F50 Issue #27: July 23, 2024
Lessons from June Squibb: On Finding Success with “Slow Ambition”
June Squibb is an inspiration. For seven decades, she’s been working as an actor. In 1959, she started off in the broadway musical Gypsy and then moved to film in the 1990s.
You’ve probably seen her if you’ve watched movies like Meet Joe Black or TV shows like Shameless. And you can hear her voice in the movie Inside Out 2, where she plays the embodiment of Nostalgia, a grandmotherly character wearing rose-colored glasses.
She was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the 2013 film Nebraska. But in all that time, she never had a leading role — until now.
At the age of 94, Squibb is enjoying box office success in the 2024 film Thelma, where she plays a 93-year-old grandmother who loses $10,000 in a phone scam and then sets off on a quest to recover her losses. And the remarkable thing about this role is that she did most of her own stunts.
Remember Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun: Maverick? We talk about him in the first issue of Freelance After 50. He continues to do his own stunts and is enjoying a flourishing career in his sixties.
Well, there’s a cool connection between Squibb and Cruise. According to a Forbes article titled “‘Thelma’ Star June Squibb Has Always Been A Die Hard Action Fan,” Thelma was inspired by the Mission: Impossible movies, and Tom Cruise gave the crew permission to use footage and references from the franchise.
So, you may be asking, what does this have to do with freelancing?
We want to remind you that it’s never too late. No matter what age you are, your ideal freelance role can be just around the corner, or it can be far off on the horizon. But you will find it, as long as you keep your eyes on your goal.
If Tom Cruise inspired you, June Squibb can inspire you even more.
In a New York Times article, Squibb says she’s not considering retirement, and she still thinks of herself as ambitious:
‘It’s a very slow kind of ambition, that doesn’t rush in,’ she said. ‘But I think that I have always had this sense that I am going to get what I wanted.’”
Let’s break down that “slow ambition” into five ingredients that can help you achieve your own success (especially if you decide to freelance after 50).
Five Ingredients for a Slow Ambition That Leads to Success
1. Mindset
“I never think of myself as being old,” declares June Squibb in a Variety article.
How do you think of yourself these days? In a book titled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck discusses how our success is influenced by the way we think about ourselves.
If you think of yourself as old, you might limit your goals and refuse to pursue challenges. Imagine if Tom Cruise stopped doing his own stunts in his sixties, not realizing he could still do some stunts in his nineties, like June Squibb!
In the article above, Squibb explains that no one was expecting her to do the mobility scooter stunts, but she gave it her all!
2. Teachability
Carol Dweck says a “growth mindset” means you believe that abilities can be developed instead of remaining fixed.
Part of June Squibb’s slow ambition is her recognition that she doesn’t know everything. Although she was excited about doing stunts with a mobility scooter, she realized she needed to learn new skills to achieve success.
In the New York Times article, she explains,
“I did most of the scooter work. When I read the script, I thought this was going to be great fun, and I really found I had an affinity for this scooter. Except it was hard to stop — it bucked a little bit. So I had to learn how to stop it cleanly.”
If you want to pursue a freelance niche, but think you don’t know enough, rest assured you can develop your own skills and abilities!
3. Stamina
When we’re young, we often think of stamina as the ability to “go-go-go” for a long period of time without rest. With that perspective, you might push yourself to stay busy and productive when what you really need to do is sleep.
As a person over 50, June Squibb puts a different spin on stamina when she’s asked about it in the New York Times article:
“I was always energetic. And when I was working, I always found that extra energy to finish what had to be done. I never faded during a job. Now, I get tired more easily. And I recognize that because — I never used to recognize it. I would ignore it, but now I don’t, and I know I have to stop. But I have in my contract now: I only work 10 hours — a day.”
Only 10 hours a day! That might seem like a lot to some of us, but the point is, Squibb realizes she needs to take breaks.
That’s a wisdom you need to embrace too when you’re a freelancer — the importance of setting boundaries that protect your energy so you can do your best work and maintain your health.
4. Trust
As we’ve mentioned before, it’s important to “never freelance alone.” When you become a freelancer, your support system breathes life into your business and helps you achieve longevity.
Your supporters could be fellow freelancers, mentors, business coaches, or mastermind groups — people you trust to give patient instruction and sensible advice.
In the Forbes article, Squibb illustrates the trust it took to work with her director when she was pursuing a new type of work at her age:
“There's a scene where Richard and I are walking away from a store, and there's a fire behind us, and it took me a long time to get there. It never occurred to me that I had to know what was going on because I didn't have to. I trusted Josh. Some things came to me slowly, and I get it now."
5. Goals
June Squibb has remained laser-focused on her goals. That’s one of the key characteristics of her “slow ambition.” The New York Times article explains,
“She tap-danced her way [through] childhood in a small town in Illinois, and said she always wanted to be an actress. ‘It never occurred to me when I was growing up that I was anything else — that was it,’ said Squibb….”
Now, it’s true that your goals may change over time. Not everyone knows exactly what they want to be from childhood to the age of 94. But the important thing is to keep redefining your goals, and stay focused on them.
And remember it’s never too late! With age comes wisdom and an even greater appreciation for new challenges and fulfilling work!
Handy Tools
Beanstack began as a pitch on the hit TV show “Shark Tank.” Since then, it’s become a valuable tool that makes reading fun. You can use it to join a reading challenge run by your local library, or set up your own custom reading challenges or fundraisers.
Use the web or mobile apps to log your reading sessions and track your progress through books.
Give it a try, and let us know what books you’d recommend!
Words to Live By
“I just feel that we have so much more that we can do, if we stop listening to people saying, ‘You can’t do it.’ That’s very important to me.”
— June Squibb in The New York Times
Co-founders of Freelance University
