Having to write about yourself forces you to stop and think -- something that I believe we all can do more of! I love life and people are my passion. To me, life is about fun, fulfillment, and being financially secure! But I also think it’s about managing change, developing resilience, and being grateful. It’s probably why I wrote a book entitled: Don’t Retire, Rewire! and travel around the country delivering programs to organizations and individuals on the topic of Rewirement®. Since we’re living longer, I want people to keep growing and learning -- at their pace, not mine. I want them to constantly be rewiring their energy at home, at play, and at work. I believe rewiring can keep you healthy, wealthy, and wise, especially during times of change or chaos! Life is challenging, and I have to work at staying balanced. Good friends help, as does being married to a wonderful man. We have been in business together, written books together, and have just celebrated 25 years of marriage together. We constantly step back to do a reality check on ourselves as a couple and as individuals, and do a little rewiring and fine tuning where needed!

Interests:
Theater, jazz, photography, politics, travel, India, animals, Eastern religions.

Activities:
Yoga, running mini-marathons, hiking, spending time with friends.

Favorite books:
Eight, by Kathleen Neville; Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand; Current Events, History and Criticism, and Forever Amber.

Favorite movies:
All About Eve, It’s A Wonderful Life, Out of Africa, Little Women.

Favorite TV shows (old ones!):
Murphy Brown, Mary Tyler Moore, Dallas (!!), and Remington Steele; most everything on PBS; plus, I am a CNBC watcher and a complete newsaholic!

Favorite quotes (Wow… there are so many!):

“Never, never, never give up!” --Winston Churchill

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” --Gandhi

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” --Robert Frost

“Fear defeats more people than any other thing in the world.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

displayname
Jeri Sedlar

professional background

Jeri Sedlar is an author, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and "Rewiring® Guru!" She is Senior Advisor to The Conference Board on the Mature Workforce, an AARP judge for the Best Employers for Workers Over 50, Delegate to the White House Conference on Aging, and author of the two highly acclaimed books (Don't Retire, Rewire! and On Target: Enhance Your Life and Ensure Your Success). Don't Retire, Rewire!, now in its second edition, has become essential reading for pre- and post-retirees worldwide.

Sedlar is the creator of the five-step Rewiring® process and the concept of Rewirement®, or as she defines it, the "new way to do the future," which focuses on finding new purpose, new passions, and new and fulfilling work possibilities that promote healthy and productive outcomes -- regardless of your age or stage of life.

For over 15 years, Sedlar has been interviewing executives, professionals, entrepreneurs and pre-retirees, in all industries and job functions about their hopes, expectations and fears about the future. Sedlar has become known for the 85 drivers, or motivators, she identified, detailing why people work beyond a paycheck. Sedlar partners with an array of the country's leading organizations and uses drivers to challenge individuals and organizations to "get creative" and rewire their thinking and action when it comes to managing, leveraging, and engaging mature workers in productive paid and volunteer work. She galvanizes organizations and individuals into recognizing the positive aspects of longevity, good health, better education, and a desire to continue working.

Sedlar has been a frequent guest on TODAY, NBC's Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, PBS and CNN. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Reader's Digest, and Time. In addition, Sedlar is a contributor to Horesmouth, a financial newsletter.

Sedlar has had a stellar 25-year career working in the areas of personal growth, transition, and professional services. She was formerly a partner at Sedlar & Miners, an executive search firm in New York City specializing in the recruitment of senior management for such companies as Citibank, Ernst & Young, L'Oreal, and Gartner Group.

From 1987 to 1994, she was Editor-at-Large of Working Woman magazine. In this role, she worked with the Small Business Administration's Women Division, and also with the Department of Labor, under Secretaries Elizabeth Dole and Lynn Martin, on the Glass Ceiling initiative. She was involved with flex-time and work/life balance issues on behalf of Working Mother magazine. Her audiences include CEO's, presidents, Human Resources executives, entrepreneurs, and thousands of working women at all levels, to recognize and eliminate perceived or real barriers to professional success. She has worked in the private and public sectors, consulting for many Fortune 500 and emerging companies, as well as the Departments of Energy, Transportation, and the Federal Highway Commission.

Sedlar served on the New York City YMCA board for seven years and is now an honorary board member and the former Chair of the YWCA's 2000-member Academy of Women Achievers. She created many unique strategic alliances for the YWCA with the corporate community, and received the prestigious William Spencer Award for her outstanding work.