Redirecting.work

Frank’s Life Before Retiring

Frank’s career spanned five decades. After 10 years in corporate IT, he spent the next 40 in consulting and IT research. In 2000, he co-founded Strativa, a management consulting firm, and in 2002 he became one of the first tech bloggers, launching the Enterprise Spectator, which directly led to their 2005 acquisition of Computer Economics, an  IT research firm founded in 1979. In 2020, Frank sold both firms to a larger consultancy and stayed on through a multi-year earn-out. 

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But he didn’t make the leap to retirement without preparation. Once his financial advisor assured him that he wouldn’t outlive his savings, he began planning a different kind of life.

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Frank’s Redirection
Frank’s pivot is a tapestry woven from writing, faith, and collaboration. He didn’t step away from professional life so much as reframe it. He continues to post on his Enterprise Spectator blog, including lessons learned from his long career, not to reminisce about outdated tech but to reflect on enduring insights. “I didn’t want to be the old guy talking about punched cards and COBOL,” he said. “I want to ask: what did we learn in those days that’s still relevant today?”

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But the most profound part of his reset came through an unexpected return to Christian poetry and hymn writing—gifts he hadn’t used in years. The spark came at a memorial service for the wife of an old friend, his poetry mentor, Ned Nossaman. When Frank greeted him, Ned looked up and asked, “Frank, are you still writing? You need to write.” Just minutes later, another old friend said the exact same thing to him.

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“I felt that was the Lord speaking to me, but I didn’t quite know what to do with it.” 

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Then, within days, one of his daughters said she wanted his help in writing Christian children's books with traditional rhyme and meter. “So, she sent me a manuscript, and I rewrote it in poetic verse. After that, we started working on a series about the women heroes of the Bible.” The books are now on Amazon under her pen name, Arabella Penrose, and will soon include a series on mighty men of the Bible.

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Their process is deeply complementary: she outlines the story and handles the illustrations, layout, publishing, and marketing, allowing Frank to focus purely on the poetry. “That revived me,” Frank shared. “It renewed my taste for hymn writing, better than ever.”

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That renewal led to his second Substack, God’s Gift of Verse, where he publishes original hymns, poems, and reflections—along with works by Ned Nossaman, whose fellowship has become a source of joy. “It’s been such a blessing to both him and me,” Frank said. 

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Advice to Others
Frank’s advice for potential retirees begins with preparation. 

• Start early. “If you own a business, prepare to sell before you need to. That’s when the business is most valuable.” He also cautions entrepreneurs to consider the emotional shift of no longer being in control. “Taking direction when you’re used to being in charge is a big adjustment.”

• Enlarge your circles. “In retirement, if you’re not careful, your number of friends can become very small.” But over the past year, he feels God has renewed many old relationships and brought him new friends and collaborators to bless his post-employment work. “You have to connect with people, not just get things done.” 

• Seek deeper meaning. “Some people keep working not because they need the money, but because they don’t know what else to do,” he said. “You should ask: What could I return to that I once loved? Or, what new and meaningful thing could I do?”

 

For Frank, that answer came in poetic form. With his family, faith, and collaborators, he has redirected toward a life that feels fully aligned. “People ask if I’m bored. No, that’s not possible when I’m spending four or five hours a day engaged in meaningful work.”

 

At the same time, he has a sense of urgency when thinking about how much time he may have left. “Life is like a roll of toilet paper,” he says with a chuckle. “The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.”