In this Christmas 2025 special, Diane Gilman, “Too Young to Be Old” host and self-described material girl turned meaning-seeker, shares what it’s like to celebrate her first Christmas at 80. She talks candidly about living through decades in cutthroat fashion and television, surviving breast cancer, and realizing that simply being alive at 80 is a rare privilege—one she refuses to complain about.

Instead of focusing on presents and perfection, Diane reframes this holiday season around gratitude, presence, and purpose. She explains how she corrects her own negative self-talk (“horrible” becomes “challenging”), why she cherishes everyday miracles like a perfect New York snowfall over Central Park, and how independence and reinvention through podcasting have become unexpected gifts in later life.

Speaking directly to women over 55 who feel anxious, bitter, or stuck, she invites listeners to step away from doom-scroll thinking and into a “luminous bubble” of appreciation. Diane shares practical spiritual homework: banish negative words, sit with a blank page, list your everyday miracles, and ask, “What can I give back?” rather than “What am I getting?” She declares that this will not be the year of consumption but the year of contribution—especially to her community of women navigating aging, emptiness, and uncertainty.

Diane also opens up about the one gift she truly wants now—time—and how she intends to honor that gift by helping animals, easing human suffering, and championing women over 55 to believe their best decades may still be ahead. She ends with a powerful reminder that the world may not support positivity right now, but each of us can: by choosing to see life as a precious treasure, cultivating resilience, and creating our own light, even in the darkest seasons.

Special Offers & Resources Mentioned:

✨AMRA Supplements – Diane shares her discovery of this "miracle" supplement containing collagen, peptides, vitamins, and minerals that helps combat age-related nutrient absorption issues. It tastes like butterscotch and provides noticeable results in energy, skin, and hair health.

Special Offer: Get 15% off your first purchase with code DIANEGILMAN at tryarmra.com/DIANEGILMAN

Connect with Diane Gilman:

1. YouTube: @thedianegilman
2. Facebook: TheDianeGilman
3. Instagram: @thedianegilman
4. TikTok: @thedianegilman
5. Website & Mailing List: TheDianeGilman.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review, subscribe, and share it with friends! Remember: age is just a number. Together, we’ll prove that we’re all Too Young to Be Old.

Diane Gilman, longtime designer and fashion insider, uses Chanel as the ultimate case study in how fashion can shape real life—and how today’s luxury world is squandering that legacy. From Coco Chanel’s orphanage roots and her “inventions” (pockets in women’s clothes, knit dressing, the little black dress, costume jewelry, the 2.55 bag, and named perfume) to Karl Lagerfeld’s supermodel-filled, high-energy reinvention in the 80s and 90s, Diane traces how the brand once defined comfort, minimalism, and modern womanhood.

She contrasts that golden history with a recent Chanel show staged in a dingy, deserted subway station, questioning whether “clever” concepts and $50,000 jackets in grim settings count as creativity—or just proof the industry is tired and out of touch. Along the way, Diane talks about vintage Chanel, the magic of Paris’s Palais Royal Chanel resale boutiques, her own DG2 jeans + “Chanel-style” blazer uniform, and why she still dreams of owning the perfect real Chanel jacket. The episode ends with a call for a new visionary who can honor Coco and Karl while making Chanel electric, wearable, and relevant again.

Key themes

• Coco Chanel as an inventor: pockets, knit dressing, the little black dress, costume jewelry, ballerina flats, the boy bag, shoulder-strap handbags, named perfume, and the cardigan suit.
• Karl Lagerfeld’s era: supermodels, maximal costume jewelry, color, monotone looks, and jackets that felt both strong and easy.
• The problem with “subway station chic”: concept over clothes, tired ideas, and a lack of truly covetable pieces.
• Why real fashion should be: understandable, foundational, energizing, and easy to plug into real life.
• The power of vintage: why Diane prefers hunting for “the real thing” over buying today’s runway.
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Special Offers & Resources Mentioned:

✨ Use the code 'DIANEG' to receive a discount on Mito Red Light products! Visit https://mitoredlight.com/?afmc=DIANEG to learn more!

Connect with Diane Gilman:

1. YouTube: @thedianegilman
2. Facebook: TheDianeGilman
3. Instagram: @thedianegilman
4. TikTok: @thedianegilman
5. Website & Mailing List: TheDianeGilman.com



If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review, subscribe, and share it with friends! Remember: age is just a number. Together, we’ll prove that we’re all Too Young to Be Old.

Guest: Lisa Haynes – Former CFO, retirement strategist, and author of Retired and Killing It, available on Amazon.

• Lisa Haynes’ book, Retired and Killing It: Retired and Killing It by Lisa Haynes on Amazon

This episode centers on redefining retirement as an exciting “next chapter” rather than an ending, with a big focus on planning, purpose, and identity in later life. Lisa Haynes shares the key ideas behind her “Retired and Killing It” formula, while Diane Gilman adds real-world perspective as a late-career retiree navigating money, meaning, and reinvention.

Episode overview

Diane Gilman, host of Too Young to Be Old, sits down with Lisa Haynes, former CFO turned retirement strategist and author of Retired and Killing It, to talk about what really happens after you stop working full-time. They dig into the emotional and psychological side of retirement that no one warns you about—identity loss, income shifts, social changes—and how to design a life you’re genuinely excited to wake up to.

What you’ll hear

• Why “pre-tirement” planning matters just as much as financial planning, and what most people overlook in the years leading up to retirement.
• Lisa’s “killing it” framework: eight key elements that help you move from “from what” (your old career) to “to what” (your next purpose), instead of drifting or feeling blindsided.
• How to rethink work in retirement: side hustles, consulting, part-time income, and passion projects that protect your savings and your sense of self.
• The identity shift no one talks about—who are you when you’re no longer your job title?—and how to find a new definition of worth and contribution.
• The mental side of longevity: if you might live to 90, 100, or beyond, how do you fund it, and what will make those decades meaningful?
• Why multi-generational friendships, staying curious, and “keeping your mind moving” are as important as staying physically active.
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Key themes and takeaways

• Retirement is not just “stopping work”; it’s a transition into something new that needs a real plan, not just a savings number.
• You are good at more than one thing: the skills from your first career can become a new business, a second career, or meaningful volunteer work.
• Purpose and passion are non-negotiable: they fuel energy, protect against depression, and make longer lives worth living.
• Avoid the “age ghetto”: surround yourself with multiple generations and new ideas so you don’t mentally retire from life.
• Your retirement should not look like anyone else’s—not your parents’, not your peers’—and that’s a good thing.
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Special Offers & Resources Mentioned:

✨Use code "THEDIANEGILMAN" at checkout to receive 10% off your order — http://www.primeprometics.com/THEDIANEGILMAN

Connect with Diane Gilman:

1. YouTube: @thedianegilman
2. Facebook: TheDianeGilman
3. Instagram: @thedianegilman
4. TikTok: @thedianegilman
5. Website & Mailing List: TheDianeGilman.com

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review, subscribe, and share it with friends! Remember: age is just a number. Together, we’ll prove that we’re all Too Young to Be Old.