Episode Details
Back to EpisodesHow to Build a Life Around What Matters Most with Jill Finsen
Description
What does it look like to build your life around the things that matter most to you?
In this episode of Real Estate Connections, Mary Foerster sits down with her dear friend of more than four decades, artist Jill Finsen.
Jill spent much of her professional career at AARP working in state legislative advocacy, public policy, and supporting volunteers. Alongside a demanding career that included extensive travel, she kept making room for photography, painting, rowing, learning, and the relationships that mattered to her. 33-Jill Finsen 4k
Over time, those interests became more than hobbies. They began influencing some of Jill’s biggest decisions about work, housing, money, education, and how she wanted to spend her time.
After leaving AARP, Jill continued studying art and eventually pursued her Master of Fine Arts at The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. 33-Jill Finsen 4k
Mary and Jill talk about what it means to stop treating the things you love as extras. They explore how Jill made practical choices that allowed her to continue painting, rowing, traveling, learning, and building meaningful communities throughout different stages of her life.
It is a conversation about making room for what matters, even when life is busy, and continuing to shape your life as your priorities evolve.
What You’ll Hear
• How Jill made room for art during a demanding professional career
• Why passion does not have to wait until “someday”
• What led Jill to pursue an MFA later in life
• How her housing choices supported different chapters of her life
• Why Jill spends intentionally around the things she values most
• How art and rowing helped create meaningful communities
• Why your priorities can continue evolving throughout your life
• How Jill is thinking about what she may want from her next chapter
Guest Bio
Jill Finsen spent much of her professional career at AARP, where she worked in state legislative advocacy, public policy, and volunteer leadership. After retiring, she pursued a Master of Fine Arts at The New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture and now paints full time.
Her paintings are shown in galleries in Delaware, Massachusetts, and Maine, and she divides her time between Cape Cod, Maine, and Washington, D.C.
Working in the spirit of primitive and naïve styles, Jill uses composition, color, and varying thicknesses of paint to balance forms and rhythms and create a distinct and whimsical exploration of surface. Her work draws on early twentieth-century American painters and the Fauvists.
When she is not painting, Jill rows on the Potomac River, Cotuit Bay, and the Bagaduce River, or swims in chilly New England waters.
Guest Links
Jill’s site includes her current work, exhibitions, publications, and information about her painting practice. Jill Finsen
Blue Hill Public Library: “Color!” Exhibition
The September 2026 exhibition features paintings by Jill Finsen and Walter Smalling and ceramics by Susan Finsen. Blue Hill Public Library
This episode is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
Connect with Mary: