“My job no longer spoke to my heart,” explains Diana Meinhold, then vice president of the Travel Division for the Auto Club of Southern California. “It was just about PowerPoints and meetings.”

So at 58, Meinhold left “cold turkey.” With savings to support her, she took a break to “wrap my head around this new stage of my life” and make plans to launch a new career.

Exactly what kind of career? Meinhold had an idea. After six years of managing the affairs of a close friend who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, she had become familiar with the systems and services in place to care for aging and sick populations. The work, she says, “pulled at my heartstrings.”

For eight months, Meinhold poured over Web sites, learning about her chosen field, considering training options and figuring out where the opportunities were. Eventually, she found information on a private company, Community Education, which provides state-required training for those who want to work in residential care or hospice care. The course Meinhold selected took 40 hours and cost $269.

With her License for Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE) in hand, Meinhold began working at the Orange County chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association as a temp, while she went on interviews for full-time positions with assisted living companies. Now she’s a “community ambassador” for Dakim, Inc., a computer-based brain fitness program aimed at slowing or preventing the development of dementia in older adults.

Ultimately Meinhold sees herself using her management experience to move into an executive role in an assisted living company. In the meantime, she’s learning the field from the ground up.

“It’s been an amazing journey already,” she says, “and I know I’m only at the beginning of this adventure.”