Be Brave. Lose the Beige! - by Liz Kitchens (Paperback)

About the Book

A guide for "Lady Boomers" and others cresting toward retirement navigate what's next for them. This candid, tongue-in-cheek manifesto empowers women to take on their third act with confidence and sass.

Book Synopsis

Meet Beige. Beige is reliable, practical, sensible, and safe. Beige doesn't put up a fuss; it follows the rules, blends in, doesn't want to stand out. Now meet Magenta. Magenta is rich, dynamic, loud, sometimes garish, and not easily overlooked.

Society has decidedly beige expectations when it comes to aging, and the intrinsic danger of beige and its many practical aspects is that it precludes creative thinking. Creative thinking is critical in avoiding a beige aging journey. Be Brave. Lose the Beige! Finding Your Sass after Sixty encourages women to trot out their inner magenta and defy those beige expectations.

Be Brave. Lose the Beige! started as a blog and morphed into a movement. This movement gently pokes fun at ageist rules and expectations. It says "yes" when the rest of the world keeps saying "no." In these pages, Liz Kitchens chronicles how creative thinking helped her cope with empty nest syndrome, navigate sex over sixty, transition from being outtasight to literally being out-of-sight . . . and so much more.

The stories and creative techniques outlined in this book are guaranteed to introduce color, sass, and a lightness of spirit into your later years. Are you ready to start coloring outside the lines, even if a few pesky rules get trampled in the process?

Review Quotes

2024 National Indie Excellence Awards Winner in Aging
Listed on the May 2023 Indie Spotlight by Publishers Weekly
Named one of May 2023's "Top 10 Inspirational Books" by Aspire Magazine

"Liz Kitchens would make Erma Bombeck cackle, leave Ann Landers at a loss for words, and make Gloria Steinem proud. Be Brave. Lose the Beige!is the medicine we didn't know we needed after the pandemic. Liz has tackled tough subjects, made us laugh, said things we're all thinking about but haven't put into words, and, best of all, given women a nudge (and a roadmap) to enjoy life more."
--Rannah Gray, author of Familiar Evil and The Case of the Missing Poodle

"Lively . . . its recommendations are practical . . . and the book handles fraught topics (including aging, caregiving, and end-of-life issues) with respect. . . . Written for women of the baby boomer generation, Liz Kitchens's encouraging self-help book celebrates creativity, passion, and color."
--Foreword Reviews, 4-star review

"Wonderful. . . . Women who suffer from empty-nest syndrome or are simply floundering to find their place in this world will find help in this book. The fun, simple, and conversational style is filled with gems that can help you live the latter half of your life to the fullest."
--Readers' Favorite, 5-star review

"Set aside time to be charmed. . . . I was delighted by Be Brave. Lose the Beige!Many of the retirement books I am asked to review are very dry manuscripts about financial planning, rescuing your finances, and taking care of your health. There is nothing wrong with these books. Those are important topics for retirees. However, this book is a delight to read, talks about your relationship with others, and will change your relationship with yourself! Enjoy it!"
--Baby Boomer Retirement

About the Author

Liz Kitchens is a rare and endangered species, born and raised in Orlando, Florida, whose memory of Florida pre-dates Walt Disney World. She conducts workshops and seminars on creativity and directed an after-school and summer creative arts program for teens in underserved communities. She has also been a market researcher for thirty-five years and is the founder of What's Next Boomer? --a website dedicated to helping boomers navigate retirement options--and of the blog Be Brave. Lose the Beige, which focuses on issues facing women of the baby boomer generation. She is also a contributing writer for Medium and the online magazine Sixty and Me, and has been published in various online and print publications. Liz is married, the mother of three adult children, and the grandmother of three grandchildren. She lives in Orlando, FL.