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My Reinvention personal project is about women who reinvent themselves midlife. Becoming a photographer in my 30s completely changed my life… for the way better…and I wanted to encourage people to never feel it’s never too late…we’re only going around once! I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Melissa Weinstock for around 5 years and have watched her go through a complete transformation from working at lululemon next door to our studio to owning her own fabulous athleisure brand, grace+GRIT. She also handled breast cancer with an incredible level of grace (and grit!). I was so interested to know more about how she handled these two major events while also being a mom of three teens…and what’s next now that she’s come out the other side. Please enjoy our interview below and enjoy some photos from our shoot where she brought her daughter, Sylvie, to model some of her grace+GRIT wear!

Make-up: Nicole Moleti Wardrobe: grace+GRIT.

Tell us how you reinvented yourself.

Right out of college I had a hard-core dream job as a business consultant, and then I shifted to stay-at-home-mom after having my second baby. After baby #3, I started a non-profit with two of my best friends, and when baby #1 went off to college two years ago, I ultimately fulfilled my dream of opening my own store. It wasn’t as seamless as those two sentences, but I can honestly say that it was a lot about being vulnerable and surrounding myself with smart, strong and good people.

I like to move and grow and honestly, I never want to stop. When I didn’t even realize I was itching, I was offered a job by lululemon before they opened in West Hartford Center. The job fell into my lap- literally when I was grocery shopping and met the soon-to-be store manager. (There’s a lesson right there- ALWAYS BE OPEN!) I loved working again- it was the beginning of my reinvention and incredibly refreshing to be pushed out of my comfort zone. The job was so much more than selling stretchy pants and lit a fire within me- I had to set one, five and ten year goals, take initiative to do things I had no idea how to do, and follow the lead of inspiring women twenty years my junior. I fell in love with retail and was literally evaluated on how much yoga I was practicing, so I, of course, fell in love with that too.

Fast forward three years and I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was determined to keep working and made it through two chemo treatments, but my depleted immune system simply couldn’t handle the holiday season in West Hartford’s hottest store. I stopped working but yoga continued to be my saving ‘grace’ and helped me through my biggest battle to date, which I’m happy to say is fully behind me.

Add two more years and I take a magical yoga class with Kim Charboneau, co-owner of The Yoga Shop. Afterwards, we chat over granola, and I confide that I miss working. She asks me, on the spot, to open my own athletic wear boutique inside the West Hartford studio. I was terrified, yet bursting with excitement- that feeling when you know you have to go for it… that’s reinvention, right?

READ MORE OF OUR INTERVIEW HERE

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