Getting old should not limit you from doing the things you love or enjoying a purposeful life. At 67 years old, Robin Kencel proves that experiencing empowered aging is never impossible. She joins Zach Gurick to discuss how she redefines what it means to age well, solidified by her title of Miss Connecticut Senior America 2025 and a seven-time winner in Pro-Am ballroom dance. Now a spiritual director who is set to compete in the Miss Senior America, Robin talks about the five pillars of aging to guide older people in strengthening their emotional selves and nurturing meaningful relationships. She also shares how she is following the footsteps of her 92-year-old mother and the importance of starting her day with intention.
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Experiencing Empowered Aging With Robin Kencel
Do What You Love No Matter What
We’re joined by a woman who proves that it’s never too late to embrace change, chase dreams, and live with purpose. At 67 years old, Robin Kencel is redefining what it means to age well. With a successful 40-year marriage, adult children, and a thriving career as a top luxury real estate agent and broker, you might think she’d be ready to slow down, but Robin is just getting started. She was crowned Miss Connecticut Senior America 2025. She’s a seven-time United States Pro-Am champion in ballroom dance. She’ll step onto the national stage to compete in the Miss Senior America pageant in Atlantic City.
Beyond the crowns and championships, Robin has devoted her platform to something even greater, helping people discover their purpose, peace, and joy at every stage of life. She inspires us to strengthen our emotional selves, nurture meaningful relationships, and never stop learning or growing, no matter our age. In this conversation, we’ll explore what it truly means to age with purpose, the five pillars of aging well, and how we can all live more empowered, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, as we write the next chapters of our lives. Get ready to be inspired by a remarkable story of resilience, reinvention, and radiant living. Here’s my conversation with Robin Kencel.
Robin, thank you so much for being on the show. Ever since we met a few weeks ago, I’ve been excited to have this conversation with you, to learn from you myself, and for our audience to have a chance to learn from you, your wisdom, your experience, and who you are. You’ve lived this amazing journey. I’m excited to unpack that. Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you so much for having me. I’m looking forward to it, too.
You’ve had a successful 40-year marriage. You’ve raised adult children. You’ve built a thriving career. You’ve stepped into this next chapter of life with dance, Miss Senior America, and this amazing new platform on purposeful aging. I’m always curious about where people’s passions come from. How did you end up where you are? What were the things that led you into what you’re doing now?
One of the things I’ve always believed, and it probably came from my grandfather, who owned a nursing home, where my three siblings and I worked from a very young age, is to do what you love, but also try to do what you’re good at. I add a third. If you can do something to also be of service to other people, then that’s the perfect trifecta. Quite honestly, my whole life, I have done what I’ve loved, as has my husband. That’s what we tell our kids. Don’t worry about the money. That will come if you’re doing what you love. I was an undergrad at Georgetown. I followed my passion. My major was Philosophy. What do you do with that when you’re done? From there, I got an MBA at Kellogg. I followed what I liked.
I started in product management. I went to Johnson & Johnson because another belief of mine is that whatever you do, go to the best place or person for it. I felt like they would be great at training me to be an excellent marketer, manager, and leader. I eventually opened my own strategic planning shop. I was always keeping a passion in the background. One of my passions is restoring historic homes. One day, a friend of mine who owned a real estate boutique firm looked at how much I was working. She’s like, “What are you making?” I told her. She’s like, “You’ve got to come into real estate. You’ll do so well with your business background and your knowledge of homes.”
I’ve had five different careers. Those are just a couple of them, but every single one of them, I have loved until actually the moment that I haven’t. For me, there always comes a moment where you’re like, “I can’t look at another business plan. I can’t do another whatever.” I always know it’s time to make a shift. My passions are a little different. I do love having outside interests besides a career. Dance has always been in my life in different forms. When I was a kid, ballet, tap, and jazz. Honestly, the moment that I hit the first recital at four years old, when I was in that yellow, shiny coat with the red flowers on the big stage with the lights and the lipstick, I thought, “I can’t get enough of this.”
The type of dance changed. At Georgetown, I did modern dance, liturgical dance, disco dance, and partner dancing, but ballroom didn’t come into my life until I was 45 years old. I was at a 25-year reunion at Georgetown. People asked if I still danced. I’m racing around with kids and a career. I thought, “Why can’t I?” Someone at the gym mentioned ballroom. I went to this studio. They saw I knew how to dance. They could tell I like to perform. The rest is history. I compete in Pro-Am. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve had a number of national titles. In 2024, I was number one in the country in my division.
All that says is that I am a hard worker. I do not give up. Several years ago, I had to replace a hip. The next year, another hip. Did my dancing change? Yes. There are certain things I can’t do, but guess what? There are so many things you can do in dance that maybe it’s not a particular move, but there are so many other moves. It fills me. I like to find joy and share with others. I feel like I can do that in dance. We’ll talk more about that journey, but that’s a very broad overview.
Becoming Miss Connecticut Senior America 2025
I love what you said. “It fills me.” You’ve been able to live out your passions in a significant way. That’s a beautiful journey that you’ve had. You’ve also been crowned Miss Connecticut Senior America 2025. Can you share what that experience meant to you and what it represents for others who are watching your journey?
First of all, for the audience, this is not the beauty pageant that you watched when Bob Barker was doing it. This is for women over 60. You’re judged in four categories. Thirty percent of your score is your interview with five judges for five minutes. They can ask you anything about your application. Thirty percent of your score is talent. Twenty percent of your score is your philosophy of life. This is my favorite part. Try and put your entire philosophy of life into 35 seconds.
If you were a Philosophy major and someone who overthinks, you’ve used up so much energy trying to get it right. I do love what I’ve come up with. The last part is the gown walk. You’re not judged on the gown. You’re judged on how you present yourself. I did not have in my mind that I wanted to be a pageant person ever, although I was recruited to be in the Miss America system for Maryland when I was in college.
Two of my clients were doing a different Miss America and Miss USA a couple of years ago. I was watching them, and I thought, “Another uncomfortable situation that could be helpful with my performance for ballroom.” That is what got me going to the computer and thinking, “What can I do?” because I was 65 years old at that time. This led me to Miss Senior America. I love their mission. Their mission is to encourage and support aging women, but also to take the responsibility of speaking back and sharing their wisdom with a younger audience. Here’s a little bit about that journey.
I competed in 2024, and I won. Three weeks before I was to go to nationals, I was in the United States Dance Championships for ballroom. We were dancing well, but we were not getting judged well. I said to my partner and my coach, “I’m not going to do the last event. It’s not going my way. It’s not until 10:45 PM. I’m usually in my jammies by 7:30. No.” My husband said, “We’re not quitters.” I’m not a quitter.
I went back out, and the coach said, “You’re doing great, but they’re not seeing you. Do something to help them remember you.” My unconscious choice was to smash my foot into my partner’s heel and promptly break my foot. I couldn’t even get off the floor. The adjudicator, the one who sees how it’s all going, came over and said, “Do you want to finish the foxtrot?” “I don’t think so. I’ll take a pass.” That led me to pull out of the pageant and have fourteen weeks in a boot.
I found the best doctor in New York City who treats the New York City Ballet and ABT. After I cleaned up my contact list, cleaned up my files, and did anything I could do not standing, I thought, “What am I going to do for me?” Something in the back of my head said, “Why don’t you try acting?” I resourced my way to Lane Napper, who is a choreographer, dancer, musical theater, and much other. He has been on television for many years and is an acting coach. I have this whole new world in improv. He’s also doing musical theater dance with me.
I would never have found my way to improv. I would never be in a world that is so different from the world that I live in. It’s the juxtaposition of it. It’s filled with 30-something-year-olds. We’re down in this stage and this place in New York City called The PIT. I love it. I take privates with Lane. We go to acting classes. That speaks to just because a door is closed, go find another door. It also speaks to you’re never too old. I’m sometimes the oldest person in the class. Sure, I am. Sometimes, when I’m taking a dance lesson in musical theater, I’m the oldest person, but who cares? Who’s judging me? Nobody.
Just because the door is closed does not mean you cannot find another door.
Thanks for sharing that. That’s an amazing journey. Keep going.
Back to the pageant, they were nice enough to say, “Fine, we get it. You’re not competing, but you can compete for Connecticut in 2025.” I’m a business person. I’m not afloat on a parade. I wrote a business plan that would combine and support the mission of the organization. That’s what I’m working on. I started with research. I hired a research company to say, “What are the big issues facing midlife to later life women? What are the topics that are concerning them?”
People have different pillars of aging, the five core pillars of aging. I come up with physical health, emotional health, and mental well-being, relationships, spirituality, and purpose and meaning. I’ve got sleep in its own category because it affects everything. I’ve been studying these topics and talking to women about these topics. The one that I know best, perhaps, although as a dancer and an individual, I’ve always been about mind, body, and spirit.
I think of myself as those old stereo systems where I don’t want one thing so good, like the speakers, that another part isn’t as good. I’ve always focused on all of them, but I am a spiritual director, so my own core always starts with the spiritual core. I’m competing at the pageant on October 5th through 9th. I’m excited. I asked if they could consider ballroom dancing with a partner. Miss America had started that in 2024. They have agreed to have a ballroom. Two of us are doing ballroom. My partner and I got such a fiery, great dance. I’m super excited. It’s going to be a great week.
That sounds amazing. Thank you so much for sharing about that journey. There are a lot of things that you’ve said I want to dive deeper into. First of all, you said you had to boil your philosophy of life down to 35 seconds. Since you are a Philosophy major at Georgetown and have thought a lot about this, what could you share with us? Maybe not the whole 35 seconds, but what is your snapshot of a philosophy of life?
To me, you’ve got to start with what your purpose is for you, what your meaning is, which goes back to your values. My whole thing is about pleasing God, end of story. That’s what I believe I’m here for. That’s what I try to point to for everything. I thought about, “Should I share that? That’s right in your face.” It’s 2,000 people. I’m somebody who believes you could talk about your belief without having to say God. In this situation, I am starting out by saying, “I seek God in everything.” I end with a quote that I love by Mother Teresa because I feel it’s so true, which is, “We can’t all do great things, but every one of us can do small things with great love.” I believe that.
Breaking Down The Five Pillars Of Aging
That’s a beautiful saying. “Small things with great love.” You have all these different facets. I love how you’re a jack of all trades in some ways. From a spiritual director, and I know you told me before, you had your nursing home administrator’s license. You’re a luxury real estate professional, a ballroom dancer, all of these different things, a mom, and a wife. You have a wide view, a wide lens of life experience. Can we dive a little bit further into these pillars of aging that you’ve mentioned? You said you hired a research company to help you come up with those. Is that how you came up with them, or how do you flesh those out a little bit?
I love research. It is both their and my own research. I took about three months and looked at the scope, and also what makes sense in my experience. In my experience, I haven’t always been so focused on fitness and nutrition. In high school, you could have found me with two packs of chocolate chip cookies and a vanilla milkshake every day. I was dancing then, until I started to learn about nutrition. A lot of it is my own experience as well, and working with a functional medicine doctor and a concierge doctor.
When you’re a high-level athlete, you’ve got to respect your body and make sure it is given everything it needs to top-perform. That is everything from fitness, cross-training, and nutrition to your mental self. It’s very hard for me to perform and dance if I have major things going on emotionally. It is making sure that I’m managing things and keeping stress in its proper place, to the extent that it’s possible. The only person you can control is yourself. Sometimes, what’s going on isn’t so much what’s going on, but it’s the way you’re perceiving it. It’s the way you’re responding to it. I spend time doing work to help me stay as calm as possible, given that I do have a busy life with a lot of tentacles out there.
The only person you can control is yourself. Sometimes, what matters in a certain situation is the way you are perceiving or responding to it.
Why It Is Never Too Late To Start Something New
You also said it’s never too late. Many people feel that after a certain age, it feels too late to start something new, but I love that you have rejected that. How do you respond to that? How do you encourage others in that?
When people listen to the ballroom, for example, and they’re like, “I wish I had that,” I always say to them, “What’s stopping you?” I started improv at 66 years old. I didn’t enter it thinking I’m 66 years old. I entered it saying, “That looks like fun.” I always wanted to do acting. I hadn’t heard of improvisational acting. If your audience doesn’t know what it is, you’re given a word or nothing, and you go with a scene partner or a few scene partners. It’s not writing a script in your head. It’s micro listening to the other person, and then responding in a way that would be earnest and what you feel.
Talk about feeling like you’ve fallen off a cliff. That’s what improv acting is like for me. It’s starting not to be a full free fall. If you can do that, having a mindset that is positive, a can-do mindset, and a why-not mindset, that’s critical. There was an incredible yoga teacher in Westchester County. She died at 101. She took up ballroom at 85 years old. She had the same mindset. “Why not?” Of course, she’s not doing what she would have done at 35. Sometimes, it could be your own naysaying. There may be people around you questioning your decisions. I listen to people, but then I take my own counsel closest.
I love that. “Why not?” You mentioned that you had both of your hips replaced within a year or two of one of them. Most people would probably say, “I guess I’m not going to do what I love with ballroom dancing any longer because I have to replace my hips.” You obviously take a different approach and a different mindset. How would you encourage others to do the same when they have those setbacks?
This is an interesting story. I went to the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, an incredible institution. I had great surgeons, two different ones. I went to their physical therapist. I didn’t think about the level of physical therapy. I thought, “I’m going three times a week. I’m doing everything.” Had I to do it over, I would have looked a little further into what else I could have been doing for physical therapy because I’ve discovered something called gyrotonics, which came about by a male dancer, who needed back surgery. He said no to back surgery.
It’s Pilates and yoga. It uses a reformer machine. All the major dancers will be using it. You’ll hear of it. I started it several years ago after the second hip. It’s helped regain mobility. I would say you can come back, but make sure you do your research to understand what the rehab should be and could be to come back as far as you can come back. My hips are incredible. I never think about them now, but I learned that I should have kept resourcing myself and thinking, “What else can I do?”
Experiences And Insights On Working In A Nursing Home
Especially now, there are so many breakthroughs coming and so many different therapies, modalities, and things that are being either newly discovered, rediscovered, or uncovered. There are a lot of different things that can be done to help move things along and keep us mobile and active much longer into our lives. I’d love to hear about your perspective on aging, because you have a unique perspective growing up, working in a nursing home, and being around people who were elders, who are longer-lived. How did that influence your perception of aging and shape the mindset that you have now?
Having parents and a grandfather who owned a nursing home was so unique because right in front of me, for eighteen years, I could study 73 residents and look at everyone’s approach to aging, which was very wide. There were some people who slipped into it, didn’t fight it, and went with the “I can’t do it. I’m old,” but then there were the ones that I connected with that had this vibrancy still. One of them that sticks in my mind, her name was Hazel Brent. She was a well-known model in her day. By the time I met Hazel, she was confined to a wheelchair. She was paralyzed. The only thing she could use were her eyes. As incredible as it seems, I had a wonderful relationship with Hazel, communicating through our eyes.
I could feel her softness and her kindness. I would do the real talking, but she would respond. Hazel and others like Hazel taught me that just because you have a chronologically old age doesn’t mean you’re old. It means you’ve lived a long life. That impacted me. I’ll say the other person who’s impacting me that I didn’t anticipate is my 92-year-old mother. She has a lot of physical ailments, but her mind is as sharp as when I remembered her in her 40s and 50s.
In fact, as you might anticipate, when she was in her 70s, my father had passed. She started saying, “I’m going to get ahead of the curve. Let’s start looking at different facilities because I don’t want to be a burden to any of you.” She selected a campus that has tiered living. It’s independent apartments, assisted living, a nursing home, and a rehab center. She has been there for fifteen years. In the last few years, she has had some real health challenges and a car accident a few months ago that didn’t help, but she is unstoppable.
She’s basically annoyed that she’s like, “I’m too young to now not be able to race around,” because every day and night, she’s either at Red Hat Society, Little Women of Italy, the theater, this, that, or learning mahjong. She does not see herself as old. She and I both had sciatica, but I was lucky enough that I could resource through a number of doctors to Dr. Kaiser, who was able to do what was needed.
She can’t do that because of everything else. She had to be on a very strong pain medication. She needed around-the-clock help. A few weeks ago, she said to my three siblings and me, “I have fired all the help. They do not work hard. They clearly didn’t work at Cove Manor Convalescent Center, which we owned, so I fired them all. I’ve taken myself off the medication because I’m not thinking clearly.” I took her to lunch. Holy Toledo, dressed to the nines. She’s in pain, but so happy to be out in the thick of it.
That’s amazing. That’s very inspiring. You continue living. It’s about your mindset. I love what you said. Having this chronologically aged number means you have a longer life. You’ve lived a longer life. You don’t have to have that same mindset. We might slow down a little bit or change. You might not be doing the same things you were doing in ballroom dancing if you were 35, but you’re still having the same enjoyment, or maybe even more enjoyment.
The other thing I want to say is that when you have someone like that close in on your life, a role model, and you’re seeing how they’re living, you start thinking, “This is the way it’s supposed to be.” When I was at Georgetown, I was teaching dance in the inner city in Anacostia. Funny enough, it was a poor area, but those kids showed up in their tights and leotards. I didn’t have any equipment. There were no ballet bars. It was a gym. I was teaching them jazz. They learned pirouettes, which are turns, without any bar to go halfway and then a full turn, because they didn’t have one. They figured, “This is the way it’s supposed to be. Turn, I will.” It’s interesting that whatever is in front of your face becomes your point of reference.
It gives you that mental model.
I love that term. I am writing that down.
Robin’s Work As A Spiritual Director
You’re giving us a good mental model, so I appreciate that. I know you’re a spiritual director. You’re focused on that spiritual side, the emotional side, and connection, building strong relationships. How does that play into aging gracefully and with resilience?
It is a couple of ways. First, let me explain what a spiritual director is for those who don’t know. A spiritual direction is not therapy. It’s not Bible study. It is a companion that walks alongside you and listens to what is going on in your life in terms of where God, whatever that might be for you, might be showing up, or something you can’t shake, something you noticed, or something that struck you. I’m the person with a pan looking for the gold nugget, sifting through it, and then handing it back to you to say, “Tell me about this.” It’s your own journey. I’m lucky enough to be part of that journey.
We always say that there are three people in the room. It’s you, me, and the Holy Spirit, and stuff happens. I’ve had a spiritual director on and off for 45 years. My spiritual director is an incredible Jesuit priest. I cannot point to a day that’s the day that my relationship with God changed. All I would say is that it keeps deepening and deepening. I can’t point to a moment. It happens over time if you devote yourself. What you have to do is show up, which means taking the time for whatever practices are practices that are comfortable for you. I bookend my day with two practices. There are a few other things that I do regularly because getting into habits is very helpful.
Would you mind sharing what your day looks like? You’re obviously someone who is practicing what you preach. You’ve maintained vitality and are living a very full life at this stage of your life in this chapter. Could you share what those practices look like, what your normal day or normal week looks like, and the things that you’re doing to stay healthy and vibrant?
I’ll start with the spiritual component. My day starts very early. I’ve always been wired to go to bed early and get up early. The first thing I do is say the Prayer of Jabez, which is four simple lines. “Bless me indeed, and expand my territory,” which means, “Let You work through me with anybody I meet.” There’s a line that asks that He holds me and protects me against any enemies or negativity. It’s that simple.
I’m a multitasker. There are physical things I have to do every day, including putting these warm things over my eyes to keep from getting styes, which I get. While I’m doing this compress thing, I am doing what’s called centering prayer. It looks like you know it. Centering prayer is putting myself, “Here I am, God, thinking about nothing. If a thought comes to me, put it on the imaginary boat, send it down the river, and just be.”
I can’t do 20 minutes or 30 minutes. I’m not that good, but I can do 10 minutes. That’s the beginning of my day. After I workout and do things like that, I go to daily mass, or at least I listen to it. I am a Catholic, so receiving the Eucharist and going to daily mass are important for me. Everyone has their point of connection to their divine or the higher being. That happens to be mine. I then go through my day, but at the end of my day, I recall. It’s running the tape. I look for where I was in sync with God. Where did I perhaps behave in ways that might not have pleased Him? Before I run that tape, I think about three grace-filled things from my day.
I know some people do gratitude. I look for “There was Your grace.” I run the tape, which could be painful. After you give yourself accolades and you keep saying, “Please make me honest, because I’d love to paint myself in the best picture possible,” I look at the things that I could do better. If I need to call or send a little note of apology, “Sorry, I wasn’t that patient. I think my voice was a little clipped,” I do that the next day. I check in with God all day. It’s knowing that there’s something bigger than yourself. “I was put here for a reason. I was made a certain way. Help me live into that. That’s all I’m asking. Keep my earthly self out of the way.” That’s how I roll.
There is always something bigger than yourself. You are put on this earth for a reason.
Benefits Of Working Out Every Morning
I love those practices. Thank you for sharing that. Those are very easy, practical things that we can do, but I love the intentionality you bring to it. You mentioned you workout almost every morning or every morning. What does that typically look like?
I have so much energy. If I don’t workout, it’s a problem. I’m not somebody who says, “Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I’m going to this gym or that class.” I go with how my body feels. I’m always doing at least ten minutes of cardio a day on Peloton because we have to keep our heart health. You’ve got to get the cardio. Plus, to be honest, when you’re competing in ballroom, it’s a minute and a half of a dance, eight-second rest, minute and a half of a dance, eight-second rest, four times. It’s aerobic. I’ve got to be trained for that. From there, I am doing a combination of strength training during the week.
I started with a trainer because I work harder with a trainer. For things that will give me flexibility, I’m doing yoga and then a combination of those. I do a lot of barre classes. I’m fortunate that I have an incredible barre studio here in Connecticut, but they’re also available online. I do use a few online subscription things that are not expensive. Because I was with you and I wanted to get to mass, I did Peloton, and then I did a class online. I did my own thing, which my chiropractor is having me do for all this stuff going on in my back. Later on, I’ll dance.
How To Start A Blood Type Diet
There you go. You get a lot of activity. What about nutrition? What does your nutrition look like these days?
I’ve gone through a lot of different things. I do like the blood typing as a concept. For those who don’t know it, you know your blood type. There is a blood type diet, which works off the belief that you came from a certain region in the world. That is what you should be eating. I have tracked it. When I am eating according to my blood type, I keep it on an app on my phone so I can check. I’m not 100% good at it, but when I stick to it, it’s helpful. That is a guide. I try to stay away from refined sugars.
I’m not someone who says never, ever. I’m not, but I try to stay away from refined sugars, nothing white to the extent possible, gluten-free. That’s the basics of it. Most of my mornings start with a smoothie that’s got fifteen different ingredients, which is based on Dr. Mark Hyman’s smoothie. You know him. He’s the guru of functional medicine. I figure, “Anything coming out of him, he’s doing all the research.” It starts with that, and then it depends on my hunger level. I might have a gluten-free English muffin with some nut butter on it. I also work on “When am I hungry?”
It is not necessarily, “It’s noon. I need to eat,” but a little bit, “When am I hungry?” I’m not perfect. I pay the price when I’m too naughty. Pretty much, I’m staying with an alkaline diet, which means it’s not acidic. It’s what makes me feel better. If we’re honest with ourselves and pay attention to what’s going on in our mouths, we will see what’s making me feel better and what gives me energy. I’m always seeking energy. I actually take a couple of peptides, injectable, because I need more energy. I do do an NAD, and I do do an inflammation, mostly because of all that sciatica and back stuff that was going on.
Thanks for sharing all of that. It’s seeking energy, an alkaline diet. I was speaking with someone. He was saying that as we age, our bodies become more of an instant feedback loop for us. As you mentioned, if you eat those refined sugars, gluten, or whatever you put in your mouth, it either goes well or it doesn’t more quickly than when we’re younger. We could eat chocolate chip cookies and vanilla milkshakes every day.
Tracking Your Sleep With An Aura Ring
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Oura Ring, and I have an Oura Ring, which I love. I’ve had it for three years. The Oura Ring tracks your sleep. I was like many people. “You need a certain amount of sleep.” I was shocked that when I started wearing the Oura Ring, it had nothing to do with the quantity of sleep. It has to do with the quality of sleep. I love the fact that you can put in tags. It scores your sleep. How much did you REM sleep? How much did you get in deep sleep? How much were you awake? You didn’t even realize it. You were in bed for eight hours, but you only slept for five hours.
When you start looking at your tags, “That half a glass of wine, I paid the price. It’s very clear. That meat totally killed me in my sleep.” It’s great feedback. I’m competitive with myself. If I wake up and I don’t get an optimal score, I’ll go right back to sleep to get the score up. My husband is wearing it. It’s bad because I’ll go, “What’s your score? You seem like you were sleeping.” He does watch some television right before bed, the history or the news. That is definitely going to mess up your sleep.
I love that, too. I track my sleep scores as well. Sometimes, it can help the other way. If I think I didn’t get a good night’s sleep, but then my data shows that, “You got this much deep sleep and this much REM,” then it almost tricks my brain to say, “I should be energized today because even though I felt like I was awake a lot last night, I actually was asleep.” It’s funny. It’s fun to track that and be competitive with yourself in that way.
It is, but let’s stay on that comment because don’t you think it’s crazy? I find the same thing. If it says you’ve slept well and you didn’t feel it, all of a sudden, your mind instantly changes. It’s the power of suggestion. If you didn’t sleep well, now you’re going through the day, going, “I’m so tired.” The power of your brain and how it reacts to information is shocking.
What’s Next For Robin’s Work On Empowered Aging
We could probably go down a whole rabbit hole of how your thoughts create your reality. It is true. I know you’re working on putting together more content and helping with a platform for the pillars of aging and empowered aging. Can you maybe dive into a little bit about that and what’s on the horizon for you?
I relaunched my social media under my name, @RobinKencel, on Instagram. We’re going to be having people on that could be helpful in these different pillars. I’ll be doing some inspiring figures, either living or dead, and trying to give information that could be helpful to women in midlife and later life. It is supporting the mission of the Miss Senior America, but also because it’s interesting to me to try to be helpful. I realized that over these years, I have gathered so many great resources. They’re right here. They’re people who have helped me. I want to share them. They could be very useful to people.
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That’ll be a way for people to get that information for free. There’s nothing else at all. Just learn from all the trials, errors, and resources that you’ve gathered together. That’s great. That’s wonderful. You have the Miss Senior America pageant coming up here. What else is on the horizon for you that you’re excited about or are looking forward to?
Back first to the five core pillars of health, I am dabbling around with an idea that isn’t ready for public consumption, but it’s leading me to great conversations with schools and programs in gerontology. I’m continuing to invest in market research. I’m continuing to see what could be helpful to that population. A lot of 2026 is going to be sussing that out. The other thing that’s on the horizon is more ballroom and some change-up in real estate. I’m going to be making some shifts. I have a great team. I love mentoring people. As everybody, in this season of aging, I’m looking for more ways to grow and more ways to learn. I do love being around younger people.
During the season of aging, look for more ways to grow and learn.
I love that. You have a very much a growth mindset. That’s such a key to staying vibrant, to continue, and to find ways to have purpose and meaning, try new things, and learn new things like you’re doing.
There are two organizations that I’m involved with, which I’ll be more involved with. One is called Girls With Impact. It’s the leading business leadership program for girls 14 to 24, many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds. I’m a mentor. This is great. My first mentee is this incredible individual who was raised in the Bronx by a single mother who used to take her to the public library when she was young.
Fast forward, she entered a university in Texas to be an astrophysicist. We had a great time. She’s good at resourcing herself to present papers and things she’s working on all over the world. I would look at the presentations that she has done with a team and give comments. Even when she was going down to school to find an apartment, we were on FaceTime because my real estate background was helpful in analyzing the different options. Girls With Impact will definitely be something that I continue with.
I’m on the board of Bellarmine College, which is a community college that’s part of Fairfield University, and that is for inner city kids. What’s incredible here is that they only have to pay $1,000 a year to go to this school, which is part of Fairfield University. After two years, every student who wants to go on to get a four-year degree can go to Fairfield. They can go to Williams College. There are a number of colleges that have partnered with us. They could be getting an incredible education for only their investment of $1,000. The rest is paid for by grants and by private contributions.
It sounds like that has been another theme in your life, ever since you were teaching dance to kids in Anacostia, to now helping kids from the inner city and those less fortunate. That’s amazing. Thank you so much for the great work you’re doing to empower others. Thank you for sharing the resources, the wisdom, and the knowledge that you’ve gathered through your own journey here. This has been a fun conversation. I appreciate you and who you are. Thank you for inspiring us.
Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
People can connect with you on LinkedIn and Instagram. That’s easy enough. Thank you so much, Robin.
Thank you. Have a great day.
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I hope you were inspired by this conversation. Robin is someone who truly exemplifies what it means to live fully alive. She’s an inspiration for us who want to be like her. I hope I can be like Robin when I’m 67. She’s learning new things, trying new things, and starting new things, and has this can-do attitude. I love that she says, “Why not?” It sounds like she’s following in her mother’s footsteps. She’s 92 and continues to learn new things and continues to expand who she is as a person. I love a couple of things that stuck out to me as well, about how she starts and ends her day with that intention. She has refined her own purpose to say she’s here to please God.
She has practices to help her do that and intentionally focus on that throughout the day. She is asking three grace-filled things that happened as she reflects on her day to look for how that happened in her day. We talked about the five core pillars of aging. You can find Robin Kencel on Instagram and LinkedIn. She’ll be sharing all of that information and those pillars, as she mentioned, coming out here on social media. You can follow along with her, her journey, and the Miss Senior America pageant as well. Thank you so much for tuning in. Until next time, we’ll see you back here on Fully Alive.
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