficult to define. She admits to being something of a "serial entrepreneur," career chameleon, and a gushing fountain of encouragement for women navigating change.
"Women who have come to a point in their life where they feel like, 'What do I do now with the second act of my life?'"
That "second act" can be launched by many things: the empty nest after the kids go off to college, the loss of a spouse, mourning a marriage that didn't make it, or simply deciding that it's okay to want something different.
"And it is hard because a lot of women have been knocked down and told every reason that it cannot happen for them," Williamson said. "'You're too old. You don't have the right education. You've been home raising children. You don't have the experience in the field.' So what I teach them is mindset first. I show them that when they make their mindset their superpower, they can accomplish anything."
And yes, she enthusiastically practices what she preaches — wearing a closet full of hats: author, filmmaker, magazine publisher, motivational speaker, and career coach. She says she learned entrepreneurship from her business-owning father. But her passion for positivity, she says, grew out of loss and a low point in her own life. That's when she learned that others were aching to hear affirming words as well.
"And I started posting out on social media and thousands of people started responding to me saying, 'That's my story, help me.'"
Williamson says she works to make connections and share resources with women approaching or already navigating that "second act." And often that begins with them learning to embrace it.
"It's their chance to live bold and fierce and unapologetic," Williamson said. "There's nobody that's going to live to be 200. It's just not going to happen! So when we're 45 and up, we have to realize it's time for us to make it count."
Right now, Williamson is counting down to her next adventure. She's working with The Black Academy of Arts & Letters (TBAAL) to produce a stage play called "Deadly Sins."
"I didn't know how it was going to happen, but I knew it could happen," said Williamson, glancing out at the empty seats at TBAAL's Naomi Bruton Theater. And yes, she's already imagining them being filled. The play debuts on Saturday with two showings at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
"The music is amazing—it's all original songs. The cast is phenomenal. You will laugh, you will talk back to the stage, you will jump up. Many will cry. It will give couples the opportunity maybe to have some tough conversations that they haven't had, because it goes really deep."
So if you're scripting your phenomenal "second act," consider this, said Williamson.
"Never live so deeply in somebody else's dreams that you never fulfill any of your own. So. Why not now?"
Watch the full interview with Cheryl Polote Williamson here:
