Brooke Shields has been a fixture in mainstream television and film for the last four decades. And unlike some women who may try to hide or conceal their age, Brooke has nothing to hide.
In a recent interview with Gayle King, Brooke got candid about aging and spoke about the difficulties middle-aged women are faced with and how they're largely ignored by brands and marketing altogether.
Known for her work in The Blue Lagoon and Suddenly Susan, the Emmy-nominated star has been turning heads and winning hearts since she was a teenager.
The phone stopped ringing off the hook and eventually became silent. When she looked at the advertisements on TV and in magazines, she no longer saw herself reflected.
"You’re either 20s and sexy and fabulous or you’re in Depends and you’ve got dentures," she joked semi-seriously.
However, they're no longer targetted by companies through their marketing. Rather, middle-aged women are cast aside and totally forgotten.
This is precisely what motivated Brooke to start @beginningisnow — an online platform for women of every age, that reinforces the idea that every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.
"I wanted women to be able to feel that. We’re not asking for permission, want them to try new things, to say look how long I’ve lived and look how much more I have," she said.
"Thank you, Brooke! It so aggravating as a mature women to become invisible to much of society," Instagram user @peachtree_home commented.
"What brook just said resonates with what I am going through right now," @saumya.the.bookworm replied.
According to an article published by FancyNYC, "Gen-Xers have the highest post-tax incomes when compared with Millennials & Baby Boomers and they are outspending both Millennials (by 41%) and Baby Boomers (by 18%)."
The $1 million dollar question, then, is why aren't brands going out of their way to obtain this most valuable chunk of business?
Women in their 40s and beyond are incredibly individualistic and difficult to lump into the same category or box. Some are new mothers, others are grandmothers; some are sole earners, while others are stay-at-home.
So while the majority of Fortune 500 brands are content to ignore their biggest potential customers, Brooke and @beginningisnow will happily devour all that they leave on the table.
