How do you stay feeling young and looking good when you’re getting old and looks start fading? I celebrated my 54th birthday this year and I finally caught up. My girlfriend Randi always told me I had an “old soul.” Randi has been my friend me since 3rd grade, so she should know. When I was nine, and I would play at Randi’s house, her mother would shake her head while looking at me; tsk, tsk, and call me precocious. That’s true. I was always one life stage ahead of my peers. I was baby-sitting for littler kids when my friends still had baby-sitters themselves. I lied about my age and worked retail as a manager at Marshall Fields at fourteen, while my friends were playing intramurals. And, I was engaged at twenty, married at twenty-one and a Mom by twenty-two, when my friends were still in college. Like , the clock starting going backwards yesterday. Here’s what happened. and sponsored a business networking event featuring whiz kid entrepreneur of . I made my reservation. The venue  was in Lincoln Park. The program was called . Business owners were invited to listen and discuss best practices for growing their companies. It was a great program, an outstanding lunch and a very interesting group of attendees. When I got there I chatted with two young business owners; Michael Shmarak, he owns a and Michael LaVista, who is CEO of , they do web design. Crazy-smart guys who are passionate about their work. Their energy was fuel to my fire. I sat next to Ranjal Bhaduri, a thirty-something director of research at ; a Hedge fund. On my right, was my daughter Rachel, she’s a recruiter for , an interactive advertising agency. The conversation at our table was stimulating and I fully appreciated, while it was happening, that I was sharing the experience with my grown-up baby girl. Read next feature >