Maddy Dychtwald

Author, speaker and Age Wave co-founder Maddy Dychtwald is a leading expert on the changing demographic trends - both generation - and gender-related - shaping the marketplace, the workplace and our lives.

Maddy has spent more than 25 years investigating and forecasting lifestyle and market trends of older adults and the 79 million baby boomers. Building on this knowledge, she has recently emerged as a renowned authority on the rising economic influence of women and their impact on industries, ranging from financial services and healthcare to consumer marketing.

A high impact speaker, she has addressed more than 300,000 business and social service leaders worldwide for organizations such as Blue Cross of California, Chevron, Direct Marketing Association, Fidelity Investments, Lincoln Financial, LPL Financial, Global Women Leadership Network, Mastercard, National Association of Educators, Network of Executive Women and the World Future Society. Maddy has been regularly featured in prominent media worldwide, including: Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, Newsweek, TIME, U.S. News & World Report, Fox Business News, CNBC and NPR. She is also a popular contributor to The Huffington Post and ThirdAge.com.

Her newest book, Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better (2010) explores how women are the major change agent of the decade to come. Maddy also wrote Cycles: How We Will Live, Work, and Buy (2004), the winner of the 2004 Book of the Year Award from the National Community Colleges Association, and co-authored an illustrated children’s book on personal reinvention entitled Gideon's Dream: A Tale of New Beginnings (2008).

Maddy co-founded Age Wave, the nation’s foremost thought-leader on population aging trends and their profound business, lifestyle and cultural implications. The company provides breakthrough research, award-winning communications, and results-driven marketing and consulting initiatives to more than half of the Fortune 500.

A graduate of New York University, Maddy has been married for more than 25 years and has been a working mom living in the San Francisco Bay Area for much of her adult life.

• 1. How the Age Wave Will Transform the Marketplace, the Workplace, and Our Lives

  Increasing longevity, declining fertility and aging baby boomers are triggering an enormous "age wave." This demographic tsunami has the potential to create ground-breaking marketplace and work/talent opportunities, and equally compelling social and financial challenges. This informative, motivating and entertaining presentation will explore: How will people use their newfound "longevity bonus?" How will the "cyclic" lifeplan replace the traditional "liner" model? How will aging boomers change established paradigms of work, leisure, learning and retirement -- as well as lifetime brand loyalty? What's the most effective way to market and sell to "middlescent" boomers wishing to enrich the quality of their lives, while forestalling aging? Why is managing a four-generation workforce the new diversity mandate? (Note: This presentation can be shaped to focus either on the US, North American, or global age wave.)

• 5. INFLUENCE: How Women's Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better

  We have reached a tipping point where a critical mass of women, bolstered by unprecedented levels of education, workforce participation and escalating income are assuming more powerful roles in their family's purchasing decisions. This is particularly true in the traditionally male-dominated sectors of financial planning, real estate, automotive and technology. Yet most marketers don't fully understand how today's woman thinks, feels, cares and buys and how women and men are increasingly partnering to make large purchasing decisions. Drawing on proprietary Age Wave research as well as dramatic insights from her landmark new book, Influence: How Women's Soaring Economic Power Change Our World for the Better, Maddy Dychtwald explores how the ascent of women is transforming their relationship to their money, their mates, their families, their careers and the marketplace.

  Dychtwald's presentation examines the historic scope of women's financial influence and their expanding monetary power; the five things that all men need to know about marketing to influential women; the key ways that women are transforming the workplace and leadership; and how they're trying to use their increased clout to transform our world for the better.

• 4. Optimizing Generational Diversity: Four Cohorts Rethink Work, Money, Family, Retirement and Success

  For the first time in hsitory, four generations of active adults are simultaneously participating in the workforce and marketplace. Each has its own lifestyle values, attitudes about work and money, means of connecting and communicating, role models and marketplace preferences. This high-impact presentation will examine: What key social forces have shaped each generation and produced their distinct, core lifetime characteristics? What does each generation hope to get from -and give to - their jobs/careers? How do you manage and motivate each generation, from "encore" workers seeking stimulation and self-worth, to older workers looking for balance and purpose, to mid-career workers trying to reboot their enthusiasm for a longer and more demanding worklife, to young workers struggling to enter the workforce during tough economic times. How does each measure success? This presentation can focus on how to attract and retain valuable talent and enhance productivity through the creative use of flexible work arrangements, innovative learning, mentoring and sponsoring opportunities, sabbaticals, retraining, re-careering, flex-retirement and creative compensation and benefits programs. Alternatively, it can orient toward the most effective ways to reach out to - and connect with - Millennials, Gen Xers, Boomers and members of the Silent Generation.

• 3. The Cure for Our Aging Health Care System

  Whether we live long lives with vitality and purpose or sickness and suffering will depend to a great extent on our ability to reshape the skills, services and incentives of our current healthcare system. This new presentation provides a visionary glimpse into the future, outlining the critical course corrections required to create healthy aging and productive longevity. Topics to be covered include: Why we must accelerate the scientific breakthroughs needed to prevent, delay and eliminate the horrific diseases of aging (such as Alzheimer's); why training healthcare professionals to become "aging-ready" will both saves lives and money; how the boomers' proclivity toward control, self-care and connectivity can help make disease prevention and self-care a national priority; how new technologies and emerging community-based services can enable us to shift the healthcare focus from hospitals and nursing facilities to home-based care; why establishing a humane and dignified approach to end-of-life care has reached a critical tipping point.

• 2. Re-visioning Retirement: New Timing, New Purpose, New Planning, New Funding

  Everyone's retirement clock has been reset as a result of the recession. But highly acclaimed Age Wave research reveals a surprising finding: This could be a good thing, for individuals, the consumer marketplace and financial planning professionals. This presentation will explore Why financial "peace of mind" has become far more important than "wealth" in the new American dream; how women's rising financial power is transforming their attitudes and behavior toward money, their family dynamics and the field of retirement planning; and how the adult lifestage demands of eldercare, sibling care, grandparenthood, singlehood and rehirement will dramatically impact retirement preparation and funding. We'll also discuss the products, services and guidance people now seek from financial professionals to safeguard a successful retirement while avoiding the five retirement "wildcards" that could shatter their dreams.

• Maddy's delivery was lively, informative and entertaining, and her remarks hit a bull's eye...extremely relevant to our current marketing efforts. Excellent.

  The Prudential Insurance Company

• I was impressed with the amount of time and effort Maddy put into customizing her presentation and content for our audience of senior level human resource executives. In addition, her engaging presentation style was a nice balance to the agenda.

  MetLife Institutional Marketing

• Maddy was terrific! The material was on target, extremely relevant and timely, and of vital importance to our membership. She took the steps necessary to learn as much as possible about our audience and their needs. That's the kind of effort that guarantees the unbelievably positive response we received.

  Retail Advertising & Marketing Association

• The presentation before the Mayors' Conference Thursday evening was simply stunning. I have seen many attendees of this group drift off into quiet chit chat when presentations fall short of the mark. This was not the case with Maddy's talk. People were focused with the message. I cannot thank her enough for doing this for us. It will be a night to be remembered for a long time to come.

  Contra Costa Mayors' Conference

• Fantastic presentation! Your incorporation of key Age Wave/Harris Interactive survey data from January was well received, and the interaction you promoted with the audience drove your points home.

  Genworth Financial

• Maddy was fantastic. Her personal, interactive, and multi-media presentation style was an excellent role model for all speakers in this edu-tainment age. Her presentation injected new, powerful and provocative marketing paradigms into our business and inspired us greatly in our innovation drive.

  USA Trends, Coca-Cola USA

• Your presentation was a highlight of our meeting. I've heard numerous comments regarding the applicability of your message given the current economic times we all face.

  CACUBO Program Committee

• Attendees raved about the great job Maddy did. The material was not just a bunch of theories, but something that could be used immediately. Maddy's preparation and presentation style were excellent.

  Choice Hotels

• You rock! I have heard very few speakers so brilliantly keep an audience focused with a combination of spoken and audio-visual material. I have to tell you I was bowled over. You have a vital message for women - and men - with Influence and you match the vitality of the message with a vibrant delivery.

  Orange County Register and Founder of WomanSage
• Maddy Dychtwald did an outstanding presentation. The program was very informative and was delivered in a powerful manner. Her insight and knowledge of the financial services industry provides a perfect ending to motivate the audience in taking advantage of the wonderful market opportunities.
  AIM Distribution

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  May 2010

  Influence

  In the United States and in many nations around the world, women are on the cusp of new financial power-and evidence suggests that women will use this power to improve society in ways we can only begin to imagine. In Influence, Dychtwald and writer Christine Larson show this profound growth in female authority, a growth that is ongoing and already causing far-reaching effects in the workplace, the marketplace, and the home. Dychtwald and Larson give us a sneak peek at the world turned right-side-up by women. To read this book is to prepare oneself for an altered-and improved-cultural landscape to come. 

   

  
  
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  August 2008

  Cycles: How We Will Live, Work and Buy

  The author outlines how to attract and retain the best talent and how to maximize productivity in the economic and demographic cycles.