3 Reasons It's Never Too Late to Turn Your Doodles Into a Side Hustle
You scroll past beautiful pattern designs on Instagram and Pinterest and think: I've always wanted to see my doodles on fabric or wrapping paper but I missed my chance. I'm here to break that mindset block.
I'll never forget the day my boss called me into his office for what I thought was a routine meeting.
I sat down. He looked at me and said: "Anne, we've eliminated your job. Walk down the hall and talk to HR."
Just like that. Thirty years of showing up. Of climbing. Of being in the top 5% year after year. Of staying loyal to companies for a decade or more. Gone. They handed me a box, walked me to the door, and sent me home.
I was devastated. And honestly? I was lost.
I didn't know who I was without that title. Without that corner office. Without the job that had defined me for my entire adult life.
I tried to find another corporate role. Nothing worked out. One day my husband Tom sat me down and said something I'll never forget: "The universe is trying to tell you something. You need a new path."
Then he disappeared into the basement and came back with a dusty box of art supplies.
"You have time," he said. "Try these."
I almost laughed. I hadn't taken an art class a day in my life. I couldn't draw anything more than a stick figure. I was 60 years old.
But I was depressed enough — and brave enough — to say yes.
I asked Tom if he'd buy me one online art class. Just to learn the basics.
He said yes.
And that one little yes changed everything.
Regret is heavier than risk. If you've been sitting on a creative dream because you think you've missed your window, here are three reasons the window is still wide open.
Reason #1: Every Year You've Lived Is a Competitive Advantage, Not a Liability
Here's something the "30 Under 30" headlines will never tell you: the women who turn a creative passion into a side hustle aren't the youngest ones in the room. They're the most experienced.
A landmark study published in the Harvard Business Review found that the average age of the most successful founders in the U.S. is 45 — and that women in their 50s consistently outperform their younger counterparts when it comes to follow-through and long-term results.¹ The researchers put it plainly: age brings pattern recognition, emotional resilience, and real-life wisdom that simply takes decades to earn.
You've spent years navigating hard seasons, showing up for other people, and solving problems that didn't come with an instruction manual. You know how to persevere. You know how to finish what you start.
That's not a liability. That is exactly the foundation a creative side hustle is built on.
Allison Towe knows this firsthand. At 58, she found herself pushed out of a long-time corporate career — and faced a choice. Go back and fight for a seat at a table that had already moved on without her. Or make room for herself.
She chose herself.
"After experiencing firsthand that age really does matter in the corporate world," Allison told me, "I chose to focus on my own creative pursuits rather than go back to the corporate rat race."
She didn't start with a portfolio or a business plan. She started with a decision. And everything else followed from there.
Reason #2: The Support Around You Is Closer Than You Think — You Just Haven't Asked Yet
I want to tell you something I've learned from teaching thousands of women over 50: most of them were shocked by the support they received when they finally asked for it.
They assumed their families would roll their eyes. That their friends would be skeptical. That the people around them would see a creative pursuit as a hobby dressed up in wishful thinking.
They were wrong.
Research from the Kauffman Foundation confirms what I see in my own community every single day: social support — from spouses, adult children, and peer networks — is one of the strongest predictors of success for women who decide to explore a creative path later in life.² The women who thrive aren't the ones who go it alone. They're the ones who let people in.
Tom didn't hand me a box of art supplies because he thought I'd build a business. He handed them to me because he loved me and wanted me to feel better. But that one small act of support changed the entire direction of my life.
And then there's Alison McNair.
Alison is a lifelong artist who spent years as a full-time caregiver for her spouse, Jamie, who struggled with Alzheimer's and aphasia. After Jamie passed, she tried to learn Adobe Illustrator on her own — and felt completely crushed.
"I literally spent days trying to figure it out," she told me, "and decided I couldn't join the academy because I was too computer challenged."
She crashed her laptop. Twice.
But she didn't give up. She joined the Pattern Design Academy anyway. She made a leap of faith — not because the technology had gotten easier, but because she finally let herself be supported.
"I am making a leap of faith," she wrote, "based on my belief in you, your wonderful teaching style, and my commitment to reinvigorating my life as an artist. Now IS the time."
She didn't need to figure it out alone. She just needed the right guide. And she was brave enough to ask.
Reason #3: The Women Who Started Anyway Are Proof That Now Is Exactly the Right Time
I want to give you one more piece of evidence — because I know that feelings need facts before they become beliefs.
A BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report found that women over 50 who pursue creative and business ventures are actually more likely to succeed than their younger counterparts.³ The reasons? Greater life experience. A clearer sense of what they want — and what they don't. And something that can't be taught: the hard-won confidence that comes from having already survived the hard things.
Women over 50 aren't entering this space late. They're entering it ready.
Both Allison and Alison could have told themselves a very convincing story about why it was too late. Allison had been pushed out of corporate. Alison had spent years in survival mode as a caregiver. Both of them had every reason to sit this one out.
They didn't.
And here's what I need you to hear: they are not extraordinary women. They are women who made an ordinary decision to try. That's it. They said yes to one class, one tool, one small step — and the momentum built from there.
You have the experience. The resilience. The life. What you may be missing is a guide and a community of women doing it right alongside you.
That's exactly what I've built.
The window isn't closing — it never was. Your years of experience are your competitive advantage. The support you need is closer than you think. And the women who started anyway? They're the proof that this is possible.
Imagine what it would feel like, one year from now, to look at a product in your hands — a tea towel, a tote bag, a piece of fabric — covered in a pattern that came from your sketchbook. Your creativity. Your art. Finally out in the world where it belongs.
That's not a fantasy. That's what happens when you stop waiting and start.
What's the creative dream you've been putting off — and what's the one small yes that might finally set it in motion?
P.S. If you missed the Doodles Coaching Week back in April, enrollment is now open for the June cohort. Click HERE to grab the early bird price - just $37.
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It’s Never Too Late to Create®
Footnotes
Pierre Azoulay, Benjamin F. Jones, J. Daniel Kim, and Javier Miranda, "Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship," American Economic Review: Insights 2, no. 1 (2020): 65–82.
Kauffman Foundation, "The Age of the Entrepreneur: Why Experience Matters," Kauffman Insight, 2019.
BNP Paribas, "Global Entrepreneur Report," BNP Paribas Group, 2019.
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
