Nothing Is Wasted: Reinvention and Confidence with Annette Naif

I met Annette Naif the way a lot of good things seem to happen in this chapter of life: I noticed her. We were both on a virtual Zoom for podcasters, and something about her energy caught my attention immediately. I reached out. She said yes. And the conversation that followed reminded me why I started this podcast.

Annette has been producing events since 1986. She spent 17 years in film and television production before founding Naif Productions in 2010, a strategic event planning, design, and production firm based in New York City. She has produced over 100 million dollars in events for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, families, and coaches worldwide. She teaches event production at NYU, coaches aspiring event planners, and hosts her own podcast, "A Turn of Events." But what I find most interesting about her is not the resume. It is what you learn when you have spent four decades standing beside people at the biggest moments of their lives.

The Skills Bank You Did Not Know You Were Building

Annette did not follow a straight line to where she is now. She started in events at a hair product company in her twenties (her hair is gorgeous BTW--see it for yourself on the YouTube episode), moved into film and television production in Los Angeles, worked legal contracts for entertainment law firms, completed a business management degree at 37, directed operations for a real estate company, and launched Naif Productions at 47. At each turn, she absorbed something she did not yet know she would need.

"I didn't know at the time that those things I was learning were gonna be such a big thing in running my business," she told me. "But you just never know where it's gonna take you and what's gonna be an advantage in your life down the road."

I hear this from so many women I talk to, and I feel it deeply in my own reinvention after 40 years in nursing. The experiences we collect along the way are not detours. They are deposits. Every role, every pivot, every season of work adds to a skills bank you may not even realize you are building.

Annette went back to school at 37 while working full time. It took her seven years to finish. As soon as she graduated, the economy crashed. She started her business anyway. By 47, she was running it full time.

"It's never too late to start," she said. "Before you know it, you have a business for 16 years."

Confidence Is Something You Practice, Not Something You Arrive With

Confidence is a thread that runs through every corner of this conversation. For Annette, it is not a personality trait or a destination. It is a practice, something you choose and repeat, even when your insides are not cooperating.

"Confidence is everything," she said. "Even if I'm dying inside because I'm so nervous, you just be confident and talk about it. You figure it out."

She applied that principle when she launched her business without a blueprint, when she walked into rooms where established planners refused to mentor her, and when she finally learned to price her work properly. Her first year in business, she worked through the numbers with a coach and discovered she had charged herself into a loss on one of her early events, negative 57 dollars an hour.

"I'll never forget it," she said. "You learn quickly not to do that."

She found her footing by surrounding herself with people who reflected her value back to her, even people who had never been to a single one of her events. "I surrounded myself by people who lifted me up and showed me that what I was doing was great and I was great at it."

That community was not decorative. It was the foundation.

Being in Rooms Where You Can See What Is Possible

Shortly before we recorded this episode, Annette attended a conference with 700 women focused on aging, health, and vitality. She went for herself, not for business.

"It's just inspiring to be around people who are aging, but aging well and are confident about their aging," she said. "Just seeing other women made me feel better about aging."

There were women on stage in their seventies and eighties. One was 89. They looked vital, engaged, and fully present. Annette left feeling something shift.

This is not a small thing. The images and stories we take in shape what we believe is possible for ourselves. Being in rooms where women are thriving at 70 and 80 recalibrates what we think this chapter can hold. Annette put it simply: "It's really important to put yourself in those rooms with people like that."

Paying Attention to Your Body, Even When No One Else Is

One of the most important sections of this conversation is not about events at all. It is about a blood clot.

In the days before our recording, Annette had traveled to a conference, danced in heels, played nine holes of golf, and flown home on a five-and-a-half-hour flight. She woke up at 2 a.m. with excruciating pain in her calf. Her first thought was that something was wrong, not just sore.

"My intuition told me something's off," she said. "And if you feel that way, you need to know your body."

She went to the ER. A nurse told her she did not have the typical symptoms. She pushed for a more thorough scan anyway. When the technician was ready to finish the ultrasound, Annette asked her to keep looking at the exact location of the pain. With a different lens, the technician found a small blood clot in a narrow vein.

"You have to be advocates for yourself," Annette said. "If you sense something's off, just keep pushing until you ease your mind. Because had I left there, this could have been bad."

As a nurse for 40 years, I know how true this is, and how hard it can still be. Women in midlife are dismissed more often than we should be. We are told our symptoms are just part of aging. Annette's story is a reminder that you are the expert on your own body, and that advocating for yourself is not optional.

What Sexy Means Now

At the end of every episode, I ask my guests the same question. Annette's answer was immediate.

"Honestly, it's confidence," she said. "I think someone who's confident is super sexy. People see it and people feel it the same way."

That answer lands differently after everything she shared. Confidence is what carried her through four decades of building something from nothing. It is what she teaches her coaching clients. It is what she felt when she walked into that ER at 2 a.m. and refused to leave without answers. And it is exactly what I noticed about her in that first Zoom, the thing that made me reach out.

What Annette's story makes clear is that reinvention is not something that happens to you. It is something you keep choosing, one decision at a time, across decades. Nothing you have lived through is wasted. The experiences stack. The confidence compounds. And at some point, you look up and realize that the life you are building now has been in process for much longer than you knew.

Listen to the Full Episode

Episode 21: Nothing Is Wasted: Reinvention and Confidence with Annette Naif

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Connect with Annette Naif

naifproductions.com
Instagram @annettenaif
Dreams to Dollars Masterclass 

About Dvora Citron

Dvora Citron is a Registered Nurse, National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner, and the founder of Slant2Plants®. She hosts Sexy in Your 60s to bring women the real ingredients of vibrant aging through science, story, support, and soul. Her work helps women 50 and older create the health, confidence, and longevity they want in ways that feel realistic and sustainable.

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Medical Disclaimer

The content shared on Sexy in Your 60s — including this podcast, blog posts, and coaching programs — is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and should not replace the guidance of your physician or qualified healthcare provider. Individual results vary. Dvora Citron, RN, MS, NBC-HWC is a registered nurse and National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach. She is not acting as your personal nurse or healthcare provider. Always consult a qualified professional before making changes to your health, nutrition, medications, or lifestyle.