VMP Covergirl - Melissa Ghelarducci-Hancock

This week’s VMP Covergirl is……Melissa Ghelarducci-Hancock! 🎉

Some women enter their 50s ready to settle down. Melissa Ghelarducci-Hancock is not one of them.

I’ve known Melissa for years, and if I had to describe her in one word, it might be fire.

She’s been through experiences that could easily have made her world smaller. A serious car accident left her with a broken pelvis, two surgeries, years of rehabilitation and lasting pain. The end of a 20-year marriage changed the future she thought she was going to have.

Melissa rebuilt. More than once.

And at 50, at the same age she was wrestling with the idea of getting older, she launched I Do. I Did. I’m Done! Divorce Coaching, turning some of what she had learned through her own experience into work that helps other people move forward.

Today she’s building her business, traveling, mountain biking, hiking, camping, dancing until ridiculous hours and continuing to ask herself one important question:

Now what?

For her Covergirl portrait, we wanted to create something that represented that part of her story. The phoenix became our inspiration: not a symbol of what happened to her, but of what she chose to do afterward. I love how she’s standing composed and self-possessed inside the fire. It’s about agency rather than trauma.

And perhaps Melissa says it best: “I want my story to be about how I lived, not just what I survived.”

Meet this week’s 50 Over 50 Covergirl, Melissa Ghelarducci-Hancock. 🔥

Here's what Melissa had to say about this season of her life...

💎 Did you have any older female role models when you were younger?

I had two very important female role models growing up: Miss Green and my mother.

Miss Green was my middle- and high-school basketball coach at my Christian school. She was a woman of God who taught and coached with love, but she also had this aggressive joy about making us run line drills when we got out of line. And trust me, we ran plenty.

She was strong, loving, and disciplined, and she expected something from us. She showed me the kind of woman I wanted to become and had a huge influence on me when I eventually became a teacher myself. She taught me that you can love kids deeply while still holding them accountable and expecting them to become their best selves.

Then there was my mom. She raised three boys and was completely outnumbered until I came along 14 years later. We grew up working in our family's gas and towing station, so there wasn't much of a "that's for the boys" mentality in our house.

My mom taught me to be strong, especially when I felt defeated. She taught me that you can be best friends with your children when there is mutual respect. And she taught me that being a girl was never a reason I couldn't do something. If the boys could do it, so could I.

Miss Green influenced the teacher and coach in me. My mother gave me the strength, independence, and stubborn belief that I could figure things out even when life got hard. Turns out, I needed all of it.

💎 How did you mark turning 50? How did that feel to you?

Turning 50 bothered me. I'm not going to lie. I remember when you first asked me if I wanted to do the 50 Over 50 project when I turned 50, and I was like, "Absolutely not! I am NOT over 50. I am still 50."

Apparently, that one-year technicality mattered to me. I told you I wasn't embracing this whole "over 50" thing until I actually moved past 50. And truthfully, I'm still not sure I've completely embraced it.

My family and friends threw me a huge surprise 50th birthday party at my favorite winery, and I was genuinely shocked. Pulling off a surprise on me is not easy, so they deserve some serious credit for that one.

But something else pretty significant happened that year. I started I Do. I Did. I'm Done! Divorce Coaching and held my business launch.

Looking back, there is something pretty damn fitting about that. At the exact age I was worried meant I was getting "old," I was starting an entirely new business and a completely new chapter of my life.

And I certainly haven't started acting old. I bike, hike, and camp like I'm in my 20s. I still enjoy a good party. I can dance in a club until 5 a.m. in New York City like I'm 21. I've been known to crash a wedding or two. And yes, I still enjoy a good roll in the hay, especially after being divorced.

Apparently nobody told me women over 50 were supposed to settle down. Or maybe they did, and I was too busy dancing at somebody else's wedding to hear them.

I'm learning that getting older doesn't mean I have to stop doing the things that make me feel alive.
The number doesn't get to decide how much life I still get to live.

💎 What advice would you give your younger self?

Learn what to give your fucks to. And learn how to say NO. No is a complete sentence. You don't have to explain it, defend it, soften it, or come up with an excuse that makes everyone else comfortable.

You only have so much time, energy, and emotion to give. Stop handing it out to everything and everybody. If it isn't important to them, it doesn't need to be important to you.

Stop losing sleep over people who are sleeping just fine. Stop explaining yourself to people committed to misunderstanding you. Stop putting more effort into relationships than the other person is willing to give. And stop trying to fix people who aren't interested in fixing themselves.

Give your fucks to your kids, your family, your real friends, your dreams, your health, your peace, your happiness, and the people who actually show up for you.

Everything else? Say no when you need to. Let that shit go. And don't feel guilty about either one.

💎 Do you feel like you've changed since you've turned 50? 

Absolutely. I care much less about whether everybody likes me. I used to think being attractive had so much to do with what you looked like. Now I think confidence is sexy. Independence is sexy. Strength is sexy. Having your own interests is sexy. Being able to laugh at yourself is sexy. And peace is REALLY sexy. I don't need to be attractive to everyone. I want to look in the mirror and recognize and like the woman standing there.

I value experiences, relationships, freedom, connection, adventure, and peace much more than appearances or doing what I'm "supposed" to do.

💎 What positives have come from being over 50?

How much life there still is. Women are fed this ridiculous message that youth is the exciting part, and everything afterward is some slow decline. Bullshit.

And I don't take being physically able to live this life for granted. In 2014, I was in a serious car accident and broke my pelvis. I went through two surgeries and years of rehabilitation. I couldn't work for a significant period of time and came frighteningly close to losing everything financially. I still live with pain and arthritis from those injuries today.

So when you see me mountain biking, hiking, camping, traveling, or dancing until some ridiculous hour, there is more behind it than refusing to "act my age."

I know what it feels like when your body suddenly can't do the things you took for granted. Sometimes I hurt afterward, but my body still takes me up mountains, down bike trails, onto airplanes, and out onto dance floors.

My body isn't perfect. It hurts. It has scars, arthritis, and a history. But damn, it has carried me through a lot. And we're not done yet.

💎 Do you have any goals or projects you're working on? What dreams do you have for the future?

Too many. That's actually one of my problems.

Professionally, I want to continue growing I Do. I Did. I'm Done! Divorce Coaching and helping change the way people experience divorce.

I'm also building Divorce Connection Society because I believe people need connection after divorce, not just support while they're going through it. Divorce was the before. Connection is the after.

I want to grow my DONE Method™, create more retreats and experiences, speak more, travel more, and continue helping people move forward.

Personally, I want adventure. I want to travel, camp, mountain bike, hike, laugh until my stomach hurts, dance until ridiculous hours, and keep trying things that scare me a little.

And yes, I would love to find a relationship that is actually worth my time and my love. Not because I need someone to complete my life. I've worked too damn hard building a life I love for that. I want someone who adds to it. Someone who wants adventure, connection, affection, laughter, and a real partnership. Someone I can love deeply without losing myself in the process. If I'm giving someone my time, energy, and love, it better be worth giving.

💎 What is your best advice for other women who are coming up on turning 50? What do you 'know' now?

Stop treating 50 like a deadline. You are not expired.

Your children may need you differently. Relationships change. Parents age or are gone. Bodies change. Careers change. Marriages sometimes end. All of that can make you wonder, "Who am I now?"

GOOD QUESTION. Ask it. What do YOU want? Not what your husband wants. Not what your children want. Not what your family expects. Not what looks good on Facebook. What do you actually want the next 20 or 30 years of your life to look like?

Then start building it. Stop waiting for permission.

💎 What do you most want people to remember about you?

I don't want people to tell my story someday and say, "She was a victim of domestic violence." That was something that happened in my life. It is not who I am, and I don't want it to be the headline of my story.

I want them to say, "Damn, she lived." She loved her kids fiercely. She made people laugh. She wasn't afraid to say the things other people were thinking. She helped people when they were scared, overwhelmed, or didn't know what to do next.

I want them to say I took some really shitty experiences and did something useful with them.

I hope they remember some of the things I said all the time too. One of my favorites is, "The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem."

And then there is the one I got from my mom: "Hang in there. Help is on the way." She believed in that saying so much that it's on her tombstone, and now it's something I carry with me.

I hope they say I was strong, but I don't want strength to be the only thing they remember.

I want them to remember that I was fun. Loving. Loyal. A little inappropriate. That I showed up. That I made people feel less alone.

Most of all, I hope they say I didn't allow the worst things that happened to me to become the most interesting things about me.

I want my story to be about how I lived, not just what I survived.

And if they say, "She was a lot," I'll take that as a compliment.

💎 Why are beautiful photos important to you right now?

These photos were never just about business or having beautiful pictures of myself. They are legacy photos. Someday my kids will have these photographs hanging in their homes. Someday they will probably be displayed at my funeral. They will become part of the story my children, family, and hopefully generations after me have of who I was.

And every photograph you captured tells a different piece of that story. The Phoenix represents my ability to rise, rebuild, and reinvent myself. I've had times when everything I thought was secure changed. My accident changed my body and nearly cost me everything financially. My divorce changed my family and the future I thought I was going to have. But I rebuilt. More than once. The Phoenix isn't about being a victim of what happened to me. It's about what I chose to do afterward.

Then there is the photograph of me in the tie and jacket. I grew up as the only girl with three older brothers working in our family's gas and towing station. My mom raised me to believe I could do anything the boys could do. And I believed her. That photograph represents the woman who never believed being female meant she had to sit back and let the men handle it. I can build the business. I can lead. I can make the decisions. I can take care of myself. I can get dirty, work hard, figure shit out and still put on a dress and be completely feminine when I damn well feel like it. I don't have to choose between being strong and being feminine. I can be both.

And then there is I Do. I Did. I'm Done! "I Do" was part of my story. "I Did" was part of my story. But "I'm Done" never meant my life was done. It meant I was ready to decide what happened next.

That's also where my DONE Method™ comes from:

• Decide. Decide that something needs to change.

• Own. Own your story, your choices, and what is within your control.

• Navigate. Figure out the next step, even when you can't see the entire road ahead.

• Elevate. Don't just survive what happened. Use it to create what comes next.

I created the DONE Method™ to help other people move forward, but it also describes so much of my own life. I've had to Decide, Own, Navigate, and Elevate more than once.

Someday when my children look at these photographs, I don't want them to simply think, "That's what Mom looked like." I want them to remember what I stood for. The Phoenix says: I can rise. The tie and jacket say: I can do anything a man can do. I Do. I Did. I'm Done! says: I get to decide what happens next. These photographs are part of the legacy I will leave behind.

I hope my children look at them someday and know: She didn't just survive her life. She lived the hell out of it.

💎 Was there a moment in your life that changed everything for you?

There wasn't just one.

In 2014, I was in a serious car accident that completely changed my life. I broke my pelvis, went through two surgeries, and spent years in rehabilitation. I couldn't work for a significant period of time and came frighteningly close to losing everything financially. Even after the surgeries and rehabilitation, I still live with pain and arthritis today.

Then my divorce changed my life in a completely different way. I had been married for 20 years. Divorce wasn't just the end of my marriage. It changed my family, finances, relationships, identity and what I thought my future was going to look like. There was a point when I had to accept that the life I thought I was going to have was gone.

And then came the question that has probably shaped the second half of my life: Now what?

I rebuilt. More than once.

My accident and my divorce taught me the same lesson in completely different ways:

• Nothing about tomorrow is guaranteed.

• So ride the bike.

• Jump out of the plane.

• Book that trip to Egypt alone.

• Start the business.

• Wear the outfit.

• Say what you need to say.

• Love people even though sometimes they will break your heart.

• Dance until 5 a.m.

• Crash the wedding.

• Do the thing you've been talking yourself out of because you're waiting for the right age, the right person, the right time, or somebody else's permission.

I'm not waiting until someday to live my life. I've learned the hard way that someday isn't promised.

💎 What is something you believe about women over 50 that you wish more people understood?

We aren't disappearing. We're just getting harder to bullshit.

Women over 50 have experience, wisdom, stories, sexuality, ambition, strength, and a much better understanding of what actually matters. We're starting businesses. We're dating. We're traveling. We're changing careers. We're learning new things. We're leaving relationships that no longer fit. We're falling in love. We're riding bikes down mountains when perhaps our orthopedic surgeons would prefer we take up knitting. We're still becoming.

I wish society would stop talking about women over 50 like our best years are behind us. Some of us are just getting interesting.

💎 Have you ever been professional photographed? If yes, how was that experience for you? 

Yes, I've been professionally photographed before, mostly connected to business, branding, and different projects. But this experience was different.

These photographs weren't simply about showing what I DO. They were about capturing who I AM. I wanted strength, femininity, confidence, vulnerability, fire, and maybe a little bit of "don't screw with her." And you captured that.

I want to look at these photographs years from now and remember this version of myself. More importantly, I want my children to have them when I'm no longer here to tell the stories myself.

Because somewhere along the way, I stopped asking permission to take up space. And THAT may be my favorite thing about becoming a woman over 50.


Congratulations Melissa! It’s an honor to help you celebrate YOU and your journey and I’m so glad you said YES to yourself! 🎉

NOTE: If you've been enjoying these stories, I'd love for you to join us at the 50 Over 50 Exhibition & Celebration on November 5th, 2026, where you'll be able to experience the portraits and stories of these remarkable women in person. Get your tickets here