AARP isn't exactly the first place we'd expect to learn about interesting design talent, but the organization for the retired (or nearly retired) crowd posted a fascinating video from its "Fearless at 50" campaign about shoe designer Chris Donovan. After a quarter-century as a telephone operator, Donovan started mulling a major career switch: "I knew I had a lot more in me... I started to think, God, there's got to be something more out there," Donovan says in the film.The impetus for Donovan to take the plunge professionally was a prostate cancer diagnosis. "It taught me that you never know when your life's expiration date is," Donovan remarks. His professional fresh start kicked off at Polimoda fashion school in Italy. "It was a big Italian villa in the middle of Florence, and the hallways are filled with beautiful, beautiful fashion work," he recalls. "I walked in and thought, I'm screwed! I obviously did not look like a fashion student. I was even mistaken for a janitor at one point," he says.Donovan's fascination with shoes began during his co-ed Catholic high school days, which had the "ugliest uniforms" for the female students; he remembers one day in particular when he was amazed when a girl in his class wore "the highest platforms I'd ever seen."