Episode 169
This week, we're sitting down with Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, a retired U.S. ambassador who spent thirty years in the Foreign Service before reinventing herself as a personal stylist, memoirist, and small-town finance committee volunteer. Elizabeth shares what it's like to trade fifteen-minute State Department increments for mornings with no alarm clock and to "walk the estate" with a protein shake in a cut-glass mug.
In our conversation, Elizabeth opens up about serving as U.S. Ambassador to Togo, becoming the Africa Bureau's chief operating officer with zero background in the region, and losing her mom to pancreatic cancer six weeks after she retired. We talk about not really retiring but “putting on new tires”, getting a "Forever is composed of nows" tattoo at 53, and why she's decided not to postpone joy for a single day longer.
What We Cover:
Why "Downton Abbey inspired" is the phrase she uses to describe her days, and how living seasonally for the first time in her adult life reshaped her evenings.
The rhythm of days with no alarm clock (except a 6:30am Monday shift at the thrift store), a Peloton split with Rebecca Kennedy, and "walking the estate" with a protein shake in a cut-glass mug.
How taking the Foreign Service exam almost by accident in Tokyo in 1993 led to becoming U.S. Ambassador to Togo, including the phone call where she told an appointee "I think you have the wrong person."
Being on a GLP-1 for two years, why strength training three to four times a week is non-negotiable, and her go-to protein-forward "fake sushi" lunch bowl.
Losing her mom suddenly to pancreatic cancer last summer, just six weeks into retirement, and grieving what's gone while starting a completely new chapter.
Joining her new town's finance committee (overseeing a $65 million budget) and meeting one of her closest friends by loudly complimenting a stranger's closet on a house tour.
Building Diplomatic Dressing after a stylist she hired told her "I don't think you need me — want a side hustle?", and her specialty: women stepping into the spotlight for the first time.
Getting a tattoo at 53 that says "Forever is composed of nows," breaking up with her Oura Ring's grip on her mood, and eating off her grandmother's china every day instead of saving it.
Connect with Elizabeth:
Instagram: @diplomaticdressing
Website: diplomaticdressing.com
Substack: Well Connected: The Diplomatic Edit
