After a 35-year career as a top executive in the television industry, Nicky Taylor, now 60, has pivoted to stacking shelves at a Waitrose supermarket in Brighton. Taylor, who previously worked on food, travel, and lifestyle programs for major British broadcasters, described her new role as both challenging and ultimately more fulfilling, despite earning significantly less than in her former high-profile position.
Taylor's career shift comes amid a changing television landscape, which she notes has heavily impacted the factual programming sector due to the rise of streaming and social media. While acknowledging these industry shifts, she also questioned whether age played a role in the decline of her freelance executive producer opportunities. The lack of work, combined with the unexpected end of a long-term relationship, prompted Taylor to reassess her professional future. For the first time, she felt professionally vulnerable, seeing former colleagues transition to roles such as Uber drivers and delivery personnel.
Embracing New Opportunities
Facing financial pressures, including a mortgage and the need to support herself until pension age, Taylor explored various new avenues. Her pursuits included care work, dog boarding, teaching English as a foreign language, and even briefly considering roles as a driving instructor and, humorously, a professional dominatrix. Ultimately, she decided to take a position at Waitrose. She described the process of donning the supermarket uniform and learning new systems as a significant, albeit unexpected, transition from her previous career.
Taylor finds a sense of accomplishment in the immediate and practical nature of her current work, which she contrasts with the high-pressure environment of television production. She notes that her days are varied, involving tasks such as dog walking, teaching equine management students, assisting elderly clients, and helping children with science activities. This new phase of life, which psychologists are increasingly identifying as the 'third quarter'—a period of productive life following the traditional retirement age—is characterized by reinvention rather than winding down. Taylor believes that society has yet to fully adapt to this evolving life stage, often expecting individuals in their 60s to accept a diminished value.
Redefining Success
Taylor also reflects on how her change in career has altered her social interactions. She observes that people seem more willing to open up to her now, sharing personal challenges they might not have discussed when she held a prominent job title. She feels that she is now seen as her 'real self,' a departure from her former identity, which was closely tied to her professional status. While she made a significant financial decision to purchase a house with a substantial mortgage and renovation costs during her television career, she expressed no regret, stating a desire not to simply watch life from the sidelines. Taylor concludes that she is not past her sell-by date and feels she is on the brink of something new, finding contentment in forging her own path and, as she puts it, stacking yogurts.