Mark: Most people think aging means slowing down, maybe taking up a quiet hobby. But what if the secret to a vibrant life is to hit the accelerator at seventy? To become a CoverGirl, an 'Insta-famous' model, and more in-demand than ever after you've raised three kids and started over a dozen times. Michelle: Wait, a CoverGirl at seventy? That completely flips the script on the entire beauty industry. That’s not just surviving; that’s thriving in a field that’s notoriously obsessed with youth. Who is this person? Mark: This is the incredible life of Maye Musk, and we're diving into her book, A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure,Beauty, and Success. And what’s fascinating is that she's not just a supermodel. She's also a registered dietitian with two master's degrees. And, of course, she’s the mother of three famously successful entrepreneurs: Elon, Kimbal, and Tosca Musk. Michelle: Okay, so this is not your typical celebrity memoir. She has serious credentials in multiple fields. The book has been a massive bestseller, and I’ve heard it’s praised for being incredibly raw and honest. Mark: Exactly. It’s less a chronological story and more a collection of hard-won wisdom. She structures it around these core pillars of her life: Beauty, Adventure, Family, Success, and Health. Michelle: It sounds like it’s built on a mindset of constant reinvention. Where does that even come from?

Mark: It comes from a core belief that starting over could be the best thing you ever do. And there's no better story to illustrate this than what happened with her hair. For decades, like most models, she dyed her hair to maintain a youthful look. But at fifty-nine, she got tired of it. She decided to stop coloring it and let her natural silver hair grow out. Michelle: That sounds terrifying for a model. I mean, in an industry that equates gray hair with being 'past your prime,' that’s a career-ending move, right? Mark: It almost was. The immediate result was brutal. Her agency, a big one in New York, basically told her they couldn't market her anymore and stopped sending her out for jobs. For six months, the phone didn't ring. Nothing. She could have panicked and gone right back to the dye. Michelle: I would have! Six months with no income in New York City? I’d be at the pharmacy buying a box of Clairol so fast. Why did she stick with it? Mark: Because she had a plan. She realized the agency wasn't working for her, so she started advocating for herself. She began contacting agents in other cities and countries, building her own network. And her new look, this striking, short silver hair, started getting attention on its own, especially as she started using social media. Michelle: So the very thing that got her dropped by the old guard became her new signature. Mark: Precisely. It led to a shoot for Virgin America. And she didn't just get a small part; she became the face of the campaign. Suddenly, her image was on a fifteen-foot-tall billboard in Times Square. That silver hair, which was supposed to make her invisible, made her more visible than ever. Michelle: Wow. That’s an incredible gamble that paid off. But it feels like a huge risk. Does she talk about the times when a big change didn't work out so smoothly? Because that story has a very happy, cinematic ending. Mark: Oh, absolutely. Reinvention for her wasn't always glamorous. When she moved to Toronto at 42, she was starting from scratch. She was working on her second master's degree and building her nutrition practice, but to make ends meet, she took any modeling job she could get. She jokingly called herself the "Sears housecoat queen." Michelle: The Sears housecoat queen! I love that. It grounds the idea of reinvention. It’s not always a Times Square billboard; sometimes it's just about doing what you have to do to survive and build the next phase. Mark: Exactly. It’s about making a plan to move forward, even if the steps are small and unglamorous. Her point is that you can always make another plan. That resilience is the real engine of reinvention. Michelle: And that willingness to take risks, to start over in a new city with no guarantees… that had to come from somewhere. It doesn't just appear in your forties. Mark: You are absolutely right. It was baked into her from childhood. Her family had this motto, a philosophy that governed their entire lives: 'Live dangerously—carefully.'

Michelle: 'Live dangerously—carefully.' That sounds like a complete contradiction. How do you do both at the same time? Mark: You plan for it. And the story that best explains this is her family's annual expeditions into the Kalahari Desert. Every winter, for three weeks, her parents would pack up their five children into a truck and drive into the desert to search for a fabled 'lost city.' Michelle: Hold on. They took five kids into the Kalahari Desert? With what, a GPS and a satellite phone? Mark: Not even close. This was in the 1950s. They had a compass. That’s it. Her father would navigate by compass, and the kids’ job was to stand on the running boards of the truck and scout for potholes and animal burrows to avoid getting stuck. They carried all their water, food, and petrol for three weeks. There was no backup. Michelle: That is absolutely wild. It sounds less like a family vacation and more like a survival mission. What happened when things went wrong? Because things must have gone wrong. Mark: Constantly. That’s the 'carefully' part. They planned for things to go wrong. Her father, a chiropractor, was also a skilled mechanic. Once, the truck hit a tree stump and the chassis cracked. In the middle of the desert. He and her brother used a welding iron they had brought, powered by the truck's battery, to fix it. They made a plan. Michelle: Okay, that's resourceful. But what about actual danger? Like, wildlife? Mark: There's a story that perfectly captures it. One night, they were all sleeping in the open around the campfire. Their guide, Hendrik, believed animals wouldn't come near a fire. Well, her father woke up in the middle of the night and saw a massive male lion just standing there, watching them from the edge of the camp. Michelle: No. Absolutely not. What did they do? Mark: Her father calmly woke Hendrik, who, in a moment of sheer panic, jumped over the fire and just started shouting at the lion in Afrikaans, "Voetsek!" which basically means "Go away!" The lion just stared at him. Her dad fired a few shots over its head, but the lion didn't even flinch. It just calmly watched them for a while before wandering off. The next morning, they saw it and its mate watching them from a nearby sand dune. Michelle: I am speechless. The level of calm that requires is superhuman. And the kids just slept through this? Mark: They learned from their parents. The lesson wasn't to avoid danger, but to be prepared and to not panic when it arrives. It’s this idea of "'n Boer maak 'n plan," an Afrikaans saying that means 'a farmer makes a plan.' You use what you have, you stay calm, and you solve the problem in front of you. Michelle: So how does that desert survival mindset translate to her modern life and career? Is 'making a plan' about having a rigid five-year blueprint? Mark: Not at all. It’s about having a direction but being incredibly adaptable. There's a great business story about this. In the '80s, her dietitian practice in Johannesburg was thriving. But one day, a construction crew accidentally severed her phone line. In those days, the replacement cable had to come from Europe and would take six months. Her business was dead in the water. Michelle: Six months with no phone? That's a death sentence for a business that relies on appointments. Mark: She was devastated. But at a meeting with her dietitian colleagues, she broke down and told them what happened. Instead of just offering sympathy, they started offering her part-time consulting jobs to help her get by. It was a new income stream she'd never considered. When the phone line was finally fixed, her old practice came roaring back, and she now had this new, lucrative consulting business. The crisis forced her to make a new plan, and she came out stronger. That's 'living dangerously—carefully' in the business world. Michelle: It seems like this 'make a plan' mentality applied to everything, including how she raised her kids. I'm fascinated by this, especially given who her children have become. It couldn't have been a conventional upbringing.

Mark: Not even slightly. Her approach to parenting is probably one of the most challenging and insightful parts of the book. She has this core philosophy of leading by example and completely rejects the idea of 'working mother's guilt.' Michelle: I think a lot of listeners will be very interested in that. Guilt is practically the official sponsor of modern motherhood. How did she manage to avoid it, especially as a single mom who was often struggling financially after her divorce? Mark: She says she never felt guilty because she didn't have a choice. She was working to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. Her work wasn't a 'career choice' in the modern sense; it was a survival necessity. And she argues that her children benefited immensely from seeing that reality. They weren't protected from it; they were part of the plan. Michelle: What do you mean, 'part of the plan'? Mark: She put them to work. From a very young age, they were involved in her businesses. Her daughter, Tosca, would help type letters to her nutrition clients. When Maye couldn't figure out her first word processor, it was a young Elon who sat down and taught her how to use it. When she opened a modeling school, Tosca taught the other kids etiquette. They were treated as responsible, contributing members of the household. Michelle: That is so different from today's 'helicopter parenting' culture, where we try to shield kids from any kind of struggle. She was basically running a family startup. Mark: That's a perfect way to put it. And she believes that's what fostered their independence and incredible work ethic. They learned that if you want something, you have to work for it, and you have to be responsible for yourself. There’s a great quote from her: "Children don’t need to be protected from the reality of responsibility." Michelle: That’s a powerful line. It also sounds like she gave them a lot of freedom. Was she a strict parent? Mark: She says she was too busy to be strict! There’s a hilarious anecdote that shows the kind of freedom they had. She was dating a man who smoked, and the kids hated it. So, one day, they put tiny firecrackers in his cigarettes. When he lit one up, BANG! Michelle: No way! What did she do? Mark: She thought it was hilarious and didn't punish them. It shows her style—as long as her kids were safe and considerate, she let them figure things out for themselves, to be their own people. She trusted them. Michelle: That trust is the foundation of everything. It’s what allows you to let your son go to Canada at seventeen with just a couple thousand dollars, or let your teenage daughter sell your house out from under you. Mark: Exactly! That story is unbelievable. Tosca, at fifteen, sold the house, the car, and all the furniture while Maye was away, all to force the family's move to Canada. And Maye’s reaction wasn't anger, but acceptance. She recognized her daughter had made a good, albeit drastic, plan.

Mark: So when you put it all together—the constant reinvention, the 'live dangerously—carefully' mindset, and the no-guilt family model—you see a powerful formula for a remarkable life. It’s not about having a perfect life or avoiding hardship. It's about having the courage to make a plan to escape a bad situation, and then another plan, and another. Michelle: And the most powerful part for me is her message about age. She says her life just keeps getting better with every decade. At seventy-one, she says she's having more fun and working more than ever. That's such a hopeful and rebellious idea in a world that tells women they have a shelf life. Mark: It’s a complete reframing of the aging process. She sees it as accumulating wisdom and confidence. She says one of the best things about getting older is that you learn to get rid of jerks in your life much quicker. You just don't have time for it anymore. Michelle: I love that. It’s a practical superpower that comes with age. So, after all these stories of adventure, struggle, and success, what’s the one thing she wants readers to do? Mark: Her final advice is simple and direct: 'Start now.' Don't wait for the perfect moment, because it will never come. Make a plan for one small change you want in your life, whether it's in your career, your health, or your family. Just take that first step. Michelle: It’s not about having the perfect plan, but about the act of planning itself, and the courage to start. What a life. Mark: If you've been inspired by our discussion, we encourage you to share your own 'make a plan' moments with us on our social channels. We'd love to hear how you're taking charge of your own adventures. Michelle: This is Aibrary, signing off.