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Liz Hilliard is an inspiring example of what happens when you take a chance and dare to live your most authentic and powerful life and the happiness that can come from doing just that. In her 60's while having a thriving fitness company Hilliard Studio Method, helping women to become the most powerful, healthy versions of themselves, she realized to live in her own power, she needed to be true to herself and take a chance on love with her best friend who happened to be a woman.
"I had been playing small for far too long, living in the shadow of others’ expectations and my own limited self-worth while preaching to my business clients about finding their own power, accepting it and moving forward into living their truth. I even wrote a book called “Be Powerful: Find Your Strength at Any Age,” which became an Amazon bestseller thanks to clients and others who wanted to know my secrets to looking and feeling good in my 60s. But in writing that book, I began to feel an expansion ― a feeling I had yet to verbalize even to myself."
Liz continues: "The revelation that I might not be completely heterosexual came about in a lightning flash that ran me through like cupid’s arrow..."
And according to a recent report from the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles, nearly 14 million adults (5.5%) in the United States identify as LGBTQ+. But seniors (65 and older) only account for 1.8% of the LGBTQ+ community. To celebrate Pride Month, the author and fitness guru, who fell in love with another woman at 64 years old, is sharing her story to inspire others to pursue their true selves fearlessly.
“To paraphrase former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, I did the thing I must not do, which in turn became my ticket to freedom — not only freedom from a stale marriage, but freedom to sound my own horn, to explore my passion and sexuality and to finally become the person I was hesitant and afraid to become. To become powerful.”
At 64, Liz decided to divorce her husband of 37 years. During this time, she fell in love with her best friend, Lee Kennelly, who was also going through a divorce. Liz never imagined falling in love with another woman, but it felt entirely natural when it happened. Liz, now 70, says falling in love with Lee was the healthiest decision she’s ever made.