Susan Kanoff, Cynthia Blanc Preiss MacLean, and Alina Eisenhauer never set out to become influencers. Yet, each has built an online audience consisting of hundreds of thousands to millions of people — all from creating content out of their homes in Massachusetts.

While influencer culture is often associated with younger generations and fast-moving trends, older creators are increasingly finding substantial followings later in life, often after major personal or professional turning points reshape the direction of their lives.

For some, it begins with sharing a skill or piece of knowledge that once helped them navigate their own challenges. For others, it becomes a creative outlet, a source of connection, or a way to process grief, illness, or reinvention in real time. What starts as a Facebook group, a few videos, or a personal story can gradually grow into something much larger.

Cooking up a second career

When Alina Eisenhauer, 55, was running her own pastry shop in Worcester, she was no stranger to the digital sphere. An appearance on Food Network here and a guest spot on Phantom Gourmet there gave her plenty of experience in front of the cameras. 

So, when a slew of compounding reasons — low profit margins and health impediments among them — forced her to close Sweet Kitchen & Bar, it didn’t take her long to find her next act.

“I eventually ended up getting diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, Hashimotos, which is a thyroid autoimmune, and they told me I had to go gluten free,” says Eisenhauer. “That was a massive change, because I built this whole career on pastries and on all the gluten.” 

That shift pushed her into a new kind of kitchen — one that existed entirely online. Through connecting with others on Facebook, Eisenhauer created her own Facebook group called Gluten Free Baking Secrets as a space where people swap recipes, ask questions, troubleshoot baking failures, and share guidance on everything from ingredient substitutions to allergy-safe cooking.

“Because I had to go gluten free, I was in all these groups and noticed there was just this big hole of misinformation,” Eisenhauer says. “There was all this bad advice, so I would go into the groups and tell people I started a Facebook group for gluten-free baking to help people, and from there it’s just snowballed.”

Now, it’s at 100,000 and staffed with a full-time admin. With that growth, Eisenhauer took the group one step further, starting a subscription membership where she posts cooking and baking videos. 

“Food allergies are such a huge thing, and what helps me grow is having this niche,” Eisenhauer says. “It can be life-changing for people with these food allergies, especially when the audience is mothers and grandparents trying to take care of either themselves or their family members.”

Fashioning a community

Susan Kanoff, 64, needed a creative outlet. The Methuen resident wasn’t finding it in her career in social work, so she pivoted into styling, eventually turning that into a successful career. After a few stints on network TV, she brought that work to social media, translating her eye for fashion into a digital audience. 

But even that wasn’t quite enough — which is why 10 years ago, she created Uncommon Threads, a nonprofit in Lawrence, Mass., that works with women to move clothes out of their closets and into donation bins.

“Here I am a bunch of years later at 64 still showing off clothes and talking about products,” Kanoff says. 

As her online presence grew, so did her desire to build something more intentional than content alone — focusing on authenticity and engagement over numbers.  “I don’t just grab every brand deal,” Kanoff says. “I’m extremely picky.” 

And while Kanoff’s digital portfolio has plenty of her triumphs showcased, she hasn’t shied away from bearing her most vulnerable moments. In 2018, she was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. 

She began documenting her experience with the disease, and in the process, founded another online community for active, middle-aged women with cancer: Kicking Cancer in Heels.

“People have followed my cancer journey in bed with no makeup looking like hell, photographing myself saying ‘This is real life,’” Kanoff says. “Life is not all it seems on social media, we see the best of everyone. But life has a lot of bumps, and that was a big one for me.”

From sharing those moments, she hopes to strengthen her community of women around her age looking for connections. Kanoff is also doing it to show that at her point in life, any possibility is still on the table.

“It’s never too late, don’t let your age ever define you,” Kanoff says. “It’s a beautiful time in your life when you can try new things, push your limits, and explore who you are.”

Turning grief into guidance

Cynthia Blanc Preiss MacLean, 55, endured tragedy before she truly rounded out her calling. Born in the Bahamas, she lived in Miami with her first husband working as a Haitian music radio promoter and a life coach. Just about three years after welcoming their son into the world, MacLean’s husband committed suicide. 

The loss reshaped the direction of her life. Following a move to Framingham, Mass., MacLean began working with widows in her spare time. Using her experience as a life coach, she found her resilience to be a useful tool helping others.

“When I went through it, I didn’t have a lot of support,” MacLean says. She eventually remarried, and together she and her husband began providing other widows with the kind of emotional support and day-to-day encouragement she once wished she had herself.

“My husband and I would mentor widows by talking to them, building a community, and even delivering their groceries,” she says. 

MacLean’s taken her new career to social media. She has a combined 2 million followers across all her social media platforms. MacLean’s relationship with her second husband has provided another source of content, as she adores showing off the chivalry and romance they’ve found in their second act.

“Being a very private person, it took a little adjusting for him,” MacLean says. “But once I show him the comments from encouraged husbands and women finding love again, he’s more receptive.” 

It’s not often MacLean stops and reflects on her success, but when she thinks about her roots as the daughter of an immigrant and how she’s become a self-made, successful widow’s coach, it’s all the more empowering.

“I allowed myself to stop and look at what happened and feel it,” MacLean says. “To keep going and to experience all I can while I’m here, I think that’s my empowerment and motivation.”

Modern-day influence isn’t just limited to youth culture. Eisenhauer, Kanoff, and MacLean are testaments to how authenticity, lived experience, and resilience are far more important ingredients to a content creating career than age.

“Nothing has to stay the same,” MacLean says. “If you believe that, and do something about it, then you can reinvent yourself as many times as you wish.”