BY JUDY CARMACK BROSS
Powerfully positive pizza entrepreneur Paulie Gee shared four words with Lincoln Park Village members and guests at a recent party at his hot new Lincoln Square restaurant:
“Speak it into existence.“
Before feasting on the Napoli oven pizzas that have made Paulie famous, guests heard Tom Kuczmarski, Chicago Innovation Awards co-founder, interview Gee, touching on passion, reinvention, and accomplishment. His message: fulfill your dreams right now.
Paulie Gee.
A former executive at the New York Port Authority, Gee always loved preparing pizza for his family and friends—the same group who encouraged him to make a life change and open a pizzeria in New Jersey. All it took was persistence—and an interview with Jane Pauley on her Today series “Life Reimagined”—to lead Paulie’s movement on encouraging career change after 50.
“My mission is to get people to believe in themselves,” he shared. “Recently I spoke at an AARP convention and Gladys Knight was my opening act. You have to just walk through the walls of fear.”
Paulie Gee’s Logan Square.
Kathie Kolodgy, President of Lincoln Park Village, welcomed the guests of all ages.
“As the largest Village in the country, we have 427 members in 16 zip codes. We are a grassroots non-profit that serves people from 50 to 100 years old to enhance the quality of life through community connections and programs. We have recently begun our Life 3.0 program, which encourages people in transition from retirement or ready to try something new to consider entrepreneurship.”
Bob Spoerri, Tom Campbell, and Donna Vos.
Pizza dough in the making.
Paulie Gee and Derrick Tung.
Bob Glaze, Classic Chicago correspondent and founder of globalphile.com, a go-to source of great travel content, gave us his perspective:
“This was my first Lincoln Park Village event. As a former banker and real estate investor, I always tried to find new chapters in my life. Globalphile is a result of my love of travel and photography for almost 45 years. Paulie’s presentation convinced me that I am on the right track.”
Lincoln Park Village Founding Executive Director, Dianne Campbell, will be one of the panelists December 6 for “Innovation for the Ages” at the Chicago History Museum. Co-sponsored by the Village, Chicago Innovation Awards, and The Retirement Research Foundation, the panel also features nationally-syndicated financial columnist Terry Savage; 1871 CEO, Howard Tullman, Long Shot Innovation co-founder, Tawfik Sharkas; and WBCC co-founder, Hedy Ratner.
For more information about “Innovation for the Ages” go to chicagoinnovationawards.com.
Photo credit: Bob Glaze
