13 Women Who Didn’t Hit Their Stride Until They Were In Their 40s

Kimberly Bryant, a self-proclaimed “nerdy mom raising a geeky daughter” had worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries for decades when, at age 44, she founded Black Girls Code to make a space where girls like her daughter could learn and grow without being marginalized.

Lori Locust 

At 40, Lori Locust started playing semi-professional women’s football on the side. When an injury forced her off the field, she took up coaching, first with a high school team, then a semi-pro team. While coaching, she continued working full-time in the insurance industry while also raising her two kids. In her late 40s, she landed a coaching internship with the NFL, and in 2019, the 55-year-old was hired as assistant defensive line coach for the Tampa Buccaneers. She was the third woman to hold a full-time assistant coach position in NFL history.

Brene Brown

Brene Brown is such a household name that we sometimes forget that she was in her mid-40s when her TED Talk “The Power of Vulnerability” became a viral sensation in 2010. Since then, she has authored six books that have gone to number one on the New York Times bestseller list, in addition to her two podcasts and HBOMax docuseries.

Robin Chase

Robin Chase co-founded Zipcar at 42. In her 50s, she co-founded the tech startup Veniam. She’s also an author and one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. (She and her daughter have both given popular TED Talks.)

Cathie Wood

At 57, Cathie Wood left her C-suite job to start a new investment firm, Ark Invest. Now in her 60s, she is one of the world’s richest self-made women, Forbes reports.

Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout published her first novel, Amy and Isabelle, at 42. At 53, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her third novel, Olive Kitteridge. Her latest novel, Oh William!, published in 2021, when Strout was 65, was a New York Times bestseller.

Ava DuVernay