by Patricia Schallert
There are many seniors among us who have lived and continue to live lives that can be considered “success stories” …. Let’s meet Kathleen Good from CAPS RADIO KPPQ 104.1 FM and see how she sees it.
Kathleen Good, an incredible retiree with a second or maybe third career, is a talk show host at CAPS Media, KPPQ 104.1 FM. (Community Access Partners of San Buenaventura) She attended UW-Madison, Wisconsin and earned a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Psychology—Special Education.
She worked to set up a first generation of special education resource classrooms. Then reflected that after a life-changing event, she took an opportunity to go to New York that had always intrigued her. While working with learning disabled students in art, she created three-dimensional fiber pieces which were so unusual they found their way into New York galleries and shows and gave her a reason to make the move to New York.
Kathleen moved to London after meeting her husband where she did training for a qualification in psychotherapy/counseling and developed a private practice. Her niche specialty was working with artists who were experiencing creative blocks and unable to move forward with their chosen artistic form.
After a couple of false starts, Kathleen settled less on the idea of retirement and more on working in radio and television. When she discovered CAPS Media, a non-profit in Ventura, Kathleen initially produced funny videos on climate change. When CAPS added a radio service, KPPQ 104.1 FM, she found it to be a great fit for expanding her ideas on women’s equality. To create the show, she used all the experiences gained during years of teaching, counseling, and making art—as well as the technical skills she learned from the master-level CAPS staff.
With no experience in radio at all, she launched “In The Women’s Room” a radio talk show at CAPS Radio dedicated to “educating the public about women’s issues, women’s concerns, and women in the arts.” “In the Women’s Room” exists, Kathleen reflects, to “support and appreciate women.” She hosts guests who give women ideas, expertise, information, and resources about universal issues and concerns.” She is focusing this year on women working in climate mitigation and that includes women in action groups, government entities, and non-profit agencies.
Kathleen feels she lives a happy successful retirement and values the turning points in her life as they created the opportunities that moved her forward. She takes her time producing a show so she is able to do research, consider questions, write and edit, and works hard to get to know her guest so she can get out the very best message to the public
Kathleen responded to my question about lessons she has learned over the years with these thoughts: “I think there is a remedy to every problem or issue if you look long enough. Even problems that can’t be entirely fixed, can be lessened, alleviated or mitigated.” She also believes that movement (stretching and strengthening) is the key to being able to continue with her relevant work. Her day is centered around movement work-outs interspersed with computer time, Zooming and talking!
Editor: If you are a senior, or know of one, who would like to share their retirement, or job, with us let us know at [email protected].
