Savvy Seniors Unleashed: Empowering Tech Confidence at Any Age with Anne Goldberg

🔦 Welcome to a special edition of Pathways with Amber Stitt, Pathways Unleashed, where we shine a light on inspiring journeys and reinventions at any stage of life. 

👵 In this episode, Amber sits down with the dynamic Anne Goldberg—tech educator, “savvy senior,” and soon-to-be author—to explore her unique path of empowering older adults in the digital world. 

📱 Anne shares the serendipitous moment that launched her career teaching technology to seniors, the philosophy behind her mantra, “Old enough to have a past, young enough to have a future,” and actionable tips for helping loved ones navigate smartphones with confidence and safety. 

🗝️ Together, they debunk myths about age and capability, and reveal how attitude and ongoing learning can keep anyone—at any age—moving forward. 

📺 Tune in to discover Anne’s practical advice, hear about her upcoming book, and learn how she’s bringing tech support, encouragement, and a healthy dose of humor to the senior community.

🛰️ Tune in to discover:

💡 Anne’s divine journey into tech education for seniors.

💡 Why attitude and choice impact aging and success at any stage of life.

💡 The Apple vs. Android debate for older adults—and Anne’s security insights!

💡 Simple gestures and fundamentals that remove frustration with phones.

💡 How adult children can effectively help their parents with technology.

💡 Anne’s upcoming newsletters, webinars, and a sneak peek at her website.

💻 If you want to empower a senior in your life (or yourself!) to thrive with technology, this episode is for you.

📽️ To watch this podcast: https://youtu.be/5RfAJxsOkyc

🔗 Connect with Anne Goldberg: 

📲 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annelouisgoldberg

📲 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annegoldbergthesavvysenior

📲 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savvysenioranne/

📲 Website: www.TakeThisPhoneAndShoveIt.com

✍️ Featured books:

📖 "The Unleashed Entrepreneur"
📖 "The Biohacking Entrepreneur"

#seniorsandtech #pathwayswithamberstitt #annegoldberg #amberstitt #lifelonglearning #reinvention #applevsandroid #empoweringseniors #takethis

📻 Thank you for tuning in to Pathways!

🔗 Connect with Amber on Social Media:

• AMBER’S INSTAGRAM
• AMBER’S LINKEDIN
• AMBER’S FACEBOOK

📲 Be sure to visit Amber's website:

www.AmberStitt.com

And remember, let's take action today!!!

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Transcript

Anne Goldberg [00:00:00]:
I consider this whole career very divinely guided, because it was in 2013, in October, the culmination of 4 years after the crash of 2009, and I was trying to connect with a career I could love and get paid for and was having trouble. And I came home one day, I said, "That's it. I surrender." I looked up, I said, "I'm done. I'm not looking for a job because I don't know what I can do that people will pay me for. So send me the signs. I'm watching." It took 10 days.

Anne Goldberg [00:00:29]:
God's honest truth, 6 seniors called me.

Amber Stitt [00:00:32]:
No way!

Anne Goldberg [00:00:33]:
Out of the blue, and all kind of said the same thing, "I can't remember who told me, but I hear you teach seniors how to use computers." And by the 6th call, it took 6 mind you, by the 6th call, I was like, "Okay, message received." And the next day, I made a call to an independent living and got hired immediately. Teaching tech to seniors. Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:00:55]:
Hello and welcome to Pathways Unleashed, a special edition of Pathways with Amber Stitt. The Pathways Unleashed podcasts were recorded with special guests and the authors of the Unleashed Entrepreneur and the Biohacking Entrepreneur, who were celebrating the book launches at the Unleash Your Superpower conference in Delray Beach, Florida, in April 2025. Let's join the conversation.

Amber Stitt [00:01:20]:
So excited for my lovely savvy senior that's coming up next. I've been able to spend some time with her most recently and get to know her reinvention of new business and how she's helping people. Super inspiring. And if you've been listening, or been part of the Pathways podcast, we talk a lot about doing things at any time for yourself. And I can't wait for Anne to explain some of this of what's really impacted her to make some moves for the demographic that she's working with, but I think it's important for, and I haven't told her this...I'm going to welcome you, Anne.

Amber Stitt [00:01:57]:
Welcome to the live show. And we're in real life together. This is our first time.

Anne Goldberg [00:02:01]:
It is our first time. It's so special.

Amber Stitt [00:02:04]:
It is, and I've been so...personal reasons. Okay, so yes, you've got your...You have to see this, you guys. She's so cute. The savvy senior working in tech. And is it still featured May for your new book? No pressure.

Anne Goldberg [00:02:19]:
It's in graphic design.

Amber Stitt [00:02:19]:
Okay, so it's the graphic designers that we need to kind of get hop to the program. But there's just so much new going on. And I don't think you're shy about saying, "Hey, I'm 73," so that's okay, right?

Anne Goldberg [00:02:30]:
Not at all.

Amber Stitt [00:02:31]:
It's important because as we've talked about in other episodes, kind of what I was trying to get at from if you're on the show watching anything, we're live here in Florida right now. But normally I talk about success can happen at any age for the younger folks, and it doesn't just happen before you're 60. And so this is where I think our community really kind of debunks that. And you are the epitome of that. And I just, I'm so excited for the people that you're working with because I even think, like, at 45, I know that I could use the tools and resources with my grandmother that I talk about a lot. She's 93, she's texting, she's hip, but she does need some help. And so that's where here you are. So I think it's so important for people to know what you do.

Amber Stitt [00:03:13]:
And I'm so excited for your new book. So congrats. Okay, so Anne, let's talk about you're working in senior tech, you're in the middle of this book launch, and you talk about, "Old enough to have a past, young enough to have a future." What does that mean to you?

Anne Goldberg [00:03:28]:
Well, actually, it's something that was said to me when I was 29, turning 30 as a baby boomer, and I thought my life was going to end.

Amber Stitt [00:03:37]:
Because you were going to turn 30. I know, we've all been there. Well, maybe not everybody.

Anne Goldberg [00:03:40]:
And I was telling some 40 something woman about it, "Oh my God, I'm turning 30." And she says, "Anne, what are you worried about? You're old enough to have a past and young enough to have a future."

Amber Stitt [00:03:50]:
That's really cool.

Anne Goldberg [00:03:51]:
And it shifted my whole perception of age at 30. And when I launched my business in 2013, I needed a catchphrase. And one day it occurred to me, "Oh, my God, we're all old enough to have a past and young enough to have a future." So I've been using it ever since. And the thing is, we have a future, but that future is determined by the choices we make. Our health, our wellness, our attitude, all has to do with the choices we make. And that's where I want to empower seniors to understand that we have so much control over what's happening in terms of how we think, what we say and what we do. And that informs our experience of life.

Amber Stitt [00:04:34]:
Now, you have this experience, or you have this attitude, we'll say. Do you have friends that think the same way as you?

Anne Goldberg [00:04:39]:
Oh, yeah, most of them.

Amber Stitt [00:04:41]:
But do you have some that don't?

Anne Goldberg [00:04:42]:
Oh, absolutely. Not so much in my inner circle of friends. Well, you've chosen that, right? Exactly. But in the extended world and when I'm out teaching, there are so many people. And it's true, many seniors have physical issues. And I've had them. And I understand deeply if you have trouble walking, it takes effort to stay positive. Understand that this doesn't define who you are.

Anne Goldberg [00:05:13]:
And what defines who we are is our attitude.

Amber Stitt [00:05:16]:
So how does that pull into tech? What really got you to go, "All right, I have to start helping people."? I mean, you pioneered this and you're like, "Let's do this."

Anne Goldberg [00:05:24]:
What really happened, I consider this whole career very divinely guided because it was in 2013, in October, the culmination of 4 years after the crash of 2009, and I was trying to connect with a career I could love and get paid for and was having trouble. And I came home one day, I said, "That's it. I surrender." I looked up, I said, "I'm done. I'm not looking for a job because I don't know what I can do that people will pay me for. So send me the signs. I'm watching." It took 10 days.

Anne Goldberg [00:05:55]:
God's honest truth, 6 seniors called me.

Amber Stitt [00:05:58]:
No way!

Anne Goldberg [00:05:58]:
Out of the blue and all kind of said the same thing, "I can't remember who told me, but I hear you teach seniors how to use computers." And by the 6th call, it took 6 mind you. By the 6th call, I was like, "Okay, message received." And the next day I made a call to an independent living and got hired immediately to teach tech to seniors. Yeah, so it just, it has fallen in my lap.

Anne Goldberg [00:06:21]:
And even the book, the book has been, "Write the book, write the book." It's in my head, "Write the book, write the book." And events conspired and I came up with the title. And once I came up with the title, the book just flowed out of me. I couldn't not write.

Amber Stitt [00:06:38]:
That is so awesome.

Amber Stitt [00:06:39]:
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Amber Stitt [00:07:02]:
I'm a Droid user and I know, I think we should take a poll because I think you're the one to ask, is there a better phone for seniors, or just people? Maybe seniors? Do you have like a poll? Is there like a Apple versus Droid story?

Anne Goldberg [00:07:17]:
Well, I have my own interpretation. For a lot of seniors who are on tight budgets, Android is going to be the better choice because they have a greater variety of lower end phones that are just a couple of hundred dollars.

Amber Stitt [00:07:31]:
Oh, sure.

Anne Goldberg [00:07:32]:
So for those people, yes, Android will be better. But on the whole, overall, I recommend Apple because of Apple security.

Amber Stitt [00:07:41]:
Okay. Oh, because that's a whole other issue. I know that in financial services, but it's beyond.

Anne Goldberg [00:07:46]:
Apple security is better. There are a lot of problems in the Google Play Store with apps, malicious apps that Google just, they can't operate quickly enough to get rid of these apps. But it's open source. Anybody can place an app on that store. Whereas Apple controls who places apps. So that's one piece. Another piece is that if Apple discovers a problem with their security, they can roll out an update in a couple of days, whereas on the Android system it could take weeks before that update.

Amber Stitt [00:08:19]:
It sounds like the cost is worth it for the security, just longer-term, because that could be financially devastating in some more extreme circumstances. But it happens.

Anne Goldberg [00:08:29]:
Yeah, it does.

Amber Stitt [00:08:30]:
Especially with seniors that probably don't want to bother their kids.

Anne Goldberg [00:08:33]:
Some do want to bother their kids, some don't want to bother their kids. The ones who want to bother their kids, their kids are my target audience, "Are you tired of being the IT for your parents?"

Amber Stitt [00:08:41]:
Right. Well, that's what I'm saying. That's why I was like, "I have to meet Anne." Because not only just we're celebrating all the projects we have in our community, but this is in my wheelhouse. And I was talking about how I do insurance and I work in financial services. I'm that demographic. That's me helping my parents, or my grandmother. But yeah, this is such a cool thing and it's neat to have a niche, but you're also delightful and special, too.

Amber Stitt [00:09:04]:
So that's always super helpful. Okay, so what do you think people are overlooking when there's someone my age and we're getting the calls, is there something that we could do that's more tangible quickly, like, "Go help mom and dad do this..." And is there any application that we should be paying attention to right now that we're maybe missing, or overlooking?

Anne Goldberg [00:09:24]:
I don't think it's necessarily a particular application. It's gestures. Teach them how to interact with the phone. Because the language of smartphones is touch. And if you don't touch the screen properly, you're going to get a result that's confusing. As an example, there's a tap. Tap opens the app, but if you leave your finger there a millisecond longer, that's a tap and press and a different response from the phone. And that knocks seniors just for a loop.

Amber Stitt [00:09:53]:
Well, and people that have grown up with tech just don't even know that that's language, or communication style to the device.

Anne Goldberg [00:10:00]:
Because you've been using tech. You just, you learned it. You learned it by osmosis, but we did not. So swiping and tapping and pulling down and just all these various gestures, the language of the phone, that's number one. And number two, the other thing that you really need to tell them, and the analogy I use is if you're walking down the street and a stranger taps you on the shoulder, you start a conversation, "La, la, la, la. So nice there. Oh, you're so nice." And they go, "Hey, you know, I've got this great investment deal.

Anne Goldberg [00:10:33]:
It's can't miss. Can I get your email address and your phone number? And I'll give you the information."

Amber Stitt [00:10:38]:
Only if you're Unleashed community, I'll trust you. No...

Anne Goldberg [00:10:43]:
And so, of course, to every senior, I say, "Would you give them your information?" And they say, "No." Exactly. It's no different. If you get a text, an email, or a phone call, that is a stranger tapping you on the shoulder, hang up. If you're worried about the truth of what they're saying, go to the website that they're talking about. Make a phone call on your own, but hang up on that person. Delete the text, delete the email. Do not interact.

Anne Goldberg [00:11:08]:
Those are the two gestures. And these unsolicited correspondents are strangers tapping you on the shoulder for information.

Amber Stitt [00:11:16]:
That's a great analogy.

Anne Goldberg [00:11:17]:
Yeah.

Amber Stitt [00:11:18]:
You're listening to Pathways with Amber Stitt. For more episodes like this, plus so much more, check out the podcast page at: AmberStitt.com Let's take action together! Now let's get back to our episode.

Amber Stitt [00:11:32]:
Okay, so I might need your help. So what do you think I could start with? What are you going to be offering to help others so that we can start taking care of our seniors?

Anne Goldberg [00:11:43]:
Through my website, once the book is launched, twice a month, I'm going to send out a newsletter that will have a tip for Android and a tip for iPhone.

Amber Stitt [00:11:50]:
Oh, that's cool.

Anne Goldberg [00:11:51]:
Yeah, and then I'm gonna put together webinars where seniors can sign up and they won't be expensive.

Amber Stitt [00:11:56]:
Okay.

Anne Goldberg [00:11:57]:
I'm talking, $20 or $30 dollars. Because I don't want people who don't have a lot of discretionary cash to be priced out of learning how to use their smartphones. And in each of those lessons, I will explain how to do these various things. I also will have on my website 30 to 45 second tutorials and it's a membership site.

Amber Stitt [00:12:20]:
Okay.

Anne Goldberg [00:12:20]:
So you can sign up for $50 dollars a year and get a deeper lesson on that same thing. Maybe 3, 4, 5 minutes so you can really go deeper.

Amber Stitt [00:12:30]:
And you've been speaking, you've been doing a lot.

Anne Goldberg [00:12:33]:
Yes, speaking engagements and of course, private lessons. I go to seniors homes and I sit with them in their home because that's where they're the most comfortable. And then I show them whatever it is they need to know.

Amber Stitt [00:12:45]:
I just can't wait to see how this year just transpires. But you're already doing a lot of amazing things, so could you even work with people virtually if they needed your help?

Anne Goldberg [00:12:53]:
Sometimes.

Amber Stitt [00:12:54]:
You're more local. You're Florida based?

Anne Goldberg [00:12:56]:
I am Florida based, South Florida based.

Amber Stitt [00:12:58]:
Yeah.

Anne Goldberg [00:12:58]:
I can work with some people over, say, Zoom, depending on their ability to let me see their phone.

Amber Stitt [00:13:07]:
Yeah, because that could be tricky too, because then you can't really do that. Like you were saying, some of the gestures, you also have to see how they're feeling about it, too. So it can be very useful.

Anne Goldberg [00:13:16]:
A lot of times I will start a private lesson by saying, "Okay, before we start this, let's take a couple of clear, deep breaths. Let's clear the mind, calm down, approach this with a happy attitude."

Amber Stitt [00:13:30]:
Because they have so much that's intimidating.

Anne Goldberg [00:13:33]:
It's intimidating to them. They think they're stupid. You know, I tell them, go look on YouTube and search for teenagers and rotary phones.

Amber Stitt [00:13:43]:
Right.

Anne Goldberg [00:13:44]:
They don't know how to use them.

Amber Stitt [00:13:46]:
No, they don't.

Anne Goldberg [00:13:47]:
And it's hilarious.

Amber Stitt [00:13:48]:
Okay, so anything else you want to share to have people connect with you outside of your LinkedIn? Website?

Anne Goldberg [00:13:54]:
LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. My website is www.TakeThisPhoneAndShoveIt.com.

Amber Stitt [00:14:01]:
We actually didn't talk about that: TakeThisPhoneAndShoveIt.com. How do you not love that? My savvy senior. Well, thank you so much for being here today. And I'm excited to celebrate all this cool stuff that we have this week here in South Florida.

Anne Goldberg [00:14:14]:
Me too. And I get to see you for the weekend.

Amber Stitt [00:14:16]:
I know, for real! Thanks so much for being here.

Anne Goldberg [00:14:20]:
So my pleasure. Thank you.

Amber Stitt [00:14:22]:
Thank you for joining us for this special edition of Pathways Unleashed, recorded at Owwll headquarters here in Delray Beach, Florida. Join us for more powerful conversations with real people who dare to design life on their own terms. Until next time, keep taking action on your unique path!