Build Your Own Boat

What happens when a 65-year-old corporate executive decides that her biggest career is still ahead of her — in a field she has never worked in? This episode answers exactly that question. Melissa Davey spent decades leading nonprofit disability advocacy and then building a national disability services program for a Fortune-level company. At 65, she walked away from a successful C-suite career to become a documentary filmmaker — with zero filmmaking experience.

Her debut film, Beyond 60, earned six awards, screened at eight film festivals across the US and Canada, and is now streaming on Apple TV and other major platforms. Her second film, Climbing into Life, tells the story of the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in Yosemite — and won 11 festival awards. A third film, commissioned by the Women's Center of Montgomery County on the issue of domestic violence, is now in post-production. Melissa's story is a masterclass in late-career reinvention, trusting your instincts, building the right team, and refusing to let age define what is possible.

Melissa Davey is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker based in Chester County, Pennsylvania. She spent more than four decades in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, most recently as a C-suite executive building a national disability services program before retiring at 65 — and promptly launching an entirely new career. Her debut documentary, Beyond 60, profiles nine women between the ages of 60 and 90 who are living boldly and refusing to disappear. It earned six awards and screened at eight film festivals before landing on Apple TV and other streaming platforms. Her second film, Climbing into Life, follows Dierdre Wolownick — the oldest woman to summit El Capitan in Yosemite, and mother of legendary climber Alex Honnold — as she discovers athleticism for the first time in her 60s. That film earned 11 festival awards. Melissa is currently completing a third film, commissioned by the Women's Center of Montgomery County, on the organization's 50-year history of domestic violence prevention and community partnership. She is living proof that the most meaningful chapter of a career can begin at 65.

Yes — and Melissa Davey is the proof. She had never made a film before she decided at 65 that she wanted to. Her approach was practical: she identified what she didn't know, reached out through her existing network, and found a production company willing to partner with her. She brought the vision, the subject matter expertise, and the leadership. They brought the cameras and the technical crew. Within three years, her first film was screening at festivals across North America.

For her first two films, Melissa self-funded using savings she had built over her corporate career. She made a deliberate decision not to wait for grants or outside investors — both because she wanted creative control and because she had a sense of urgency about moving quickly. She notes that funding for women-led entrepreneurial ventures is historically limited, and funding for older women entrepreneurs even more so. For her third film, she was commissioned and the commissioning organization covered all crew costs.

Beyond 60 is currently streaming on Apple TV and several other major streaming platforms. Distribution was handled through a distributor who placed the film on six to seven platforms for a 13-year licensing period.

For Beyond 60, Melissa spoke with more than 80 women over the course of a year — cold calling, reaching out through friends, and asking her network who they knew with a remarkable story between the ages of 60 and 90. She narrowed the field to nine subjects, choosing women whose stories she personally connected with and who reflected the diversity and visibility she wanted to put on screen. Every single woman she asked said yes without hesitation.

Start talking. Melissa's most direct advice is to reach out to your existing circle — friends, former colleagues, acquaintances — and have honest conversations about what you're considering. You will be surprised who is thinking the same thing, or who knows someone who has done it. Surround yourself with people who support your vision. When you hit a naysayer (and you will), move on. Don't let one discouraging voice end the conversation.

Climbing into Life is a feature documentary about Dierdre Wolownick, who became the oldest woman to climb El Capitan in Yosemite at age 66. She was not an athlete for most of her life — she was a college professor, author, musician, and artist. She is also the mother of Alex Honnold, star of the Oscar-winning film Free Solo. The documentary traces her transformation and serves as a companion story to Melissa's own reinvention — both women were learning entirely new skills at roughly the same time in their lives.

Build Your Own Boat is a podcast series hosted by Janine Vanderburg — award-winning three-time entrepreneur and anti-ageism advocate — featuring women who have launched new entrepreneurial ventures in midlife and beyond. The series is part of a larger storytelling project that includes a Substack publication and a forthcoming book, all built around one goal: changing the narrative about who entrepreneurs are and making women in midlife and beyond visible as builders of wealth, freedom, and possibility.