About Cindy Panetti Cyr
An entrepreneur, a storyteller, writer, empty-nester, unshakable optimist, and doer of random acts of kindness dedicated to helping you create your ultimate next chapter in life now that the kids are gone.
Born in the Midwest and now living on the East Coast in Florida, I’m proud to have reinvented my life multiple times in response to my life circumstances such as moving, divorce, a second marriage, becoming a parent, losing my sister, and now empty-nesting.
I'm on a mission to help empty nest (or about to be empty nest) women Spark Joy so they can smother out the feeling of emptiness and ignite a more meaningful next chapter of life where they experience twice the meaning, connection, and joy in their day-to-day life even though the kids are gone.
Hey! I'm Cindy
One of the things I'm often asked is...
"What inspired you to get started with this?"
I experienced a roller-coaster of emotions as I journeyed into this new territory. In the span of two years, I co-authored a book with a best-selling author (100 best business books) I spent a lot more time with my parents who lived 1000 miles away and saw them in a new light. I lost a best friend who unexplainably ghosted me after 40+ years of friendship. I took my husband on a surprise 60th birthday trip – an incredible experience we travelled to Greece, Italy and Turkey. The co-author of the book I wrote almost died and miraculously recovered. My house flooded. I cared for my mom 24/7 after she suffered a traumatic brain injury. My mom died. I travelled to 15 countries, 28 states and Washington D.C. I lost business when a long-time client became ill. I spent 9 months 24/7 with my dad during COVID-19 and a month with my almost 90-year-old aunt.
I've been an empty nester for a little over three years now. I remember approaching that time when the youngest was going to leave home. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but I was anxious about it. To make matters worse, it happened six months earlier than I planned. My youngest got an incredible opportunity that would require him to move out five months before his 18th birthday.
Throughout those intense years, I did a lot of reflection, rethinking my life and where did I want to go now.
Here are some of the big discoveries I made:
➋ I want to honor the commitments I make to myself, be a better role model, and be intentional about building my legacy… and I want to invite other empty nest women who would like to do the same to join me so we can help each other honor our commitment to build a legacy we want our children to remember.
I noticed a pattern early on. I was keeping my commitments to everyone, except the ones I made to myself. If someone needed my help, I was quick to put myself on the backburner and tell myself what a family member or friend or a client needed was more important. Heck, it seemed even keeping an appointment with my hairdresser was more important that a commitment I had for myself. As a mom, I had gotten so used to taking care of others and putting others first that I wasn’t taking care of what I needed – to the point that it felt a bit uncomfortable…sometimes I even felt guilty or selfish when I’d focus on my own passions, goals, and desires. But then I started thinking twenty and thirty years ahead. I thought about what I was role modeling to my own kids. Would I want them to push aside their goals, desires, and passions? The answer was a resounding no. The commitments we make to ourselves are the most important commitments. They allow you to show up more joyful, better, stronger, grander and more fully present for your spouse, children, family, friends, community, and clients.
I want to provide a space where women can get what they need…whether it’s permission to focus on themselves… a reminder of how to dream… to ask questions about ANYTHING… or encouragement to pursue their own goals, passions, and desires, no matter how small or big they are.
Through all of this, I also discovered that my community of friends had dwindled because I was no longer going to my kids’ activities. While I still have many friends, a lot of my social activity had revolved around my kids—hanging with other parents after the myriad of activities that my kids were involved in –baseball, basketball, concerts, and so on. Beyond that, I realized that I had outgrown many of the friendships I do have which made finding a tribe I belong to, was more difficult than I thought.
➊ I want to help women to see the wisdom & gifts they have to offer – and put a spotlight on them so these are not lost to future generations.
When my mom passed away, I realized there was so much I did not know. So much I wish I would have learned from her. While I had asked her about things and even interviewed her shortly before she died, there was so much I never thought to ask her. However, she was always concerned with others and never put a spotlight on herself. As stories flooded in from friends, I discovered there was much of her wisdom that sadly was forever lost when she died.
As someone who interviews CEOs and company founders in order to capture their story to help others, I couldn’t help but think about how many women’s stories, like my mom’s, aren’t being told. How many women think they don’t have anything worth shining a spotlight on, when they clearly do? How many women, will leave this earth one day and have their children in the same position I’m in now –longing to know more about who their mother really was – what her passions were – what she loved, dreamed about and desired?
➌ I want to build a community of like-minded empty nester women for support, encouragement, friendship, and fun! Recruit people who are transforming into love and joy warriors!
After speaking to hundreds of empty nesters and participating in a dozen or so empty nest communities, I found that I was not alone.
Many struggled to find a new tribe they fit into. Many weren’t sure about what to do next, the best way to continue growing their relationship with their children, or how to go about continuing to create a meaningful life now that their kids were not the main focus.
Many felt they had outgrown friendships. Didn’t know where to turn when they had a question… and found the conversations in many of the empty nest communities to be rather depressing and negative… and just couldn’t relate to the people in these groups.
So I decided to start a community for empty nest women like me… because I believe as an empty nest woman you bring a set of unique gifts to the world. I believe that life is short – and that when you live intentionally, you experience and bring more joy and significance to the world. You become better, live more exuberantly, and create a legacy that will inspire future generations.
My mission is to enhance your life by helping you to build your legacy thoughtfully – inspire you to live more fully and connect you with other women doing the same. And along the way to help you to write your story so that future generations will not only know who you were, what you loved, what you dreamed about, and what you desired, they’ll be inspired by you.
Find Joy, Live on Purpose, Feel Significant
_edited.jpg)
Top left: my loving husband, Frank
Bottom left: my youngest son, Dalton
Bottom right: my oldest, Austin
I've successfully reinvented my life multiple times.
Multiple times I’ve found myself experiencing circumstances that too often leave people devastated and unable to move on. Yet my experience is of manifesting the most epic version of my life in the wake of major life changes…
When my first husband walked out on me on Christmas Eve, leaving me with a ton of debt I didn’t know existed, and I got divorced, I used what has now become my SPARK method to help me manifest my soulmate and current husband, Frank. After only a couple of months of dating Frank, I shocked myself when I revisited what has now become my SPARK playbook, and I discovered my description was a perfect match for him! We’ve been happily together since 2004.
When my oldest sister Sue was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, she lived 1,000 miles away. She died without me being able to spend time with her because my employer would not let me off work. I vowed I’d never be in that position again and (using my SPARK Method) quickly remade my life. I quit my job 4 months later to become a full-time writer and within about 1.5 years I was generating six-figures from my writing and able to work from anywhere.
Early in my life, when I was laid off from my job, I used one of the earliest versions of my SPARK Method which led me to teach people how to tell and preserve their stories and photos for future generations. Working through a direct sales company, I was in the top 5% in the company in sales, a top recruiter and won the company’s highest award, The Spirit of Success Award which is awarded to one person per year and is defined as “an individual who consistently is an entrepreneur with heart and a humanitarian with a business sense.”
I've been privileged to meet and work with some incredible people.
About a year and half into my writing career, I met Zig Ziglar who then became a client. For over a year I got to have calls with him and write for him. I wrote for Ziglar until Zig’s health declined and he could no longer work.
I’ve worked with Dan Kennedy and the No B.S. Inner Circle/Magnetic Marketing (formerly GKIC), writing for them every month since 2011. Through this I’ve worked with hundreds of incredible entrepreneurs.
I’ve also worked with AWAI (American Artists and Writers, Inc.) which teaches people how to become copywriters. I’ve written dozens of articles for them, been featured in The Barefoot Writer, Wealthy WebWriter, Spoken on stage, and taught master classes.
Through being an advocate for my youngest son as he pursued his career in music and acting, I’ve met Hollywood producers, writers, directors and actors, music producers, recording artists and musicians, executives at the highest levels in the music industry, and record label executives.
My oldest son Austin and I riding camels together in Morocco
I love helping people pursue their
dreams and desires.
My two favorite people I helped are my two sons. While they did the work and I don't take any credit for their success, I like to think I helped them by encouraging them to dream big, prodding them to explore their options, supporting their pursuits 100%, believing in them and inspiring them to believe in themselves.
When my youngest, Dalton, was 10 he wrote and recorded his first song. He quickly caught the attention of Disney executives and music producers in California. I spent the next 8 years crisscrossing the country, touring with him and living bi-coastal in California and Florida as he pursued a career in the entertainment industry. Today, he is working in a major recording studio, has written and recorded hundreds of songs, had songs placed in TV and movies such as Baywatch and Baywatch Hawaii, and been cast in TV and film such as a lead in an Amazon pilot “History of Radness”, appeared on “Pretty Little Liars”, and the film Silent Life in which he plays a young Rudolph Valentino.
My oldest, Austin, always showed an entrepreneurial side. When he couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do, I started taking him to business conferences with me and I helped him creatively put together packages to pursue his top choices to work. With absolutely no experience, he was able to get Rich Schefren, an entrepreneur and one of the world's top online business guru's who's increased client's revenues by billions, to mentor him and give him some internship work. Later when he graduated, I helped him think through what he wanted and who could give him that experience. Through a year-long campaign and aggressive follow-up he landed a dream job which has connected him with industry giants and is setting him up to write his future any way he wants.
I've been a storyteller my whole life.
The first time I was published was when I was 10 years old. I was one of about twenty people chosen from the entire school district for a writing workshop that met on Saturdays. At the end of the multi-week workshop my best pieces were chosen and added to a collection published in a book.
I’ve made over 50 photo albums which also journal my life story.
I co-authored the book No B.S. Marketing To The Affluent (3rd edition) with Dan S. Kennedy, a world-renowned marketer, author, and speaker referred to as the millionaire-maker.
I’ve interviewed in excess of one hundred highly successful CEO’s and company founders and written stories on them which have been published in multiple formats including books and magazine cover stories.
