A Note From The Founders.
By Erica and Karen
Lustre was born to challenge outdated notions of retirement and age. We, the founders, were passionate about the need to show retired women as we are—visible, relevant, and still going strong—and to give the world a new vision of modern retirement for women like us.
We have personally funded Lustre for seven years, rallying accomplished women to challenge stereotypes, fashion new and different post-career lifestyles, and trailblaze for generations to come. Thousands of you have joined Lustre, and we are very grateful that you subscribe to Lustre’s purpose.
Now, it’s time for Lustre’s next chapter. Back to school for us!
Lustre needs to become member-supported in order to keep the project going. Starting October 4, 2023, for an annual fee of $65, Lustre will be available exclusively to members.
With your support, we can maintain Lustre and make it bigger and better:
• New and expanded content and features for the Lustre website and weekly newsletter.
• Expanded programming and in-person events in cities across the U.S.—and maybe the world.
• More in-depth examples of how to live now, so we can style our lives and so everyone else can see the luminous and resourceful women we are.
• The latest technology, more interactive, at once both individualized and community-building.
We have created a strong foundation. Please become a member, so we can build on that foundation, together.
Thanks to each and every one of you.
Erica and Karen
This makes me so sad ~ I have loved reading your posts ~ but something is so wrong that you now will only make available for a price. SO wrong…
Lustre came along at just the right stage of life for me, but with so much free online content on aging, a paid subscription is just not something I’d consider. I wish you every success. Thanks for bouying & bolstering me these past years.
No one should work for free, especially not for seven years!
I wish you the very best of luck in this new chapter.
I totally understand that you need to collect a fee for your work. But I honestly think that $65, when compared with other subscriptions and memberships, is very high. I would think $25 would make more sense.
Best wishes! Guessing you had hoped for more advertising and sponsorships to financially support your efforts. There is so much content on line that it’s difficult to find time to read much of it, even though I am retired.
I simply can’t justify $65 for a subscription!
Thank you!
I understand that you want to expand and enhance your brand but at this time I can’t justify paying $65 to subscribe to anything! I was an SAHM for many years before I followed my career goals and my retirement funds aren’t nearly enough to provide me with a comfortable living or allow me extra luxuries. I wish you the best…I’m going to miss you!
OUCH! I have really enjoyed your site, yet unfortunately believe you are unrealistic with a fee of $65. The internet is full of free information on retirement. Good luck!
Thank you Erica and Karen. I very much support your work to build a support system and community for our cohort to stay visible and contribute after a long-held career. Will you be offering ideas/opportunities to members to help the effort to stay involved and contribute? It can be hard to generate new ideas and find resources to suit this time— eg., resources to get published (if you write), ways to find volunteer opportunities, continuing education that doesn’t break the bank, gig economy, etc.? Thank you
You are very nice, and I’ve enjoyed reading the articles. However, there are lots of other very similar, and sometimes, meatier, articles and other sites targeting us, from blogs to private Facebook groups. I haven’t found anything unique enough here to justify a membership. Maybe I’m the wrong demographic for you. Best of luck!
I have enjoyed your articles and am willing to give it a try for a year to see if the fee is justified. 🤞
I will not be subscribing as I have found in person meetups and Facebook groups specific to women in my demographic are more important to me personally.
Your content and impending subscription fee seems appropriate for very high level executives and professionals and I do applaud your ambitions and drive. Best of luck in monetizing your brand.
I’m in! You’re right $5 a month! I have enjoyed reading this site. I am not retired yet though! I was a single mom and will be working till 70 and I’m okay with that! I know this site is dedicated to the retired professional woman. But would love to see a little bit more about those of us that are still working. Yes, we have our pals that are retired, but I know that there is more to do. Maybe some little vignettes about those of us that are at the retirement age, but are still working. Either way I find a lot of value and inspiration in this and it’s worth the five bucks a month! I appreciate the fact that you guys have been supporting this the effort on your own for the past seven years!
Karen
Thanks for everyone’s good wishes. We have a way to go but we are excited about what we can do. Karen, thanks for your comment and yes we will write more about people still in the workforce.
We do hope that this effort will allow us to get more sponsorship, which will in turn allow us to do more and reduce the price while still paying our colleagues for their work. For those that are leaving, sorry to see you go. Please keep in touch and maybe you will come back! In any event, let’s continue to support each other as we change the world of retirement, and age, for women.
I had not heard of Lustre until I received an email about membership. Read a couple of posts and am smitten! I will definitely consider securing a subscription. Thank you for all of the time and effort put forth to create this wonderful publication!