Group Focuses on What’s Important to Middle-Aged Women
Friends since they were 10th graders at Denton High School in the early 1990s, Jennifer Galitz and Jen Peace were recently discussing how many gaps in information exist for women now in their late 40s.
“There’s also this hesitancy to age anyway. It’s almost like as women, we’re too busy trying to find loopholes and get out of aging,” Galitz said. “It’s almost taboo – ‘Okay, we’re in it, now what do we do while we’re in it? — whether it be our physical health, our mental health, signs of aging as far as beauty.’ But it’s also about things like aging parents and becoming empty nesters.”
So, the duo who now live in Corinth decided to create such a platform. They co-founded and serve as co-executive directors of Betty Collective, Inc. launched as a 501(c)(7) organization that is seeking sponsors.
“A lot of women have come forth saying ‘can you talk about dating again.’ We talk about sustaining a marriage,” Galitz said. “So, we just decided we were going to create an event where we can have some doctors come and speak. We could have some women experts come and talk about the issues we were facing.”
That event was called Midlife Best Life, which 32 people attended Nov. 2 at Peace’s new Blank Space Events business in Denton. Galitz talked about how the women in her life helped her deal with and overcome Guillain-Barre Syndrome 20 years ago. Others spoke about wellness, women’s health, hair tips, makeup for aging skin, and other topics.
The weekend before, members gathered to watch a movie directed by Anna Kendrick. Their previous review of Zoe Kravitz’s movie drew notice from Kravitz herself. The plan is to periodically include book and movie reviews focused on female authors and filmmakers.
“It’s like we started this sisterhood, this middle-aged women story,” Galitz said. “We just decided to make it a non-profit, and it kind of grew from there. We’re finding other strong, amazing women.”
The name is a play on words of having the same first name.
“I’m a Betty, you’re a Betty, too,” Galitz said. “It’s a cooler sounding name than Jen or the derogatory Karen. It’s found in urban dictionaries as a fun-loving woman who is a great friend.”
For now, Betty Collective, Inc. primarily communicates through Facebook – accumulating 339 followers in its first month – and the @bettytoo4 TikTok site. It also has started the bettycollective.com web site.
In December, members will meet to wrap presents. Galitz and Peace hope to do little events monthly and two major ones annually. Galitz said the spring event will focus on relationships including longevity of marriage and dating. There also will be women teaching dance and movement.
Galitz said most women find the organization through social media, including through videos on assorted topics. The goal is to encourage them to come to in-person events when their schedules allow.
“Our whole goal in this is to create fellowship and friendship,” said Galitz, who has three children with husband Dan. Peace and second husband Kelly have two children between them.
“I was alarmed to find that suicide in women s at its highest between ages 45 and 64. A lot of that comes from the challenges of aging but also from loneliness. Women in that age group have the challenges of taking care of our own children but also maybe taking care
of aging parents.
“There’s just a lot going on, and it’s a challenging time. I feel that women are so busy taking care of everybody else they forget that we can be a pretty powerful group if we take the time to take care of each other. We want the women who come to these events to feel seen and heard and feel pampered. It’s your turn to be taken care of.
“What has shocked me the most is having people come out of nowhere and say, ‘I saw that’ or ‘I heard about it.’ It’s just exciting as we are hoping to reach people who need that fellowship and support that is so important to Jen and me.”
