FEBRUARY 2022 SECOND ACT OF THE MONTH AWARD
Each month, we give the 50PlusToday SECOND ACT Award to an individual who made an intentional decision to change gears in this phase of life. It’s our goal to recognize and support people who reinvented themselves at age 50Plus and we choose recipients who are creative, innovative and inspiring to others. Their pivot might involve a new career, business, community effort or lifestyle. A successful, happy and meaningful life means different things to different people; reading what others did might start you thinking about your next journey! The bottom line is that your second half of your life can be as good as, if not better than, the first! We hope to inspire our readers with success stories from others. (Is there someone you know that created a wonderful second act that you would like to nominate? Complete this form to submit their name for consideration!
The recipient for February 2022 is Sandy Stein
Sandy worked as a flight attendant for 35 years prior to founding Finders Key Purse® at age 50Plus. Her clever invention decorates your purse and prevents keys (or key fobs) from falling to the bottom. Her goal was to provide an accessory that allows you know exactly where your keys are located at all times, and eliminates the need to take the time to dig through all the contents of your bag to find them. Sandy had no formal business training, but she had a great idea, an excellent work ethic and tremendous motivation to make it work – and make it work she did!
50PlusToday asked Sandy questions about why and how she chose to make her career change. Here’s what she told us:
50PlusToday: What are your unique skills that contribute to your success:
SS: I am creative. I rarely do anything the way it would be prescribed in a book. I also am tenacious. I keep going until it gets done.
50PlusToday: What did you do before starting your entrepreneurial journey?
SS: I was a flight attendant for 35 years.
50PlusToday: Tell us about what you are doing now.
SS: It has been 17 years since I invented Finders Key Purse®, a purse accessory that decorates the outside of a bag and prevents keys from falling to the bottom of it. I started out doing everything in the company including cleaning, shipping, ordering, customer service, trade shows, and anything that would make the company grow. Even though my title is President, I still do shipping, sales, customer service, trade shows and cleaning. When you own a business you learn how to do it all!
50PlusToday: What passion led you to start this new endeavor?
SS: When my husband lost his job, and I was working part-time as a flight attendant, I knew that we could not pay our bills. The passion that led me to this was the NEED TO PAY MY MORTGAGE!!!
50PlusToday: How does your age and experience help in your success?
SS: I have a lot more patience than I had when younger. Everybody wants things yesterday, but my learned patience comes in handy to “slow the roll”. As for experience, I’ve done many trade shows and numerous TV interviews with ease, which I credit to the years I stood in the middle of the aisle of the plane, demonstrating how to don a mask.
50PlusToday: What unique skills did you have from your previous job/business/lifestyle that help you in this new position?
SS: Being a flight attendant requires a decent personality (good flight attendants have a great personality). Learning how to read passengers gave me insight into how to deal with my new customers. Being in charge of the plane taught me how to be a good boss and leader. And having so many flight attendant friends led me to the sales team that I created with all those friends.
50PlusToday: What advice would you give someone in this age group searching for their meaningful second act?
SS: When I decided to turn my invention into a business, I had no idea how to do it. I decided to weigh the pros and cons of starting a business. When the pros won I decided to give it a try. Look at the worst-case scenario and the best-case scenario. If the worst doesn’t scare the heck out of you—DO IT!
50PlusToday: Finally, please give us three random facts about yourself.
SS:
1) I have 2 tuxedo cats.
2) I love folk dancing.
3) I’ve been on the Love Connection 4 times including one when I was a senior!
Sandy’s favorite quote
“Your poor planning does not constitute my emergency!”
Meet Sandy Stein
Sandy spent 35 years working as a flight attendant before embarking on her entrepreneurial venture at age 50+. Her clever invention, Finders Key Purse®, solves a definite problem, and the combination of her can-do attitude and impressive work ethic led to her great success in the purse accessory space.
Finders Key Purse® is a stylish and affordable purse accessory that decorates the outside of your purse while preventing keys from falling to the bottom. Keys are safely secured inside your purse & instantly retrievable! The business grew through the years, and she now also offers a variety of other products, including purse hangers, luggage tags and personal safety items.
Our personal favorite is the compact personal safety alarm which clips on easily to the Finders Key Purse®, along with your keyfob or keys. Hopefully you will never need a panic alarm, but these days you can’t be too careful. It’s an inexpensive item that provides great peace of mind!
Learn more about Finders Key Purse HERE or send Sandy an email with your questions!
