The Most Dangerous Thing A Woman Over 50 Can Believe

by | May 13, 2026 | Gendered Ageism, Women Empowerment, Women in the Workplace, womenoverr50 | 0 comments

Image by Teona Swift at Pexels

I’m too old to be promoted.

I was 49 years old when I was lost out on a promotion despite the fact I worked my tail off, gave my life to that company for nearly a decade, and had a consistent record of great performance. The rejection sucked. I felt betrayed and I was pissed. Instead of the VP job I wanted, they offered me a lateral position of AVP that required me to re-locate, which I took as another slap in the face, and I left. Sayonara. Did I mention they gave the job to a man?

Now I was almost fifty and looking for a job. That wasn’t something I had planned for by any means. I naively thought I had some kind of job security because I was a top performer. But I also believed, perhaps naively, that it might take some time, but it wouldn’t be difficult to find another position in a new company. That actually worked out to be true. I reached out to my network of former colleagues and let them know I was on the lookout for another job, and my dear friend Cheryl, who had left the company a few years before, told me about an opening for a CEO position in her company. I interviewed and got the job. It was a big promotion.

Never once did I think that I wouldn’t get a job because I had just reached the big five 0. Never once did I think I wasn’t marketable. In fact, I believed the opposite was true.

Here’s the thing, remember if you’re looking for a promotion at this age, you’re at the peak of your career. This is when you have the most to offer. You know more today than you’ve ever known.

Ask yourself this: why should your age limit your value? You now have more experience and wisdom than ever before. Age enhances your value.

Experience = Value

Wisdom = Value

Therefore, Age = Value

See what I mean?

Listen, you didn’t get to where you are today by slacking off. You didn’t put in long hours and juggle the work life balance thing or do the political dance at work for nothing. You’ve worked hard. You’ve accomplished a lot over the course of your career so far. And guess what? You’re not done yet so stop telling yourself you are!

Read the full article on Substack.com.