When 92-year-old Carol Shaughnessy was just five years old, she began designing and sewing clothes. Even as a young girl she knew her passion and purpose.
But, in 1938, when Shaughnessy was 18 years old, she almost missed her chance at a clothing career. She was about to leave for college at Northwestern University in Chicago. She still remembers the conversation with her mother that changed everything.
"My mother and I were hanging up clothes in the backyard. We didn’t have dryers back then. I said to her, 'If I go to this school for four years, what will I be able to do?' She asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said I wanted to design clothes. She said, 'Then you have to go to New York.'”
Schaughnessy says she and her mom were in the car five minutes later on the way to the drug store to pick up magazines which, in those days, listed schools on the back. Her mom handed Shaughnessy the pile of magazines and was told to pick a school.
Just three weeks later, Shaughnessy traveled to her choice, Traphagen School of Design in New York City. She studied fashion design for three years before earning her degree and returning to Minnesota.
Shaughnessy went on to work for Ladies Leader, a women’s clothing company that sought her out. She designed juniors and misses clothing, which, at the time, was mostly dresses, though she remembers fondly the time she started making pants for women.
Eventually she married her high school sweetheart, Bob Shaughnessy. She made her own wedding dress and later, clothing for her two daughters and grandchildren.
Sewing and designing patterns had brought Shaughnessy much joy throughout life. As she grew older though, the opportunities to ignite this passion had disappeared… or so she thought.
Shaughnessy lives in a senior housing apartment and over the years had disengaging from friends and activities. She was losing her sense of purpose, a phenomenon Maple Grove resident, husband and father of two, Joel Theisen knows very well.
“I’ve seen too many seniors who have lost their spark, their purpose and passion for living,” says Theisen, founder of Lifesprk. “So many are dealing with a health care crisis or simply not getting the opportunities they need to not only live their lives, but proactively engage in the activities they love.”
This need to reignite the fire in local elders is what first inspired Theisen to create Lifesprk, a revolution in elder care designed to help people like Shaughnessy shine on! Theisen founded Lifesprk in 2004 and since then has become known as an innovator and honored for his work—named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award® finalist for the Upper Midwest in 2011. Today Lifesprk is one of the fastest growing companies in the Twin Cities.
“Lifesprk is about opportunities,” says Theisen. “We provide proactive guidance and tools to give every elder just the right level of support to shine on and continue to meet life goals.”
One of the ways Lifesprk touches seniors is by granting their wishes. Whether it is to ride a sailboat, get out on the golf course or, in Shaughnessy’s case, tap into her lifelong love of fashion.
After talking in depth with Shaughnessy and learning about her career as a clothing designer, it became clear to the folks at Lifesprk what they needed to do to bring the spark back.
In May, Lifesprk put together an afternoon that Shaughnessy says changed her life. It included a full fashion show at The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes in Maple Grove, with outfits coordinated entirely by Shaughnessy, who also starred in the show.
"It was the most wonderful thing that has happened to me in a long time," Shaughnessy recalls.
“It’s about putting that sparkle back in their eyes and focusing on the living, not the aging,” says Theisen. He and Lifesprk hope to ignite 5 million people with the Lifesprk experience by the year 2020. If Shaughnessy’s story is an example of what’s to come, then we can expect many more sparks to fly in the years to come.
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