Model Carolyn Doelling on Later-in-Life Career Reinvention

By Leslie Price

Carolyn Doelling is a writer, model, speaker, and kickboxer – all accomplishments she’s made after 70. Her goal is, in her words, “to have a direct positive impact on the general perceptions of aging and to dismantle the beauty standards presented in the fashion industry and advertising today.” She’s modeled for a variety of brands, including Athleta, Tibi, and Rachel Comey.

When you were starting out in your career, did you have an idea of what you wanted your path to look like?

Growing up in the South, where my first job was in the tobacco fields, just to get an office job and to make relatively good money was success in its own right. [Next steps are] the thing that my kids think about now, but based on my background and where I was, it was not something that I thought about a lot.

It turned out okay, thank God. I just flew in last night from Seattle on a job. And I was unpacking my things this morning, thinking, “Who would’ve thought that Carolyn Doelling would be part of an in-store campaign for Athleta at my age? Or any age? I never, ever would’ve dreamt that.” It’s been really fascinating.

I also don’t know what I’ll be doing next week or who I’ll be meeting. It is just a very, very exciting time, albeit a bit stressful. I’m ever so grateful, because it just gives me a broader platform for my message, which is that it’s not too late, even at my age. And why dismiss me because of my age? That is what created my passion for doing what I’m doing now. 

I saw your article about ageism and-

I used to be invisible.

When did you start feeling that way?

I turned 70 and put in my notice. Before that, I was going to work every day. But then after I left, I’m just in the neighborhood walking, doing errands. I knew I wanted to write; I was going to write about how our family has lived the Black history story. Affirmative action, my uncles migrated North, there was sharecropping, there was all that in the family. I wanted to document that for my kids and their kids.

In my day-to-day activities, I just noticed that things were changing. People were not noticing me. Now, granted, I was wearing casual stuff. Quite frankly, they might not have been noticing me when I was commuting to work…

But you were busy, and…

Then I had a purpose, I had things to do. You feel like excess baggage, or you’ve been kicked to the curb. You’re not in school, you’re not in a job, your kids are out of the house. My husband had passed away. 

I don’t remember the exact day that I felt it, because it was really something that … just crept up on me. But the thing about that feeling of being invisible — because men don’t think you are desirable, so you’re not getting that look, or younger people are just dismissing you as another old lady on the sidewalk — in some ways they’re underestimating [you]. People make assumptions that I cannot do certain things, and so I needed to correct that.

The opportunity for modeling came about via a local boutique owner, right?

There’s this woman, she’s had her boutique for about 15 years. It’s a Black-owned business, and it’s high-end fashion. They were having a little Saturday afternoon thing, and I walked in and they were interviewing people. [The question was something like,] What are some of your goals? And I said, “I would like to encourage more women to embrace style and have a little more swagger in their demeanor.” They thought that was cute, because I’m this little old lady.

Anyway, she’s smart enough, Sherri McMullen, she sees the opportunity. She called me a couple weeks later and asked me if I would pose in some of those beautiful clothes for her website. So I did. She posted [the photos], and the response was overwhelming. People kept saying, “So glad to see you use more mature models.” 

She asked me to do it again. And then the designers whose clothes I was modeling, a couple of them who also got it (and Tibi was one of them, that’s Amy Smilovic), asked me to do some photos. And then another local designer asked me to do so, and then I was off and running.

Last year, when we were able to travel, I went to New York. They call it a go-see, which is an audition at a New York agency. They took me on and that’s made a huge difference. Now I get three to four requests a week. For every 10, I might get two or three jobs.

You didn’t start out in fashion. What was your career prior to modeling?

I keep saying to people, it’s so newsworthy that I am modeling at age 75, but then I just long for the day when it isn’t news, when it’s expected. But at the moment, I’m getting calls frequently to tell the story.

Life beforehand really was not terribly exciting. I grew up in North Carolina and was recruited from North Carolina Central, a historically black college in Durham, North Carolina. This is the reflection of affirmative action. University of Colorado, Boulder, recruited me to come to school there. 

In Colorado, I took a job at the phone company, AT&T. It was a paycheck. I was there for a long time. Then I moved to San Francisco and started a career in banking. After that, I took some time off to do consulting. Then I got pregnant. I was able to do that for a while with kids. But [then], I didn’t work for a couple of years. Then I got recruited again by a community foundation here in the Oakland, Berkeley area. And I worked in philanthropy for 13 years. And then when I retired.

Has there been anything that’s been really surprising to you about this new career and modeling in general?

It’s all surprising. Like any industry, it’s got its own vocabulary. The rejection rate is high. Believe it or not, it’s developing character in me that I probably would not have. [You don’t] know which way the wind’s going to blow and what the whims are. It’s taught me to keep myself centered.

Like I said, the rejection’s high, but on-set these same young people are so incredibly nice. Once you have the job, the relationship between crew and talent, it is surprising. It’s like we’re standing in the sun. And they say, “Oh, go get an umbrella for Carolyn. Hold the umbrella for Carolyn.” “I can hold my own umbrella.” “Oh no. Oh no.”

Does it make you think differently about your body? Do you think it’s easier because now you have that confidence?

I feel differently about my body in a good way. This whole reinventing thing after retirement meant I was going to the gym more and I started kickboxing. I let my hair go, stopped perming it, stopped dying it. It’s just a great time to just be your authentic self. I’m focused more on health than beauty at this age. 

I’ve had people tell me, that’s why they don’t feel like getting dressed anymore, because your body changes, and [because of the] “nobody notices me anyway” thing. But with a certain maturity comes the wisdom that, all those things you were so focused on as a young person — like my butt size and my shoe size and my hair color — it’s a wonderful time to just not have those things be that important to you. I’m really, really grateful to live this long and to understand the value of being my authentic self. 

You were just in New York. Were you doing Fashion Week?

I was. I did a couple of casting calls for designers. I want to do runway, and that is really quite a mountain to climb. I’ve had a couple of close calls. 

Is there anything else that you still want to achieve?

Well, I guess the family story I was talking about writing. I have to do it for my own fulfillment. I would just like to document it all [because] right now, a lot of it just rolls around in my head. But I have to say (and you’re a writer, so perhaps you can relate), I talk about writing a lot more than I actually write. I just find it hard to just sit down and keep it going. But anyway, that’s an aspiration, to get this documented in some form. If I could have a book and if I could be on the runway, I’d consider myself done.

I think you’ve had a lot of success.

It’s been wild. I felt like I was successful when Sherri [McMullen] asked me to do the boutique photos, because the clothes were fabulous and people responded well. 

I do get people who ask me how to get started with their lives. They feel like they’re stuck. And it’s, “Yes, you can reinvent yourself. You can reimagine.”

Part of it is being open and being curious. I say, if you’re interested in doing something different, you’ve got to tell people. It’s amazing how people want to help you. It’s not easy, but whatever you’re doing now is definitely changeable. You have the power. Every day, do a little something, [even just] 30 minutes to work on it. That’s it.