Seven inspirational stories of older people pursuing and achieving their dreams.

Many people worry about aging. They worry that age will be an impediment to accomplish their dreams, to keep working or to lose their beauty and youthfulness. These 7 role models show that it is never too late even if the industry’s standards are different as long as we keep striving to live our lives to the fullest. 

Deshun Wang

This Chinese actor became a viral sensation after his first catwalk presentation at the China Fashion Week for Designer Hu Sheguang 2015-2016 Autumn/Winter Collection. He was 79 and he became a sensation due to his looks.  He is originally from Senyang but leaves with his wife in Beijing. He attended the fashion show because his daughter was the DJ for the event and designer Hu Sheguang saw a picture of her dad and asked to meet him. When the designer asked him to be part of the show, he was interested and agreed to be part of the show. People were fascinated by his well-kept physic at his age. He became a great inspiration; he has done talks and documentaries on his life and regime to maintain his youth. Mr. Wang was one of the faces for the 2017 ‘Defining Moments’ Campaign. Also, in 2017 when he was 81, he was the face of China’s Reebok Campaign ‘Be More Human’ where he is shown working out and it is visible that his health and physic are well kept. He is currently still focusing on his acting; he was in 3 different movies as a supporting role. He is truly inspirational, from his road to acting to his healthy lifestyle. He is the living proof that aging gracefully and being a health icon is possible at any age, if you make the effort to. 

Daphne Selfe

Daphne is an English woman of 91 years old; she is the world's oldest professional model. She has been modeling for 66 years. She did it in her 20s, later slowing down on modeling jobs while she started a family and had a very calm life. She returned to modeling at age 70 in 1998, after her husband had passed away, she was part of the 1998 fashion Show at the Red or Dead 1998 show London Fashion Week. Soon after, Vogue UK looked for her as they were doing an article on aging, it wasn't long for the label ‘Models 1’ to sign her. She became an internet sensation and she has been in Dolce and Gabbana campaigns, and featured in Harper's Bazaar, Vogue Australia, among others. She has online courses that she imparts with her daughter Claire. One of them is “The Daphne Self Academy” in order for people to learn the skills to become a model, and the “Self Confidence course” in which she guides course-takers to find ways to increase their confidence. She also has a book called “The Way we Wore: A Life in Clothes”, in which you can see Daphne’s career in the fashion world. Her attitude towards modeling is all around impressive. The way she carries herself and her devotion for fashion is transmitted through her social media.  The love and passion that she has for her career and the thriving is something that many people fear will fade with age. Also, a major fear is that we may become undesired in our jobs, Daphne shows that aging comes with knowledge and you should use that knowledge to empower others and yourself and leverage your career. 

Kim Chil-doo 

A lifelong dream that came true at age 64. The Korean ‘silver fox’ after only 1 month of modeling preparation was able to catwalk in Seoul Fashion Week 2018. Kim Chil Doo was from a low-income family, and modeling jobs in his 20s were low paying and there was no free promotion from the internet. He focused on bringing money to his house and he founded his own restaurant. According to an interview on Asian Boss, he worked on that restaurant for almost 3 decades. In 2017 the restaurant went bankrupt and he had to close it. His daughter then encouraged him to fulfill his longtime dream of becoming a model. He then joined a modeling school and only after a few months he debuted in Kimmy J’s Fall/Winter 2018 Show during Seoul Fashion Week. A dream that only a few models are able to achieve more so in such a short period of time. He joined social media and his Instagram has almost 75K followers. His full beard and shoulder length hair are part of what makes him so interesting and part of his overall allure as a model, as well as, his fashion sense and overall youthful and street-style. The model has captivated Korean citizens, he has become the face of Dashu’s hair volume product, MLB Korea in their monogram campaign and REEBOK Aztrek. He has also shown his charisma in countless interviews and also was part of XtvN’s Nanaland variety show. Kim Chil-Doo not only shows that pursuing dreams is always an option even as we grow older but also that style and swag are ageless. 

Choi Soon-Hwa

With 75 years old she began pursuing her dream and left everything that was preventing her from doing so. She has shared her story in interviews and newspapers. She was a full-time care worker; she had not retired as she had used her savings to pay off debt.  She was a single mother after her husband left her. She was very focused on the wellbeing of her children and grandchildren. But as her children and grandchildren became adults it was time for her to pursue a forgotten dream. In an interview with the Korean Herald she said that she dreamt of becoming a model in her 20’s and after seeing in TV that there were older people modeling, she signed up for modeling classes. She also mentions having the 88-year-old supermodel Carmen Dell'Orefice as an inspiration. She became an internet sensation in Korea when she debuted as part of the Kimmy J’s show during Seoul Fashion Week. She decided to explore her own uniqueness and embrace her aging. She stopped dying her hair and letting her all-white hair be her natural staple.  She is an advocate of senior models, she has appeared in radio shows like TBN radio, TV shows like MBC’s ‘Good Day Show’, model for the magazine Harper’s BAZAAR Korea and Dazed Korea as well as cat-walked in Seoul Fashion week among others. Her career looks like it's barely taking off and she embodies passion and grace that seem to be more prominent in Choi Soon Hwa as time goes by. She teaches us that pursuing dreams and being an advocate for them requires strength but will be possible if we work for them. 

Park Mak Rye

Park Mak Rye was born in 1947, the now 72-year-old grandma is also known as Korean Grandma in YouTube. At 70 she uploaded her first video and at 71 she was a YouTube sensation. She has over 986k YouTube subscribers. She is the oldest South Korean beauty and lifestyle youtuber. She did not go to school as she was a girl in her household, she became a single mom after her husband left her in debt and she worked on her diner all day to raise her three kids. According to an interview by BBC as she grew older there was a high chance of her developing Alzheimer’s. Her granddaughter, Yura Kim was the one that encouraged her to start making YouTube videos, after her family trip got tons of views. Her daughter is the editor, director of the channel. Park Mak-rye runs a diner and vlogs her everyday life activities, new challenges, beauty and food. This grandma is not afraid to be real and show her clumsiness, aging or anything in between. The internet can be a superficial place, but Korean Grandma refreshes the ambience and makes her viewers laugh and forget their troubles. Her creativity and freshness may be one of the reasons why she has contact with company giants like Lotte and Google as well as being a sponsor for festivals.  ‘Korean Grandma’ was able to meet and chat in her talk show with YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki, something new and revitalizing. She has been interviewed by various news channels including BBC, she also released a book on May ”박막례,이대로 죽을 순 없다” (Park Mar Rye you can’t just die like this). This grandmother and granddaughter show that family can make a difference in our lives and that aging does not strip you out of personality, quirkiness and the desire to have fun. 

Ji Byun Soo

Ji Byun Soo was a social worker, of age 77 when he appeared in KBS’s show “National Singing Contest”. He sang “Crazy” by Son Dam Bi, the video has almost 2.8 Million views in KBS my K YouTube channel. His performance was so unique, full of energy funny and sincere that he became an internet sensation and became known as ‘Haldambi’ a mix between ‘grandpa’ (halabojee) and Son Dam Bi. His fame was such that the artist Son Dam Bi responded to his performance with a video of her own on Instagram. In her post she wished him a long and healthy life. Later, they singed and danced together as she showed up by surprised while filming “Entertainment Weekly”. The ‘K-pop’ star has done not only music shows but also radio shows, like MBC radio ‘Jung Oh’s Hope’. He opened his own Youtube Channel “Korean Grandpa’s Crazy K-pop” where you can see his activities through vlogs. This grandpa shows that we can still have fun, dance, sing and do what makes us happy even as we age. Because fun knows no age. 

Alessandra Ferri

Ballet is known to be a short-lived career. Career longevity and ballet seem almost antonyms in a sentence. Alessandra Ferri is a 56-year-old and a prima ballerina assoluta along with 12 other ballerinas in the history of ballet. This title is saved for the best prima ballerina of the generation and that is why there are so few. Alessandra was able to get this privilege due to her performances. Her career is documented in the biographies in the different companies she worked, and study at. She studied at the royal Ballet School and performed her major role there, which granted her multiple nominations. She also worked at the American Ballet Theater and the Teatro alla Scala in Italy where she gained her renowned title of prima ballerina assoluta. She retired in 2016 but she came back on June 2013 at Spoleto 56 in the Festival dei Due Mondi with the piece The Piano Upstairs. Since then she has traveled the world presenting beautiful pieces, right now she is presenting for Ferri, Bolle & Friends - B in Japan. In an article for Vogue UK on January 2019 Ferri said “It’s up to us not to believe that beauty only exists at age 20. Beauty is in life itself…” Ferri believes in her words and shows us through her performances that true beauty is more than a face or age it is about the way you live life, the way you choose to focus on the positive vs the negative. If you choose to follow your dreams and keep striving forward that is true youth.  

[NEWSINSIDE Danitza Trejo Gonzalez]